by Chris Billowsin Business Beller0 commentstags: Boot-Strapping, Business Development, Personal Resolve
Dear friends, My company Promaginy is a few months away from alpha launching our premier game website, Heropath. We are putting the finishing touches on the site’s functionality and still need to do some serious testing. I am really excited about what the site is going to offer RPG fans. I have been in the market long enough and have learned from others that considering the launch of any website or advanced game is more equivalent to a marathon than a sprint. Gone are my fantasy wishes for a home run, instead I am going to focus solely on how to retain the users we attract and to convert and then retain them as customers. I am confident that attracting users will not be our main challenge. The business model of Heropath will have built in virality, since the essential purpose of the site is to share what is created on Heropath. Our challenge will be how to make the user interface so intuitive and responsive that the user experience of building a web-based role playing game is a delight. This will take testing and iteration. Its a process of polishing and refining. Its tedious and requires intensive awareness. Interestingly […]
by Chris Billowsin Business Beller0 commentstags: Blogging, Boot-Strapping, Branding
Where We Are At I am sure I am not alone with the struggle about when does an IP (intellectual property) or product you are going to release need its own Twitter account? Its own Facebook Page? Google+ Page? The reality is that the internet has become more complicated. It used to be that all you needed to do is throw up a website and submit your domain address to the Search Engines. Now the internet is starting to carve itself into silos. No longer is your web browser the only way to use content now that the world wide web is being carved up by iOS Apps, Android Apps and now by closed networks in the form of Facebook and various other services. Each of the social networks appears to have a niche to appeal to. Facebook is by its initial nature is a place to share personal stories, profiles, and pictures. Twitter is really about following the news makers. Its one-way communication is vibrant though where it really shines is the moments of punctuated dynamic conversations with the hashtag (#) aligning diverse interests. Because of immense volume of tweets, it is really easy for your message to get […]
by Chris Billowsin Business Beller1 commentstags: Human Misery, Personal Resolve
This post is a cathartic release. What I love about blogging is that it can become a way to share and put to rest one’s experiences. This post is my way to summarizing what three years of doing business online has taught me. Essentially there are two things needed for business success: 1) a product that sells (scratching an itch, fixing a problem, providing a solution that people want); and 2) find the right business partners to help you deliver the product. Finding a product that sells is a challenge but is definitely the sexier topic and there are thousands of services out there to help you find a product to sell. It is the second point about needing to find the proper business partner has crystallized for me just recently and is not discussed very much. It is because as a topic it is full of disappointment and unhappiness. Nobody can do everything by his or her self. You need to find and work with others who help you with technology, accounting, marketing, etc. You can engage these people by purchasing their services or by entering into a formal business partnership. Regardless of how it is done, finding the […]
by Chris Billowsin Business Beller0 comments
When I started BilLOGs, it was pretty easy to post at least a few times per month. But so far this year, there is almost no posts. The single biggest reason why I am not posting is that I am just too damn busy with my website business ventures. I am kinda embarrassed to report how many sites I have. I went on a buying spree and need to unload some of them. Here are sites that I have in my stable: 2 personal/hobby sites (BilLOGs being one of them) 1 article directory site 1 WordPress theme site 1 WordPress plugin site 1 search site 3 web magazines 4 flash arcade sites 6 php web games with 3 of these to be launched 1 game ranking site 1 game sig server 1 business landing site 2 video sites 1 business service site (not launched) 1 musician promotion site (not launched) 1 sports site (not launched) 2 amazon niche site with 1 of these to be launched 3 niche product sites 18 autoblogs / niche blogs So this is a total of 50 Sites (between development and launched) with even more domain names (about 40 more) that I have! At least […]
by Chris Billowsin Business Beller0 comments
As I alluded to in my New Years address, I was going to become more busy with some website launches. Well, that ‘some’ has become ‘many’ thanks to an obsessive pastime I have had this year. That pastime is named Flippa.com. When I found Flippa, I was stoked. I quickly realized it to be the channel where I could direct my multitude of interests in business, media, and starting a business sideline. I found my investment with Complex Games not moving along as fast as I wanted so jumped right into the world of website buying. Flippa.com as a website and as a marketplace is attractively designed and very functional. It superior to eBay in both features and the quality of the listings. Flippa,com is like a well run computing machine. In July 2010 I purchased my first website, a Flash Arcade. I then purchased a second website, a Persistent Browser Based Game and between these two sites I started generating some money! I could not believe it. These websites were established, had traffic, and a revenue record. I quickly thought it should become possible to develop a sideline that I could expand into a full time job. In January […]
by Chris Billowsin Business Beller0 comments
It is truly stunning. Software developers are releasing games and applications on the iPhone platform for $0.99 and despite the low price their games are still pirated. Developers are finding evidence that 90% of their games are being played without being paid for. The same thing appears to be happening in the music, movie, and book industry as everything has become digitized. People expect their content to be free. But content creation is work, and for the most part people need to be paid for their work. Pirates disagree and feel completely entitled to use this content without paying for it. There are even political parties that articulate their position. They tell us that all copyrights and patents are harmful and that stealing from content creators is an act of freedom. Yes, playing a iPhone game that sells for only $0.99 without paying for it sure makes the world a freer place. Talk about self-deluded self-entitlement. Well, here is an article that completely destroys their position. PC Game Piracy Examined. Check it out. To me the solution is not to prevent piracy (which is impossible), but to punish it. The only way to change a deluded sense of entitlement is […]
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