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 […]
by Chris Billowsin Business Beller0 comments
The Company: A Short History of a Revolutionary Idea is an apt title for this book. It is a short history, but a very interesting one. And its interesting because the subject matter is treated with enthusiasm which becomes a source of entertainment. This is a book written for the non-academic, acting almost like a Reader’s Digest version of a business history course. The book enthuses how the revolutionary idea known as the Company is one of the single greatest contributions to civilization’s development. This enthusiasm does not mean that they ignore the negative aspects of the Company, namely the grotesque pursuit of profit and company goals over human needs such as in the Belgian Congo, but the tone of the book is fan-boyish. Tone aside, the authors do accomplish what they set out to do. They illustrate how the idea of the Company is pretty revolutionary. Basically a government body grants a charter for a collective of disperse individuals to work together by pooling their capital and resources for the purpose of wealth accumulation. The book talks how the different national governments dealt with the rise of the Company (limited-liability joint-share corporations), and how in places like Britain they […]
by Chris Billowsin Business Beller0 comments
Origin of Brands: Discover the Natural Laws of Product Innovation and Business Survival was written for all businesses, but I have tailored my review for game developers since this is where a bunch of my investment money is currently tied up. The Origin of Brands by Al & Laurie Ries is a contrarian argument against conventional wisdom that the battle in the marketplace takes place between brands. Examples of some battles would be Dodge Caravan vs Chevy Uplander, Domino’s Pizza vs Pizza Hut, or for those in the game industry: World of Warcraft vs Guild Wars or Supreme Commander vs Command & Conquer 3. The book argues in 295 pages that people think category first and then brand. Their explicit example: “I’m thirsty and feel like having a beer.” The 2nd thought is: “Which beer? I think I will have Bud.” Beer is a category of drink that is popularly perceived to quench thirst. Within milliseconds the brand is invoked, but it is critical to understand that the category is the first thing that is thought about. The category address the need, while the brand address the want. Conventional marketing will ignore the entire question of category and instead focus […]
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