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| May 27, 2008 7:41 pm |
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re: Helping You SELL Yourself and Your Website. [Morpho Board] |
Mitchell Allen
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Hi Eileen and Reg,
Thanks for your feedback.
Reg, AdSense was the motivation for blogging in the first place, so I appreciate the monetization idea.
As I stated in my initial plea for ideas, I am primarily looking to launch morphoboard.com. Take a look
at the comment I make in the next section about the business plans. As an aside, I choose not to monetize
the blog for esthetic reasons. I want to showcase my writing and I want visitors to come without worrying that they'll
be distracted - or dismayed - by ads. I tried some Cost Per Action, but most of the high-paying ones are irrelevant to my blog.
The only monetization on the site is a text link to my SOC and a page for my family to shop at Amazon.com.
You'd be surprised at the TYPE of visitors I get. Because I write about a wide variety of topics, I am coming up in search results for things like hydroponic potatoes, pizza parlor designs, etc. In fact, between the "morpho" and the "designs", I get a lot of search traffic for butterflies, construction, and so on. The bounce rate on my blog is sky-high: not a good sign for monetization, in my opinion.
You are exactly right about notifying existing customers. In fact, that was the reason I created morphodesigns.net. I asked each client to opt-in so that they can be kept informed. So I really don't need to explain stuff, after all. (I felt that I did because I remember Jessica saying that she didn't know I did hosting. Poor marketing on my part...I never tried to compete online, though. All my business comes from networking and gifting.)
Eileen, the Mother Corp. fits in with what I was trying to say by using the term landing page. After
seriously considering the status of these businesses, I am confident that the priorities are as follows:
Top - Morpho Board (Board Game Software = Home-based business)
#2 - Morpho Greetings (SOC = MLM)
#3 - Morpho Designs (Hosting = Home-based business)
The mother corp. already exists, as I have registered Morpho Designs. I suppose that the blog will be the logical place to tie the three businesses together. It kind of dilutes the blog's raison d'être, but I think you have the right idea.
The business plans - briefly - are
Morpho Board - give away the software, sell a monthly publication devoted to the system and games based upon it.
Morpho Greetings - market the service to real estate professionals as a replacement for indiscriminate "farming"
Morpho Designs (Hosting) - a Tim Ferriss-style muse, this is a referral-based service only.
(Tim Ferriss is the author of the 4 Hour Work Week. A muse is his term for an automated cash-flow business that frees the owner from the daily grind, allowing the pursuit of passion - in my case, Board Game Design)
I had to get out of design, because of the time-consuming and high-maintenance/low payout ratio. Sure, I could get paid nicely for designing websites, but if I stop designing, I stop getting paid. Even charging maintenance fees does not compensate for the time demands placed by clients. I started building websites in 2005. After a brief growth spurt, attrition set in - some clients went out of business, some decided to go DIY and some just didn't want the expense any longer. My core business now is self-supporting, but doesn't throw off excess cash.
MLM done right is a step between intensive, hands-on businesses and automated businesses. I've decided that for me, the best MLM sells a consumable product that people WANT, but do not need. I hate trying to "convince" people that they need soap, legal services and insurance (been there, failed that). Realtors don't NEED to send cards to their clients but, once they hear how well they are received (testimonials as well as from the horses' mouths) they'll WANT to use this service.
This leaves Morpho Board, my passion. I originally stopped development for two reasons: first I "broke" the original version and became discouraged when I couldn't recreate the working program. Second, I got into real estate and put everything else on the back burner. As dissatisfaction in general set in, I realized that I would truly be happy if all I had to do each day was invent games. This came as an epiphany AFTER several of my friends suggested the very same thing. At the time they suggested it, I was resistant because I felt that there was no money in my passion and I wasn't making enough money to pursue it single-mindedly. However, I took a hard look at my life one night and realized that it's not a practice round! I can't wait for my automated business to throw off enough money to support every financial need. I just need to go for it with the game software.
So, I decided to focus 80% of my time to Morpho Board. Luckily, the other two businesses won't suffer from neglect because 2 hours a day is more than enough time to "work" those.
By the way, I realize that business plans are more detailed and they include exit strategies. I implemented a semi-exit when I stopped doing design, but I'm not ready to give up hosting as long as it pays for itself: it gives me and my family lots of web real estate on which to develop assets.
Sort of like living rent-free in an apartment building that we manage.
Cheers,
Mitch
Private Reply to Mitchell Allen (new win) |
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