Potential Site Idea.....seeking feedback

Ok,

I have been mulling this over in my head, and I think some of you guys who do this for a living could give me some feedback, not only with ideas for the site, but for possible pitfalls to putting something like this together.

My idea entails:

Building a web portal for the businesses in the local area (inland southern california) to advertise on.

Having a forum on the site to encourage people to visit, where they can post under forum topics such as: little known specialty stores, restaraunts, shopping areas, etc.

Have a forum topic called Vendor Specials, where the local businesses can put the specials they are running into.


My questions to you guys is:

Does this sound practical?

How much is a fair amount to charge a business for advertisement on a startup website? (Of course I would be advertising the site in various locations in the beginning).

i've thought of something like that before, but getting the businesses to buy into it is gonna be hard.

I wouldn't have the forum to be on the topic on stores; have them on topics the people are actually interested in (nobody would post on a forum talking about stores). Topics such as: the school district, local issues, etc.

If there isn't one already then I think it is a great idea.

I did a web search, and there are absolutely no sites even close to it on Google. So it would be a first for the area.

I would have to go out and pitch it to the businesses in the area, but once I had, say 30 businesses at around 100 bucks a month fee to advertise, it could start becoming something worth investing all of my tiem into.

As far as the forums, the forum types could be tweaked after I got feedback from the people using the site. I would definately have a big FEEDBACK button on the front page for people to give me their opinions.

I will probably be seeking someone to partner with on this, someone better at website design than I am.

I think if you have the money to cover the web hosting then go for it. Make sure it is advertised properly though

I have never hosted a site that would be THIS big. I'm wondering what type of package would be appropriate for it. Any ideas?

1 MEG of hosting should be fine to start off with, and something that allows a lot of bandwith is something you will need. I wouldn't worry too much at the start - its something to keep a check on as you go along, and you can always increase your storage space etc as you go along.

You will need a good menu system to keep it easy to navigate if you are going to expect the site to get big - make the website first and put a sample online of how things will look - then contact the businesses you want to advertise and make the amount nomimal - enough to make some money but not too much that they wouldnt be interested.

You will need someone who has a bit of web design experience - but your idea is not impossible to do if you plan it properly

A forum is a good way to connect people with services as well.

All good ideas...

Now I need to find someone who knows website security, and who can help with the design. Unflux is out of my price range (i can tell just by looking at his work ).

Can you suggest anyone reasonable?

and do you think the portals that are issued with CPANEL are useable for something like this, or should it be built from the ground up?

http://www.diyhosting.ca
http://www.friendlywebhost.com

just some suggestions for hosting. i am affiliated with neither of these sites, and im not promoting anything, they just have very good competitive prices

I am not sure about cpanel as I use Plesk. As for a designer - there are many talented designers on the board - I wouldnt know where to begin to name them all, just have a look around and approach them via PM.

I will say you will be hard pressed getting $100 a month out of advertisers. With a project I am involved in which is a directory - we charge $52AU per year for people to advertise and we get more volume that way.


Good luck with it!

Neksus: Those are some really good prices for the business plans. Good find!

Musik: I am really unsure on what to charge for advertising. How much is $52 AU in US dollars?

Oops, I meant US$52

hmm, i wonder if we could somehow get a bunch of people from different parts of the world (or continent specific) to group together and make the same project, then we could just have 1 giant database which stores everything...