Technology Strategy

The question of how to monetise a website often comes up. In most cases my clients have interesting content and have gained reasonable traffic in the order of 30 - 100 k unique visits a month. The issue then arises, how to take the next steps to monetize the website (generate revenue). I categorize monitization into a series of categories, each building on the previous in terms of time and complexity to achieve and manage: Lazy day, dream away Here one the website generates revenue simply by placing adverts from one affiliate network or something like Google AdSense. Once the correct code has been added to the website and the account set-up there is little or no work (aside from maintaining the content - and making sure one gets the traffic). The returns here are typically low. However, one can expect to generate 100`s of pounds a month, if not more. Lazy day, optimize With some work on making sure your adverts are as relevant as possible to yo...

Many blog posts I read and forums on entrepreneurship are filled with hype and half-truths. In many ways it reminds me of stories of gold digging over 100 years ago. Lured by the promise of fortunes, thousands of young men (and I assume woman) trekked in search of riches. Myths became reality, and the very few success stories soon fueled an entire industry around prospecting. Suppliers, transport, gold-exchange etc. In many ways, I see the same thing happening around me - there are pitching events, workshops on how to attain funding, buzz-words and book-lists. The hype also elevates otherwise ordinary people to god-like status - a twenty something VC worker, a pitch event organizer etc. I recently saw a post asking for the best book on start-ups. Thats like asking what is the best TV program in the world. For one thing, the conception of what a start-up is and in fact what an entrepreneur is differs from person to person, from economy to economy. If you trawl the academic literature ...

I recently obtained the Microchip Android development kit, this is the fist part of my attempt to get my development environment working : You can join the debate and knowledge on Android and mobile peripherals, development, potential, business models etc at AndroidGizmo . My Attempts at developing an application have come to a temporary halt as I try to find a way of getting Android 2.3.4 or above installed (currently 2.1). I am trying to find a solution on  villainrom

I recently read "The Inner Game of Tennis" by W. Timothy Gallwey. I found the book very interesting and the results on my tennis game have been profound. The basic thesis is that our conscious mind in being critical of our own performance is actually hindering our game. We should work at developing confidence, eliminating self-doubt and internal criticism. Unlike most books on betterment, this book does not advocate positive thinking, which according to the author is the other-side of the negative thinking coin. Positive thinking, can lead to disappointment or a sense of needing to maintain an unsustainable rate of success. What is needed is calmness, and a quiet mind. Having started a number of business, I wondered how the insights from this book could be applied to the entrepreneur or existing business. Although I do not believe there is a set of personality traits that make an entrepreneur successful, certainly if we view the process of starting a business as a game ther...

I am still pondering the usefulness of this developing model. The six dimensions which I beleive are the key to attaining some traction online are: co-operation communication incentives standardization co-ordination collaboration  If we take a look at facebook, as an example: co-operation : the interface encourages people to comment, discuss, help and share information and events. communication : at the core of the website there are different forms of communication. incentives : there are a number of non-monetary incentives to participate ones facebook communities - recognition, acceptance, social-connection, sharing etc. For businesses there is branding, reach, connection to the client base. standardization : the experience is standardized, moreover via the API other platforms can connect and facebook applications can be integrated. This promotes diversity and growth. co-ordination : this is perhaps slightly more obscure, but lets say the platform facilitates the...

My dog Max might take offense, if he could at being associated with failure. In particular he may take offense at being associated with failed Internet start-ups. Having said that, he has a lot in common with Internet start-ups. He is undeniably cute, as are many Internet start ups, he attracts a lot of attention - especially when out and about (in the park) and dispute all th attention and fans that he has, he costs me money and does not generate a penny ! Luckily I have invested in him as a companion rather than a business ... Max the puppy     The debate is on, are we in another tech bubble or not ? I agree with Steven Blank we are certainly in a bubble. For me the indications are more heuristic than scientific. I see young "entrepreneurs" running around using words like "social media", "traction" and "pivot" - most of them cannot define these terms and when I ask "what is your business model ?" - I get either a blank stare or ...

From my years of consulting, software development and start-up businesses I have noticed common pitfalls that organizations have in designing, developing and delivering websites. Here are some common pitfalls and my suggestions for how to avoid them. 1. Web is fashion One of the great advantages of the web, aside from dynamic content, is the ability to easily change layout and branding. This, however also creates some challenges. Organizations should realize that a web presence is an ever evolving thing, and websites themselves will come in and go out of fashion. Each industry has it's own fashion and it's own fashion cycle. Some industry web fashion cycles are faster than others. 2. Change can be managed, if you keep the pieces Since website will change over time, it is very important to understand the process by which a website should be designed and understand the key artifacts that should be delivered. If the process is not understood, delivering a website can be extr...