Sandy Rowley, founder and CEO works personally with each project, leading the team often with tight deadlines and budgets. "Most start ups are un aware of the time, energy and costs involved with starting and running an online business. With advertisements on TV and the Web promoting starting your web business for pennies a month, I can understand why. I guarantee you that Facebook and other successful social networks spent more money, time and resources than that $10 per month most large hosting companies are advertising and even more to keep the network growing." Sandy Rowley
Who is the best SEO expert in Reno? Sandy Rowley of course.
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Example Start Up Costs:
1. Domain - a quick, easy to remember and catchy one word phrase can cost thousands at auction sites. Google premade branding to save time and money OR if you are a super lucky and found a one word domain available, Godaddy is the most affordable for domains only.2. Branding - logo design, font choice, colors and layout are important when targeting your ideal audience. Simple, elegant, busy, article layout or just mobile? What layout, colors and design are most important? This can cost anywhere from a couple thousand dollars and up.
3. Design website look and feel - creating a wireframe with all the features, pages and tools available for your community will help you keep your ideas in order. Focus on what is most important for the first phase I launch of the network. Keep it simple and easy to use and share with others. This can cost $5000+.
4. HTML/CSS - the next step is to create the front end of the social network. Take the design pages and wireframes and create a front end for the site. If all pages are created in step #3, this process is relatively quick and affordable. Estimate $1 - 3k.
5. Software - Now creating the database, software and admin tools that turn this design into a real social networking community. You can choose to use an existing template, with limitations for estimated $500 = $1600 or build your own software. Building your own social software removes limitations and security issues found with pre existing social networking packages. Custom software allows the business freedom to be unique, grow without restrictions and control sensitive business information from being shared with competitors. Custom software requires a larger initial investment, but saves thousands in the long run. If you have a business idea you know will be around for years to come, custom software is the most economical and safe solution. Custom social networking sites can cost on average $15 - $45k one time fee. Most software companies will give a months time to review the site for bugs and allow minor changes for no fees during this time.
6. Marketing - Most important in this list is marketing. Why? The online world is volatile and constantly evolving to meet the demands of the public. What was in vogue last month, may now be boring and needing to change or grow with the new trend. Marketing allows you to test different segments of the general public. Which demographic responds well to your social network? Which ignore it? These are just some of the important factors in marketing your social network that you need to implement. You need to reach thousands of new and potential members daily in order to grow at the rate needed to sustain a social network. Estimated monthly costs $5 - 40k.
7. Beta testing - after the social network has been designed, built, tested and launched, you will need a community of real world users to use the social network. You will regularly ask them for feedback, monitor their usage on the network and learn their likes/dislikes and so on. You will then take this data and see where you need to improve your software, design and layout to better meet the needs of your members. This can cost a couple hundred to a couple thousand dollars to implement. If you need more features or a larger amount of time to add to the network, this number could be larger.
8. Managed Dedicated Servers - To run a large social network, you need a managed dedicated server. You should never host your social network on a shared hosting site like Godaddy or others. Rackspace, SoftLayer and Media Temple are trusted companies you should work with. On average hosting can start at $200 - $2000k per month and up.
9. Employees - This can be your greatest asset and most expensive expenditure each month. Most start ups opt to work with the existing developer for any software changes or updates to save money. Most software companies will work at a discounted rate for existing clients. After the social network has proven itself as a needed service online, you can start to hire in house developers to help the network grow with the latest trends or services in demand.
10. Connections - As with any business, you will need to focus a good deal of your time looking for ideal partners. These could be a strategic partnership to boost membership or PR. Working with non competing online businesses and resources can help save marketing monies and reach a larger group of potential members.
There are obviously no one size fits all list for starting your social network or online business. It takes time, money, patience and a willing to learn from your mistakes, grow and evolve. Often a new business will take courage and stamina to see it through. A level of maturity helps as well. A business will bring out the best and worst of your personality. You either can learn and be enriched by this experience or fall victim to your own insecurities. Starting a business on or offline will surely test your maturity level in life.
Sandy Rowley is a leading SEO web designer located in Reno Nevada USA.
Reno SEO, Marketing & Web Design
800 Haskell St, Reno, NV 89509
775-870-0488
www.RenoWebDesigner.com
