Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I`m an entrepreneur and I`m passionate about my hobby - vintage
Corvettes. So it was only natural to launch a Corvette enthusiast site,
www.Corvettes.com. The collector car hobby in the US is estimated at
about 17 billion (with a B) annually, so there is a market for great content
online pertaining to the marque.

As for content, we have a well-known author of Corvette related books
(over half a million books published) contributing content in the form of
stats, history, model data and monthly articles as well as high-quality
photos.

The site will eventually sell advertising space, but in the meantime, the
traffic needs to be bolstered by developing and growing of a vibrant &
busy community forum.

I realize growth of a community forum is an organic process, but in the
meantime, I`d like advice to find a consultant who can help with design
and marketing ideas that will help us get us off on the right foot.
Suggestions?

Dan - if you`re the one who secured the domain name corvettes.com in 1996, kudos to you, brother. A great domain name. No reason in the world you can`t make this a popular site with the Corvette crowd. Man, you`re into a little bit of everything, huh?

How long have you had the Corvette site up and running? Have your written a business plan so your ideas get on paper as to where you think this thing could go? Your vision?

I`ve been in and around the automotive aftermarket for many, many years and you`re right about the "enthusiaists" crowd - especially with the growing Boomer market - they have money now to buy the toys they couldn`t when they were young.

Look forward to learning more.

R@ 

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Richard Arnold · Key Concept Writers · Business Communication: The "Key" To Success· Law of Attraction Blog · Life Ain`t Brain Surgery Blog

I don`t have any suggestions for  a consultant, but as an owner of a `77 I just wanted to say that I`m thrilled to learn about your site.  Most cities seem to have vette clubs of some sort - perhaps inviting them to  join your community would jump-start growth?

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Janice - Splash Virtual Assistance

Hey Keycon & Jem-

I was the first to register the domain in `96, along with a handful of other
top-tier domain names. I`ve leased and sold a couple, developed some
and still have a few to work with.

I have drafted an outline for the Corvettes.com biz plan, but haven`t
tightened it up. Your reminder has set me back on that track to finalize it.
I have been developing the site and reviewing the biz opportunities
simultaneously. It`s been fairly low-cost to date, but I`m ready to increase
marketing to get the traffic/traction we need to offer advertisers value.
Our goal is to attract a highly targeted audience of Corvette enthusiasts,
and sell advertising for Corvette specific products and services.

The site has been active for about 18 months, but has had a major
redesign over the last 4 months. I`ve been adding content to help increase
clicks and spidering on search engines.

Jem is an ideal target community member, sounds like she`s passionate
about Corvettes, and willing to participate in discussions - and will no
doubt be spending money maintaining and personalizing her Corvette.
Jem, your idea about targeting local Corvette clubs is a good one.

Keycon, what venue in the automotive aftermarket world do you
specialize in? I`d like to learn more about what you do.

 

Are you familiar with Dennis Carpenter. He was passionate about old Fords 32 -72 cars and now is an industry?

He now does new reproduction parts for cars trucks and tractors.

See http://www.dennis-carpenter.com/  His story is somewhere on this site.

Goes to show it can be done.

 

 

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Regards Michael Clayton (rexiedexie)

My Affiliate Articles & Web Page Traffic

I`m not a "Ford guy" but if I was I`d be familiar with Dennis` company. There
are scores of companies like his that cater to Corvette enthusiasts. These are
Corvette.com`s target advertisers. As Keycon mentioned, the boomer
generation is fueling the demand for the classic auto resotration industry.
It`s big business. This is a trend I intend to captialize on.

Dan - I`m not ignoring your last question to me - I`ll probably send you a private email soon - bear with me - wrapping up some work that has to get done.

R@

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Richard Arnold · Key Concept Writers · Business Communication: The "Key" To Success· Law of Attraction Blog · Life Ain`t Brain Surgery Blog