Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Well this idea has been running through my mind for a long time now and I seem to think that 2008 will be the right time for me to start. Basically, I live in an environment where we love to eulogise the dead. When you open up the daily papers to read, half of what you`ll see in the papers are obituaries of people who have been dead for the past 10, 15, 20+ years while the rest are recent deaths. So, I have often thought to myself that if people love to remember the dead, then it is only appropriate to provide another means to keep their memories forever. I decided that the internet will be a good avenue to provide this service. I don`t know if you think i`m morbid or if this is a good idea? However, i`d like to know your thoughts regarding this idea. If you think this idea is viable, what and what do i need to include on the website?

So are you thinking of an online obituary site?  The thing about newspapers is that people look at obituaries because they are already reading the paper for other content.  I`m sure there are regular obit readers but newspapers are sold because of news.  Obituaries along with comic strips and coupon sections are secondary content.  (Though studies show comics are a top reason people buy newspapers.)

The thing about the internet is that people go to specific sites for specific content.  If someone is reading news on CNN.com or somewhere, there`s no easy flipping by the obits.  People`s habits on the internet are entirely different than with reading newspapers.

I have a web business to bring comic strips to the internet.  You can`t just put a part of the newspaper on a website.  You need to reinvent the business model of obituaries around the ways people use the web.  CraigsList did it with classifieds.  We hope to do it with comic strips.  And my site will be nothing like CraigsList.

Can it be done with obituaries?  Sure.  But I recommend doing some research and thinking hard about how it could work.  Also, look into what`s been done in this field already.  Without even searching, I can tell you that you`re not the first to think of this.  But if you plan well, you can be the first to do it right!

Hi, thanks for your thoughts on this idea. What I have in mind is an internet service where relatives of departed loved ones can keep the memories of the life and times of the departed soul alive. What do you think?

I think it`s a great idea! I already see people using Wikipedia to build biographies of people who probably don`t need to be in an encyclopedia. But what if you used Wiki software to create "The World Biography Site," or something along those lines?

In other words, don`t market this as an "obituary" site, or "death" site. :-D Market it as a Life site---a biography or autobiography site. "Leave your mark in history" kind of thing.

The next problem would be the business model, relative to making money. You could put up a biography and have it run for maybe 90 days. Then, you could send an email to the author(s) and say that if they want their biography "archived" forever, there`d be a 1-time fee of something like $19.95.

Of course you`d have to somehow guarantee that the site would stay up and functional for a very long time, y`know?

The Major advantage to this type of thing is that everyone is always trying to do background research on people. They need info for other articles, or a quick reference for newspaper stories, magazine articles, and so on. You would offer a consolidated location so that anyone elsewhere could do something like:

They could then do a fast look-up to see if David Calhoun was bio`d in your reference site, and put in a link.

Very cool idea!

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Rick Pipa Duffy Mac Golf Chicagoland, IL www.duffymacgolf.com Golf can be essential to career success. You may not even know what you`re missing by NOT playing. You must know Etiquette - skill is secondary. Respect; Attitude; Ready Golf: Ethical Behavior!

I`ve seen this done and it`s so much better than obits.  A friend of mine recently passed away after a long battle with cancer and his wife used a website to chronicle his struggles and to set up a phenomenal eulogy site after his passing. It had pictures of him from childhood to just before his death.  It had a signature page where you could share memories of him and it was amazing.  This was all part of a service or hospice community website.  You could have something here.

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Our Goal Is Your Success!
Founder Girls with Goals

Rick, I`d be interested to know what you have put together concerning this idea. My email is jokelightitup@hotmail.com i`d love to give you my number but it`ll be expensive cos I live in West Africa.

Regards,

January

 

Just January, where are you in West Africa?

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Antwan D. Brown
abrown@bg-bs.com
www.bg-bs.com

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