Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Dear Youdontknow me:

1.  Please give us your real name, any URL you have or want to copy and the mission statement for your community.

2.  Neil`s comments above are on point. -- good advice

3.  Ignore the NaySayers.

4.  Start a wikiweb using www.wetpaint.com, and hyperlink (unilaterally) to other wetsites which are consisted with your mission statement.  Try to cross-link your sites with other compatible sites.

5.  Get a CD from the Kauffman Foundation, study it, prepare a business plan and submit it for review by your CPA, banker, attorney and IT/webmaster person.  If this statement does not make sense visit www.wikipedia.org and surf it for business planning and maketing ideas  I have put Montana Synergy up on wetpaint; check it out:  www.montanasynergy.wetpaint.com.  Wetpaint is free but a bit of a cripple.  Use is to learn how to manage a wikiweb, then find a good ISP which supports wikiwebs and has a site builder with templates and a free help desk.

6  Your website can and should hpyerlink to as many forums and blogs as you find relevant to your venture.  Then keep a running dialogue on at least three to five threads which are vital to your business or community.  Contribute your insights and help others.  Make your contributions worthy of your talent.  If you need more help, send an email direclty to me and post it here.

Good luck

Jim Miller

jimmiller5417@yahoo.com

 

 

 

Onlineeater is exactly right; nobody is saying you can`t do this, shouldn`t, or that it will fail. Nobody`s telling you you`re a scammer. What you`re seeing on this thread is an analysis of value, markets, building products, and what`s the reason anyone chooses to perform an action.

What you`re essentially asking is, "What makes something interesting?"

Think about it...that`s a tremendously complex question. Some of the humor and some of the "bristling" you`re seeing has to do with how casually people ask these kinds of questions. It`s like a famous George Carlin line, where he talks about things you never hear someone say. "Hey, could you hand me that piano?"

Maybe a better way to examine this whole question would be from the perspective of a party---an actual party, in a home, with real people. You could set it up exactly the same way: "How do I get a good party going?"

Sadly, in today`s world, so many people believe that a "good" party depends on having enough liquor, drugs, sex, or as a last resort, food. But that`s not how it used to be, and it`s not the basis of history and human nature. So what DOES make a good party?

You want to host a party, and you want it to be interesting and something lots of people would like to be involved in. Alright, what are the skills necessary to being a good host? I mean an actual, real, physical host...the person who`s "in charge" of putting together the party, then, most importantly, who`s also in charge of seeing that the party "flows" along.

What are the skills of a good host?

I understand that to create a thriving community such as this one we are in, you, as the administrator, have to be active and helpful yourself. You also need to enforce rules and guidelines to ensure that your community members have healthy relationships with each other. Also, you have to offer them value and make them feel that they are investing their time in something worthwhile, such as the way I feel here at SUN.com.

To offer them value and the feeling that their time will not be wasted, there has to be someone in the community who can answer their questions and provide solutions for them, such as you guys. But the point I`m driving at here is how do I reach those knowledgeable people? I alone cannot handle and answer every inquiry my members have, hence a few willing and knowledgeable members could help big-time in creating value for my members.

I have no clue whatsoever as to how I can reach those knowledgeable people.

And to clarify, the community website I`m creating is localized and is similar to SUN.

Thanks!


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Dimitri Roleda, dimitriroleda@gmail.com

I friend of mine Paul Strauss created one in Chicago called www.wcrt.org. The advantage of a local group is you can meet face to face on a monthly basis. To me that could be your the value you can offer that is difficult to do here. Paul has a great model which is targeted at Real Estate investors. I would visit his site and try to get a hold of him. He may be able to give you some help.

John


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<A HREF="http://www.AuditAuctions.com">Get ISO Certified</A>

> But is Joomla advisable or not? <

I`d never heard of Joomla before, but I checked it out and it looks cool. I`d be curious to hear what you think of it as you begin building your community. I`m not ready to do anything like this yet, but down the road... :) k

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Katherine Murray | reVisions Plus, Inc. | publishing services for print and online media | www.revisionsplus.com

There`s a saying for writing, that you should write what you know about. So too, starting a business usually begins with having some knowledge about the field of that business.

From what I`m reading, it sounds as if the problem is to start a thriving, useful, informative, and entertaining community where the person starting the online forum has few connections.

Following the earlier analogy, there are those people who offer their house, building, or basement room (like a church) for meetings and gatherings. But even those folks know people who are first looking for such a place. If you don`t know who`s looking for the meeting place, I`m starting to get curious as to how this idea formed in the first place?

What is it that you believe you`re seeing is missing in the online world that you will fill with this new community you want to create?

It`s not so much what is missing in the online world, but rather what`s missing here in my local environment or country.

I study Entrepreneurial Management and I, along with my friends, have been dying to start our own businesses, but the problem is we cannot balance creating a network and our academics thus making it hard for us to start. We can`t go out and search for people, like attending trade shows and the like. So I thought, "Hey, why don`t I create a solution to this problem?".

You see, unlike in the USA, we do not have an organization helping small business, like the SBA (did I get that right?). There is no one to guide the local aspiring entrepreneurs here. And if by some remote chance there is, it is POORLY advertised because if it wasn`t we would have known about it, after all we are their target market.

So I thought I`d create a service to bring the aspiring entrepreneurs and the people they need/have to talk to together as well as any resources they need, kinda like SUN with a little extra.

I can`t explain it any more clearly now, I`m a bit off today...I think my brain died a few moments ago..


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Dimitri Roleda, dimitriroleda@gmail.com

Ahh...! You`ve explained yourself quite well, I think! Without first telling us that you`re not in the USA, the post seemed a bit strange. But understand that to we who live in America, free-market networking, free speech, the free exchange of ideas, and all that goes along with the concepts is almost taken for granted.

What you`re asking, I think, isn`t only about how to find interesting people to spark a new online community. I think you`re also asking how to take the seed of free-market capitalism and plant it in a place where it hasn`t yet been developed?

If I`m right, it`s actually a tremendously fanscinating and complex problem. It speaks to a deep change taking place in modern civilization, where people are seeing the failures of oppression, socialism, totalitarianism, and the collapse of societies that have existed under such repression for a long time.

Let`s go back to history, and examine any society attempting to develop creative freedom. It begins, like almost all great ideas, very small. You`ve mentioned you`re an academic of some sort; a student? If so, students in universities have historically been the radical new generation who change societies.

What I`d suggest is that you form a "salon," in the real world. This is a sort of discussion group, perhaps meeting at different homes, rooms, or cafes on a scheduled basis. It would start with only you and 1 other like-minded individual.

Consider the online SuN Bookclub, where people are reading the book "Think and Grow Rich," then discussing it in a thread. Why not have part of your salon be a discussion of a thread you find on SuN? You or your 1 partner could peruse the boards here, find a topic you`re interested in, and make that the topic of conversation when you meet for drinks, coffee or tea, or a nice simple dinner.

Your intent at first is to discuss free-market capitalism. But your efforts are to both talk with as many of your friends, other students, or even strangers, all about this meeting you have each Thursday night, for example.

Decide how many people you want in this discussion before you`ll take it online. At that point, you can use forum software (I`m not sure where to get that, but it`s got to be around), and simply continue your real-world discussions online.

As the community holds in its discussion, try to make sure you have a number of writers. Again, "the pen is mightier than the sword," and there`s a reason for it. Writers, musicians, professors, artists, poets, and philosophers all are those who like to talk, like to express themselves, and enjoy discussion of different and new ideas.

With several people who like to write, yourself included, you sustain the small forum. But now you`ll have a Web URL you can use when you speak to strangers, neighbors, and others about this "discussion group" you`re having.

Startup Nation was formed out of the capital resulting from a successful product. The Sloan brothers took the money they gained and wanted to show other small business owners that it`s possible to succeed. They developed the site based on their own experience. As such, it`s NOT the same model for you to use!

Instead, look at Wikipedia. Look at a place like O`Reilly`s Windows Annoyances. Read the book "AOL.COM" These are examples of how a handful of people created something fantastic.

If my above premises and suppositions are true, then I think you`re going about this the wrong way---putting the cart before the horse. YOU are one of those "interesting people!" YOU and your friends are the unusual ones, the startup nexus of a revolution of thought.

It doesn`t have to take time away from your studies if you`re passionate about the entire concept of business, startups, and entrepreneurial ventures. Just begin small, think big, and hold in your mind that 1 individual can change the course of human history. Think of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle. They just went to the local market and started talking, asking questions, and "bugging" folks with odd ideas! :-D

Actually, my friends do not share the same vision as I do. They only agree that it can work and is interesting & helpful, but they do not care so much as to dedicate their time into developing this idea of mine. So I`m kind of alone here.

Anyway, I was thinking about starting a discussion group of sorts but one of the problems I`ve encountered is that no one thinks the same way I do, for my age anyway. Yeah, the people proximate to me are interested in business but they are not that into it yet, not enough to actually participate fully in a head-on business discussion. I could talk to the faculty or the mentors in my university, but they are busy most of the time and are available only when I`m unavailable.

Guess I`m gonna have to work harder huh? Hahaha..





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Dimitri Roleda, dimitriroleda@gmail.com

As they say these days, using business jargon: Don`t work harder; work smarter! ;-)

Although your friends at the moment may not think similarly to you, that`s easy enough to change. Get new friends. ;-D

One thing you`ve said is they agree in theory, but don`t want to invest time developing the online forum. That`s fine. Make it easy for people to do something, and they`ll usually do it. Again, hold back the development of the online board for awhile. Put it in your mind for a future time, and begin to focus on a simple, fun, getting-together over coffee to talk about a topic you pick up out of the SuN forums.

I`m wondering if it`s that your friends don`t agree with you, or that they envision long hours of computer time, setting up an online domain, forum, and administration process? Instead, if it`s just hangin` out together at the Student Union or local coffee shop, would they still have "no time?"

Can you think of 1 single person who thinks along the lines, in any way, of what you`re contemplating? If not, then go out and start meeting new people. Is there any professor, anywhere on campus in your situation who`s considered to be "radical?" Begin there. Having an older person will help when it comes to this discussion group.

Take a closer look at the school of Arts. I`m assuming you`re in a university?