Aardvark Daily aardvark (ard'-vark) a controversial animal with a long probing nose used for sniffing out the facts and stimulating thought and discussion.

NZ's leading source of Net-Industry news and commentary since 1995
PAYBACK TIME! | WebStats | XML feed | Contact | New Sites | Archives | Forums | About
Note: This column represents the opinions of the writer and as such, is not purported as fact
Much better than a wheel 24 January 2006 Edition
Previous Edition | Archives

Please visit the sponsor!
Sponsor's Message
The news seems to get worse doesn't it? Fuel prices are up by 6 cents per litre and the economy is starting to shed jobs - uh, oh.

Yes, the time has never been better to start up your own KB enterprise so it's time to kick around a few good ideas.

First-up, it's pretty important that whatever idea you decide to go with, you have a clear plan for making money out of it. Yeah, it's nice to put up a personal home-page and watch as you get dozens of hits per year but that's not going to put food on the table is it?

You could make money by buying and selling -- but then you might as well just use an existing site such as Trademe. What's more, your growth will be limited by the number of hours you've got in a day and the reach that Trademe gives.

Now have your say
Got something to say about today's column, or want to see what others think?  Visit The Forums

While you're here, why not visit the Aardvark Hall of Shame and perhaps make your own nomination. 7

No, if you want to make it big, you'll need far more reach and you'll also want to use that magic "leverage" benefit that the Net gives.

Instead of setting up a single website designed to sell product directly to customers, why not set up a network of sites?

Even better, instead of building all those sites, why not just create a mechanism whereby lots of other people will want to do all that work and simply join your network?

This is the way that many such networks work.

Take Amazon's affiliate scheme for example...

Once you sign your site up, you can list Amazon products on your own pages and get a small amount of money each time someone buys that product after visiting your site. Amazon effectively get millions of shop-windows all over the Net and the site-owners get a small income from those sales too.

But Amazon's offering is too crude, too simple, too 20th century.

What's needed is a far more dynamic offering that is more attractive to both the customer, the affiliate the operator and the seller. If you can come up with a better system, you're onto a million-dollar idea.

And that's what I'm going to explain over the next couple of days -- the key elements of such a system and how they could be implemented to significantly improve the affiliate model for all concerned.

Now I did say that you shouldn't bother competing but create new markets instead -- well that's pretty much what this idea does. It takes the best of several existing eCommerce models and integrates them into a single solution that could effectively usurp the rest. In effect, this is creating a new market because it is so superior in every way.

That's the overview. Tomorrow we get stuck into the detail.

Of course I'm aware that every man and his dog will be reading this and poised over a keyboard ready to implement it -- if they agree that it's a great idea -- so it'll be survival of the fittest.

I am honestly convinced however, that if someone does run with this concept and produce a solid implementation with clever marketing, it could be a winner.

See you tomorrow.

Tell us all and see what others have to say in The Aardvark Forums

Yes, You Can Gift Money
I've published this website for the past nine years as a service to the local internet and IT industry and during all that time it has been 100% free to access. It is my intention to ensure that it remains completely free and free of charge and contains only the most sparse levels of advertising. Aardvark is not a business, it is a free resource.

If you feel that this is a good thing and/or you hold a "geniune affection" for yours truly -- then you are welcome to gift me some money using the buttons provided. In gifting this money you accept that no goods, service or other consideration is offered, provided, accepted or anticipated in return. Just click on the button to gift whatever you can afford. NOTE: PayPal bills in US dollars so don't accidentally gift more than what you were intending :-)

Contacting Aardvark
The Best of Aardvark Daily I'm always happy to hear from readers, whether they're delivering brickbats, bouquets or news tip-offs. If you'd like to contact me directly, please this form. If you're happy for me to republish your comments then please be sure and select For Publication.

Other media organisations seeking more information or republication rights are also invited to contact me.


Add Aardvark To Your Own Website!
Got a moment? Want a little extra fresh content for your own website or page?

Just add a couple of lines of JavaScript to your pages and you can get a free summary of Aardvark's daily commentary -- automatically updated each and every week-day.

Aardvark also makes a summary of this daily column available via XML using the RSS format. More details can be found here.

Contact me if you decide to use either of these feeds and have any problems.

Linking Policy
Want to link to this site? Check out Aardvark's Linking Policy.

Did you tell someone else about Aardvark today? If not then do it now!


Latest
Security Alerts
Flaw found in IE, Outlook installation (CNet - 06/09/2005)

Fixes in for critical IE, Windows flaws (CNet - 14/06/2005)

Adobe flaw puts PCs at risk
(CNet - 13/06/2005)

Microsoft Issues Long-Awaited WMP Fix
(eWeek - 19/04/2005)

Latest
Virus Alerts
Windows porn worm spreading fast (vnunet - 18/01/2006)

New Sober worm expected to hit Jan. 5 (MSNBC - 08/12/2005)

Trojan rides in on unpatched Office flaw (Cnet - 02/10/2005)

New worm spoofs Google, Yahoo and MSN sites (Cnet - 02/10/2005)

Bookmark This Page Now!

 

OTHER GREAT TECH SITES
GeekZone (NZL)
SlashDot (USA)

 

MORE NEWS
NZL Sites
IDG.Net.nz
NZ Netguide
NZ Herald Tech
PC World NZ
Scoop
WordWorx

AUS Sites
ZDNet
The Age
Australian IT
AUS Netguide
NineMSN Tech
IT News

USA Sites
Wired.com
CNet
CNNfn Tech
TechWeb
Yahoo Tech
ZDNet Tech
USA Today Tech
7am.com SciTech

UK Sites
The Register
BBC SciTech

 

My Jet Engines
Check Out Me And My Jet Engines

Today's Top News Stories


Open in New Window = open in new window
New Zealand

Open in New Window Investors told tech firm Rakon is worth $147m
Rakon, the Auckland-based maker of the world's smallest GPS receiver, could be valued at around $147 million, figures circulated among potential investors show...
NZ Herald

Open in New Window Travel agency comes out against in-flight mobiles
It may come as surprising news to the many who spend countless hours crossing back and forth across the Tasman, trapped in time zone issues that shrink some business days to a handful of hours...
NBR

Other

Open in New Window American admits to hijacking PCs
A 20-year-old American has admitted hijacking thousands of computers and using them to send out spam...
BBC

Open in New Window Google co-founders cash in
Last month, the 32-year-old celebrity co-founders of Google each sold more than $160 million worth of their company's stock...
CNet

Open in New Window Osama's bedtime reading makes Amazon top 50
Osama Bin Laden's recent mention of a book has sent the title soaring up the Amazon bestseller lists...
vnunet

Open in New Window Telecom: High on the 'Avoid' List
The most hated industry on Wall Street today is telecom. Understandable, given the fierce competition and pressure to spend on massive upgrades, but there's more to the story...
Wired

Open in New Window The Year of Living DRMishly
All signs point to 2006 as the year consumers become intimately familiar with "digital rights management," as Microsoft, Apple and Google all push their own copy protection schemes...
Wired

Australia

Open in New Window Swoop on child porn site
POLICE have shut down the first Australia-based child pornography website and arrested its creator...
Australian IT

Open in New Window Reserve Bank targeted by e-mail scam
The Reserve Bank has been targeted by criminals trying to make easy cash from unsuspecting banking customers...
ZDNet

Other

Open in New Window Do Web filters protect your child?
Millions of parents around the country rely on Web filtering software to shield their children from the nasty side of the Internet--porn, predators and other unseemly phenomena...
CNet

Open in New Window MPAA admits to unauthorized movie copying
What happens when an organization that is best known for inveighing against the unauthorized copying of movies gets caught doing exactly that?...
Arts Technica

Open in New Window Microsoft's Sparkle: Is It a Flash Killer?
Microsoft Tuesday released new previews of its upcoming tools for designers...
eWeek

Open in New Window Open Source Flash Player Revealed
One of the most popular and ubiquitous rich media plug-ins for any browser on almost any platform is the Macromedia (now Adobe) Flash player...
InternetNews

Open in New Window Iran blocks BBC Persian website
The Iranian authorities start blocking the BBC's Persian language internet site, for the first time...
BBC


Looking For More News or Information?

Google
Search WWW Search Aardvark

Privacy Policy | Copyright © 2005, Bruce Simpson, republication rights available on request

jet engine page