Really well written, Brad. Had my attention the whole time. Scary for sure, but I think a lot of what you said is accurate. I'm nearing the end of my program, graduate in August, and prospects aren't good. But like you, I'm pouring a lot of my energy into entrepreneurial thinking. I'd like to create a start-up of sorts and run with it. Especially the state of the industry right now, you can't wait for the opportunities come to you, I think anyway, you have to create your own opportunity.
You're on to something with Breaking Tweets, http://breakingtweets.com, Craig. It's a great idea to have journalists curating the best tweets about a story or topic. That's a solid content model.
Now, if you want to make a living at it, you need to sort out and execute a business model.
You have two options:
1. Get massive traffic, 2MM+ pageviews/month while keeping costs low, low, low, such that you can use existing advertising networks to make a living. Their rates are insultingly low, but if you can break a million pageviews without having to pay for content or help, then you can make that work possibly.
2. Build it out into a brand with a defined, die-hard niche audience that specific types of businesses will pay a premium to reach. What about approaching the makers of some of the Twitter clients out there? They're always looking for new users and your audience consists of super-active Twitter-users who are likely always one step ahead of the game. What if Twirl or Tweetdeck sponsored you guys for a month or two?
Really well written, Brad. Had my attention the whole time. Scary for sure, but I think a lot of what you said is accurate. I'm nearing the end of my program, graduate in August, and prospects aren't good. But like you, I'm pouring a lot of my energy into entrepreneurial thinking. I'd like to create a start-up of sorts and run with it. Especially the state of the industry right now, you can't wait for the opportunities come to you, I think anyway, you have to create your own opportunity.
You're on to something with Breaking Tweets, http://breakingtweets.com, Craig. It's a great idea to have journalists curating the best tweets about a story or topic. That's a solid content model.
Now, if you want to make a living at it, you need to sort out and execute a business model.
You have two options:
1. Get massive traffic, 2MM+ pageviews/month while keeping costs low, low, low, such that you can use existing advertising networks to make a living. Their rates are insultingly low, but if you can break a million pageviews without having to pay for content or help, then you can make that work possibly.
2. Build it out into a brand with a defined, die-hard niche audience that specific types of businesses will pay a premium to reach. What about approaching the makers of some of the Twitter clients out there? They're always looking for new users and your audience consists of super-active Twitter-users who are likely always one step ahead of the game. What if Twirl or Tweetdeck sponsored you guys for a month or two?