Running a website is hard work, but it’s rewarding if you do it right.

 
I’ve been contemplating my fate for a while now, looking at different careers that I might like to pursue, considering heading back to school and thinking about maybe switching industries entirely. It’s not because I dislike the web, but because I’m tired of seeing the same mistakes being made every week and people never learning, frankly it’s like trying to dig your way out of a sand trap. 

Here are five common sense rules that anybody with half a brain should be able to follow, if you can’t do it then get off the internet and find another career.

It’s harder than it looks.

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People star start (thanks Ben) websites because they think it’s easy to make money online. Here’s a tip, if it was easy to make money on the Internet then the guy that built your website would own a big old boat and be sitting in his luxury apartment smoking Cuban’s while laughing at the rest of you, not living in his parents basement surfing porn on a beaten up laptop.

FACT: Making money on the Internet is the hardest money you will ever earn.

What most entrepreneurs don’t realize is that the Internet is brutal and it’s harsh, much like seal hunting you never know when the ice is going to shift or how you’re going fair on a given day. Having a cool idea is the easy part, getting it to market takes a lot of work and eventually, you’re going to have to run a business.

Running a website is a little like running a bed and breakfast, it all looks so easy but in reality you’re up before your guests and you can’t go to bed until they do. 

Running a website is like running a pirate ship.

There’s an interesting story about the days of piracy and how democracy itself was born from the bowels of old pirate ships. See, in the old days the ship was run by a man (usually a man) who the crew allowed to be in charge, but only as long as it was in the crew’s best interest. Democracy at the end of a sword.

Running a website is no different. I’ve run over 100 websites, 90 of them failed in the first three months and of the other ten this one is the only one that I have any real control over. The other nine are run my the inmates at the asylum, my users. Frankly it doesn’t matter what I wanted them to be originally, every morning I log into the websites and find that users have pushed the content a little further away from my original intention … on the other hand, they’re clicking ads so what do I care?

Know your intentions.

NBC's HEROES

Ever watch the NBC show HEROES?  I do, I used to love it but this season it stinks. Why? Simple, the people who write the show have no idea what they’re doing. From an audience point of view it almost seems as though there’s a power struggle among the writers and people keep getting sacked. The first season was great, it was tight and properly written with a story arc that took ~20 episodes to wrap up. The second season (interrupted by the writers strike) flailed helplessly in the wind for a dozen episodes and then disappeared without being mentioned in the third season which so far has had so many inane plot twists and ‘restarts’ that I record it and only watch it when I’m so desperate to watch something it’s that or Stargate Atlantis.

The irony is … last weeks episode had the funniest comment. Once of the characters, Syler, who is a serial killer in search of super hero powers (he can take powers from his victims after they’re dead) counseled a young sidekick to always know your intentions before using powers. It would be great if the writers took their own advice but even better if web site owners took the time to know what the purpose of their website was, before they polluted the web with dross.

Communication is vital.

If running a website is like running a pirate ship, it’s best not to wait until your crew’s ready to slit your throat before conducting a survey. Ditto for a website. Here are some simple, often over looked pointers:

• Get to know your users, learn about them and what brought them to your website in the first place. 
• What type of websites do they operate and what can you offer them. Don’t know? Ask.
• Why do you have visitors from some areas but not others? Find out.
• What motivates your users? What are their hopes, their dreams, their fears?

In the old days it was easy, pirate crews wanted to earn money … ask yourself (or your visitors) why they come to your website, that will help you know how to attract more qualified people.

Rubbish is rubbish, no matter how you serve it.

Gordon Ramsay

Gordon Ramsay is my favorite TV personality of all time. He’s an ass, he’s mean and he’s right about the restaurants he visits, most are crap and will be out of business within weeks without his help. Ironically, if he ran his business the way he runs his website he’d be out of business in a heart beat which just goes to show you, even the number three chef in the world, with countless resources screws up when it comes to a website.

On Ramsay’s show he walks into a failing restaurant and helps the entrepreneurs by giving them advice. It’s almost always the same advice and it goes something like this:

1. Serve fresh food, grown locally
2. Serve easy food, prepared well
3. Serve timely food, presented properly
4. Serve delicious food, without pretense
5. Serve quality food, cost effectively

Now let’s be honest, if it was that easy to run a restaurant I’d be doing it right now instead of writing a blog but on the other hand … it sounds remarkably like building a successful website …

1. Post fresh content, served daily
2. Post easy content, edited properly
3. Post timely content, presented attractively
4. Post interesting content, without arrogance
5. Post quality content, without going broke

… no wonder I like the man.