An online startup in Singapore for less than 10k? maybe....

[noble383]

No website can completely remove fraud. The fraud I am talking about is authenticity of the users. To be SDU accredited you have to have certain measures and take reasonable steps to minimise fraud. So when I was talking about the fraud issue, people are going to be more confident in using an SDU accredited site than a none accredited site.

This wasnt really the main issue I wanted to get into tho. I mentioned it as the previously mentioned singstat info (although outdated) showed that as a typical concern.

[mrlily]

how far away is this site of yours?

on first impressions the "dating market" could be worth a crack as it seems as though the sg government is backing inventive ways to increase the population. removing the social stigma that is attached with dating sites might be your biggest hurdle.

[noble383]

It is being buit at present, I am on the SDU courses for accreditaion in October and although it may be ready to go in Jan, my official launch date is 14th Feb (of course!!) 2011. I have already secured the domain names .sg and .com.sg for the site.

The idea does exactly that - attempts to remove the social stigma surrounding dating sites and makes it more relaxed and fun.

There are some ok dating sites in Singapore but I also think there are some very poor ones, that clearly dont understand what a dater wants/needs.

I was on many sites, so I have the typical profile as to my target market. With the right marketing I believe there is potential.

[mrlily]

from what i've read you appear to be progressing in the right direction ie: planning, targets etc... which is great to hear.

might be worth a read; http://www.morebusiness.com/running_you ... s-Idea.brc

have you considered how you are going to launch the site, meaning do you have some sort of mass marketing plan that'll give the site a good kick start?

assuming you have a relatively small budget, i'm guessing you are building the site using PHP & mysql? or some other free alternative?

[noble383]

Thanks for the link, seems useful.

I am outsourcing the build of the site as it is a big build to be interactive, but it will be simple to use. I have a 5 figure budget, so I feel that is a crucial side to it. I will be involved in the content management and the testing along with other randoms to look for build deficiencies in the mapping. I am more financial and marketing minded, although I have been reading book after book on web design so that I have a bit of an idea when talking code and what good code looks like. Sick of it now tho!!

Marketing is an interesting one..........initially I wont be looking at adwords. I have a few other SEO methods and organic options and may look to get some sponsorship for partnered events in some of the more popular nightspots to hit the target market in the form of an official launch.

I will probably do a few meetings and promotions, as I wont be able and dont want to just buy random profiles - people aren't stupid.

Any tips for how you would market it?? Seems from your 1st post, you tried everything under the sun!! Doing it again, what would you do now?

[ksl]

Alexa.com rankings are expressed in the lower the number, higher the traffic so 2 million is better than 10 million.

Mine fluctuates between 2 million and 13 million, pretty steady at 6 million, when we hold exhibitions, it is all relative to our live marketing effort in Singapore with 80%, local traffic.

A friend of mine in DK has a dating website which he hasn't used for years, He's a software guru, though i expect it needs updating to a content management system today.

I'll PM you with my thoughts on dating!

[noble383]

That would be great KSL................you seem to have a grasp on some key areas.

Look forward to reading your thoughts!!

[mrlily]

damn dating agencies!!!

http://www.news.com.au/world/man-sues-d ... 5872614178

in all honesty if we were to do the “secondhandbooks”

[sundaymorningstaple]

Note: It’s very easy to point fingers and tell everyone you are a marketing guru (which many have done throughout this forum, with no basis). u’ll see most have an ulterior motive. Take all advice with a grain of salt.

Ain't it the truth!

(And hopefully you don't need put up any more examples.....)

[boydie]

This is my first post and enjoyed reading about your launch plan, it's a very expensive way of doing it.

What % of your visitors come from Google non paid?

I ran some quick analysis and found that although there are only about 10K searches on used books in Google SG it would be worth your while looking into SEO, in particularly link building, quality not quantity.

Your site has about 1200 links while usedbooks has 2200 and is positioned 3rd getting a lot more natural/free traffic.

By adding a few hundred good links over and few months and adding an H1 tag to your site you should move up a good bit, this should cost you less than $1K

All the best in your venture and happy new year

[sundaymorningstaple]

tic...toc...tic...toc....

[lloydbee]

Although it's an old thread it was interesting to read in the beginning. I have arrived here to find some answers and hope I will find them somewhere.

[SeaTurtle]

First post hopefully I dont stuff it up!

I just want to mention that this article has been helpful...Thanks

Over the next few months I hope to be more involved...Lots of questions about living and setting up a new internet business in Singapore.

Cheers

[mrlily]

wow, it's been a while.

for those who are interested, the website has been running for about 4 years now. i've completely re-built it a number of times, solely due to the server we host from being shared (~20 websites from a single server).

generally shared hosts restrict bandwidth, storage space and concurrent database connections. this can be a pain in the arse when your site grows, however for me these restrictions have been useful as i've learnt to refine my code, improve site performance and minimize storage requirements, considerably.

also, it forced me to re-think how to host the site. i built a fedora linux box (purchased online all the bits; server chip, mother board, fans, power supply, case etc.... and stuck em together), learned some basic C, purchased a static IP (ddns is useful, for a while...) and run it as a testing server, brand new $600 (AUD).

the server is just a box, no display (cheaper) or GUI and i can access via SSH (putty) from anywhere (firewalls? tunneling is your friend. likewise being able to configure and operate from any port on your server, useful).

long story short, the removalists are packing up my family and house as i write this, we are moving from darwin (last 2 years) to perth (next 4 years). depending on how many kids we sell the new house will have a server room, no more paid (cheap cheap) hosting restrictions.

questions? ask and i'll give you my 2 cents worth.

[mrlily]

anyone want a mobile coding project to put on their CV?

i'm considering turning this website into a mobile app (android, iphone).

for the right person (or people), the project would be performed remotely and in your own time, you would get access to a linux box with the necessary data, access... for testing purposes.

keen?, pm me.