Building a new website to host inventory for dealers

[joe.pistell]

Sorry to crush hopes and dreams, but my first thought is "oh no - not another leach"

ooooo... alex, was that comment a lil' vendorish?

 

[joe.pistell]

A friend of mine has what he thinks is a great domain name that he wants to build a site around.

I realize getting in to the web hosting business could be tough. But my friend is highly successful and wants to try something else.

He is proficient with .net, sql & html, javascript, css, web services.

Any thoughts on how to get started ?

HomeNetAuto.com is a inventory hosting biz. Cars.com and AT.com are not web hosting biz's, they are internet marketing companies.

Which biz are you?


A great domain name is not a business. A great idea is not a business. What is your model and whom does it help? Who are your competitors (direct and indirect). Are you National, Regional or Local? Where does the traffic come from? If its just another classified site, who cares and get in line with the 10,000 other wanna be's.

 

[Alex Snyder]

ooooo... alex, was that comment a lil' vendorish?

This one was far from it. I'm thinking of the dealers and the consumers here. Let's look at what another leach means:

Dealers:
Will need to spend money on more search campaigns to attain the leads first hand OR actually buy the leads from this new lead provider. Either way, it is more cost to the dealer without any real gains.

Consumers:
Another website to navigate through to try to get to the end result: the Dealer. It is just another website plastering itself on the wall of confusion.

Who benefits:
Only the owner(s) of that website.


Sorry Dan, but I can't march in this parade. I don't even want to spectate.

 

[joe.pistell]

All that being said, if your looking for an example of start-up success, the 2 of the most brilliant nationwide launches I've seen have posted right in these forums.

Brian's Pasch's Automotive ad Network is just plain SEO brilliant Automotive Advertising Network | Car Dealer Sale He's crafted an interlinking network that rewards itself the bigger it gets. I expect it grow into quite a platform.

-and-

Langley Steinert's CarGurus.com is here to drop the curtain on used car shopping. Its NEVER been done by any site before (Dale Pollak's vAuto is 95% there IF he decided to go retail with that data he has). Langley Steinert was co-founder/Chairman of TripAdvisor, which is the largest online travel site in the world. If anyone can do it, it'll take cash and smarts on this level to do it.

Langley came to our forum to address the his platform and the errors he needs to address. http://forum.dealerrefresh.com/f44/used-cars-cargurus-com-vauto-travel-industry-916.html (this is a Top10 DR forum moment for me!)

These are examples of businesses, not great domains.

 

[danoneil]

HomeNetAuto.com is a inventory hosting biz. Cars.com and AT.com are not web hosting biz's, they are internet marketing companies.

Which biz are you?


A great domain name is not a business. A great idea is not a business. What is your model and whom does it help? Who are your competitors (direct and indirect). Are you National, Regional or Local? Where does the traffic come from? If its just another classified site, who cares and get in line with the 10,000 other wanna be's.

I love this forum. So many great people.

I would classify this idea as a marketing company. I've been in business before. That business did not do well and I learned many lessons from it. My friend is good at business, so I think I understand what your saying about domains & ideas not being a business. I also understand the odds. That is why I posted the thread.

It's not national , regional or local at this point.

 

[danoneil]

All that being said, if your looking for an example of start-up success, the 2 of the most brilliant nationwide launches I've seen have posted right in these forums.

Brian's Pasch's Automotive ad Network is just plain SEO brilliant Automotive Advertising Network | Car Dealer Sale He's crafted an interlinking network that rewards itself the bigger it gets. I expect it grow into quite a platform.

-and-

Langley Steinert's CarGurus.com is here to drop the curtain on used car shopping. Its NEVER been done by any site before (Dale Pollak's vAuto is 95% there IF he decided to go retail with that data he has). Langley Steinert was co-founder/Chairman of TripAdvisor, which is the largest online travel site in the world. If anyone can do it, it'll take cash and smarts on this level to do it.

Langley came to our forum to address the his platform and the errors he needs to address. http://forum.dealerrefresh.com/f44/used-cars-cargurus-com-vauto-travel-industry-916.html (this is a Top10 DR forum moment for me!)

These are examples of businesses, not great domains.

Thanks Joe.

 

[joe.pistell]

Take a minute and think of all of the trees in the Amazon forest. Your web site is one leaf in that forest.

The barriers of entry are low, you and 15,563 other people build a web site for used cars... SO WHAT.

 

[danoneil]

It's not my site. I have a great job and very happy. The information on this thread is what my friend is looking for. He was just talking to me about it so I'm trying to show how big of a task it is. He doesn't need the business. It was very just a conversation we had.

 

[danoneil]

This whole idea seems to be too big of a idea to implement. My friend took 3 steps back to look at a bigger picture. I told my buddy Martin to take over from here. It's his thing.... I'm done.