A decision crisis or new opportunities?

[kgun]

1. Background.
   I started building web sites in the autumn 2004. Originally, I intended that it should be a three stage process.
   2005 - 2008 Getting an overview and learning different technologies.
   2009 - 2011 Build content and a marketing network. Look in the lower right corner of my mini network. This has for various reasons been delayed by one year. I did not originally intend to develope my C++ (Builder) skills. Now I see that C++ Builder and Delphi PHP is developing into one of the most advanced professional web platforms, so in the end, that delay may be good.
   2012 - 2015. Streamlining the mini network sites.
2. Example.
   As some of you may have noticed, I am very goal oriented and systematic.
   In december 1995, I said that I should write a master thesis in Mathematics that should be delivered the 11 th of November 1996. The 11th November 1996 I delivered a master thesis of 295 pages to the University of Oslo.
3. A decision crisis.
   When there are too many solutions and you have too many ideas, everything is floating, and you don't get anything done. Originally I intended to start with a marketing network and develope financial related sites since economics and finance is my profession. If you look at the sites in my mini network, you will note that there are a lot of other sites. And I should like to write a book on C++Builder, since there are few (none) that is up to date. During the last years, I have not used many hours on my original sites. Now (from january 1910) it is time to do that, but I still want to develope my C++ (Builder) skills. I don't see a more advanced platform that C++ Builder (and I have not tried the enterprise version). When I have finished this post, I will install Delphi PHP.
4. The way ahead.
   I am not young any longer, but note that I have no problem following younger people on IT and web technologies. When you have written a large (copy of a) program in assembler, programmed in Fortran and C++, almost every new technology becomes easy. The problem is not to understand code and I prefer to make the solutions myself as I did when I worked in the research department of the Central Bank of Norway. Now I see that there are so many CMS systems, finished platforms and plugins that you can not (use the time to) make everything yourself. And I have used and modified Dreamweaver templates.
5. International pages from the start.
   Since I have been online from the mid 1990's I know that the global competition is fierce and it is said that only 5 % of the web sites make money online. I could have started with Norwegain pages (that is Norwegian text), but choose to jump into the global competition space from the very beginning. The first serious site was the second link in my signature. I could have and hopefully will improve(d) that site.
6. Financial, technological and marketing related sites.
   I must admit, that C++ Builder is so fature rich that I can use the rest of my life on that platform. Some of you may have noted my posts in the Programming subformm where my last thread is this A walk in the garden part 7. Building Web Applications with C++ Builder 2010. It is facinating, but I intend to scale down this activity at the end of 2009. So in 2010 I intend start to develop the marketing network. I have implemented a Drupal and a Joomla site where the idea is that advertisers can buy more space than through the traditional ad channels. Your ads will not drown in my advertising network. Here Global resources for webmarketing, branding and digital ad at AdSchoolworld.com is my experience with adproviders. I made some moeny in the beginning but have done very little since january 2006. This thread is posted in the Marketing Subforum. So my final questions are.
7. New opportunities.
   I intend to develope the CMS related marketing sites for companies that want to advertise in Scandinavia / Norway, where some text may also be in Norwegian if I find value in transalting it. Hourly pay is fairly high here, so there is a tradeoff. In addition, I willl develope my financial and technology related sites. And since (online) game development brings you to the technology front, I think it is a good idea to devlope game engines in C++ and combine them with an API made in Python and / or (Delphi) PHP. There is no lack of C++ and assembler code to make fast game engines. The problem is the octopus that points in too many directions.
8. Feedback.
   Don't use your and my time on meaningless feedback like interesting, bad, great post or similar. I am asking for serious feedback and input to help relieve my decision crisis. I am very interested in advertisers that want an account on some of my CMS marketing networks where they can buy their own marketing space. Today October 28 and some months ahead is the opportunity. If you can no pay at least USD 50 - 100 / year for marketing space, don't contact me. If you need translation from American / English to Norwegian (Scandianavian aside from Finnish / Icelandic - too far from Norwegian), the price will be higher. I have noted that there have been very little response to my last posts. I know that some of them are technical, but it disappointed me that I did not get a single response to this Word 2002 Book Templates. thread that was on the front page of WPW.

[Dcrux]

Now I see that there are so many CMS systems

Really, I'm familiar with Joomla and Drupal and much more -- never saw a system for content management yet. There may be a market for a CMS in the CMS market, the same way Apple walks into crowded markets and dominates them. The CMS market is like microcomputers who play the MP3 file format were before the iPod.

If you had a CMS, chances are this thread wouldn't exist. The CMS doesn't merely support data storage, it's a decision support suite. A CMS can't exist in the cold, dead, grip of the last vestige of the data processing era -- it's information technology. (Information yet another meaningless word in this relic of the twentieth we live in).

CMS related marketing sites

Or you could develop the world's first marketing CMS. Sorry; allowing and displaying an alphanumeric string humans can recognize isn't support of any marketing goal -- it just barely qualifies as tolerance of humans.

That would be global support of marketing.

Book layout templates? That'd probably be Quark. But letmegooglethatforyou -- Microsoft Word® Book Templates.

Technology is great at supporting fragmentation and scattering of attention, and this decision crisis is a good example. There's no connecting thread or strategy here. You need to develop one.

Frankly you won't command USD $100 a year on placements for sites going in every direction with no focus.

With marketing, it starts with a unique selling proposition. You want something where all this "stuff" shares a clear objective and focus.

You're writing a book on coding. With code, name three CMS systems that support plogging and code. Never heard of a Project Management blog (Plog)? Okay name one that does this.

O ...kay. How about a CMS which outputs in print ready format so you can turn what you're written into a ready made book (including templates)?

Yeah. All kinds of CMSes out there. Or just the one done about a thousand times over.

[kgun]

Thank you for your input.

Originally Posted by Dcrux

Book layout templates? That'd probably be Quark. But letmegooglethatforyou -- Microsoft Word® Book Templates.

I did that myself, but did not find good enough Book template for Word 2002 and below. I had not asked here if I did.

[astro]

Originally Posted by kgun

1. Background.
   I started building web sites in the autumn 2004. Originally, I intended that it should be a three stage process.
   2005 - 2008 Getting an overview and learning different technologies.
   2009 - 2011 Build content and a marketing network. Look in the lower right corner of my mini network. This has for various reasons been delayed by one year. I did not originally intend to develope my C++ (Builder) skills. Now I see that C++ Builder and Delphi PHP is developing into one of the most advanced professional web platforms, so in the end, that delay may be good.
   2012 - 2015. Streamlining the mini network sites...........
   
   ...........
2. Feedback.
   Don't use your and my time on meaningless feedback like interesting, bad, great post or similar. I am asking for serious feedback and input to help relieve my decision crisis. I am very interested in advertisers that want an account on some of my CMS marketing networks where they can buy their own marketing space. Today October 28 and some months ahead is the opportunity. If you can no pay at least USD 50 - 100 / year for marketing space, don't contact me. If you need translation from American / English to Norwegian (Scandianavian aside from Finnish / Icelandic - too far from Norwegian), the price will be higher. I have noted that there have been very little response to my last posts. I know that some of them are technical, but it disappointed me that I did not get a single response to this Word 2002 Book Templates. thread that was on the front page of WPW.

This may not be what you want to hear but is it possible you are part of your problem? Your post does little to encourage replies....very analytical, negative and so controlled. But you have asked for feedback.

I suspect I am posting what many may feel. I know you are helpful in yourself as I have seen other posts you have made when helping others....Here goes!

I suspect you have got so close to your ambitions you are no longer able to see the trees for the wood. Stand back and chill out, things look different when a more casual approach is made.

/astro

[SnerdeyWebs]

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[kgun]

Originally Posted by astro

This may not be what you want to hear but is it possible you are part of your problem? Your post does little to encourage replies....very analytical, negative and so controlled. But you have asked for feedback.

Ok, I understand that reaction. Any other input, and read my original post once more so you don't misunderstand my message.

It is not a discussion about which CMS system I shall use.

Thank you.

[Dcrux]

The thread is getting a bit like what blocks of code would look like if they were signaling through a forum. I half expect a modal error dialog.

Let us start anew. What's a Unique Selling Proposition which weaves a common thread through all the functions? It's hard understand what the purpose of the sites are -- and it should be rather plain if you expect ad revenue.

Let's take "Financial Information at Your Fingertips." On a human factors level more basic than marketing it would make Jacob Nielsen's head explode. This is data -- no user required. You can tell through the update frequency this was done as a code exercise, it's annoying and as useless as the blink tag for a human. Usability being low level human factors, and marketing seen as high level human factors -- this bodes ill.

This one page sums it up nicely, but there are so many levels required for response it's hard to begin.

Were this designed with a target user in mind, you would 1) Update data for comfort, not to show off code performance. 2) Not have the X axis entries blink. 3) Provide some way to select X/Y and focus on the intersect.

Thats' just for data. For information you'd put up a currency converter. Two boxes, one clear answer.

Claude Shannon's information theory doesn't work well applied to marketing communications. In other words, there are bigger problems here. I don't even want to comment on what I found when clicking the Mini Network link. Clearly, information design is not your forte. The design doesn't evidence a single item of interaction design revealed through user testing in the last decade or more.

Without a target user, there's no segmentation for an advertiser to find valuable enough to bother with ...at pretty much any price point. Advertisers want a clearly on target message delivered to a likely potential customer. And thats' not what you're offering.

The solution is relatively simple. Contact a designer, marketing person, and writer. Take out a checkbook, and write the number one. Then keep adding zeros until they sigh and (reluctantly) take the job of making the site worth advertising on.

Before you get all "Error - Exception - Invalid argument in lines ____ of response #474598" we're not talking about marketing as that alphanumeric string you type that gets the human to output money. That's the crisis here.

[kgun]

Thank you very much for your earnest feedback.

[deepsand]

Originally Posted by kgun

New opportunities.
I intend to develope the CMS related marketing sites for companies that want to advertise in Scandinavia / Norway, where some text may also be in Norwegian if I find value in transalting it. Hourly pay is fairly high here, so there is a tradeoff. In addition, I willl develope my financial and technology related sites. And since (online) game development brings you to the technology front, I think it is a good idea to devlope game engines in C++ and combine them with an API made in Python and / or (Delphi) PHP. There is no lack of C++ and assembler code to make fast game engines. The problem is the octopus that points in too many directions.

If I am correctly understanding you, that the decision before you is which application market segment to first target, then the answer would seem to lie in how you foresee each such segment being monetized.

[kgun]

Originally Posted by deepsand

If I am correctly understanding you, that the decision before you is which application market segment to first target, then the answer would seem to lie in how you foresee each such segment being monetized.

1. Yes that is a correct observation.
2. So it is also releated to what economists call comparative advantages.
3. In addition, the design of my sites have been mentioned. I am open for change when I start from january 2010. I know that the Dreamveaver template I use on most of my sites is not good on some laptops, high resolution, slow connections and small screens. I started with that template in january 2005.

[deepsand]

Whether or not having a comparative advantage is required depends on the extent to which the end user is capable of serving his own needs.

For example, few users of games are capable of developing such, so that they are forced to be net buyers of such if they wish to play them.

On the other hand, many are presumably able to develop their own specialized CMS should they so chose; however, it is not the case that many are able to achieve an economy of scale such that an investment in such is their better option.

Regardless of such, the question of how you envision each particular potential offering being monetized is an essential issue, unless you intend to operate on a non-profit basis; which, I gather, is not the case..

[cw1865]

Originally Posted by kgun

A decision crisis.

Originally Posted by kgun

When there are too many solutions and you have too many ideas, everything is floating, and you don't get anything done.

It sounds to me like you need to focus your efforts?

Originally Posted by kgun

Originally I intended to start with a marketing network and develope financial related sites since economics and finance is my profession. If you look at the sites in my mini network, you will note that there are a lot of other sites. And I should like to write a book on C++Builder, since there are few (none) that is up to date.

Originally Posted by kgun

During the last years, I have not used many hours on my original sites. Now (from january 1910) it is time to do that, but I still want to develope my C++ (Builder) skills.

Reading this it seems like you are betwixted and between further developing your financial related websites or between acquiring C++ (Builder) skills for purposes of writing a book.

The first question that you have to ask yourself is why does one endeavor preclude the other? Why can't you devote time to the C++ project and delegate the further development of the financial related websites to others?

Secondly, you have to consider the potential earnings from writing a C++ book (very niche market)

Rebecca Brandewyne - New York Times Bestselling Author. Advances & Royalties.

"First and foremost, you should know that contrary to popular belief, all authors are not multimillionaires! In fact, the percentage of authors who earn their livings solely from their writing careers --- much less make huge amounts of money at it --- is exceedingly small. Rather, the hard reality is that the vast majority of authors cannot earn even a comfortable --- much less a luxurious --- living from their writing careers, and, unless they have access to other sources of funding (such as a working spouse, investments and dividends, or an inheritance), are frequently compelled to take other jobs as their primary means of financial support."


Have you researched the potential earnings from such a book? How? Contact a local publisher, go to the bookstore and go to the computer section and try to find the e-mails of some of the authors (I've actually e-mailed quite a few authors of books I have read and have received responses).


Amazon.com: C++ Primer Plus (5th Edition) (075206332697: Stephen Prata: Books


"Stephen Prata teaches astronomy, physics, and computer science at the College of Marin in Kentfield, California." - Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,065 in Books {I don't know what that means for purposes of analyzing how many books Amazon has sold}


Ultimately its your decision, but from everything that you have posted here, I would say that your choice is obvious: you further develop your financial websites and you relegate the book to a 'pet project'

[MrGamm]

A decision crisis...

I always start to worry when I see so many other people on the web doing good things, which otherwise makes me question how much progress I am actually making. It's counter productive, you just start to doubt yourself. The technology is getting better, but not because there are "new" technologies, I would think it's just the cumulative effect of the "Don't Repeat Yourself" philosophy... I would focus more on what you can do to make the long term more efficient... most people are re-inventing the wheel... but there are even more people out there who are re-inventing the same wheel 20-30 times a month... Hope that helps...

I usually drop into sourceforge to see what people are making... GNU stuff is pretty good... I also check the trends to see just how far along something is really adopted or if just fad...

http://www.google.com/trends?q=perl%...+ruby+on+rails

PHP is pretty much here to stay... Python seems to be heavily adopted by Google, other than that I really have no idea... but typically alot more people are moving away from having to at all code right? that is the whole purpose of coding to abstract...

New Opportunities...

Massively Multiple Online Role Playing Games

Massively multiplayer online role-playing game - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Google Earth Monopoly

Monopoly City Streets

But those kind of projects require a significant amount of work...

This is an interesting new CMS... Haven't tried it myself yet... but the major selling point might be the time saved training clients...

concrete5 - Free CMS | Open Source Content Management System

Alot of people are also interested in Expression Engine, and Magento...

As for MMORPG code... I have only been inside one project... but it's at the very least interesting... http://www.daimonin.org/ I learned a few good things from it...

I hope that helps...

[Doc]

Kjell-

I'm inclined to agree with CW. From my (limited) perspective, it would seem that you would be best advised to focus on that which gives you the most financial benefit, unless, of course, you're in a position to not be concerned with that (if you are, would you consider adopting me? ). Ms. Brandywine is spot on, that most authors do not get wealthy from their writing. Aside from a few of the more prolific authors (and even some of THEM died penniless), most would probably readily admit that they were working for pennies per hour. The Updikes, Kings and Micheners of the world are much more the exception than the rule.
Being published can bolster your credibility, if you're published within the field in which you work. I would think that writing a book on economics would be more productive, in that regard. Pretty much virgin territory, too, since economic theory is being totally re-vamped with the advent of globalization. (Keynes was brilliant, but his theories are no longer as valid, if at all.) You could write with real authority on the topic, it would boost your credibility in the field, and it might yield some substantial financial benefit. Writing on C++, in my opinion, would be an exercise that would probably enhance your knowledge of the subject matter, but would probably not yield any great monetary gain, nor lend more credence to your economics work.

Just my two cents worth, Kjell.

[Tarzan2]

kgun,
You and I are so much alike in that we have far too many interests. I have found that in today's world, one must specialize or flounder in mediocraty. It is imparative that you find ONE area of interest that you are really passionate about and focus on that and that alone. Once you have established yourself in that field, THEN you can begin to pursue other interests as a hobby or what have you. You could also sell or turn over responsibility to someone else once the project is running at full steam to free yourself for the next great project.

[deepsand]

And, yet, there is, for one, Leonardo da Vinci.