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Market Research
Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2005 1:26 pm
by ironpants
Here's the skinny, I'm pretty aware of all of your feelings of spaces.msn.com, but I thought the base idea was pretty solid. I'm working on a bringing up a competative product, and would like to elicit your feedback (since you guys are all pretty internet savvy and spend too much time on blogs and forums
) prior to going to work on the whole darned thing.
Basically, what would you like to see in a personal portal product, what would you not like to see etc.
Thanks!
ROh
Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2005 4:30 pm
by bio
Thinks I like:
Comment posting
Spam blocking that works (by keyword, blacklist, etc)!!!!!!
RSS Syndication
Logging (who searched for what, etc)
Totally customizable templates
Auto notification of updates/comments/etc by subscription
Auto thumbnail generation of images
Ability to post via email or 3rd party application (ie:
wbloggar)
Search ability (for readers)
Google friendly URL's for individual posts (using the title of the post as a link rather than "domain.com/index.php?p=210")
Track Backs (ie - linking to posts on other domains)
The ability to turn any feature on or off!
Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2005 4:34 pm
by bio
Oh yeah... and the ability to upload, move, remove, rename files via a web interface.
Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2005 5:59 pm
by AsaJay
Yup, what he said.
I'm running upwards of four blogs at the moment. Yea, like I'm actually -posting- to any of them.
I'm just getting started. A little more ex-lax for the brain and I should be typing like mad soon.
Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2005 7:25 pm
by ironpants
bio wrote:Oh yeah... and the ability to upload, move, remove, rename files via a web interface.
ooohhh, damn, hadn't thought of that. What kinds of files were you thinking about here? I wasn't thinking of much other than images. If this was a free service, how much space do you think would be neccessary per blog?
Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2005 7:33 pm
by bio
Your typical files are fine (jpg, gif, png, pdf, etc.). I'd be wary things like mp3 for legal reasons.
As for space... that depends on your pricing model (I'm assuming it's free, but there'll be bandwidth contstaints, I'm sure). Probobly somewhere around the 300mb range for free if you want to get a good turnout.
Basically, look at what MS and other companies offer, then meet or beat it.
Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2005 7:36 pm
by ironpants
that's the kicker, I'm looking at initial market projections of 3-6 million signups/month Not sure my initial storage projections are gonna hold at 300mb. I may be able to get away with 50mb accross the board and reward high traffic blogs w/ more disk space.
Thoughts?
Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2005 7:56 pm
by bio
MS gives you 10mb of storage space in it's Spaces program (text from your posts don't count against that as they live in the DB).
So... if you offered the same, or perhaps more (15 - 20mb for files they can upload), you'd have an edge to get people to move over. Offer the same 10 as MS and you'll compete for people who haven't logged in yet.
One thing... you might want to disable hotlinks from your blogs to discourage people from opening them just to post images to Fark and other high bandwidth sites (or not... your choice).
Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 10:21 am
by ironpants
Hehehe, I've got some badness waiting for hotlinkers!
Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 10:52 am
by bio
egg salad!
Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 10:54 am
by ironpants
bio wrote:egg salad!
Dude, I used to wonder what makes you tick, now I'm terrified to know.
Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 11:12 am
by Rocketdork
ironpants wrote:bio wrote:egg salad!
Dude, I used to wonder what makes you tick, now I'm terrified to know.
Yeah, a scary thing...
Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 11:15 am
by bio
Rofl!
My work here is nearly complete.
Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 11:37 am
by Rocketdork
When you scare pigman, then you can be done...
And of course...when you scare pigman, your place on earth is in danger.
Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 1:21 pm
by Pigman
Actually, I was concerned with a Bio Egg Salad Exhaust issue....