Homeless Man Builds $5 million Website

Homeless Man Builds 5mln Dollar Website

Omegle - A fast riser

Omegle.com is one of those site that appears out of nowhere, catches people the right way and rises instantly. It has also been able to sustain traffic over 2 weeks because it keeps getting mentioned as new people discover it. Look at the Alexa rank:

Alexa stats for Omegle

Here's a typical blog post - the kind that has given this site traffic over the last two weeks:

xkcd on Omegle

Omegle has a Good, short, unique name that is easy to remember. It has a simple concept that is easy to explain. It has simple, clean execution on its idea.

A new site

Here is a new site created by a single person. It is simple in concept and nicely implemented. I do not know how long it will last, because he may have underestimated bandwidth costs, but perhaps he has deep pockets or receives enough donations. Excellent URL too:

Imgur.com

His description is simple enough:

imgur is an image sharer. It allows you to upload a picture, manipulate it, and share it with your friends, post it on reddit, add it to your blog, email it, etc.

imgur is equivalent to sites such as ImageShack, TinyPic, and PhotoBucket, except that it's much easier to use, faster, without ads, and free.

He announced it on Reddit.com and got a great first-day response:

My Gift to Reddit: I created an image hosting service that doesn't suck. What do you think?

It will be interesting to come back in a month and see where he is at.

Creating a high-end look for a web site

Some of these are so simple, but they look great:

21 Simple But Impressive Corporate Web Designs Of Top Brands

Taking charge

If you need some extra energy:

60+ Resources For Entrepreneurs To Step Up and Take Charge

Making money with Facebook

Viral takes on new meaning if you create resonance on facebook:

Piggybacking on Facebook

According to data from Google, which helps Web-site owners monitor their traffic, Are You Interested had 6.1 million unique visitors in January and 155 million page views.

“A widget like this is clearly at the sweet spot,” said Barry Parr, a media analyst with Jupiter Research. “It appeals to the right demographic, it’s useful, and it’s also fun.”

Money has begun to come in from advertising. Last month, Snap Interactive reported preliminary fourth-quarter 2007 sales of $388,000. Profitability for the quarter and the year will be released in March.

Creating a TV Channel

One option on the Web is TV. Here's an introduction:

TV 101: Why Leo Laporte represents the future of TV (kinda)

Getting started

Getting started can be a challenge. Here is some inspiration:

If a 13 year-old can launch a startup you have no excuse

From the article:

The point about this story is that not only has this teenager gone and created ScottBlog, but he had the get-up-and-go to find out who writes about startups, write a press release and email them. He’s even put himself on CrunchBase. A lot of older people than haven’t done that much.

Another possibility: Start Your Own Business for $100 or Less

Making money on YouTube

PR

PR Secrets for Startups