The Making of This Web Site - Part 1

As a novice “Webmaster”, I’ve been asked what my thought processes were when deciding on a theme for this web site, the thought processes I went through as I developed the site, why I chose the tools I used, how I expect to market the site and finally, how I plan to maintain it.

You may have noticed that I went from the past tense to the present tense. I’m at the point where the first iteration of the site is ready to present to the web community. I am about to “Market” it and maintain it.

Both this book and the web site are a “Work In Progress” (WIP). This booklog will evolve into something that may resemble what I’m writing in this series of postings; I’m sure the site will also evolve.

My first thought processes were as follows.

Like most Baby Boomers, I approached retirement without really planning for it. I had a successful career as a Banker, retiring early to pursue another successful career as a Management/Technology Consultant. If you want to know more, see my LinkedIn Profile. At the age of 65 I was still working as a consultant and expected to do so to the age of 70 in order to achieve the financial independence I wanted.

Last year, at the age of 66, I concluded that my approach to achieving this goal should be enriched with other streams of income. I started researching streams of income that I could pursue without having a “job” that demanded my daily presence. Ideally, I wanted to be able to launch streams of income and have them automatically generate income without requiring my constant attention. This goal has been the focus of my research for most of 2007.

The “streams of income” concept is not mine. It is exceptionally well-defined by Robert G. Allen in several books on that topic. I urge you to investigate his approach to “Multiple Streams of Income”.

I have identified four broad categories of relatively passive streams of income that are achievable through a web site. These will be the initial focus of the web site content. In order of priority, they are:
• Affiliate Income (Notice the links to Amazon books.)
• Self-published Books (This first one will be free.)
• Advertising (After the web site becomes successful.)
• Joint Ventures (Not yet fully defined.)

Next, Part 2, an informal business case.