aznracerboi Posted January 7, 2006 Share Posted January 7, 2006 NOTE: Sorry If I Posted In The Wrong Place, But I Wanted To Let Sig Makers Look At This, Where It Would Be Mostly Viewed. Creator and creation It took a 21-year-old a few minutes to come up with an idea which has made him more than one million dollars in four months. So what's his secret? It started with a blank notepad, an overdraft and a shortage of socks. Now it's a million-dollar business. Last August, as a three-year degree loomed, Alex Tew lay on his bed in his family home in Cricklade, Wiltshire. It was time for his nightly brainstorming session. This time, the problem was his finances. He already had an overdraft, which was sure to multiply at university, and he felt his poverty was reflected by his lack of decent, or matching, socks. As I made money, more people talked about it and the more people talked about it, the more money I made The first thing he wrote in his pad was "How can I become a millionaire?" Twenty minutes later, the Million Dollar Homepage idea was born. It was selling pixels, the dots which make up a computer screen, as advertising space, costing a dollar per dot. The minimum purchase was $100 for a 10x10 pixel square to hold the buyer's logo or design. Clicking on that space takes readers to the buyer's website. With $999,000 banked so far, Alex recalls his thought process at the time. He says: "I wrote the title to spark the creativity and then wrote down the attributes the idea needed. It had to be simple to set up and understand. "It had to have a name to capture the imagination and be something that could be set up quickly with no physical delivery required. "I wrote down some keywords and then the idea came out 20 minutes later - selling pixels. So I snapped up the domain name that very night." Snowballing Alex spent ÃÆââ¬Å¡Ãâã50 on buying the domain name (milliondollarhomepage.com) and a basic web-hosting package. He designed the site himself but it began as a blank page. His friends and family paid the first $1,000 dollars, which he spent on a press release. That small publicity gave his site more traffic, which in turn persuaded more advertisers to have faith. An iconic image of internet art? "It snowballed," he says. "As I made money, more people talked about it and the more people talked about it, the more money I made." Four months and 2,000 customers later, including The Times and Orange, and the million dollars is almost surpassed. Two million different people have accessed the site, which has a wry blog and FAQs, in the last seven days. "I've been blown away. These have been the most exciting and hectic months of my life. Things are quite surreal at the moment and because it's been so busy it hasn't really sunk in. "It seems like Monopoly money. Previously I'd associated money with working at Tesco getting paid ÃÆââ¬Å¡Ãâã5 an hour." His first business venture was when, aged eight, he drew comics and sold them at school. He had no intention of going to university because he wanted to try out some of his ideas. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4585026.stm - News http://milliondollarhomepage.com/ - His Website Join DAA - 90+ CMB!106/100 Combat83/90 Smithing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterxman Posted January 7, 2006 Share Posted January 7, 2006 There's not much art involved here so I'll move this to Off Topic where it can be discussed better as business style rather than media. Pixel sigs by me.Pixel Art Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wcerforlyfe Posted January 7, 2006 Share Posted January 7, 2006 wow lol http://www.turnpoint.net/wireless/cantennahowto.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lambretta89 Posted January 7, 2006 Share Posted January 7, 2006 HOLY S**T im gobsmacked literally Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercifull Posted January 7, 2006 Share Posted January 7, 2006 Hes a very lucky guy. Any avertiser with an ounce of intelligence knows that people do NOT visit sites just to look at averts and that a tiny square ad is going to generate even LESS clicks and that now the site has been used up not even news agencies and cirious people are going to go there. lol Its win for the guy whos idea it was but the ppl that paid are royally screwed lol Mercifull <3 Suzi "We don't want players to be able to buy their way to success in RuneScape. If we let players start doing this, it devalues RuneScape for others. We feel your status in real-life shouldn't affect your ability to be successful in RuneScape" Jagex 01/04/01 - 02/03/12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubsa Posted January 7, 2006 Share Posted January 7, 2006 Well, good for him I guess. To be honest, I never would have thought something like this would work and I doubt it actually does for 999/1000 people. This guy got a break and hey, he made the most of it. Kick in the teeth for the other 999 though :P This is how much you all raised for charity. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aznracerboi Posted January 7, 2006 Author Share Posted January 7, 2006 Forealz I never really thought it would work, dang 10x10 for $100. You guys should open your pain programs and see how SMALL that is, could probably make 1000 logos a day. He already sold 999,000 Pixels and has 1,000 more to sell on Ebay currently going for $152,300.00. So if he sold all his 999,000 pixels for $100 ea thats $99,900,000. Join DAA - 90+ CMB!106/100 Combat83/90 Smithing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted January 7, 2006 Share Posted January 7, 2006 I've followed this since it started and there's been some debate brewing for a while. He's finally come out in the open and admitted he had hired help. The only reason it worked was because he hired a professional, marketer, and she got him press releases, tv times, etc. I'd like to see him try and get it to work without that help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runesmithie Posted January 7, 2006 Share Posted January 7, 2006 Forealz I never really thought it would work, dang 10x10 for $100. You guys should open your pain programs and see how SMALL that is, could probably make 1000 logos a day. He already sold 999,000 Pixels and has 1,000 more to sell on Ebay currently going for $152,300.00. So if he sold all his 999,000 pixels for $100 ea thats $99,900,000. The pixels themselves are $1 each, so he made $999,000 I just posted something! ^_^ to the terrorist...er... kirbybeam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indy500fan Posted January 7, 2006 Share Posted January 7, 2006 a lot of that traffic was probably due to someone posting this link on digg.com. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escape5 Posted January 7, 2006 Share Posted January 7, 2006 That is one lucky lucky person. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Posted January 7, 2006 Share Posted January 7, 2006 He probably spent most of it on lawyers and other services for his money. Either way he made a bit, but it's not like it could be a career for him, it's kind of a one time shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
____ Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 Don't forget the people trying to cash in on it... millionpennyhomepage millionquarterhomepage I think there's like 4 or 5 of them... :evil: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jass0 Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 so what are u saying free money??? send me PM i send you my paypal k, keep getting free mony u can always send it 2 my acc... later mate what was ur rs acc again?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jak722 Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 Don't forget the people trying to cash in on it... millionpennyhomepage millionquarterhomepage I think there's like 4 or 5 of them... :evil: Yep ive already clicked on one of em. I wonder if this is just a fad... :roll: The Enrichment Center reminds you that the weighted companion cube will never threaten to stab you and, in fact, cannot speak. In the event that the weighted companion cube does speak, the Enrichment Center urges you to disregard its advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apinagez Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 I just can't figure out why he didn't make it bigger. ^The most disturbing signature on Tip.it^Last.fm|HELLY KAYLA!|Oh the mehagurtz!|#Siencemakers"they care less about their spelling mistakes then I." - Lionheart"apinagez... let me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 a lot of that traffic was probably due to someone posting this link on digg.com. Or maybe it's due to various television appearances, write ups in atleast 20 countries in various newspapers (including the wall street journal) :roll: And like I already mentioned, he's not getting the full million. He might now because that ebay auction is going insane, but he's got a couple hundred grand in fees to his marketing lady. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevepole Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 seen this a few months ago.......the links on the page stink though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 Sigh... http://gadgets.fosfor.se/?page_id=576 It's a mini "sponsor box." Works well for blogs, you can do your own mdh on your page. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OhFour Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 Thoughs arn't even good, lol. I could make the same and save 100. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dusqi Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 He goes to my university (Nottingham University). Much respect to him :) Nottingham has a good entrepreneurial reputation I believe also :D I always wondered how he got the site started in the first place though, and this thread is the first time I've heard about his professional marketing help, which is a bit disappointing really. Edit: I just read some of his blog, and he only hired his professional publicist in the middle of October, so it didn't get him started at all. Also, it says he has deferred his degree until next year, so technically he doesn't go to my university, heh :P For it is the greyness of dusk that reigns.The time when the living and the dead exist as one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erock Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 how can u make so much money off such a random idea?? :? :? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke_Freedom Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 A very creative yet insane idea. Was executed well and combined with a bit of luck it became a lucrative idea. It's the hype he (with help of that marketing advisor) created around it that led to the succesion. Congratulations to the british student. Any avertiser with an ounce of intelligence knows that people do NOT visit sites just to look at averts and that a tiny square ad is going to generate even LESS clicks and that now the site has been used up not even news agencies and cirious people are going to go there. lol That was my first reaction too. Did you check the number of page hits though? Sure it may be untargetted adverts and sure the website is not visited by people who want to look at the adds really (no website is?) but I suppose the massivity at which people visit the site could make it worthwhile for the investors anyway... It's the massive hype around it that made it a success - and yes that hype will probably disappear fast when his last 1000 pixels are sold. The value of my bank at its height. Estimated value at the peak of the rares market: 250 billion+.Most likely the largest trade in RuneScape ever. Estimated value at the peak of the rares market: 70 billion+. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infi Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 Saw this on ebaumsworld.com ;) Pretty cool idea 99 Hits, Attack, Strength, Defence, Mage, Summoning, Slayer, Ranged, 96/99 Prayer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubsa Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 Saw this on ebaumsworld.com ;) Typical. Watch them make claim to this one. This is how much you all raised for charity. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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