Angie McKaig - E-Business Consultant and Entrepreneur

finding an idea2004.10.23

So you've Got The Right Stuff: you're interested in learning more about technology, design and sales, you're willing to spend the time it takes to build a successful web site, and you know that you can spend the time online needed to research trends across your industry and the Internet as a whole.

Now, if you don't already have one, you need an idea. How do you come up with a concept for a web site?

Do I need to be an expert?

Being obsessed about the subject of your web site is certainly a bonus, and some of the more popular and successful web sites out there are run by people who started with a deep abiding love for their subject. But even more web sites out there started with a thin thread of interest tying them to the topic, and expert-level knowledge of the topic only came after years and years.

My own sites are perfect examples of this. When I started Pathway to Darkness (once billed as the Ultimate Vampire Resource) I didn't know much about vampires at all - I'd read Anne Rice's books, owned one non-fic book on the subject (Melton's Vampire Encyclopedia, if you're curious) and had a short story on hand that I'd written in high school.

Pampered Puppy was no different. Although I owned a dog for the first time in my life, she certainly wasn't a spoiled princess when I came up with the concept for the site. She was strictly a PetSmart girl, and I couldn't tell a Gucci from a Versace.

In both these cases, learning, knowledge and appreciation came over time. Don't worry. You've got that time.

Don't make it like homework

However, I do believe strongly that you should choose a topic that is somewhat related to an interest of yours. There's a very simple reason for this. You're about to throw yourself heart and soul into this project. It stands to reason that if you have no interest whatsoever in the topic of your site, you're not going to be very motivated to do the research necessary to make a go of it (more on this soon, in research parts 1 and 2). The last thing you want when running a business is for it to feel like homework every day.

The goal here is to create a business for yourself that is fun and exciting: a learning experience and something that motivates and inspires you. That's why it's unlikely you'll ever see me do a site on industrial fasteners or sailing or Royal Doulton figurines.

Making a list, checking it twice

Let's take a look at how to expand on a basic interest into a list of possible site concepts. We'll take a common interest for most people - food - and extract it into as many possible concepts as we can come up with. The goal here is to take a topic and make a list of as many related subjects as possible. (If you're drawing a blank with your own interests, try your local library or even a Wikipedia search for ideas.)

Note that this list isn't exhaustive! You're likely to be able to add some ideas of your own to the list below. But it should give you an idea of how to compile a list.

Types of food
Vegetable (subsets like legumes, etc.), dairy (subsets like milk, cheese), meats (subsets like chicken, pork, beef), grains (subsets like bread, pasta)

Food preparation
Types of preparation: simple, for students/bachelors, family, gourmet, appetizer, meal, baking. Also food prep history (history of a certain ethnicity, history of a certain period like Renaissance or the 50's, or a more global look at history over many different time periods). Recipes (or certain subsets like by ethnic group or by ingredient). Products used for food preparation, or a subset (only grilling products, only baking products).

Food and health
Scientific (about the scientific links between food and health), diet (covering all the different diets out there, or focusing on one, or a few), ethnic (looking at how different populations' health is affected by how they eat).

Buying food
History of the grocery store, local resources for your area, global/national resources of grocery stores (or subsets: those that deliver, those that carry special items).

Eating out
Local resources for your area (or a subset: only open past 10pm, good breakfast places, places that provide takeout or delivery), national/global resources (or a subset: only Italian restaurants, only truck stops, only places you can eat for under $20), reviews of restaurants, guides on how to find a good restaurant, history of restaurants and eating out.

Most of these ideas on our list are perfectly acceptable as a web site topic, but not all of them extend well to be a web business. But how can you tell the difference?

I'll cover the next step, Evaluating Your Idea, in my next post.

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