Hey it’s Opossum here! Welcome to my free monthly Q/A Roundup. Today’s post is on some of the best questions in the last month. Each week I write about a new topic or analyze a new digital business. If you’re not a subscriber, here’s what you missed this month:
@BowTied Opossum: Hi, I'm real new around here. Like brand new. I think my paid subscription is like 10 minutes old LOL... I did some preliminary searing on your substack for posts about domain names and didn't see what I was hoping to find to a question I have. I also didn't find a flashing sign that says 'submit your question here for consideration in the monthly Q&A'.... so, I have a domain name question, or a few...let's be honest... where can I ask them? Thanks.
Situation: about to pull the trigger on buying a domain name, but first:
1) Please explain 'branded domain' that I saw you talk about in an early post, Googling that term goes in a direction that is different than what I *think* you mean for it
2) The answer to #1 may answer this... thoughts on naming a blog website generic/board search terms (ex: www.womenandhunting.com) versus the business/brand name you envision for the future (ex: www.mamabearhunting.com) <-- completely made up examples
3) Thoughts on a social media username being the same v. different than your website name (ex: IG/tiktok/Twitter handle: mamabearhunting, blog/website name: wwwwomenandhunting.com)
I want to start a blog/social media account around a new hobby I'm taking up. I want to document my experience and share the knowledge I gain as I go along. Eventually introducing affiliate marketing links into my content. I've gotten stalled in choosing the above... Do I use the most searched keywords (women + hobby ) in my naming or do I choose a 'brand' name website that I work on building into an authority in that small niche and use lots of SEO for the search terms (women + hobby) in my content so that my site *hopefully* pops up in search results?
#3 The handles should be the same or very very very similar if it's taken
Last paragraph - Already answered with #2 go with branded always.
Google "best personal finance websites" and look at the lists that come up. Are any of them named bestpersonalfiancewebsite.com or something similar? Didn't think so.
What do you think about working a job with making a startup versus getting investment and working on a startup full time? What terms would you consider acceptable for investment such as the valuation versus equity?
For some reason bowtiedbull seems really averse to getting funding and i guess this is because they prefer the entire thing to be owned by one person for flexibility, but it seems unreasonable to me since the concept of running a company seems more in line with getting funding regardless of revenue or business logic(what's the risk of spending someone else's money? Risk free equity)
I think you're missing the point. It's a very specific question that's impossible to answer. Years of experience? I have people that I work with the same years of experience as Jeff Bezos. Going to ask for a lot less equity per dollar from Bezos than someone with the same level of "experience".
It's two different business models. You either own 90%+ or you raise as much money as possible. Going somewhere in the middle is much more difficult. If you can't raise millions, just build while you work and build/fund an offshore team for the product.
It's not risk free equity since you're not valuing your time in the calc and comparing it to the alternative of owning 100%.
Thank you so much for the shoutout on Twitter! I just started posting on there so I'm still small but here is my link: https://twitter.com/TrendingDataCo
Is it logical to try and add various monetization mechanisms (ex: ads, ebooks, addtl affiliate categories) to an affiliate site? Or is it better to just stick to being an affiliate for your main category only?
And how important do you see email marketing and collecting opt-ins for an affiliate business?
Huh. That's a real website. And it's exactly the type of website I would expect with that domain name. No favicon, Amazon affiliate, half done website, and the owner gave up shortly after starting it.
@BowTied Opossum: Hi, I'm real new around here. Like brand new. I think my paid subscription is like 10 minutes old LOL... I did some preliminary searing on your substack for posts about domain names and didn't see what I was hoping to find to a question I have. I also didn't find a flashing sign that says 'submit your question here for consideration in the monthly Q&A'.... so, I have a domain name question, or a few...let's be honest... where can I ask them? Thanks.
Ask your question right here
Situation: about to pull the trigger on buying a domain name, but first:
1) Please explain 'branded domain' that I saw you talk about in an early post, Googling that term goes in a direction that is different than what I *think* you mean for it
2) The answer to #1 may answer this... thoughts on naming a blog website generic/board search terms (ex: www.womenandhunting.com) versus the business/brand name you envision for the future (ex: www.mamabearhunting.com) <-- completely made up examples
3) Thoughts on a social media username being the same v. different than your website name (ex: IG/tiktok/Twitter handle: mamabearhunting, blog/website name: wwwwomenandhunting.com)
I want to start a blog/social media account around a new hobby I'm taking up. I want to document my experience and share the knowledge I gain as I go along. Eventually introducing affiliate marketing links into my content. I've gotten stalled in choosing the above... Do I use the most searched keywords (women + hobby ) in my naming or do I choose a 'brand' name website that I work on building into an authority in that small niche and use lots of SEO for the search terms (women + hobby) in my content so that my site *hopefully* pops up in search results?
#2 answers #1 besthuntingrifles.com vs mamabearhunting.com
#3 The handles should be the same or very very very similar if it's taken
Last paragraph - Already answered with #2 go with branded always.
Google "best personal finance websites" and look at the lists that come up. Are any of them named bestpersonalfiancewebsite.com or something similar? Didn't think so.
What do you think about working a job with making a startup versus getting investment and working on a startup full time? What terms would you consider acceptable for investment such as the valuation versus equity?
1. Depends on the idea and your experience. Not enough info to really answer.
2. Another non-specific question. Depends on revenue, history of execution of the team, growth potential, actual business idea/model, etc.
Idea saas
Experience 10yoe
Revenue ZERO
Team me
Growth potential infinity??
Business model saas
For some reason bowtiedbull seems really averse to getting funding and i guess this is because they prefer the entire thing to be owned by one person for flexibility, but it seems unreasonable to me since the concept of running a company seems more in line with getting funding regardless of revenue or business logic(what's the risk of spending someone else's money? Risk free equity)
I think you're missing the point. It's a very specific question that's impossible to answer. Years of experience? I have people that I work with the same years of experience as Jeff Bezos. Going to ask for a lot less equity per dollar from Bezos than someone with the same level of "experience".
It's two different business models. You either own 90%+ or you raise as much money as possible. Going somewhere in the middle is much more difficult. If you can't raise millions, just build while you work and build/fund an offshore team for the product.
It's not risk free equity since you're not valuing your time in the calc and comparing it to the alternative of owning 100%.
Question: Is it step 0 to register our businesses? Thoughts?
Answered here.
https://bowtiedopossum.substack.com/p/when-to-setup-your-biz-entity
You should go to the beginning of the Substack and read everything from the beginning but the end of that post will clarify.
Love how brutally honest you are in the Q&A
Have to be. It's good for people to hear brutal honesty.
Also, what's your Twitter?
https://twitter.com/BowTiedOpossum/status/1590543445135069185
Thank you so much for the shoutout on Twitter! I just started posting on there so I'm still small but here is my link: https://twitter.com/TrendingDataCo
I see that you don't follow me. Shame.
Just did! Still getting the hang of the platform
Is it logical to try and add various monetization mechanisms (ex: ads, ebooks, addtl affiliate categories) to an affiliate site? Or is it better to just stick to being an affiliate for your main category only?
And how important do you see email marketing and collecting opt-ins for an affiliate business?
Yes. You should be building a brand. Not a knockoff bestbicyclereviews.com type website.
If you build a brand, you can build loyalty and repeat visitors through email and also sell to them via different monetization methods.
Huh. That's a real website. And it's exactly the type of website I would expect with that domain name. No favicon, Amazon affiliate, half done website, and the owner gave up shortly after starting it.
Kinda perfect example really.