SeanMacEntee.com

ok, i thought i’d let you guys see what sort of hardware i have at my disposal.

firstly, we’ve got the acer ferrari 4005 wlmi. €1800 in june ’05.

• 2ghz amd turion 64 processsor
• 1gig ram
• 100gb hard drive
• 128mb ati x700 graphics card
• 15.4″ non-glossy lcd

we then have the audigy 2zs soundcard, 7.1 creative retail t7900 surround sound speakers and the shure e3c’s just to top it off (i’ve reviewed them before here)

we then have the western digital 250gb external hard drive.. brought it back when in germany as it was dirt cheap

the next weapon is my casio exilim ex-s600d…. available exclusively in only germany or france. not only did i get one shipped here to Ireland, i got it at a knock down price.

we then have the printer (well scanner, printer, photocopier all in one)…. an epson stylus cx3600.

that’s pretty much it. Computer-wise. I did leave out my web cam, skype phones, wireless router, mini hi-fi, usb swiss army knife, handheld floodlight, swiss utili-key, credit card torch, usb powered vacuum cleaner, nokia 6600, mini-fridge, 28″ TV, ps2, over 3gigs in sd cards, electronic coin sorter…

the list is endless! The Ferrari is top of my list, it offers power, speed, reliability and flexibility… €1800 well spent. I’ve already recouped all of that in online savings If my internet projects prove to be a success, the ferrari could be the best investment i will ever make.

recently, i’ve been thinking, examining video sites, how they make profit/losses.

it’s a risky business, very hard to run them at a profit. (youtube for example runs at a loss, despite it’s size and dominance of the whole online video area).

but i’ve spotted a niche, wrestled with myself over whether to roll with it or not… and eventually i convinced myself it will be worth it.

i can’t compete with youtube, obviously so what i had to do was find a popular area/subject which they couldn’t fully develop due to their own success and size. The subject is so narrow, rather than search for it in youtube and get unrelated results, people will just come to my site instead.

So what i’m basically going to do is grab this niche, make the site and try to use adsense on the site in the beginning for revenue. If the site gets traffic, i might revamp the site, get a custom built script, and sell ad’s privately.

it’s a risk – like i said because initially, i’ll be out a couple of hundred euro. Technically, i’ll be paying for every single video uploaded so in theory that could land me in very hot water financially. However if need be, i can always sell the site, content and niche to someone a bit richer who can take it on even further.

At the end of the day, i’m fairly confident i’ll make profit from this site so i said to myself, ‘put your money where your mouth is’. So here i am blogging now about a new site.. no details can be revealed until the site is launched, however i hope to have it up and running before christmas. That means i’ve got 3 weeks.

i know spam and rubbish links/sites have always been around but it’s just getting ridiculous..

for example, on monster.ie (a job site), I’d say about half of the jobs listed there are spam, affiliate links, scams etc.. Stuff like ‘eartn $3000 a week part-time and rubbish like that.

looking at my main gmail account, i get about 5 spam emails a day in my dedicated spam section. Never used to get many.

on ebay, if you type in ‘adsense’ or ‘money’ you’ll be swamped with a load of rubbish; ‘earn $50,000 in 10 days’ , ‘say goodbye to your boss forever’ etc…

then of course there is the nigerian con artists who’ve inherited $3billion and they’ve chosen YOU to give it to. All you have to do is pay them €100 and they will then send you the $3billion

it’s a pity there’s so much rubbish out there. It clogs up google, ebay etc.. even youtube is beginning to become a bit spammy with dodgy videos promoting crap.

things will only get worse as the internet becomes bigger.. people get richer… get more greedy.. start hiring people to create rubbish sites…. it’s a big business – spam. Relatively easy to make money out of. You need to be on the ball, constantly creating and automating as much as possible. But it’s not a stable income… you’re far better making one good legal site, focusing on developing it and the results will eventually follow.

as i realised i’ve got nothing to lose, i’ve sent my best idea off to the men who financed bebo, ebay, metacafe etc… (basically the biggest sites on the net).

worst they can say is “no, get lost, that idea is crap”. Hopefully, they’ll share my vision and see that my idea could rival and crush bebo & myspace. It’s a music site, similar to bebo bands/myspace bands only with major cosmetic surgery and a few organ transplants.

anyhow, i’ll let you guys know what sort of reply i get. Everyone’s gotta start somewhere.. why not start at the top Just to give an indication of how much these guys invest in businesses, they manage $4 BILLION in committed venture capital around the globe.

fingers crossed….

spent the last few days in manchester, at a christina aguilera concert.

without doubt the best live performance i’ve ever seen. No photoshopping or computer aided voice software on the live stage… most bands can’t hack it live… Christina was flawless… owned the stage, hit the highs and lows, played with the audience…

Manchester let her down as the atmosphere was ok, but considering the size of the MEN arena, it lacked real noise i.e i didn’t come out deaf like i normally would from ‘The Point’ in Dublin where your ears are literally ringing for about half an hour after a concert.

Again, pretty unrelated to entrepreneurship, but a powerful, adrenaline flowing performance like that can be channel’d into motivation. Those songs and memories are locked in my head now, so anytime i hear them, i’ll think of happy memories – real, loud, stunning performances. This can potentially help me to tap into energy reserves when i’m at a low.

E.g. im in bed at night, sleepy, but it’s early… how can i stay awake and get my mind fresh and thinking? Stick on a few aguilera songs