Some Thoughts About the Million Dollar Home Page
Okay this is a hoot. Or well it would be if the author wasnt so successful. This student has obvioulsy learned how to Think and Grow Rich.
Last week I came across an interesting article in Yahoo! about a student in the UK who managed to raise $1 million in four months for his tuition--selling pixels. 1 million pixels to be exact. You can find a copy of this article at
His idea was to create a page called the Million Dollar Home page http://www.milliondollarhomepage.com and sell a million pixels for $1 each (in blocks of 100 pixels).
He started by selling a few blocks to some of his friends. When he had earned $1,000 (thats only 10 blocks), he issued a press release. What audacity! What brilliance! His press release was picked up by the media and spread around the internet. Soon, the blocks started selling like crazy. Four months later, Alex Tew is sitting on a cool million for his crazy idea.
I visited his web site and what I found was very interesting and telling. Some of his comments in his FAQ section and blog are worth noting for those who study success.
1. He had a specific goal--a burning desire. It was to be able to pay for his education without taking on debt.
2. The beginning of his success was an idea. He sat down and did some brainstorming for about an hour (in writing--thats very important) about ways he could raise money for school. Here is what he said about the process:
...after an hour or two of jotting random things on paper, the idea seemingly popped out of nowhere. Almost like my subconscious mind had been ticking over in the background, working it all out. So it just kind of happened. Thats about it. I scribbled it down and within about 10 minutes a picture of what needed to be done had emerged.
Notice the section that I marked in bold type above. This is often how ideas come to us. The problem is that most of us dont think with a Definite Major Purpose in mind, we dont write them down, and we dont follow through with definite action.
In many ways, the goal was achieved in that 10 minute time frame. Everything else was just implementing the details of his plan.
3. He noted his ideas in writing. Putting your ideas in writing is the first step to moving it from an intangible idea to a physical reality. There is something about putting your ideas in writing that gives clarity and focus to your thoughts.
4. The idea--literally a million dollar idea--came to him quickly. But he had to make that idea tangible through bold, confident, intelligent action. He made it a big idea. He was audacious and confident enough to call it the Million Dollar home page. Not the 10,000 Home Page. Or the 100,000 home page. He gave people a bold idea to capture their imagination.
5. He issued a press release. He wasnt shy about letting people know about his idea. Towards the end of the project, he even did interviews on CNN and Fox (and probably other networks).
6. He added real value for his customers. His customers are getting hits from their tiny ads for a fraction of the cost of most other ads. And the page is guaranteed to be up for 5 years. He is getting a ton of traffic to his website that his advertisers are benefiting from. His current Alexa rank is 1,302. No matter how novel your idea, you still have to add real value to your customers if you are going to succeed.
7. This is a simple, yet profound demonstration of the power of the internet and viral marketing--word of mouse. What million dollar idea can you come up with that will capture peoples imagination
How Does Alex Measure Up
Well, the proof is in the success. Hes got the money in the bank, so obviously he achieved his initial goal--and then some. Did I mention that he is already receiving job offers as well If I compare what Alex accomplished with some of the principles in Napoleon Hills Think and Grow Rich, I see a lot of similarities:
1. Desire - he had a specifc Definite Major Purpose backed by a burning desire.
2. Faith - he was loaded with self-confidence and belief that his plan would succeed. He probably saw the money coming in with his minds eye before he ever saw a dime.
3. Auto-suggestion - I dont know if he specifically implemented this principle, but he did put his ideas in writing.
4. Specialized Knowledge - He had to have specialized knowledge to know how to put together a web page and to successfully issue a press release.
5. Imagination - He used synthetic imagination to organize existing elements into a new idea.
6. Organzied Planning - He had to go through the process of fleshing out the initial flash of an idea into plans that were practical.
7. Decision - he clearly made important decisions quickly and took immediate action.
8. Persistence - Given the fact that he achieved his goal in only 4 months, its hard to guage how much persistence he had to use, but he clearly used enough. Also, I note that he must be a persistent individual as he is starting school at a later age (21) than most.
9. Power of the Master Mind - Its hard to tell from his description if he applied this principle. But it looks like he implemented this to some degree based on the inital people who purchased his pixels. Also, I note that he identifies a contact person in his contact info. Also, he had to organize a group of people and services in order to implement his idea--a web service provider, a company to collect the payments, etc.
10. He used is subconsious mind. By his own testimony, he believes his idea came from within his subconsious mind.
Its no wonder that his project was a success. This is a great example for us to study and analyze. The internet has changed everything. We are now playing on a level playing field. You are only one sound idea, properly implemented, away from achieving your goal.
Copyright (c) 2006 Bill Marshall - All rights reserved. Feel free to republish this article with copyright and link information included.
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Both the large corporations and mom-and-pop stores are successfully using online ads so it is tougher by the day to compete. Those who are truly in the know are practicing certain trends and are coming out on top.
Here is a look at a few of them:
1) Organic Shapes
If you examine the top selling ads from Weight Watchers, OfficeMax and ReliaQuote, you will see they feature some form of curves or other organic shapes. Shapes are used to contrast the hard-edged, square styles favored previously. Marketing groups show that this looks more comforting, approachable and appealing to their target audience.
When comparing, look for popular ads that have moved from the extensive-copy-and-image format to heavy usage of stock photography that shows their customers. Your competitors are using any combination of upbeat images that highlights the intended customer reaction to their product.
NOTE: Take a look at SitePoints own extensive list of imagery sites.
If price point is an issue, look at Stock.xchng. They offer a great selection of free stock photography. Much of their product rivals and even surpasses the royalty-free image sites. In addition, the Free Stock Photography thread in the SitePoint Forums is also worth a look.
2) Copy and Deals
Online ad copy is often focused on a tradition that marketers have followed for a while now.
The copy focuses on these principals:
1. Get it for free
2. Save some money
3. Make life easier
The more effective online ads use simple, direct copy to entice visitors to visit the vendors website and then they hit the visitor with the complete sales pitch once they arrive.
3) Interaction
Interactive banner ads are very popular. These range from the Hit-the-Bulls Eye ads to more complex formats that feature simulated form fields. The primary drive of animated ads is to gain click-through.
With the widespread acceptance of Macromedia Flash, a new class of ads popped up. Hewlett-Packard continues the tradition, today, with audio-driven ads that explain and teach potential customers about HPs fotoimaging technology, and function as mini-presentations.
Companies, today, have thrown their hats into the ring with Flash overlay ads. These ads (usually of very large file size) overlay the text of Web pages and entice customers to view more than can typically fit into a banner ad. Even though many users find them annoying, these overlay ads are reported to achieve click-though rates up to a 50 times better than traditional banner ads.
4) Layouts and Sizes
The most common ad size is measured at 468x60 pixels. This ad size is now so popular that it is a preset in recent versions of Adobe Photoshop. Also popular are skyscraper banners at 120x600 pixels. Some ads do not fit a pre-defined size, such as all the Flash popover ads.
Many banner and skyscrapers ads follow a popular thirds formula. Two-thirds of the ad contains a picture and the main advertising points; the remaining third contains minimal copy and clickable buttons.
7) The use of Fonts
Take note of the shift from serif fonts to sans-serif fonts in online advertising.
Go back to the SitePoint Forums and look for WhatTheFont. You can upload a simple JPEG, GIF, TIFF or BMP image and identify which font is used in a particular ad. This is a great resource for reviving older ads for which you have lost the original files.
If you know your fonts by name, visit 1001 Free Fonts. They offer a vast selection of fonts.
If you want to fish for new customers, you need to know and understand your competition. Make note of the new trends and tips being used in online advertising and you will be well ahead of the game.
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