The Internet Marketing Challenge Blog

I have just spent the best part of two days Umming And Arhhing over a list of potential domain names and the branding behind the site. I have just made my decision and I have to say, I am happy with the choice. I decided to go with a made up word for the domain that encompasses the brand idea I had. Basically it is sounds modern, gadgety and aimed at the man on the street with a hint of humour as well. At least that is what I hope it conveys! After this little exercise in branding, I can see why marketing executives make a lot of money from this sort of thing. The other thing I noticed was most of the best ideas I had for made up names were already registered as a domain. This means either I have a good eye for this sort of thing or I was just unlucky.

I will release the domain name eventually for everyone to see the site but for the purposes of this project I am going to keep  it secret for a while to preserve the integrity of the test. It would be silly to skew the visitor numbers with people following this challenge. I am sure some of you ‘super sleuths’ will do your best to uncover it, if so, well done but I would appreciate it if you kept it to yourself for now please.

I am now working on the look of the site but this is putting my design skills to the test. As I am freed from the shackles of SEO, at least I don’t have to worry about the SEO aspects of the theme. Here are my intentions for the look and feel..

• I want a magazine type style
• It has to look modern, techy, very accessible with a hint of humour as well

I may even go to the professionals for this design and see if they can come up with what I am looking for. If anyone can recommend a good WordPress theme designer, that would be great!

Tomorrow, I will also begin creating the content and trying to establish a presence on Twitter, Facebook and various relevant forums for the site. I know that I will have to start small and grow this site along with my presence on the social networks but that is fine and it feels like the right way to do it anyway. I already have a good idea for a couple of review videos and perhaps a small competition for visitors to enter. Hopefully this will drum up a bit of a buzz.

As for my budget for the site.. I am going to initially invest around £500 for various items to review and then resell them on ebay or use as a prize in a competition. At this stage, I am looking at low budget items to review. Like I said, as the site establishes, then I will go for higher ticket items.