Response from: Tim King    (06/21/07 4:28am)

Hmm... I regularly read CopyBlogger. Yet I somehow missed this post. Thanks for the link, Deborah. This is exactly how I have launched my most successful sites.

I also agree completely with Brian's advice to develop your cornerstone content over time, while building an audience.

For example, this is what I'm doing with a site I recently put up, a fan site for an upcoming TV show, The Return of Jezebel James: http://jezebeljames.info/
Yes, you read that right an UPCOMING show. It's scheduled to premier next SPRING. I explain why I put up the site so early on the site's about page. But the more subtle reason I didn't mention there is what Brian talked about, networking. I'm posting content of interest to fans of the show's creator and its stars, branding the site with the people most likely to become the first fans of this new show. By the time the show premiers, I will be an expert fan and JezebelJames.info will be the authoritative site. Already, the search engines see it as a top fan site for this show.

Similarly, just a couple days ago, I decided to start a site for an online drama serial: http://conscience.jtimothyking.com/
The only content is a blog post describing the concept in general terms. I can't even summarize the story for you, because I don't know what it is yet! Because I'm still working out the details. I only have a very general idea of what the story is about. I'll of course post more information as my plans take shape. But my hope is that by the time the story premiers in a couple months, I'll have a core of interested subscribers.

In both cases, I know what the core content will be, even though I don't have it written word by word.

-TimK

Response from: Deborah    (06/21/07 2:33pm)

Tim,

wow, the new show looks great! About your online drama serial - I often wonder if it wouldn't be a good idea to plant a seed and see if anything grows before investing months, years of your time fully developing an idea that turns out no one wants. So good luck to you on that front. Perhaps your readers will help you develop the concept.

by the way: a belated happy birthday!

Deborah