revenue models, site associations etc..

Being a newcomer to the biz is certainly a steep learning curve :)

I have a general idea of what I want to do, provide content, and possibly have a paysite to my content at some point in time. I am just starting out so be a little easy with me on this stuff :)

There seem to be a ton of different ways to drive traffic, become affliated with other sites, link exchanges etc...

With all that in mind, whats a reasonable way to get things rolling?

I was thinking of getting a badpuppy hosted site, put some content there, and possibly a link to my regular site, which will have mostly original content, and a few galleries of regular purchased content just to get it started up. My content will be mostly amateur stills and some video later on. I am getting slightly confused by all the different toplists etc... It seems like the whole industry is just one big interconnected mess. It's hard to make sense of it all :)

Is a free badpuppy site, with a link to my regular site a sound strategy to just get some hits and see what the reaction is?

It will be quite a while before things really hit there stride, as I have tons of learning to do. I am drowning in a sea of printed material on site construction, mysql, php , macromedia studio etc... LOL

IMHO you shouldnt even enter the world of your own paysite promotion until you figure out how good you are at getting traffic and marketing your sponsors.

I just dont see the value in spending money on something, only to find out that 6-12 months down the line, you cant market the site.

Why not just promote BadPuppy directly if you are looking to work with their Brand name? Less hassles for you as all you have to do is throw up an affiliate link or two :)

Regards,

Lee

Well I am gonna throw in a pennies worth here.

As I read your post, you are merely going to use this as a learning curve on traffic and marketing for later use with your own content, right?

So get yourself a domain, cheap hosting cause many traffic sources don't look at free hosts and then sign up to various sponsor programs.

Then set up on your domain various techniques to upsell those items. Use different startegies for different sponsors.. say you sign up for pridebucks or curious cash. They both have several different sites to offer including free content.

take that content and use it to practise on, upselling using SEO for one site, TGP traffic for another, Linklist for another etc so you get the feel for each type of traffic and how to balance the pages.

at the same time it allows you to practise your html, php, and other backend tricks too... lets you hone your skills so to speak.

just a thought

Ian