This guy is a genius

[Livenomadic]

<snip>

Basically he is taking submissions for the meaning of life. His site got mentioned in USA Today.

He must be getting hundreds and hundreds of submissions, perfect free content for a book... or a website...

All he has to do is get a domain, a CMS, and slap on adsense and he can call it a day....

Sometimes you wish you could go back 2 weeks and think of the idea yourself. :)

I'm guessing the author is also the creator of <snip> another brilliant let-others-create-your-content-for-you type of site.

[edited by: trillianjedi at 6:43 am (utc) on Oct. 25, 2004]
[edit reason] tos [/edit]

[Rosalind]

The best ideas are always so disarmingly simple you wonder why someone hasn't thought of them before. In fact many people have already (try searching for those keywords), it's just that this guy has come along and publicised the idea and presented it better than anyone else in a few years.

[Chndru]

mm... i see i am a bit late.

just been to that website and HAD to bookmark it!

[netguy]

>>the meaning of life.

I missed the reference link (above), but I think Google Guy had this answered a couple years ago when he was asked what the optimum characters were in a webpage title.

;)

[raywood]

That is very clever. The mention in USA today will really run his hits through the roof. How did he get the mention? That's the key to slapping on adsense and calling it a day.

A piece from Douglas Adams' Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy:

When the Deep Thought computer was about to compute the Answer to Life,
the Universe and Everything (later found to be "42"), representatives of
the National Union of Philosophers, Luminaries and other Thinking Persons"
demanded that it stop... or else there would be a national philosophers'
strike.

Deep Thought responded: "And whom would that inconvenience?"

[caspita]

Could somebod PM me the URL or the USATODAY article please? I got lost here :( and I'd like to know what kind of idead are you talking about.

Thanks ind advance ;-)

[trillianjedi]

I'd like to know what kind of idea are you talking about

A one-page site of no particular quality requests members of the public to email the owner with their thoughts on the meaning of life.

Emails to be sorted and posted up on the site at the end of the month.

That's it.

The site is not really the point (it's a one-page "please email me"). The point is he's managed to get himself mentioned in the US press - that's good PR, and a sensible alternative to SEO for certain ideas.

TJ

[Chndru]

here you go.
[usatoday.com...]

[caspita]

Thank you guys for the clarification and URL ;-)

[justgowithit]

ahhhh yes...

A working example of how valuable a good press release really is.

I bet the guy wrote (or had that blurp written) and USA Today posted it word-for-word from a PR syndication network.

[ncw164x]

slap on adsense and he can call it a day....

where is the adsense?

[ronin]

Sadly there is no philosophical debate over the meaning of life. There's only one reason why any of us are alive: to ensure the creation and survival of the next generation. The answer is depressingly banal. I'm surprised there's enough material to make a site out if this.

[walkman]

"This guy is a genius"

thank you for the compliment :)

[Livenomadic]

Ha! Walkman

I guessed someone from WebmasterWorld made that site. Excellent job.

[Webwork]

"Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans." John Lennon

Sadly, it pretty well describes my life of late.

[walkman]

"Ha! Walkman
I guessed someone from WebmasterWorld made that site. Excellent job. "

I was joking...I'm not that bright ;)

[HeyJim]

<sound of banging head on wall>
I used to teach a class on this. Have been mulling over a site dedicated to this for months. Looked over my materials again just a couple of weeks ago.
<no "/" - sound of continued head banging>

Or, do I consider the publicity to be perfect timing to get with the project? (feel a headache coming on)

[skipfactor]

>>slap on adsense and he can call it a day....

Sounds like he's not out to make a quick buck (on the website at least). There's your Webmasterworld member:

One of my webmaster friends said "dude, with all the traffic you're getting, you could pack the page with ads and make a fortune!" Yes, but then I'd be a heartless self-help hack, which is what this site is sort of fighting against. So the meaning of life is provided on this page for free. No pop-up ads or blinking banners.

added: scratch that, there's an Amazon aff link at the bottom of the page.

[Livenomadic]

Ya, I say that affiliate link..

Pretty much he is trying to have it both ways... He wants to make money but he doesnt want anyone to know he does and he is hiding it by "recommending" a book.

If 1% of his visitors buy I bet that is still some nice cash.

[duckhunter]

Wonder if this is a "Not what you know but Who you know" scenario? I can't imagine USA Today would run an article on this un-prompted. Seems pretty trivial.

[gethan]

> Wonder if this is a "Not what you know but Who you know" scenario?

My first thought also.

[narrowboater]

Slow day in the news room? I guess I think about sending out press releases a lot more often than I actually get down to doing it. Perhaps the takeout is don't think, do.

Cheers

[duckhunter]

Whoa, I just had a wild thought. What are the copyright issues if this guy DOES decide to make real money on this? Don't see any verbage reliquishing publishing rights of submitted material.

[SkyDog]

I doubt if anyone looking for the meaning of life on the internet has any money to spend.