EzDevelop.com Getting Ready to Launch Free Minisites

As mentioned a few weeks ago we are working through beta testing of EzDevelop.com which as many know will provide free minisite creation tools that allow for modification of key components of the site in a very easy to use manner.

So far the feedback has been great, as always in beta there were a few bugs found in the beginning and the feature requests start flying, but we have already made it through the majority of the bug fixes and started adding features that will be in the launch version.

This tool is being created for the DIY crowd, those without the resources to pay for large amounts of sites, and those that have little too no technical know how on hosting, FTP, and other things around turning up a site. As I mentioned before I do not plan to actually be building minisites as a business but by creating a tool that helps people create content rich sites it will make it easier for those that do not have the time or technical know how. To make that point I expect to announce an exclusive partnership with a minisite company before launch that will be our preferred partner for those looking to have someone else do the lifting.

Although I am not listing all of the features yet I will give a bit more info here:

Free Version - We plan to offer a free version that allows for a certain number of sites to be created each month and does not use our hosting. This will be basically the tool how it sits today with a few more tweaks around modifying ad location titles, more themes, and some others. We have already had people ask what we are charging for it as it is, well that answer as it is will be free.

Paid Version - We will have a low monthly cost version that includes unlimited site creations, social media notification of site launch, as well as more templates and pictures. This is a real value, once we announce how much we are charging you will understand. This basically allows you to create a custom site that can be downloaded by you to be moved anywhere you want or can be hosted on our system so all that needs to be done is the switching of your DNS.

Here is a customer testimonial, Don had sent me a very nice email about the platform and I thought I would put it out there:

EZdevelop minisites are so easy to build for a beginner like myself it's almost as though it builds itself. I've tried other programs and got frustrated from the start and of course many didn't get completed because of the time involved. I don't have much time to build sites but EZdevelop made time for me and that's precious.  Thanks EZdevelop .

Although we are still working out a couple tweaks (dang apostrophes being cut and pasted...) I have used it to create a few sites and so far there have been over 100 sites created by our users with the tool since beta launch, here is an example of a couple of mine, JetOwnership.com and RenewableEnergy.me

We look forward to finishing up and letting everyone try it out, keep watching here:)

Thoughts On The AEIOU.com Minisite Business Closure

I usually shy away from any sort of reporting that has been hit by several others but in this case I wanted to at least say a bit since I have had some level of success with some of my AEIOU.com sites.

First off I think people are missing what happened, no one said Minsites do not work as a way to add some added value and traffic to a domain as compared to parking. What Rick Latona said was that there was no money in selling them for 200 dollars. Big difference, if you think about the cost of having someone manually create the site, do the link building, write all the content and then manage the customer there was not much margin left in it.

What Rick did say is that they are continuing to use the resources to create sites for their in-house needs. I am not sure what Rick is finding, but I personally have had some really nice deals done after someone made an offer through one of my sites.

For me minisites are the first step to real development and in many cases can be used to augment a larger development.That is how I use them today, they are not the prime business, they augment and enhance a larger project.

I personally would not put a lot of time into manually creating a site step by step, I always look for ways to automate the process which drives cost out. There are somethings in the minisite process that can be automated but there are still a couple steps that are not automated (quality link building, quality content). But if you have the content then finding an automated creation system is the key. That is the only way to make it cost effective.

I have recently did a couple just for fun, just to test a few things, but in reality the time involved will only be profitable if the domain would sell through the site. If you value your time then you have to factor that in and PPC revenue for most minisites will not make up for time spent. Although, if you are using the minisite as part of a larger plan then the PPC is not a factor and the value can be judged differently.

It is no secret that my main focus is full scale development but there is a need for a smaller scale development option, but as Rick Latona found, it is not worth it if he has to sell them at 200 and make slim margins. This is a niche industry so making it up on volume is not an option.

My biggest problem is finding the affiliate links and taking them out now.....

Kudos to Rick for standing up and telling people the truth. Smart move.