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12-29-2009, 01:58 PM | |
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My virtual run across America, and a business idea.
So I'm getting over my little knee problem and have started running again, and I thought it'd be cool to plot my progress on a map of the U.S., running across the country. I've always thought it would be cool to walk across the U.S., but I can't figure out how to get my work done in that scenario, so this is my fallback.
And then I thought, "Hmm, this is a pretty good idea for a website. If I started a website, could I get enough people to sell some advertising and stuff and maybe make some money?" So I went out looking to see if it's already out there. The concept isn't overly innovative, so I see a fair amount of sites out there that talk about it, but they all seem to be pretty lame. Here's a map, print it, color in your progress with a crayon kind of stuff. What I'd like is a web site where you plot your progress and then see a google maps street view of your location, and then a virtual tour of towns that you walk through, and an atlas so you can pick your route as you go, and an interactive map so you can plot your route. That doesn't exist. Is there money in this? What's the revenue model? Any web designers out there who would want to collaborate on this? In my 15 minutes of looking, I found one web site that's actually kind of close, though it's still basic. http://exercise.lbl.gov/index.html is a federal government site, and they do the street view pictures, which is pretty cool, and the online log. However, they only give you one route, an inexplicable Yorktown, Virginia, to Florence, Oregon, route, and you can't vary from that. Also, you don't get local information along your route as far as I can tell. I signed up for it, though, since it's the best option out there, and am now 11 miles into my journey. I've left Yorktown and am now on this nice road about 2 miles from Williamsburg. Anyone else want to wander along? |
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12-29-2009, 04:09 PM | #31 |
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I applaud your ingenuity of a great concept to make money. Follow it thru. I could see this as a good idea!
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12-29-2009, 04:16 PM | #32 | |
mmm sweet lemonade
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Quote:
here is the explanation, makes sense I guess... We have adjusted your partner(s) mileage so that both you and your partners start at the same point. Virtual partners who started before you have had their mileage set to your mileage on your start date. So it is just an "Go Forward" Comparison |
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12-29-2009, 04:21 PM | #33 | |
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12-29-2009, 04:22 PM | #34 |
mmm sweet lemonade
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I just entered distances from sunday, and now it shows me at 13.3, and you both at 9.2. So I am guessing Rain Man has entered 9.2 since sunday?
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12-29-2009, 04:26 PM | #35 | |
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The hard part is getting traffic to the site... once you have the traffic and a good community... it could make some money. The problem I see is that it's novelty isn't interactive enough... coem up with some further "hooks" and you have a winner. Think in terms of making it more of a community or a competition. ...but from a technical standpoint... not hard to do at all. |
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12-29-2009, 04:28 PM | #36 |
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12-29-2009, 04:30 PM | #37 |
mmm sweet lemonade
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so you just entered today's run, cause that is what I did this morning... And I did not cheat! If I wanted to cheat, I would go back and enter the 1191.9 miles that I have logged since 7/22/08...
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12-29-2009, 04:32 PM | #38 |
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Okay, I've now got you both in my own team called ChiefsPlaneteers. Do you see anything?
I'm starting to think that teams and partners are invisible to the other people. If true, I think it's a bit of a mistake on their part since it limits the community aspect that would be valuable. Another competitive advantage to my own web site. Any web designers out there who want to partner on this?
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12-29-2009, 04:35 PM | #39 | |
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I can come up with hooks. And yeah, I think the key is making a community out of it. How much would it cost to build this if I hired someone? (Roughly.)
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12-29-2009, 04:37 PM | #40 |
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I'm showing ziggy at 15.1 and rage and myself at 11. I can see us all having 11 because that's what I've entered.
Ah, I think I see what's happening. If ziggy entered 4.1 after we became partners, that's where we start diverging. So it only puts us all at the same starting point, which is the mileage we had when we selected partners. So this means that we can track each other, but there's no communication or anything.
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12-29-2009, 04:39 PM | #41 |
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The team is showing us at 4.1 collectively, so I bet it just adds our distances together. Do you guys see a team yet? It's working on mine, but I bet you each have to build the team yourself.
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12-29-2009, 04:45 PM | #42 | |
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Your best bet lies in one of two routes... #1 Set out EXACTLY what you want the site to be able to do... make mock ups and write descriptions of every detail. THEN outsource the project on one of the many programming outsourcing sites where people bid for the job. (if I had to guess... shouldn't cost more than $5000) #2 Find a capable programmer that you trust and partner with them... keeping your cost at ZERO (minus server costs which are almost nothing for a project like this) |
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12-29-2009, 04:48 PM | #43 |
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Your left shoe needs a new sole. Fix with Shoe Goo and rest for two days.
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12-29-2009, 04:49 PM | #44 |
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Yep, you're right, I had to recreate the team.
I'm planning on a sixer tonight, so we'll see how that affects everything. |
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12-29-2009, 04:50 PM | #45 |
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Every time I click on "Choose Partner" I get a script error.
I'm 59141
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