07.06.09
10 fun things to do with a website
Being in the web design business, I have come across some fun, unique, strange, awesome, weird, amusing websites to name a few. The way we are using websites everyday is becoming increasingly more dynamic and a little bit outrageous at the same time. But there are plenty of great internet portals that we come across, that may be awkward at first, but as the idea grows and we let our guard down, it starts to become a trendsetter and we see purpose for it after all. Down below are 10 fun things and personal stories of website that I have built. Enjoy!!!
1) Showoff Your Craft
We all like to showing off our crafts when we can, but how about showing off our craft 24/7 and around the world. The internet possesses so much creativity and dynamic that it is waiting for what’s special about you to leave your mark. These websites are quite popular and much fun. I enjoy seeing other people hobbies, they’re style, what they are passionate about and seeing them trying to give their project more life. I had a musician that had a site for his music to download, buy, check his tour dates, his life story and everything about his music. He ended up turning his website into a social network website, where he has people coming on rating his songs and networking with each other where he formed a community fan base.
2) Argumentative debates & opinions
It’s always fun to put your wit to the test and participate in group discussions. I believe as humans we are argumentative by nature and time-to-time we get in our moments where we want somebody to test us so we can show them who we really are.
I had this one guy who was a football fanatic that knew every statistic and highlight about his team the Patriots. At first he was thinking to have a website only about his team, and he wanted people to come on and leave opinions and debates about the New England Patriots. This happened a little over a year ago and this guy kept talking all high & mighty about his Patriots, even though they were flawless through the entire season and then lost the superbowl (I’m just saying!!!), he acted like they were the best thing since lemonade. This left a sour taste in my mouth because I love the Baltimore Ravens (you can agree with me or not) but my Raven’s were suppose to be the first team to beat the Patriots that season but due to a bad ref call which should of made New England turnover the ball, they kept it in the final minutes and scored to win the game, HEARTBREAKER. So as he keeps talking about his Patriots, I couldn’t take it no more, I had to speak my mind and how I felt about his team. In that moment we had one of the best football debates and we found out we’re both football extremist about our teams. We had so much fun debating about his site we turned it into a discussion place for all football extremist alike. Where people debate about different football topics & take polls like who would win a Pittsburg Steelers and Arizona Cardinal superbowl rematch or should Brett Favre come back out of retirement? This guy enjoys going on his website to see what people posts and get into a couple argumentative debates for fun.
3) Online TV Show
Do you like to act or want to be seen? Well you don’t need a television for that anymore. The internet enabled us to showcase ourselves to thousands and even millions of people through the internet not needing a cable network to put on a show. You can literally reach out to people and brand your name in the comfort of your own home. I have this skateboarder that wanted a website about him and his friends doing skate stunts and trying to top each other’s last skateboard tricks. So online he has a place for him and his crew to showcase their tricks and I usually enjoy going to their blooper section.
4) A Yearbook
We all like looking at photo’s that reflect a memorable moment. In this day in age with digital cameras and not having to pay for film for each picture. If you are like me, we have turned into a click happy type people when it comes to camera’s and this an awesome thing. It’s always fun to look back and reminisce about the past. Showcase a life yearbook of yourself, or pictures of times and events that you want to show. And if you want, allow people to leave their feedback. I built a site for a mom that had millions of pictures of her family, so she wanted to create a timeline yearbook of her family from baby to present and have a bio on everyone about each section of their lives.
5) Promote a Party
Even if it’s a local house party. One of the coolest sites I developed was for a young entrepreneur party girl throwing a bash just because. She had me build an invitational website where her friends can view pictures of the place, the type of beverages(ALL TYPES), the time to be there, the DJ(a great friend she knew that’ll work for ‘the beverages’), pictures, videos of the event and talking about how this is a party not to miss. She went to her friends and started promoting on her e-mail, Facebook and Myspace. She said she wanted her party to prove to everyone that she held the house party of house parties, but she didn’t want to pay for it all. She decided to charge $10 on the website and also at the door and this would include all their beverages. At the party she said she will announce to everyone that she had a party website. And the day after, they will be able to go back on the website and view pictures & videos of this night and leave their comments and feedbacks so everyone needs to watch what the beverages do to them. And if they have any videos or phone pics, that they can post it and also discuss what they did at the party
I thought this girl was genius when she started describing her project and I’m wondering why didn’t I think of this, I like parties and I build websites all day, how did I not think to combine the two. The things I could’ve done with that idea in college would have been amazing. The party and the website turned out a bang where people had fun going on the website and leaving marks and having fun making fun of each other. And the good news is that she made a profit for everything she spent for the party and now she uses the same formula for all of her parties.
6) Personal Portfolio / Resume
The web is so widely used it’s good to have a personal portfolio about yourself on the web. Have a fun website about yourself, what your visions are and things that are going on in your life. It’s also a great boost in a job interview, in today’s world it’s all about standing out from the competition, having a site that describes your work skills and educational background gives you that extra edge on a job hunt to show employers you take yourself professionally and seriously. I work as a contractor and having a place on the internet about myself and my company gives me over %60 of the contract work I do.
7) Family Reunion Online
I thought this was a really cool concept when I came across it. I had a person that was throwing a family reunion and she wanted to showcase the family reunion online. The website had the time of the place, location and the date of the family reunion. She also added some features that were interesting, she wanted it to have a place for people to sign up, so she know who will be attending, a place for her family to contribute funds and for the family to share ideas of different activities and food that they would like to see there. After the family reunion, she said this was her third family reunion she threw, and it was the easiest of all because her family planned most of it themselves and she just setup what they wanted which was a win-win for everybody.
Make Money
Making money is always fun, maybe not the working part but the making it sure is. There are so many ways of making money on the internet, I focus on 5 different ways of making money online: knowledge, affiliate programs, hard goods, e-books, & auction goods. Each of these categories are a huge section on its own and you could check out my other hubs for information on this or sign up on my website Kwagu.com for articles, videos & newsletters. One of the guys I’m currently doing business with, he gets paid on the internet on convincing people to shake and move their bodies to stay agile.When you here this you might be no way but he makes a living off of this one thing, getting people moving and feeling young and provides them with a lot of knowledge & content of why moving is good and what moving does for you and people pay him for this.
9) Online meeting place
It’s always great to be part of a group and keeping a close tight circle. Have a place for your church, your organization or your friends to meet up and chat about your group’s interests. I had a guy who set up a website for his fraternity brothers and used it for planning events and parties that they were doing that semester. And also had content, photos and discussions about the frat and what they stood for.
10) Having a social network / membership site
Having your very own social network or membership sites are loads of fun, if you’re like me, you probably spend majority of your internet time in a social network website. Ever since MySpace, I have designed tons of social network sites. I see a lot of groups turning their websites into social network so they can communicate upon each other and having a discussion board to have an open discussion amongst the entire group. I find it a great way to bring together a close niche of people. Like an animal loving social network where people connect on animal rights issues and coming up with ways to make life for animals a better place.
These are just 10 fun website concepts I have came across and developed through my time. There are plenty more and remember, the more creative and unique an website idea is, the more enjoyable and the more is seems people respond better to. Thanks for reading my top 10 fun websites, if you’re looking for website work, for $50, Kwagu.com will design you a simple website layout and only few bucks more for social networking tools & features.
Kwagu LLC
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