Hey all. I've been doing a lot of reading around and have reached that point where there are so many pros and cons on each side that it becomes impossible to decide what to do. Maybe some of you wise folk could help me out.
I have been on the sponsor end exclusively thus far, providing the free hosted material and occasionally submitting to other sites. But we're looking to branch out a bit, test out some new traffic sources and revenue possibilities. Basically, we're looking to build a site to promote our and other sponsors' content. Out there are link lists, tgps and mgps, some of which are thumb-based and some text-based, fake tgps... there are trade scripts to choose from, and site building scripts as well. The list of variables goes on.
Regarding the types of sites, many webmasters swear by what they do, while others insist that there is no money to be made (for new people starting, at least). I know the rule of thumb in this industry is try and see what works, keep what does, and scrap what doesn't. But I would guess that most who have started with link lists stayed with link lists and expanded horizontally.
I know everyone promotes everyone and themselves, which makes it hard to know what to do. I know the other rule of thumb in this industry is that if you expect to earn a lot of money, expect to work hard. But with this site as a certainly smaller part of our business (and my responsibilities), I don't want it to take too much of my time.
Have any webmasters here had much experience with tgps, link lists,
and other types of sites? Does not allowing submissions do more harm than good, or is it the only way to go these days? What about partner accounts?
Basically, the factors I want to consider in deciding what type of site to build and what scripts to use include the following:
-Quick setup
-Little maintenance
-Cheap(ish), preferably
-Probably not allowing submissions, or if so, having partner accounts (see "little maintenance")
What do you think?
Thanks