Name of your website?TAPNET Web Design & Hosting
Your name?
Marco Bonanni
Your Location (city, etc)
Edmonton, Alberta
Web Design, Hosting, Traffic & Search Engine Marketing
Oops, I erased the question above this box. Someone needs to brush up on their HTML forms. :) [Ed note: actually the question is in a input box because this questionaire is designed for people to edit the questions to make more interesting interviews! -Wilbur]
What inspired you to launch your own website?
A true passion and drive to learn and master the ability to leverage the internet and help others maximize the power of the technology.
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
1995. A static HTML page to learn how to use HTML. It wasn't even a website, it was shared hosting on ISP web space. Renting web space was $75-100/month for what we pay $1/month today.
How did you decide on a name for your website?
The first time I launched an actual website and knew how to register a domain name was probably in 1996 or 1997. I don't even remember what the website was for, but there have been so many after that one.
What makes it different from other, similar offerings?
I guess this question is not really applicable to my situation. My current website is to help others walk through my foot steps. I enjoy learning what the technology can do and then helping others learn and benefit from it.
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
I guess my current company website http://www.tapnet.biz is to develop a business of building websites, setting up the web marketing for others in the form of PPC or SEO so that others can enjoy what I have by seeing something in virtual la la land become a viable sustainable business for income.
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
I think we're still in the R&D stages, we haven't really reaped major rewards yet. It has been said, the bigger the adversities the bigger the rewards. I can't wait!!!
If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?
The number of online ventures would increase, the amount of ideas explored would be alot higher and perhaps out of so many there would be 1 that would grow fast like a YouTube or Ebay.
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
I think with all that I have learned I would put up a good fight. Now that I am out of the typical hands on and more into the management side, I think I can scale the back end to support the front end.
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
As in most businesses, there is always the typical problems all along the chain from finding the customer to satisfying the customer. From managing projects, resources, budgets and meeting deliverables with all the un-expected, but yet expected adversities.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Getting up X+1 after falling down X-1 times, X being current attempts.
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
So far, honestly, Google Adwords. I can say that the day will come that SEO will finally pay off.
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
It seems I build my business on a less busy street corner because there isn't the traffic I expected. Need to hone in on the niche market.
How long have you run the site already, and how long will you continue to keep it up if you don't enjoy big gains in traffic, income or popularity?
It has been 3 years. But I think I am finally starting to get the knowledge to push it to the next level. I think I can shorten that 3 years for someone else to maybe 3 weeks. Ha ha... What I learned in 3 years could be compressed into 3 weeks. Wow!!
Will I ever give up?
Never. Life is full of challenges. If not this... then what? If not now, when?
What is your website address?
TAPNET Web Design & Hosting
