This is Jeff Foster, I am the Internet Marketing Director for WebBizIdeas.com. I wanted to give you a brief overview of an idea I had suggested to you earlier.
Online Advertising Spending (Automotive Market): Despite a struggling economy (especially within the automotive industry) 0nline automotive advertising increased by 17.70% from 2006 to 2007. In fact according to a report on the automotive advertising, produced by Borrell Associates, showed one of the greatest disruption in consumer buying habits was the internet; meaning consumers change their decision on what car they buy (right before they buy) by using the internet…That is one large reason why automotive companies are pouring money into online advertising.
Automotive Clubs (Market): I estimate 25,000 Automotive Clubs world-wide. I was able to produce a database of 2,500 U.S. Automotive Clubs by just searching in Google! If the average membership of these clubs were 50 people, it would bring the market to 1,250,000 automotive owners who are club members. Many of these clubs charge a yearly membership fee, leaving 1,250,000 potential customers paying a residual monthly or yearly fee.
Automotive Clubs (Website Design): I can say from experience automotive clubs have extremely poor websites. Many automotive clubs are non-profit organizations with websites created by a member with limited programming & design knowledge. End result, many automotive clubs need a website or a better website.
Initial Research: I talked to the marketing director at http://www.corvettesnccc.org/. Their organization encompasses over 100,000+ corvette owners world-wide! They disclosed that web development within their clubs is a large concern, but the club lacks the capital and time to build a custom site. They are looking for a free or inexpensive way to do this.
Automotive Club Community: (this is the idea)
I want to build a community for Automotive Clubs owners to help them manage their members. The website would be free at first to register for members & club owners. Club Owners would receive a ‘business’ profile and car owners would receive a ‘user’ profile.
Automotive Clubs would be able to create their own club website, post events, list sponsors, list members, recruit members, upload club pictures & videos, and most importantly manage their members.
Club owners would choose if their club would be public or private. They would be able to decide if how much to charge members for yearly membership fees. Each club would be able to mass e-mail all members informing them of events. They would have an easy & free way to manage their own club website.
Users would be able to search for clubs by city, state, and country. Users would be able to request to join clubs. Users would also be able to create their own profile and communicate with other car owners.
The website would make money (1) charging a fee to process yearly membership fees (2) charging a listing for classic cars for sale in a ‘classifieds’ section (3) Cross promotion within the Automotive Industry (4) Selling Customer Databases or Providing an Advertising Mailing Service to Targeted Car Owners (5) Advertising.
These are just five ways the community could make money. A good internet business owner knows that although he “owns” the website, the community also “owns” the website. A good internet business owner will analyze & listen to his members to find additional revenue models. As this business grows additional revenue models can be developed. We already have a great domain name, I am an expert in search engine optimization, and our company specializes in building social networking software.
If you have the capital to build & market & maintain this business we have the resources to make this internet business successful.
Finances Needed: $50,000-$120,000
Programming: Website Architecture & Blueprints are needed to determine (under 1,250 hours)
Graphic Design: Less than 100 hours
Initial Advertising Material: $5,000 – $25,000
Marketers: $500 – $5500 a month from WebBizIdeas.com
Domain: Already have talked & met with the owner of AutomotiveClubs.com