Keeping sites on second thought

A few posts back it appeared we were leaning toward selling off our secondary sites (iPrioritize included) to focus on our core – Detailed Image and SEO work. Well, upon second thought I've changed my mind and I'm all for us keeping our sites and growing them (slowly) concurrently while focusing the majority (90% or so) of time on what's making us money now.

In theory, a business model like iPrioritize is the PERFECT one. There's no selling and no tangible good that needs to be packed and shipped. Free users are supported by advertising, and paid users pay monthly on a subscription basis. The site uses next to no bandwidth or storage space. When I compare the model to the Detailed Image model or the SEO model that we're making money with, those look just plain worse.

Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) we are much, much better at attaining customers for our core. And while it still makes sense to focus on our core, I think we should always be spending sometime investing in sites like iPrioritize that have the potential to grow at an enormous rate. If tomorrow 300 businesses decided to sign up for an iPrioritize account, it would be automated and our system would have no trouble handling it. Other than customer service emails and regular maintenance/upgrades there's no work required. If 300 businesses decided they wanted my SEO services, I'd have to turn away about 295 of them because we don't have the infrastructure to handle it.

I don't mean to bash DI and SEO, because right now that's what's paying our salaries. I just don't want those two to be paying our salaries five years from now. I mentioned this conundrum to a bunch of entrepreneurs that I confide in and two of them on two separate occasions said the exact same thing: smart entrepreneurs would take the money from their SEO and reinvest it back into a site like iPrioritize. That was enough for me – whether it means me spending one day a week or hiring an intern, I'll find a way to give it some time and help encourage it's growth.

I discussed this with my partners and they agree – to a certain extent. I don't think that they'll really “believe” in a business model like iPrioritize until it starts generating more revenue, and it's my job to help open their eyes to the potential.