List Only

Is this business a good idea?

I'm an Entrepreneurship major in college, and I really enjoy the idea of having my own business. I've recently had a business idea, and though I know Yahoo! Answers may not be the best place for advice, I find that sometimes it can be helpful; so, here it goes. I live in a university town with about 28,000 college students. I had an idea to create a website that would be similar to an online newspaper. Students could submit articles/artwork/photography featuring on and off campus topics. I feel this would work because many students are looking for 1) exposure, 2) experience, 3) something to add to their resume. I'd also like to include a Classifieds section that would allow students to sell textbooks, notes, and other items. I'd also like it to somehow house study group invitations. I'd also like to have a section where local businesses can pay a monthly fee to display a coupon or advertisement on the website. The fee would be extremely minimal, and probably free the first few months. Lastly, I'd like a forums section where students can discuss teachers/classes/college related topics. I plan on having income on this website by displaying advertisements, the monthly coupon fee, google adsense, and then definitely more income sources in the future. I am familiar with microsoft expressions, and i'll more than likely host with godaddy. Any advice or opinions would be appreciated. Thanks! Katy- Yes, a newspaper exists, but it does not have a classifieds section, you must be on the newspaper staff to post articles, and they only cover major topics. I'd like to include nightlife, nearby festivals, on campus clubs or organizations, etc; I'd like for it to be more personal than a newspaper and much less formal. Do you feel that a school newspaper existing would be a future problem?

Public Comments

1. Does a university newspaper already exist?
2. Your basis sounds good. There are some scripts available that could cover your requirements. Idevspot.com has a business directory script like yellow pages and I think esyndicat.com is associated with one too. Also, there was a Wordpress blog plugin that allowed others to place paid advertisements on a blog.
3. I wouldn't hold out too much hope of having it monetised with Adsense. For one it would mean keeping a close eye on all user submitted content, making sure there were not illegal links or swear words, not sure how that would go down with college students. Secondly most of your ad clicks would be coming from a reltively small number of people (in world population terms) and one assumes an even smaller number of IP addresses. If Adsense clocked you logging into your account from your college IP and then other students clicked adverts from the same IP then your account would be toast. A local initiative like this would be much better off selling their own ads to local businesses and maybe a couple of nation student companies: student travel etc. This could be backed up with some affiliate adversing to fill in the gaps. You should use something like OpenX to manage all the ads through out the site. It cuts out a lot of work and making monitoring / changing ads simple.