IANAA (I am not an accountant) but I did grow up in a CPA office. I would suggest digging up any friends/relatives/etc. who have successfully run a small (not nec. tech-related) business and ask them.
I think the first answer you'll get is to cut costs. It seems to me that your ISP is, umm, doing quite well for themselves with your plan. (See my e-mail on that topic.)
Second, look at your assets. I see a *lot* of value here in three main areas:
1) The software that runs the Listology itself
2) The skillset it represents
3) The data
Is it possible you could generic-ize the listology software and sell it? Are there other applications for such a tool? Amazon seems to think so. Coming up with this sort of thing is my bag so I'll ponder this and see what I can come up with.
I'm not sure what you do for a living, but if you're not a professional web designer, you have an incredible talent that isn't being fully used. If you are, perhaps you could view the Listology as a marketing expense? I deduct my web sites on my taxes, letting Uncle Sam pay for nearly half of them. $100/mo is a bit much, but if you can cut that down a bit, it might be reasonable.
And if you don't have a need for such marketing yourself, perhaps there is someone who does? You could add a discreet but noticeable "Sponsored by..." line somewhere. Perhaps your employer (if you're not self-employed)? It wouldn't have to be a complete take-over, but if you cut costs, perhaps someone would be interested in supporting the Listology. How many page views do you serve per month? 1K? 10K? It's got to be a lot. Exclusive sponsorship is worth more than just being one of many banner ads, and can seem philanthropic as well.
Lastly, the data is valuable. Now, I'm rather opposed to the idea of collecting information from people or having people generate data which you then sell, but perhaps something like the slashbox might be of interest to other sites? Would your local bookstore be interested in a Slashbox-type box for their web page listing random book lists? What if you put together a list of the Lists that contained a movie and let a movie theatre include that on their page for that movie? This is a touchy subject, though.
Anyway, I would certainly be willing to chip in. Perhaps you should go ahead and set up a PayPal account?
Even if you don't like Aykroyd, the Blues Brothers movies are notable in their homage to the Blues and the greats of that musical genre. Personally, I think the Blues Brothers movies were fantastic, and that Aykroyd did a great job. Trading Places, and Sneakers were fantastic as well. Sorry.
Looks good, though I personally think XML is incredibly stupid (dang micro-weenies trying to reinvent the wheel, again. 8^)
Have you thought about adding a "Notes" feature? That is, say you have a list of recently seen movies. You want to add some comments about Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon but you don't necessarily want them in the general comments for the list, since it will eventually scroll off the list. You could add a note to that particular list item instead. The note could be either text or a link to other Listology content, such as a review.
One other idea that could be implemented now would be a news submission form for people that want to offer a news item, but aren't editors. Just in case you don't get enough email...
I always stay through the credits and glare at those who leave early. It's kind of a respect thing for those who worked so hard on the movie. I have to admit, though, I don't read them all. Toy Story 1 had good credits too, btw. And Grumpy/Grumpier old men. (The penguin with all the lewd comments...) And Roger Rabbit had bloopers. The old Burt Reynolds and Dom Delouise movies had bloopers too, I think.
Cliff Stoll is basically a junior chemist(?) who got lucky and tracked down some hackers. It's not terribly technical, but it is a surprisingly good read. He's a typical uni freak, though. Dunno about the second one.
I seem to remember that Upgrading and Repairing PC's isn't all that great, unless you really don't know what you're doing.
Forrest Gump had two -- Forrest himself and his lieutenant from Vietnam. Also, on a lighter note, Hear no evil, See no evil, with Gene Wilder as a blind man and Richard Pryor and a deaf man who together "witness" a murder.
btw, this is definitely my wife's cup of tea. Mask, My Left Foot, and others are exactly what she likes. 8^)
IANAA (I am not an accountant) but I did grow up in a CPA office. I would suggest digging up any friends/relatives/etc. who have successfully run a small (not nec. tech-related) business and ask them.
I think the first answer you'll get is to cut costs. It seems to me that your ISP is, umm, doing quite well for themselves with your plan. (See my e-mail on that topic.)
Second, look at your assets. I see a *lot* of value here in three main areas:
1) The software that runs the Listology itself
2) The skillset it represents
3) The data
Is it possible you could generic-ize the listology software and sell it? Are there other applications for such a tool? Amazon seems to think so. Coming up with this sort of thing is my bag so I'll ponder this and see what I can come up with.
I'm not sure what you do for a living, but if you're not a professional web designer, you have an incredible talent that isn't being fully used. If you are, perhaps you could view the Listology as a marketing expense? I deduct my web sites on my taxes, letting Uncle Sam pay for nearly half of them. $100/mo is a bit much, but if you can cut that down a bit, it might be reasonable.
And if you don't have a need for such marketing yourself, perhaps there is someone who does? You could add a discreet but noticeable "Sponsored by..." line somewhere. Perhaps your employer (if you're not self-employed)? It wouldn't have to be a complete take-over, but if you cut costs, perhaps someone would be interested in supporting the Listology. How many page views do you serve per month? 1K? 10K? It's got to be a lot. Exclusive sponsorship is worth more than just being one of many banner ads, and can seem philanthropic as well.
Lastly, the data is valuable. Now, I'm rather opposed to the idea of collecting information from people or having people generate data which you then sell, but perhaps something like the slashbox might be of interest to other sites? Would your local bookstore be interested in a Slashbox-type box for their web page listing random book lists? What if you put together a list of the Lists that contained a movie and let a movie theatre include that on their page for that movie? This is a touchy subject, though.
Anyway, I would certainly be willing to chip in. Perhaps you should go ahead and set up a PayPal account?
How about Eric Clapton (Cream)? Mark Knoppfler (Dire Straits)?
Traxx definitely belongs on the list; I haven't seen the others.
I would suggest these movies as well.
Even if you don't like Aykroyd, the Blues Brothers movies are notable in their homage to the Blues and the greats of that musical genre. Personally, I think the Blues Brothers movies were fantastic, and that Aykroyd did a great job. Trading Places, and Sneakers were fantastic as well. Sorry.
What about Xanadu, Guys and Dolls, Grease, Oklahoma, and the Blues Brothers/Blues Brothers 2000? Any of these could be (IMO) contenders.
Perhaps in the lists, if the line is blank, you could not put the amazon arrow on that line?
Looks good, though I personally think XML is incredibly stupid (dang micro-weenies trying to reinvent the wheel, again. 8^)
Have you thought about adding a "Notes" feature? That is, say you have a list of recently seen movies. You want to add some comments about Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon but you don't necessarily want them in the general comments for the list, since it will eventually scroll off the list. You could add a note to that particular list item instead. The note could be either text or a link to other Listology content, such as a review.
One other idea that could be implemented now would be a news submission form for people that want to offer a news item, but aren't editors. Just in case you don't get enough email...
How about putting the recent discussion posts link on the search page, as well as the main page? 8^)
I always stay through the credits and glare at those who leave early. It's kind of a respect thing for those who worked so hard on the movie. I have to admit, though, I don't read them all. Toy Story 1 had good credits too, btw. And Grumpy/Grumpier old men. (The penguin with all the lewd comments...) And Roger Rabbit had bloopers. The old Burt Reynolds and Dom Delouise movies had bloopers too, I think.
Cliff Stoll is basically a junior chemist(?) who got lucky and tracked down some hackers. It's not terribly technical, but it is a surprisingly good read. He's a typical uni freak, though. Dunno about the second one.
I seem to remember that Upgrading and Repairing PC's isn't all that great, unless you really don't know what you're doing.
Would the 5000 Fingers of Dr. T be different enough?
Yep, it's Dr. Seuss, and he was definitely imaginative! 8^)
I was trying to think of Cool World today in another context; thanks for the reminder.
Rachel suggested As good as it gets for Nicholson's compulsive disorder.
Forrest Gump had two -- Forrest himself and his lieutenant from Vietnam. Also, on a lighter note, Hear no evil, See no evil, with Gene Wilder as a blind man and Richard Pryor and a deaf man who together "witness" a murder.
btw, this is definitely my wife's cup of tea. Mask, My Left Foot, and others are exactly what she likes. 8^)