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By dailypress on
I have read many stories on people mostly in IT coming up with a website during college and then turning it into a successful business and probably making millions.
My question is, are there very successful websites developed using Drupal and managed by one person only? Has anyone made millions not knowing much programming and simply reading instructions/researching/using Drupal? Can you become a millionaire not inventing or reinventing the wheel?
I am an Electrical Engineer and do not know or do much programming however Drupal has given me the opportunity to build nice websites. However, due to lack of knowledge in Computer programming my websites success also depends on other peoples work and knowledge and basically drupal modules. How successful can I get… is there anyone out there with little knowledge of PHP, CSS and HTML that runs a very high traffic and successful site? It would be great to hear encouraging stories…
I am about to quit my job soon and will probably spend much more hours on my websites. I would like some encouraging stories from your own personal experience or from someone you know. I am quitting my job for other reasons mainly: (had enough of traveling 100% for years)
Also, can someone list very successful websites built using Drupal? (if that’s not against the website owners wish and not against the T&C of this form)
Thanks in advance,
DP
Comments
There are successful Drupal
There are successful Drupal websites, the more obvious ones probably have at least a small team behind them. High traffic websites (Drupal or Not) tend to require at least one dedicated server and someone with the right experience to tune things to handle the high traffic. Successful/high traffic sites also do not necessarily directly translate in lots of income much less millions. Generally lacking a "lucky break" successful websites require effort (and appropriate knowledge).
Its possible to create an
Its possible to create an award winning and successful website, but you are only one person and to accommodate growth you may need some other help. Technology and trends are changing so fast nowadays and its hard to keep up with everything being one person. I guess it all depends on the type of sites you are trying to start. From my personal experience with creating in-house project management and e-commerce sites, its hard to do everything yourself especially with little programming knowledge. I'm not really great at programming, but I know enough to get by especially with the great amount of support for Drupal's awesome open-source platform.
Since you are quitting your job, it should help you achieve your goals faster and give you time to experiment. A lot of it to me is trial and error. If you really want something you can achieve it. It is just easier with help in areas you aren't that great.
I wish you luck in whatever you do. My best advice for someone like you is to watch the great video podcasts by the Lullabot crew and other Drupal screencasters, along with searching for solutions and participating in the drupal forums.
Apples and Oranges
Can Drupal be used to power a website that makes millions? Sure.
Can you make a website that makes millions? Maybe.
Drupal is the medium for getting your content out there. But it's your content that will determine the success of your website. Drupal can scale, can run high powered sites, but getting the site popular and profitable is a whole different skill that has nothing to do with what platform you build the site on.
Michelle
thank you all for your
thank you all for your response.
1) High traffic websites (Drupal or Not) tend to require at least one dedicated server ...
Question: Why is that? Do regular hosting account have a limit on bandwidth and number of visitors it can handle?
My hosting company always advertises unlimited bandwidth and ...etc
2) Yes, I am excited to have much more free time and at the same time nervous. Since I dont depend on my websites financially right now having a full time job I LOVE working on them, but once I HAVE to make money off of it, my feelings may change and I may get much more stressed out! But anyway im up for the challenge and have already told my boss that I will be leaving soon. (in a few months; 2-4 mon.)
No shared hosting plan really
No shared hosting plan really offers unlimited bandwidth, there is always a bandwidth limit (all traffic flows through data pipes and they all have limits), through in multiple sites on the same box and they compete for the bandwidth. There's also limited memory, limited cpu cycles, etc, even a single dedicated server is generally not enough for a really high traffic site with dynamic content.
Exactly. Bandwidth is just
Exactly. Bandwidth is just the amount of data flowing through the pipes, it has nothing to do with the quantity of data flowing through the pipes at any given time. If too many people try to access your site at once, your unlimited provider is going to give you the boot.
Contact me to contract me for D7 -> D10/11 migrations.
Very difficult to succeed
Very difficult to succeed without a programming or graphics people unless you have some content that's extra-ordinary. As a programmer myself, I have helped several entrepreneurs, music artists,etc to build great websites that continue to fetch them good revenues every year. Most of them have atleast spent a few thousand dollars for technical help.
-Babu
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"If too many people try to
"If too many people try to access your site at once, your unlimited provider is going to give you the boot." interesting point.
That makes sense.
Doing websites for a few years, I do understand some CSS or HTML but I am no programmer. But from trial and error I do get some things done although it takes a while.
I guess I will start reading and learning more on softwares soon...i.e. Photoshop and ... Ill need to play around with a few good application softwares.
Any recommendations on which programs to definately learn and which books to read?
So far I only know a bit of Drupal and Dreamweaver.
I recently bought a MAC, thats something else I need to learn and get used to.
Ideas needed
In general, the people who have made big money from websites (business in general) are those with entrepreneurial ideas not those with the technical skills.
Once you have the great idea, you then find someone with the requisite skills to implement your idea.
I don't think this is Drupal-specific, but Drupal does allow you to get your site up and running without needing much technical expertise.
Terry
Recent Drupal sites:-
www.allegiantair.com www.defaqto.com www.quarkexpeditions.com www.sportrelief.com www.chevronhackles.com
www.philipturnercrafts.co.uk www.intelflexplus.com www.aprilroseturner.com www.businessclubagent.ihg.com www.businessclub.ihg
I agree however, Google,
I agree however, Google, Facebook werent new ideas. Most big company founders did the programming themselves. Right? (at least I think its this case for startups)..
thats why I wonder sometimes can my business be successful w/o much programming knowledge and much dependencies on other contributers.
I think it has never been
I think it has never been easier to start your own business and drupal is an amazing opportunity if you are to use it. I am, myself, trying to start a number of projects and I find drupal to be where I want it to be. I spent several months learning the basics and I now want to take it forward. I am still learning and I know I won't ever be a neat programmer or anything like that. However, I know that if you can combine your business skills + IT skills+ time, then you are ahead of others in many ways.
The success of the entrepreneurs you mentioned is encouraging and I am sure that for every success we often hear there are 1000s of failures too. Still, I think it is the perfect time for anyone to start its own business right from his or her bedroom. The main reason for this is that the cost associated with developing your product is low. Therefore, you may no longer need a team of people to start with. That might change afterwards. Second, the cost of promoting your business has lowered (facebook pages, free viral video on youtube, you name it...).
Third, admin costs have lowered too to the extent that you don't need to hire people to do basics admin stuff.
In short, you can do it on your own no problem.
Over time, you may end up working with people but that's how it meant to be anyway for many of those who started the facebook and google ;-)
T