That's just really nice and super helpful... Seems as though you have highly targeted content but have no real monetization. What are your plans for monetization?
It launched 2007, but it really took off in 2009. I'm still in school so I haven't had that much time to work on it.
I'm doing ok from ads now and it is growing fast, so when I finish school in 2 months, I'm going to work on monetizing.
You can see the growth compared to Dropbox.com and Ycombinator.com: http://icnf.me/brcjhH
This may already be supported somehow, or otherwise planned, but one obvious way to monetize might be to act as a broker for contract designers. As a user, if I search for an icon and either don't find one that works for me, or find only icons with incompatible license terms, then the next thing I'm going to want to do is find someone who can design what I want. This is also going to be true in the event that I need a whole set of icons with a common motif or color/design scheme.
No matter how good a search engine like yours is, most of its users will be at least partially unsatisfied, and you may be able to turn that into an advantage. It might also be a good way to stand out from the copycat sites.
It is not supported but I think it's a great idea. Perhaps doing something like 99designs, where jobs are posted and then icon designers can choose to upload their work. The designer who is chosen will win the "auction".
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That's just really nice and super helpful... Seems as though you have highly targeted content but have no real monetization. What are your plans for monetization?
I'm planning to have have a premium area where paying users can get access to quality icons.
The site has been up for 3 years without monetization? Has it just been on the backburner?
It launched 2007, but it really took off in 2009. I'm still in school so I haven't had that much time to work on it. I'm doing ok from ads now and it is growing fast, so when I finish school in 2 months, I'm going to work on monetizing.
You can see the growth compared to Dropbox.com and Ycombinator.com: http://icnf.me/brcjhH
This may already be supported somehow, or otherwise planned, but one obvious way to monetize might be to act as a broker for contract designers. As a user, if I search for an icon and either don't find one that works for me, or find only icons with incompatible license terms, then the next thing I'm going to want to do is find someone who can design what I want. This is also going to be true in the event that I need a whole set of icons with a common motif or color/design scheme.
No matter how good a search engine like yours is, most of its users will be at least partially unsatisfied, and you may be able to turn that into an advantage. It might also be a good way to stand out from the copycat sites.
It is not supported but I think it's a great idea. Perhaps doing something like 99designs, where jobs are posted and then icon designers can choose to upload their work. The designer who is chosen will win the "auction".