Over at Mashable, Pete has a profile on a new site called Script Mimic that’s a directory of “clone” scripts. You know, say if you wanted to make your own MySpace you could go over to Script Mimic and find a no/low cost script that will help you do that. Before we settled on the script that we’re using , (and yes we are using a script), we researched several options. We weighed all of our options, including building what we thought we needed, partnering with an existing company or purchasing a script. We decided to purchase a script and customize it on our own, or get help through Rentacoder. I read a comment on the Mashable post and it looks as if they have a discussion going on the subject of building or buying. There will always be different opinions on whether you should build your own app with scalability and all of the features you want or find something off the shelf that closest matches what you want to do, and run with it. I’m of the belief that an engineer and a marketer will never agree, anyway, but when it comes to buying it or building it, they will, for sure, not agree. I believe that when you’re bootstrapping an idea, it makes more sense to customize a script, get your users and then expand from there. Let’s say I spend $500 total to build a website (which is more than what we’ve spent on yourville so far), get a few hundred people using it and get feedback from those few hundred people who let you know what they like or don’t like. Then, if you see that what you’ve implemented so far is starting to catch on, then you can start mapping out what you need - as opposed to what you think you need. Compare that to spending several thousand dollars on building a site, buying servers, doing focus groups etc. What do you actually accomplish by spending that money? You get a site that you think you need and a back end that can handle all the traffic that you think you will get. It never happens that way, unless you’re one of the select few that bursts out of the pack (YouTube, MySpace, Techcrunch etc.). Believe me, I’ve gone the route of investment, hiring a web team, consultants, CEO, buying servers and building something that I thought we would need. It didn’t work then and ,as a matter of fact, we spent a good portion of four years adding new features and dumbing down the original implementation. In the end, the company/site didn’t work for several reasons but, most importantly, it was because we spent too much money up front to build what we thought we needed, as opposed to what we actually needed. So, with yourville being close to completion, and the script we have performing well, I’m glad we made the choice to go the direction that we did. I use to go to this restaurant in San Diego that seated maybe 10 people and their was always another 20 people waiting in line to place an order to go, or hoping that a seat would clear by the time they got their food. Through the several years that I ate at that restaurant, they would expand as they could afford and/or find the space. I often thought that their problem would be a problem that I would love to have. It’s a matter of creating a product and then growing it as needed.

As we get closer to launching Yourville to the public. And, fully anticipate the site to not perform 100% all the time and or change on a daily basis. Does it matter if we proclaim ourselves to be in Alpha phase or does the general web public really care? I often see websites that carry a beta tagline with their logo for months or even a year. I generally don’t think any differently if the site is in beta or not. If the site performs well and keeps me interested then great. If the site doesn’t perform well, I’m normally pretty forgiving and assume that the site owners are aware of the problem and are working on it. Does anyone have an opinion on this? As it stands for now, we plan on letting our visitors and members know that we are a growing site and fully expect that the site will change as our community grows and voices their needs. I don’t suspect adding Alpha or Beta to all of logos will make much of a difference to anyone.

A few months ago I checked out a new company called moo.com. They’re a unique company that makes mini cards from your Flickr account or with Skype Icons. I was needing/wanting some business cards so I thought I would try moo.com out. I’m not a big Flickr user so I chose the Skype images and added the yourville name to the front. The UI for ordering the mini cards through moo.com was super easy. I placed my order, paid $20 and received my cards within 2 weeks. If you have a Flickr account with pics that you would like to see printed, I would highly recommend . The size of the cards makes them unique and memorable.

Statistics are beginning to show a growing ho-hum user attitude when it comes to mass social networks. According to a recent article in the San Francisco Chronicle, there simply appears to be too many … and they’re too much alike. Now, it appears, astute Internet socialites want a more targeted communication outlet for their particular wants and needs. Now, instead of using such traditional outlets as MySpace, Facebook, et al, they are interested in developing social relationships on more targeted websites with content more in line with their contemporary needs.

According to Michael Jones, founder and president of Userplane, a pioneer in communication platforms for the enterprise community messaging, social networking sites are built around a single premise: connecting people who share a common interest and making it easy for them to exchange information. In their quests to make it easier for the like-minded to interact, says Jones, social networks are starting to introduce site-specific messaging. Social networking has changed the way millions of people communicate, creating niche online gathering places for people with similar interests.

The search for specific types of social networking sites change at different times. Experts predict the next step will be networks splintering off by people’s interests. And as this first-generation era of social media matures, there will be more niche sites rather than general platforms.

But the bottom line remains: There is definitely a growing proliferation of social sites while many young users seem to be reaching their tolerance of online sharing. Going forward, the general expectation is that consumers will, ultimately, settle down with one of two social networks. Although social networking sites encourage users to develop a network of friends that, in itself, can become overwhelming if you’re on more than one site.

But, for niche-specific sites, the opportunities are endless. And so are the audiences. And, even though social networking, although relatively new to the Internet, it is, for all its pluses and minuses, definitely here to stay. And, for those, such as expats, who are looking for more centric networking, the doors are just beginning to open to newly-found friends and resources.

As we get closer to launching the site, I wanted to share a bit about the road we’ve taken to get there and our ideas for building the site.

First of all, this project has, from the beginning, really been about building a product that will enable people to communicate more effectively and doing so by using the tools that are available via open source, rentacoder.com or by my limited programming knowledge. I’ve been building websites since 1994, but do not consider myself a programmer. I know enough to be dangerous and to make a real programmer shake their head in dismay. Never-the-less, I feel that in today’s Web space, we can build an online company using the open source tools that are currently available and not have to be a software engineer to do so. If we can launch a product that has enough appeal to our target audience, and it gains a small amount of mind share, we will have an opportunity to learn from our users; what tools and features do they want. Then, we can start down the path of custom development based on what our users want. Why should we build something we think “they” want, when we don’t really know. In an Ideal world I would like for our target audience to tell us what they want. So, that’s what we’re going to attempt to do.

Building a website/ company that will have the features and appeal that will nourish a Web community is no easy task. Especially if you don’t have a computer science degree and a Social Anthropology PHD (Danah Boyd. Well, I guess neither of those degrees actually make it easier but, I suppose they help somehow. As for making a successful community- based website, in my experience, the success actually is a result of the users and a lot of luck. Of course the right tools help, as well. I’m very grateful for open source tools such as Word Press, PHPList, Drupal, FireFox, Thunderbird, MYSQL and PHP. I was a co-founder of an e-commerce company that launched in 1999 and was built entirely on Microsoft products. We used GreatPlains and Onyx on the backend and spent a vast load of cash to build a site that was no better than what I could do today with open source software. That reminds me - anyone have any info on Apache’s Open for Business Project

Over the next couple of weeks we’ll be sharing just about every move we make in regard to creating an awesome website and company. We’re only a few weeks away from a public launch, so stay tuned and sign up to be notified when we do.