My Project: Sponsor My College Courses

[schola]

Howdy!

I'd like to have some constructive criticism about a project I started recently to help pay for my college courses, aptly named: Sponsor My College Courses. You can see the blog on my site here: Sponsor my college courses. | The Scholarpreneur

The basic concept is that I'm asking companies to "sponsor" my college courses in exchange for a banner advertising their company on my site. Sounds silly, but why not? Companies give out small $500 scholarships all of the time. Although any philanthropic effort by a company should be praised, don't let them fool you. They do it for the advertising.

Now the amount of advertising I can provide hinges on my ability to generate publicity for this project, which is partially why I'm posting it here, but I also want comments and ideas about it.

What I'm really trying to do is prove that this concept can work. If I can do it, why can't anybody else?

What do you guys think about it? Good? Sucks? Be as brutal as you want, I can take it.

Thanks.

[Konfucius]

I like this idea and I wish I could have used it as an underclassman (I am in my last semester of undergrad--exciting but scary). Thinking of your classes and subsequent grades as a financial investment is an excellent way to motivate young college students to do well. You are correct about those companies and I hope your idea works.

-K

[jdub]

I wonder if creating a network and garaunteeing advertising on all the sites by giving a certain amount would work? I'm just trying to brainstorm and think about what would motivate companies to contribute to this.
This sounds like a good idea and I think it has a lot of potential!

[cdn2wheeler]

A couple of guys named Chris and Luke did exactly this and apparently it's worked out very well. You can read about how they did it here.

[schola]

Originally Posted by cdn2wheeler

A couple of guys named Chris and Luke did exactly this and apparently it's worked out very well. You can read about how they did it here.

Cool! Thanks for the link.

[schola]

Originally Posted by Konfucius

I like this idea and I wish I could have used it as an underclassman (I am in my last semester of undergrad--exciting but scary). Thinking of your classes and subsequent grades as a financial investment is an excellent way to motivate young college students to do well. You are correct about those companies and I hope your idea works.

-K

Thanks. Some people seemed to get the impression that I was "cyber begging," and I didn't know if that was the consensus or not. I want to make sure people understand that I'm trying to work for this money instead of beg for it.

Good luck with finals dude.

[Lucas]

Originally Posted by schola

Thanks. Some people seemed to get the impression that I was "cyber begging," and I didn't know if that was the consensus or not. I want to make sure people understand that I'm trying to work for this money instead of beg for it.

Good luck with finals dude.

Sounds to me like you are working smarter, not harder.

[schola]

Originally Posted by Lucas

Sounds to me like you are working smarter, not harder.

Ha, yeah that's a good way to phrase it.

Most people just stomp through life with their heads down, not really looking at where they're going or what's around them, trying to knock down any barriers by plowing through them. Especially us Americans; we pride ourselves on being hard workers. But that wears a person out very quickly. They'll eventually reach a barrier than can't knock down, no matter how hard they push. In fact, pushing harder seems to make the wall even stronger.

How about instead of trying to knock down that proverbial brick wall, you look for a window to climb through?

I guess that's what I'm trying to do. Trying to find a window and then showing everyone else how to climb through it.

[Brutha]

I wonder if creating a network and garaunteeing advertising on all the sites by giving a certain amount would work? I'm just trying to brainstorm and think about what would motivate companies to contribute to this.
This sounds like a good idea and I think it has a lot of potential!

I don't think that the idea is scaleable.

If it works it works because it gets into the news when it works, which is free publicity.

What I'm really trying to do is prove that this concept can work. If I can do it, why can't anybody else?

When you copy an approach 1 to 1 it isn't authentic anymore. A approach like your need that authenticity to succeed.

It like the million dollar homepage. It succeeded because it was authentic, and made news.
The web is about being authentic on the end of the long tail.

The more authentic you can get the higher your chances of success.
-You need pictures of yourself on your website

from your ebay auction:
I call myself a "scholarpreneur." What I'm selling here is an opportunity to sponsor my college education. This project is one of my unique plans for paying my way through college, because who wants to have $40,000+ in loans to pay off after they graduate? You do? Well I don't. You're crazy

-Don't be defensive in the way you write. Be offensive, dream and don't try to be realistic. Realistic is boring.

I think there are to much ads at your site at the moment. You don't have the traffic to make money on your ads at the moment anyway.

[schola]

Thanks for the comments Brutha.

I don't really agree about needing authenticity. It needs to be novel, for it to work, at least for the first time, but not necessarily authentic.

My concept doesn't really compare to the million dollar homepage, although it was definitely one of my inspirations. You're right in that The million dollar homepage hinged on novelty and authenticity, and there was no way anyone else could reproduce his method. And get the same results. In fact, Alex tried to milk that cash cow too long himself; look at the million dollar lotto page which never took off.

But his project was entirely a selfish endeavor. Although he claimed he was raising money to pay for college, that was only a minor mention in his blog, and I'm not sure he even ended up going to college at all after he achieved his goal. I'm not judging him negatively on this aspect. I think what he did was awesome, but in this respect my project is different because my intention is to inspire people. The money is not the motivation here. If it was, I'd be asking for a lot more than $500 per course.
For what I'll make, $2,500, I won't even be able to cover the cost of tuition for the spring semester; nevermind room & board, groceries, etc. It ain't about the money.

My project is completely and utterly bound to my education. There's a level of academic responsibility similar to most other scholarships, except it's based on individual achievement in each course instead of an averaged GPA. I intend to show college students that there are other ways of paying for college, and show businesses a way to give money away while still receiving advertising.



Pictures are a good idea btw. I think I'll add some more, and maybe write a more detailed bio too.

[Brutha]

I think what he did was awesome, but in this respect my project is different because my intention is to inspire people.

He did inspire people, even when he didn't intent to. When you are awesome you inspire people.

If you aren't awesome (or as Seth Godin says: remarkable(worth being made a remark about), you won't succeed.

The money is not the motivation here. If it was, I'd be asking for a lot more than $500 per course.

Do you think that the reader of your website gets your intention?

[schola]

Originally Posted by Brutha

He did inspire people, even when he didn't intent to. When you are awesome you inspire people.

Yes, you're right. But we were talking about scalability. When they tried reproducing his method, nobody else could do it because that wasn't his intention. His intention was to make money for himself, and his project did just that. My intention is different than his.

Do you think that the reader of your website gets your intention?

Maybe not! I'm going to rewrite my posts on my site to reflect the passion I've shown on here.

[schola]

Brutha is right on another point. The ads are contradicting my message and I don't have enough traffic at this point anyway. I think I'll take most of them down until after the current project is over.

[mustard76]

Originally Posted by schola

Brutha is right on another point. The ads are contradicting my message and I don't have enough traffic at this point anyway. I think I'll take most of them down until after the current project is over.

You need press coverage. I heard a rumor that the million dollar homepage had a PR firm behind it. I don't know if this was really true.

[schola]

Originally Posted by mustard76

You need press coverage. I heard a rumor that the million dollar homepage had a PR firm behind it. I don't know if this was really true.

Do you have any ideas on how to get traditional media to cover my site?

I never heard the PR firm rumor, but I did hear that he wrote up his own press release and sent it out. That's something I plan on doing in the next few days.