How to fall into MONEY!!!
 

Hi my friends,

This just happen to me last week.

A friend of mine that works for a heating & cooling company in my area
called me and asked if I could help her boss out of a jam.

Lisa knew I worked at home on the computer and her boss had a real big problem.

Rich, (the boss) had a site built by a web designer in the area. But he could not contact him for the last 3 months. Since the seasons were changing and his prices had increased he needed some changes to the site right away.

The designer set up the web site with a user name and password and never gave that info to the owner. WOW! You own the site but do not have access! He had no idea how to get into the site to make the changes.

Think this does not happen often? Business owners get into this jam all the time because they want the designer to handle ALL OF the site and not have to learn ANOTHER new trade just to run their business.

Since I knew a way to get this info I told him I would get him a new user name and password for $100. It took me all of 5 minutes to do this for him.

Then while we were talking he told me his friend who owned a local oil company had the same designer and the same problem. You see it was the oil company owner that turned him on to this designer in the first place.

So I called the owner of the oil company and got him for $100. BUT it did not stop there.

Since I help them out of a jam they both signed up for a $125 a month contract for me to manage their sites. Just normal maintainence of their site and any major changes will be billed over and above.

Now I could have left it at that and would have been very happy with what I got BUT....

Since the old designer left his footprint on the sites I figured how many other sites did he do the same thing to? Now in respect to the old designer he may have had moved, had home problems, died, or a number of other reasons for not getting back to the owners of wesites that he produced.

But I did a quick search and low and behold I found 23 sites that were made up by this phamthom of a designer. All these sites were set up the same way and I figured that he kept some or all of these passwords to himself.

I contacted 10 of the 23 so far and got a contract with 6 of them. 2 of the other 4 had a new designer make up a new website with a new url for big bucks. One had the password and The last one I could not contact.

So how much fell into my lap from this chance meeting?

Eight at $100
Eight at $125 a month (I out source this for $50 per month)
Eight at $$$ for major changes. (which I will out source.
Eight that I can sell other services to like Emial marketing, Google places, SMS messaging, etc.

I could have charged more for the ID and password set up but since I charged the heating guy $100 and all the sites are from my local area I did not want to raise the prices on the others.

BUT...how many others are out there in just the US that have the same problem. They hooked up with a designer that has "flew the coop" so to speak? And kept the password!

Who would like to run this type of service?

Do you know ways of finding these web site owners?
Any ideas?

I have one way and will give up that secret if others want to start doing this service. Just comment on this thread that you would like more info

Best of success,

Skip Rosell

Re: How to fall into MONEY!!!
 

Skip- congrats on falling into $$. How did you get new password info?- I assume they were the owners of the site, not the previous web dude. Interesting thread- I am all ears for any additional info you are willing to share, and thanks in advance.

Re: How to fall into MONEY!!!
 

Hi my friend,

Thanks for asking.

I will be back tonight to answer all questions and see how many are interested.

Have to go do some offline marketing. That is where I really make my money and this internet thing is just some extra cash. NOW you know why I give so much away for free or charge under $10 for my reports. :)

See you later and,

Best of success,

Skip Rosell

Re: How to fall into MONEY!!!
 

Hey Skip...

Definitely lots More ways to ''Think'' about Applying, just a few Other methods and ideas into the Swing of things...

Applied with Caution...

Unless, I didn't Fully understand the Methods you were Referring in reference to...

Remember... Usually with most Hosting, but [Not] all are Pretty much on Shared IP addresses and Of Course with A little more Digging around it's Fairly Easy to Find out Exactly which Businesses, Web URL's are on Each of those IP's... :)

Don't Tell Anyone but Once you have Most of that information, it becomes Reasonably Easy to Find select Chosen email addresses too...

Unfortunately and fortunately... Email Addresses (sometimes) Leads to Unknown Secret information and A Few other interesting Possibilties for those that Kinda Get this Encypted message...

Those Mystery Email address Return Finders of important Details!

Better Not Say too Much More or we'll be getting into Blackhat/Hacking type of techniques and the Somewhat of Un-Mentionals related, regarding SowPubs! ...

Skip... Always! Glad to Help and Review your ''Beta'' Product Line, just in case you Might be interested...

With a few of my Thoughts, comments, possibly More Too! ...

In a Round about way...

More {Twistable} and Somewhat related Ideas on the Subject of Domaining...

Many Other Types of misc. Uses & Investigations! ... ;)

Recently posted about in another Thread...

Quick Copy & Paste...

Another {Twistable} Great idea(s) into Many more Money making ideas!
Enjoy some more Crazy BRAINSTORMING! ...

Ideas if You Can See them Coming? ...

Have fun spying, discovering and learning new processes!

Spy On Domain Name Technique(s)...
http://www.dotweekly.com/spy-on-domain-name-technique/

Bottom Line... Services and Consulting business ideas are Truly Endless! ...

Brainstorming Paradise... Whether as a Research Tool, Creativity, Marketer, Investor, Trend Watching, JV's etc. etc..
http://www.warriorplus.com/wso/?q=Se...s=Open&q_go=GO

All the Best...

Phil

Re: How to fall into MONEY!!!
 

Are you kiddin'? Of course I would LOVE to know how. There's probably an epidemic out there with designers with-holding info for whatever reasons.

.....waiting im-patiently...

Eva

Re: How to fall into MONEY!!!
 

Yes, indeed, Skip! Inquiring minds would love to know.

I know in many cases you can find the owner (and perhaps the web host)through one of the whois sites such as whois dot sc, but I'd love to know how to get them a user name and pw for the account.

Thanks,

Ken

Re: How to fall into MONEY!!!
 

Doug Phil,Eve, Ken and all sowpubbers.

I only know one way to get the user ID and Password. It is the way I did it to get the info for my customers. When you have your back against the wall you have to find a work around to complete the order to get paid.

So the secret I reveal here is NO Secret it is just how I did it. No Black Hat needed.

Go to betterwhois.com ( there are a number of sites that have whois and if one does not give you the following info try another) and find the owner of the domain name. That is the owner of the URL.

If the owner is the name of the business owner and not the web designer your'e good to go. But if the name is anything other then the business/owner all is not lost. See below.

Now you have to find the Hosting company. Some times it is listed and other times it is not. If it is not listed then go down until you find the DNS information (Domain Name Servers) Copy the DNS into Google search box and it will tell you what hosting uses that server.

Here is what happens most of the time when the web designer sets up an account. He gives the business owner the user name and password for the Domain Name so the owner OWNS the URL. Most business owners know enough to ask for the log-in for their URL registeur. But then the web designer sets up hosting with a different user name and/or Password. So the business owner THINKS he owns the complete domain but can not get into the hosting account. That means he can not make changes or FTP any files.

There are some good reasons for this as far as the web designer goes. 1. He controls the site. 2. He keeps the owner and others from messing up his files.

But when it goes wrong with the web designer you need the user ID and password of the hosting to change files or ftp files.

Some times the most simple way will get you what you need. I found out (by calling) that most hosting companies have a way to transfer the Domain name to the owner of the business with PROOF of ownership. So like Godaddy ( which a lot of people use both for registering the URL AND use for the hosting) what the owner of the business has to do is fill out a form and submit proof of ID with a photo ID like a license. Then the hosting company will verify the info and will give the business owner the FTP infomation. Takes a day or two.

That is the only way I know and I'm sure there are other ways some more knowledgable people then me can give you. If any one here knows please share IF White Hat.

*****Now, how can we find the sites that have problems with their web designer?

I could check to see if there have been any changes in the last 3 months in sites but that takes time. If no changes in last 3 months then they could be a good prospect for our service. Things move fast on the web and no changes in 3 months is not a good sign for their website. Of course they could have a static page or pages and we would waste our time doing it this way.

We could also set up a website that targets the business owners with this problem. I think I will research some keywords to see if I can make money from the website with this program.

Any other suggestions would be appreciated.


There are some other twists and turns I have learned over the last couple of weeks and when I have a better system I might write a report on this. Of course I won't forget my friends on SowPub.

Best of success,

Skip Rosell

Re: How to fall into MONEY!!!
 

Skip,

Thanks for posting the "plan". It is definitely white hat and above board. I'd bet once you did that for one person, you'd get a boat load of referrals. You can't possibly be successful in every case but let's say you are hitting 75%. That's almost like having the keys to heaven.

Tom :)

skip be very careful...
 

if their was not a contract drawn up, the developer owns the source code. IF they are dead, MIA, done, quit or whatever,,, then you are screwed. NOW you can take your chances...

I've been programming for 30 years. I have never given ownership rights to anyone I've done work for.

If a developer works for a company, the company owns the source code. If a developer signs a contract for "work for hire", the client owns the source code. If a client pays a developer to develop a web site (no contract), then the developer owns the source code.

By default, US copyright law does not transfer ownership rights to the client. Basically by default, the client has a license to use it, kinda like when you buy MS word. You do not own MS word, you have a license to use it.

SO be very careful changing someone else's source code.

later...
Pappy

Re: skip be very careful...
 

Hi Pappy,

Good to see you are still up and kicking. :)

You are right. Period. That is why I said when I have a better system I would write a report. There are a lot of holes to fill first IF they can be filled.

The way it is right now you are taken a chance. A risk.

If it is a one person business and they pass away you have a good "chance" of having no problems. But on the other hand......

But would you take it to court if you did not service the client but hold them hostage for 3, 6 months. If the business owner owns the Domain that you did the work on does that not imply ownership of the site? What rights does the one who is paying the bill have?

I think it is a fine line>

Thank you for your thoughtful comments.

Best of success,

Skip Rosell

Re: skip be very careful...
 

I have been building, designing, modifying, and maintaining web sites for a dozen years...well actually almost 13 years now..

Areas you have to be concerned with are:

1. Content
2. Design
3. Coding

1. Content copyright in most cases belongs to the site owner.

If as the site developer I am asked to provide content then, depending on the source of it, I could claim copyright to that content. Generally it is turned over to the site owner and if not then the content will show som where on it that the copyright belongs to me or the lawful copyright owner if I sourced it from some other source.

So in modifying a sites content...as long as you have the owners permission to do so...you are free to do it...Just don't modify or alter any content that is marked copyright by a party other than the site owner.

The owner will be able to tell you if he/she added the content or supplied the content to the developer to add to the site, or if they left it to the developer to add content ....if it was left to the developer to provide and add content then you could have a copyright issue unless the site owner has something in writing or electronically saying the copyright to the content the developer contributed has reverted to the site owner.

Most sites will have a copyright at the bottom of the pages of the site.

If it states copyright is to the company business name you are pretty safe other than for content specifically marked copyright of someone other than the site owner.

If the copyright is only to the domain name then to be safe you should verify copyrights and use due diligence.

2. Design is a tricky area.

The developer could have purchased a template to work with...or done the design him/her self.

Generally if there is a design copyright other than the site owner it will be displayed at page bottom and generally with a link to the designers web site....this is a no touch area without express written permission from the design copyright holder.

If there is no design copyright claim on the page then you have to determine if it is a template that is used.

With regards to templates....if there is any mention on the web site pages of the template source then you need to investigate. Many free templates that require displaying the source of the template have a copyright to the free source and it will require looking at the source (site it came from) of the template to see what you can and can't do.

If there is no mention of the template then generally it was free of copyright restrictions, or was purchased with rights to makes changes etc.

It is always wise to look at the source code of the index page to see if there is any mention on it of template copyright....or where it was purchased from ..... and then investigate any copyright restrictions on the template.

Even if there is a design copyright the site owner still has the right to add content him / her self, or hire someone to add or change content as long as the design is not modified.

3. Coding

a. If the site uses a third party software to power it, it may very well be that the design was from a template supplied by the third party software...and if this is so it is going to be copyrighted....due diligence is needed to decipher where the copyright belongs in this instance and the rights of the user....but this does not stop one from adding, changing, or modifying site content as long as no mod is done to the template itself.

b. If the site was hand coded the code could be copyrighted (but this ties into the design aspect as html code is just html code).....but this does not stop one from adding, changing, or modifying site content as long as no mod is done to the design if it is copyrighted.

c. If the site uses multiple 3rd party scripts (not a 3rd party software that powers the whole site) to power different sections of the site and is part of the coding then the odds are the person doing the site could not claim copyright to it other than for design....and again this does not stop one from adding, changing, or modifying site content as long as no mod is done to the design if it is copyrighted.

d. If the site was developed specifically, and soley, for the web site owner whereas the developer wrote a script (program) for the web site (not talking html or css here) then one would have to very carefully scrutinize copyrights and rights given to the site owner.

Essentially ...unless a contract says otherwise...or unless a developer has 'complete' copyright to the design and content of a web site...the the site owner is free to add or modify the content him / her self, or hire someone to do it (with attention paid to any design copyright, programming copyrights,so as no infractions are committed).

One other are of concern to be aware of....some domains are only leased to the site owner (not by a registrar but by someone else who actually owns the domain name rights for use. Some of these people are rather unscrupulous..... and as most people don't bother to read fine print...there may be a small clause that the content of the site is actually owned by the domain name owner and not the person who has leased the domain name and developed and added the content....due diligence is required.

Re: How to fall into MONEY!!!
 

Hi Skip, I'm not to familiar too familiar in finding out what you talk about in the BLUE section. Could you please elaborate?

Twists and turns, yes, a report, free or paid, would be great!

There's also been a couple of great contributions about copyrights that is very valuable and should be included in the report and maybe elaborated upon, if the report comes to fruition.

Eva

Re: skip be very careful...
 

Hi Cornell,

Thanks for the crash course in copyright.

I knew some of what you said but I found a lot of good info in your post.

Thank you very much.

Best of success,

Skip Rosell

Re: How to fall into MONEY!!!
 

Hi Eve,

Thanks for asking.

In a nut shell what I want to do is find web sites that were designed and run by persons that no longer are available to run the site. Which means the business owner of that site NEEDS another designer right away!!!

Many of these owners will not have the knowledge to get into their site and will need my help. Also all of these business owners are going to need a new web designer

Example of a search that could turn up these sites:

May be a little morbid but it works.....

Enter this string into Google search.

"obituaries" + "web designer" + "self employed"

That will bring up 127 thousand results where SOMEBODIES web designer is no longer available.

Now you use some domain tools with the name of the designer to find the websites that he produced and you have hot prospects for this service. No, don't ask, what domain tools. Have to keep somethings to myself. But if you do a search for domain tools you will have an eye opener.

Best of success,

Skip Rosell

Re: How to fall into MONEY!!!
 

As already mentioned, wouldn't mind paying for your report because there are only so many hours in a day...

Eva

How to Fall into MONEY!!! Not to {Give] too Much away, Dofo Aggregates...
 

Not Sure if Skip's Got This one in His Toolbox of ''Smart'' Money Making ideas & Multiple Streams of income Just Yet! ...

Those that Don't? ... Definitely Worth Activating & Thinking more About...

Brainstorming on All Kinds of somewhat, Unknown opportunities & possibilities!

Dofo Aggregates Domain Lookup Tools...

Just a Few additional ''Quick'' TidBits of information, misc. resources...

Lots of Golden nuggets... Simply To be Found using these Tools... Some FREE! ...

Unfortunately not [All] Unless you Can ''Solve'' the Puzzles in Other ways, Using Different Methods... ;)

That Help Many {Find All Kinds of Hidden Treasures} including Valuable investments and related details...

Unlimited!... Untapped and Still Wide-Open [starting] 2012 into Infinity...

Limited only with Your Ways of Thinking and Applying misc. Creativity, Ideas & Innovation into How to Fall into MONEY!!!

Just One [Simple] under $10. Investment Daily...

Very ''Nice little Fortunes'' still Wide-Open for the Taking...

Can be Turned into Various interesting business models, Additional Add-on Service ideas Too!

Dofo Aggregates Domain Lookup Tools | Elliot's Blog...
http://www.elliotsblog.com/dofo-aggr...kup-tools-9162

Watch this Space Closely! ...

Coming soon Due to Popular Demand...

Phil

Re: How to fall into MONEY!!!
 

Thanks Skip for trying new things and taking action.

Here is an idea: Read a couple of tutorials and learn how to upgrade WordPress (its not that hard or time consuming).

1. Then find blogs and websites that use an older version of WordPress
2. Find their email addresses via WhoIs search
3. Send them an email with the offer: we'll upgrade your WordPress and make it more secure for $100

The conversion rate will be low than folks who don't have a password - because that is a more pressing problem. But the volume should be higher if you can automate the emailing part.

You could potentially do the same thing for Drupal and Joomla and Magento and vBulletin and other CMS systems too.

Why I think this is brilliant...
 

Hi Skip,

I gotta say - this is one of the most brilliant posts I've seen!

What I really love is how you turned solving the problem into a "continuity" program, where you get paid every month for keeping everything running smoothly for them...

It's also "win/win" - everyone wins.

The way you've done it, it also turns into a monthly money-maker for you, with little extra effort required on your part (since you're planning to outsource part of it)...

Thanks for sharing this... It's brilliant thinking... :)

I think many people could retire on the money that could be generated with this idea alone!

Best wishes,

Dien

Re: How to fall into MONEY!!!
 

Ankesh I love that idea probably very little competition.
About how many do you have to contact to get a client?
I Know it may vary. Trevor:)

Re: How to fall into MONEY!!!
 

Its not something I have done. So I have no idea how many people you will have to contact to land a client. But it is something that can be automated - so contacting people shouldn't be time consuming.

This is just something that came to my mind when Skip shared his idea. It should be easier to find people who have out-dated WordPress installations than to find people whose designers don't respond anymore. And thats why I shared it - if anyone wanted to twist Skip's idea and test it out.

Here is one more tip: if you do indeed test this WordPress tweak out - then you don't want to use Google to do your research. You want to use a search engine that allows you to search through the "meta tags" of a website. WordPress embeds a meta tag in all their websites that gives the version number.

You want to search for the string:
"generator:wordpress"
or
"generator:wordpress 3"
in a meta tag search engine.
You can replace the number 3 with older WordPress version numbers too.

I personally have my hands full and don't intend to follow through with this idea.

Re: How to fall into MONEY!!! WordPress into {Cash} type ATM's...
 

Just some Quick add-on Research related ideas...

Related to Professional Marketing and Finding $$$ Revenue $$$ {Spins} and Ideas in Regards to Everything WordPress connected...

Whether it's Product type development, packaging of WordPress plug-in's, themes, misc. Services, Consulting, JV's, Brokering deals, Fiverr Outsourcing, Specialized Affiliate marketplaces, WordPress networking etc. etc...

Dig into Finding, Spying, Communicating and Neworking with Other's that are Doing Similar business models, ideas, Creative concepts, Especially with Advertising & Pricing of their Services!

You Can Learn a Lot of Great information that way...

Communicating and Brainstorming with the Competition is Nothing to be Afraid of and Can Lead into All Kinds of Mutually beneficial arrangements... :cool:

In my books and Many others, it's All about Researching & ''Spying'' on the Particular needed interests within Select Marketplaces...

And with What Other's are Constantly Up Too and Doing? ... ;)

Testing! Testing and More ongoing Testing & Tweeking of Smart intelligence Out There, Especially the Higher-end of Expertise...

I Can tell you WordPress has an ''Incredibly'' Huge marketplace with Lot's of Professional Services out there...

Low End... Selling for Big Bucks!! Bet Ya! Just Look Around well...

Buying... Selling... Outsourcing... Selling... Buying... Outsourcing...

BROKERING! ... Wheeling & Dealing! ...

Definitely! Study their Marketing Campaign's if you're Aiming for the Higher-end Marketing areas...

Always keep an Open Mind whether Digging into Google, Fiverr or Wherever in Deciding your Starting point(s)

Quick Examples...
http://nolanwalker.com/wordpress-web...bsite-pricing/
http://fiverr.com/gigs/search?query=wordpress&x=0&y=0
https://www.google.com/search?q=Word...ient=firefox-a
https://www.google.com/search?q=crai...ient=firefox-a
https://www.google.com/search?q=word...ient=firefox-a

The Link/Lists/Ideas & related Keyword type Phrases are Truly endless & Easily Simply Done! ...

Phil

Re:Search engine
 

Thanks for the additional tips, now if I only knew what search engine to use...

Eva

Re: Search engine
 

http://www.gigablast.com is one that I've used before which allows meta tag searching.

There may be others like it too. There are a lot of search engines out there - bing blekko cuil duckduckgo. And then there are API's for search engines too - which you can ask a developer to use to automate the searching and the emailing part.

I've not looked into search engines and their APIs in a long long time - so have no idea which one would be useable however.

But yes - if you want to implement this idea manually - gigablast is a good one to start with.

Re: Search engine... Wordpress search resources tips and tricks...
 

Maybe Ankesh has some better ideas regarding WordPress related search engines...

But in the meantime, my basic formula for Getting Started and Expanding as you Learn from there, Evolve and need more information... :)
http://www.google.com/search?q=wordp...ient=firefox-a

Phil

Re: Search engine
 

Beat me on that within {2} Minutes from Around the other Side of the Globe... :)

Good ol' internet... Simplifying Great information...

Phil

Re: How to fall into MONEY!!!
 

Hi my friends,

Sorry I got busy and have not had the time to check & test this program yet. But I wanted to say thanks to Phil, Eva, Ken, Ankesh & all others that posted.

As far as finding the domains by a person I have found if I put the exact title that the whois site uses and the name & phone number in Google I can usually come up with their other sites.

If I know one of their sites then I go to whois and get the info and then put it in Google search like so:

"Administrative Contact:" + "David Glivens" + "Tel. +1.8038232483"

That does not work all the time. So another way I do it is to just put their name and address in and usually I will find other sites owned by them.

"joyce Murphy" + "20 cardinal rd"

Then I just keep tracking them with new info from each site.

This program needs some more work and testing and as I get time I will flush it out and then make a report.

Best of success,

Skip Rosell