Start a WP.com like service and make money?

[DavidG2]

I don't know if anyone has ever tried this, but since I'm a n00b, I'll ask:

Would it be possible to make any real money with WordPress MU (WordPress 3.0+)? I mean like starting my own WordPress.com like service and charging people for extra features such as CSS upgrades etc at a cheaper price than WP.com, and of course, it would not be a clone of the real WordPress.com, just the same structure (kind of).

Would this work or is it kind of a hopeless thing to try? I have a VPS so I'm willing to test it out. Just want to get input from the BHW masters before I actually run myself into a brick wall.

 

[KroniiK]

You may or not trust me because of my posts count but w.e

Me and my friend tried something like this but with forums... free phpBB thing and people would pay to get more styles/etc... on their sites or ads remove. It worked for a while... but we didn't continue on... it was making money though. So I suggest you go ahead and give this a shot

 

[ThePayRoll]

Make it good, make it AFFORDABLE and provide quality products.
You will make money.
Be friendly, Be compassionate, be understandable to the newer people and cater to the bigger guys needs as well as the guy just starting out with the stupid questions.

You will succeed

 

[BHopkins]

Nope, no money to be made. The only people that will sign up will be people looking for a free link. You can get real hosting for $5 per month, how could you compete with that?

 

[ThePayRoll]

Nope, no money to be made. The only people that will sign up will be people looking for a free link. You can get real hosting for $5 per month, how could you compete with that?

Because he's talking about making exclusive themes and what-not

 

[DavidG2]

Nope, no money to be made. The only people that will sign up will be people looking for a free link. You can get real hosting for $5 per month, how could you compete with that?

WordPress.com does it. So does Blogger.com. They make money.

 

[Kickflip]

WordPress.com does it. So does Blogger.com. They make money.

While both providing free blog platforms, I don't think you should compare the business model of Wordpress and Blogger. Being owned by Google gets you just a little bit different treatment.