Alternative Energy Group, Inc.

AlternativeEnergy.com is about living up to its valuable domain name.  The subject covers a lot of economic, technology, and geographic territory and is front and center in the mind of a majority of Americans and people around the world.

(See Screencast that will quickly highlight the site) 

The plan is to reach a wide audience unlike related sites that target niches comprised largely of first adopters.

Content.

The site endeavors to be apolitical.  It emphasizes three reasons why this topic is important: (1) economic, (2) security, and (3) the environment.  The vast majority of Americans, for example, agree that energy independence must be a top priority. 

News content includes brief stories, embedded third party videos, how to articles, and in depth interviews with industry leaders like Project Better Place, National Hydrogen Association, and Zeachem.  The content is accessible to a wide audience with a strong emphasis on videos.

The site also has jobs and products.

The site is taking several steps that go further than the ordinary content that one would expect on a site like AlternativeEnergy.com.  These differentiating steps set the site apart from competitors.

The first differentiating step is that AlternativeEnergy.com is built on top of a social networking platform.  This lets users upload content and comment on postings.  Users can establish relationships and learn from one another.   

Other differentiating steps relate to content.  The site features the AlternativeEnergy.Com/edy Show hosted by Chuck Roy, the only comic in the US that addresses this serious issue.   There is an education section that lets kids and educators easily find and rank widely dispersed educational resources.  The site is now going even further with new Hip Hop, Heavy Metal, and Girls Gone Green sections. 

More content sections, tools, and features are in development.

Marketing.

The company has hired youcastcorp.com to seed viral content on the web, mostly to musician fan sites.  Other efforts have included search advertising and StumbleUpon.  One particularly accomplishment has been in organic search.  The site now appears as a top ten site for keyword “Alternative Energy” on both Google and MSN.  It is top 20 at Yahoo.

Monetization. 

The site has begun implementing a monetization plan.  The key factor for success is to have millions of page views.  The site currently has more than 60,000 monthly page views. 

The natural revenue source is advertising.   Adsense and insertion orders have begun.  Another natural is affiliate products.   Books, solar chargers, heaters, and more are offered.  The site also offers a robust green collar jobs service that generates revenues for every job application.  The site has its own store but needs more merchandise.  The site is generating some sales leads for cars and construction services, but these have not been monetized yet.  Other future revenue sources will include newsletter subscription, reselling of advocacy tools, and AlternativeEnergy.com branded merchandise.

Growth Opportunities.

The company needs access to additional capital to dramatically accelerate growth with new marketing efforts and more content.   A key strategy is also to rollup related sites with complementary features under the AlternativeEnergy.com brand. 

Some of the largest revenue opportunities are not available at this time.  For reasons of disclosure, these opportunities are not specified.

 http://alternativeenergy.com/notes/Screencast_1 

• Columbia University MBA '87
• Georgetown University BS '84
• 20+ Years in entrepreneurship at technology and entertainment companies.  Strong technology skills.   Titles were CEO, CFO, and COO.   These are sectors:
• Arcade and home video games and simulators
  
• Internet
• Ringtone software
• Offline marketing, ticketing
  

Build community comprised of people just starting to get interested in Alternative Energy and more dedicated first adopter types.

Monetize:

• Adsense (done)
  
• Banner ads (done)
• Green collar job applications (done)
• Affiliate products like books, solar chargers, water heaters (done)
• Store embedded on site (done ... but needs more merchandise)
• Lead generation - autos (almost done)
• Lead generation - construction (testing)
• Newsletter subscription (not started)
  
• Resell advocacy tools (not started)
• Branded merchandise (done... but needs more work)

• Strategy to reach wide audience concerned with alternative energy yet not early adopter types.
• Domain name that is easily recognized and remembered.
• For keyword "Alternative Energy" first page search engine rankings at Google and MSN and second at Yahoo.