After the recent success of the Million Dollar Homepage, a large number of copy cat sites and people offering free scripts have started to show up, all with the same promises, that you too can make a million just by launching a pixel site. A quick browse through eBay shows hundreds of these so called pixel sites, available for as little as $5 or $100, depending on how deep you look. So can lightening strike twice, is it really possible that you can experience the same kind of success as the original Million Dollar Homepage?

Well, to be honest I dont think there is any chance of anyone repeating the success of the original site. Alex Tew, the founder of the original page could never have estimated the unprecedented levels of media coverage and support he would receive for his site. It had never happened before and it will be sometime before it happens again. The phrase A rolling stone picks up the moss really applies in this case, as the more coverage the site received, the more people wanted to be associated with it. In a way, he created the ultimate web site monster. I only hope that business students take the time to learn about the whole success story.

So if it is unlikely that the success will ever be repeated to that level again, is it worth spending any time in creating your own pixel site? My answer to this question, is yes there is, with one very large caveat. If you set up and promote a pixel site, it has to have a purpose, it has to stand for something or give people reason to visit it. This means that it needs to be focused on a specific niche.

A recent example that I found was a pixel site that was collecting anti bullying messages, all of the revenue received through the site went directly to the anti bullying charity. This is a perfect example of how a pixel site could be used to make money and for a great cause. It is also so well defined that it is possible to create interesting media and press coverage. Being an Internet marketer does not mean that you can not do things for others, in fact if anything, your reputation will be greatly enhanced by using a pixel site to raise money for charity.

The other way to make sure that your pixel site is a success is to take the time to understand your customers. Ask yourself, why on earth would they pay $1 per pixel to put an image on your site? If you struggle to answer this question, youre seriously going to struggle to fill your site, trust me a pixel site with no ads does not encourage people to post. The reason that the original site was so popular and sold out very quickly was because of three key factors:

People wanted to leverage the extraordinary levels of traffic being generated People wanted to leverage the Page Rank and SEO factors of the page, rightly or wrongly People wanted to be part of Internet history

The reasons above are critical to the success of your own pixel site. If you can generate decent traffic you have a half decent chance of making a success of your pixel site, you will need to show potential customers just how much traffic youre receiving. People are always interested in the Google Page Rank phenomenon, although it is not known that there is any real benefit to having a link on a pixel site, high PR or not, most webmasters are happy to take a shot for a few dollars.