Contributions from this Internet Businessman have largely shaped the Internet into what it is today.
For example, the Social Media, where Jimmy Wales largely contributed, is much talked about today. A lot of individuals, organizations and small businesses have found Social Media to be an excellent platform for effective web marketing.
Jimmy Wales full name is Jimmy Donal “Jimbo” Wales.
He was born in Huntsville, Ala., and he holds a master’s degree from the University of Alabama.
Before he got involved in the Internet, he worked as the research director at Chicago Options Associate.
This American Internet Businessman is well known as a co-founder and promoter of Wikipedia. In the past, he co-founded a web portal for males, Bomis.
His creation, Wikipedia, was set up in 2001, and it has since grown to become a huge online portal. This online knowledge store, Wikipedia, is owned by a charity, Wikimedia Foundation.
Wikipedia is a free online open-content site that receives quality articles from volunteers. It can be rightly called an ‘Online Encyclopedia’.
According to Wales, it serves to give researchers a broad background, context, and knowledge of virtually every subject known to mankind. The contents are written by volunteers and thus should not be regarded as absolutely perfect.
However, in the midst of the excessive junks on the Internet today, Wikipedia stands out as a trusted source.
You can learn more about Jimmy Wales here.
Insights from Jimmy Wales
You should pick some thoughts from this Internet Giant.
1. Look Deeper into the Future of the Internet.
What amazes me about Jimmy Wales is his mindset.
It appears to me that he constantly looks into the future. Before he creates anything online, he seems to always consider the possibilities in the distant future of the Internet and the likelihood of more junks filling up the whole of the web space.
With blogs springing up everywhere and poor quality contents filling the web space, the Internet will soon come to a point where only trusted platforms will be searched by Internet users for information.
That’s why, though Wikipedia gets its contents from volunteers, these contents are allowed to be improved upon by other people.
Now,
Think about his private, for-profit organization Wikia where he receives millions of visitors every month. Here, he engages the community volunteers in building contents around major inventions and occurrences including games, entertainments etc while unwanted contents are blocked.
The Wikia portal functions like a magazine. There is a gigantic wiki about a game; ‘World of Warcraft’; a movie series, ‘Lost’; recipe wiki and more.
2. Be Careful in Charging Your Readers
Contrary to what some portals are beginning to do, Jimmy Wales does not advise charging fees.
On thestar.com in an article, The wiki world, According to Jimmy Wales, when Jimmy Wales was asked about charging his readers he said,
“There’s no real impetus behind charging people to read stuff on the internet. I don’t think that works at all.”
In actual fact, charging a fee per user will decrease your visitors and thus reduce your turn over from other services you provide.
3. Ensure Your Portal Creates a Community Atmosphere and the Members of the Community are United in Purpose
Jimmy Wales has always talked about building a sense of direction on both Wikia and Wikipedia.
His purpose is for people to build a community with integrity. When he was citing the difference between the Wikia and discussion forums or discussion boards, he said,
“Typically, in a forum or discussion board, the community is able to talk to each other. That’s all they can do. They’re not really building something together.”
Whether you are a small internet business owner or a large organization, these tips are important in today’s competitive web space. One vital tip is to constantly look deeper into the future of the web space, and strive to maintain an unrivaled reputation for quality.
