Would starting my own website that is based around sports be a good idea?
That really depends on your idea as a whole. Especially, if you plan to build a business around your web site, it is important for you to know who your competition is and what they are doing. What is your competitive edge that may draw users away from already established sites to yours?
1. What's the best way to go about starting our own website?
The best way really depends on your particular situation. Learning HTML and CSS isn't hard and will by no means take years. With dedication and loads of time it is possible to become fluent in both within a few short months. Graphical skills on the other hand are something that can't really be taught. Sure, you can be taught to create certain effects and how to operate a piece of software, but artistic skill can't. So it really depends on what type of person you are. Now if you want to have a more interactive experience on your site, which I am sure you do, you would also need to learn PHP or some other scripting language. On top of that, with all the craze around AJAX, I can only recommend also allotting some time to learn Javascript. I am mostly self taught and can only recommend
Sitepoint books as a good starting point. There are also loads of free tutorials on the web, on just about anything you can think of. But be careful with these, as they vary in quality and many are outdated. A good source of tutorials is
www.w3schools.com.
If this is to big of feat for you, there are also alternatives you may want to consider. You could for instance hire a web developer to work with, or depending on your skill set, you may even be able to barter with said developer. Let's say you were a trained accountant, you could offer your accounting skills in exchange for web design services. Many Freelancers and small start ups are looking for such opportunities as they too are on a budget.
Then of course there are also services that allow you to build a web site based on a pre-made template with the help of a simple user interface. However, no serious business should consider such a service in my experience.
2. What would be the best way to go about promoting the site to get viewers?
Again this is relative to your particular predicament. Any thing from word of mouth to a complex ad campaign is Marketing. The first thing you need to figure out here is whom your target audience is. For instance if your web site is focused more on a local audience, then something more conventional such as an ad in your local newspaper might be effective. Most sites rely heavily on search engine traffic. If you want to get in good with the search engines it is important to build links, this is where social media comes in. A blog is a very effective tool here. Write blog articles and submit them to Twitter, Facebook and Myspace. Each submission creates a link back to your site. It's an easy and very effective way to build links. I really don't want to go into to much detail here though, as it's a topic in itself. Just be creative and don't be afraid to experiment.
3. How would I go about getting people to advertise on my site?
Depending on the nature of your site and how good of a salesman or woman you are, you can actually approach potential advertisers directly. Blogs, Inc, now owned by AOL, for instance sold $25000 ad campaigns on their blogs, prior to even being online. I am not saying that this would work for you, but the point is, the sky is the limit. Most smaller and medium sized sites seem to rely on Google Adsense or any number of ad networks these days. Again, don't be afraid to experiment. Something that might not work for me, might be perfect for you.
4. If I got news or updates from other sites, what are the laws/guidelines I must follow to go about putting that information on my site?
As long as you don't copy word for word and actually write your own articles, this would be a non-issue, as it would be covered under fair use (granted it is a gray area). If you do intend to use content that was not generated by you, I would suggest sticking to feeds. Many of the larger sites offer feeds and widgets you can display on your web site. However, I highly advise against using someone else's content. Why come to your site, rather than going directly to the source?
As you might have noticed, it is hard to really give you precise advise on many of the questions and concerns you have, as there are a lot of variables involved, which I just don't know. I do hope you find some value in my answers though and wish you the best of luck with your future endeavor.
