How EnduranceRaceFinder.com came about

I took a class my senior year of undergrad that was all about the business side of being an artist. It talked about how to promote ourselves as an artist and the importance of doing such things. Well one part of that class was learning how to make a website. We had to brainstorm on great names for websites and then buy the domain name and finally create the site all about our art. From this little bit of knowledge gained on website construction, I wanted to know more after the class was over. I bought books and taught myself more or less how to build websites. I have had my ups and downs with website building, but really enjoy the creative process. I am in no way a programmer though so I have definitely had my struggles. To this day I have made about 6 or 7 unique websites for others and don't have one up for my art as we speak. Some websites I have made are:

tchandzonart.com
experiencelegacy.com
lloydclarkesports.com
chemicalcontrol.com
and my most recent personal one,
enduranceracefinder.com

I would like to think my skill at website building is the layout and design work. Putting it all together to run perfectly is a trial and error process, although I am much better that I used to be.

I have always wanted an internet business. The freedom and flexibility that can come with such a business is essential to me. I love the idea of being able to work out of my home from any location I choose. I remember my job of installing office furniture a few years ago. A co-worker/friend and I would just try to think of great internet business ideas all day and bounce them off each other. He told me about the site milliondollarhomepage.com. We both thought what a great idea, and so simple. Well about a year ago I came across what I thought was my 'great idea.' I thought about a website where you could go on and find or add garage sales. The site wouldn't just list the garage sales, it would put them all on a map. I even bought the domain names mapmygaragesale.com and mapmygaragesales.com. I was thinking of utilizing the GoogleMaps API and having my site work with the Google technology. O thought I had scoured the internet for similar sites, finding none. Well apparently that first time looking through, I didn't look hard enough, because I eventually found a site doing exactly what I wanted.

This finding of the site called garagesalefinder.com was actually the best thing to happen to me. As I was looking over the site and reading about it I clicked on the 'about' tab. The owner of the site was talking about how she loved to go garage sale shopping and wanted a site that could map out her routes. As she didn't find such a site, she decided to start her own. As I was reading this, I was thinking 'I don't particularly have an affinity for garage sales.' So, why would I make a website about garage sales?

Then it hit me all at once after reading that. My site, my real 'great idea.' I do have an affinity for sports, pretty much any kind of sport, but running has always been a big part of my life. More recently I have been getting into triathlons, I've done a few mountain bike and cross-country ski races also. Why not map out running races like garagesalefinder.com does for garage sales. Whenever I am looking for running races I have to find and events calendar in whatever state the race is and then do a search. The races only come up as text and if it's in a town I've never heard of I have to go to a site like mapquest.com and see exactly where the race is. Race calendars are always hit or miss too with no one being very comprehensive. People in this kind of lifestyle don't just do one type of race either, examples: many runners also do triathlons, many road bikers also do mountain bike races and running races, many cross-country skiers do canoeing, running and adventure races, etc.

So I set out to make EnduranceRaceFinder.com. A site that would have many different types of endurance races and listed them geographically. Not only is it a site about what I love doing, but there are many aspects of the company that I enjoy. Designing the website, designing apparel, sponsoring races, entering races, immersing myself in that type of lifestyle and community. It is a perfect company for me.