Wondering why I suddenly started building websites? Check out this article — it’s because Hostinger’s hosting is just too cheap.
Of all the websites I have started building, this one might be the most fun.
I bought HotPot101.com because I kept thinking about one simple idea:
If you want to understand China, start with food.
Hot pot is probably one of the easiest examples.
You sit around a table.
There is a giant pot in the middle.
Everyone cooks their own food.
People argue about what broth to choose.
Someone orders way too much meat.
Someone puts something into the pot and forgets about it.
And somehow dinner becomes a three-hour social event.
That’s more than a recipe.
It’s culture.
Hot pot is an experience
A foreign visitor searching for “Chinese hot pot” might want very different things.
They might want to know:
- What is Chinese hot pot?
- How does hot pot work?
- What should I order?
- What ingredients are popular?
- What is Sichuan hot pot?
- What is Chongqing hot pot?
- What is the difference between spicy and non-spicy broth?
- How much does hot pot cost?
- How do I eat hot pot in China?
- What should I do at a hot pot restaurant?
That creates a surprisingly large information space.
And unlike some of my other websites, this one has a very obvious connection to travel, restaurants, food and products.
That makes it interesting as an affiliate experiment.
From information to commercial intent
This is something I’m learning from building websites.
Not all traffic is equally valuable.
Someone searching:
“What is hot pot?”
is curious.
Someone searching:
“Best hot pot restaurant in Beijing”
has stronger intent.
Someone searching:
“Best hot pot pot for home”
might be ready to buy something.
Those are completely different types of visitors.
That’s why HotPot101 interests me.
It sits at the intersection of:
culture + food + travel + restaurants + products.
That gives it several possible business models.
I don’t want to build another generic food blog
There are already thousands of websites explaining recipes.
That’s not what I’m trying to do.
I want HotPot101 to focus on the experience of Chinese hot pot.
For someone who has never eaten hot pot, the site should answer:
“What am I about to experience?”
For someone planning a trip to China:
“How do I do this without looking completely lost?”
For someone who loves hot pot:
“What else can I discover?”
That gives the website a clear audience.
Another small website experiment
HotPot101 is also a reminder of why I keep buying inexpensive domains.
I don’t know whether it will become a big business.
It might become a small SEO site.
It might make some affiliate income.
It might become a useful resource.
It might fail.
That’s okay.
The cost of finding out is relatively small compared with the potential value of learning how a niche works.
This is becoming my approach to internet businesses:
Don’t spend years planning. Build a small version and find out.
And hot pot connects to something bigger
The more I build websites about China, the more I realize that people don’t experience China through one topic.
Someone might discover China through the zodiac.
Then become interested in Chinese names.
Then start learning about Chinese social customs.
Then plan a trip.
Then decide to try hot pot.
The websites don’t need to be one giant website.
They can each do one thing well.
That’s the experiment I’m building.
HotPot101 is my attempt to explore the food and experience side of that journey.
And honestly, this one has an additional advantage:
I get to research hot pot while building the website.
Not the worst job in the world.
Let’s see where it goes.
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