I have been asked this question a few times, and typically, from those who are not developers, but have been in corporate business, want to add on 'value' for their clients, and in some instances, developers who want to break out of their current role in the work place for something that is going to make them a few dollars on the side.

When I first embarked on the notion of running DotNetNuke as my primary business offering, I had rose tinted glasses.... similar to this picture below....

Can't you see what this could become?  It's actually the house we moved into which brought about the most memorable, wonderful, painful, rewarding and fun times of my life.. If I had my way, I'd live in a house in the bush - that's really my persona I think.  Give me a home amongst the gum trees.

But some didn't see what could be done, but more ... what it looked like then...

A funny scenario you might think... and what's the relevance... When we bought this house, moved it to a couple of acres... and decided to renovate, I sent my mother a picture... She rang me up and said - "Nina are you freaking crazy???"... ok I've edited some of the words, as there could be children present, but you get the idea.... I remember standing there taking that picture and thinking to myself - What does she mean? Can't anyone picture what this house will look like..

By the way - this is the good picture - the other one, I thought didn't show off all the features in the house. 

This brings us to the type of people in the world who are eternal optimists, the glass is always half full, people are always good until they prove to be others, there is always something good around the corner... bla bla bla.. you've all heard it a thousand times and anyone reading this can judge their own personality and work out which type you are.

I'm married to a cynic... a sarcastic guy at the best times, but probably in reality, a better judge of character than I used to be, simply because I really thought everything was good and couldn't see the sun for the 'rose tinted glasses'.... and on Febuary 14, Valentines day, when DNN 2.1.2 came out, and I downloaded that skinning documentation, I was excited.. I thought 'Oh MY' this is the future.  This is what people want to use for their websites... I told everyone I knew that I had started my apprenticeship ... even oldies like me... there was hope. 

I didn't need to be a developer, I had a small base of web clients, I could make their lives easier and mine too, I could make their websites do more, without the need to employ developers. I was more comfortable in the Microsoft Windows area, so there was at last, a true OPEN SOURCE solution for Microsoft Based Hosting, and add to that - I could actually do something.

Can you imagine my excitement. I was on the road to glory...  Finally, FINALLY the world had caught up to my way of thinking.. I had an email marketing application - Emailer - when it was written back in 2001, it was a kick arse application.  But wow, who did email marketing?

I had done a course in XML - Online in 2000, maybe 1999, I can't remember exactly but I do remember telling my two guys who I had working for me - "GUYS... LEARN XML .. it's the way of the future".. and of course they laughed and laughed at their boss... (me) and said - yeah right - we could only find two websites on the internet that used this ... sure it is...   But I did the course anyway because even though I don't do any fancy coding in XML, what I do understand is it's purpose, structure and capabilities... I learnt alot...

Now if you've managed to read this far down the track, you're going to get an idea that I'm a person who loves technology - it's burnt me horribly over the last few years, DotNetNuke has been a love, hate relationship but today, I still stand and say - You can run a business without being a developer and use DotNetNuke as your business model.

There are some tricks to it you know - and it's not an 'overnight success' story by any means. It has cost me thousands, tens of thousands I shudder to think and it's been based around the old school of having to learn the hard way.

I don't think DNN is any different to other solutions in as much as whatever poison you choose to help you sell solutions to your clients, you're going to have to become an expert. 

Some of the key points I think any business needs to learn about running a business based on the DotNetNuke framework are...

• Get good equipment - invest in the infrastructure to keeps the sites running
• Learn how to use the appliction - run your own websites with it and learn what it can do
• Don't test modules on your webserver without having tested locally - I can vouch for that - I handle over 120 dbs and have to make sure they all run, and one of our severs does over 250gb serving DNN websites.  We NEVER EVER test modules live.
• Get your local installation setup  - you MUST have a good local install and have some idea on how to install DNN, optimse and configure it.
• Don't be sucked in to thinking you need to keep everyone upgraded to latest version.  I know there are some who want to be on the cutting edge... well let the bleeders do that for you or it will sap money out of your pocket in the way of time, misery and bugs that don't seem to get fixed for months.
• Learn which is the best DNN installation for your business model.  You don't need the latest and greatest, but if you want to resell and reuse DotNetNuke efficiently, you'll have to understand what versions have got what enhancements.... I say this because we had to wait a long time before the really good feature of import/export was bedded in, picked up by developers and more mainstream.  This to me apart from the skinning aspect of DNN is one of the key areas of success that DNN has.
• I get sick of the purist, big touting people who believe that Microsoft can't deliver an open source project. I'm sure there is support behind the DotNetNuke project that we'll never hear about, and I don't really care - but DotNetNuke offers as good if not better solution than many of the open source products around.  
• And don't think that just because DNN is open source, that it has no value.  I am honestly fed up to my back teeth with people thinking that becuase it's free, the services behind it are as well.  People say to me - why do you tell others it's DotNetNuke... well, that's because I have a public face that is so entrenched around DNN that if I didn't say anything, I'd be found out... I would be very embarrassed if my clients found out by mistake as I believe in being upfront, warts and all with all my clients.
• Invest in a few good modules - If you want to make a business out of it, support your developers and look at things commercially.  Let's say you have a small site, with little or no budget, and you were suckered in to doing something, then use the free modules, but beware, it's on your own neck and your reluctance to spend a few dollars on a commerical solution will most likely come back and bite you with bugs, fixes and waiting, waiting, waiting for the neverending list of fixes to eventually if ever catch up....  That's why I buy modules or ask my clients to buy the modules that I know are commerically viable to use. Spend a few dollars and plug and go.. you can build up some wonderful sites with a small handful of commercial modules.
• Don't believe all that you read... except from me of course   - unless you can get some substance behind to back it up.  I'm amazed at the experts who have voices but nothing behind them in actual real experiences that extend to their own websites, a mates site and a couple of freebies.   And there are plenty who want to cash in on your 'lack of knowledge' by providing you information that is free, is out there and is in many cases, the docmentation that is available already online.
• Look at what you can offer and become an expert in that area. You do not have to be a DNN guru to run a business based on the DotNetNuke open source application but you MUST know where your strengths are and find out how you can use DNN to your advantage. I am simply amazed and super impressed about the diversity of DNN users and business developers. 
  
• Don't think that because you know Joomla or Mambo or Drupal that you can just jump in and pick up DNN  - they are different, require learning and I did try for some time to become more proficient in Joomla but had to give up - I couldn't work it out.. even though we have a few linux servers, it eluded me until I had to give up.

Nothing will prepare you better for running a business based on the DotNetNuke framework than committing to running your own website using the framework.

I get plenty of emails from people who are only using DNN because they have to.  Pushed into by someone, some marketing agency, some IT person, someone who has more say than they do... Yep, they are interesting - I call them the 'reluctants' because the got lumped with this thing called DNN and have no freaking idea what to do and they take a bit of working with, but these people, if given the time and good exposure to what DNN can do, can be your strongest clients.

Don't expect DNN to do it all 'out of the box' - particularly when it comes to ecommerce. I've been using the Catalook Store module and love it... but it's had it's fair share of 'why did I bother' thinking behind it.  eCommerce is complicated.  Most other solutions I've seen don't offer a store in a site like DNN can do.  they are separate installs, disjointed, no relationship with site structure and use, no integration and seamless membership management, and that is the key area of DNN that I think other CMS products have to catch up with...

oops.. I said that word - CMS - content mangement system... DotNetNuke in my opinion, isn't really a CMS product like you think... the Web Application Framework really does suit it much better, as it's the basis on which many excellent solutions have been written.  It does just that... provides a framework, very very well.  That is probably the key area that has this open source solution one that is a real contender as for the developer it offers thousands of hours of coding 'head starts' where you can, as a developer, take it much further by adding in your own skills....

I've been working in this space since 1996... I've been working with DNN since 2002, have a huge base of users of my free skins and support all around the world, and for the best part of 12 months have had to rebuild my infrastructure and vision too because DNN didn't really make it easy for me to deliver solutions without a developer in house... so, having changed my approach on how I handle DotNetNuke as a real solution for business owners, I thought I could start sharing some of my experiences then it might help a few people who would love to use DotNetNuke as their business model, but really can't find out it's even worth it.

I say - yes it is - if you go slowly slowly, learn the application thoroughly, test offline, use the correct equipment, invest in commercial modules, don't sell what you don't know, and give it time.

I've got lots more ideas - and you know - even with rose tinted glasses, my home that most people laughed at and thought we were crazy to even attempt, turned out just beautiful... it was time to move on to another venture in my life... but here's a snapshot of how it finally turned out...

I did the stained glass windows - as they are a part of something I did in the past... for many years until the scare of lead poisoning through skin absorption made me rethink what I was doing..




If you're willing to give things a try and have this inkling that perhaps DotNetNuke could be the answer... then you're probably right - it's been around long enough now, and I believe that it's still a truly under rated OPEN SOURCE solution that many people would love not to be around, and Linux isn't always the answer.... as much as I respect the software, I think DNN could give it a dang good run for the money.

Nina Meiers

// due to request I've added in a snapshot of the house - when it was closer to being finished..