• Q: What is a Pipeno site?
• A: Pipeno is a social-publishing platform for creating content, building communities and facilitating commerce within a niche. In other words, it is a new way for small publishers to make a living by bringing people and products together around their content. A Pipeno site is a publication that utilizes the Pipeno platform to reach audiences on the Internet or mobile devices.

• Q: What are the benefits of a Pipeno site?
• A: People tell us that Pipeno:
• • Eliminates design and technical challenges in launching a content-rich Web site that stays in sync with leaps in technology
  • Engages the audience and facilitates their contribution
  • Creates a no-brainer for businesses to provide valuable products and services to their target niche
  • Strives to provide every legal monetization opportunity for small publishers
  • Adapts quickly to changes in the business and technology environment
  • Reduces costs dramatically for content distribution and monetization

• Q: What can people use Pipeno sites for?
• A: People can use Pipeno sites for many different purposes. A few of these are:
• • Self-publishing: Do you have a passion? Go create a Pipeno site! It will enable you to write, publish, share and get real-time insights from a like-minded community. You will also have the opportunity to monetize your content in many different ways. If you have more than one niche to address, create a site for every one of them!
  • Make your current Web site more dynamic: Do you have a Web site with content that stays the same week after week? How boring! Add Pipeno to your existing site so that your prospects and customers have a reason to return and stay connected with your business.
  • Launch product sites: Are you passionate about a product? Create a Pipeno site! Using Pipeno, other people who like the product as much you do can interact with each other. You can even make money by selling accessories related to the product or by selling the product itself. Are you crazy about more than one product? Create a Pipeno site about every one of them, build a community and facilitate commerce.
  • Launch community news sites: Want to launch an online and mobile newspaper without a huge investment in development, design and maintenance? Create a Pipeno site! You are live in a matter of minutes and can engage the community with stories that contain text, photos and videos. And your staff - whether they are salaried professionals, friends or family - can be easily delegated into roles (writers, editors, administrator) to keep it simple and fun.
  • Note: The three features below will be available later this year. We are informing you about them now so that you can plan ahead and build an audience using Pipeno's other features. That way, when we release the features below, you will have a loyal audience base that you can turn into customers.
  • Publish, market and sell books you have written: Have a book that is your dearest project? Does writing define who you are, so you don't want to go to a publishing house that will own you and your content? Want the lion's share of sales revenue with transparency for every transaction and the possibility to market your book, all in one place? Create a Pipeno site. You will be able to sell your book from your own site as an e-book and/or in a printed format, just like you see on bookstore shelves. You will also be able to build a niche audience for your book and sell them new editions or new books in later years. And while you are writing your next masterpiece, your site will generate revenue for you in other ways as long as you keep the content fresh and engaging with the community's help.
  • Publish, market and sell photo books: Are you a photographer looking to make money selling compilations of your photos in a book that looks great on a coffee table or on a wall? You can use your Pipeno site to build a community that likes your work. You can sell your photos as high-resolution images and/or sell a printed compilation of photos your audience likes. Pipeno will print and deliver the book to the buyer's doorstep.
  • Publish, market and sell video content you have created: Are you a filmmaker trying to promote your film? You can use your Pipeno site to build a community that is passionate about the subject of your film and point them to theaters where your film is being shown. You can even sell DVDs or merchandise on your Pipeno site. You can keep your audience engaged long before - and after - your film, and until your next film, while generating revenue to do what you love.

• Q: How is a Pipeno site different from a blog or other Web site?
• A: A blog or any other type of Web site is quite limited in the ways it allows you to connect with your audience. The audience experience is also quite different than on a Pipeno site. Pipeno is easy to use and allows you to create a wonderful experience for your audience while generating revenue every day, without being dependent on advertising like most blogs or Web sites.

• Q: Are Pipeno sites free?
• A: Yes, launching a pipeno site is free. However, there are several pricing packages available, which add incredible value to your site. Building a site with all the rich features and functionality that Pipeno provides you with what could cost more than $100,000. And to build a team that helps make you money from your content could be several $100,000 more. So we are not exaggerating when we say that you are getting well over $200,000 in value when you leverage Pipeno as a platform to raise the curtains on your talent.

• Q: How easy is it to build a site?
• A: Very easy. All you need is an e-mail address, a password, a PayPal account and a few clicks. You don't need to have any technical skills whatsoever. Your entire site is predesigned to showcase and monetize your content.

• Q: Do I need to know/learn stuff like HTML, CSS or other complicated skills to make my site cool?
• A: Not at all! Launching a Pipeno site does not require any design or technical skills.

• Q: Will Pipeno have apps for my site(s), like for the iPhone, Android, iPad and Kindle?
• A: Yes. We are planning on releasing these apps later in the year.

• Q: How many sites can I have?
• A: Pipeno allows you to have an unlimited number of sites, one for every interest and area of expertise you have.

• Q: I created a site. What should I do first?
• A: Keep publishing, and follow our tips and the community's tips on building an audience. Also, set aside some time to read the FAQ section, the How-To tutorials and the Glossary of Terms. That could take a bit of time but it would be time well spent because you would learn how to maximize your return on investment in our system.

• Q: I know you said that it is very easy to launch a Pipeno site, but I am a Luddite. Can I get help with launching my site?
• A: Yes, absolutely! You can get two kinds of help: free and paid. When you are setting up your site, the tooltips in the administration console can guide you through the process. A Tooltip is a small window that will appear on your screen telling you the options you have and the best way to go. Other kinds of free help can be found in the FAQ section, the glossary, the video tutorials and the community center, where you can ask other Pipeno users your question. If these don't work for you, one of our team members can be your personal consultant and can help you via phone or e-mail. We charge $50 an hour for this service, and one hour is usually enough. Alternatively, we could assign you a personal Pipeno consultant for $500 per month whom you can simply e-mail your content to and they will take care of keeping your site up-to-date and maximizing the monetization features of the Pipeno platform.

• Q: How can people find my site?
• A: To help you build traffic to your site, we already have the best SEO techniques and viral-audience building tools integrated within your Pipeno site. This means that you only have to use those modules without having to learn or install any new tools. We also provide a lot of documents on our official site that help educate you on best practices related to promoting your site.

• Q: Where do I go if I find offensive or illegal material on a Pipeno site?
• A: You can flag any illegal material, whether it's an article, photo, video or comment, directly on the Pipeno site. We are sticklers for preventing any kind of copyright or legal violation and we encourage Pipeno communities to be the same way.

• Q: Can I make money from my site?
• A: Yes. We have designed our technology and business model so that you can potentially earn between $25,000 to more than $100,000 from your site annually. For more details please visit our monetization FAQs.

• Q: After publication on the Pipeno network, do all rights for my work still belong to me?
• A: Yes, they do.

• Q: Can I delete a Pipeno site?
• A: Yes, you can. You need to send a request to support@pipeno.com so we can make sure your request is not made by accident. Then the team will evaluate your site and get the job done if it does not have a loyal audience. If your site does have a loyal audience, we have to take their feelings into consideration, so deleting your site may not be possible. But we can have a conversation about that and together decide what is best for you and your audience.

• Q: Can I use Pipeno for promoting and supporting my business?
• A: Yes, absolutely! Pipeno encourages you to promote your brand or business everywhere and anywhere you want.

• Q: How does Pipeno plan to grow traffic to my site(s)?
• A: We have built best practices into the platform - SEO, viral widgets, Facebook and Twitter integration etc. - that will enable you and your audience to grow traffic to the site. We will also provide you with best-practice tips to grow your audience. These tools will give you an edge. However, a large part of the traffic-generation responsibility lies with you because there is no better way to grow traffic than to have high-quality, highly relevant, fresh content that your audience feels compelled to share with like-minded people. We also recommend that you constantly think about proven as well as creative new ways of marketing your site. An example of a proven marketing method would be to reach out to "traffic influencers," such as industry bloggers and journalists who cover your particular niche. An example of a creative guerilla marketing method: a Sam Ewen-style stunt in Boston for Cartoon Network that made national news after police thought that electronic lightboards waving middle fingers were actually bombs.

• Q: Do your technical traffic-generation methods differ from other sites?
• A: On the Internet, 99% of Web sites are not technically optimized to grow their audience and increase traffic. The 1% of sites that are optimized get to that level with professional help that costs hundreds or thousands of dollars. We have adopted some of the same professional technical methods and integrated them into our platform at no cost to you. Some of these are visible to the naked eye (e.g., Facebook and Twitter integration), while others are invisible, e.g., SEO.

• Q: Can I import content to my Pipeno site from other sites I own?
• A: Yes, you can easily import and manage content from WordPress, Blogger and TypePad. If you want help, our professional-services team can help you migrate your existing site or content from any CMS at $50 an per hour. A migration could take as little as one day for a simple CMS to many days for more complex systems.

• Q: How much authority does an editor have over the content that gets published on the site?
• A: During setup, an editor has the option of selecting a workflow that enables them to review and approve all content prior to being published. If editors choose that option, they can provide editorial guidance to writers on the publishing team and only publish the content when they are satisfied. Alternatively, an editor might choose to allow trusted writers to auto-publish their content without editorial review.

• Q: When should I start working on creating content?
• A: You should start creating content immediately. If you need guidance, the Pipeno team can help you fine-tune your content-production strategy and production schedule. Some of the writers in our launch network have novels ready to be published while others are just getting started. Every content creator is unique and the Pipeno team will work to position you with the best odds of success.

• Q: How frequently do I have to create new content?
• A: As frequently as necessary to grow your audience and keep them engaged. Our research indicates that fresh, relevant and high-quality content keeps users coming back for more. However, we understand the challenges and time commitment required for creating high-quality content. Therefore, we suggest that you invite active like-minded contributors from the community to become writers on your site. You should take advantage of our revenue-sharing features to reward them for their time, knowledge and effort.

• Q: What are the daily/hourly requirements for content creation?
• A: You control your own schedule and you should keep a steady stream of content flowing that keeps your audience engaged by starting conversations on subjects that matter to them. As your audience grows, you should consider inviting a few contributors from the audience to be part of your official writing team if they are gaining popularity. Pipeno features allow you to easily track the popularity of contributors and audience interest on various topics. As your site needs more and more fresh content, you should take your content-production cues from the community.

• Below are a few examples of what content creation might look like for various types of content owners:
• Example 1: A writer interested in marketing a children's book for 8- to 12-year-olds
• Approach your content-production strategy by thinking of your target audience as moms who buy books for their kids. Your site should be a very valuable aggregation of content relevant for moms who have preteen children. You would:
• • Research and write original content on the subject of raising preteens, or publish content you have already written
  • Aggregate bookmarked content from other sites, such as industry bodies and magazines
  • Provide an "integrated media" user experience for moms with relevant photos and videos; for example, you could write a short article about preteen education and then embed photos from Flickr and videos from YouTube
  • Assume that moms will pitch in with stories, photos and videos of their own
  • Your audience would grow and, as the site's editor or as a writer on the site, you would have earned the respect of the audience. When your audience reaches 10,000 unique visitors per month, you could inform everyone about your book and maybe even provide them with the first few chapters for free. They could then choose to purchase sequential chapters or the entire book, just like moms buy individual songs on iTunes or entire albums.
  • Keep in mind that you would still be benefiting from the other revenue options during this time.
• Example 2: A travel photographer interested in building a niche community around scuba diving
• Approach your content-production strategy by thinking of your target audience as scuba-diving enthusiasts. Your site should be a very valuable aggregation of content relevant for people who like to travel to exotic diving destinations. You would:
• • Publish photos from your most exotic diving trip
  • Contextualize the photos with some text-based commentary and stories
  • Aggregate bookmarked content from other sites, such as industry bodies and magazines
  • Provide an "integrated media" user experience for divers with relevant photos and videos; for example, you could write a short article about scuba-diving accidents and how to avoid them, embedding text and videos to illustrate your point
  • Assume that other divers will pitch in with stories, photos and videos of their own
  • Your audience would grow and, as the site's editor or as a writer on the site, you would have earned the respect of the audience. When your audience reaches 10,000 unique visitors per month, you could inform everyone about your collection of a dozen favorite photographs from a variety of exotic diving trips and they could choose to purchase individual prints or all of them at a special discount.
  • Keep in mind that you would still be benefiting from the other revenue options during this time.
• Example 3: A filmmaker interested in building a niche community around entrepreneurship
• Entrepreneurship is too broad a niche, in our opinion. Therefore, we suggest narrowing the niche to "venture-backed entrepreneurs" or "mompreneurs" or "high-tech entrepreneurs." Approach your content-production strategy by thinking of your target audience as one of these niches, e.g., high-tech entrepreneurs. Your site should be a very valuable aggregation of content relevant for people who experience characteristics very specific to that niche. You would:
• • Publish original video interviews with successful high-tech entrepreneurs
  • Contextualize the videos with some text-based commentary and stories
  • Aggregate bookmarked content from other sites, such as industry bodies and magazines
  • Provide an "integrated media" user experience for entrepreneurs with relevant text and photos embedding text and photos to illustrate your point
  • Assume that other entrepreneurs will pitch in with stories, photos and videos of their own
  • Your audience would grow and, as the site's editor or as a writer on the site, you would have earned the respect of the audience. When your audience reaches 10,000 unique visitors per month, you could inform everyone about your collection of a dozen favorite, previously unseen, behind-the-scenes footage with unsung heroes (e.g. CFOs, customer support people etc.) at successful start-ups giving valuable operating advice. They could choose to purchase individual interviews or the entire collection at a special discount.
  • Keep in mind that you would still be benefiting from the other revenue options during this time.

• Q: Can I launch multiple sites on different topics?
• A: Yes. If you have the time, desire and expertise to manage multiple sites on multiple topics, with a keen sense for delivering audience satisfaction, you should do so. It is financially more rewarding to dominate a niche than have your fingers in too many pies. If you are interested in establishing a presence in multiple niches, we suggest that you leverage the Pipeno platform-teaming features to select active contributors from the audience to become writers on your sites, or invite like-minded friends to play that role. This will allow you to produce high-quality content more quickly for your audience, which in turn will yield a sticky end-user experience.

• Q: Could I include interviews with lawyers, psychologists, patients etc. and then write about them?
• A: Yes. As long as you are in compliance with all laws that govern your niche e.g. HIPAA for health related material.

• Q: Will it be appropriate for readers to ask questions and get answers?
• A: Yes.

• Q: What are the style guidelines for content on Pipeno sites?
• A: Site editors will provide style guidelines specific to their sites. If you are the site editor, you can set your own style guidelines. As a point of guidance, writing for sites powered by the Pipeno platform requires obeying the same rules as you would follow for good writing in general. You should pay close attention to choosing the right title, respecting the spelling and orthography, creating content for the selected niche and choosing an appropriate writing style (first person or third person).

• Q: Does the Pipeno platform have features that will help with my writing process?
• A: Yes. The Pipeno platform provides spelling auto correctors, an auto-saving function for drafts, preview for drafts, image resizer, editors similar to common word-processing programs and other features to help you very easily manage and publish your content.

• Q: Can a writer be promoted to an editor position?
• A: Yes. A writer can be promoted to the editor position if the site owner/publisher and the existing editors feel that he/she deserves to be promoted.

• Q: Can I edit or delete content after it's published?
• A: Yes, you can edit or delete content after it is published, but only if the site owner/publisher and/or the site editor allows it. This is because editing or deleting content after it has been published can have adverse effects on revenue associated with that article.

• Q: What are the tax and other financial/legal implications of participation in the Pipeno network?
• A: Every country, state, city and/or other jurisdiction in the world has various tax and financial obligations of their own. Since Pipeno is a global publishing platform, we do not have the relevant expertise to advise you on legal, financial or tax matters relevant to your jurisdiction. We consider you an independent business entity that is responsible for your own legal and financial affairs. We suggest you retain appropriate experts to advise you on these matters.

• Q: What if my question was not covered in this FAQ?
• A: Please send us your question via the Contact Us form and we will respond as soon as possible. Response times will depend on the complexity of the question.

• Q: There are a lot terms and concepts here that I'm not familiar with. Is there a place where I can see what all of these terms mean?
• A: Yes, you can see every term explained in our Glossary of Terms.

• Q: I have a question that is not answered anywhere on your site.
• A: E-mail us on FAQ@Pipeno.com and we will get back to you with an answer.