Name of your website?Well-Life/Well-Chat!
Your name?
Maria Rocha
Your Location (city, etc)
Leeds
Please give us a short summary of your website?
This is a new venture... A chat space has been created for people to have regular self-help groups at scheduled times throughout the week for free.
This is a model of what I am doing in the community but on the internet. I am a counsellor and set up groups that run themselves eventually.
Everything is free, even the website, chat space and forum. I will facilitate and co-ordinate and eventually volunteers will assist.
It is my philosophy on self-help in the community, that to get emotionally well, it should never cost anyone anything to reach out and get help. It is also a belief that we get well by reaching out in our community and helping.
I feel the same for people searching for real-time help on the internet, that 24/7 someone could be there to help in either a scheduled class/group or in open chat in a safe facilitated chat space.
To hold a group for eg. a personal development group, Overeaters anonymous, parenting class, depression self-help, quit smoking support, meditation group, relaxation class etc, people can register interest on the forum and a scheduled slot will be allocated in the chat space.
There will volunteer faciliators for the time allotted.
What inspired you to launch your own website?
I did it all for free, which unfortunately due to cost shows on my site :)but eventually I want to get volunteers who will help me develop the site but maintain the no-cost access to the public.
I set it up because I see and hear so many people struggling waiting for counsellors waiting lists to reduce and paying very high fees when they do get help. I also think (as a counsellor) that the power dynamic within the counselling relationship is always unequal and believe we get well by helping each other out in the community....developing friendships is rare nowadays :)
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
This is it, Dec 31st
How did you decide on a name for your website?
I wanted something positive. I think talking is under-rated, as is getting together in real-time with others and having a clear positive aim of 'GETTING WELL & STAYING WELL' I think the name of my site has a clear aim for the philosophy of it, and will add an aim for potential visitors
What makes it different from other, similar offerings?
I don't see a site around where all groups can come together like a local community centre, where you can look on the noticeboard and see a class or group you may want to attend. I want those to be as varied as possible and positive for further personal development.
My aim is to include classes of education also, introductions etc 101's as I used to be a university lecturer, also humour and laughter workshops,but those are dreams after this basic one gets off the ground :)
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
Never to involve money, to develop it all off the backs of our volunteer sweat and involvement. The philosophy ought to always remain the same. I am a human being, you are, we all can get help regardless of our socio-economic backgrounds and challenges :)I see, read and hear so many great things, but when it gets down to the basics of life, we stopped reaching out without judgement
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
If I can invest time I do if I have the idea/energy to go ahead with it I do..already I have no interest :) and that is because the site says something to people as it is, its free, not fancy, so in people's eyes its worth no interest....I want to get beyond that and help it grow, so I am trying to promote it myself till I can get someone involved who can help me develop it and promote it with the technological know-how I do not have :)
If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?
What a great question! That would give me a large budget for publication and promotion so that everyone would know about it...I'm aiming at the person stuck at home who feels unloved, useless and suffering. In my experience isolation can be a killer.If they knew at the press of a button they could communicate with people who could help them help themselves, a beginning in their lives may seem possible.
How would I change? What a great sense of satisfaction that I would be able to create an online community where there were many self-help groups, facilitated open chat with crisis intervention volunteers in the background, a better chat room lol and all for free out of the generosity of volunteers (professionals like myself and others who are experienced) it would be a dream come true...My aim is to open a centre in my area on the same theme, as it is I have only started groups for different agencies
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
I would not do that until I had recruited the neccessary volunteers to support it. For example the chat room would have to be monitored by volunteer facilitators 24/7 with experience of the troubles a chat room can get into. An agreed set of ground rules would have to be posted first also and used in the event of trouble by trolls. Neccessary facilitators for the groups would have to be established also. But yes I would have the committment and time for it.
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
none
What has been your biggest challenge?
none as yet, its a dream so no challenges will happen un til it starts which will be met as they arise as most things in mmy life :)
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
well, none as yet, as that side I am unfamiliar with...as you can see, this is what I am doing, and a lot of forums, sites do not like this method of publicising a site, even though its a totally free site !!!
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
I have experience of running a forum as admin for a friend and thorougly enjoyed that as quite quickly I got help, but my friend paid for the website, so the quality of the forum was better, therefore attracted more people. Mine is very basic, the website is a front for the chat space really and forum, although the emphasis will be placed on the chat space and schedule
How long have you run the site already, and how long will you continue to keep it up if you don't enjoy big gains in traffic, income or popularity?
I'll keep promoting it...the site was started 31st Dec 2007
How successful have you been with similar ideas in your community?
I have developed and facilitated self-help groups in my community for 11 years now all were free. I have developed and run the following groups. 'Loss' support and recovery group. (Mainly for bereaved people)Free 'Being Ourselves' Personal Development Group. Free Alcohol recovery and support. For people averse to attending AA. Free Carers and relatives of alcoholics. For people averse to going to Alanon. Again free Raja Yoga/Pranayama class. Free Self-hypnosis for beginners. Free Relaxation therapy group.Free
There are people in every community who can devote a certain amount of time for free. This is great service, helping others helps ourselves and helps regain that sense of community that is slowly disappearing.
What is your website address?
Well-Life/Well-Chat!
