Blogging for Money

I subscribe to the RSS feeds for several blogging blogs. Sites that post daily on how to improve your blog and make money. So why is the first thing i did for my AdultGuitar blog to set up a Word Press blog? Because one of the first things I learned was that Word Press forbids including advertising, or any significant chunk of e-commerce? So I have a choice between using the blogging features provided by register.com or perhaps using my google blogger account. Or re-read some of those business-of-blogging posts.

Starting a Website

After my last post, I decided it would be wise to invest a few bucks to grab my proposed domain name: adultguitar.com. In the harsh light of the day after, I have second thoughts about the name: does it sound too fuddy-duddy for my target market, which may be trying to recapture some of their youth? Regardless, the name is mine.The experience of establishing a domain name was quite easy, as I expected it to be. Domain registrars have had years to perfect the process. I went with Register.com, and am glad I did. buried in the fine print at the bottom of their website is info referencing awards they won from J. D. Powers for quality of customer service. As a newbie to setting up a site, I had opportunity to find out how good their customer service might be…..In mid-December, I switched to an iMac after having Gateway PCs for more than 10 years. Most of the switch has gone painlessly, with the exception of my Quicken program. But setting up a mail account for the mailbox at my new domain wasn’t happening last night. So I left a message for technical support at register.com. The form letter told me to expect help within 24 business hours. With the holidays, I wasn’t optimistic they would meet that time frame.So imagine my surprise when I woke up this morning to find my answer waiting for me. It was a simple thing I was doing wrong, but their standard on-line documentation wasn’t helping me figure it out. With the help of their e-mail, I was up and running in minutes. Even before my first cup of coffee! The only thing missing was a return address to send my compliments on a job well done.

Starting a Guitar Website

I have been thinking more about the idea of starting a website related to guitars and guitar playing. The working title is “Adult Guitar” and my early research shows this name is available (I’d better go register it!). The idea would be to offer articles to help those of us that want to play, or play more, as we get older. It might include reviews and links to instructional resources, on-line and otherwise, as well as gear reviews. Money would be earned through advertisements and perhaps selling instruments. Unfortunately, most manufacturers are not interested in internet-only dealers, and I’ve just about ruled out a storefront at this point. It is just too hard to make the economics of a store work well. At least as important as to what the site would do is what it wouldn’t do. It wouldn’t sell Gibson and Fender guitars. It wouldn’t have instructional videos, guitar tabs, or resources for bands (like MySpace has developed). It may have forums for musicians to connect with others to play together, and could sponsor meet-ups if the geography of visitors was conducive to off-line meetings. Most importantly, it would offer resources for integrating music into family and work life, which have become so hectic for most.I guess the first step is spending some money getting a domain name.