Thoughts on Investing in Your Own Writer’s Website
Maybe it’s just me, but this time of the year I spend more energy than usual thinking of money, finances, numbers, business, blah blah blah. Watch it creep into all my posts.
Take this one on writer’s websites, in response to the usual newbie question (let’s pretend that’s you) on whether one should invest in a website or not.
No brainer? Well, since the assumption is that you’re a writing industry newb, you won’t have any clips yet. So, should you spend money on a website/Web hosting?
The easy answer is no. But here are a few things to think about:
NOTE: For the $$$ figures, I like rounding the numbers (usually up, since we’re costing). Makes it easier to do the math in our heads.
• Whether you have a site or not, lock up your domain name (e.g., yourname.com). Try to stick with dot com’s, dot net’s if you must, maybe even dot org’s, but the other unrestricted TLDs (.biz, .info, .name and who knows what else they come up with) I consider as why bother’s. Your call, of course, and a domain with a less desirable TLD is still way better than nothing.
Cost: $10 a year. I use GoDaddy for my domains.
• Budget Web hosting also rounds out to about $10 a month. Yeah, that’s $120 annually you could save… but it’s also a darn cheap educational cost if you’re fairly new to all this Web tech stuff.
I’m telling you, for learning all of this, there’s nothing like having your very own “server” that you can futz around with to your heart’s content. You don’t even have to buy books; lots of information online (but again, a book or two is still cheap education). Besides, better to learn now, while at the playing around stage, than later, when you’re mission critical.
I currently use Site5 hosting (things change a lot in this universe). Heard good things about Hostgator also (but I haven’t used it). Tons of other hosting providers out there, and it’s a buyer’s market.
• Won’t having an “empty” site with no clips look bad to prospective clients and publishers? It depends, but best assume the answer’s “Yeah.” But who the heck said that you have to tell them you’ve got a site? Only send them there when you’re darn good and ready!
• You’ll want to start a blog, even if you’re not running your own hosted site and doing your blog on a free host like Blogger or WordPress.com. The technical experience and practice help.
More important: Sign up for AdSense and start running their ads on your blog (here’s an old primer on AdSense I wrote that’s still good enough to get you going). Why? Because with very little effort, you can probably generate at least $10 a month in Google AdSense advertising revenue.
Now where’d I see that figure before? Oh yeah, that pretty much covers your out-of-pocket Web hosting costs, doesn’t it? Now we’re talking free education.
Any other financial arguments against running your own hosted website?
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