CaymanHost Blog - Web Money & Marketing

24/03: A Domain's First Birthday And A Baby Cowboy or Cowgirl

I was shocked to notice the other day that this domain will soon be 12 months old which is as good a time for reflection as any and coincides with several thoughts and observations I have been having about blogging in the marketing/make money online arena recently.

I basically run three sites on this domain - the web hosting directory which runs on Wordpress, a free article directory and this blog on the Nucleus CMS platform.

I have learned a great deal during the past twelve months, the main lesson being that there is probably more to learn than I will ever fit into one lifetime! I have had highs and lows with all three of these sites, finding success in unusual places and at other times seeing none where I expected to find it.

I have watched other bloggers closely, some of whom have gone on to far greater things and others who have fallen by the wayside. I have engaged in various debates and tried to help rather than hinder the loyal readership and subscriber base that I have managed to engage and hold onto.

In recent months my blogging has become rather sporadic compared to the first eight months, although readers will know that juggling various online ventures often results in sacrifices being made elsewhere. I still wonder how some people manage to get so much done when they own multiple domains and websites. I cannot afford to hire employees to do the donkey work for me and am always looking at cost effective ways to try and streamline the work that needs doing.

Reflecting on this blog, I seem to have seen a reduction in interest and visitor numbers in recent months and I think this has been brought about by several factors. A lot of posts recently have discussed free marketing methods, tools, membership sites and the like and there has been very little in the way of links to other blogs and commenting has decreased to a worrying level. On the other hand email has increased and many people have given favorable feedback which is nice and always appreciated, even if it's not in the public eye so to speak.

As a long time supporter of the dofollow movement, I have received my fair share of spammy commenting of course, although it has not been overwhelming, but I have to admit to being disappointed in reader involvement of late and realize I need to address this somewhat urgently if the blog is to flourish in the months ahead.

Perhaps my aim of highlighting some of the marketing options available has been a factor, although the aim was to educate and honestly evaluate all of these things to help others decide if the programs were worthwhile or not.

Commenting on other blogs is something that fell by the wayside too, and I think my lack of participation has also had a negative effect. After all, blogging is a sociable activity as much as anything else and bloggers visit bloggers who visit them and contribute something from time to time. 

Don't think I'm ranting here, I'm just thinking aloud and evaluating all the things I seem to be learning from posting and maintaining the three sites in question.

On the positive side, traffic has continued to increase and income from the domain continues to improve too, so, from a personal perspective I'm happy with that. TheCaymanHost now receives on or around 10,000 uniques every month across the three main sites. Believe it or not you can still get in my Top Spots on this blog for a lowly dollar if it interests you :-)

There is one big change I am considering, and that is moving this blog from Nucleus over to Wordpress. I'm a fan of Nucleus and have got very comfortable with it, so if I do decide to move, it will be with some reluctance. I keep getting "blog envy" knowing how much more I could do to visually improve this site in particular, and thus the thinking that maybe it's time for a change. Ultimately I'm probably going to have to pay someone technical to achieve it however.

(If you find the look a little off in your browser, try reducing the text size down just a click - I find it looks better on some screens than others - it was fine on my laptop, not so neat on the larger monitor). 

During the past twelve months the wars over paid blog posts and the like have convinced me that for the amount of money involved, sponsored posting is not worth the effort. It's a big change of heart for me and I still support blogger's rights to do it, but it's not an avenue I have gone down and not one that I will pursue. There are no sponsored posts on any of my sites as I have always preferred the affiliate marketing route, but I did consider trying my hand in the past. I will be changing my disclaimer to reflect this permanent situation soon.

I think that a lot of the lessons learned have been valuable ones and it's been a lot of fun and hard work. I shall try to return my blogging subject matter to things that encourage more participation whilst staying with the established themes. How I'm going to do that is something to figure out.  

On a personal level, much has been happening in my life (yes, I really do have one, honestly).

The biggest news is that Nikki and I are pregnant. After 44 years of avoiding the responsibility I'm finally going to be a dad. As the doctors and specialists had all told my wife that it would be impossible for her to conceive it has been a worrying time and she has been dealing with many complications. Fortunately she has prevailed so far but nonetheless, anxiety has been a big part of life recently for both of us. We are praying now that the little mite will make it into this world OK because he or she has sure been making a big impact on our lives already and we're getting used to having the blighter around! So, life is set to change for us in 2008 and we figure the man upstairs must have been chuckling at us on New Year's Eve as we sat and said our thanks for 2007 and aired our hopes for 2008 - how far off the mark we were! More lessons learned.

I'm not asking for parenting tips just yet, but I'm probably going to need a few "mature student" lessons in the months and years ahead! 

For those who are not on Facebook, I'm listing below some links to my personal photo albums for a little more insight into the person behind the Cayman Host Websites - those of a delicate disposition be warned :-) 

Album 1 - Rollin' With The Flow

Album 2 - Some Beach, Somewhere

Album 3 - Views Of Cayman

Album 4 - Fine Art By Nickola McCoy (Mrs CaymanHost) 

There's a lot more I could say in this post but I think I'll save it for future discussion. For everyone who has read, subscribed or supported The CaymanHost in its first twelve months I offer sincere thanks. I hope that it has brought at least something useful to your online hours and ventures and look forward to our continued relationships and friendships.

TCH