I'm going to conduct an experiment. I'm going to set up a couple of blogs using TypePad1. I'm going to put ads (possibly even affiliate ads) on the blogs. I'm then going to give them some basic promo - nothing too time consuming. Then I'm going to see if they can make back their hosting cost by the end of month 2. If not, they get canned. If they do, they remain running as long as I feel like posting to them.
What topics shall I cover? I think I'll pick something that's related to my interests, but I may also pick one "wildcard" topic that I have no connection to. I'm not picking obscure medical terms which get highly paid clicks or any sort of spammy topic. Just plain niche stuff.
Some ideas for now.. Lincolnshire, Ruby on Rails, digital cameras, hurricanes, cheap telecoms, mortgages and loans, saving money, Web hosting, printing industry, airfares, PDFs, monitors / computer screens, Google searching tips.. we'll see. Suggestions welcomed!
[1] - There are a few reasons to use TypePad: a) I want to see what TypePad is like, b) I want to see what MT 3.0 is like without installing it myself; I'm a WordPress man now, c) its ability to use a subdomain might help with the Google juice.
Update! Okay, I've signed up for a TypePad Pro account. Amusingly, signing up with the UK prices is cheaper than the US site. That makes a change! I've got a really good generic hostname, and now need to set up the "front" blog, and then the first proper sub blog.. not decided on a topic yet though.
You can predict my suggestion, I'm sure :-) Web hosting all the way (and even if it doesn't make back the hosting costs!)
Posted by: Reece S at July 30, 2005 09:58 PMI suspect it would, Reece.. you know how much those guys pay on ads and affiliate deals ;-)
Posted by: Peter Cooper at July 30, 2005 11:40 PM*Tries to look innocent* Why would you say that? ;-)
In all seriousness though, there's a major absence in that area (one I'm sure you could fill incredibly well). There's maybe three or four that I know of that are updated on any kind of regular schedule.
Posted by: Reece S at July 31, 2005 02:08 AMWhich? I know of The WHIR pretty well, but haven't come across anything good other than that.
Posted by: Peter Cooper at July 31, 2005 02:18 AMConsider a private jet blog, maybe? Gulfstreams, Citation Excels, Pilatus PC-12s...
Posted by: Nick Gray at July 31, 2005 03:45 AMThat really sounds like your area, Nick :) But definitely a consideration. This TypePad thing has unlimited authors allowed, so if I did, I might try and cajole you into providing something though ;-)
Posted by: Peter Cooper at July 31, 2005 04:21 AMWell, if you want to count Mitch Keeler's podcast, that's another. A third belongs to my manager, Karthick Rajendran (www.karthick.net) -- I'm really trying to get him to blog more (more comments there *hint hint cough* would probably prompt that a bit). Another, although seemingly not updated much, is www.thehostblog.com. I seem to recall seeing a list of a couple more, but can't find it atm; I think it was on Mitch's site, actually.
Posted by: Reece S at July 31, 2005 08:35 AMReturn to the homepage.
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