Outgrowing Google

In my Exploring Internet Technology series, I've opened different blogs, websites, network in research projects, using different technologies for each. Because when I make a recommendation I want to have as much first hand experience and accurate (to me) information, as I can, for the benefit of my clients and "five" readers.

I started with my evaluation of the Google family of products, back in December. I won MegMeyer.com in an auction, when it became available. (It was previously owned by someone who only had up a few pictures, and it had sat like that for as long as I can remember. If this is YOU, let me know, I'll give you space to host your personal site.) I knew I needed more time to pick a professional host, so I opted to host the "Pre-launch" phase of the site on Google, with their "Applications for Domains."

The suite of products includes personalized Gmail, start page, calendar, IM, and webpages.

The email, start page and all were easy to set up & I've been very happy with them. I'll likely keep my email hosted with Gmail for quite some time.

Due to constraints of my registrar, however, and not exactly helpful help on the Google Group that I posed my questions to - I had quite a difficult time getting the website verified, and had an ugly web address for quite a while.

At first, I didn't mind having www.megmeyer.com-a.googlepages.com as my website name. I was still building the site, playing with page creator, and hadn't publicized it at all, except to a few close friends. But as I got ready to launch, and was able to point www.megmeyer.com to my Google hosted site, the issues started to show up. Page Creator still publishes to the longer, uglier name. Even though, my domain is verified as mine. And while we can access the site through either address, typing certain individual pages into the address bar produces 404 errors.

And since I've spent more time into researching what is out there, I've come upon my ideal solution. AN Hosting is where I'll likely move, for my web hosting. Their list of features, awards, and price are all ideal. With 25 gigs of space, 250, gigs of bandwith, I can host up to 20 sites and never reach the end of that amount. I also like that the servers are located in Chicago, IL.

I'll still utilize Google's other Apps, like gmail, calendar, docs, and Adsense, but I've outgrown them as a viable host for my businesses.

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Thoughts on Sponsored Blogs

In an effort to better monetize my websites, and hone my craft, I've been researching different ways to be paid for writing & blogging. There have been a wide variety of scams, biz ops, and shady operations that have come up in my search. There have been promising ideas, as well.

In a recent search for "Sponsored Blogs," I came across a post by someone who was claiming that posting a sponsored review was "selling out to tha man," and compromising the integrity of the blog, the blogger, and the entire bloggiverse, as well. Is that always the case? I think not.

While I have come across blogs who feature a different biz op or affiliate feature on each page... and THAT is the entire blog; I have also browsed blogs that have useful information, seasoned by the occasional sponsor, advertisement or sponsored post. And a few advertisement free blogs with poorly written content are out there too.

That's the thing with blogs, though. They're blogs (as opposed to newspapers, magazines & other media.) Owned by the blogger. The very heart of the blogging craze is that everyone has an opinion. And so they write it out for the world... or nobody... to see.




I was thinking last night about "integrity" and "money." How much of the former can you have with the latter involved? Some say not much. I say money is merely an "enhancing drug" it wont change your core, but will accentuate what kind of person you already are.

If you have integrity, and with said integrity go after money - that's not a sin. We all have to live, and eat, and put a roof over our heads or find a bridge to live under.

So what, then, about sponsored blogs, sponsored posts, and sponsored reviews? Well, like the internet, there are going to be slimy individuals out there not caring if they're accurate or honest. But also like the internet there will be folks who will give an unbiased review, their educated opinion, and maybe even some well cited fact.

It's like secret shopping, that's a little less secret. Or like pitching amazon books on your homepage.

So how does one trust the content of a blog, website, etc, that pays or gets paid for it's content? The same way you trust your neighbor's opinion. Take what you read, and use it as inspiration for your own research.

Head Spinning Research

Now that I have hosting and a few domain names, I'm looking into what kind of content management software and website design ware I'd like to learn about.

You see, I'm old-school. I made my early pages with notepad. Yes. Really.

And while I could still code by hand, I want some of the bells and whistles of the newfangled dynamic pages, etc. I also want to spend more of my time writing and building my business than designing my website. (Odd, for a web-designer, I know. But I'd rather build my business by building YOUR website. I'd rather build my portfolio by writing an article for YOU.)

I'm interested in learning more about Ruby on Rails, WordPress, Serendipity, Joomla, Coffee Cup. Just based on hype, thus far.

I need functionality and design now, while being scalable later. I need content management, and quick loads. I need ad and product placement capabilities. I need a clients only section. I'll eventually need capability of having multiple users add to the site.

All this info is really making my head spin.

Dizzying and Exhilarating at the same time.

What I'm Checking Out Now

In an effort to research more places to write for, and means of making money by writing from home or on the road without writing for ONE company (other than MINE), I'm joining a few content banks.

If you've got a good one that has reasonable requirements, and fair compensation, let me know. I'll make sure you get credit.

The secondary reason I'm doing this is market research. I want my network to be the most fair, most accurate, and most prized by it's own contributors and sponsors. I've seen quite a few unscrupulous ToU documents, contracts, etc... I want my network of collaborators to have ownership of their work, to be acknowledged for their work, and not abused for their dream.