Online Grandma

Starting My Internet Projects

The time has now come for me to start taking some kind of action on my
internet projects. It’s quite confusing and actually scary. I’m not
sure what I want to do … nor how to do it even if I did know what I
want to do.

My idea is that, for now, I’m learning the mechanics of all this. So
financial results are not the main consideration.

They say you should decide on your approach and then concentrate on it.
But at this point, I just don’t feel like I have enough information to
know what I’m going to do — ebay? create a digital product? affiliate
marketing? public domain publishing? something I haven’t even
thought of yet?

Well, it boggles the mind to get too hung up on all that. So for the
moment, my objective is to create a blog and get Adsense on it. Then my
next objective is to create a webpage using Joomla and figure out how
that works.

I’m not even sure where to start … The blog I have in mind will be a
continuing record of a rather clueless non-techie’s journey to a
position of making a living online. I was searching for available
domains the other day and the name I came up with was
“onlinegrandma.com”. Haven’t registered it yet.

I’ll stick with GoDaddy for this, but it’s really confusing. What do I
need vs. what I already have?

There are so many different accounts and kinds of accounts (all with
different passwords) … and the terminology is like learning a foreign
language.

Getting a domain with GoDaddy

Well, I guess I’ll just go ahead and get that domain. It’ll cost me
$8.95 for a year and (I think) I’ll get a free blog — which I already
have.

Doing that … Do I want other versions of my name for extra money?
Like .net or .tv (which they say podcasters ought to register)? Well, I
may end up paying more later, but for the moment, I’m skipping those.

Now they tell me that if I add hosting or website builder, my domain is
only $1.99. Don’t I already have those? I’m skipping those too.

Here I am in their checkout and there’s all these decisions to make.
Should I add the hosting and website builder? What type of registration
– standard, deluxe, or platinum? The Deluxe is $8.99/yr. (Is that on
top of the $8.95 which is the cost if you don’t go for the $1.99 deal?)
It gives private registration and “Whois Advertising Listing”. (I’m not
totally clear on the advantage of this.)

I have a feeling that price is on top of the other. The way the domain
is made private or “unlisted” is by registering through “Domains By
Proxy”, their affiliate company.

Think I’ll take my chances with Standard.

Now we come to a big list of add-ons I can choose from.

Not adding the hosting, because I think I’m okay with that.

This domain comes with one email and 25 MB storage. I can add more if I
want. Well, not now.

This deal is going to cost me $18.40 because it’s for two years. Now
I’m supposed to read the “Domain Name Registration Agreement” (which
would probably be about 10 pages printed) and the “Universal Terms of
Service” (if anything, a little longer). Finally I can click “Checkout
Now”.

Setting up a blog with GoDaddy’s QuickBlog

I’m skimming through the setup instructions. One of the next things I’m
going to need is a title for my blog.

My premise is that “Grandma” has embarked on a career change out of
necessity. She is trying to make sense out of the confusing jumble of
technology and systems and to find some kind of business model that
will provide an income for her. As she figures out various things,
she’ll explain them in plain English and comment on the usability.

The people who might be interested in this would be others with a goal
of making money online, but who are overwhelmed by the technical
aspects. I’m positioning myself, not as an expert, but as a
fellow student.

Here are some title ideas:

• Can you make a living on the internet?
• A Grandma’s Journey
• Internet Income in plain English
• Can the Average Grandma Make a Living Online?

I’m setting up now. Author Information section. Wants:

Used this title: Can the average Grandma make a living online?

For Blog URL, choose “select from an available domain”. That gives a
dropdown and the only choice is “onlinegrandma.com”. Well, that’s the
one I wanted.

Now I pick the template out of seven pages of options. These little
tiny thumbnails are too small to tell anything about. I’ll just pick
one and move on — try “Technology3″. Made the color turquoise. Doesn’t
look especially “grandmotherly”. But I don’t know how it ought to look.

OK. And I see where you go to put in the adsense. (Design
blog tab –> sidebar) Before you can do that, it says you must
register with Google first.

Written by Grandma Shirley - Online Grandma

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