If you don’t understand the title I am referring to servers! A VPS is a virtually partitioned server or as Amy mentioned virtual private server, a dedicated server means its dedicated just to you.

A Dedicated server is great and its fun to have all that space and no if anything breaks on there it was your site only. There are a lot of pros and cons about having both and as you know I try to keep it fair and balanced and give you unbiased information, but I am going to give you the run down of my decision making.

I am opening up a free wordpress blog hosting site in expansion of Pajama Mommy now I am not made of money unlike other bloggers making 14,000 a month I envy you :P but I am not in the position to afford a managed or even unmanaged server.

Managed server means you pay extra to have the people (or outside company) keep an eye on your server since you can’t be around every waking minute. Unmanaged means you are going to go this road alone and I don’t recommend it unless you truly know what you are doing.

Having a VPS means you’re on a managed server generally, if you get a vps and its unmanaged it really isn’t worth it in my opinion but its up to you, if you’re new to this you definitely want managed I always want managed or hire someone to manage since I can’t be there all the time. and its split up between 2-25 different people on that server. It can be good or it can be bad. A lot of new web hosting companies happen to start with VPS’s, I started with one because I can’t afford 300+ a month for a decent server. So I went to ModVPS.com on the recommendation of a friend who owns 2 VPS servers through them. it is $44.50 a month for 30GB of space 300GB of bandwidth and 4 IP’s with cpanel fantastico etc. Which isn’t standard if you have a server.

Unfortunately if you have a server you have to pay extra monthly for your choice of control panel if you choose to have fantastico etc. So there was a nice little perk. The only thing that kinda scares me about the place is they have 20-25 VPS per server. To me its a little over sold, but then again I don’t know the size of their server. I would have stopped at 15. (You always need extra bandwidth and space ALWAYS.)

When you have a server or even a VPS you have to have a main domain with it, I would recommend unless you are hosting your own website on their or a web hosting company you choose a separate domain for which you can also purchase the .net and .org for, when you decide to have multiple servers. Some hosting companies choose NAME-#.com so they can identify which server, via number however you will need a name for your server.

I chose “Ruby”. I couldn’t think of anything else! I will have 2 DNS (domain name servers) assigned to this which I will have to set up the DNS on my end as well via my domain registration company (NameNova.com of course only $7.17 for my .com!)

All of these are standard through any server company. If you can’t afford a server but want to run programs that you need root access for a VPS is the way to go. I get a 30 day money back garauntee with ModVPS. So I feel I am in the clear. However you just have to do your research on the company.

I emailed them a dozen times with all sorts of questions such as, how many people are put on 1 server? Are there any restricted programs I can’t run? I want to run this program am I allowed? How is your tech support is there an emergency number? How is the upgrading process? Etc. These are important things you need to know. I chose to email each question one by one, to see how the staff responds to annoyance. I know I am evil but the point is, I want to see how well they respond to it. I’ve dealt with other hosting companies where their support was and still are idiots. But they were short and sweet with their responses. Not blooming with personality however its not that important as long as they actually answered the question in a timely manner.

I have noticed a lot of people attempting to network more and more lately. I’ve been listening to my podcasts and trying to learn all sorts of new things and “Amanda-ize” them but it is very hard, however one thing that everyone needs to learn is proper networking.

Big mistakes with networking I’ve found and get annoyed with when people network with me.

Do not IM me for the sake of getting a hit to your site. Don’t im anyone for that matter if thats the only reason, networking means brainstorming becoming friends and truly networking. You don’t sit there im someone say hi I own this oh I have to run. If you don’t have time to dedicate to networking wait till you do. It is the biggest pet peeve of mine when someone im’s me and they don’t know who I am. Which leads me to #2

Do your research! Don’t ask who they are, don’t forget their names etc. You im someone you need to make the effort. Don’t ask for a link exchange if you are a risque site and I own a Mommy Community. You’re just an idiot at that point :\
I don’t mean to come out harsh but these are the mistakes everyone is making every time. IM the person and let them know you know who they are you’re a fan or something and really talk to them take the time to get their advice ask if you can conference call with them sometime (after a few conversations) But don’t forget who they are, don’t just IM them for the sake of a hit. If it is someone important to the blogging industry use it for all its worth. I spokeWendy in hopes of getting some of her opinions she was a big help and from that conversation I later was able to help her reprice her domains, and give her content ideas from her site from my various questions. That was true brainstorming, and one hand helping the other.

Don’t be rude Sometimes new bloggers tend to get a little cocky sort of speak when they think they can do what others do but better. If you think there is something lacking on a site let them know, “Hey I love your site however one thing I’ve been waiting for you to do is ……… I was wondering if you ever have the time I think a lot of the readers would benefit from this” I don’t know one single blogger who wouldn’t love to know what their readers want from their sites, but remember even the biggest bloggers have an ego that can be crushed. Be nice. If you’re nice they are likely to add you to their buddy list and befriends and come to you and ask you your opinion then if you were rude.

Don’t look to them as your only help I do consulting and I don’t mind helping people out if they email me with a question or two, but if you purchased your consulting else where and some places I know start at $650 shouldn’t you be asking them? Don’t rely on someone you don’t know to give you all the tips. Don’t abuse it. Most bloggers are more than happy to help you but remember there is a line between help and consulting. If you are looking for consulting purchase it, or tell them I would love to get more help from you but I don’t want to abuse it do you work on a sliding scale for smaller budget to no budget at all or bartering service? Believe it or not it ends up happening all the time. But if a blogger offers consulting and you purchased from someone else, go to the person you purchased from they should be able to help you with the smallest things. It’s what you paid for remember?

If you don’t know what you’re talking about stop talking Some people I’ve seen call themselves SEO masters and I have to say they have some of the worst SEO designs, or designs period. I try to help and offer free help to a lot of people. Free tips etc, since a lot of the times it becomes articles on the site. But if someone who is more popular than you is better at it shut up and listen if they are giving you advice. I’ve just started utilizing one of my greatest tools I didn’t realize I had, and IPOD I went through Itunes and downloaded over 100 marketing, SEO, niche, blogging etc.. podcasts that they had listed in there. I’ve learned a lot from just listening, when I sat there and thought to myself hey let me listen to this as if I really know nothing and soak up all the information from this that I can. I learned new programs, new techniques, new ideas all sorts of things that I would have never done had I not truly started listening. I have been wanting to goto conferences and network through there but with debt, and a real offline job I unfortunately do not have the time or money to go, however that never stops from picking up the phone and calling someone and saying I’m a fan of your site I would love to be able to pick your brain sometime IM ME at such and such a s/n I don’t want to appear like a stalker so here is all my information. (haha) But seriously, if there is a number call it but make sure you leave them your information so they can contact you. Only call once, don’t over do it or they will get a restraining order :P

Now if you want to talk the time and leave your AIM s/n or an email address and start really networking.

I have been in the process of building a store for many years. I’ve gone through ideas of what I want to sell or what I want from a store and my Fiance is trying to build an online skate shop. I was doing a lot of research for this for him and figuring out the best programs and one of those programs I wanted to let you guys know about was Ashop shopping cart software

It is an Australian based shopping cart program which lets you create your shopping cart through their servers

Which means all you have to do is pay one place, instead of purchasing a shopping cart, finding a webhost making sure the shopping cart is compatible and then installing it. This makes the process a lot simpler.

Their smallest plan is $69 a month they offer a 10 day free trial you can store up to 500 items in your store. Its a 50mb a month of space and 5gb of bandwidth.
Which some people think thats only a little? But if its a new store you don’t really need much more space than that.

But some people like to sell their own goods off their blog as a way to monetize and this is a great way to do it, sell your own mugs, t-shirts etc. Or if you’re a DIY’r like other people I know it makes it a lot easier and really professional look!

Ashop shopping cart software check it out!

I have to say like many others getting comments is really hard and not everyone returns comments, I do my best to return comments to those who have left them. But make sure you keep up on that no matter how popular your site is do your best to return comments especially to the first time visitors.

Its those first time visitors you want to lure back!

I joined under Jenny’s constant nagging Despair.nu for a comment program, your website has to get approved then you put a code which not only promotes your site, technorati and potential pagerank you also are guaranteed comments, and visitors.

The best part is some of these new visitors I’ve gotten are coming back! It is a great program. I’ve signed up for it for 2 of my websites to see how well it does and so far so good! Try it out if you need people to comment to help boost a conversation in your comments section!