Currently, TBW is hosted on an E-Starr server with my other clients’ sites. The major drawback to sharing a server with other people is that they don’t care about the server. They don’t realize that if you install a Gallery script with Fantastico and just let it sit there, in 3 months someone’s going to find a way to spam it or exploit it. When you add 200 of these people to a server you’re bound to run into trouble.

So I’ve been thinking lately about getting my own server for my sites. I know they’re not big sites, but the added protection I need on the servers to keep hackers away from my clients causes a few issues for my own sites. I’d like to get my own server that doesn’t have to have a firewall and all that added protection.

I don’t need a big server for this, just one that can hold a few sites. My sites are mostly wordpress and don’t get insane amounts of traffic, so even a small server would be just fine. I’ve been thinking about the AMD 64 3000 offered by GNAX. I’ve used them for several years so I know they’re reliable and it’s fairly inexpensive. This site isn’t quite making enough to cover the cost of the server, but it may be more incentive.

Really, their AMD XP 1800 would be enough for my small sites (I used to run it as a client server years ago) but I like knowing that if I were to get bigger my server would have the power to handle it. Do you run your own dedicated server for your blogs? What stats did you pick?

It’s coming up. The domain name prices are going up. Enom emailed me today to say:

In April 2007, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) approved certain domain registries to increase their prices. Domain registries are the private companies which manage the registration, technical operations, and control the allocation policies of the TLD’s for which they are responsible.

Domain registries VeriSign, Afilias, Neulevel and Public Interest Registry applied for and received price increases and have announced they will be raising their wholesale prices to all ICANN-accredited registrars.

I have to say, I’m pretty uneasy about this. Not so much about the higher price, I think it could be good for the domain economy. Might get people to stop impulse buying names. No, I’m a little more worried with where this is headed. Are they trying to take us up to paying the older prices? The domain prices went down because there were less domains available and the likelihood of getting what you want was very slim. Now a finding a .com domain with one word that’s available is a miracle. So prices should be lower than ever, right?

I’m not going to be raising my prices on E-Starr, I’ll keep it at $10 per year. The price for me to purchase domains is going up by 50 cents, so I think I can cover that. Between the new registration fees and the credit card fees I won’t be making anything from the domains, but that’s not really the purpose for me to offer them with the hosting.

How do you feel about this?
Are you going to renew your domain early to avoid higher fees?

So far I’ve been dabbling in blogs trying to learn what works and now I think I’m ready to go full off into an experimental niche blog. The experiment will be to see how well I can do and how much I can make as a pro blogger without compromising the integrity of my blog. Wish me luck?

I’m going to start a DIY blog. I have a lot of work that needs to be done around my home and my home office. I have no creativity and very little talent, so I think maybe that will be how people can relate to me. I’m going to try to find ways to release that creativity that I’ve never been able to tap into.

I’m going to start it off with a little interior painting project I have coming up for my son Corey’s room. Jay and I decided to let the boys decide on a theme for their rooms and then we’d get them going. Michael’s room was first, he’s 8 years old. He wanted a camouflage room. Basically, the painting was a disaster. One wall was to be camo and the other three were to be the lighter brown color. It’s been 3 weeks since we started and it’s just now done. The baseboards have spillover, the camo wall has a brown line down it, and half Michael’s door is brown.

I plan to do Corey’s room on my own because I kinda blame Jay for the other. Then on to my home office. I really want to get creative with my home office so that I can continue to be creative while working. I think the bland walls and lack of decoration makes my job pretty boring. Thankfully, I’ve found DoItYourself.com’s community with other skilled DIY’ers to help me out. Because knowledge is power and I’m feeling a little helpless.

Voice over IP is one of the greatest innovations for business. Back when my mom started her busines she had to pay a few hundred dollars per month for a business phone line and had to pay for every long distance minute she used (at about $.50/minute). Since VoIP small businesses can get the great business class phone service and a much lower price. For my own hosting company I use a business VoIP line.

Packet8 offers a wide range of VoIP small business phone services starting at just $14.99 per month for their Virtual Attendant. This service is very interesting, it allows someone to call 1 number and choose an extension to call another number, like a cell phone or a home phone. I’m thinking about trying this service so people have the choice to ring my cell phone if there’s an emergency.

If you don’t need that kind of service and you only need a traditional phone line, they have that, too. Their Unlimited Extension package is a lot like the business account I have with Vonage, but includes their Virtual Attendant and their business-class voicemail. And it’s the same price I’m paying with Vonage now.

Don’t forget the fax line. You can do that over VoIP, too. Packet8 offers a fax extension package at only $9.99 per month and it includes up to 300 minutes free. Add that to your phone line and your virtual attendant to have your business running smooth (as far as the phones are concerned).