So I'm thinking of starting a blog on effects pedals...

[Wes Mantooth]

Pics will be including in almost every post from here on out thanks for the advice

[eatyourguitar]

also, you should drop the adsense till you get 100 views a day. that way people think its an ad free site and they are wayyyy more likely to bookmark it. and your not loosing any money till you hit your 200-300 hits a day. thats when you start earning $0.03 - $0.49 a day. just put in a hidden counter using the godaddy tools. you can also track avg user time on your site. if you can find a book on google pagerank at your school library, I would definitely read it. thats whats gonna get you the free hits. check out google trends for free popular search strings. all this stuff is invisible to the user and does not infringe on privacy. this stuff can multiply your profit 100x.

[Wes Mantooth]

also, you should drop the adsense till you get 100 views a day. that way people think its an ad free site and they are wayyyy more likely to bookmark it. and your not loosing any money till you hit your 200-300 hits a day. thats when you start earning $0.03 - $0.49 a day. just put in a hidden counter using the godaddy tools. you can also track avg user time on your site. if you can find a book on google pagerank at your school library, I would definitely read it. thats whats gonna get you the free hits. check out google trends for free popular search strings. all this stuff is invisible to the user and does not infringe on privacy. this stuff can multiply your profit 100x.

Probably a good idea, I don't think the ads are too intrusive but they make the site look worse.
I'll see i I can find a book about page rank, I read a few articles about it but I still would like to know more about it.

Thanks for your help!

[mathias]

I wouldn't worry about the ads so much this early in the game, to be honest. SEO is 80% snake oil and 20% common sense.

Honestly, the only thing you need to worry about is that you're following the FTC's disclosure guidelines for bloggers: http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/endortest.shtm

tl;dr: "They [bloggers] are now required to disclose if they are being paid by the company or if they get a freebie." -- Mark Glaser, PBS MediaShift, source: http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2009/10/4-minute-roundup-ftcs-blogger-rules-charging-for-iphone-apps282.html

The way I've seen this done on some blogs is just to make a page in the About section (or on the About page) with a list of all of the disclosures about free items, payments, or business associations (for example of this: "Company XYZ pays me to test protoypes, but my views do not reflect the views of Company XYZ."

And then be sure each blog post has a disclosure if it was a free piece of gear or a review unit, purchased by the reviewer, or whatever.

[Wes Mantooth]

Very good points mathias, I'll make sure I do that.

So far all are my purchase but I'm on the list to receive the traveling Dr. Sci Frazz Dazz

[eatyourguitar]

"advertisements that feature a consumer and convey his or her experience with a product or service as typical when that is not the case will be required to clearly disclose the results that consumers can generally expect."

thats explicitly referring to exaggerated claims and user experiences that are not typical. if he gets a pedal for free, its still reasonable that he would have a typical experience with it. also, his blog is not an advertisement. it is owned and operated by him to distribute original content.

"The revised Guides specify that while decisions will be reached on a case-by-case basis, the post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement. Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service."

it only applies to gifts, not loaners. make a disclaimer that you dont accept gifts. case closed.

[Wes Mantooth]

Ah makes sense then, I doubt I'll be receiving any gifts

So I probably don't have much to worry about, just honest reviews!

By the way an interview with Matt from Noisemaker was posted, check it out!

[Achtane]

Very cool, I'll be checking your blog out from now on!

[mathias]

Love the interviews. Keep it up. We don't get interviews with pedal builders nearly enough.

[Wes Mantooth]

Ryan and Tanya will be finishing one in a week or so and I'm in talks with Aen, Brian from SS/BS, Dan from Snazzy FX and the fine Mr. Tom Dalton

I'll probably be sending out more emails this week too so look for more!

[eatyourguitar]

thats great! good to see your working hard at it.

[Wes Mantooth]

Yeah I hardly consider it work!

Already made $5.59 too

I'm honestly surprised I've made that much, the $100 is a ways away but once I get there, Giveaway!

[jfrey]

Enjoying the interviews a lot.

[Bassus Sanguinis]

Yeah I hardly consider it work!

Already made $5.59 too

I'm honestly surprised I've made that much, the $100 is a ways away but once I get there, Giveaway!

Party's on in the Mantooths place!

[Wes Mantooth]

Yeah I hardly consider it work!

Already made $5.59 too

I'm honestly surprised I've made that much, the $100 is a ways away but once I get there, Giveaway!

Party's on in the Mantooths place!

Party in my 175 square foot dorm room!