I have been planning and preparing for this launch for nearly five months, so I am very excited to finally have the site launched.

To celebrate the launch, I have…

• published 13 posts.
• run a giveaway of a Leatherman wave.
• started a Facebook page.
• built my Twitter profile.

Launching this site has been a new learning experience for me.  On my past blogs, I have simply started posting, and the following and traffic have slowly built.  This time, however, I used a splash page to build a subscriber base of more than 100 people… before launch day.

What I Learned…

• Splash pages are a big help.
• Proofreading is essential (If I don’t fix my own mistakes, my readers will).
• Expectations are rarely met (My traffic was good, but not nearly what I expected).

In the future, I have more exciting plans for my website… starting with a manifesto release next month.

Why Free?

I am able to offer this as a free service because the hosting companies pay me $65 – $100 for each person who purchases their hosting through me.  In effect, I am making more than $65 for each install!

Because this enables me to provide the installation service free to my users, I am able to sell it more easily.  No one has to pay anything extra to use my service.

What I Provide

When someone does sign up for my service I will:

• Install WordPress
• Install 40+ Themes
• Install 30+ Plugins
• Setup an Email Address (something@theirdomain.com)
• Provide Spam Protection
• Improve SEO (fix the permalink structure)

So far, I have spent about 17 hours designing the site and writing the content.  Now, I just need to setup one more affiliate account, and I will be ready to start!

Original Idea

When I first came up with the idea for an ebook, I planned to publish a giant ebook filled with 20 to 30 interviews with different college experts.  I planned to cover topics ranging from college planning to scholarships to writing.

Getting Interviews

Starting out, I contacted a number of college experts that I have met in the past, and asked them if they would be interested in participating.  Out of the five people that I contacted, all expressed interest, but two dropped out later.  The three original interviewees were Andrew Pudewa (Director of Excellence In Writing), Julie Walker (Marketing Director of Excellence In Writing), and Cathy Gullo (Owner of Scholarship Consultant Services).

Ebook Idea Changes

Before I interviewed anyone else, I “happened” (by the providence of God) to talk about my ebook plans with Nick Hampshire, a friend of mine who has experience publishing ebooks.  During our conversation, he explained to me that most people are not interested in ebooks with 20 to 30 interviews, but that 1 or 2 interviews would make an excellent ebook. Based on that information, I decided to turn each of the three interviews into individual ebooks that I would publish over the period of a few months.

Design Improves

Also working with Nick Hampshire, I learned how to design my ebooks to make them easily read and asthetically pleasing.  I used Microsoft Word to design the ebook, which I then converted to PDF format.  Without the help of Nick, my ebooks would not be nearly as well designed.  I am very grateful to Nick and those like him who are willing to give their time to help others.

Plans For The Future

I titled the first ebook (the one published today), “Tips On Paying For College”.  It contains my interview with Cathy Gullo which focused on scholarships and loans.  Next month, I plan to publish my interview with Andrew Pudewa which is titled “Tips On Writing In College”.  Then, in September, I plan to publish “Tips On Preparing For College” which would be my interview with Julie Walker.

After that, I plan to find other experts who I can interview.  I hope to publish one interview ebook each month until I have at least 10 – 15 ebooks.

You can view a preview of my first ebook here, or you can get the entire ebook here.

Recently, however, a series of events have revived my interest in the art of letter writing.  First, I received a letter from a friend in Southern Oregon.  Reading his kind letter, I realized what an encouragement letters can be.  Then, before I had actually gotten down to the business of writing, I read an article on the Art of Manliness which explained a few of the different types of stationary.  On of these, the correspondence card, particularly grabbed my attention; it was short and looked like a good way to start writing again.

I decided to design my own, personal correspondence card.

Planning

First, I looked at some example cards.  Recognizing my favorite parts on each of those cards, I decided to include three parts in my card:

• My Initials – The article I read said using your initials instead of your full name is the more formal way.
• Lighthouse Picture – I have enjoyed lighthouses for as long as I can remember.
• Bible Verse – I want to be an encouragement in the Lord to my friends.

Designing

Step 1: Draw The Lighthouse

Using colored pencils, I drew a picture of a lighthouse and scanned it onto the computer.

Step 2: Add Opacity

Using Paint.net, I added a layer of opacity to the picture and moved it to the lower left-hand corner of the 4×6 card.

Step 3: Add Words

Adding another layer, I inserted the Bible verse and initials.

Completed!

With the card design completed, I printed it out and started writing!  My goal is to write at least three cards a week.

I am writing all these posts now and scheduling them using the WordPress schedule feature and Google Calendar so that, once school starts, I will not have to write posts as much.  During the school year, I will be busy writing for my essay class and studying for all my other classes.