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How I Got Here
● Born in Puerto Rico● Grew up in New York City● Columbia Univ, School of Eng, Comp Sci● 20 years as a computer programmer● Loved airplanes all my life● Full-size private pilot – glider license● Ready for a change in my life...
RCadvisor.com History
● Founded in summer 2007● Website launched January 2, 2008● All work done by me (except logo...)● Self-taught model airplane design● Online RC calculator from day one● Wrote two RC books in early 2009● Website relaunch with WordPress Jan 2012
RC Calculator Summary
● Adobe Flex open source core● 50,000 lines of Actionscript (Javascript)● Runs inside Adobe Flash● No installation required● Windows, Linux, OSX● Free version and $20/year premium version● Most complex Flash application ever?
RC Calculator Lessons Learned
● Online Subscriptions do not work● Flash updates cause problems● No Flash on iPhone or iPad● Free version great for getting registrations● Got over 10,000 website members● AdWords, 20% conversion, $1/registration
My RC Books
RC Books Summary
● Became a book publisher (RCadvisor.com)● Learned LaTex (typesetting language)● Did not want self-published look● A ton of work● About four months total for first book● Loved it
RC Books Lessons Learned
● No better way to establish credibility● Nice steady income● Won't get rich by writing books● Amazon is 500 pound gorilla in book space● Selling eBooks through Google Books● Steep learning curve● Book business keeps changing
Website Relaunch Questions
● What am I good at?● What do I enjoy doing?● What sells?● What web business models work?
Website Relaunch Answers
● Free RC airplane blog● Daily updates● 100% free calculator● Weekly email newsletter (links to articles)● Online ads primary income● SEO? No, EUO (end user optimization)● Quality, quality, quality
Website Relaunch Software
● WordPress (testwordpress.rcadvisor.com)● Linux (what I run on my desktop)● Nginx (engine X, web server)● Vanilla Forums● Magento (eStore)● Mailman (mailing list manager)● Exim (email handler)● Snort (intrusion detection)
Hosting Lessons Learned
● You get what you pay for● It is all about uptime and traffic surges● Buy cheap, buy twice or more● Need minimum 1GB RAM● One fast CPU is plenty (200 hits/sec)
Email Handling Software
● Roundcube (email client)● Mailman (mailing list manager)● SpamAssassin (spam checking)● ClamAV (antivirus)● Dovecot (message delivery agent)● Exim (message transfer agent)● Amazon SES (Simple Email Service)
Email Handling Lessons Learned
● Hardest part of setting up web server● A lot more complicated than I expected● Spent one entire week on spam filtering● Well worth the effort● Very fast and high quality email sending
Key WordPress Plugins
● Social (posts to FB and retrieves comments)● Efficient Related Posts (fast related posts)● W3 Total Cache (excellent)● WP Super Popup (get newsletter registrations)● Share and Follow (tie into social media)● Suffusion (excellent free theme)● SEO Ultimate (slow, but seems to work)
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
● CloudFront (content delivery network)● Simple Storage Service (cloud storage)● Simple Email Service ($1/10k emails sent)● Route 53 (very fast domain name system)
Blogging Lessons Learned
● Blog often (daily!)● Keep it short (500-1000 words)● Simple language (Google Translate)● Mix up the topics● Listen, listen, listen
Likeable Social Media
Social Media Marketing Superstars
ProBlogger
Made to Stick
Recommended Websites
● Google AdSense (best income)● Google DoubleClick for Publishers (sell ads)● Google Analytics (real-time!)● YouTube (eyeballs, 10k views/month)● Facebook (eyeballs, 1k friends)● Quantcast (public web site statistics)● Klout (learn about social media influence)
Multiple Sources of Income
● Book sales ($11/book)● Web page ads ($20/k pages)● YouTube ads ($7/k views)● Donations ($10/donation)● Amazon Affiliate ($10/month)● Consulting ($50/hour)
Current Strategy
● Working on teacher's guide (book)● Sell model airplane kits?● More business partnerships (ads)● More consulting● Hire freelancers for contents?● Faster site search (now using Google CSE)● WP categories? WP custom post formats?
RCadvisor.com Today
● 250 articles● 150 videos● 10,500 newsletter subscribers● 10k visits/month (50% from outside USA)● 2k visits/month organic searches (growing)● 500 visits/month from Facebook● 4 minutes average visit duration
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