Name of your website?Musical Irishman
Your name?
Rob
Your Location (city, etc)
Edmonton
Please give us a short summary of your website?
The Musical Irishman website provides details about our unique guitar courses offered in Edmonton. There are also short articles and tips for beginner guitarists and those considering guitar lessons.
What inspired you to launch your own website?
After receiving many requests to teach people guitar I decided it was time to help people get started. That's what this website is all about.
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
My first website was my family website. Before our family moved to Canada I created a site so that our friends & family could keep track of us. This site was also used to introduce us to people we were going to be working with when we moved to Edmonton.
How did you decide on a name for your website?
I am an Irishman who loves to play music. Having started with the fiddle and piano at age 5, then adding guitar, drums, woodwind and other instruments, it seemeed natural to call the site Musical Irishman!
What makes your website different from other, similar offerings?
The primary difference between our site and others is that we are marketing a slightly different kind of guitar lessons. Rather than one to one tuition we run 8 week guitar courses for groups of 3 to 6 people.
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
The main goal of the business is to help beginners get started playing guitar. The website is simply a tool we use to get the word out.
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
A website does not take a great deal of time or money to produce. Providing 1 person per year signs up through it, it pays for itself.
If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?
If we had an unlimited development budget we would seek more locations in order to serve more clients. The more people making music the better!
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
By increasing the number of instructors we use across the City.
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
Taxes!
What has been your biggest challenge?
Finding enough instructors to keep up with the demand. There are many people out there who would love to learn guitar in our classes.
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
Using on and off site SEO techniques to get a higher page rank in Google.
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
It has become easier to manage a web site. With free open source Content Management Systems (CMS) one no longer needs to be an HTML expert. It has become easier to publish online.
How long have you run the site already, and how long will you continue to keep it up if you don't enjoy big gains in traffic, income or popularity?
A couple of years. I would expect to keep the site running indefinitely even if we never make it to the "big league". There are several high quality articles for beginner guitarists on the site that would be useful to anyone learning to play.
Why did you decide to start your own business?
I don't want to stay in the "rat race" all my life. That means I have to do something that will both create value for customers and create value for me. Offering guitar lessons in Edmonton was one way for me to do that.
What is your website address?
Musical Irishman
