Gardening as a Digital Asset and as a Neurodivergent "Special Interest"
Getting one such asset up and running at goingardening.com, where I can "special interest" myself until the cows come home
The development of digital assets begins with an idea. In my case, the idea consists of all my special interests harbored under the umbrella of Hyperdivergent.com, hosted here on Substack (you are here!). Then, a business plan if you want to borrow money. Good idea, but I've learned from experience that I first need to make some mistakes with the business as a "hobby" rather than forge ahead with a faulty plan. Plus, I have the experience of trying new jobs throughout my life as a serial entrepreneur, so I know exactly how this deal will play out if I stick with it.
Next up is the business of buying domain names. Purchasing the domains wasn't difficult, as I'm a reseller for Tucows/OpenSRS. My late husband started a reseller hobby before he died (never making over $200 per year and that's the forever plan), fully expecting me to get involved. I didn't want anything to do with it, so he left it behind with a smattering of paying subscribers.
What's a widow to do except stay with the game plan and purchase more domain names? Don't laugh if you notice a trend in the following list (besides listing all five of my special interests — see last week’s article):
GoinPoetic.com (about poetry, one special interest)
GoinGardening.com (about gardening, another special interest)
JoannesRecipes.com (about my mother's recipes, and also part of my special interest in cooking)
Goinhome.com (for sale at Sedo)
GoinfortheGold.com (also for sale at Sedo)
GoinOriginals.com (the name of my eBay shop, a “hustling” special interest)
Virgenealogy.com (about Genealogy, another special interest)
Hperdivergent.com (You Are Here)
PlanitGoin.com (a site that points to planner downloads, which is part of my addiction to event planning, which I seem to have weaned myself away from for now, so this is part of my “hustling” special interest)
MoveThoseFeet.com (about dancing? Movement? I don't know yet...)
What next? I don't know, but I want to stick with the above domains for a while. From my previous experiences, I've learned that it normally takes about two years to gain the following and $$$ from ad clicks to ask for large sums for the domain name and content. I have timelines and I have time.
This list is not as large as lists that serious buyers and sellers create to sell or flip domains, developed or not. Any domain I develop from this list will reside under the Hyperdivergent umbrella. Until I start making serious money, the domains and their content will remain in the hobby phase.
Last week, I chose GoinGardening.com, AKA Goin' Gardening, for my first developed site. I love Tucows/OpenSRS, because they have top-notch support. But either I wasn't explaining what I needed from them, or they misunderstood my questions because no one could help me redirect a domain name to Google Blogger.
Granted, Blogger is not the first pick of many developers today, because other websites for writers that include pages have come on board. I like Blogger because it allows 20 pages per site, unlimited blog entries, and easy integration of Google AdSense into their platform. And the platform is totally free.
I engaged the help of my friend, Chris Abraham, who dug in and tried to figure out a cure for my ills. He finally remembered a solution involving CloudSource and now Goingardening.com is live. Chris focuses on SEO, so check him out if you need help.
I think I'll use Blogger for most of my developments, because, when I compared it to other sites, the choice was a no-brainer for me. I have used this platform for so long that I can work it with my eyes closed. I was tickled to discover that they accept custom domain names.
I don't know who would want to purchase a domain name that includes my surname, but I'm old enough to have witnessed crazier things. I'm testing. Testing and more testing.
Another thing I learned this week after being absent from the domain and website-building world for almost 16 years is that any website, even this site at Substack and my shop at eBay, legally should carry my domain's Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions. I'm working on both of those documents this coming week.
Enough for last week's work. I also am growing cucumbers (photo of the first one at the top) and tending to two volunteer tomato plants and some flowers. I also watch over my grandsons three days per week. My life is rich. I hope yours is, too.