This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Oh yeah, what's up? How's it going? Greetings from Los Angeles. I am on the road, as you may know, if you've been listening, excited to talk to your listeners and readers every day about my new book, Gonzo Capitalism. And of course the show rolls on, the show known as Side Hustle School.
In this week's failure Friday segment, we're gonna hear from a personal finance blogger who failed to renew his domain name. This is a pretty crushing failure. If you forget to renew your domain name, it's a long story. Sometimes you can get it back, but most of the time you can't. Like it's just gone.
Like somebody else comes and takes it. So in his case, it was stolen by a company that kind of puts up junk websites with affiliate links, advertising, trying to make some money. They make money basically by stealing other people's domains, like sidehustleschool.com or whatever domain name you have, like could be your name, could be your business name. You have to pay for that every year, actually. You don't just pay for it once, fun fact.
So you gotta renew that. Anyway, let's let him tell the story. Max Martin is his name. He's a software developer, DJ, and former personal finance blogger. What happened?
How did it feel? And what did he learn? So I'll be back at the end with a quick wrap up. But first, here's Max. [Music]
Hey there, I'm Max.
The guy who once navigated the waters of personal finance blogging, only to be capsized by a sneaky domain renewal, or rather, the lack thereof. For a couple of years, Max's money musings was my humble little corner of the internet. I wrote about everything from budgeting to Bitcoin, guiding readers to become masters of their financial fate. The process was a reward in itself, researching complex financial concepts, distilling them down into understandable articles, and seeing my readers benefit from my insights. My blog had just started gaining traction, with a faint hope of ad revenue in the air when disaster struck.
You see, in my enthusiasm to untangle the web of finance for my readers, I entangled myself in a basic tech oversight. I forgot to renew my domain name. The realization hit me like a rogue wave. My precious domain, the digital home of all my hard work, had been claimed by someone else. What was once a beacon of financial wisdom was now a site hosting dumb meme videos and providing affiliate links to novelty socks.
Don't get me wrong, I love a good sock puppet, but it's hardly sound investment advice. I was deflated. How could I, a financial advice guy, have failed to invest in my own domain's future? The irony was thicker than a wad of hundred dollar bills. Disheartened, I walked away from my blog.
Max's money musings was no more. Yet, in this plot twist of my blogging journey, I found a glimmer of wisdom. This mishap taught me that managing a blog isn't just about writing insightful content. It's also about the nuts and bolts of website management, including, as it turns out, domain renewals. Retrospectively, the whole ordeal seems comically tragic, like a Shakespearean play directed by Monty Python.
Yes, I lost my original domain to an array of funky foot gear, but it led me to take a crash course in website management, which, surprise, surprise, is a lucrative skill in its own right. So now, while I gear up to start a new blog, armed with renewed knowledge and a set reminder for domain renewal, I've learned some valuable lessons. Here's to the mishaps and mistakes, the oversights and oversteps, for they truly are the greatest teachers. And hey, if all else fails, I know where to find some great novelty socks. [Music]
Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat.
I mean, this was definitely a pretty hardcore blow, just to be real here. Like if you lose your website, that is a significant failure. Like that qualifies for failure Friday, all right? But nevertheless, as a person, it's just a single defeat. And fortunately, Max is also a DJ, and also a, what else is he?
He's a software developer, does a few different things. So didn't have all his eggs in one basket. That's good. I guess I'm just trying to find some good news here to make Max feel better. But fortunately, he has a good spirit about it, at least now.
So Max, we wish you the best. Let us know when you have a new website, we can share with listeners. And listeners, if you have a question or an update for us about your hustle, sidehustleschool.com/questions, this has been episode 2,428. We are marching on towards 2,500 episodes. All thanks to your support.
I'm so grateful to be able to make this podcast for you every day, much more is coming up. My name's Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School.
