Wednesday, January 19, 2022

Big Scare? And the Future of this Blog - Want Your Opinions!

 Friends,


As many of you know who were kind enough to message me, this blog was inaccessible for a couple of days this week.  This was due not to any fault of Blogger, the free platform I use to make this blog, but due to technical errors by Enom, which is the domain register I use.

Luckily as you can see, the domain is back up, and no posts or data were lost from this blog. But the whole incident got me thinking - what about the next time? Could it have been worse?

True, I can and do occasionally update the contents of this blog, but not having control of the situation caused by Enom and waiting it out in the hopes that, as the "world's largest" the domain registry they would HAVE to solve the problem eventually - I dislike being put into that situation, to say the least. 

And, as it stands, right now I am basically at the mercy of Google (Blogger) and Enom to ensure this blog maintains its content and is accessible to everyone.

So this got me thinking - are there other ways to maintain this blog, to make its contents and accessibility more secure?

I am still doing my research and will soon likely talk to people who do websites/blogs as a business to get their input.  

But it occurs to me that, if I want more security, it may cost money. And if it costs money - not just the annual fee I pay to Enom - whether to have a professional company host the site, etc. - I may need to monetize this blog in some form.

I am not a fan of the "click to buy a product I talk about" (Amazon?) so I think that means a subscription model?  Of course this would not be for my posts, but for new features I would have to offer in addition to my posts - an easy example would be English translations of articles about the R33 written in Japanese, for example, that only subscribers could read.  Or maybe special events or intros /live Q&A sessions when I drop into Nismo Omori Factory, or Mine's, or whatever tuner I am visiting.  Just some random ideas....

But what do YOU guys think? 

Please post your comments below so we can start some ideas flowing.

Thanks, and as always I very much appreciate your readership of this blog!

Aki

PS I already have a couple more posts coming very soon! Check back often!


17 comments:

Bertus Wijaya said...

hai Aki, i've been following your blog since the Mine's engine build and enjoy it so far although i don't have a Nissan - just a fan of the skylines.

I really enjoy reading your post, whether its about mods, parts, or just random things - especially Nismo cars and stuff.

As for my opinion, i think it would be better to monetize by advertising something car related so that fellow reader like myself still can enjoy Nissan exclusive content.

Anyhow, it's your call and i respect whatever choice you made.

qt said...

Monetizing would be good especially so that you can provide quality updates. I would suggest selling things like some of your photos etc. (I have been trying to bug you about your group A R32 photo)!

Aki said...

Bertus, thank you from the bottom of my heart for following this blog, then! And for answering this question. Very important that I hear from people who actually read the blog!

qt - please email then, did not realize you had interest. aitoh at mark hotmail.

Thanks guys!

Aki

The Digital Seagul said...

This will be my 8th year reading your blog, I'm here to support however is needed and quite honestly whatever feels best for you. Not doing the "easy" thing and choosing to monetize in a way that feels comfortable means you are doing this because you enjoy it and thats why I'm still here.

Anonymous said...

maybe you can give reddit a shot?

You can make your own subreddit, you don't have to worry about the blog getting shut down?

Aki said...

Interesting idea! Let me think about that!

Darren Witting said...

This Blog is my go to for anything R33 related!

There is so much information on here it is awesome.
I enjoy reading the historical articles about facts and figures etc, and also enjoy the modification/improvement articles.

I like the un-bias reviews with good attention to detail.
Whenever I think about doing something to my car, I always consult this blog, as you have normally done it haha.

For me, if you were to monetise this blog, I really wouldn't mind and would be happy to subscribe.
Totally understand wanting to secure it after all the effort you have put in.

Go with what ever you are most comfortable with.

xg3 said...

Use ghost.org or GitHub pages.

Pablo said...

Hey Aki!

Man god knows how long I have been following your posts, for sure I got lead here by Dino from when I read them…

But whatever is best for you man!

Monetizing is one option but I like the Reddit idea too.

I am sure money might not be a need for you but if it is, which is not a bad thing…. Let me just leave this thought here.

YouTube?

Just saying Bro. Just saying. But I dunno, do you.

We will follow man, this is so interesting to read and so detailed! Man not having an R33 (Yet!) it’s been so awesome to follow the process. The ups and downs.

F the alarm place!

Yay for the dude in Mexico who redid your interior in leather, man that is still crazy to remember!

It is nice to know there are humble people like you in the world who in this case allowing us to follow the dream of some day having an R of our own, to those that have and even if it’s not their cup of tea they are here because the effort you put into this blog it is so detailed and we want to read everything!

It is so informative, interesting, fun, Frustrating (f the place that shall not be named!), and JOYFUL!

Man sometimes I don’t even look at my blogs. I have moved on, but I have a certain few I keep close.

When I see a post I’m like crap save to read later!

I’ll tell you one thing from me…

When you made the posts about the audio upgrade and I saw what equipment you wanted to use I thought damn 5Star Audio on YouTube.

I made a comment and you replied.

Then in your next post you mentioned them and even gave me a shout out about point them out and of course you already knew about them.

Bro that made my life! Having a mere mention of my first name on you blog is humming.

I think we can say do what you need to do. Please continue this journey and thank you so much for sharing this with us!

We will follow you (insert personal army joke here), and I bet many many more people are here not posting a comment and that’s fine and cool.

But you have reach Aki. Use it the way it is best for you Sir.

Jarreau said...

Ask If Nismo they will ever produce the 400r hood for the masses or some other type of vented hood for the 33. I want a nice vented one but the only one I like of quality is the unicorn lol

Aki said...

Pablo, great to hear from you and THANK YOU so much for your comments. Really made my day, too! :) Glad that you enjoy reading all of this, feedback like yours is what keeps me going! Because yeah sometimes things don't work out as well as they can. Anyway, no decision yet on what to do with the blog, but I am feeling the love from all of you!

Jarreau - I get the feeling they won't but will ask anyway. Who knows, maybe if I ask sweetly enough.... lol.

Jarreau said...

lol a big ask indeed. The Nismo hoods are the best fitting and can be used without hood pins. I hate that Nismo left out the 33 on this.

Tarik Z. Laaraj said...

I'd talk to Dino about getting hosted on the speedhunters back ups. It'd probably bring in traffic too. you have enough content that can be spread out over time so it'd work both ways for you guys

VspecR said...

Hello Aki, I could help you build a custom blog site for you and we can host it on aws. The cost would be fairly cheap maybe $100 a year at most.

JM said...

I recently bought a R33 GTR and i have found your site an invaluable treasure trove of information! you could probably start a kofi link with like exclusive posts or stuff

Aki said...

JM - great idea on the Ko-fi link! Will happen once I shift this blog over to a WP one! Thanks and glad you are enjoying the content!

Thanks also to VspecR and Tarik for your ideas too!

Jarreau - I asked Nismo and yes they do not have any stock but also said those hoods were heavy, why would I go for that??

Aki

Anonymous said...

I need a vented hood for club sprints. I do that a few times a year.

I did find the company Benetec a few weeks ago. They make a 400r replica hood which is built of high quality, so I'm going with that.