Name of your website?MusicMeFree.com
Your name?
Ed Crivello
Please give us a short summary of your website?
The main emphasis of my website is that of experiencing inner healing and freedom through listening to binaural beats and isochronic tones mixed in with soothing ambient music, nature sounds, bells and chimes and so on. It is music for healing the body, mind and emotions, and also for freeing ones soul from the confines of three dimensional existence.
What inspired you to launch your own website?
14 years of my life (1988-2002) was dedicated to a spiritual quest at which time I lived a lot like a Monk - no career, no college education, no regular work - just a wandering spiritual nomad. But I decided to leave that extreme lifestyle behind in 2002 (I was then 36).
After leaving I was back at square 1 where I was 14 years earlier - what to do next. I had no normal work history to speak of, no resume, no college education, no money, no home, no posessions, not much experience in anything. So I took up work as a live in caregiver helping elderly people, and then after 2 1/2 years of that I took up work as a caretaker on a horse ranch. It was during this job (which is where I still am) that, in 2007, I decided to try to find ways to make money online.
In June 2007 I started experimenting with affiliate marketing, and set up a few affiliate websites that yielded under $100 total after 1 year. During the middle of that time I found a way to sell my own products. That is, I bought ebooks with resale rights and started my own website selling ebooks through Clickbank (I still hve the ebook webiste). But it has only yileded about $189 in 7 months.
Finally as of June 2008 I decided to start a website with a spiritual flavor where I can sell my own products that will also be helpful to other people. No need to get into detail about this as I already shared a brief summary about this website elsewhere in this interview.
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
Actually I remember starting my first website while I was still a nomad on a spiritual quest. I use to go to univirsity libraries and public libraries in my travels around the US, and once I learned about the internet, microsoft word, html etc. in the mid to late 90's I gradually built a free website with geocities. (It is still on their server and contains spiritual writings I gleaned during my spiritual seeking years.)
How did you decide on a name for your website?
I decided on the name of my current new website (Music Me Free) which implies music setting people free, which ultimately I had in mind the ever present cosmic sound - the music of the spheres - the eternal sound currnet spoken of in Sant Mat etc., that sets people free - hence Music Me Free.
What makes your website different from other, similar offerings?
It has a small spiritual flavor to it, but is also scientific.
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
Obviously to use it as a source of income is my main goal seeing as I don't really seem to fit in in the regular work force other than doing odd jobs, or jobs I don't really enjoy. I am already 42 and don't plan on doing general labor the rest of my life.
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
To start off I have no savings - no assets (except for an 8 year old used car), never used a credit card in my life (hence have never borrowed money and have no credit history), so I used (and use) the money I earn at my currnet ranch job for "how to" ebooks, web hosting etc., and finally have recently used half of what I had in my checking account to buy the tools needed for building the brainwave Mp3 recordings I am selling at my current website.
All in all in the past year of experimenting with affiliate marketing, and selling my ebooks, and selling Mp3's in the past 3 week existence of my new website (MusicMeFree) - I still need to earn probably a little over $1000 to come out even (to get back all the money I spent in the past year on my money making projects and experiments, and web hosting etc). So far my new website (MusicMeFree) has made me $318 in 3 weeks which is more than I made in affiliate commissions in 1 year. I am hoping this website (MusicMeFree) goes somewhere.
If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?
With an unlimited budget I would probaby finally be able to use google adwords and get target customers to my website 365 days a year around the clock. And if enough sales were coming in I could probably finally move into an actual apartment (right now I live in a trailer on a horse ranch - I am the caretaker), be able to buy good quality food, finally get my own life established. And if I was really making a lot of money that would open the door to help others who need the help and so on (but I would have to wait until I was in that position of having money - some people say one thing but often do something else.)
Anyway an unlimited budget means unlimited advertising which means unlimited sales etc.
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
If it got that big it would mean simply paying for more hosting space, more bandwidth - that's all. But if I make more than $600 in sales I asusme I would have to do tax paperwork which will be the main thing I have to think about.
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
Not any yet. I have been slowly working on my website, and previous affiliate projects, after my day job on and off for over 1 year now. No headaches yet.
What has been your biggest challenge?
No big challenges yet - it has not grown big enough - I mean- get well under 50 visitors a day - sometimes a dozen.
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
I tried google a few times but I usually lose $10 very quick and get no sales. Sometimes clicks are $5 or more and at $10 in my account that is only 2 clicks a day, and I am broke. When I try 50 cents a click I am knocked off the page come the weekend because the people with deep pockets take over and knock all the little guys of the google advertising network. And the weekend is when most people buy. So I manily rely on putting up free youtube videos that link to my website as a way to promote my website - as well as purchasing targeted traffic that comes from expired domains. All this free advertising yields me a sale now and again, but not your 1000 sales a day etc.
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
I never realized it would be so hard to get people to actually discover my website. I think most people shop at Ebay, Amazon, Shopping.com and other popular places, but I could be wrong. I think a large portion of online users only look for free stuff.
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?
The new site (MusicMeFree.com) has been running since June 21. 2008. I have no plans for an end date as of yet.
What is your website address?
MusicMeFree.com
