Hey, thanks for dropping in. My name is Jim Mohr, and I got started in this whole website building and hosting in a very roundabout way. I am a songwriter / musician. (notice I did not say singer). I had no computer, let alone computer skills, but I saw the best opportunity for me to promote my songwriting was on the internet.  Being the cheapskate I am, I was determined not to be scammed accomplishing my goal of making some money from my music.
     I feel I am an accomplished songwriter and I made some great connections.  I had my songs on more websites than I can count. I learned to build websites at about every free web host I could find. I was getting airplay all over the world, on internet stations, as well as independent radio stations in the US and Europe.  But was I making any money?  No, and it had been a year.  I had made a promise to myself that within 1 year, if I was not making money, or on the verge of doing so, I would re-evaluate my goals.
     So with the limited web building skills I had developed from building free websites, I decided it was time for me to get a REAL domain.  To my surprise, jimmohr.com was available, so I purchased it.  I put a site together with just some silly stuff on it including my music, my photos, funny quips and links to favorite sites.  At that time (2004) I was paying $14.95 a month to host my site and the domain name was $12.95.
     Well that was all fine and dandy, and I was actually getting around 200 hits a day.  But was I making money from my music now?  No, but I had been still surfing the web to see what other websites were offering.  I stumbled onto affiliate (referral) programs.  This is where you put a link on your website to promote another product or service.  There are thousands of companies that will pay you to have an ad or 2 on your website. Sometimes you get paid to GIVE stuff away!  It is a long story, but you can read more about affiliate programs HERE.  (They are free to join).
     I turned jimmohr.com into a online gaming website that promotes a few products and games (game referrals are big!) and it is earning more money than if I was selling 2 CD's a day and I don't have to ship anything.
     Now 4 years since I had my first computer, I have purchased a total of 11 domains and host 10 websites.  Yes, my goal was to sit home and collect weekly royalty checks from my songwriting, but I am not that far off.  I collect weekly checks from Google, Yahoo, Bravenet and more.  And sometimes I still play the guitar :-)