I’m a dreamer. I have big expectations.
I get these thoughts in my head and think I can do something. And then I don’t.
Jon Bon Jovi summed it up neatly for me in a song called Bang A Drum, that was written and performed for the Young Guns II soundtrack.
I called upon my brother
Just the other day
He said, “John I’m gonna
Die if I don’t start to live again”
I work each day and night like clockwork
Just tryin’ to make ends meet
I could kick this bad world’s ass
If I could just get on my feet
Yup, that’s me in a nutshell.
I could kick this bad world’s ass if I could just get on my feet.
I have lots of ideas and no idea how to make them come to fruition.
This is where you come in. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my year and a half of blogging, it’s that my blogging family will help. All you have to do is ask.
In my Be The Dog post, I indicated I wanted to take this blog to the next level. Well that level is coming up and pretty darn fast too.
I’m planning on moving away from the free wordpress and going self-hosted.
I know, it’s scary.
Here’s the dilemma. www.jodistone.com is taken.
I was shocked too.
Go figure. Some chick named Jodi Stone wrote a children’s book about a ….lady bug.
No, it certainly was not me! How could you even think that? Me write a book about bugs!
I admit, when I was a child I loved lady bugs, until I saw a house that thousands of them on the ceiling and did you know they bite? Yeah, I didn’t either.
No, I’m not including the link to her site, but I won’t be mad at you if you go and look. Just come back here, ok? I still have a problem.
So this blog is www.jodistone.wordpress.com, but what happens when I go to self-hosting? Isn’t the blog name supposed to just add a .com to it?
In order to take the next step I need to know what’s going to happen to my blog name. Do any of you know? Should I just call the hosting company and run it by them? Should I change the blog name?
Any thoughts you have would be greatly appreciated.
Unfortunately, I am no help whatsoever. Good luck with getting the name you want X
That happens more often than you might think. When I first started using a kennel name I called myself Great Lakes Chesapeakes and even bought the domain name so I thought I was all set…nope about a year and a half later my friend said there was another Great Lakes Chesapeakes; I couldn’t believe it!! What they apparently did was used Great Lakes Chessies for their domain name and then when you went to their site they were yup you guessed it Great Lakes Chesapeakes, hence Misty Shores Chesapeakes was born. I had no choice really and I did not want to be confused with them.
Anyway what about using jstone.com if it isn’t taken or you could do what I did and come up with a whole new identity.
Good Luck!!
Just had another thought if you decide to change how about just be the dog.com
I had an answer all ready for you but Misty Shores suggestion rocks it! bethedog.com:)
It shouldn’t be hard to switch over to self hosted, but I did think it just added the com after it and since the name is taken maybe you could be a .net?
Hi Jodi! I did a search and it says you will continue to own your WordPress.com blog (this one) and domain after the transfer to self hosting. It will remain here (hidden) unless you intentionally choose to delete it.
I also did a little domain search and auntiejodi.com is available . .I only thought of it because of your email address 😉 You could definitely do .net or even add your middle initial. You have lots of options!! You know that you’re going to have to get on twitter and facebook too right? C’mon, join us – it will be fun!!!
I’m no help with your problem, but did want to add that ladybugs are huge carnivores, so they will try to eat anything. Sort of like some people and dogs.
hello I came here by way of another post and just decided to have a read. I like what I read. So if you change to the other WordPress we would not be able to read your posts and I thought I had just found another friend..do not desert
I’m also familiar with this problem! You can use a different ending [.net instead of .com, see more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Internet_top-level_domains%5D or add a number or maybe http://www.jodi_stone.com? Good luck with this! It is a brave decision indeed! I hope you let us know.
You could do
writerjodistone
jodistoneanddogs
samsonanddelilahstone
jodistonewrites
jodistoneauthor
authorjodistone
As for the ladybugs covering the lady’s ceiling– those weren’t ladybugs. Those were Asian beetles brought over here as pest control, then they got all out of control. And yes, they do bite. Ladybugs, real ladybugs, do not bite. Ladybugs also do not swarm as the beetles do.
http://www.uri.edu/ce/factsheets/sheets/asianladybeetle.html
With so many of the dot com addresses being taken, more and more people are using different domain extensions. One of my blogs is a .net and it doesn’t seem to affect it. You may actually want to grab a domain using name and one for your blog depending on what your goals are.
You can leave a post to redirect people to your new location, though you may want to see if WordPress.com removes inactive blogs after a period of time.
I’ve been self-hosted for 5 years and knew nothing about using it. It can seem like a big leap, but I’m glad I did decided to go that way. Let me know if you need any help! I’m might not know, but I might be able to direct you to a resource.
Hmmm….tough question. I can’t answer you about the technical stuff, as I’m technology challenged, but if you think you are going to pursue your book, Along Came Sampson, you might consider a pen name if there is already a children’s writer using yours. Figures too, huh? If you’re not going to go on with the children’s book, it might be a non issue though.
(Meaning, if you’re going to pursue novels now instead. Wasn’t sure what your plans were…)
You’re getting lots of good advice, Jodi. I can tell you it’s not such a biggie to switch to WP self-hosted. I did it and if I can, anyone can.
I discovered the other Jodi Stone some time ago when trying to google your blog quickly. Since you’re both writers, I’d think carefully about the name so you can differentiate yourself from her.
I’d also ask what you’re hoping to do with your website/blog. Will it continue to focus on the adventures of Sampson and Delilah? Will it direct people to all your writing, whether dog related or not?
And I disagree with the advice to just use JodiStone.net. That means that people looking for you will type .com by reflex and end up on the wrong person’s site. Once again, see paragraph 2.
Don’t rush. Pick the name that will work for you in the long run and help you meet your goals. Once you have your “brand” it’s hard to change.
Can’t wait to see all the great things you have in store for us. I’m really excited for you.
I so wish I had some brilliant advise to give you but, three weeks in, I’m rather impressed I’m able to see, like and comment on blogs. Sorry, no help from here. Am going to come back to see other responses though – very interested in case I decide to do the same some day.
Three weeks in and you already have 109 followers!! I’ve been working this for a year and a half…..so jealous!
You have received lots of helpful replies Jodi. I find WordPress help and the forums quite useful when I need to do something on the blog.
How exciting! I switched last year and the process was a lot easier than I expected.
I don’t know if it matters if your current blog name is the same when you switch or not. I am sure you could purchase your domain in any available name you choose and switch over your blog name as well. Truly I think you can change your blog name as many times as you like, though that would no doubt be confusing for readers and search engines. Before I purchased my domain I was known as mycrazydog.wordpress.com. Gosh that feels like forever ago.
I agree with everything Pamela said above. A name is important and worth a lot of thought. If you are going to focus on writing primarily about your dogs you could create a name based around them and it would be something we all would easily search for and recognize. Or if it is going to encompass more of your personal ambitions, you may want to keep it centred around your name. Is justbethedog.com already taken?
Good luck! It’s a big decision but I hope you have a lot of fun with it!
Hi Jodi,
Lots of great name suggestions here – it also seems that you can keep your current url – are you able to just re-direct your current url to your new one, so people won’t get lost whilst they get used to your new address?
Good luck and I can’t wait to see which name you choose 🙂
Your pal Snoopy 🙂
I can’t be much help with your site name problem but I am interested to hear about how it all plays out. I have been thinking of self hosting at some point so I bet I can learn about the process from you.
Is http://www.justbethedog.com taken? Would be great to redirect you blog traffic to that domain name.
you will still have jodistone.wordpress.com – until you delete that account. when you move to self hosting the wordpress.com will still be there for you. so dont worry – you will export your stuff from wordpress site to your new one 🙂
How about “the water bowl” or something like that 🙂
pause for paws
LOL its endless!
I really wanted the domain name my dog from hell ha.
true story.
Days and days behind again…lol. Does it have to be .com? Can’t it be .net or some other “dot”?
Congrats on the self hosting. If I ever find time I am going to figure out how to do that…lol.