Quick question—I was browsing around on Sedo and found free-online-guitar-tuner.com on sale min. $75. I'm not sure about the about the hyphens—do you guys thinks it's worth it?? Thinking about doing a small tuner site. Thanks!!
Probably not. Physical tuners cost around $20. There is a software tuner that is very good and very free. There are other sites, which offer a tuner as part of their package (lessons, tabs,etc.). GuitarPro has a built in tuner.
I started with nothing - and I've still got most of it left.
Did you know that the word "gullible" is not in any dictionary?
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And the guitar magazines which come with CDs full of audio-visual lessons normally have a tuner as the first track on the CD. Add that to the fact that physical tuners are dirt cheap and you soon find that online tuners are the last resort.
A :-)
"Be good at what you can do" - Fingerbanger"
I have always felt that it is better to do what is beautiful than what is 'right'" - Eliot Fisk
Wedding music and guitar lessons in Essex. Listen at: http://www.rollmopmusic.co.uk
I think the poster is asking if he should buy the domain name for $75 and setting up a site, not buying the tuner. :wink:
Fair do's
So, who's going to use it?
$75 might buy the domain name, but it doesn't get it hosted so there are regular costs involved. If you take advertising, then you need visitors to the site to click on the ads to generate revenue, and if people don't need the tuner product they won't come to the site. On top of that, if I've hit an online tuner then the assumption is I need a guitar to be in tune to play it rather than interested in reading the ads.
A :-)
"Be good at what you can do" - Fingerbanger"
I have always felt that it is better to do what is beautiful than what is 'right'" - Eliot Fisk
Wedding music and guitar lessons in Essex. Listen at: http://www.rollmopmusic.co.uk
Normally, you don't buy a domain name, you rent it. The $75 may just be to register it in his name. There are many companies that buy a whole raft of different domain names and sell them on - like the company that he mentions in his post. He still has to pay the rental fee to the NIC.
He, then, has to pay an annual fee to host the site.
Once he has that, he has to set up the site and get his advertising.
What will the visitor, to the site find? Probably a tuner, lost somewhere under the mass of ads, that keep the site up and running.
Will people use an online tuner? I doubt it very much. There are too many alternatives, that don't require an internet connection. The chances are that the tuner would only, ever, be used at home. Do you have an internet connection at an open mike? Do you have one when you're sitting round a camp-fire? Do you have one at band practice? Does the venue have one, when you have a gig? No guarantees, but a strong likelihood that you won't. Besides a small tuner is far easier to carry around than a laptop.
I started with nothing - and I've still got most of it left.
Did you know that the word "gullible" is not in any dictionary?
Greybeard's Pages
My Articles & Reviews on GN
I'd say you shouldn't pay more than $8.99 for it.
Domain names mean very little. If you're setting up a big corporate site, it's probably worth paying extra to get the perfect domain name. Same goes for if you plan on advertising the site using TV or radio. Otherwise, a domain name is worth $8.99 and I wouldn't pay a penny more. In fact I'm not sure that particular name is even worth a penny.
If you're hoping to make money with it, your biggest challenges will be getting above the hundreds of sites already in the search engines, getting traffic and getting people to click on ads. A great domain name won't help with any of that, and that is NOT a great domain name anyway.
If you really want to do this, find something that isn't taken, even if it's not as specific. Even if it's tals-great-guitar-tuner.com. Pay $8.99 to register the domain, the last thing you need is to have $75 (plus hosting costs) invested in a business that will be hard to make money with.
Personally, I think the only use for an online guitar tuner is as a "bonus feature" of an otherwise useful guitar site, and if you Google "guitar tuner" you'll notice most of the successful results are exactly that.
I agree with mmoncur. A domain name is part of a marketing strategy, not the strategy.
Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin
Thanks grey beard!
Nice plan! Thank God/Darwin for online guitar tuners. When I tune my guitar the strings slip like crazy and I problably couldn't get it in tune without an online tuner. So if you feel like programming one, why not? Time will be more of an investment than money anyway. Last week I got a domain and reasonable hosting package for about 20 dollars a year. You won't make it big, but you'll probably get your money back.
The only catch I see: I'm happy with the tuner I use now, and don't see how the software/website could be improved. (Though tuning might be a lot easier if I get a decent quality microphone.) Also, I can't say I've clicked on many banners on this site.
Just a tip: instead of buying free-online-guitar-tuner.com, tune-your-guitar.com seems to be up for grabs.
Have fun programming and playing guitar!
When I tune my guitar the strings slip like crazy and I problably couldn't get it in tune without an online tuner
So what's the difference between having a chromatic tuner that you can take with you and a tuner online? Wouldn't it be easier to tune your guitar with a tuner in your lap than at your computer?
In Space, no one can hear me sing!
When I tune my guitar the strings slip like crazy and I problably couldn't get it in tune without an online tuner
So what's the difference between having a chromatic tuner that you can take with you and a tuner online? Wouldn't it be easier to tune your guitar with a tuner in your lap than at your computer?
Euh, probably no difference, chromatic tuner was the word I was looking for. After playing for half a year I haven't bought a real tuner yet, and it's not high on my list of stuff to get. With a laptop and just a single room, it's never that far away. A friend I play with sometimes uses the same way of tuning. If I'd ever start to play gig's...
