My Trip Back East – How gCaptain Makes Money

Growing up in New York was a kid’s dream. Summers were filled with sailing adventures on the Long Island Sound, frequent trips to Jones beach and days filled with reckless adventure. Winters were even better with lots of money to be made shoveling driveways an fun to be had sledding down steep hills. We didn’t mind the temperature extremes, traffic on I-95 or housing prices. We were kids.

gCaptain has emerged as a dream project for this mariner. We have the opportunity to discuss the day’s issues with the best in the business and do it from a place with a far nicer climate; San Luis Obispo California. The state of our industry has only helped make the dream a reality and, yes, gCaptain is beginning to turn a profit but not in the way any of us imagined.

A trademark of this site is a concentration on design, usability and a focus on the need of YOU the reader. People have taken notice and requested that we help meet their online technology needs and so far we have worked with some of the best names in the industry, revamping websites and building network systems. The maritime world is 5-10 years behind on the implementation of web based systems and for the first time in decades entry level employees are sticking around to take positions of influence. Those, like me, who graduated 10 years ago from maritime academies are just beginning to command large vessels, direct operations at shipping companies and edit industry publications. They have important businesses to run and are not happy working with old technology.

gCaptain works hard to lead the way in new web based technology but we are not the world’s best nor do we use cutting edge programming techniques with names like AJAX and django. We don’t have to. What we do is sit back, watch what works on technology oriented sites and wait the short few months till the frameworks are working, tested and considered blase. We then find the people who can implement the software and use our experience as ship’s officers to direct them in simple terms. Maritime folks don’t speak geek and Tech geeks don’t know ships. Knowing a little bit about both worlds enables us to act as a translator; assuring programming accuracy and keeping the project well clear of troubled waters.

You, the reader, click on ads less then we hope and take action (commenting on posts, buying tshirts, taking polls) far to infrequently, making it difficult to convert page-views into dollars. That’s ok. What you are good at is spreading the word amongst colleges.

gCaptain may never turn a profit but will always maintain the high standards that allow our writers, active participants and readers to make money. For all our readers gCaptain helps you stay informed and become better at your job. For us and our contributors it serves as a calling card and wins us contracts that pay good money.

We hope you can join us on this adventure as the timing is right. The industry is booming and well-informed people are in great demand. So please continue learning with us by reading gCaptain daily or step up to the plate and join us in profit by writing articles that win contracts, promotions and allow you to pursue a dream. We can’t succeed alone but we can help each other keep this industry steaming full speed ahead. I’m excited to start, are you?

Many thanks to those who recognized the site’s potential and have supported gCaptain by trusting us with their technology needs. Returning for our first round of client meetings back east I want to thank the guys at Marine Money for giving us our first big break… Jim we promise to complete the project ASAP! Northeast Maritime and Sea-Fever consulting for first making the path to solvency clear and the guys at Maritime Executive for answering every dumb publishing question we had. Did you know gCaptain does consults with companies, helping them break into the luctrative offshore industry? Neither did we until the guys at Faststream asked for our help!

That concludes our world-wind tour but I’d also like to give a big thank you to Captain Kelly, if you need a job aboard ship then he’s the person to call. Will Watson, the editors of fairplay, llyoyds list, Sail Magazine and, yes, the Wall Street Journal (ok, it WAS the online edition) for publishing the articles I wrote. Mikey and Tim for believing the dream. Last Cindy, Jack and Eli for letting me take this trip. Good thing for me they are well adjusted to me being away from home.

It’s starting to happen so please give us a call if your company needs a new website, tech translator or wants to tap into the knowledge of our contributing staff. If you would like to become a contributing author please contact me directly at 805-456-8644

Cheers,
John

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