Meet Bobby Davis of The Guitar Answer Guy

Today we’d like to introduce you to Bobby Davis.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I’m the “Guitar Answer Guy” behind www.guitaranswerguy.com, where I write articles that teach new guitar owners how to properly care for and maintain their instrument, rather than having to rely on (and pay) someone else to do everything for them. I also write in-depth reviews of guitar-related products and provide recommendations on the best guitar tools, cleaning supplies, etc.

I’ve been a guitar player since 1987, but I also enjoy working on guitars–almost as much as I enjoy playing them. As a result, I’ve learned a lot about how they’re built, their inner-workings, as well as how to fix things that go wrong. I enjoy working on guitars so much, in fact, that when I left the Air Force in 1999, I came very close to using my GI Bill to enroll at the Roberto Venn School of Luthiery instead of Arizona State University.

I had a pretty strong desire to become a professional guitar builder or guitar repair person. The name “Guitar Answer Guy” is something a coworker called me many years ago while I was in the Air Force. At the time I didn’t think anything of it, but years later I dusted-off that name when I was brainstorming for a persona to use to launch my website.

I launched the website in November 2015 as sort of a passion project–a way to answer all the guitar questions that I’d been asked over the years by co-workers, friends, and family. The other purpose was to learn some new technical skills for my full-time career as a User Interface Designer. I honestly didn’t expect it to go anywhere because the guitar niche was already pretty saturated with great websites, YouTube channels, and books.

Despite that, the website has slowly grown to be far more popular than I imagined it would. Today, I’m averaging 35,000 unique visitors per month, and receive 5-8 emails each day from people sending me guitar-related questions. Those numbers are steadily growing too. I’ve had to upgrade my web hosting plan and purchase various software tools to keep everything running smoothly.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The biggest struggle has been time (or lack thereof). There’s so much that needs to be done each day, the website could easily be a full-time job. In fact, it really needs full-time attention. However, like most people, I already have a day job, household chores to take care of, etc. So, that limits how much time I can spend on the website and, by extension, how many people I can help.

My other struggle is simply the fact that I’m doing everything myself. I’ve had to learn so much over the past four years I feel like I know a little about everything now: WordPress, search engine optimization, email marketing, internet marketing, Google Analytics, and the list goes on an on. From design and coding to writing articles to answering emails and social media. It’s all me.

The Guitar Answer Guy – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I personally interact with all my readers and social media followers. If someone sends me a guitar question, I’ll usually respond within 72 hours, and I don’t charge any kind of fee for this advice. I’m not sure how many other guitar websites are willing or able to do this for their readers. It’s interesting how many of my readers are surprised when I reply.

Others are skeptical that it’s actually me, they assume I’ve hired someone to manage and answer my emails for me. Many times, I’ll turn these email questions into blog posts–especially if it’s a question I’ve received repeatedly because that’s a signal that it’s a problem or question many other guitarists out there probably have. So, my audience is essentially telling me what I should be writing about.

Is there a specific memory from when you were younger that you really miss?
I spent my early childhood years growing up near the California coast, so I spent a LOT of my childhood on the beach.

One of my fondest memories was going to the beach with my grandparents and “clamming” (digging up clams). We’d go out and spend several hours filling a big bucket with clams, and then later that evening my grandma would shuck and clean them, then make a giant pot of clam chowder that we’d eat for a week.

My family didn’t have a lot of money when I was growing up, so for us, there was actually some necessity behind clamming. To this day, I absolutely love the beach. Just ten minutes with my toes in the sand will wash away months of stress and worry, so I try to get back to the ocean whenever I can.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.guitaranswerguy.com
• Email: bobby@guitaranswerguy.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/guitaranswerguy/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/guitaranswerguy
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/guitaranswerguy
• Other: https://www.pinterest.com/guitaranswerguy/

Getting in touch: VoyagePhoenix is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.