I've owned an internet domain name for 13 years now. It was popular once upon a time but I was never successful in monetizing it and became dejected and frustrated with it. About 2 years ago I gave up, canceled my hosting entirely and parked the domain. Lately my wife and I have been trying to think of creative ways to make a little extra income. I already have a full time job so to a certain extent this would be a hobby or experiment of sorts for me. I am not planning to quit my day job, in other words.

I see two routes I can take here:

The quick & dirty route
1) Buy hosting service
2) Buy some kind of CMS or Template software
3) Produce original content (as if that's the easy part)
4) Sign up for and install Google AdSense

The long but professional route
1) Create an LLC through a service like LegalZoom
2) Wait however long to receive paperwork indicating it is a registered LLC
3) Open a business debit card account through a local bank or CU registered to the LLC. All further expenses charge to the LLC's Visa debit card.
4) Pick up a cheap prepaid cell phone at Wal-Mart to serve as the business phone
5) Get a mailbox through UPS Store
6) Buy hosting service
7) Buy some kind of CMS or Template software
8) Produce original content (still the hard part)
9) Sign up for and install Google AdSense

I've read so many stories of people having Google ban them from AdSense for any number of reasons, some of which sounding like there was no intentional error on the part of the content provider that I'm somewhat paralyzed against doing anything for fear of ending up with a permaban from the only practical provider of monetizing content. I don't want to have to create and sell products but I'm not entirely opposed to having tie-ins with people that do sell stuff. I've known guys who've run their own businesses and it seems like a race to the bottom for whoever can be cheapest and nobody manages to turn a profit from it. I love story telling and would much prefer to write, tell stories, and have contextual ads that are related to my stories in some way and let that guy sell something to somebody via an advertizement on my site.

Am I even barking up the right tree? I've been praying for a couple days now for guidance on which route to go, the quick or the professional route. I've also been seeking wise counsel - contacting both family members and professional advisers for input. I'd love to see if there's anyone here with thoughts on the matter. I've had 3 different family members start businesses and all 3 eventually failed. This sowed a seed of fear in my heart preventing me from going through with the business for the whole 13 years I've had my domain. I felt the Holy Spirit laying it on my heart to put that fear behind me and pursue this even though I knew pretty much nothing about it prior to finding the make money with a blog post on this website.

Help and suggestions eagerly accepted!