ok eagleclaw, here's my thoughts on your site. please keep in mind I'm trying to offer up some constructive criticism and some thoughts and advice to improve what your doing.
two comments on how to not annoy people and not get a team of RIAA layers chasing you.
First, I don't think the majority of the people here would appreciate you listing HLP as a "Hosted Site." A simple change of word to "Recommended Sites" will go along way here.
Secondly, I personally find background music on websites to be annoying, and beyond that, I'm willing to bet you definatly don't have the rights to use that song. And seeing how on the same page you have link to buy things from you...tis not a good combination to keep you safe from lawyers. so take it down, and your wallet will thank you.
ok, those major things aside, let me see if i can offer a few other comments to help you improve your site. The design is dated, and is honestly why people here are thinking that your not serious about your intent. now, I'm no webdesigner, and my attempts in the past have met with horrible ends, so i do understand that its hard when your starting out to get it right. but I have been doing everything i can to improve them, and hope to have a much better go around on my next site i attempt, as its been awhile. I recomend the book "How to design the Coolest Website in Cyberspace" by Nick Nettleton. its got lots of great design tips and how tos and is a very simple read. its a great resource to start. plus also look into
http://www.good-tutorials.com which has lots of good website layouts that you can use and adapt. its mainly for photoshop, and I've learned so much from them.
My biggest tip is to look at corporate websites, and ones like HLP that have been around for awhile. take inspiration and read as much about web design as you can. cause if your comming to the big guys here for help, they expect, and rightfully so, a certain level of professionalism and commitment. Cause they don't know you or what your about. and they want to be associated with things that they believe in, and its hard when your site isn't appealing to them. If you do the work and the research, and make your site as awesome as you humanly can, then you can really start making a name for your site, and you'll accomplish what you want. thats the plain simple truth to it. Your site has to be a place where people want to be, and it hasn't made it there yet. but you've come to the right place, and I'm sure that there's lots of people here who can offer more advice on how to go about making a great website. And when your done, and have made something thats truely unique and great looking, you'll be happier to. Feel free to pm me if you want advice on design or what have you, just keep in mind i'm no pro, and have little to no experience in coding.
oh, and one last tip. Most everyone here isn't out to get you, and as long as your calm and can take the criticism and act apon it, I think you'll find that people are willing to offer advice where they can, and help you out. thats always been my experience here. But you have to make it happen yourself, cause man, you can't ask anyone to do something you wouldn't do.
So, with that unintentionally lengthy bit of dialogue done, I wish you the best of luck!
