In 1994 Mike Jeffers returned to Chicago after attending the University of North Texas (UNT) on a full music/percussion scholarship. He began sitting in nightly at some of Chicago’s legendary jazz clubs, learning the music, connecting with other musicians, and growing as an artist. By 1999 Mike had built a name for himself on the music scene and had several steady weekly gigs along with over 60 private students a week. 

A friend, who worked as a computer programmer, mentioned that he should have a website to promote his playing and teaching. He agreed but didn’t know much about the internet at the time. They both investigated what domains were available—yes MichaelJeffers.com was available—but to their shock ChicagoJazz.com was also available. That moment sparked a new thought process for Mike. He was now driven to get as much knowledge as possible on how to start and run a successful business. He learned about developing content, optimizing for SEO, creating content that would drive traffic to a website, and different ways to generate revenue. 

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In late 2000 the first version of ChicagoJazz.com was launched with a focus on promoting the musicians and venues that create the Chicago jazz scene. It was very simple—just a couple of pages with a list of venues, a profile for Mike and a couple other musicians, and a small jazz calendar. Because there wasn’t anything else around, the site immediately got traffic and Mike was contacted by corporate event and wedding planners looking for help in connecting with musicians. He realized if he added in some additional content features the site had a potential to grow and connect with even more people.