Form Object
NAHI MINNESOTA
"Minnesota's Premier Professional Organization for Home Inspectors"
Business Development
Home - About Us - Members List - Members Benefits - Join NAHIMN - Find Inspector - Buyers/Sellers - FAQ - Contact Us
Building a Website
Designing a Website Basics (video) - Tony Wright
Creating Your First Website?
Article Editor By Carmen Mardiros
Looking back at my first site, I know (now) that it was hideous. And it didn't make me any income. But it was mine. And it was the beginning of something great.
Seven years later, I now make a living as a full time webmaster. I earn 6 times more than most of the friends I graduated from university with. That first web site changed my life.
I often get emails from people who ask me to help them create a website of their own. Some can afford my services. Many want to do it themselves. I just know that they are headed towards a very long, painful learning curve. I've been there and made it, but I've watched many more fail over and over again.
Why? Because they want to build a site, just like I first did. And they never get that out of their heads. Even seven years ago, it was not about building a Web site. So what is it about?
It Is About Growing A Web Business
Fast-forward to now. These days, it is easier than ever to build a webiste. Literally anyone can put up a site. Honestly, if you can do a search at Google and get your email, you can build a web site.
It is that easy. But after you "put up your site," it is going to be a hard, painful year(s) of failure, almost certainly. So many people keep on trying, failing over and over, even falling for Get Rich Quick schemes.
So what do I tell those people who ask me about putting up a site? First, I "answer" by asking one simple question, "do you want to earn money from you site?". You should see the replies I get. Of course they do!
That opens the door, I hope, to tell them the most important thing I will ever tell them (and you). If you want to earn income online, if you want to build a genuine e-business, then you simply have to realize that you do not want to build a website.
You want to build a Web business. I learned this from the president of a company, SiteSell.com. Yes, I know that's obvious. But what that means is far from obvious. If it was, people wouldn't conduct themselves the way they do online. They would take it as seriously as starting an offline business (which can cost $10,000, $100,000 and more).
It Is So Important To Understand This Part Deeply
A website is just a vehicle to building a profitable e-business. I compare it to building an offline business. You don't build a highly profitable offline business by building a structure such as restaurant or a store, nor by renting the perfect office space.
There is just so much more to building a profitable business, online or off, than building the "container", which is all your website or restaurant structure is. There are several critical elements that all have to go together. Here are just a few:
* market research
* structuring the business correctly
* promoting and marketing
If you use those free sitebuilders that comes with cheap hosting, you will have a site. But you will not have prepared correctly. You won't build traffic effectively. You will not have pre-planned all the ways you can generate income from that traffic. I could go on and on.
And that is "just" the business part.
So what do I think about all those cheap hosts with slick sitebuilders and a grab-bag of useless tools (and all the expensive add-ons that hey want to sell you!)? None of them prepare you to do business, nor do they provide you with the ability to overcome the technical barriers such as HTML, CSS, FTP, CGI, Search Engine mastery.
Basically, unless you are extraordinarily talented, top-of-your-class smart, and unless you are prepared for a long, expensive learning curve, you do not want to "build a site" if your goal is to build a profitable, long-term, e-business.
How To Get Started On Your First Successful E-business
If you have already tried to build a site and failed because it did not become a business, I applaud your determination. Persistence is important, as long as you eventually find the right way to succeed online. If this is your first attempt, I'm happy you're here!
I'm going to boil down my seven years of learning into a small number of points that you simply must understand and do to build an e-business. (I apologize for sounding so insistent, but it's a shame to see most people fail for all the wrong reasons.) Here are the keys to building your first successful e-business:
Point #1) It All Boils Down To Process And Tools
If you use the wrong process, you doom yourself before you even start. I could take pages to explain this, but I'll send you to that company, sitesell.com, for an excellent explanation of Content-Traffic-PREsell-Monetize. (Don't go any deeper into their site. It has so much superb information, but I have more to tell you. So please come back.)
Once you understand the process, your entire approach changes. But you need the right tools to execute the process. These tools help you choose the right niche (and to avoid the wrong ones), to eliminate all the technical barriers that will stop you and allow you to focus on business, to do so much more for you that I can't even being to explain them all.
Now, I use my own tools. They cost thousands of dollars and took me years to master. I lost thousands more on the wrong tools (but that sounded good at the time). If I was starting over today, I would skip that learning curve and just use Site Build It! (the "It!" is the independence that comes from building a successful Web business).
This product has come so far over the years that I've followed it. It covers all the basics and is always on the cutting edge. They continuously add new tools, eliminating your need to follow all the latest trends, avoiding wasting your time on things that don't work.
They integrate every major trend, from blogging to social media marketing, into their product. Their customers benefit, often just by clicking a button to add the new functionality to their businesses.
Here's a list of the tools that they provide. Please review the list and explanations so you get a better idea of what's involved in building a successful Web business. Then come right back, please.
Point #2) Understand How Process And Tools Fit Together
This video shows how every small e-business should be built. It gives you the basics of what I've learned myself over the last 7 years. Instead of years, all it will take you to watch it is 30 minutes!
Point #3) Don't Just Start. Research and Choose The Right Product For You
Do you remember when I asked if the goal was to earn money? The answer was always "yes". Well, that means that those people want to be in business.
And that means you do research to be sure you choose a good home for your business. You look for proof of success. Real success. Not just a host that shows you pretty sites with nice stories, but no traffic. Look for real, documented success that grows.
Anyone (who is willing to work) can build a successful e-business, from a teenager like Nori, a 15-year old who makes enough to support herself through college to Claude a 64 year old "accidental" business man, who is having a blast building several income generating web sites.
Spend some time on that Web page with Nori's and Claude's stories. There are many other inspiring case studies there, too. None of them had ever built a successful Web business before. And notice how they even update their stories, some of them over many years.
That is success. First-time successful e-businesses.
Point #4 Choose An All-In-One Business Builder
You can waste a lot of time trying to keep up with all the Internet Marketing news out there. You can waste a lot of time (and money) on all kinds of tools. Unless you want to be a professional Webmaster like me, you don't need to do any of that.
Instead, choose a business-building product that...
* Delivers process and tools, all tied together to enable you to make step-by-step progress.
* Provides tons of proof of success with data you can verify.
* Helps with both the technical and "human side" of a website. These programs are ideal for beginners. They are also perfect for those with much "Internet marketing" experience but who have yet to succeed online.
* Has a helpful community and staff who act as great guides. They provide suggestions and practical help.
* Has a solid money-back guarantee -- if something happens which by circumstance won't allow you to continue, you get your money back.
There are very few all-in-one e-business creation and marketing programs. Of those few, only one has a 10 year proven track record that I highly recommend. In case you have not guessed yet, it is Site Build It.
Creating a Blog
Open Source Code
LiveJournal is built on open source software. This means that most of the software used to create and maintain LiveJournal is available for anyone to modify and use. There are several blog toolsets that use LiveJournal's source code, including WordPress and DeadJournal.
Creating your own blog is now easy because there are Web-based toolsets that make the management of your blog incredibly simple -- Blogger, Xanga, TypePad, and LiveJournal are just a few of the services available. You can create basic blogs for free, and most of these toolsets have additional features available for a price. There is also software (such as Movable Type) to help you create and self-publish your blog with even more customization.
Creating a simple blog is free and only takes about five minutes. You enter your name, e-mail address and a few other pieces of information. You select "the look" (template) for your blog from a set of standard templates. Click a few buttons and you're done.
Now you can add new entries to your blog. Basically, all you do is type in the entry and push the "post" button to post it. You can edit the entry as much as you like by clicking the "edit" button. When you are happy with the new entry, you push the "publish" button to make your new entry visible on your public blog.
Designing a Website Basics (video) - Tony Wright
Creating Your First Website?
Article Editor By Carmen Mardiros
Looking back at my first site, I know (now) that it was hideous. And it didn't make me any income. But it was mine. And it was the beginning of something great.
Seven years later, I now make a living as a full time webmaster. I earn 6 times more than most of the friends I graduated from university with. That first web site changed my life.
I often get emails from people who ask me to help them create a website of their own. Some can afford my services. Many want to do it themselves. I just know that they are headed towards a very long, painful learning curve. I've been there and made it, but I've watched many more fail over and over again.
Why? Because they want to build a site, just like I first did. And they never get that out of their heads. Even seven years ago, it was not about building a Web site. So what is it about?
It Is About Growing A Web Business
Fast-forward to now. These days, it is easier than ever to build a webiste. Literally anyone can put up a site. Honestly, if you can do a search at Google and get your email, you can build a web site.
It is that easy. But after you "put up your site," it is going to be a hard, painful year(s) of failure, almost certainly. So many people keep on trying, failing over and over, even falling for Get Rich Quick schemes.
So what do I tell those people who ask me about putting up a site? First, I "answer" by asking one simple question, "do you want to earn money from you site?". You should see the replies I get. Of course they do!
That opens the door, I hope, to tell them the most important thing I will ever tell them (and you). If you want to earn income online, if you want to build a genuine e-business, then you simply have to realize that you do not want to build a website.
You want to build a Web business. I learned this from the president of a company, SiteSell.com. Yes, I know that's obvious. But what that means is far from obvious. If it was, people wouldn't conduct themselves the way they do online. They would take it as seriously as starting an offline business (which can cost $10,000, $100,000 and more).
It Is So Important To Understand This Part Deeply
A website is just a vehicle to building a profitable e-business. I compare it to building an offline business. You don't build a highly profitable offline business by building a structure such as restaurant or a store, nor by renting the perfect office space.
There is just so much more to building a profitable business, online or off, than building the "container", which is all your website or restaurant structure is. There are several critical elements that all have to go together. Here are just a few:
* market research
* structuring the business correctly
* promoting and marketing
If you use those free sitebuilders that comes with cheap hosting, you will have a site. But you will not have prepared correctly. You won't build traffic effectively. You will not have pre-planned all the ways you can generate income from that traffic. I could go on and on.
And that is "just" the business part.
So what do I think about all those cheap hosts with slick sitebuilders and a grab-bag of useless tools (and all the expensive add-ons that hey want to sell you!)? None of them prepare you to do business, nor do they provide you with the ability to overcome the technical barriers such as HTML, CSS, FTP, CGI, Search Engine mastery.
Basically, unless you are extraordinarily talented, top-of-your-class smart, and unless you are prepared for a long, expensive learning curve, you do not want to "build a site" if your goal is to build a profitable, long-term, e-business.
How To Get Started On Your First Successful E-business
If you have already tried to build a site and failed because it did not become a business, I applaud your determination. Persistence is important, as long as you eventually find the right way to succeed online. If this is your first attempt, I'm happy you're here!
I'm going to boil down my seven years of learning into a small number of points that you simply must understand and do to build an e-business. (I apologize for sounding so insistent, but it's a shame to see most people fail for all the wrong reasons.) Here are the keys to building your first successful e-business:
Point #1) It All Boils Down To Process And Tools
If you use the wrong process, you doom yourself before you even start. I could take pages to explain this, but I'll send you to that company, sitesell.com, for an excellent explanation of Content-Traffic-PREsell-Monetize. (Don't go any deeper into their site. It has so much superb information, but I have more to tell you. So please come back.)
Once you understand the process, your entire approach changes. But you need the right tools to execute the process. These tools help you choose the right niche (and to avoid the wrong ones), to eliminate all the technical barriers that will stop you and allow you to focus on business, to do so much more for you that I can't even being to explain them all.
Now, I use my own tools. They cost thousands of dollars and took me years to master. I lost thousands more on the wrong tools (but that sounded good at the time). If I was starting over today, I would skip that learning curve and just use Site Build It! (the "It!" is the independence that comes from building a successful Web business).
This product has come so far over the years that I've followed it. It covers all the basics and is always on the cutting edge. They continuously add new tools, eliminating your need to follow all the latest trends, avoiding wasting your time on things that don't work.
They integrate every major trend, from blogging to social media marketing, into their product. Their customers benefit, often just by clicking a button to add the new functionality to their businesses.
Here's a list of the tools that they provide. Please review the list and explanations so you get a better idea of what's involved in building a successful Web business. Then come right back, please.
Point #2) Understand How Process And Tools Fit Together
This video shows how every small e-business should be built. It gives you the basics of what I've learned myself over the last 7 years. Instead of years, all it will take you to watch it is 30 minutes!
Point #3) Don't Just Start. Research and Choose The Right Product For You
Do you remember when I asked if the goal was to earn money? The answer was always "yes". Well, that means that those people want to be in business.
And that means you do research to be sure you choose a good home for your business. You look for proof of success. Real success. Not just a host that shows you pretty sites with nice stories, but no traffic. Look for real, documented success that grows.
Anyone (who is willing to work) can build a successful e-business, from a teenager like Nori, a 15-year old who makes enough to support herself through college to Claude a 64 year old "accidental" business man, who is having a blast building several income generating web sites.
Spend some time on that Web page with Nori's and Claude's stories. There are many other inspiring case studies there, too. None of them had ever built a successful Web business before. And notice how they even update their stories, some of them over many years.
That is success. First-time successful e-businesses.
Point #4 Choose An All-In-One Business Builder
You can waste a lot of time trying to keep up with all the Internet Marketing news out there. You can waste a lot of time (and money) on all kinds of tools. Unless you want to be a professional Webmaster like me, you don't need to do any of that.
Instead, choose a business-building product that...
* Delivers process and tools, all tied together to enable you to make step-by-step progress.
* Provides tons of proof of success with data you can verify.
* Helps with both the technical and "human side" of a website. These programs are ideal for beginners. They are also perfect for those with much "Internet marketing" experience but who have yet to succeed online.
* Has a helpful community and staff who act as great guides. They provide suggestions and practical help.
* Has a solid money-back guarantee -- if something happens which by circumstance won't allow you to continue, you get your money back.
There are very few all-in-one e-business creation and marketing programs. Of those few, only one has a 10 year proven track record that I highly recommend. In case you have not guessed yet, it is Site Build It.
Creating a Blog
Open Source Code
LiveJournal is built on open source software. This means that most of the software used to create and maintain LiveJournal is available for anyone to modify and use. There are several blog toolsets that use LiveJournal's source code, including WordPress and DeadJournal.
Creating your own blog is now easy because there are Web-based toolsets that make the management of your blog incredibly simple -- Blogger, Xanga, TypePad, and LiveJournal are just a few of the services available. You can create basic blogs for free, and most of these toolsets have additional features available for a price. There is also software (such as Movable Type) to help you create and self-publish your blog with even more customization.
Creating a simple blog is free and only takes about five minutes. You enter your name, e-mail address and a few other pieces of information. You select "the look" (template) for your blog from a set of standard templates. Click a few buttons and you're done.
Now you can add new entries to your blog. Basically, all you do is type in the entry and push the "post" button to post it. You can edit the entry as much as you like by clicking the "edit" button. When you are happy with the new entry, you push the "publish" button to make your new entry visible on your public blog.
Home | About Us | City Links | Find Inspector | FAQ | Join | Members List | Code of Ethics | SOP | Highlights | Expo
Buyers/Sellers/Realtors | Members Benefits | Resource Center | Test House | Inspection News Forum | Contact Us | Site Map
Buyers/Sellers/Realtors | Members Benefits | Resource Center | Test House | Inspection News Forum | Contact Us | Site Map
Here is some basic information from people in the web design and web promotion business.
Business Checklist:
Business Plan - What are your strong points?, What is your market niche?, What makes your company different from the others?, How will I market my company?, etc.
Business Logo - Essential for quick recognition fo your business.
Business Cards - Cards should be simple, easy to read, and informative
Website - If you are going to have a business, you have to have web presence. No other form of exposure for your business will return the kind of results that the internet will. For the price, it gives your unmatched exposure. Having a website is one thing, but having your website actually be found and viewed by potential clients is another. Website sites must be optimized and promoted in order for them to be found on the internet. If you are not on the first 2 pages, you may as well not even have a website. Stats show there is an 80% drop off after the 2nd page of Google. There are many "website building" websites on the Internet and many of them free. Some better than others. Do some homework to see which fits you better. You can design one yourself using programs like CoffeeCup software. It is inexpensive, easy, and more importantly you own your website, you are in control of the design, and you can make as many changes, free of charge, as you like, at any time.
SEO and Website Promotion - This is extremely important. Again...This is extremely important. SEO
stands for "search engine optimization". This can be done totally by you for in part by you and a compnay that specializes in this. I recommend the latter. The Internet is changing all of the time and it is difficult to stay on top of the latest and greatest methods that are now in play to promote your website. It can be a full time job. Regardless of which method you use to do your SEO, you should spend at least a few hours per week promoting you website, We do have special pricing form a SEO company for our members. Contact Dave Taurinskas for more information.
Business Plan - What are your strong points?, What is your market niche?, What makes your company different from the others?, How will I market my company?, etc.
Business Logo - Essential for quick recognition fo your business.
Business Cards - Cards should be simple, easy to read, and informative
Website - If you are going to have a business, you have to have web presence. No other form of exposure for your business will return the kind of results that the internet will. For the price, it gives your unmatched exposure. Having a website is one thing, but having your website actually be found and viewed by potential clients is another. Website sites must be optimized and promoted in order for them to be found on the internet. If you are not on the first 2 pages, you may as well not even have a website. Stats show there is an 80% drop off after the 2nd page of Google. There are many "website building" websites on the Internet and many of them free. Some better than others. Do some homework to see which fits you better. You can design one yourself using programs like CoffeeCup software. It is inexpensive, easy, and more importantly you own your website, you are in control of the design, and you can make as many changes, free of charge, as you like, at any time.
SEO and Website Promotion - This is extremely important. Again...This is extremely important. SEO
stands for "search engine optimization". This can be done totally by you for in part by you and a compnay that specializes in this. I recommend the latter. The Internet is changing all of the time and it is difficult to stay on top of the latest and greatest methods that are now in play to promote your website. It can be a full time job. Regardless of which method you use to do your SEO, you should spend at least a few hours per week promoting you website, We do have special pricing form a SEO company for our members. Contact Dave Taurinskas for more information.