A year ago I did not know the next thing about blogging or how to make money with a blog. Like everybody reading this article, I surf the net and used email, but I literally knew nothing about the online world of blogging and affiliate marketing.

Like you, my time is limited. I have a family, and a full-time job. So I have very little time each day to devote to blogging. But it can be done. And the first step in the process is learning how to pick a domain name, sign up for web hosting, and set up your blog. All of this can be done in less than 20 minutes once you get the hang of it.

If this is new to you, trust me, it’s much easier than it may seem. So let’s get started.

Picking a domain name

The name of your site is one of the most important decisions you’ll make when setting up a blog or website. And generally, you want to consider two important factors.

The first factor is branding. You want the name to be memorable. If you are promoting an off line business, for example, a domain name that matches the name of your company is obviously critical. But even if your business is entirely online, a memorable domain name can help you build reader loyalty and trust.

The second factor to consider is keywords. Keywords are the word phrases we all type into Google, Yahoo! or other search engines to find information on the Internet. When selecting a domain name, consider what keywords are relevant to your site and include theme in the domain name. There are at least two separate SEO benefits for having a keyword rich domain name.

First, the URL of a page is one factor Google’s search engine algorithm considers when ranking pages. If your site is about mortgage loans, having those keywords in your domain name will help your site rank well for those and related keywords. Second, you will find that most sites that link to your homepage will use your site’s name as the anchor text of the link. Having links to your site that use keyword rich anchor text can mean a huge boost in the search engine rankings for your site.

Web Hosting

Having selected your domain name, you now need to get your new site hosted. There are many, many web hosting services available. And if you ask two bloggers which one is the best, you are likely to get at least three different answers. No matter what web hosting service you consider, there will be those who absolutely hate the web host, and those that love it.

Regardless of which web hosting service you choose, getting your new domain hosted is the second step. Most services can easily walk you through the process, and you can always phone technical support team.

Setting up WordPress

I use WordPress for all of my sites for several reasons. First, it’s free. Second, it is widely used and many developers have made free themes and plugins to use with WordPress. Three, search engines, particularly Google, seem to rank WordPress blogs well in the search engine rankings. And fourth, it’s easy to use.

With most web hosting services, you can install WordPress with just a couple of clicks. Once installed, there are some critical WordPress plugins that need to be installed.

The first plugin is called Google XML Sitemaps. Sitemaps tell search engines like Google and Yahoo! what pages are available on your site for crawling. They give search engines a road map to your most important content. With the Google XML Sitemap plug-in, generating a XML-compliant sitemap is a snap.

The second critical plug-in is called HeadSpace2 SEO. The functionality of HeadSpace2 could fill 10 articles. For example, you can set a single page or post to use a Word Press theme other than the one you’ve selected for your site. You can set global Meta keywords that get inserted into all of your site’s pages. You can insert your Google Analytics ID into HeadSpace2 to track your site’s traffic. I highly recommend this plug-in if you have the time to understand how to use it. If you do, you should read the HeadSpace2 plug-in page.

Related Posts is the third plug-in, which automatically inserts related posts at the end of each post. This gives your readers some additional articles related to the topic if they want to keep reading. But the plug-in also has a big SEO benefit. Internal links, that is links from one part of your site to another, are absolutely critical for SEO purposes. I’ll even go so far as to say that they are more important than back links. And the related posts plug-in ads relevant internal links to all of your posts.

And that’s it. As I said at the start, you can get to a point where you can have a new site up and running in less than twenty minutes. Good luck!

I recommend Gobala’s Wordpress AdSense System

Starting an online business is not always as easy as it may sound. But, running an online business has many benefits over its offline counterpart. Firstly, and the most appealing, is you’ll most likely be working from home from your own computer, and working the hours that suit you. And secondly, you have the potential to make a lot more money than you would if you were working for someone else.

Before embarking on an online entrepreneurial quest for the perfect home-based business, it’s advisable to look at the array of online business opportunities available, and decide which would be the most suitable for you. While it’s quite conceivable, that the most profitable and legitimate type of online businesses can be operated successfully by one person, most involve a collaboration of skills and input.

For the individual, making money online is a very real prospect, but there are some important factors that should be considered before taking that first vital step.

Should you sell a service?

Unless you have a well-developed skill such as, web design, graphics design, writing or some other creative or artistic flair, you’ll have to concentrate on finding or creating a product.

In selling your services, you must first determine whether a paying market actually exists for your services. Initially, you’ll need to do some research and look at similar services being offered. A good indicator is usually when there are numerous similar services available. This would suggest a buoyant market, but it’s not always the case. A friendly yet inquisitive email sent to a few established service providers in the business you’re considering, should give you an insight.

Take a good look at the existing competition. Look at the quality of their work. Could you do it better? What prices are they charging? Could you do it cheaper? If you can effectively do either of these you’re on your way to building online wealth.

Should you sell a product?

More people than ever buy products online, but the main thing to consider is whether you want to sell a tangible product or a virtual product.

As with selling a service, you must first determine whether a market exists for your product. Look at similar products then decide whether there’s room for another player. All products will have to be sold through a website, from which an order can be taken and a payment can be processed. If you have the knowledge and necessary skills, you can easily build the website yourself. Otherwise you will have to pay a professional.

A tangible product is something that can be held in the hand, therefore it will also need to be packed and shipped. Processing orders is very time consuming, but more importantly you may have to keep inventory, which can be very expensive plus you’ll need to find storage space.

An alternative is to sell virtual products. These include downloadable e-books, videos and information products. You’ll still need a website with ordering and credit card processing facilities, but you will not need to keep any inventory and it won’t take up any space (except on your computer’s hard drive) Many successful Internet marketers use this method to maximum effect.

Selling someone else’s product

Some of the best online business opportunities are very simple to set up and run. The first of these is affiliate marketing. You simply find some existing products that are being successfully sold on the Internet, and sign up for their affiliate program. Basically, this is straight-forward process. You complete an online application form and you’re given a reference number, which you can embed into your marketing links. The host company will also track your sales and pay you commissions. All you have to do is sell their products.

Some people go overboard on affiliate programs, trying to sell anything and everything they can sign up for. It’s advisable to concentrate on a few related items such as e-books on a similar subject - when that enterprise begins to make money online, start all over again with a set of different products. With careful consideration and clever marketing, affiliate programs can be the perfect way of making money online.

Buying a business or franchise

If you’d prefer to buy a readymade business, there are many to choose from. Some established and profitable Internet businesses will gladly sell you a franchise. This will most likely be a clone of their existing business, but beware! Owning a franchise business on the Internet will prove useless unless you have territorial rights. The problem with online franchises is your limitations on what you can sell. You must sign an agreement with the franchisor, that you, the franchisee will only sell their range of products.

Online investment opportunities

Not strictly a business opportunity, but investing in real estate or stocks and shares has become big business in itself. The Internet has opened up all kinds of opportunities for investors, and it’s so easy to go online and find stock brokers willing to advise you where to put your hard-earned cash for the maximum return. The big consideration with investing is to remember that prices can fall just as quickly as they rise.

Finding the right market

Whatever service or product you decide to offer your online customers, you must first establish whether there’s a need for it. If there is, you’ll have to work on an effective strategy of getting your product in front of your prospect ahead of the competition.

It’s been proven time and again that small is big. The small or niche market has been responsible for many people making a nice profit from the Internet. It’s as well to remember, that a niche market on the internet could number well over a million potential customers. Just 5% of a market this size, each buying a product with a $10 profit margin, would return $500,000 in profits.

A few examples of niche markets might be: Holidays for singles over 40, sports and fashion wear for children 6-24 months or easy car maintenance for lady drivers.

Online Auctions

The phenomenal success of online auctions, eBay in particular, is unprecedented. Not only are the online auction companies making large profits, they give everyone an opportunity to sell something to anyone anywhere in the world. From fashion accessories to collectibles and sports equipment to memorabilia, there appears to be a market, although limited, for everything.

The key to success here is to buy wholesale and sell volume. When you’ve got to the point of making good money from online auctions, simply write a book and tell everyone else how you did it. To get started in online auctions, go to eBay, click on wholesale, buy some stock and resell individually back on eBay.

Paid Surveys

Some people might not consider clicking boxes alongside questions a valid business opportunity. But if you consider it work, and the survey companies are willing to pay you, then it must be a form of business to be considered. It’s something almost anyone can do, doesn’t require any specialist knowledge or skill and can be done from anywhere.

The downside is, it’s tedious and won’t make you a fortune. However, it’s the ideal part-time opportunity for people with a few hours to spare or to run alongside a new venture during the ‘quiet’ periods.

Enthusiasm, Commitment and Self-Discipline

Looking at the various online business opportunities and how you should evaluate them is only part of the equation for online wealth building. Working for yourself in your home-based business will require real enthusiasm, commitment and copious amounts of self-discipline. Whichever route or opportunity you consider, all will require a degree of ‘do-ability’.

Be prepared to spend long days and nights at your computer, especially in the early months, building your business and getting your products in front of likely prospects. You’ll only get out what you put in.

Accounting the costs

If you establish an online business and you’re making a full-time income, don’t forget to inform the authorities.

You’ll need to keep records of all your business transactions for accounting purposes and you’ll need to set aside a percentage of your profits to cover taxes. Microsoft’s Excel program is perfect for keeping records of this nature, but don’t forget to keep a back-up of your files, just in case. The message here is to play it straight and keep it legal.

Of all the things you should consider, when planning to start an online business, the most important is undoubtedly marketing. Marketing strategies can make or break a business.

Newbie, short cut all the unnecessary struggles. I recommend Atomic Blogging

Email marketing - as its name says is marketing using email (not so fancy huh?).

The basic mechanics behind it is that you collect the emails from your website visitors and email them your offer or anything related to your niche.

For example, if you are blogging or have a website about “breeding arowana fish”, you put a subscription box where your website visitors can leave their name and email in exchange for some kind of information that you offer. This information could be in the form of an e-course about arowana, an e-book or just simply a kind of permission for you to send out more information on the website whenever you update it.

People who are interested about arowana will definitely like to be updated about anything related to this fish and they will allow you to send more emails to them. Of course, you want to also include a note saying that by filling up the webform that you put on your website, they allow you to send more emails in the future.

Then, when you get their names and emails, it becomes your goldmine.

You can send out the product that you promised immediately (e-course or e-book) or update them with current activities you have on your website. From here, you can also send out advertisements on the products related to arowana, and since these groups of people are really arowana lovers, there is a high chance that they’ll buy the products that you recommend (or advertise).

If you are the product owner or an affiliate for the products that you recommend to this mailing list, you will generate an income from sending out your emails. This is because, in the eyes of the people in your mailing list, you are an expert in arowana or at least a person that they can trust enough to buy your product recommendation.

So, that is basically how it works.

And the next question will be how to create a webform to collect names and emails of your website visitors? I’ll make it easy for you.

Subscribe to GetResponse or AWeber auto responder service and they’ll be able to provide a service where you can build a database of subscribers of customers for you. These services are not free and they charge you on a monthly basis but if you can quickly build a mailing list that churns out money for you, your income will cover the cost of your auto responder services already.

As for how to build a webform to be added inside your website, you can log in to GetResponse or AWeber members area and follow a few easy instructions on how to set it up.

But bear in mind that I highly encourage you to start using a paid auto responder service right away because if you are in the business that involves email marketing, you want to start using the “right tool” right on the spot. Yes, it will be an added cost to your business but it will be worth investing for your future.

Have fun!

Search the net and find whatever tips you need at TheWiseTips.com

Acknowledgment: This article was published in IMC’s Internet Marketing Chronicles in 1998. While the original web site is no longer available, the advice is still 100% spot on!

After 10 years, it’s sad that people are still making these simple mistakes. What are the 10 Top Internet Marketing Blunders?

Blunder #1: Using free or cheapo web hosting services.

Let’s get one thing straight, you absolutely can not run a business web site using a free web hosting service. No matter what you may think, it just isn’t going to work. As they say you get what you pay for.

There is no bigger turnoff than visiting a web site that is hosted on an obviously overloaded web server. We won’t mention any names, but a few of the free services are just terrible. Your web site is the most important asset you have, and it must give a good first impression.

Besides, nothing is really free anyway. When you get “free” web space you are normally required to show the hosting company’s banners and advertisements in prime locations on your web site. This is absolutely insane if you really think about it from a business standpoint.

These days you can find a good web hosting company that will provide what you need for as little as $7 a month. Let’s be real, if you aren’t willing to spend $7 a month on a good web host how serious can you be? Many good prospects are immediately turned off by this blunder.

And while we’re on the subject of web hosting, be sure to get your own domain name. Again, if you aren’t willing to spend $10 to claim your stake on the web…what are your potential customers going to think? Take your business seriously, or you will ultimately fail.

Blunder #2: Destroying your site with graphics, java, music, etc.

This has got to be the 2nd most offensive Internet marketing blunder. If you are running a business online, your web site’s most important job is to sell your products and services. Anything that detracts from this should be avoided like the plague. And we mean it, literally!

Unless you are a graphic designer, graphics that take forever to load are not going to sell anything. And neither is java that crashes your visitor’s browser. Same thing for any but the most popular plug-ins. Sound or music clips on your web site? Heck no!

Unless you are selling CDs, sound does not belong on a web site - not yet anyway. Sure you can argue this, but the bottom line is that it can cause your visitors problems. Fancy graphics, java, flash, sound files, etc. do nothing but make your pages take forever to load.

Don’t take it from us, just look at any of the top 100 sites on the web. Heck, look at Google which is undeniably the most popular web site on the Internet. When was the last time you saw anything coming from there that would slow you down?

Blunder #3: Not asking for, and acting on, visitor feedback.

This is another big one, and we can personally attest to the value of asking for and acting on feedback. One thing that many people seem to forget is that it’s the prospect who has to like what they see - and not much else matters. Here’s a real-world example.

A while ago we launched a web site, and initially used a special layout. We were aware of the potential problems, and spent lots of time tweaking it to be as browser-friendly as possible. But after asking for feedback we discovered that many visitors hated it.

And the scary thing is that unless we asked for feedback we probably never would have realized this. Everything looked and worked well for us, but a significant number of our visitors had problems with it. We redesigned the entire site and immediately our sales increased.

You will be literally amazed at the valuable feedback you will receive if you just ask for it. Remember that your prospects are the ones buying your products and services, and despite what you may think, the way they perceive your site and your business is what counts.

Search the net and find whatever tips you need at TheWiseTips.com

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