When you start a small home based business there will be dozens of other businesses trying to get you to spend money. They'll push the need for a whole range of products and services. That's OK. They just want to make money just as you want to make money. The trick is to prioritise your spending. Many things promoted to your will simply not make you money, or cost far more than you get in return.
One thing people will tell you that you need is a web presence. There will be people that tell you you need to spend hundreds and others who say you need to spend thousands. The bottom line however is if no one visits your site it will make you no money. Walk before you run.
In my opinion there are many things you can do cost effectively when you start and then when you're making money, reinvest.
Yesterday I decided to put together a website to demonstrate a very low cost approach to having a web presence that can cost you the equivalent of a couple of cups of coffee. Less than the cost of a single networking meeting for a year's presence on the internet.
My reason for sharing this information is that many people starting a business need a presence on the internet and need to promote their presence. JustLocal provides advertising to help people find your site and offers a full money-back guarantee. You either receive value from the knowledge I share or business you receive from being promoted on JustLocal. If you don't receive value from the knowledge or receive business, I'm happy to refund your advertising cost.
So here's a tip on how to have a very low cost and yet quite professional internet presence that works both on desktop and mobile devices.
First you need to register a domain, but don't just register with any domain company. By registering with the appropriate domain company you get to use a domain in both your site and email address that you can add to your business cards and look more professional than those using.@gmail, @hotmail, or @my-ISP. You simply use forwarding to point to your website and existing email address, but the rest of the world sees your website and email address as a business website and email address.
The service I used to create an example site is a service called Wix. To begin you can sign up for free. The compromise is they have some advertising on your site to promote themselves. That's tolerable as once you make money you can remove the ads by upgrading and paying under $200 a year. However make money first and then start spending it. That way you'll be around for the long haul.
The example site I just built is for my preferred Australian English spelling work. I already had the domain english-dictionary.com.au so decided to put it to better use.
If you visit www.English-Dictionary.com.au you'll see the site and I think you'll agree, it isn't too bad for a few hours of typing and modifying the template based site to sell my dictionary products. If you visit the site using a mobile device you'll see the mobile version. A site that works on both desktop and mobile devices is called a responsive site. Wix enables you to create a responsive site.
The Wix site I created is http://sales850.wix.com/australian-english, but rather than use the Wix address, I pointed my domain www.English-Dictionary.com.au to the Wix site and that is the site I'd give to others. The site www.English-Dictionary.com.au is the site I'd publish on business cards and in advertising.
The beauty of this approach is as you grow and generate income and your domain doesn't have to change. You can simply change the technology you use for your site and point your domain appropriately. Your business cards and advertising don't have to change. You also use a similar forwarding approach for your email as you do with your site so your email address also doesn't have to change.
The Wix site is free until you decide to upgrade. If you never upgrade there is no cost. The domain will set you back around $15 per year for a .com.au domain and $10 for a .com domain. There's quite a choice of domains you can use, but it is a good idea to stick to a .com.au or .com domain if you can.
Now keep in mind this is a compromise to begin with. In business we'd often love to have more but often need to compromise. Once you make money reinvest. This approach will enable you to first determine if you can make money, whilst giving you a more than professional low cost presence on the internet.
For more details join JustLocal and get your business started on the internet.
Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au
Helping businesses to be found by their neighbours.
One thing people will tell you that you need is a web presence. There will be people that tell you you need to spend hundreds and others who say you need to spend thousands. The bottom line however is if no one visits your site it will make you no money. Walk before you run.
In my opinion there are many things you can do cost effectively when you start and then when you're making money, reinvest.
Yesterday I decided to put together a website to demonstrate a very low cost approach to having a web presence that can cost you the equivalent of a couple of cups of coffee. Less than the cost of a single networking meeting for a year's presence on the internet.
My reason for sharing this information is that many people starting a business need a presence on the internet and need to promote their presence. JustLocal provides advertising to help people find your site and offers a full money-back guarantee. You either receive value from the knowledge I share or business you receive from being promoted on JustLocal. If you don't receive value from the knowledge or receive business, I'm happy to refund your advertising cost.
So here's a tip on how to have a very low cost and yet quite professional internet presence that works both on desktop and mobile devices.
First you need to register a domain, but don't just register with any domain company. By registering with the appropriate domain company you get to use a domain in both your site and email address that you can add to your business cards and look more professional than those using.@gmail, @hotmail, or @my-ISP. You simply use forwarding to point to your website and existing email address, but the rest of the world sees your website and email address as a business website and email address.
The service I used to create an example site is a service called Wix. To begin you can sign up for free. The compromise is they have some advertising on your site to promote themselves. That's tolerable as once you make money you can remove the ads by upgrading and paying under $200 a year. However make money first and then start spending it. That way you'll be around for the long haul.
The example site I just built is for my preferred Australian English spelling work. I already had the domain english-dictionary.com.au so decided to put it to better use.
If you visit www.English-Dictionary.com.au you'll see the site and I think you'll agree, it isn't too bad for a few hours of typing and modifying the template based site to sell my dictionary products. If you visit the site using a mobile device you'll see the mobile version. A site that works on both desktop and mobile devices is called a responsive site. Wix enables you to create a responsive site.
The Wix site I created is http://sales850.wix.com/australian-english, but rather than use the Wix address, I pointed my domain www.English-Dictionary.com.au to the Wix site and that is the site I'd give to others. The site www.English-Dictionary.com.au is the site I'd publish on business cards and in advertising.
The beauty of this approach is as you grow and generate income and your domain doesn't have to change. You can simply change the technology you use for your site and point your domain appropriately. Your business cards and advertising don't have to change. You also use a similar forwarding approach for your email as you do with your site so your email address also doesn't have to change.
The Wix site is free until you decide to upgrade. If you never upgrade there is no cost. The domain will set you back around $15 per year for a .com.au domain and $10 for a .com domain. There's quite a choice of domains you can use, but it is a good idea to stick to a .com.au or .com domain if you can.
Now keep in mind this is a compromise to begin with. In business we'd often love to have more but often need to compromise. Once you make money reinvest. This approach will enable you to first determine if you can make money, whilst giving you a more than professional low cost presence on the internet.
For more details join JustLocal and get your business started on the internet.
Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au
Helping businesses to be found by their neighbours.
I decided to check the current prices for those who wish to connect a domain to their Wix site. From what I can see the advantages of this are people no longer see the Wix website address and Google will only know about the domain address.
ReplyDeleteI also prefer to pay monthly and not commit to yearly plans so the following are monthly prices. I see so many people sign up to yearly plans (not just on the internet, but also things like gym memberships) and shortly after change their mind. Yes there is a saving but if you change your mind the loss is much greater.
There are number options depending on what you need.
1. $5.95 per month gives you the ability to connect your domain. You still get Wix ads on your site. This may be a good first step.
2. $10.95 per month removes the ads and gives you a little more traffic and storage. At this level site unless you start getting a good amount of traffic you may find this sufficient.
3. $15.95 more space and traffic. The main feature not enabled is the shopping cart.
4. $19.95 again more space but traffic no longer unlimited. This time you get the shopping cart feature.
With the shopping cart feature if you only have a few items to sell you can set up a page with PayPal Buy Now buttons. That's what I've done in the site I created. I have five products for sale.