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"Tips and tools for making web sites the easy way,"
by John E. Davin

From our series of 8 business and computing "How to books."

"Professional web sites don't have to take weeks to build or cost an arm and a leg. More over, by being educated about websites and then helping with the planning and development, of your web site, you will have a better, more effective web site!"
by John Davin

 It's all about what you can start doing immediately - today - right now - to get your web site up and running faster, with less headache, with more bells and whistles, with better graphics and more money making tools than you ever imagined. While you save money on web design software, templates, graphics, logos and more.

See you in the seminar!

 		 

Sign up for my newsletter and I'll send you a list of the upcoming seminars on how to build a web site and how I use the Internet as my newoffice, even from the swimming pool!

Just fill out the form or send me an e-mail at jddavin@mynewoffice.com and enter "free web site news". I'll get more website building tips out to you right away.

Table of contents:

Where to start when you do decide you need a web site.

So, you are ready to build your dream web site. Yes, it is an exciting time for you, and it should be.

You are setting out on one of the most important tasks you will ever undertake in your business. I say this for many reasons.

First of all, your web site may be the first (and possibly the last) impression you will make on people who are interested in what you do or sell.

In addition, the experience they have at your web site in communicating with you or buying from you will determine if they return to your business again or not. In addition, your customer will either pass on the good news about your company to others, if they have an enjoyable experience.

YOUR MAIN GOALS:

Make it easy for people to get the information they need from you and and make it easy to buy from you!

How do you make sure you make it easy for people to find you, get information from you and and then buy from you? Well, as in any business task, it is always best to research a topic, and to explore all of your options before you jump right in. This is especially true when you plan the layout, graphics, functionality and marketing tools for your web site.

So, before you start building your new web site, you need a game plan and an mockup or outline for the web site. You'll save time, probably money too, and you'll end up with the best web site possible. A site that is easy for users to navigate and provides a compelling reason to buy from you, and provides an easy way for them to give you their money.

Where do you start? You have two goals to start. First, decide what you want to do with the website. Then you decide if you can do it yourself or if you need to hire someone to help you with parts of the web site or if they will do all of the tasks required for you.

All of these options are good choices, depending on you skills, time availability and cost, among other issues we will address below.

In any case...


Start with a mock up of your dream web site on paper.

Here is a simple trick to simplify the process of making your new dream web site and save money.

Start by taking 5-10 legal size pieces of paper, label each page as page 1-15, then go back and label each page, as Home, About us, Our products, Ordering Information, and such, until you have all the pages named and laid out in the order you want them.

Of course you can use more than 10 pages if necessary, but keep it simple. To keep it simple, you can even cut pictures out of your existing brochures or newspapers or magazines and paste them on each respective page to get an idea of how the site will look.

More importantly, you will know how it will work for you and the customer.

You should do this now before you even start reading this book, so you will see how much your expectations for your new web site change while you read the book. It will also save you time and money, no matter if you decide to build the web site yourself or if you hire a webmaster to build it for you.



Next, take the time to evaluate the web sits of the competition.

To get additional ideas for what belongs on your web site, you certainly should go out on the Internet and look at web sites that are similar to yours before you start.

You'll see what others have done, learn from them and improve on their ideas. Take the best ideas and leave the rest.

Here is one of the best ideas I have for you for building your web site..


Time saving Templates:

I also want to recommend that you review your options for using templates and other time and money saving tools for your website. Web site templates are simply web sites that a web master creates with the intention of selling to you so that you don't need to do all the work involved with making a layout for your web site or making the graphics for your web site.

Here are a few examples templates I used to build web sites. In fact, here is one I used (free) to build a website for my parents' real estate office.

http://www.dickdavinrealestate.com

It worked quite well for them and saved me many hours (time is money!) developing the site.

More examples.

http://www.dailynetworking.com
http://www.midstatesconsulting.com

You may find that building your web site is EASIER than you anticipated or you may be able to save money by providing a template for your web master.

Or you may encourage your web site builder to use an online web site builder with 30 plug and play modules that will save time and money.

Here is just one example of a site where you can find hundreds of website templates for just about any business.

Templates for small business websites for under $20


http://www.talking-templates.com is a another great place to start looking for layouts for your new website. First of all, you will see a variety of templates for each industry, from sports sites to real estate sites. You will also be impressed with the quality of the templates, and how easy it could be to build your own traffic generating, sales pulling web site from these templates.

Now, some people are worried about more than one person or company using the same template, and that can be a valid concern if you are in certain industries. The best solution to this is to check to see if the website template author offers the option to sell the template as a one time sale template.

This means he/she will not sell it to anyone else. Ever. But you pay a premium for this, sometimes 10 times as much as for a website that they will sell over and over. For example, a website template that is sold more than once may cost $40.00. A template that they will sell only one time may cost $400.00. Still, that is a huge bargain in development time and cost for you. Something to consider.

Even if you do have a webmaster do your website, ask them if they will consider using a template of you have found one you like. Chances are they will be happy to do so.

TIP: We'll be covering many more money and time saving business solutions, and will be listing links to those services throughout the book and at the end of the book.


Time saving Web Site Builders:

Do it yourself - Small business websites for Under $20!

* Save time building your site.
* Save money building your site.
* Make changes as often as you like.
* Control the content of your own web site.
* Utilize the free templates and images provided.

Bottom line is, if you want to build your web site yourself with a powerful web site builder, and pay only $19.95 per month, this is as good a program as I have found.

Why? Because these tools are built right in.

Links Page

You can add links to pages both inside and outside your site with just a few clicks. Add headings to separate groups of links Use this page to create subpages Can optionally add images for each link

Photo Albums
Showcase your photos in our pre formatted albums. Your photos are shown in thumbnail form and when clicked on show the photo in full size with optional title and description. Thumbnails are created automatically for you Change the order of your photos anytime

Multimedia

You can upload music, video, flash and other files to your site with just a few clicks. Upload any file format Have video or flash play right on your page Create a page of links to download songs or video Good for upload of ebooks, pdf forms and manuals Store songs here so you can play background music on other pages

Custom Feedback Form

Collecting visitor feedback can help you enhance your site, products and services. You can also collect testimonials privately or generate ideas for your company, club or organization. Field types: text boxes for written out answers multiple choice drop-down menus checkmark boxes Submissions can be emailed to you automatically when received A personalized email can be automatically sent when a submission is received Submissions are stored on your site for easy access

Contacts Page

You can list important people with their name, position/department, email and any other info you think is important. Use this page to direct people to the correct person or department Contacts are automatically formatted for you

Guest Book

You can collect comments about your site with this page.

Recommend Site

Your visitors can refer others to your site by filling out a form that sends out an email. When you add this page, the form is automatically set up..

Message Board

Message boards are great for discussing different topics, gathering info and fostering a sense of community among your members. Login available for your regular members Members have their own profiles and autosignature Give Moderator status to a member to help you manage the page Add, edit and delete posts or message threads Lock messages to prevent further posts on the topic

Mailing List/Newsletter

You can post several newsletters and then have them batch emailed to your subscribers. Manage your subscribers right on your site Your subscriber emails can be exported as a list Newsletters are displayed by date

Questions and Answers Page

Often you can answer your visitors' questions with an FAQ page on your site. Use this page to organize them. Questions appear at the top and link to answers below You can separate questions with headings

Redirect Page

You can link your site to pages outside your site right from your index. This is helpful when you wish to link your company's parent site or a related site.

Autoresponder Page

You can use this page to send out instruction guides and other material immediately after collecting an email. Emails are stored on your site so you can send promotional material to your visitors later.

Calendar

A calendar can be a helpful way to outline upcoming events. When an event is clicked on, more detailed info is shown about the event. Advertise in-store or company events For reservations, show booked off days Display your club or organization's events and meetings

Articles Page

You can post several articles that will be automatically formatted on the page. Publish a series of articles or journal entries Use this page to post announcements

Coupons

To help draw customers to your physical store, you can create coupons that your visitors can print out and bring to your store. Add your own images and text to each coupon You can have several coupons on this page

Map

After you enter your address, a link to a map is automatically generated. You can then opt to post the map right on your page.

Quotes Page

You can display testimonials from your customers or showcase famous quotes or poems on your page.

Polling Booth

To collect votes on various issues, you can add a poll that displays results in a bar graph. 10 responses per poll Old polls are archived Each IP address is restricted to 1 vote Hours of Operation You can display your business hours conveniently for your customers. Table of Contents You can show a listing of your pages in the index. Press Releases You can publish several press releases that will be automatically formatted on the page. Releases are organized by date Good for company announcements

Hours of Operation

You can display your business hours conveniently for your customers.

Table of Contents

You can show a listing of your pages in the index.

Press Releases

You can publish several press releases that will be automatically formatted on the page. Releases are organized by date Good for company announcements

3 Catalog Layouts

Sell products and services right from your site. Your products are listed as thumbnails and/or links that can be clicked on to show more details and your cart buttons. Add up to 3 images per product Add up to 3 drop-down menus and 1 comment box per product No coding Space for 500 products $1 for each 50 products upgraded

Integrated Shopping Cart

 You can customize your cart to accept PayPal or credit card processing. You can also add taxes and shipping and handling to your order subtotals. PayPal integration Authorize.net integration Save $450 in fees when setting up credit card processing Cart buttons can be turned on or off

VeriSign Secure Certified

With our VeriSign Secure Certified cart, your customers will be worry free when buying products from you. Save $500 by not having to buy your own secure certificate Your cart displays your VeriSign Logo on the checkout pages

Template Builder

You can change your template anytime to any of our pre-formatted templates. Or, you can customize your template with your own images, color choices and more. Choose from 200 pre-formatted templates You just have to click on different options to change your template, there's no coding

Text Editors

You can edit and format text with no code, but still have the flexibility to add code. 2 text editors similar to a word processor 1 text editor that allows you to add html or javascript Switch between editors anytime

SUMMARY: With 30 plus tools and a simple online editor, this is the easy way to build your web site.

As you can see, this is the easiest way to build a professional web site, unless you pay someone else thousands of dollars to build your web site.

TRY BUILDING YOUR OWN WEB SITE FREE!

Best of all, you can build your web site WITH NO RISK IN THE TRIAL MODE.

Then pay for your web site only after you have built it and tested it.

Contact me if you would like to participate in a class on this program.


Now, let's talk about the different types of web sites you might want to build:

In the last book, we discussed which types of web sites you might want to build. They are:
  • Family
  • Personal
  • Club/Group
  • Special interest groups
  • Small business and E-commerce
  • Corporate entity
Once you have made the decision on what type of web site will best fit your needs, there are many additional tools and secrets that you will need to build a successful Internet marketing campaign. These marketing tools include:

Search Engine Submittals
Free Reviews Of your Submittals
Classified Ads Submittals
Banner Link Exchanges
Opt In Mailing Lists
e-mail responders
External Audits
Website forms
Chat Rooms
Newsgroups
FFA Pages
Webrings
E-zines
More!

For now, now, let's look at the types of web sites you can build in detail. Then we'll show you how to do build your dream web site.

Creating a family website

If you are interested in creating a personal website to share with your family and friends, start here. If you are interested in making money with your website, skip this chapter!

Some of the items you might want to share on a family website are:

·Weddings
· Family reunions
·Genealogy maps and news
·New members of the family (births, etc.)

With a personal home page, your goals usually would be to share pictures, stories and events about you and your family. You might have a new grandchild to show off, or you might want to share pictures from a vacation, reunion or a trip to a family member's home for a weekend.

You might want to share information about an upcoming event such as a birthday party or family reunion, too. You can even share the event with your visitors after the event on your website!

The bottom line is you have news, stories or pictures you want to post on the website for people to enjoy and you want them to know what you've been doing in your life and what you have planned.

You will also probably want to be able to invite your web site visitors to share pictures, web sites and voice conversations with you, so here is just one solution for this need.

View this power point presentation for an example of how you will communicate via the Internet in the future.

Of course there are many steps to creating even a family web site, like choosing a web host, a domain name, and software to create the site. We do address all of these issues below, after we complete an outline of the different types of web pages you might want to build. You will also want to review the tips on digital scanners and cameras and more in the following sections, so let's continue.

“Personal Office ” Web Sites

The Internet is changing so fast that we are starting to see that many Internet users now own two websites, or more! Examples are:

1. A web site to share information with their friends and family as mentioned above.
2. A web site set up for business purposes such as an e-commerce web site.
2. A personal website for the individual oriented towards accomplishing daily tasks.

An example of this is a personal web site that I visit each day on the Internet (from any Internet ready computer) that includes links to all of the business tools that use each day.

Such as my web conferencing room where I meet and talk to my clients and my fellow business partners to talk and share web pages. This system truly is replacing my phone more each day, and it will only continue to be more and more a part of my life as more and more people learn about it. Please hurry people!

I can also click on a link to my web based e-mail to read my e-mail, again from any location that has an Internet ready pc.

Of course I also want to be able to access my contact manager from any Internet ready pc because it gives me access to phone numbers for my contacts as well as my calendar and my schedule for the day.

I even have a link to a program that allows me to access my computer at home from anywhere, such as the library or my notebook computer while I am on vacation. Just in case I need a copy of my letterhead or to look up a bill or password or even run any application on my pc, all through the Internet.

I guess this means I have a mobile office, which is exactly why I call the Internet my new office (MyNewoffice.com). And you can too, but that's another book.

In any case, this scenario is becoming a more viable solution every day as more and more “desktop” applications (programs like word processors, contact mangers and more) are migrating to the Internet to be used on the Internet or being available through the Internet.

So all although most of us have always known we can access our e-mail via any Internet ready PC, now we’ll be adding our scheduler, address book, notepad and more to our array of tools we can use 24 hours per day, from anywhere in the world! That’s quite amazing and quite helpful to almost everyone.

The fact that our applications and data will be on the Internet means that we’re no longer tied to an office. All of the work that you can do in your office, you can now do on a business trip at a motel, or from a vacation beach! All you have to have is access to the Internet. 

If you're wondering if I am excite about this option, rest assured, I am so excite about it, I wrote an entire book about it and use it everyday to enhance my life.

“I simply don’t want to quit working just because I did not bring along my computer. Wherever I have access to the Internet, I have access to my office! Now I can take work vacations anywhere I want, any time I want. And take the family can come along and enjoy my company.

John Davin 2000

The fact is, with the advent of the Internet, we’ll certainly see all applications remotely enabled in the near future, but here are a few programs that are available to the traveler or mobile worker today.

The basic tools are:

·  E-mail
· Voice Calls
· Voice conferencing
·  Address and contact book
·  Filing cabinet - all letters/contracts, etc.
·  Calendar (scheduler and Daytimer online)
·  Text faxing free, from your website!

You will also probably want to be able to invite your web site visitors to share pictures, web sites and voice conversations with you, so here is just one solution for this need.

View this power point presentation for an example of how you will communicate via the Internet in the future.

Building a website for your hobby club or special interest group – and using it to raise money.

Other types of personal websites are special interest or hobby websites. These are a bit different than a family based website, in that you will want to share your ideas with a larger audience and probably with others out of your family and close circle of friends.

There are different type of clubs or special interest site. For example, you might have a local club that is simply interested in sharing information locally about their hobby, such as miniature airplanes. Another type of club is a special interest club. Most of these clubs are larger than hobby groups discussed above. Many of these groups have an agenda and deeper pockets to promote their interests. Sounds serious, almost scary, right? Well, the agenda could be as simple as promoting the safe use of fireworks or raising money for the local Boy Scouts club! 

Many of these groups are also using the Internet to recruit members or to raise money for their causes, and you can too!

Examples of special interest clubs (as defined by the Author)

-The United Way
-The Democratic Party
-The Republican Party

Most special interest clubs will want to use many of the tools of the clubs will use as listed below, with an emphasis on the following:

- Fund Raising Pages
- Discussion Boards
- Website Counters

The funny thing about both groups is that you as a member may not even care if you ever meet the other individuals in the group. All you care about is that they share your interests in your group and want to share ideas and news about the hobby or special interest.

In fact, I have found that if I want to talk about my hobby of collecting antique computers, it's best to contact people other than my family members, as they do not share my interests in subjects like antique computers!

I have learned that the best place to go is to the Internet to find others who share my interest, and I am pleased to say that I have found plenty of people on the Internet who share my interests. People who are ready, willing and able to talk to me about my hobby or even help me with my hobby.

That's the beauty of the Internet. With your own website, you can now locate and communicate with people thousands of miles away who share your interests.

Some will even use their website to raise money for their group or hobby. We will out line how to do so at the end of this chapter.

Here are a few more clubs or special interest groups that would benefit from a home page.

·Movie Clubs
·Fan Clubs
·Airplane Clubs
·Car Clubs
·The Sierra Club
·Support groups
·Library Clubs
·Chess Clubs
·Antique Clubs

If your club is new or of limited members, you will probably want to submit your home page to the search engines so that others can find your website and join your club or offer support for your group.

Here are a few items you may want to offer on your site.

·  Fund raising news
· Events such as trade shows and swap meets
· Upcoming events bulletin board - open to all members
· E-mail to the group – basically an electronic newsletter
· Maps to locations of events such as trade shows and swap meets
· Membership names, addresses, phone numbers if approved by each member
· A “for sale” bulletin board for swapping items on the Internet between members
· Reviews of completed trade shows, meetings and swap meets. You can even present pictures taken with your digital camera

How to get more e-mail addresses for your mailing list and membership list.

Just about every website will want to get information from it's visitors.

Start with a simple form that is called a guest book, that encourages people to leave their name and address so you know who has visited the site and you can then send them a weekly, monthly or quarterly newsletter.

In the case of a special interest group or club, a form can also accept applications for membership or accept donations for your group!

If you'd like to see an example of a MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION, simply put your membership application on-line! Please send me e-mail and I'll send it out.

Fundraising for your group or club.

Simply ask your group to join programs that everyone needs or would enjoy using. As long as the group has tested the product and checked its background, there should be now problems.

Here are a just a few ways you can raise funds for your organization:

1. Ask people to shop at a site like igive.com where a percentage of each sale will go to your group. The program costs nothing to join, and offers the opportunity to generate hundreds if not thousands of dollars for your organization!

If you’re interested in these programs, we’d be glad to share our list of many programs that are legal and ethical. Send e-mail to:

jddavin@mynewoffice.com and enter income in the subject, and we’ll send you the list!

How I use my website to promote my special interests.

As I mentioned, because I would find only a handful of people who share my interests in antique computers in my town, I am so thankful to have the Internet to meet these people.

In fact, once I had found others had similar interests around the world, I developed a website, newsletter and discussion group for my interest in antique computers.

Visitors find my website on the Internet by typing in key words such as ANTIQUE COMPUTERS. Then they learn about my antique computer collection and other related sites, sign my guest book so I can send them my free newsletter, and join in my discussion about antique computers in my discussion section.

To better explain this, in the home page, I have pictures of my antique computers, with descriptions of where and when I located the items for my collection, along with any background news about the items that are interesting. I also make links to other sites that are related to the item, so they can enjoy related websites.

In my newsletter that I send out monthly, I write up tips and tricks about collecting, cleaning, and insuring antique computers as well as items that I would like to purchase or trade.  All in all, it's a great way to meet people with similar interests to help educate each other, and to swap items of interest.

In the discussion group, we talk about our interest in antique computers, make requests for hard to find manuals and such, and post messages about upcoming swap meets and group meetings.

Part of the real work involved with a website is getting the word out about your group. Here are a few tips on getting the word out on your website:

How to get the word out about your club or special interest group:

·Similar clubs and groups
·Local libraries which track groups like yours.
·Local newspapers which print directories of groups like yours.

If you're really serious about getting members, you can advertise in related publications, too. Or write a press release about your new group. Or advertise in trade journals. These are all things we discuss in the book on marketing. Just remember, if you want members outside of your city or local area, you will also want to submit the site to the Internet Search engines such as Yahoo.com and Google, etc.

At present, there are thousands of search engine services available, but 70% of the traffic to your site will probably come from 5-6 of the top engines on the market today.

Please review the section about search engine submittals at the end of the book.

You can also post notes in related newsgroups and discussion boards.

You might want to join a webring that simply links similar websites together. You start out at a starting website, and the system provides links that keep taking you to new random sites that are similar. Believe it or not, one does exist for even for antique computers, so the chance is you will find one that is related to your topic of interest.

Please review the section about webrings at the end of the book.

You will also probably want to be able to invite your web site visitors to share pictures, web sites and voice conversations with you, so here is just one solution for this need.

View this power point presentation for an example of how you will communicate via the Internet in the future.

Web sites for churches – a great way to keep the community informed!

 (Please review the section on family websites before you read this section)

Churches are special interest clubs in my mind too! They have a goal of sharing their beliefs with each other and supporting each other.

A few of the items that you might want to post on your church website are:

·Basic beliefs and goals
·Hours of services
·A map to your church
·A membership list for members only
·Information about youth programs
·Information about elderly programs
·Information about outreach programs

One of the agendas may also be to raise funds for items such as buildings, books, missionary programs and so forth.

If you would like to be able to invite your web site visitors to share an on-line service or for online prayer, here is just one solution for this need.

View this power point presentation for an example of how you will communicate via the Internet in the future.

Business Websites – opening a new location or starting a new business.

Here are just a few reasons why virtually all businesses are moving onto the Internet.

First of all, the Internet and your business website provide an extraordinary opportunity for you to not only present your company, products and services in a new, powerful medium, but to also have an almost unfair advantage over any of your competitors who do not have an Internet Website.

“Where else (but on the Internet) can you open a new store or second location for your business at a fraction of the cost of a brick and mortar building, be open almost overnight, be open 24 hours per day, 365 days per year, reduce your overhead, reduce the number or required employees, accept credit card payments electronically, open new markets to new customers world wide, market inexpensively to millions, gain market share inexpensively, drop ship products the very next day for products you don’t even carry in inventory, mine existing customer data to create additional sales for years into the future, and possibly become a millionaire? Only on the Internet!”

John Davin 2000

How to set up your online store to automate and simplify your life!

As you know from my other books, one of my goals in life is to automate every thing I do so that it takes less time to complete a task and as importantly, to make it easy for people find me, to learn about me, to find out what I sell, why to buy from me, and finally, how to buy from me. That should be your goal too.

This book shows you how to plan and then build your web site, and the next book covers how to market your web site. So be sure to pay attention to this book but keep in mind that n the next book we will be talking about about putting your business and your marketing plan on auto pilot too. To save time and to create an explosive growth in sales, covering topics such as e-mail responders, pay per click hits, search engines, voice conferencing rooms and more.

With that goal in mind, we'd better make sure you're ready for the business once it comes through the Internet, by talking about things like shopping habits of your clients, inventory control, e-mail invoices and such, starting out with the importance of accepting payments automatically via the Internet.

Then we'll actually get to explaining the tools you need to set up any type of we site from scratch. Along with a step by step checklist to get you started.

E-commerce websites

 Let's start out by talking about accepting credit cards from your website. First of all, you need to know foremost that it is so very, very important to the success of your business to be able to accept credit cards and bank drafts on your web site.

Statistics show you will sell 65% more product from your web site if you do accept credit cards than if you do not. So, let's address the following now:

- Accepting credit cards.
- Accepting electronic checks.
- Accepting additional forms of payment.

Accepting payments over the Internet...

If you want more sales with less hassles for both you and your customers, it is very important for you to automate this process. But you should be aware, there are many ways to accept payments over the Internet. Some are more expensive than others and and some are more complicated to set up and use than others.

So you will want to review the chapter on building your own web site for more detailed information, and this summary of the process and your goals for setting up an e-commerce based web site.

But I also suggest you read this completely free book on merchant accounts. Just download it to your computer, then come back to finish reading this book.

Or build your web site here with this free shopping cart.


How to sell products with an e-commerce enabled web site.

Here is how the process works. The customer visits your website and reviews what you have for sale. The customer then chooses items he/she wishes to purchase, and places them in an electronic shopping cart.

The customer can then add or remove more items from the shopping cart until they are ready to check out and pay for the items. This is called the check out procedure, just like what you do when you go shopping at the supermarket.

Now the customer provides information to the website such as

·Customer name / Phone #.
·Billing Address of customer.
·Shipping address of customer.
·Shipping method - overnight, 2nd day, ground, etc.
·Payment method - credit card, electronic bank draft, etc.

At this point, all taxes and shipping expenses are calculated. Next, an electronic invoice is generated, and sent to both the vendor (website owner - you) and customer via e-mail.

Payment is then collected via credit card or electronic draft check. Once the payment has been deposited in your account and verified (to protect you), the product is then shipped to the customer. In the case of electronic draft checks, the product may not be shipped to the customer until the check has cleared the customer's bank and been verified as being officially deposited in your bank account.

All in all, the system offers a great amount of flexibility to both buyer and seller and makes buying and selling products and services an effortless task.

Of course there are additional benefits to operating your store on the Internet and being an IBB (Internet based business), but one of my favorite concepts I often point out to people who tell me they want to open a second, third or fourth store location is this:

"Why open another brick and mortar store when I've shown you the costs and benefits of opening a new location on the Internet?" This statement alone sells more web sites than any other, and it even convinces some people NOT to open a retail store!

In any case, the basic benefits of e-commerce are:

·Customers can shop 24 hours per day.
·Customers can perform complete research on products.
·Customers can print out specifications and compare with other manufacturers.
·Customers can save money by not paying sales tax (depending on state laws).
·Customers can shop from the warmth and comfort of their home or office.
·Vendors can offer convenience, product information, and great prices.
·Vendors can offer a wider variety of product for sale.
·Vendors can drop ship products.

The best part of it all is that customers can usually buy from you on their own, 24 hours per day. Of course you offer as little or as much help as you deem necessary to complete the sale.

Some companies sell products that need absolutely no support, before during or after the sale. Other companies offer support by offering an 800 number for pre sale or post sale. Other companies offer live voice and web page sharing directly from a link on their web sites, with a program called on-demand conferencing.

In any case, you know your business and probably know how much support your customers will need to make an enjoyable and successful purchase from your web site. But it is also good to experiment with different levels of support. You might be surprised how much your sales might go up if you offer to meet and talk to your clients through your website through an ondemand conference room.


Options for different forms of payment for your webs site.

There are many ways to accept payments via credit cards from your web site, besides setting up your own merchant account, and they are listed below.

But if you would like to know specifically how to set up a merchant account, you can read a completely free book here that will tell you all about the topic, from Card Services International. Setting up a merchant account is a complicated process, and the details and options can change quickly, so we highly recommend reading this book.

In summary, what are the benefits of opening an internet based business? No new rent for a new physical location, fewer phones, fewer employees, fewer employment taxes, less training and less expense and red tape all around. Now you’re seeing the benefits of operating a business on the Internet!

And again, you will probably want to be able to invite your web site visitors to share pictures, web sites and voice conversations with you, so here is just one solution for this need.

View this power point presentation for an example of how you will communicate via the Internet in the future.

Get started today.

“Those who build quality home pages and market them correctly now will be the ones who gain market share and huge profits for years to come.”

John Davin (Author) - 2000

As I always say, luckily for you, attaining these goals will be easier for you now than at any other time in history, as you have access to the most powerful tools ever invented to organize, automate, simplify and grow your business. I am talking about your computer and the Internet!

Now truly is the time!

Whether you own a small home based business or a corporation, now is the time to get your Internet skills and business website(s) up and running! Now is the time to automate your sales force. Now is the time to automate your accounting procedures. Now is the time to build your client list. Now is the time to develop your newsletter and your loyal readers and buyers. Now is the time to automate to reduce your overhead and your headaches.

Just set your goals and do it.

Talking about goals, we need to assure you that business websites can have more than one goal, and not all business websites are intended to actually sell products on the Internet. The truth is, there may be more than one goal for a web site.

·The goal may be to educate the public about a product or service.
·The goal may be to provide sales literature to customers for future sales.
·The goal may be to provide technical support for a product or service.
·The goal may be to request feedback on a new product or service.

In fact, there are a great many reasons for a company to have a website, even if they do not actually sell anything over the Internet. Pepsi is a perfect example. They do not sell pop at their site, so that is not the purpose of the site. Their goal is to create awareness for their product.

But in any case, I think you will agree, that if you’re in business, you need a website, more than ever before.

Even Bill Gates said "In 2002, there will be two kinds of businesses, those that are on the Internet and those that are out of business.”

Bill Gates

Now, how do you get started?


Well, it’s time to talk about assessing your skills and needs for your website.  Of course, it’s very difficult to advise you without talking to you, but after reading this chapter, you should be able to decide if you should develop your own website or consult with a webmaster who will help you from step one, or if you have the ability to be a web master.

 Either way, you need to read this chapter entirely because I will show you how to create a website that just a few years ago would have required an degree in computer science! We’ll even show you where to get training if you do want a computer science degree, but that’s another subject.

There are as many reasons for developing the site yourself as there are for paying someone else to help you. 

Here are a few considerations.

1. Time considerations
2. Cost considerations
3. Quality considerations
4. Target Market considerations


Let's review these initial considerations.

1. Time considerations.

To start, do you have time to learn how to make your own website?And what is the best use of your time? If you earn $7.00 per hour at your job and are making a personal website for your family or starting a small business to make extra income out of your basement, it may be best to take the time to learn how to build the site yourself rather than pay a webmaster $50-$150 per hour.

On the other hand, if you own your own business and are making $100,000+ per year and are responsible for managing 100 people, and if the website has to be completed shortly, your best option will be to find a professional webmaster and put them on the payroll or contract with a professional the web site, pronto!

Please feel free to use this checklist for working with a webmaster if you do decide to have a webmaster build your site for you.

2. Cost considerations.

Can you afford to pay a professional to build your website?

Websites cost an average of anywhere from $500 to $5,000 or more. That is a typical cost just for a web site for a small business. Of course you can also spend a considerable amount of money purchasing the same tools the professionals use to make your website.

If you plan on making more than one site, or a lot of changes to your site, this may be a wise decision. On the other hand, if you’re planning on making only one website and it is a fairly complicated site, I would suggest you either hire someone to build your web site or at least start out with a template based website to see if you can make a satisfactory website after you have someone else lay out the groundwork for you.


3. Quality of the web site. Please see # 4

4. The intended audience.

What type of website are you making?

Again, if this is a website that your friends will see, you will certainly build it yourself. If you have the time and money from options 1 and 2 to learn how to make a professional website, you should build it yourself. If you are building a website for a small or home based business, you probably could build it yourself and do well. If you have the time to devote to it and want to spend a modest amount of money investing in the software and tools such as a scanner and digital came, etc.

Then, if you are developing a very complicated corporate website, or if your image may be everything and you will want to hire a professional to make your website so that it represents you well.

Only you can answer these questions after you review and experiment with the programs listed below.


Templates for building your website.

Again, if you do decide to build your own website: I highly suggest you consider using a web site template for your new web site before you do anything else.

Web site templates are tremendous time and money savers. Web site templates are simply web site designs you can buy that meet your specific needs or are build for your specific industry. Then you plug in your own information, such as your name, products, contact information, etc.

So, web site templates basically provide a pre-designed web site for you. Then it is your job to edit the template to provide your company name and slogan. Then you type in the text for your web site, add a few of your own images, the product(s) you want to sell, and away you go.

If you’re looking for templates for your website, we have one company who provide such a service. We’ve already mentioned them a few times, but you should visit their site to at least see what others in your industry are doing with their websites.

Click here for a list of templates.

Or try his type of template.

Many companies who offer web master services will work with your web site templates as well. You find the template you like, and ask them to build your website around the template. You save time and money, they gain a customer who knows what they want.

A win-win situation for all.


Computer Programming Languages


After reviewing the templates and the way you can just "Plug in" many tools you need for your web site, you can decide if you do indeed need to even think of programming in HTML or using Java in your web site. Unless you are a true programmer, chances are you will not, or you could have someone do it for you on a contract basis. Many of the companies that provide templates also have teams of programmers who can help you with any programming needs.

So what I am saying is that I want to assure you that in MOST cases, you DO NOT have to know computer programming to set up a professional web site. Period. Of course it is better if you do know these languages, so we'll cover a few below. But I highly suggest you build a free (trial) web site here for a trial period for 9 days before you go to school to learn programming to build your web site.

However, if you want to read skip this section, please do so. You can always come back if you need to.

HTML, JAVA, PEARL, CGI and other programming languages may sound like foreign languages to most people, but they’re really computer programming languages for the making web pages for the Internet. The average web page builder probably does even not know them all, but if you’re a computer programmer or looking for a job in corporate America making websites, you better know these languages and know them well if you want to be paid well.

The point is, even though you can make a website without these skills, the more you know, the more you make, and this could never be truer, for the corporate world at least. As an employee, that would be the expectation.

However, if you’re the average person who wants to post a simple home page for the family or a small business, you may not EVER need to learn these languages, let alone use them.

The fact is, unless you need a very high end website, you can create your own home page without knowing these languages. There are so many ways to create a home page without being a computer programmer that I could not list them all here.

 Again, let me tell you that in MOST cases, you DO NOT have to know computer programming to set up a professional web site.


TRAINING SOLUTIONS IF YOU DO PLAN DO LEARN HTML AND MORE!

If you do decide to build your own website using HTML, Java or any of the other new technologies or programming languages, you should visit these sites first and review these training materials.

Start with tutorials for learning HTML, Java etc.

Online tutorials are available for most software programs and computer languages and are outlined below. You will also want to explore the options of utilizing free utilities and applets for many website development applications.

The applets and java scripts are pre-written programs that perform specific functions for you, so you look like a programmer without even doing the work. You cut, copy and paste the program into your website and you’re done. Examples of applets and java scripts are guest books or amortization calculators.

You can visit one of our favorite places for computer and web site construction training at http://wdvl.internet.com/WDVL/, where you will find tons of tips and secrets to learning to program as well as other free resources. Everyone should start out with their Introduction to HTML, a quick and easy primer on HTML.

An Introduction to Web Design would also be helpful. This is a three half-day course designed by Selena Sol. It deals with The Basics of HTML, Hyperlinks and Images, and Advanced Formatting by means of step-by-step instructions, examples, and exercises. Editorial notes by the WDVL staff link the material to more advanced references.

You can find so many resources on the Internet, it’s just a matter of “Do you have enough time?”. Do you have enough time to learn it all, and what are the benefits of doing it yourself versus allowing someone else to do it for you. Only you can decide.

Another great source of training is The Training Center, which offers 850+ on-line computer training courses, with many written for Internet development.

Visit http://www.trainingcenter.com/?AID=5834788&PID=1 for a complete list of classes, for the beginner all the way to the professional website developer, with all classes in between, including certification classes for Microsoft.

Try visiting http://www.1trainingcenter.com/demo.htm?AID=462769&PID=569540
and clicking on the training button!

A note for prospective webmasters:

Are you interested in making money as a web master or by making referrals for web sites?

I earn my living making web sites and I can show you how to do so a well. Or at least how to make a bit of extra income.

In my case, I enjoy consulting with customers about their site and letting someone else do the very high end programming if it’s required. I still do develop some pages on my own, and if you desire to still build your own sites or build them for others for income, here are a few of my secrets.

I work on laying out the design of the site, creating the graphics, links, buttons, and I hire someone to perform any heavy duty programming needs. I simply believe in doing what I am good at, and that’s working one on one with the customer and selling the site and doing the graphics and the layout.

Perhaps you’re the same as me and do well to work with people. Then you should just "Do what you do best and let someone else do the rest!" too.

In fact, for some projects, I go directly to one company and have them build the web site from start to finish and I just collect royalties.

I simply enjoy talking to the customer and telling them what they can do, and work as the go-between. One of the very first things I learned in building web sites is to take advantage of existing code and templates that others have already developed.

The same goes for working out arrangements with other companies to do their work and let me do my work and together we service the client better than we probably would independently.

If you are reading this book with the thought of making money by building web sites or by making referrals, let me know and I can show you how to get started.

But for now, let's get back to learning how to build web sites.


A quick note about copyrights.

You cannot copyright a template if you do not buy the rights to it, so now is a good time to talk copyrights. Certainly if you're going to take the time to create a web site, you need to copyright the content. The best place to learn about copyrights is http://www.loc.gov/copyright/

You should also be able to download the forms from this site as well.
As you can see, I believe in saving time by using templates and other programs services that have already been set up and tested for you. Applets and java scripts can be guest books, message boards, credit card shopping carts and thousands of other applications.

If you need a few free applets or java scripts, visit http://www.dynamicdrive.com just to see what is available. You will be amazed at what is available to you.

Here’s what the company says about their services:

“Welcome to Dynamic Drive, the premier place on the net to obtain free, original DHTML scripts and components to enhance your web site! All scripts on this site take advantage of the latest in JavaScript and DHTML technology, with emphasis on practicality and backwards compatibility, to bring true power and interactivity to your site. Enjoy!”

Actually setting up your web page - Commercial Software Packages for website design – with demos/trial versions!

To create your web site, you'll probably want to use a program to write the code. Website editors are programs you use to make creating Websites easier.

If you’ve been working on the Internet for a while, you may have tried to write your own website. In the old days, you had to open a simple text editor like notepad and write your code by hand. You made links to images and hoped they were in the right position as there was no way to see what you were making until you viewed the final results in an website browser such as Explorer or Netscape. It took hours to write simple websites that we could write in minutes today.

This is what the old code would look like in your editor: (don’t worry, you don’t have to do this today!).

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>default</TITLE>
</HEAD>
<FRAMESET COLS="22%,75%">
<FRAME SRC="default/index.htm" NAME="index" SCROLLING="auto" MARGINWIDTH="0" MARGINHEIGHT="0">
<FRAME SRC="default/Body.htm" SCROLLING="auto" NAME="body" MARGINWIDTH="0" MARGINHEIGHT="0">
<NOFRAMES>
<BODY>
<P>&nbsp;</P>
<P>&nbsp;</P>
<P>&nbsp;</P>
<P>&nbsp;</P>
<P><B><U>____</U></B></P>
<P>&nbsp;</P>
<P><B><U>The Income Club</U></B>This web browser does not support frames.</P>
</BODY>
</NOFRAMES>
</FRAMESET>
</HTML>

DO NOT LET THIS SCARE YOU!

Today we have website editors (website design software) that are very similar to word processors. They implement the wysiwig (what you see is what you get) theme so that you actually see the page that you are designing as you create it. You can move pictures simply by clicking on them and dragging them where you want them. You can test color themes for text just by highlighting the text with your mouse and clicking on the color you desire.

The WYSIWIG means you see the changes as you make them, before you publish your document on the WWW.  Much easier!

Of course everyone has their own favorite software for developing websites, and there are way too many excellent programs to review them all. For that reason, I’ve selected one company that has a wide variety of products, and most importantly allows you to download a demo version of their software so you can “try before you buy”.

Online Web Site Builders

Again, be sure to read about the online web site building programs above that save time and money with ready made templates, images and plug and play applications such as newsletters, shopping carts, feedback forms and more.


Website editors and other programs you can download today!

The programs listed here are commercial programs, but we’ve listed one try before you buy program as well, Netscape Composer. This means you can try before you buy, and it’s usually quite a bit less expensive to purchase!  If you want to download a shareware program to see how easy it is to create a website, try this one!

Netscape Composer

THIS ONE IS FREE!

A powerful shareware editor for making websites, which means you can try before you buy! Click here to download now, or visit http://www.download.com and type in the key search words Netscape, then download!

DreamWeaver:

One of the absolute best programs on the market for creating websites!

From the Company’s website:

“Macromedia Dreamweaver is the solution for professional Web site design and production. Develop groundbreaking sites, automate production, and enhance team efficiency. Control your code with Roundtrip HTML and the revolutionary Quick Tag Editor. Accelerate workflow through integration with Web applications, Microsoft Office, and leading e-commerce and application servers. Only Dreamweaver can be customized using HTML, JavaScript, and XML, giving you the power you need for rapid Web development.
With Dreamweaver, you'll build better Web sites faster.”

Download a trial version at:

Macromedia Fireworks -

From the company’s website:

“Macromedia Fireworks brings efficiency to Web graphics production. Quickly create buttons, animations, and page comps. Everything remains editable, including files from leading graphics applications. Save production time with the History panel, step-by-step button maker, and the Library. Integrate Fireworks code seamlessly into Macromedia Dreamweaver and other leading HTML editors. Only Fireworks lets you script the entire application to automate workflow.”

Download a trial version at:
http://www.macromedia.com/software/fireworks/

Macromedia Flash

From the company’s website:

Design and deliver distinctive, low-bandwidth Web Sites with Macromedia Flash 5, the professional standard for producing high-impact Web experiences, used by over half a million Web authors worldwide. Designers easily create engaging graphics with the familiar Macromedia user interface, and developers build advanced Web applications using scripting, forms, and server-side connectivity.

Download a trial version at:

Macromedia Director Shockwave Studio

Macromedia Director Shockwave Studio is the solution for developing magnetic Internet destinations and powerful multimedia. Director combines graphics, sound, animation, text, and video to create streaming, multi-user, interactive Web content that is easy to deploy for CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, and the Web. Macromedia Director 8 Shockwave Studio streamlines the authoring process with centralized, automated functions that make it easier to manage assets, edit complex animations, build graphics on the fly, and create content for low- bandwidth delivery. Director 8 Shockwave Studio eases the development of Shockwave content, which continues to enhance the Web experience of over 130 million people.

Download a trial version at:

A QUICK TAX TIP:

Whether you build the site yourself or hire it done, I'm sure you will agree that any expense should be written off as a business expense. Examples are web site design, hosting fees, digital cameras, scanners, software packages and even marketing campaigns. Consult with an accountant and an attorney about your options.

So, if you thinking of starting your own business or already own your own business, be sure to read about tax write offs at the end of the chapter, and at http://www.sba.com and http://www.irs.gov.

Of course you do not have to build your own web site, as you can contract for just about every service, such as a hosting service to store your website or a scanning service to scan pictures for your website.

The point is, you can do as little or as much of the work as you like, and it's all tax deductible. The good news is you have more than one choice... you can pay someone for each service, or if you decide have someone build the website for you, all of the tools should be supplied by the person who makes your website in their sales price.

If you’d like help from a computer consultant, we have sources of professional website developers who will be happy to help you. Simply send us e-mail to mailto:jddavin@mynewoffice.com

You can also submit information about your web site here. You can simply tell me you want help and I will contact you or you can actually submit information about your needs and I will tell you what I would charge you to build your web site.

I MIGHT EVEN BUILD A MOCK UP OF WHAT I THINK YOUR SITE SHOULD LOOK LIKE AND SEND YOU A LINK SO YOU CAN SEE WHAT YOUR SITE COULD LOOK LIKE if you had someone help you!

Click here to submit a request for a quote on your web site!

Or call me (John Davin) at 636-273-6713.



Start thinking about how to market your web site before you actually start building it!

 Next, start thinking about the keywords that you would the search engines to find to lead people to your site.

You will have at least 3 areas to enter this information on your web site.

1. The title
2. The description
3. The key words section
4. In the Metatags (the text that is associated with the images in your web page)

The title is just that. Be sure to include as many descriptive key words in your title.
A good example is: "MyNewOffice.com | A directory of business tools and resources for the business owner and entrepreneur."

Then, write up a very concise and descriptive summary of your web site, called the description. A good description may be "MyNewOffice.com is your complete directory of business tools and resources for the business owner and entrepreneur, from business startup tips to web site templates."

Key words are the key words that you will be placing in your web site to tell the search engines what your site is all about. A good example might be "directory, business tools, entrepreneur, business plan," and so forth.

These key words are very important because if you use the wrong key words, you will either get no visitors to your site, or the wrong type of visitors.

Use this format to write down your ideas now and then go look at other competitor pages, see how they do it, and combine all of the best elements into yours.

(Do not write down the information here, but do so at the end of the book. Just be thinking about it now)

Title: _______________________________________________________________________

Description of site:
_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

Key words/Metatags:

1. ______________________ 2. ________________________ 3. _______________________

4. ______________________ 5. ________________________ 6. _______________________

7. ______________________ 8. ________________________ 9. _______________________

10. _____________________11. ________________________12. _______________________

13. _____________________14. ________________________15. _______________________


Taking the first steps to actually building your website:

Choosing the right domain name.

Since you have decided what type of Website you wish to own, it’s time to talk about domain names. A domain name is like the address of your home or business; it’s a constant location where people can find your Website quickly and efficiently. If you choose your website name carefully and don’t change businesses, you will want to keep this domain name for the rest of your life!

Naming your website is one of your most important decisions you will have to make about your website, and once you decide what name you wish to use, be sure to register it PRONTO, before someone else takes your idea and your domain name!

Visit here right now to see if your domain name is available. They can also give you an appraisal of your domain name value. Click here to see what your domain name is worth on the open market.

You’ll want to have your domain name appraised immediately. An appraisal will do two things for you. First, it will tell you if you have chosen a valuable name. While you’re coming up with your final domain name for yourself, you may find that you come up with some pretty good ones besides the one you decide to use for your own and you might even sell them to fund your new business startup! You might even be able to leverage it and borrow on the value of the domain name. I have not heard of anyone who has done this, but I believe it is a viable business idea!

Here are a few examples of domain names and why they were chosen:

mcdonalds.com – Simply the name of the company.

abc.com – An abbreviated domain name, or even an acronym.

yahoo.com – A new, nontraditional name, that now bears brand name recognition.

sports.com – a name about a specific activity that encompasses one topic, yet  thousands of additional topics at the same time. This is a great domain name for providing news about a topic and selling advertising space and related links to other site for revenue.

yourname.com – this personal name site is very descriptive, but not usually used unless you’re very well known. Another reason for this name is if you have many different businesses and want people to be able to find your site by searching for your name, then they can read about all your different businesses at the site.

mynewoffice.com – this is a descriptive name of a site that lends itself to many applications and uses.

As you can see, domain names are not always named after a specific product, they don’t even always represent anyone or anything. Domain names can be acronyms or abbreviations, and they are not always named after the company that owns them.

The desired domain names are:

·As short as possible.
·As descriptive as possible.
·As easy to remember as possible.
·Ending in .com (e.g. yahoo.com).

A shorter name is easier to type in and remember. If the domain name is descriptive, it will drive traffic to your site faster as a result of any advertising you may do. Some sites get traffic just because they sound like a popular domain name that does get a lot of traffic. If the domain name is easy to remember, your traffic will be higher because visitors are simply able to type in your name from memory and it won’t be lost so easily.

Registering a .com domain name is important because most people will type in yourdomain.com before any other extension, like yourdomain.net. The other side of the coin is YOU COULD BE LOSING traffic! This would mean they would go to a competitor’s site first, and perhaps never make it to your site. Also, if you ever decide to sell your domain name, a .com is worth much more money with any other extension.

Finally, your ultimate goal is to find a domain name that fits you, and keep it for as long as possible. For specific rules on what you can use for a domain name, please visit here.

Do you need to own your own domain name, or more than one domain name?

Of course it is usually best to have your own domain name if you’re in business, but think about these examples before you rush out to get your own domain name. Especially if you’re thinking of ordering more than one domain name, one for each of your respective businesses. You may end up owning more than one domain name, but one domain name can be a catch all for all your business ventures, even though it would be nice, but cost prohibitive in most cases to have all the domain names related to their businesses.

Examples: computertraining.com, computersales.com, computerhardware.com

Most of the good names are already taken by someone else. You can try to find these great domain names and register them all, but your chances of doing this will be slim.

In general, your goal to save money would be to find one general domain name that covers all your possible business ventures, and have sub-domain names for each program.

However, just remember, for marketing purposes, it is best to have separate websites for each respective business and to submit each page separately for maximum hits to your site.

Again, most of us will choose to have one domain name with sub directories for cost considerations. A good example would be http://www.mynewoffice.com/ as the main website for a business owner, and sub-domains such as these for each respective business.

After a while, people will recognize that this site is a resource for many office related needs, and simply visit http://www.mynewoffice.com for the links to each respective page.

You can still ad a link to ABOUT THE OWNER, which comes up with another page that talks about you, your family, how to contact you and any other personal information you wish to post. This is better than spending $70 per 2 years to register the domain names, even if they were not taken already! In fact, if these were not taken, you’d want to grab them right now, they’re probably worth thousands of dollars. Seriously!

Registering your domain name.

(Do not write down the information here, but do so at the end of the book. Just be thinking about it now)

In addition, if you’re setting up a personal Website for your family, you may not choose to spend the extra $70 for the first 2 years and $35 for each following year (the price of registering domain names has gone down from the first writing of this book but some companies still charge this much )

(Note; prices for this service have dropped over the past few years, be sure to check more than one source for the best price).

There are many different services you can use to register your domain name, Internic is the oldest and best known company on the net for doing so. Be sure to write down the information about your domain name here, or write it down in your checklist for success.

[ ] Decide on a domain name for your web site

[ ]Search for your domain name
[ ]Register your domain name
[ ]Request an appraisal

[ ] Search for availability of domain name:
(site 1 ___________________________.______) Available? [ ] Y [ ] N

[ ] Search for availability of domain name:
(site 2 ___________________________.______) Available? [ ] Y [ ] N
[ ] Search for availability of domain name:
(site 3 ___________________________.______) Available? [ ] Y [ ] N

[ ] Search for expired domain names (registered/not paid for, now available)

[ ] Request an appraisal for the value of your website domain name

Final Domain name chosen: _____________________________ Date: ______/_____/_______

Domain expires: ___/____/___ Notes: _______________________________________________

Registrar: __________________________ Web site ____________________________________

User name: ______________________ Password: _______________ FTP SITE ____________

Cost / Month $__________

# MB storage ___________ # MB transfer / month ___________ # e-mail accounts: ________

# e-mail accounts: ________ # e-mail responders __________ # Discussion boards _______



Choosing the right host for your web site.

Servers are where you store your web sites. First of all you create the web pages, then you upload the files you've created via FTP (files transfer protocol) to the server. Now, do you need to purchase, set up and maintain your own servers? In my humble opinion, NO! Here's why.

Basically, you can pay someone else a fraction of the cost to do it for you, on a monthly basis. In the early 1980’s, I spent tons of time and money being on the cutting edge (some say bleeding edge) with my own servers and software development tools. I imagine I spent $100,000+ setting up my servers, with Microsoft NT and Linux operating systems, and could duplicate it all today with a $100 per month account at any hosting service.

Not only did I have to maintain the computers, but I had to maintain the software too, updating it every few years, worrying about firewalls and security issues, as well as purchasing new software for different needs such as chat software, forums software, guest book software and the time to learn how to program it all. WHAT A WASTE of time, money and effort. At least it would be today, for you and me.

Please think this one over carefully. You can rent server space for a very reasonable cost and concentrate on your product or service rather than the latest greatest advances in technology or worrying about security, backups and such. Develop your business plan, make money with it, then get your own servers if you really need them!

PS: The only time you really need your own server is if you have specialized software that needs to be installed on your severs, or if you're doing a lot of e-mail spamming, and you should not be doing that anyway!

If you do decide to have someone else host your site, choosing the right host for your Website is a very important decision. This one decision will not guarantee you income, but it can certainly keep you from making money if your website host servers are down (not working) or all of the services you need are not available at this site. So, yes, you can gain or lose quite a bit of traffic, time and money  from this one decision if you make the wrong choice.

The truth is, I truly believe you cannot choose the right host until you’ve done the following:

1. Decided exactly what you want to do with your website (read the chapter)
2. Learned what a website is and how it all fits together to serve your needs.
3. Reviewed this section on host servers, website editors and your options.
4. Reviewed the section on assessing your skills (keep reading)

There are many questions to ask the potential hosts, such as:

·Speed of their servers.
·If they have redundant backup.
·Do the have 24/7 technical support?
·Do they have an 800# for technical support?
·What is their link to the backbone on the Internet?
·Amount of hard drive space allocated to your program.
·Amount of information you can transfer per month at a set price.
·The number of e-mail accounts you can use on the site.
· Do they Support Microsoft Front Page extensions?

Do they offer services such as:

·e-mail responders
·hit counters
·message boards
·chat lines
·cgi script bin
·real audio

Remember, you may not need all of these options, so don’t spend the extra money for them unless you need them!

Be sure to write down all of the information about your program so you have it available when you need it.

(Do not write down the information here, but do so at the end of the book. Just be thinking about it now)

[ ] Decide on a host server (if you do not choose a free server)
Examples [ ] Internet marketer's dream - all in one service! [ ] Cheap with great support!

Company: _________________________ Phone:________ ___________________

Contact: ____________________________ User Name: ________________________

Password __________________ Ftp: ______________________________________

Domain site: _____________________________

Address: _____________.____________.____________._____

Mb/Storage: ______________Mb Transfer / Mo.________________ Other Services: #e-mail accounts: _____

# e-mail responders [ ] Y [ ] N #__________ Message Boards: [ ] Y [ ] N #_______

Merchant account [ ] Y [ ] N

NOTE: YOU MAY WISH TO PRINT OUT THE BOOK AND WRITE DOWN ALL OF THE DETAILS ABOUT YOUR WEB SITE THE END OF THE BOOK IN THE PLACE PROVIDED.


Software to get your web site pages to the server - FTP or (File transfer Protocal)

As with a domain name your host may be a complicated issue. However, if you’re simply creating a personal website and not selling any products or services, most hosts will be adequate to create a simple Website and upload it via FTP.

However, if you just said “what is ftp?”, then we must look at other options that will make building your website easier and more enjoyable for you.

FTP stands for FILE TRANSFER PROTOCOL, which simply transfers your Website html and images to the host server, which is where customers access your website.

Many Hosts provide FTP software for you to upload your files to their server. If not, you can download a great shareware FTP program from http://www.download.com

It’s called ftpexplorer - you can download it by clicking here,  or you can visit http://www.download.com and simply search for ftpexplorer.

Microsoft’s Frontpage Website editor makes it very easy to create your website on your computer and then automatically upload your files to your server, if your host server provides Frontpage extensions.

Contact your host to find out if they do support these extensions. If you’re  wanting to program your own websites, you can review the chapter on the products from Macromedia, which we use and recommend for many users and applications.


Graphics are the images you see on a web site. Most graphics spice up a website and can keep a visitor’s interest. Graphics can include backgrounds, logos, animated text, bullets, buttons and more. Some sites do better with fewer graphics, so be careful not to overload the website with too many animated graphics.

There are two problems with using too many graphics. First of all, they can load slowly and the visitor loses interest in your site. Second, once they get to the site, too many graphics can make it difficult for the reader to know what you’re trying to tell them and they miss the point and you miss your sale, if you’re trying to sell something! Your home page should have graphics that help give it a definite flow and direction, and graphics can lead you in that direction, if you get the pun.

Graphic design artists spend years learning their craft and earn a good living. However, many new programs automate and simplify the process, resulting in better quality graphics and websites by every day users. Here are a few types of graphics you’ll probably use, where to find them,  and how to create them if necessary.

Types of graphics for your website:

· Logos
· Animated graphics
· Background images
· Bullets
· Buttons
· Fonts


Here are a few sources of graphics.


In years past, the only way to get graphics for your business was to purchase expensive collections of graphics from people who collected them and sold them on CD Rom, or to use the images that came with expensive graphic software packages such as Corel Draw or other desktop publishing programs. Today, you can download almost all the graphics you could ever use from sites such as http://freegraphics.com/ 

Another great source of free images is comstock.com. This site has a very good selection of professional photos that are free and more that you can buy. Best of all, you can search by category, such as animals or buildings and even do a key word search for the exact image you want.

You may also be able to find images with software packages you buy. Today, many word processors such as MS Word and the office package come with graphics that you can use for your website development. If you still need more graphics or are interested in making your own graphics on your computer, here are two great resources.

If you are looking to make you own graphics such as buttons and so forth, Xara has a complete line of software packages that are very easy to use and very inexpensive. We highly recommend that you download a copy of the demo software for Xara Webstyle at http://www.xara.com to see how easy it is to make your own graphics for buttons. Here are reviews of a few types of graphics you may need to use.

But first, a word to the wise about “borrowing graphics!”


Patents and copyrights


If you steal graphics from other sites, shame on you and you’d better watch your back! If you create your own logo or graphic, be sure to protect your intellectual work. You will also want to check for similar ideas that are already taken, to avoid using ideas and property that belongs to someone else.

Please consult an attorney about copyrights and trademarks, but start out by getting  help from the SBA before you contact your attorney, to reduce your bill with the attorney. The SBA even has most of the forms online, ready for you!

Here are the sites (for Researching and Protecting the business product!).

Many images can be compressed by converting them to a GIF format, and even many GIF images can be drastically reduced in size with special compression techniques and limiting the number of colors in an image.

Visit http://www.gifwizard.com  - for a shareware software program that compress your files for faster download time.

Most companies and websites have their own logo. A logo allows the viewer to quickly associate an image with you, your website, services and products. Companies spend quite a bit of money developing logos for themselves and it’s a serious business. You may have to pay a lot of money to have a logo professionally created for you, but you might want to try one of these inexpensive but totally professional services first.

[ ] The $45.00 Logo - let them design your own logo in 72 hours!
 [ ] Contract for a logo with a professional graphics design person - ask for bids!

Most logos are static in nature, but with the emergence of the web, many more are becoming animated, which means they change as you view them on the Internet.

As mentioned, animated graphics are graphics that change as you watch them. Most animated graphics flash and keep the reader’s attention. Examples of animated graphics can be seen at most any website today, but are not necessary for a successful website.  Some graphics are miniature advertisements or even short stories! You will certainly see more animated graphics, especially in banners that need to catch a reader’s attention. 

Animation factory is a great place to find such tools.


Many websites are programmed with a background image. This simply means there is an image in the background and other images and text are loaded over the background image. A great example of a background is the picture of a lined piece of paper, and the foreground is the text of your website.
Please visit this site for free backgrounds and more! http://freegraphics.com/

Bullets help separate ideas and sections of a website.
Please visit this site for free bullets and more! http://freegraphics.com/

Buttons are similar to bullets, but are usually larger and more graphic in nature. Buttons are used to lead you to specific areas of a website. Buttons are usually on the left hand side or the top of the website, but can be placed anywhere on the page.
Please visit this site for free buttons and more! http://freegraphics.com/

Fonts are simply the size, shape and sometimes color of your text. Most word processors and all website packages include different font types.
Examples of fonts are:

Algerian
Times New Roman
Technical
Windsor

You can see that we’ve also changed the color and size of the fonts! If you’re not happy with the fonts you have in your computer now, you can download and install more fonts to your computer.
Please visit this site for free fonts and more! http://freegraphics.com/

A digital camera simply allows you to send the pictures you've taken on your camera directly to your computer without the hassles of developing your film. This means you can post them on your website just as soon as you copy them to your computer! The benefits also include no more expensive film processing charges and no waiting to get them back from the processing company.

All you do is snap the pictures, attach a cable to your computer and the camera, then walk away while the pictures are downloaded to your computer. Some of the later model cameras use infrared technology to send the images to the computer, so you don't need the cable to attach the camera to your computer.

Once you have the pictures on your computer, you can use a program like fireworks (try it free for 30 days here) to edit the picture to make them larger, smaller or to clean them up . Then you need to insert them in your web page using the software we talk about below.

Of course you can send the pictures to friends in e-mail, but you may also want to use your camera for business use!

What can you do with a camera for business use?

·Take pictures of your facility and post it online.
 ·Take pictures of new inventory and post it online.
·Take pictures of product development procedures and post it online.
·Take pictures of used or clearance inventory for sale and post it online.
·Take pictures of personnel in your facility and post it online.

A digital scanner simply allows you to take most any picture  (or text) and copy it to your computer, which you can then insert in your website. If someone has sent you family pictures or you want to add a picture out of a magazine or newspaper, for your personal home page, your best option is a digital scanner.

You can easily take images up to legal size (11"x14") and post them on your website. You might want to reduce them in size however, as some images can be up to 30 Mb or larger which would take a long time to download. You can scan in color or in black and white, depending on your needs.

You can of course use your scanner for the same uses as your digital camera for business, with the added functionality of scanning in images from books, catalogs or magazines.
Another function that a Scanner provides is OCR – the ability to scan in text from a printed page and put it in a word processor. This saves you the time of retyping information in your computer from a printed page. You can then run a spelling checker on the document, then cut and paste it into your website editor.

Be sure to read this section very carefully because you probably spent a lot of time, money and effort building your website, and perhaps a lot of money advertising the site to draw traffic to your site.

So it is very important to track the number of customers coming to your site, along with statistical data about their visits.

With a statistics package, you can track the effectiveness of your advertising campaign. You will be able to tell the following:

·How many times your site was visited
·Where and how visitors found your website
·Which pages are the most favorite for visitors
 ·Where the visitors left your site – so you can take that page off your site or change it if it is causing visitors to leave your site


From this data, you will be able to:

1. Analyze your advertising dollars and their effectiveness.
2. Analyze the effectiveness of each web page on your web site.
3. Analyze your visitors and determine who will benefit from follow up information about your group, family or website.

Finally, be sure to offer the option for your users to sign your guestbook and join your free newsletter so you have their e-mail address for future mailings.

It's easy to set up these tools and we've listed a few tips at the end of the book on how to set it up quick and easy. Always check with your web host company to see if these tools are included with your hosting fee.

Otherwise, you can visit the site we listed for free scripts here.


If you need an objective opinion about how well your marketing campaign is working, your best option is to invest in an “external audit” by an independent or third party vendor. They will analyze your site and provide important data that will help you analyze how you will better spend your advertising dollars in the future.

BPA International (http://www.bpai.com)
Neilson Media Research (http://www.nielsenmedia.com)

These types of services track how many hits per month you get, what pages are hit the most often, where your visitors live, and when they visited your site. If you can correlate your hits to your advertising plan, you'll know what is and what is not working for you.

At this point, you may want to hire an advertising agency to market your site and let them be responsible for the entire process. As with any other campaign, you're free to hire someone new if you do not see results!

Cookies don’t attract customers, but the keep an eye on them!

You may also want to track your customers with cookies on your website. No, it won't attract customers to put out cookies for them, but you can track demographic information about them that will be very useful, so you can place the right banners in your website or lead them to the right page for new product releases, etc.

Be aware that cookies can be disabled by the visitor to your site for personal security reasons, but most users accept cookies. Marketing and tracking customer habits is what it takes to be successful in many markets, so you can bet they won't be less popular with  webmasters any time in the near future.  Which prompts many people to say: “Can you say big brother?”.

Adding live Voice Operators at your website to support your customers

Your web site can sell products all by itself, but you can also support the customer before, during and after the sale via the Internet. Live voice support via the Internet is one of the least expensive and powerful ways to do this. Some programs even allow you to share web pages and power point presentations.

In fact, I believe that some day, the computer will replace the phone, even for sales calls and other uses such as training. We will make our sales pitches from our computers, like we do from the phone today. We will demonstrate products and services live through a website on the Internet, complete with sound and pictures.

Some day we will even be able to operate the customer's computer from our computer, so we can take the customer to our web site and show them what we want them to see, learn or order.

The Talking Communities Software

Did you already know many of these options are already available today? Well it is and we'll tell you all about it and how to use it. Let's look at one example of this type of software now.

Visit my on demand conferencing room now to see how it works!

As you will see, you can use the package to talk to other users (real voice via a microphone and speakers), chat with them via the keyboard or take them to your web site or another web site for demonstrations.

You can do this with one user or with tens or hundreds of people at the same time.

The applications are unlimited for this revolutionary software.

- Sales
- Training
- Customer Support
- Radio Broadcasts. You can even record your sessions and allow others to listen to your presentations at a later date.

What do you need to use this service?

- Access to the Internet.
- A set of speakers to listen.
- A microphone to ask questions or make comments.

Of course you will to have all 3 because you will want to take clients to your web site for further consultation, closing the sale, after the sale training, or just to sign-up for your company newsletter, etc.

The list of uses is endless. All in all, a very powerful package, one that we utilize in our business every day. I am sure you will too.


Another option: Humanclick 

Talk to your website visitors – for free! Greet them yourself or wait for them to page you to ask you questions online. You will find that you will close more sales when you are available for your customers. Humanclick is a  great way to get to know your prospects and turn them into paying customers! It’s easy for everyone and your visitors don’t have to do download anything!

Visitors to a HumanClick enabled web site will be able to initiate a chat request by clicking on a button. The button is embedded in your site's web pages during the installation of HumanClick. Upon clicking this button, a chat window opens on the visitor's browser, and the site operator will receive a "request to chat" alert.

Click here to visit http://www.humanclick.com
You may want to review additional programs like this one, like Dialpad or ICQ that make communicating with your website visitors easy. We talk about them in the chapter about making your life easier, so be sure to read it!

Using forms to get data from the customer – which leads to our marketing chapter!

At least with forms, you’re honestly asking for the data from the customer. To me, this is the ultimate goal of a website. A form is the most important element of your website if it accomplishes your goals. If you’re in business, your ultimate goal is to get information from a customer, and a form is the only way to go!

Since you’re still reading, your goal must be to utilize one of the following:

·Purchase orders
·Feedback forms
·Registration forms
·Survey questionnaires
·Employee applications
·Membership and subscription forms
·Internal corporate communications
·Requests for further information
and much more!

Please think about what you would want to do with your forms, keeping in mind that the emphasis in this book is on capturing names for marketing purposes, specifically for e-zines and newsletters! We’ll be talking more about them when we get real serious about making money!

Accepting credit cards and other forms of payment from your website.

(Click here for a completely free book and newsletter that will tell you all about the topic!)

One of your major goals will be to set up your computer to accept orders via the Internet!

Let's talk about accepting payments automatically via the Internet. Let's start out by talking about accepting credit cards. You need to know foremost that it is so very, very important to the success of your business to be able to accept credit cards and bank drafts on your web site. Statistics show you will sell 65% more product from your web site if you do accept credit cards. We cover this topic extensively in another chapter in the book, and in the interest of saving space and paper we will not insert the entire chapter here. However, we do want to make a few very important notes on the following options all the same.

- Accepting credit cards.
- Accepting electronic checks.
- Accepting additional forms of payment.

Accepting payments over the Internet...

If you want more sales with less hassles, it is very important for you to automate this process. There are many ways to accept payments over the Internet, some more expensive than others and some more complicated than others. You will want to review the chapter on building your own web site for more detailed information, but here is a summary of the process and your goals for setting up an e-commerce based web site.

First, the process is as follows. The customer visits your website and reviews what you have for sale. The customer then chooses items he/she wishes to purchase, and places them in an electronic shopping cart. The customer can then add or remove more items from the shopping cart until they are ready to check out and pay for the items. This is called the check out procedure, just like what you do when you go shopping at the supermarket.

Now the customer provides information to the website such as

Customer name / Phone #.
Billing Address of customer.
Shipping address of customer.
Shipping method - overnight, 2nd day, ground, etc.
Payment method - credit card, electronic bank draft, etc.

At this point, all taxes and shipping expenses are calculated. Next, an electronic invoice is generated, sent to both the vendor (website owner - you) and customer via e-mail. Payment is collected via credit card or electronic draft check. Once the payment has been deposited in your account and verified (to protect you), the product is then shipped to the customer. In the case of electronic draft checks, the product may not be shipped to the customer until the check has cleared the customer's bank and been verified as being officially deposited in your bank account.

All in all, the system offers a great amount of flexibility to both buyer and seller and makes buying and selling products and services an effortless task.

Of course there are additional benefits to operating your store on the Internet and being an IBB (Internet based business), but one of my favorite concepts I often point out to people who tell me they want to open a second, third or fourth store location is this: "Why open another brick and mortar store when I've shown you the costs and benefits of opening a new location on the Internet?" This statement alone sells more web sites than any other, and it even convinces some people NOT to open a retail store!

(Please review the book on e-commerce for a full review of the benefits.)

The basic benefits of e-commerce are:

Customers can shop 24 hours per day.
Customers can perform complete research on products.
Customers can print out specifications and compare with other manufacturers.
Customers can save money by not paying sales tax (depending on state laws).
Customers can shop from the warmth and comfort of their home or office.
·Vendors can offer convenience, product information, and great prices.
·Vendors can offer a wider variety of product for sale.
·Vendors can drop ship products.

Again, because the Internet is a relatively new concept to most people, for these benefits to be realized, you need to be able to make it very convenient for them, particularly when talking about how you accept payments for your products.

(Click here for a completely free newsletter that will tell you all about the topic!)

Accepting checks over the phone:

If you don't understand accepting bank drafts, keep reading. If you'd like to be able to accept bank drafts, just visit http://www.checkman.com

Just know that it's easy to accept checks without actually seeing your customer. Anyone with a copy of CheckMAN!", a computer and a printer can legally accept a check via Phone, Fax, Email or the WWW! It's now Faster and Less Expensive than you would ever think! We have been successfully accepting this form of payment with tremendous success.

Say Good-bye to the high credit card merchant account fees! With CheckMAN!", you will have absolutely no recurring fees, or monthly charges! Your only other expense EVER will be to purchase blank checks! (About 5¢ each!) With this State-Of-The-Art program you can even print checks drawn on your own account ready to be signed made payable to who ever you would like.

The Internet is not the only way you can accept payments of course. The software also allows you to take a check via phone or fax. All you have to do is ask the customer for the information from one of their checks, including:

-The customer's name:
-The bank's name:
-The routing information:
-The checking account number:
-The check number from the account:

Of course, do not forget the amount of the sale, including shipping charges and any taxes that may apply.

Here is an example of how it works: You simply print the check from your computer onto a laser printer, and deposit the check into your checking account! It s that simple! The customer can even fax a voided check to you if that is easier for them. Here are a few words of caution however: You may want to wait for the check to clear their account to protect yourself.

Still, there are some major benefits to accepting checks this way. For one, it allows you to make sales that you might not otherwise make, specifically to people who do not have credit cards. In addition, the checks you print are also less expensive than accepting credit cards. I ve used programs that cost as little as 3 cents per check! All in all, this is a good start for anyone accepting payments for a product, via the Internet, fax or phone.

The only limitation of accepting checks is that you do have to wait for the check to clear at the bank. This can be particularly bad for anyone who wants to sell information or e-books via the Internet, because anyone who wants to buy your e-book usually wants to read it right now, and won't buy if they cannot have it in a matter of minutes or hours at most. For selling e-books and such, you need a better solution, and it's called Clickbank.

Accept payments via Clickbank

Clickbank is probably the fastest and easiest way I have found to quickly and easily sell your products on the Internet, especially if you are:

1. Not wanting to set up your own merchant account
2. Wanting to sell information based products (e-books/e-zines).
3. Wanting to set up an affiliate based program to allow others to sell your products.

ClickBank is the online billing and marketing solution used by thousands of web businesses that deliver unique products and services over the Internet itself (via web pages, files, or email). Their payment technology lets any web business (a seller) automatically pay sales commissions to any other web business (an affiliate) that links a paying customer to the seller.

Clickbank bills the customer, pays the seller, and pays the affiliate. All in all, Clickbank is an easy to use, easy to promote service. What that all means is that if you want to pay someone to sell your products for you and you want to let someone else collect the money for the sales, track the commissions and send out the checks to both you and your sales people, Clickbank is your vehicle.

In my humble opinion, it is the easiest way to sell items via the Internet, if you don't mind paying a slightly higher fee per transaction. But the simplicity of the program and the opportunity to have others sell your products for you make it an easy selection for many Internet marketers.

Of course there are additional programs out there that offer this service. If you're interested in more information about allowing others to sell your products, send me e-mail and I'll send you an update! Just send e-mail to: jddavin@mynewoffice.com and enter "reseller info" in the subject line.


Accepting payments via Paypal

Paypal allows Internet users with an e-mail address to send and receive money electronically through the Internet. The program is free for non-business entities (at the time of this writing) and charges a small fee for business users. This program is truly useful for anyone who wants to pay a bill, send money to a friend to pay for a movie, accept money for a sale or any other need for transferring money.

If you sell subscriptions, you will find this program especially useful. The program even allows you to collect money for subscriptions, and generates names and passwords for your subscribers! With a little work on your end you can set it up so it's all automated and a hands off, no labor operation.

Not only is the program a great concept, but I also believe the company is an example of an aggressive and progressive marketing concept. The company is experiencing tremendous growth, with this main concept: Instead of spending millions of dollars on advertising, they pay for referrals, plain and simple. They start out by paying the person who referred the customer $5.00 and they pay new customers $5.00 to sign up, so everyone wins.

These costs are well below the standard costs of customer acquisition today and they are signing up people like crazy. When I talked to customer support at Paypal today, they mentioned that they had 4,000,000 users after being in business for just a few short years. I said FOUR MILLION USERS! That means the program will become a standard in the industry. In fact, they are even one of the few Internet companies that plan to actually have an IPO this year, this week as a matter of fact.

You can sign up for a Paypal account here.


Final steps before publishing your website.


The entire goal of this book has been to to show you how to make it easy for your clients to find you on the Internet, find out what you sell, why they should buy it from you, and how to buy it from you.

We've also mentioned that after you publish your web site, you need to move on to marketing your web site (driving traffic to your web site and making it easy for people to find your web site) which we cover in our next book in our series as per below.

Here are just a few ideas you need to be thinking about as you complete your web site and get ready for the the next book on marketing.

I mention this now because if you need to make presentations or proposals on your website, you may want to look at these tools.

1. Templates for proposals from proposalkit.
2. Templates for power point presentations from animation factory.
3. A way to share these tools live through the Internet while you answer questions live, by voice over the Internet. Visit my ondemand conference room here to see how it works!
4. If you do decide to work with a webmaster, here is one web site developer I highly recommend. Me!

If you would like to work one-on-one with a marketing expert, you can consult with one of my contacts. Just contact me for help at jddavin@mynewoffice.com

 Now, here are a few items to check before you actually publish your website. If you’re like me, there’s always one item I forget to complete unless I make a list.

So, here are a few “MUST DO” items before you publish your website to the Internet and submit it to the search engines.

[  ] Review the chapter on what belongs on a Website by clicking here.

[ ] Run a spelling checker on every page in your web site. Don’t embarrass yourself by having a lot of misspelled words on your site. Almost every editor for making home pages has an automated spelling checker, use it and use it often, especially at the end of the process. Use it before you post your website for the first time, and every time you update your Website.

[ ] Run a grammar checker.“I did not know what I do” is not an excuse. Almost every editor for making home pages today has an automated grammar checker. Use it and use it often, especially at the end of the process. Use it before you post your website for the first time, and every time you update your Website.

[ ] Check the load time of website. Large images and lots of text can slow down load time of your website so drastically that you may lose customers and sales if it takes too long to load your website.

[ ] Review the description, Meta tags and key words. Check the title of your site (the description) for spelling errors, and makes sure all meta tags and key words are the ones you wish to use for maximum search engine success.

[ ] Check all links to make sure they are all active and directed to the correct site.

[ ] Check all forms to make sure the results are sent to you and that the data is  formatted correctly, in a usable fashion.
[ ] Finally, backup your entire website and take the backup disks or tape to a bank vault for safe keeping. You probably did not do this the first time, so we’re asking you to do it again.


Now go ahead and copy the files to the server.

Now get started making plans to get your web site built!

You should pretty much be ready to get started now. Here is a place to keep track of the steps you must take and the details about your web site.

Best regards, John Davin


SPECIFIC STEPS TO GETTING YOUR WEB SITE COMPLETED
AND A WAY TO KEEP TRACK OF ALL THE DETAILS FOR YOUR WEB SITE:

[ ] Decide on a domain name for your web site

[ ]Search for your domain name
[ ]Register your domain name
[ ]Request an appraisal

[ ] Search for availability of domain name:
(site 1 ___________________________.______) Available? [ ] Y [ ] N

[ ] Search for availability of domain name:
(site 2 ___________________________.______) Available? [ ] Y [ ] N
[ ] Search for availability of domain name:
(site 3 ___________________________.______) Available? [ ] Y [ ] N

[ ] Search for expired domain names (registered/not paid for, now available)

[ ] Request an appraisal for the value of your website domain name

Final Domain name chosen: _____________________________ Date: ______/_____/_______

Domain expires: ___/____/___ Notes: _______________________________________________

Registrar: __________________________ Web site ____________________________________

User name: ______________________ Password: _______________ FTP SITE ____________

Cost / Month $__________

# MB storage ___________ # MB transfer / month ___________ # e-mail accounts: ________

# e-mail accounts: ________ # e-mail responders __________ # Discussion boards _______

Write down the information about your server/host here,
or write it down in your checklist for success.
[ ] Decide on a host server (if you do not choose a free server)

Examples [ ] Internet marketer's dream - all in one service! [ ] Cheap with great support!

Company: _________________________ Phone:________ ___________________

Contact: ____________________________ User Name: ________________________

Password __________________ Ftp: ______________________________________

Domain site: _____________________________

Address: _____________.____________.____________._____

Mb/Storage: ______________Mb Transfer / Mo.________________ Other Services: #e-mail accounts: _____

# e-mail responders [ ] Y [ ] N #__________ Message Boards: [ ] Y [ ] N #_______

Merchant account [ ] Y [ ] N (Download your free "How to" e-book here)

[ ] Submit your site to the search engines.

Web Site Title: _______________________________________________________________________


Description of site:
_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

Key words/Metatags:

1. ______________________ 2. ________________________ 3. _______________________

4. ______________________ 5. ________________________ 6. _______________________

7. ______________________ 8. ________________________ 9. _______________________

10. _____________________11. ________________________12. _______________________

13. _____________________14. ________________________15. _______________________

Again, we'll teach you more about marketing in the next book, but for now, write down the key words and phrases that are related to your web site for your search engine submittal. Or write it down in your checklist for success if you have purchased it.

Search Engines (Directories) Submitted to:

[ ] Yahoo
[ ] Google

Note: There are thousands of directories, but you can start with those.

Software options:
Web Position Gold in an excellent program for submitting your web site to hundreds of web sites at one time.
Download a free demo here.

Look into pay per click to bring traffic to your site.

[ ] Overture
[ ] Hootingowl
[ ] Goclick

NOTE: There are hundreds of pay per click sites. My personal opinion;
Overture Delivers Results You Can't Ignore. Only Overture search listings reach over 80% of active U.S. Internet users with just one buy.

Promote yourself off the net, with these easy tools.

[ ] Consider setting up a web site (free of charge) to promote yourself with items that bear your logo, such as hats, coats, mouse pads, etc. It's free and easy to set up for your clients (or your own use) at cafepress.

That's just a few ideas we have included in this book, if you want more ideas, please be sure to read our next book in the series.

PS: We've covered just a few business topics in this book. If you'd like a checklist like this one that covers every aspect of your business, click here.


How to work with a webmaster (A checklist and schedule).

If you do decide to work with a web master to build your site, here are a few tips to get you started.

Start by contacting prospective webmasters.


Here are a few source of webmasters

Start by asking for references and examples of their work. Check up on their references, and then fill out this form with them. Be sure to be very confident and be very diligent in setting up the terms of the agreement, completion dates and marketing goals and schedules if you agree to work with them to build your dream web site! The real winner from taking this extra time and effort now will will be you.

Company name: __________________________________________________________________________

Webmaster name: __________________________________ Phone___________________________ ext______

Web site: _____________________________________ e-mail: ________________________________________

Address: ___________________________________________ City: _________________________Zip: ___

COST PER ITEM:

Cost per hour - Design$ ________ Programming $_______ Updates to site $_________

Logo included [ ] Yes [ ] No

Cost for e-commerce solutions: $_______________ Total per month fees ___________ OR BREAK IT DOWN:

Merchant account: Initial fee $________ Monthly $_______ Charge per transaction $____ % charged ____

Gateway Initial fee $________________________ Monthly fee $_______________

COST PER CONTRACTED WEB SITE (one total package price)

Cost for project $_______________ Start date: ______________________ End date: _________________

Includes: Hosting Y___N___ how long? [ ] 6 month [ ] 12 months [ ] Included in monthly payment

Free updates Y___N___

e-commerce enabled Y___N___ Merchant Account? Y__N __ Gateway Y__N __

Forms Y___N___ Graphics Y___N___ Chat lines Y___N___ Guest books Y___N___ e-Newsletters Y___N___

e-mail responders Y___N___ Discussion Boards Y___N___

Search engine submittal Y___N___
To which search engines?
__________________________________________________________________________________

How often will the site be submitted? ___________________________________________________

Notes: __________________________________________________________________________________

Notes: __________________________________________________________________________________

Notes: __________________________________________________________________________________

Notes: __________________________________________________________________________________

Responsibilities of each party:

Item: ___________________________________________Date Due _____________ Fines ______________

Item: ___________________________________________Date Due _____________ Fines ______________

Item: ___________________________________________Date Due _____________ Fines ______________

Down payment made by: Date _______Check # _______ Credit card _____

Final payment made by: Date _______Check # _______ Credit card _____

Suggested Stages:

1. Discussion of needs for web site.

2. Layout by customer on 10 sheets of paper for each function of web site page what they envision for web site.

3. Proposal for web site consultation, design, implementation and maintenance by web master.

4. Acceptance or decline of contract.

5. If moving forward, discuss time table of all elements of web site project further.

6. All images of employees, products, etc. And names of employees, phone numbers and more, delivered to web master.

7. Discussion and selection of key words and description of web site for search engine submittals is finalized.

8. Web site development begins.

9. Web site is completed.

10. Web site is reviewed and approved (hopefully) by company paying for web site.

11. Search engine submittals and other marketing begins.

12 Schedule regular meetings to discuss marketing of site, future updates, etc.

Meeting date: ___ / ___ / ___ [ ] Meeting in conference room [ ] Phone call [ ] e-mail.
Meeting date: ___ / ___ / ___ [ ] Meeting in conference room [ ] Phone call [ ] e-mail.
Meeting date: ___ / ___ / ___ [ ] Meeting in conference room [ ] Phone call [ ] e-mail.
Meeting date: ___ / ___ / ___ [ ] Meeting in conference room [ ] Phone call [ ] e-mail.

A place to take notes for your web site:

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

Summary:

I have covered three different ways to create web sites in this book because there are simply many different types of readers, levels of expertise and end user needs.

There are also simply way too many software programs to use to build your web site to review them all here, so you will want to try different programs to test for what fits your needs.

If you still want someone to consult with you to make a website for you from start to finish, contact me and I’ll put you in touch with someone right away! Simply send a message to me at jddavin@mynewoffice.com

Now your next step is to get to work marketing your web site.

In our next book, we cover many ways to market your web site, such as creating your own e-zine, banner exchanges, and even off-line tools such as business cards, networking clubs and advertising in other mediums.

 Of course there are hundreds of ways to market your web site, and you'll want to start by submitting your web site to the search engines.

If you're ready to move on to the section that covers marketing from a to z, please fasten your seat belt, because we are about to change gears and head in that direction in the next book.

Click here for our next book on marketing.

If you found this book useful and want access to more books by John Davin, click here for more books by John Davin

Best regards,

John Davin

Copyright (C) 2003 John Davin


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