Archive for September, 2008
Your Design is Important
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Today I was reading some other posts on website design and how important or not important it is to your visitors and your conversation.
Well I came across this port by Terry Dean that is just awesome and oh sooo true and you should read it!
Head over there now and take what he says to heart!
These tips are what every person out there needs to do and consider when they are building any type of website, it doesn’t matter if you are building a website for business or not, if you want to build a relationship with your visitors and build that trust you need to be doing these things.
Laura
http://laurasbasicstowebdesign.com
Who Do You Listen to?
Posted by: | CommentsHi everyone, boy have I been all over the web lately. Who do you listen to when you need advice?
I needed some software to help me convert some audio so I could place it on my website, and boy there were a lot of different people giving me different ideas. Confusing?
I read article after article, blog post, and everything in between and everyone had their own idea what worked.
This got me to thinking, that not everything you read will work for you. You have to decide if who you are listening to is really worth it.
Let me tell ya a little story here…
When I first came online about 6 years ago, I listened to the first person I came across, I was new, real new.. and she steered me completely wrong. After about 3 years of listening to her, I then realized I was doing this all wrong and needed to find someone else to help me out. I followed at least 3 other people, all telling me what to do and how to do things. Everything they said made perfect sense, but you know what? At the end of the day I still had nothing to show for all my hard work. So what did I do?
I decided to step back, take a break and rethink just what I wanted to do online, what was my business going to be. That’s when I decided to listen to myself and not everyone else on what I wanted. Once I knew what I wanted I then knew the proper people to contact and listen to.
Ever since, things have definitely turned around for me.
So the moral of this story, is listen to yourself on what YOUR Dreams are not what someone else says you can do. Once you find your dreams, then you have your niche and then start building on that niche to make it a profitable business online.
Just about any passion you have or hobby, can make you money, you Do Not have to stick within the Internet Marketing niche. In fact, some will tell you that is the biggest mistake to do as it is so over saturated. So don’t be afraid to look outside of Internet Marketing and look for your hobby or passion and build from there, you will do much better if you do.
Remember, the number one way to see if your niche and your dreams can be reached is to do your research before diving in.
Never, ever, just throw up a website or blog and think you can make money without that foundation of research. It is a Must!!!
Just a little something that was on my mind today, and I thought I’d share it with you. As this is such an overlooked step most everyone makes, especially the beginners, as they want the pie in the sky yesterday and dont’ realize this is a business!!! You have to work at it.
So if nothing else please take away, that you much work at this, to get it started, but once it is set up and working it will pretty much be on auto pilot and you can live your dreams. But do the research and build your foundation First!!!!
Take care,
Laura
ps
Don’t forget to leave your comments as I do check them regularly and will reply back to you.
WordPress Lessons Contest
Posted by: | CommentsHey folks, I just was over at Mike Paetzold’s blog Wptutorial and he is giving away one spot to his Wordpress Lessons.
I know I am participating, as I’ve been following Mike for sometime now and he is the to go guy when it comes to learning all about Wordpress blogs. He’s got tons of information from setting up your very first blog to the advanced methods of getting top search engine ranking and traffic that never ends.
I encourage anyone at all beginner or novice if you have a blog or want to start a blog then Wordpress Lessons is the place to start.
So make sure you head over NOW to Wordpress Lessons and take part in this contest and maybe you might get a spot in Mike Paetzold Wordpress Lessons.
See you over there 
Laura
Should I Build a Web Site?
Posted by: | CommentsEveryone wants to be up to date on the latest things going on, and this doesn’t change if you are an online marketer, it’s still very important to stay up to date with all that’s going on. One thing you will learn and learn quickly is that you need to build a web site.
Why you ask?
Because it’s how people can find you and how you can tell others about your business, no matter what it is, the young people have even started to build their own web sites, to share things with their friends.
Before deciding about building your website, I find more and more people not realizing the expense it takes to not only build the website but to have it hosted and maintained. If you are just starting out, take in to consideration that big isn’t better when it comes to hosting companies.
You can get good reliable hosting without the big price tag, if you do your homework. Getting hosting at a low prices does not mean you are getting a good deal, you will probably not get the quality of hosting you expected, to be careful and ask questions to the hosting company prior to purchasing.
Next, would hiring a professional be affordable? Is it the best option? For simple websites, we could always pick up the coding, or even use programs, as it is relatively simple.
However, when it comes to more complex coding, and when you want it to do a tad more than just providing information, hiring help in doing so would be the best way. Not only in terms of design, but security is also a key factor in assuring a quality website. If the website also acts as a portal for businesses, security would definitely be the issue here.
So, with the above information and information you obtain from others, do you really need to build a web site? If you want to make your website boost sales and promote yourself, then Yes of course you need to build a website. Just always remember to research and plan things out, no matter what you do! This is the key to success!
Laurasbasicstowebdesign.com
Where does your website live?
Posted by: | CommentsI know strange title for a blog post, eh?
Well that’s how I look at my website domain name and hosting. Your website domain name is the address of where it lives, like www.lauras.com where lauras is the address.
And the hosting is where is resides the property so to speak.
I’ve had some folks say they don’t see why the need a domain name or hosting for them to build a website. Well this is probably true, you can of course use Notepad or even Wordpad to build a complete website with HTML. But what they don’t realize is that by doing this no one is going to see the website but them or if someone is standing behind them and looking at the computer.
So it is essential to have both a domain name and hosting to have a functional website. There are of course, just like everything else, research has to be done. You have to find just the right domain name that explains what your website is about, not just any name either, take your time to really think about what your website is about.
And of course if you intend for others to visit your website and learn what you are about and what your website has to offer them, you need hosting.
Think of hosting like you think of your rent or mortgage, you have to pay it monthly or you will lose it. The one difference is that with a hosting company you can pay for a year at a time, or up to 6 months, where I don’t know of a mortgage company or landlord that allows this, but you get the idea.
Just like when you are looking for just the right mortgage company or landlord, you investigate them and their company, you have to investigate the hosting company also, Not all hosting companies are a like. Don’t always take what is on a website to heart, anyone can write anything, Investigate them!
You can do a google search for the company name, see how it ranks.
Look to see what others are saying about them in the testimonials
Is there a Real address and not a po box
Is there an actual phone number you can call and talk to a Real Person not some voice mail stuff, do they offer email support. If they do call them and/or write the support desk, how do they respond. How long does it take them to respond.
A good reliable hosting company will usually respond within24 hours, the max is 48 hours and with curtious and friendly people not some automated stuff either.
There are thousands of good hosting companies online, it take time to research and find the right one for you and your needs. Think not only of your needs now, but of your future needs as well. Will the hosting company provide you with all the support you will need and be able to grow with you and your business.
I’ve been online for a few years now, and believe me I’ve been through a few hosting companies, some good and some absolutely terrible. And for the ones I’ve worked with the best one as of today has got to be Hostgator.
Hostgator is always there with quick responses, usually less than 24 hours. They work with me until the problem is solved. They are patient and curtious and don’t treat me like a dummy. They’ve been able to accomadate my needs with my business as it grows.
So if you are looking for a good reliable hosting company I would definitely recommend you take a good look at Hostgator put them through the test and see for yourself just how reliable and good they are.
Just remember not all hosting companies are the same!
I hope you’ve learned something from this post and will leave a comment below to let me and others know.
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