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Youve Found Your Guru, Now What?
In my last article, "Follow That Guru", I told you about the one (1) simple technique I used when starting my home business, "A Name". Now everyone wants to know what to do next. OK, here it goes. You've found your Guru, and you know what kind of home business you want to start. Your next step is to get a website. Now, there is a lot involved in launching a website. That's not as easy as it sounds. Sure, it's not "Rocket Science" or anything like that, but it will take you a while to get it started. When I got to this point, I had no idea that a professional website would cost so much. As I researched all the different Web Designing Companies, the prices ranged between $899 and $1500 to get a website built. I was on a VERY tight budget, and could not afford to spend that much money, so I decided to go BACK to the place where it all began. The Forums. First, do a search on Google for "Web Designer Forums". It will bring up a list of about 26,000,000 search results. The best ones are on the first 5-6 pages so take you time and go through each one checking to see if they have a place to post for "Help Wanted" or "Freelance Opportunities, or something to that effect. There are a lot of Web Designers that are looking for exposure and want to build up their portfolio. Most of which will design you a website for free in exchange for having their logo on your site. You just have to go about it the right way. They will be doing you a big service for nothing. So offer them a little more than just having their logo on your site. Give them some free advertising by allowing them to put a banner on your home page, and/or offer them a percentage of the profits. Whatever the two of you agree on is up to you. Next, start looking for a "domain name". Come up with a name that will be easy for your customer to remember. Let's say, you're starting a "doggie treat" business. The name of your business is "Fidos Bark-O-Ruff-it Treats". Now, "fidosbarkofuffittreats.com" would be a very hard name for the customers to remember, but "fidostreats.com" would be perfect. Keep your domain names as short and as close to the point as possible. Go to www.nameboy.com to check the availability of your domain name. If you are having trouble coming up with one, just put in a couple of keywords relevant to your website like, "bark, ruff, treats, dog, etc, and it will give you a list of domain names that you can choose from. Then, once you have your domain name, you need to register it and get a hosting company for your site. In most cases, you can register your domain name with your hosting company, so be sure to do that before you sign up. Now there are free hosting sites out there, but if I were you, I wouldn't go with any of those. I'm not saying that they are bad, but if you're like I was and didn't know what I was doing in the beginning, you'll want a hosting package that will offer the most support. You can get a good hosting package for about $5 a month. I use www.dot5hosting.com Take a look at this hosting company and see if it would meet your needs. If not, do a Google search for "Hosting", and you will be sure to find a good one that is in your budget. OK, now you're on your way. You have your website, your domain name, and your hosting package. The next thing you have to do is find content for your site. For you to get noticed by the Search Engines, your site must be "content rich", which means that you need to have a lot of valuable information for your visitors to read and see. Say you're still in the "doggie treat" business. Articles with information on dogs are a must. Find all the information you can on dogs, dog food, dog toys etc. You can even go to other websites that offer dog products, and look at the kind of information they have, and how their website is laid out. This will give you an idea of the type of information you need to make your site successful. You can do a poll in the "dog lovers" forums, asking dog owners what kinds of treats their dogs like. Then add the results to your website. Be creative. The more creative you are, the more likely you are to get more visitors. Offer something that no other "dog" website offers. Remember, the key to traffic is INFORMATION. Another way to get traffic is to trade links with other sites like your own. There are many "linking programs" out there, but the two I use are www.linkmetro.com and www.linkmarket.com All you have to do is to sign up and enter some keywords about your website, and you'll begin getting offers from others website owners that would like to link to your site. It's that easy. Now you know what you need to do next. Just don't forget about the person that got you started. Your Guru. They are there to help you in every step of the process of building your online business. Keep asking them for their advice. You are not only building an online business, your building a relationship too. ©2005 Lavonda Thigpen, All Rights Reserved Lavonda Thigpen worked in Advertising for 15 years. She got tired of working for someone else so she "Fired the Boss" and "Hired her Family", and never looked back. She had always wanted to own her own business, and work from home. She started the website http://www.ez2workathome.com in order to help people that were wanting to start a home based business. If you're looking for a way to start your own home business, go to her site for more information, articles, links, e-books and products to find what's right for you.
Latest News:Site: Yahoo! News Search Results for news Myanmar's Suu Kyi to get family letters, news mags (Reuters via Yahoo! News) Detained Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has managed to wring small concessions from the ruling generals in the form of letters from her family and some international news magazines, her lawyer said on Friday. JCDecaux in talks for News Outdoor Group in Russia (AP via Yahoo! News) French outdoor advertising firm JCDecaux SA said Thursday it is negotiating to buy Russian rival News Outdoor Group from global media company News Corp. News Corp tightens grip on Premiere with new CEO (Reuters via Yahoo! News) Rupert Murdoch tightened his grip on German pay-TV broadcaster Premiere by appointing News Corp executive Mark Williams as CEO in a move to get the company back on track. SEC Looks Into UAL Stock Scare; Implications For Online News? (CBS News) A ton of digits have been devoted to this in other spots but the SEC's decision to investigate takes it to another level. The backstory: a six-year-old news story about UAL declaring bankruptcy made it into the Tribune-owned Sun-Sentinel 's current news flow, was picked up by a Google (NSDQ: GOOG) News bot and, via a reporter for a newsletter, made it onto Bloomberg News. After a lot of buck ... JCDecaux and News Corp. in talks to combine outdoor ad groups (International Herald Tribune) The News Corp. chief executive, Rupert Murdoch, has recently expressed nervousness about investments in Russia, where News Outdoor generated the bulk of its revenue last year. SEC Looks Into UAL Stock Scare; Implications For Online News? (paidContent.org via Yahoo! Finance) A ton of digits have been devoted to this in other spots but the SEC's decision to investigate takes it to another level. The backstory: a six-year-old news story about UAL declaring bankruptcy made it into the Tribune-owned Sun-Sentinel's current news flow, was picked up by a Google News bot and, via a reporter for a newsletter, made it onto Bloomberg News. JCDecaux in talks to buy News Corp. billboard unit (AP via Yahoo! Finance) In a deal that would create the world's largest outdoor advertising company, French conglomerate JCDecaux SA said Thursday that it is in talks to buy Russian rival News Outdoor Group from global media company News Corp. Phila. mayor to announce grim budget news (The Philadelphia Inquirer) The Nutter administration is expected to announce grim budget news today, which is all but certain to lead to significant spending cuts - perhaps as high as 10 percent - in some city departments, according to three sources familiar with the budget. News Corp says Mark Williams interim Premiere CEO (Reuters via Yahoo! News) News Corp. executive Mark Williams has taken over as chief executive of German pay-TV broadcaster Premiere in an interim capacity, News Corp. said after the move led to renewed takeover speculation. News Corp. says Mark Williams interim Premiere CEO (Reuters via Yahoo! News) Mark Williams, a News Corp. executive named late on Wednesday as chief executive of German pay-TV broadcaster Premiere, has taken over in an interim capacity, a News Corp. spokeswoman said on Thursday. Site: news - Google News Phil Schiller bringing the news at Macworld - San Francisco Chronicle
MORE RESOURCES: Site: Yahoo! News Search Results for entrepreneurialism Lone Star Library: Green Mountain founder shares entrepreneurial insights (Fort Worth Business Press) Rural Southerner Sam Wyly came by his self-made captain-of-industry status the hard way, developing a passion for business strategy by playing schoolboy football and observing his parents? natural gift for small-business operations and hard-bargain bartering. S.C.'s brightest complete Business Week (Columbia Star) Approximately 200 high school students from across S.C. have successfully graduated from South Carolina Business Week, presented by the South Carolina Cable Television Association, July 13- 18, at Presbyterian College in Clinton. Wellington West opens Montreal branch (CNW Group via Yahoo! Finance) Wellington West Holdings Inc., a privately held, employee-owned financial services firm, today announced the expansion of its national network with the opening of a Wellington West Capital Inc. full-service retail investment branch in Montreal, Quebec. Ctek Selects Kyocera 300 Module for Z4100 Wireless Router (Centre Daily Times) Kyocera Wireless Corp. (KWC), a leading global manufacturer of wireless handsets, devices and embedded machine-to-machine (M2M) modules, and Ctek, a leading manufacturer of specialized communications solutions for industrial and commercial applications, today announced the selection of the Kyocera 300 Module for Ctek's cost-effective Z4100 Router. The Kyocera 300 Module enables reliable, ... Memphis confident of growth campaign (Memphis Commercial Appeal) One year after the launch of a $64 million economic development campaign, city officials are increasingly optimistic about the impact of MemphisED on the Bluff City. Summer break project: JTCC student lives, learns nonprofit leadership with Pheonix Project (The Petersburg Progress-Index) CHESTER ? Jamie Poniatowski, a Class of 2008 human services major, spent her summer break in Petersburg, participating in the Phoenix Project?s 2008 Nonprofit Leadership and Social Entrepreneurship Program, which transforms committed undergraduate and graduate students into effective social entrepreneurs with the knowledge, skills and connections to succeed in Virginia?s nonprofit sector. Ctek Selects Kyocera 300 Module for Z4100 Wireless Router (Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance) SAN DIEGO & RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif.----Kyocera Wireless Corp. , a leading global manufacturer of wireless handsets, devices and embedded machine-to-machine modules, and Ctek, a leading manufacturer of specialized communications solutions for industrial and commercial applications, today announced the selection of the Kyocera 300 Module for Ctek?s cost-effective Z4100 Router. $1 Million Opus Prize Finalists Announced (PR Newswire via Yahoo! Finance) Seattle University and the Opus Prize Foundation today announced three finalists for the $1 million 2008 Opus Prize, one of the world's largest humanitarian service awards. Guided by faith and an entrepreneurial spirit, Marguerite "Maggy" Barankitse, Krishnammal Jagannathan and Michael Woodard are working throughout the world to give people the tools to transform their lives. Scotiabank Online Small Business Contest Last Call (CNW Group via Yahoo! Finance) The chance for Canadian small business owners to win $50,000 in cash prizes is coming to a close. As part of Scotiabank's 'Get Growing to a Million' Campaign, the online challenge has offered small business owners across Canada a chance to win one grand prize of $20,000 and six regional prizes of $5,000. In cinemas this weekend (Guardian Unlimited) RocknRolla | The Duchess | Bangkok Dangerous | Disaster Movie | Sweete Land | El Cantante | Never Apologise | Mera Pind My Home Site: entrepreneurialism - Google News Ohio House Speaker Budish touts regionalism in his first address - WKYC-TV
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