Your Options For Getting Your Own Website
In this day and age, there are several reasons to have your own website. Maybe you have a business and you want to promote your services or reach a worldwide client base. Maybe you'd like to showcase your photography, literature, art, or other work. Or perhaps you're hoping to use a website to generate quick income through advertising and other internet marketing strategies. Whatever your personal incentive may be, one question remains consistent: how should you approach the task of getting your own website? The answer to this question will not be the same for everyone. We'll take a look at the options you have available to you and the questions you'll need to ask yourself in order to make the best decision to fit your personal website needs.
Your Options
There exists three optional routes that can bring you to having your own website. The first of your options, the longest and most time-consuming, would be to learn how to build and manage your website on your own. This path is suitable for anyone attracted to the idea of eventually starting your own web development business or possibly performing freelance work as a web developer. However, it could take years to develop these skills.
The second route available, a much shorter process, is to use a web design/development company’s services. This will allow you to incorporate a highly advanced design and an unlimited amount of web functionality. Your website could be launched in just a few months. The flaw here would be the cost, which would escalate with your website needs and can usually range from $500 to $6,000+. If you’d like to have a better idea of what kind of costs you would be looking at for your specific needs, you can request a free quote from several web design/development companies.
The third and final optional route, the quickest and cheapest, is to use an “easy as 1-2-3” website builder. The monthly expense for these types of services can run as low as $5 dollars. The first thing you'll need to do in this "1-2-3" process, is choose a pre-built website template which has been professionally designed. Subsequently, you modify the web pages with your own content which usually consists of text, graphics, and a logo. Lastly, you publish it, and there it is–your own website and in only a matter of minutes. Yet, as always, there is always a disadvantage–this route is limited on both advanced web functionality and design.
Which Option is For You?
Since you now know what your options are, there are a few questions you'll need to ask yourself to help you determine which of them is the best for you.
You should be aware of your financial allowance and ask yourself what amount of money you are willing and able to spend and hence, what level of creative control on your website design you would be able to sacrifice in exchange for saving time and money.
If you have a limited budget, you may want to use the cheap and easy as "1-2-3" website builder approach. Nevertheless, if you are not willing to negotiate absolute design control, the only option you are left with is to take the time to hunt down the better deal with different web design/development companies.
You'll have to consider what kind of functionality your website will need. For instance, do you need to provide a newsletter email sign-up form or need to sell services or products? Once again, if costs are of little or no concern, the more fitting option is to go with a web design/development company. But, if you're concerned with cutting costs, you can first decide whether or not a "1-2-3" website builder can meet your web needs. These days it is even possible to create and operate an e-commerce website with a simple website builder. It is important that you do your research instead of making assumptions about the limitations of a website builder.
As with anything, you always have the option to learn how to make a website on your own. If you are willing to put in the work to achieve this, the benefits will prove to be worthwhile. Obtaining these skills can enable you to be transformed into a freelance web developer, gain employment at a web design/development company, give you that technical edge that numerous companies are looking for in a prospective employee, generate profit from advertising on your websites, and more.
Whether you want to attain new skills, give your business a web presence to hike up sales, or just have the liberty to post your content, having a website can open up many opportunities for your undertaking. Take a moment to examine your needs and select the best approach to serve your website purpose.
The Myth Of Original Creators
We recently wrote about how many different sources Shakespeare used in writing King Lear , some of which he apparently copied verbatim. However, it seems quite likely that what Shakespeare did with those words created something wholly unique and valuable (at least, it's withstood the tests of time). Yet, this idea that taking the works of others and doing something with them to make them new and wonderful seems to be an anathema to the "true believers" in copyright, who insist that creativity
links for 2009-07-02
The Republic of T. » Blooming Late, Blogging Late Now, I find myself worrying that maybe I missed my opportunity to “be somebody” or “make something of myself.” There’s a feeling that something is passing me by right now, and I can’t catch it; that I missed the boat because I got to the dock a couple of decades too late. (tags: life career ) Creating Passionate Users: It's not too late to be a genius It's never too late to be creative. It's never too late to make a difference.
Covered in Umbrellas / U. de Talca
The initial[1] idea was thought provoking: construct a covering using 400 red umbrellas (outside of their intended purpose) suspended over the new pedestrian mall in the city of Talca to create a visual impression of the inhabitants of a city in which it is uncommon to see daring displays in public spaces. This lack of innovation seems to come in part, from others creating similar urban displays based only on previously proved ideas as well as the minute demand for this type of “product” by t
No Fun City documentary tackles Vancouver’s declining music scene
Vancouver is losing it’s culture! While the creativity and talent of new artists and musicians is on a steady increase, the outlets these arts need in order to reach an audience is rapidly decreasing. There has been a sweep of smaller venues closing and a sense that those who run this city are trying to contain any sort of nightlife to “The Entertainment District” – a small patch of the downtown hub, located primarily on Granville Street, that houses a small collection of generic dance clubs and
How to Write a Novel - Sharing Your Words With the World
Everyone has a story - it does not matter, if the story is fictional, fantasy or how to manual - everyone has a story. So if you are stuck on one small, insignificant detail - namely, that you do not think you know how to write new fiction book, there is hope just over the horizon. Carry on, brave writer, and you too will be published one day! There are many online resources available to a writer, so the Internet access and start using today - after all, is a new kind of inside you, just waiting for the birth. Is a midwife, then the idea of your!
Of course, you want to write new fiction book, not just keep a journal, so you will need a plan to follow, because the curse of a writer is lack of discipline. Set a place and time to learn how to write a novel, and stick to it no matter what happens. Wrote some of the words in a day, resist the urge to revise any of its. Wait until you have finished your fiction novel and only then should you edit - or better yet, have someone else read it over and make suggestions.
Now, you will need to develop a story, a plot, characters, and decided what kind of story to tell. Many authors propose that the actual thing, you know first-hand the best way to learn how to write fiction. Do you know how to ride a horse? You have a horse race? Has adopted a number of writers to write their own careers, they know what. You can do it too! Try starting with a specific program, one that helps you structure your writing schedule to accomplish a novel in 30 days or perhaps 100 days. No matter what method you choose, as long as the began to write - every day!
The perks of writing a new novel
Let's be honest here: Writing a new fiction book is no small task. Yes, I know that e-books have claimed to show you how to complete a new 30 days, but it can not do, at least not a new novels. Producing 70-odd thousand words is a big enough challenge alone. But to learn the rules of how to plot a novel and how to create characters and all the rest of it (which is the position a newcomer would find themselves in)…well, let's just say that two or three years is a more realistic estimate of how long writing a new fiction book will take you.
What is the payback for all this hard work? What can you expect to get out of it?
To be honest, the perks of writing a novel will be different for everyone. For some, making money from their fiction will be the prize they keep their eyes on. For others, it might be the promise of fame (or, God help you, celebrity). For many more, the creative challenge alone will be sufficient.
For what it is worth, here is what motivates me (and what doesn't)…
First up, it isn't the money (honestly!) Is not a wealth, a best-selling novel may not be welcome to my bank account, but I was lying, if I claim that it is money, I wrote a letter of motivation.
The same thing goes for fame. (I will be happy to the glare of the spotlight, thank you very much for.) Even the possibility of writing a truly great novel and going down in literary history doesn't do it for me (well, maybe a little). You see, all these things are rewarding, you will receive your novel before publication. Before this can occur, you face many years of hard work, there is no guarantee that any publication. And even if your fiction books is published, it is unlikely to be successful enough to enable you to quit the day job (sorry, but those are the cold facts). To put it simply, if the fame and wealth, and then seek to write your novel may not be the best climb aboard the train.
Online Book Marketing - Where Authors Are Going Wrong
The more I work with authors like you to help them get the ins and outs of online book marketing, the more I see that there are 5 basic and fundamental mistakes that more than 90% of authors consistently make.
If you can manage to avoid mistakes like these five, you'll definitely be ahead of most authors…light years ahead. So, here are five things to avoid when marketing your books online:
1. Flawed Keyword Research
This is the #1 big kahuna and the place where 99% of authors quite simply stuff it up.
Most authors — including the ones I've worked with — haven't had success using the Internet to market their books simply because they don't approach the process the way someone who's used to selling things online would do it. Namely, there's almost never a plan put in place that will allow them to find, target and eventually dominate a set of keywords that are related to their books.
To succeed online isn't rocket science, but it does mean that you need to truly grasp the concept of keyword research, of long-tail keywords, and how to determine which keywords are worth going after and which aren't.
Lucky for us you can get access to tools that can do all three. You can find them at the links at the end of this article. Be sure to check them out.
2. Lack of Content
Surprisingly, even prolific authors with many books to their credit — gifted writers who can write volumes on their topic — somehow think that they can skate by online with just a few pages (or even paragraphs!) of content.
Untrue.
The reality is this — you need lots and lots of content to keep the search engines happy.
This is why huge portals like Wikipedia can manage to attract so many visitors. They have millions of pages in Google's index.
How many of your site's pages does Google know exist? I would guess that's somewhere between 2 and 5.
You'll never rank well for anything other than your name with that kind of site. Bottom line: don't think you can shortchange people online.
If you want your site found, and you want potential readers to care about your book, demonstrate why they should by providing great free content upfront.
3. Not paying enough — or any — attention to Social Marketing & Web 2.0
If you haven't noticed, the Internet is changing. In just the past couple of years, sites like Facebook, Digg, YouTube, and EzineArticles.com — and, of course, Twitter — have dramatically shifted the way we interact online.
We've been through a seismic shift in the way news and information is not only delivered, but also in how it's filtered — the "average guy" sitting in a cubicle in his office can catapult a story to the top of the news, no matter what some out-of-touch editor somewhere happens to think about it.
You should be using the sites mentioned above. If you're not, you're missing out on one of the biggest opportunities for authors in generations.
(You can check out the links down below for lots of resources that will definitely help you find a heap of sites where you should be getting the word out about your books.)
4. Failing to Build a Loyal Following
It's incredible how many writers don't jump on the most powerful online marketing tool there is — the ability to grow a base of support and loyal fans through things like mailing lists, or "followers" on Twitter, or subscribers to an RSS feed, or any number of other strategies that traditional Internet marketers use everyday.
Why is this important? Because it's always true that people who already know your work and like it will be much easier to sell more "stuff" to.
When someone buys your book, they become the ideal candidate to buy anything you write in the future.
But when you don't have a system in place to reach those people who bought your first book, you'll be going through the entire process of attracting and acquiring new readers over and over and over again.
Wouldn't you say it would be a lot easier to just send an email or two to your existing fans?
Or simply to create a blog post to announce another book?
This is the way authors build empires.
5. Focusing on the Sale
Huh? That's a mistake? But that's the main point, right?
Sometimes.
The basic argument I'm making here is that simply focusing only on book sales — and ignoring the other stuff, like #4 above — means that you're shortchanging yourself when it comes to building a loyal base of fans online. And it's this "base" that can be relied on to buy things from you over and over again.
Is it better to settle for selling one or two books per day now, or would you rather be selling thousands of books a day just 12 months from now?
There's no reason to struggle.
You can build an information empire just like Internet marketers do. You might want to think about how you could benefit if you stopped trying to just sell one or two books every now and then. Start focusing on getting great content out to the people who need your book.
Sales (at the kind of level you couldn't have dreamed of before!) will inevitably follow.
If you can't say that you're making a full-time income from selling informaiton online, then you must be doing something wrong.
There's no doubt in my mind that at least 9 out of 10 authors make vital — but ultimately avoidable — mistakes when trying to market books online.
Would you like to find out if you happen to be one of them? Visit this no-cost online book marketing blog and find out what the "top dogs" know that you don't.
Investing in Italy the Sorgente Way
Ever heard of Italian investment company Sorgente? No? Well, aside from producing excellent returns for its investors, and thus ensuring that many will end up with a pension at the end of their careers, Sorgente’s investment strategy is helping protect the world’s heritage. Sorgente owns New York's Flatiron One thing I love about Italy is the country’s ability to preserve its cultural heritage. Although there is evidence, in the form of Palermo, for example, to suggest the contrary,
BPI boss Geoff Taylor tells it like it isn’t
p2pnet news view | P2P | Music:- Once upon a time, Geoff Taylor, 41, worked for Vivendi Universal, EMI, Warner Music and Sony Music’s IFPI (International Federation of Phornographic Industry). It goes without saying he’ s a lawyer and, for the past couple of years, he’s been head truth-basher at the Big 4’s BPI (British Phornographic Industry). In her wisdom Auntie, aka the BBC , Britain’s publicly funded national radio and TV broadcaster, gave him free spin-space through which he di