how to make money on the web

The Beginner's Manual

Introduction

globe with dollar signs around it As a web designer I am often faced with clients who want to know the steps it takes to create a successful website. Many of them have no idea where to begin. I wrote this series with them in mind.

In the next 3 issues I'll detail the steps needed to launch your site and promote it to the world. This article series won't be about hype, it will be about doable, down-to-earth steps anyone can take to make their website (and their business) a success. Some of you that have a commercial website may already know some of these steps, but I hope to add new information that you haven't heard of before. In addition to the steps, I'll tell you the cost and time involved to take a small website from conception to launch. As with anything in inSITES if you have questions or need something cleared up, don't hesitate to ask.

Sometimes the concept of a website is so intangible that it is hard to imagine how this “idea” can generate income. It helps if you think of your website as a brick and mortar storefront. You need to decorate it to reflect what you sell and who your buyers are. You must keep it clean; paint the outside, wash the windows and wipe down the counters. The inventory should to be cataloged and displayed in an appealing way so that visitors will find what they’re looking for easily. Inside your store, helpful and knowledgeable sales people are available to assist customers as they come inside to shop. Your products change regularly—at least seasonally—and you run specials or sales in between. You have a nice sign, try to get a lot of foot traffic and run ads every week. That all makes sense, right? Well, that’s exactly what you need to have a successful website. The difference is the medium and the cost. Doing business on the web is a lot less expensive and a lot more flexible than a storefront.

For this series we are going to create a site for a fictitious small business called Cakes by Jane based in Atlanta, Georgia.

Step 1: Buy a Domain Name.

A domain name is a unique name on the web just for your website. For example, the domain name for this newsletter is insitesnewsletter.com and the URL (uniform resource language) is http://www.insitesnewsletter.com. The URL is the "address" that references your website. | Learn More |

Domain names are purchased online from Domain Registrars or Web Hosts who also offer name registration. There are many registrars to choose from. If you use an inexpensive registrar like namecheap.com (that’s what I do) then you’ll pay less than $10 a year for each domain name. Expensive registrars do not offer anything more than the cheap ones do, so you might as well go with the bargain.

Our business is called Cakes by Jane. Ideally, your domain name should be cakesbyjane.com. But if that name is already taken you may need to get creative. You might try cakesbyjaneshop.com or cakesbyjanebakery.com or cakesbyjane-atl.com. You get the picture. Even though you can buy names with different extensions (.com, .net, .org, .biz, .us, etc.), I recommend sticking with .com and .net extensions only. Use .org if your business is a nonprofit organization.

Try to keep the domain name as short as possible and easy for people to remember. You may want to buy both the .com and .net extensions of that name to keep any "copycats" from stealing web traffic away from you.
The name can cost anywhere from $0-$45 a year. Stay away from anything over $15 a year and ask questions if it is free. Many times a web host will give you a free domain name for the first year, then charge you twice the going rate for consequent years. Find out what that cost will be before you make a commitment. And if this is a new business, only buy the name for one year. It is easy to renew (believe me your domain registrar will make sure you remember) and you don't want to get stuck with a name if your business no longer exists or if you decide to change your name. Now if you are an established business, go ahead and buy it for 3 or 5 years if you like.

We're going to pretend cakesbyjane.com is not taken and we're going to buy it and cakesbyjane.net for under $20 for a year's registration. It took us a half hour to do this.

Step 2: Create an Online Marketing Plan

This is the step most people skip, but it is a mistake to do so. Failing to plan is a sloppy way to do business. You wouldn’t open up a clothing store in the mall without a plan, would you?

If you are “marketing-challenged” then get help from an online marketing consultant or read the marketing books I recommend and do it yourself. It is up to you to decide how you want to spend your time and energy and what that time is worth to you.

5 Keys to a Winning Online Marketing Plan

Write or Update Your Business Plan. This doesn’t have to be a long, involved process with charts and graphs. Just a simple 1-5 page overview of current management, finances, marketing and operations will do.
Create A Niche (this is a vital component to success whether your store is brick and mortar or a website or both). Let’s create a niche market for Cakes by Jane. A lot of bakers and supermarkets sell cakes, but Jane’s niche will be unconventional, one-of-a-kind cakes for special occasions.
Focus On Your Buyer Profiles. Buyer profiles work for businesses like MOs (modus operandi) work for detectives. They are mini bios of your buyer, especially what their problems and needs are and how you can solve them. Write the content (text) of your website for your buyer profiles using their language and lingo. For example, a buyer profile for Cakes by Jane could be event planners. These are the people that would most likely purchase her cakes for special events and provide repeat business. After a lot of writing and profiling, narrow your categories to 6 buyer profiles (set aside one of those categories for current clients).
Establish Ways to Reach Your Buyers. There are many ways to reach buyers online, but you don’t have to do them all. Find out what works with your personality, your time, and your skills. The great thing is that most online marketing strategies are free or low cost so if something doesn’t work you can change and try something else. Examples of these online marketing strategies are: e-mail marketing, blogs, podcasts, social networking, PayPal, media releases, articles, YouTube, eBay, pay per click (PPC) advertising and e-books.
Create Trust and Become and Expert. Building confidence and trust in your company is crucial to attracting and keeping customers. You can teach a class in your chosen field or write articles or blogs on subjects pertinent to your business to create this trust. Or you can have your own page as an expert in your field on expert sites like about.com and squidoo.com and answer questions from site visitors. It is a lot of work, but if you're just starting out it may be just what your business needs to get going.

When I create a marketing plan, I discuss the first 3 keys in depth with my client before I start writing and give them my suggestions. I provide answers to keys 4 and 5 in the plan. It usually takes clients about a week to get the first 3 keys to me. It takes me about 3 days to execute a simple marketing plan. Cost for marketing plans vary. For example, I charge $400 for a simple 10-15 page marketing plan customized for your business. If you were to buy the books I recommend and spend the time reading them and learning how to do a marketing plan yourself, you'd have to figure out how much your time costs. Let's give it a price of $400 for a marketing plan.

So at this point Cakes by Jane has a domain name and a marketing plan and spent a total of $420. It has taken less than 2 weeks to get to this point (give or take a day or two). In the next issue we'll talk about web design and hosting.