Laser Burn Media

The first thing that you want to do is register your domain name. There are many websites that you can do that with. You can also check website names on many other different sites. Make sure that you set up your web hosting separately from your domain.

The second thing that you want to do is set up your hosting account. Hostgator for WordPress

I use HostGator to host my WordPress blogs because they make it easy to install, and they have great online & phone support. They are also very inexpensive at less than $10/month for unlimited domains, sites and/or blogs on that one account.

Make sure that you use the cupon code ‘wordpress’ and you will get our first month of hoasting for a penny. It may take up to 72 hours for all the paperwork and things that need to get done and set up.

Install WordPress
You don’t have to download WordPress and then try to manually install it yourself – that’s doing things the hard way. Instead, go back to your HostGator welcome message and find the link to your control panel. You will have to use the temporary IP Address link since your domain hasn’t propagated yet. Log in to your control panel with the username and password in that same email.

Once you log in, scroll down and look for the Fantastico button. It’s towards the bottom, under Software/Services. Under the navigation on the left, choose WordPress and follow the instructions to install your WordPress blog.

Choose a WordPress Theme
While you’re waiting for the domain to propagate, do a search for “free wordpress themes”. Pick one (or pick a few) and download the zip files. Unzip or extract the files.

Next you’ll need to upload your new theme to your hosting account. I prefer FTP, but you can also upload files from within the control panel. Upload the entire theme folder to the wp-content/themes directory in your account. If you need help, see this 6 1/2 minute video: How To Change, Edit, or Install a WordPress Theme.

Still Waiting?
At this point you are probably still waiting for your domain name to propagate (meaning the nameserver update hasn’t taken effect yet so you still can’t see your new WordPress blog when you type your domain name into a browser).

There isn’t much you can do at this point since most of your links – including your WordPress admin login – depend on the domain name. So while you are waiting, decide what your first few blog posts will be about. This is a good time to do some keyword research. I use Free WordTracker – just put in words related to your topic to get some about me page and edit or add categories. Finally the most important thing that you want to do is install the comment spam plugin. This will help you because you will most likely get spam posted to your website and you do not want your customers to see those comments. good 2-3 word phrases to start with.

Now open Notepad and write a few blog posts, based on the keyword phrases you selected. It’s a great starting point because you know people are searching those phrases, and are specifically interested in those topics. Save your notepad file and go have dinner.

Once the domain is working  log into the WordPress Dashboard. Type yourdomain.wp-amin/. Once the site is loaded use the username in and password that you choose when you installed WordPress. Then you want to activate your theme, edit/delete the default post and delete the test comment.  Then you should fill out the about me page and edit or add categories. Finally the most important thing that you want to do is install the comment spam plugin. This will help you because you will most likely get spam posted to your website and you do not want your customers to see those comments.

John Botch

laserburnmedia.com

john@laserburnmedia.com

There are many people searching everyday about starting a free online business. Since so many people search for these types of websites there are many offers out there. So many people want to start a business in these tough economic times. There are many other people that want to work for them selves and there are many more people that want to work from home.

Home Business Ideas

There are so many home business opportunities and internet business ideas, that it can be a little overwhelming to figure out where you should start. We talked about a few of the different business models – from ecommerce sites that use wholesale dropshipping, to offering a service or starting your own blog.

You can make money online in a variety of ways. Just a few examples include: sell your own product, offer services, sell advertising on your website or blog, or promote other people’s products and/or services.

That last option is called Affiliate Marketing. It’s basically commission-based sales, and I compare it to the offline model of selling Kirby vacuum cleaners. When you make sales, you make money. You can sign up as an affiliate for a company and they will give you an Affiliate Link. You promote that link, and anyone that goes through your link to make a purchase will be tracked – resulting in a commission to you for that sale.

This is the internet business model that I focused on during our conversation over lunch yesterday. I actually use a variety of internet business models to make money online myself, but Affiliate Marketing seemed to be a perfect match for my new friends.

Some business models are active, while others are more passive. An active business model requires a more active role on your part. A membership site for example is high maintenance. If you offer services, then you need to interact with clients and take phone calls on a regular basis. I prefer passive income models, which allow you more freedom and flexibility.

That’s not to say that active business models cant be incredibly profitable and successful, just that something more passive seemed like a good fit once I got to know her a bit.

To clarify, when I say passive I dont mean that you wont have to work at it. I think we’ve all kind of figured out by now that “get rich quick schemes” dont really work. And we were discussing real, legitimate ways to make consistent income online. Not spotty one-off ways to make a few bucks here and there.

We discussed the realistic investment of time and money, and I confessed that I put a lot of time in upfront to get each of my internet business models up and running (some more than others). I explained that you could invest money to get sales rolling in quicker, or you could invest time (up to 6-12 months even) to get your sales up to a good level on a consistent basis. You’ll make money along the way of course, but geting that consistent income is the key.

Going that route, you can get started for less than $10. Yes, literally.

The passive part comes in after you have your affiliate site up and running – once you’ve done that groundwork. With affiliate marketing the merchant is handling orders, shipping and customer service. All you have to do is send them traffic through your affiliate link.

Once your site is up and running, you’ve set up your systems (such as a newsletter, blog, or whatever fits your model), and you’re driving traffic to the site… most of the “work” from there can be automated, and maintained in very little time. For example, I can usually run a site like that in as little as 5 hours a week. That frees you up to create more just like it, and duplicate your income

Starting a Free Online Business

I mentioned above that you can get started for less than $10. I know that a lot of people are interested in starting a free online business, but this small investment is well worth it. Especially if you are serious about making a consistent income with a real online business.

You could actually spend a lot more than ten bucks, but if you take my advice you’ll save a lot of money – and still end up with a solid internet business model.

The first thing that you want to do is find what you are good at or what you want to sell. You will then need a domain name (web address) and hosting service. If you are going to use hoastgator you should use the online promo code ‘wordpress’.  Then it is time to develop your website. It is easy for you to get it built by someone, but there are many resources out there that will take you step by step through creating a webpage. You can also use the tools that the hosting site gives you to build your website.

If you have any trouble with this there are many discussion forums that you can ask questions and get them answered. Nothing is truly free. But this is a way to keep it as cheap as possible.

John Botch

Laserburnmedia.com

john@laserburnmedia.com

Almost anyone can create a website now. There are many websites that will set a website up for you for a fee. So once you have a website how will you get traffic for your website? Below are 10 ways to get more traffic for your website that are free.

• Article Marketing
  Write 3 articles that are related to the topic of your website. Include a brief bio and link to your website at the end of the article. Submit each of these articles to article directories, and also to webmasters and ezine owners that rank well for your keywords.
• Forum Marketing
  Do a search on Google for keyword+forum. If you have a pet related site, for example, search “pet forum” (without quotes). Find the top 3 forums in your niche and join each of them. DO NOT SPAM, but do set up a profile (and signature, if allowed) and post an introduction. Get involved in each of these 3 forums by posting at least one thread or response each day. This will help you gain exposure in your target market, and people will naturally be interested in your related website.
• Yahoo! Answers
  Go to http://answers.yahoo.com and find questions related to your niche or website. If you can provide a legitimate answer to their question, you can include your link as the resource or reference URL. Again, without spamming, if you can contribute to the community you will interest them in your related website.
• Viral Marketing
  Write a Report that would be of great interest to your target market, and sell it cheap. Include your bio and information about your site within the report (briefly in the Introduction, and fully in the About The Author section at the end). Offer 100% commission to Affiliates, and you will have all of your competitors sending traffic to your website for you. To make this super-easy, you can get the instructions and the script to do this (here) for only $7 – it’s well worth it
• Social Networking
  Set up profiles at popular social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook, Ryze.com etc. Network with people in your niche and get established on these sites with a customized profile. It is very easy to grow your network, and people who are interested in what you offer can find you easily. If you can use “photo marketing” to your advantage (cute pet pictures for a pet site, for example), include Flickr.com in your networking list as well.
• Blogging
  Blogging can be considered another form of Social Networking, and enough so to be considered a stand-alone marketing technique. You want to set up a blog that is directly related to your website’s topic, and post content to it frequently (3-5x/week minimum). If you have a pet store website, for example, you can create a blog on Pet Tips (dog grooming, dog training, etc). For detailed tips see Social Networking in the Blogosphere.
• Press Releases
  You can write and submit a press release free of charge. While some websites charge to publish your press release (and this may be worth the investment!), many also offer a free submission option. You want your press release to be newsworthy, so you choose your angle carefully. Do a search on Google for press release tips.
• Search Engine Marketing
  Learn all that you can about SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and take the necessary steps to optimize each of your web pages. It is not complicated or impossible, but there is a lot of mis-information out there about search engines. I can help you with this personally if you like (free) at my discussion forum – look for the SEO section.
• Get Links!
  Submit your new site to appropriate directories, and get it listed on niche resource pages. Link farms and exchanges on “link pages” are a waste of your time, but do seek out quality linking opportunities. You want a variety of links pointing to your site, not only to your main page but also to internal pages of your site as well.

These 10 ways can help you with your strategy to get more traffic to your site.  Use some of these or all of these together and you will get more traffic to your site. If you have a store in addition to the website make sure that you advertise you have a website in your store. The best thing is to help cross promote with other companies that are not competitors.

John Botch

Laserburnmedia.com

john@laserburnmedia.com

Funnel Traffic From Other Sites
This strategy may require a little creativity, but you want to consider ways that you can funnel traffic from popular websites such as: craigslist, ebay, youtube, wikipedia, etc. These are very popular websites that are established and bursting at the seems with live visitors. Think of ways that you can add something of value, and (without spamming!) lure these visitors to your website.

Content strategy is a major part of any online business. It is all the written content on your website and you want to make sure that it accurately represents your company.

Too often content is an after thought with the notion (“lies”) that:

• It’s not that big of a deal
• You think you already know what you want to say
• You think you already have most of the content
• You put it off as something you can fix post launch

What people don’t consider is that your customers decided whether to do business with you based on your content. Ideally you should identify a single person in your company or organization that is responsible for your content, a Content Strategist. This person would be responsible for building your strategy to include:

Creation:

The creation of your content should start with your customer in mind. A good example of this is REI, they don’t hammer you over the head with their products. Instead they want to be your partner in outdoor activities. Or Room and Board who sells through stories of real people who use their products. Ford Models builds a connection by providing everyday beauty tips on their YouTube channel. Content as to work for the user – an example of what NOT to do is Quicken, box shots don’t help the customer decide which product to buy. They don’t talk to the customer, they just want you to add products to your cart. When you create your content make sure it’s useful, usable and enjoyable.

Publication:

There are many forms to publish content including: text, graphics, video, animation and audio. You should plan for a specific goal or result regardless of how and where you publish your content. Create a list to understand the business objectives and the user goals.

Governance:

Think of your content from a lifecycle perspective. Have a plan to update or remove. Do NOT do what Swiffer did and create a YouTube contest then abandon the site after the promotion is done (they haven’t logged-in in over 10 months!). Have a plan to take it down if you’re not going to maintain it.

This is not a short term strategy at all. You need to also keep up with it so that your website can keep your website up to date. Many people and companies do not realize this as an important factor of their marketing strategy. There are many websites out there that need help with their content. The most important part of the content is to make it your own and to keep it up to date.

John Botch

Laserburnmedia.com

john@laserburnmedia.com