Services We Recommend - From Ready Steady Blog and Rockin' Bloggin'
Having bought many an online pig in a poke myself, I want to share with you on this page some of the services and products I use in the running of my online business that I can wholeheartedly recommend to you.
The internet is nothing if not bursting with information and must-have add-ons. I've often found the choices so confusing that I hesitated to buy while at other times I've been seduced by the sweet nothings of the internet marketers and ended up with the aforementioned runt of the litter.
So here're my recommendations based on my personal useage of them.
SETTING UP YOUR BLOG OR WEBSITE
A website and / or blog are must-haves these days, whether you're a business owner or someone with a passion you want to share with the world!
Unsurprisingly, my first recommendation is Typepad the blogging platform I use for all my clients' blogs and websites. If you look through my design portfolio in the left sidebar I'm sure you'll agree that though Typepad was created as a blogging platform it adapts beautifully to a conventional website look, for example CityCompromiseAgreements or DanceOfLife.
- A basic account is under $5 per month, around $49 for a whole year. At this level you get one blog and have to choose a Typepad template rather than being able to design your own look. However, there is a large range available so it shouldn't be hard to find a look and colour you like
- At Mid level, you can have up to three blogs and create your own personalised blog or website. Or ask me to design it for you of course... Only $8.95 per month or $89 for the whole year
- Pro level, which I recommend to my clients as it optimises keywords more effectively, gives you unlimited blogs and lots of freedom to make them unique and beautiful. Still only $14.95 per month or $149 for the whole year
Click on the Typepad logo above to take a look and sign up for your free 14 day trial.
BUY YOUR DOMAIN NAME
When you have a Typepad account, you do of course have a URL eg marionryan.typepad.com but ideally you will want to buy your own domain, MyWonderfulBusiness.com and forward it to your Typepad URL - much easier for your visitors to remember.
I buy all my domains at GoDaddy.com. I like GoDaddy because it's easy to use and I can buy a 'dot com' for under $10 a year. GoDaddy is also one of Typepad's prefered service providers which means Typepad includes step-by-step instructions eg when you want to map your own URL to your Typepad blogsite. GoDaddy also has 24 hour live support staffed by very polite people!
Click on the GoDaddy logo above and see if your domain name is available.
CAPTURE YOUR VISITORS' EMAIL ADDRESSES AND CREATE YOUR LIST
However you have attracted people to your site, now they are here it is an enormous shame (and waste of money) if you don't try and sign them up to your list. You will want a contact box on your site, probably with a tempting freebie to encourage sign-ups so you can stay in touch easily, build a relationship and (I hope) sell them something in the future!
As a long-term user of Constant Contact for staying in touch with my list, I always felt disappointed it had no autoresponder capability. Then I discovered IContact. Icontact has the same user-friendliness you get with Constant Contact and is even more affordable. Just $10 per month for lists up to 500 names and $14 per month for up to 1000 names.
Click on the Icontact logo above and sign up for a 15 day trial - you'll soon see how easy it it to use.
SELL PRODUCTS AND SET UP AN AFFILIATE NETWORK
Do you plan to sell your own information products on your site? Would you like to offer an affiliate scheme so others can promote your stuff and get paid a commission?
If you have big plans and a small budget for your online business, I recommend Wahmcart as a really affordable shopping cart. In addition, it will also allow you to send out HTML newsletters, promotions and autoresponders and create different databses. It's fairly no-frills but its user interface is functional and easy to understand.
It's priced at $30 per month for the entire package so click on the logo above if you would like to try its free 14 day trial
RUN TELESEMINARS AND WEBCASTS
Running a free teleseminar is an excellent marketing strategy. It builds the know, like and trust factor with your list and allows you to promote your paid services. Of course you can also charge for your high value teleseminars too.
You can get a free account with TheBasementVentures which will give you your own dedicated conference line you can use any time you want. BV also enables you to record your calls so people can listen later though they only guarantee keeping the recording up for 30 days (usually longer in my experience).
Instant Teleseminar is however growing in popularity. This service allows your listeners to join the call by phone, listen online or listen later to a recording of the call. You can customise your webinar page and record an audio greeting for visitors. Importantly, if ever you forget to hit the 'record' button on your screen, the system automatically records your every call too.
At $47 per month, I think it's worth every penny though there's nothing to stop you partnering with another professional and sharing an account if that would make it more affordable for you
ADD QUALITY IMAGES TO YOUR BLOG OR WEBSITE
Content is king, I know, but a picture is worth a thousand words. Pimp your blog or website with some decent images which make your copy easier on the eye and I think site visitors hang around longer.
Choose IStockPhoto or DreamsTime for great photos and illustrations, only around $1 each. For the largest collection of clipart on the web, I love Iclipart which has almost 8 million images to choose from and an annual subscription of under $50 for unlimited images.
MONETIZE YOUR BLOG
Imagine if your blog could make you more than $5000 each and every month! I am a personal mentee of Yaro Starak who makes that and more as he travels around, splitting his time between his homeland, Australia and the rest of the world.
He runs an excellent and affordable mentor programme called Blog Mastermind which delivers hot content, videos, site critiques and forums without me ever feeling inundated and overwhelmed with information.
But if you've never heard of him before, don't take my word that he is the 'best of niche', pick up a copy of his free Blog Profits Blueprint by clicking on the logo above. This will give you an example of his expertise and the quality of his content.
