Don’t Lose Your Domains To Bundling

In the early days of the Internet, not many people knew how to build websites, nor were there tools like blogs, Squidoo, FaceBook or whatever site/blog/profile builders we enjoy today. Also, web building was tedious. Oh my goodness. Have you tried to change the menu on a site with tons of pages? The early FrontPage versions did not have included content and other features it does now.

Then, it was common and acceptable for a web designer to offer bundling. They get the domain for you, set it  up, build everything for you. It is still common today, but they are usually options, not requirements. There was also a ‘rule’ with some designers that the client is not allowed to edit any pages on their own. Everything including small stuff like correcting a typo and updating your telephone number had to be done by them.

Then, there was good reason for them to do so because web building was a somewhat specialized knowledge. It was easy to mess up and takes lots of time to fix.

I’m not saying don’t use a one stop shop service. Some people just don’t want to mess with their own site and that’s perfectly fine. But if a designer tells you, that you cannot or are not allowed to edit your own site, transfer your domain or do anything with it, I don’t buy that at all. I’d be very wary of them.

First. There is no excuse for building a site the client cannot edit. I’m not talking about major design and structural changes here. I’m just talking about adding new content, adding a link or two, updating their picture, email address, phone number. Stuff like that. Even if a client didn’t ask for it, I’d plan it for the future.

Second, if you’re paying for the domain and it represents your business it should be yours to control. Sure, if you want them to handle them on your behalf that works but when it comes down to the bottom line, you are the ‘owner’ of that domain.

You paid for it. It carries your brand name, your name. Make sure the domain is registered to you. Not theirs and that’s something you need to watch. Some so called design companies take your money, buy the domain at dirt cheap pricing, register it under their name, their company and when you’re ready to move the site, they hold your domain hostage, demanding $30 or more to release it. It’s just not right in my eyes.

Happened to too many people. The problem is, some of these things are buried deep in their terms of service. So do check out your TOS and if you want, go to DomainTools.com enter your domain name to see who is listed as the registrant and administrative contact. That’s one quick way to check up on it.

So You Have Backups But Do You Have These Backups?

We’ve talked about backups before. Even if we didn’t, you probably heard it from others. Backup your website, backup your blog, backup your computer. Backup, backup, backup.

You’ve got it all down. You know the importance. You’re all set. Are you? Check this short list to see if you have backups of them. Better add them to your to-backup list if you don’t.

• Your mailing lists
• Your autoresponder
• Your shopping cart sales
• Your customer contact information
• Your affiliate information

Quickly Create Beautiful Web 2.0 Badges

Do you envy those web site with slick badges like this one?

Can you believe I made that in just 5 minutes with no software required? And no, my designers can tell you I have little to no design sense. So don’t think because the badge looks nice that I am a Photoshop expert. Not even close.

This is all thanks to a free tool from the guys at QuickWebCreations (you must get that by way it too is ultra cool and I’ve mentioned it here before). I can create badges on my Mac or my PC, anywhere there’s an Internet connection. Best of all, it is free.

Great for creating spur of the moment images you don’t want to bug your graphic designer about. Head on over to Fresh Badge to start.

Do You Make This Careless Web 2.0 Mistake?

So, you are the social networks butterfly in your niche. Or maybe working to get there. Web 2.0, a lose term to cover social networks, social bookmarks, blogs, micro blogs and other such ’social’ tools can be so exciting.

It is easy to get caught up in building a large number of ‘friends’, followers or fans. The direct and speedy communication method with our audience and peers often leaves us with a nice warm feeling. I think it’s great!

But I also think it makes us careless. Careless because we get comfortable. And when we’re comfortable, we talk about things we shouldn’t be. Like our business’ plans, direction and other information that really shouldn’t be discussed in public.

From brainstorming domain names to developing new sites, researching niches to business ideas. If you’re not in a private group you can trust, be careful what you share.

I think a big reason why you see a lot of brainstorming going on in public is because working from home is an extremely lonely existence. Unlike working in an office, you don’t have co-workers you can call on to run things by. You don’t have a boss to give you criticism (constructive or not).

So, many at home business owners unload on forums, Twitter, Facebook, their own blogs and other social networks. Rarely stopping to consider who could be lurking. It is OK to ask for feedback and assistance. But if you are just hashing things out, wanting feedback on a new idea you don’t have the knowledge, experience or resources to launch immediately, that is not the time to ask publicly. There are many others who have more cash, more time and more specific knowledge than you to take your ideas and have it set up this week.

If you truly need help, join a mastermind group. Or create one of our own, pick those you trust and get on the phone. That’s social networking for ya. Help each other out in private.

Something else to chew on. When creating something new, a little mystery can be good to get and keep people’s interest. Talk about your mystery project, without giving too much away.

Photo credit: Karen Barefoot 

Email Message With Headers What Does That Mean?

When you get to tech support on email related issues, you may be asked to forward them a copy of the email in question complete with headers. What does this mean? In all email message there is a part you don’t see. This section is at the very top heading the email (therefore called headers).

Most email readers including online ones won’t display this to you because to the regular email recipient this information is not meaningful. But to the email reader and for tech support, there is a gold mine of information there.

By looking at the headers, they will be able to tell where the email originated from, what was used by the sender to send the email and a bit more info along those lines. Very useful for investigating spam. In fact, if you ever are accused of spam, you should ask people to forward you a copy of the email complete with headers to determine the problem. But I digress.

When you are asked to forward this email, regular forwarding won’t work. The typical forward feature doesn’t include all this information so you probably have to go through some extra steps. But they are quick and easy. This video shows you exactly how.

Top 3 Software In Your Business

Have you ever stopped to think how lost you’d be in our business if you didn’t have a particular software or system? For online business owners, the top three software they find their business can’t live without is usually three of the following;

• The email autoresponder system
• The shopping cart
• The website or blog publisher
• The email reader
• The browser (but of course)

Well those are fine and should be the cornerstone of any business who has an Internet arm. But what about other not so obvious systems? Here are my three.

Firefox plugins - So I cheat. They are not full fledge software but they help make my favorite browser totally my own and also speed up my work considerably. I have quite a few plugins installed. Here are a handful of key plugins that go on every Firefox installation I have are:
Firebug: I am so lost without this especially when working on websites and themes.
BBCode Extra: So helpful when posting to blog comments and forums.
Colorzilla: Oh so very useful when you don’t have the color code or want to mimic a site’s color.

RoboForm - every time I use my Mac (like now) I am so very lost without my RoboForm. There is an equivalent for the Mac but I am not on here that much. Not as much as on my PC and RoboForm spoilt me totally.

Mozy - if I don’t have my data, my business will be at a standstill. The loss would be phenomenal. They help make my backups up to date and easy.

What are your top three software or systems?

Do You Blog Tip?

Did you know today is Blog Tipping Day? The first day of every month, is Blog Tipping Day. The idea is simple. You pick out three (or a few blogs) you visit or read. Tell people 3 things you like about the blog and give the blog owner a tip as well. Although originally, people gave tips about other people’s blogs, I feel the tip could be about anything, depending on your niche. Maybe it’s how to make boiled eggs that peel nicely ;) You can read more about this day here.

There are no strict rules about this. But if you find yourself at a loss what to write on the first of the month, just go blog tipping. It’s fun too because you now have legitimate excuse to go blog hopping.

E-Cover Graphic Tools - Any Suggestions?

I received this question from Yvette. Although she’s since found her answer I thought some of you might still want to know.

Q: Can you suggest an effective e-cover software that gives good graphics etc. 

A: I outsource my e-covers. Buttons and small banners I still dabble in on and off but e-covers in my opinion, requires a lot more design sense - something I certainly do not have. The good news is, I know of someone who does fabulous e-covers at a very affordable price of $37 at time of writing. If you’re interested to hire here, you can find Wendy at GetEcovers.com 

But I know outsourcing is not the intent of the question here so I will suggest one that I personally find easy to use and gives nice results. You might want to check out Web Graphics Creator.

While we’re talking about graphics, if you’re looking for a dirt cheap button or image creator where you can create beautiful looking Web 2.0 style graphics, look into Quick Web Creations. You can’t beat it for only a one time investment of $6.97. The e-cover word graphic above is an example of one I created using Quick Web Creations.

Outsource Your Software

When I first started business online, my budget was ultra tight. I did not have much to spend on but realized I needed a few things before I can even start selling. For example, there was the autoresponder. Then, I needed something to take payments and deliver the downloads automatically. There were also other things but these were the most important ones.

I looked at all the services available. So many monthly fees and seemingly big expenses. I didn’t mind the software I paid a one time payment for but what really got me was the monthly ones.

I couldn’t understand why anyone would want to pay monthly for something they can:

• Pay once for
• Run on their own, using similar free software

So, I did it myself. First, I used a mailing list software that was free. But it didn’t have the right features and no sequential autoresponder. So, I put down some money to buy a script that would run on my own web host. I was cheap (remember?) and opted for a really cheap one but *seemed* popular.

The result was disastrous. Within an hour of installing it, my web host shut down my site for excessive use of resources. For your information, the script was installed properly. It just wasn’t well written. It was not a pleasant thing to wake up to. My host almost deleted my website. What a lesson.

Since then, I’ve moved onto a hosted autoresponder system and really happy, even when a monthly fee is involved.

I dish it out without complaints because I know:

• I don’t have to update it when new releases come out 
• I don’t have to fix it when it’s hacked.
• I don’t have to fix/cover security holes so it doesn’t get hacked in the first place.
• All I worry about it crafting good emails, taking care of readers’ needs and coming up with good content - in other words the stuff that really makes money.

The take away, outsource your software so you don’t have to worry about it. You may be paying a monthly fee, but that monthly fee is small compared to the stress and amount you have to pay someone to fix it when things go really bad.

What if you are new like I was and really don’t have the cash? I still say invest but invest wisely. Choose first to put money into a few key things that are the backbone of your business like autoresponder and shopping cart. Everything else can be slowly worked in as your business gets better.

Are You Suited For Blogging?

While visiting a high profile A-List blog, I noticed an interesting comment. The commenter believed that some people are just not suited to blogging because they have nothing to say.

I personally believe most people - if not everyone is suited for blogging.

Why? Because blogging is like verbalizing - or rather putting down into writing your thoughts. If you don’t have a chatter box in your head then well… I guess you are not suited for blogging. But honestly, how many people you know don’t talk to themselves everyday, all through the day? I don’t know many people who don’t.

Personally, I have a gazillion thoughts running through my head every hour. If I didn’t blog and put them down even if it’s a private blog for my own purpose, I would go crazy. But here’s the big question.

What if you’re blogging for business? How many things can you say about your business anyway? Won’t you run out of topics?

Hmm… good point, but if you cannot think of much to say about your industry, then you may be in the wrong industry. What I’m trying to get at is this.

Most entrepreneurs I know have lots to talk about. They are asked a ton of questions on a regular basis. Some of it repeating.

They are also constantly seeking out new information, news or ideas about their product, their company or their industry. They also have lots to say about doing business in general.

Try going for coffee with another entrepreneur. Do you run out of things to chat about? I think if you and I got on the phone right now we’d chat up a storm. Or, try talking to someone with the same interests. If you sell hand made jewelry, I bet you know a lot about them too. Get up with another who makes or enjoys hand made jewelry and you could probably talk all day. All that is worth blogging about.

If you’re stuck looking for things to blog about, download this handbook. Keep it by your computer. Flip through it when you feel at a loss for words. I’ll bet you’ll find at least one thing to blog about.

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