Setting Up a Blog for Your Online Business
So you have decided to join the multitudes who have gone into setting up a blog to run an online business from. Why not? It’s been known to give people a supplementary source of income. With the economy being the way it has been for the last few years, it seems like a great idea.
But how do you get started? What things will you need? How much money will it cost you? And who can you call on to help get this idea off the ground. These are typical questions asked by those going about this for the very first time. This write-up aims to give the beginner a self-help guide to setting up a professional blog properly.
Register a Domain Name
If your intention is to run an online business, be professional and spend the necessary dollars to register a domain name. Don’t go for freebie sub-domains or the URL shorteners. Nobody wants to do business with a company that can’t even spend to get a decent name. Take this important first step and find a good and reputable domain name registration company to register your domain name.
Get Web Presence – Find a Web Host
This step is actually optional but it is highly recommended that you host your own web site with a paid hosting company. There are plenty of freebie web hosts available to host your blog on but most of them have ad banners that you must agree to display on your business site. It defeats the purpose of going into business if your own web site is a host for your competitors’ ads.
However, not all freebie hosts have ads. Some will simply ask you to do other things in exchange for the free hosting. These “other things” could range from answering online surveys or committing to an online offer. Any way you look at it, it’s not really free because you have to do something in return for the “free” space you are getting.
Of course there are also free blog sites you can sign up with. But similar to the free web space, you are likely going to have to display ads on your blog or agree to do something else in exchange for the free service.
A good compromise is to find a free blog site and see if they offer a feature called “domain pointing”. This allows you to point the domain name you registered to your free blog site and have it appear as if it is a self-hosted blog.
The best option for web presence to simply sign up with a real web hosting company. Many registrars now offer wen hosting (for an additional recurring fee) on top of their domain name registration service. This is ideal if you want to deal with just one company. It makes dealing with customer service and technical support personnel much more bearable.
Develop the Right Image – Hire a Professional
This step cannot be underscored enough. But it is something most people who go into blogging and online business always take for granted. The “oh I can do this myself” mentality is almost always a bad idea especially if your goal is to have a professional web site or blog. Find a real graphics designer for your logo, hire a web design expert to do the design, hire a qualified programmer for your custom programming needs. Whatever your business is and no matter how simple the idea might be, you cannot possibly do everything yourself. Spending a few extra dollars to get the job done by a professional can mean you get to recoup that cost a quickly as possible. So don’t experiment – get it done by a pro.
As a quick recap, bear in mind that it always takes money to make money. The principle applies to any kind of business – not only for the big corporations but even for the little ones. So to ensure a higher probability for success, you and your business must be willing to spend the necessary money to get the necessary revenue.
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