Home Based Business Growth Essentials - Oct 26 2005

Hello and thanks for visiting the web site.

Firstly, thanks for having me along. I appreciated the opportunity to have a chat and hope the speeches were of some interest.

Before you get started can I ask a favour? Would you please take a moment (under a minute) to fill in our survey on what you thought of my talks? Everyone who does goes in the draw to win $100 worth of books from Amazon.com (note added Thursday November 3, 2005 - the entry date has passed and we've drawn the winner - but I'd still greatly appreciate any feedback.).

Click here to take the survey now. (A new window will pop up.)

From the Marketing Talk

• Choice Influence Survey

Knowing where you generate your business from, and what the major choice influences are in choosing you (or another supplier), is critical for any business.

This simple survey that we use regularly (and you can easily adjust it to use in your business) gives you the exact information you need to make the right marketing decisions.

Click here for the free survey.

Please note - This document is in format for viewing with Adobe's Acrobat Reader. To download Adobe Acrobat Reader (Version 5) free, click here

I may have mentioned my book as an example of using testimonials, guarantees, awards, etc as a good example of reducing perceived risk. Take a look at a sales page for the book as a good example.

• The perfect process for your marketing strategies

This one is a very simple document of how you might write down the various aspects of your marketing strategy. Nothing fancy, nothing flash and nothing complicated.

Keep your marketing simple. The more complicated and fancy it is, the less likely it is that it will be implemented ...click here for more

Please note - This document is in format for viewing with Adobe's Acrobat Reader. To download Adobe Acrobat Reader (Version 5) free, click here

Budget Spreadsheet

Here's an added bit: If David's cashflow/budget doesn't meet your needs this might. It's an Excel spreadsheet with the cells all formatted to calculate the totals automatically and with a good range to give you some ideas of what your expenses might be. Click here for the Excel spreadsheet - save it to your computer and use as you need. Hope that helps.

• The perfect marketing plan

Please note - This document is in format for viewing with Adobe's Acrobat Reader. To download Adobe Acrobat Reader (Version 5) free, click here

• Marketing Analysis Activity Sheet

Want a simple way to keep track of your marketing activity? Print off this sheet and use it to help assess the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns ...click here for the sheet

Please note - This document is in format for viewing with Adobe's Acrobat Reader. To download Adobe Acrobat Reader (Version 5) free, click here

• I mentioned my brother's landscaping business a couple of times - here's the full case study

From The Web Site Talk

In the speech I mentioned the following:

My book - The Web Design Business Kit. It retails for $247 US (that's currently $317 Australian).

The newsletter I write - called the SitePoint Tribune.

I'm on ABC Coast FM (Gold Coast to Sunshine Coast) at 1.15 pm Wednesdays.

Eczema web site - the site(s) used to be Eczemasite.com and Eczemasite.com.au.

We've recently rebranded the site as Epismooth.com for a whole range of reasons......1 of them being that having the site called "Eczemasite" meant we missed out on people with psoriasis - another skin condition our products help.

Here's 4 places you can register a domain name:

• Red Back Hosting - $50 for 2 years for a .com.au
• Via us (Tailored Consulting) - $99 for 2 years for a .com.au
• Melbourne IT - $140 for 2 years for a .com.au
• GoDaddy.com - world's largest (and cheapest) domain name registrar ($8.95 US for a .com name for 1 year)

It can get a little confusing registering a domain name. If you have any trouble please just contact us and we'll register the domain name for you.

Web Site Hosts

As I mentioned, web hosts are like mobile phone deals - there are a million about all with different catches. These hosts are 2 of the best with everything the typical site will ever need.

• Blue Host - approximately $112 pa
• Allwebco.com - approximately $160 pa

Again, getting a web site hosted and organised can take a little time, effort and skill. If you'd like us to have the site hosted (taking care of all the technical aspects) the fee is $240 + GST pa.

Web Site Design

2 very cost effective ways to develop your web site are by using:

• TemplateMonster.com - approximately $100 per design
• Wordpress.org - free. Check out the templates on this page.

As mentioned, you will still need a web developer to implement these design solutions - but the time required by them is very significantly reduced. As an example, we take just over 1/2 hour to configure the Wordpress solution. The TemplateMonster site can take quite a bit longer to edit and configure.

If you want to design your site yourself (assuming you're okay with computers), probably the simplest program is Microsoft FrontPage.

If you just want to be able to edit the site (add pictures, change text, add pages) after it has been designed, Macromedia have a product called Contribute that does the job.

Click this link: Macromedia Contribue to take a look at the software

It costs $79 US.

2 Email Programs

Market to your clients with Constant Contact - 60 Day Free Trial. Constant Contact is an excellent web based template system that is very easy to use.

Dada Mail http://mojo.skazat.com/ Cost: free (but they ask for a donation if you want to give one).

Advertising Sites

Google Adsense and Adwords - setting up to put ads on Google (Adwords) or to publishing Google ads and get a cut of the revenue generated (Adsense).

Getting your web site from your computer to the Internet

This requires a program called FTP (stands for File Transfer Protocol). You can buy this program here: http://www.globalscape.com/cuteftp/

Cute FTP Home costs $59.95 US.

Web Site Marketing

The 2 products I'd recommend here are:

SEO Book by Aaron Wall

"SEO Book" is an eBook by Search Engine expert Aaron Wall that contains all the information for getting great rankings in search engines. Aaron is a true search engine expert and provides all his knowledge in a simple and easy way. Click here for the full review of SEO Book by Aaron Wall.

The Definitive Guide To Google Adwords - by Perry Marshall

"The Definitive Guide To Google Adwords" is an eBook by Google specialist Perry Marshall detailing how to effectively use Google Adwords. That is...........how to dramatically reduce your cost per click, whilst significantly increasing your sale conversion rate. Google Adwords eBook review here.

A secure shopping cart

A secure shopping cart (and a decent one at that) is a must have for a web site selling anything. The cart we use most (we use 3 or 4 different ones) is called Americart. www.americart.com

This cart costs $249 US pa.

Carts range from $0 to a few thousand pa. Many of the free ones are excellent.

Here are some extras:

Statistic programs (tells you plenty about the visitors to your web site): Advance logger at http://www.perlonline.com/advlogger/index.htm sells for $29.95 US. Then you need to get someone to configure it on your host computer.

An excellent program for statistics. You can see plenty of examples on the site.

(By the way, most web hosts provide some statistics for free.)

Another Web Blogger

Available from www.blogger.com - a free version is available, as is a paid version. This is similar to Wordpress.

___________________

Free Papers

• Does your business need a web site?

Includes 8 good reasons, 3 success steps and 7 ways to find a great web developer, and much, much more...click here for more

Please note - This document is in format for viewing with Adobe's Acrobat Reader. To download Adobe Acrobat Reader (Version 5) free, click here

• 10 secrets of successful web sites

The real secrets for a successful web site as developed by us after completing hundreds of sites and owning a hugely successful site ...click here for more

Please note - This document is in format for viewing with Adobe's Acrobat Reader. To download Adobe Acrobat Reader (Version 5) free, click here

Other Web Sites I mentioned

• Million Dollar Home Page - he's made $494,800 to 26 Oct 2005 at 2.10 pm
• SaveToby.com - the rabbit web site I mentioned
• Pat Carroll's web site
• Bahia Resort web site - this is the site that had the sale 35 minutes after we launched it.
• Xanadu resort web site
• Ugg Boots Direct web site - site that gives us a little income via the ads on the site.
• Wordtracker.com - helps you find what people are searching for
• Overture Suggestion Tool - also helps you see what people are searching for
• Yahoo! Buzz - a clue to what's hot

If you have any questions about the speech or feedback just give me a call on 5598 4898 or email me at: brendon@tailored.com.au

Thanks again.

Brendon Sinclair