Starting Your own Website (c) Cheryl A. Crossan 2002.
By Cheryl A. Crossan
Posted Friday, June 25, 2004
Everyday thousands of new people are looking for online business opportunities. When they first start, one of the most common mistakes they make is signing up for every opportunity that they find until they don't even know what they are promoting. Consequently, they don't make any money, and usually lose money in the process.
You can’t make money without a website. I just can’t say that enough.
Otherwise, you'll probably end up in an MLM that will usually require you to buy something and then will have you running all over the net looking for advertising for THEM. This is not a deal. What you want are partners that do not charge you to join, that you can advertise and send people to your website to see the advertising. If you get quality products, people will link to your partners and you’ll get a commission after buying. You don’t sell the product, you don’t take the orders, you don’t handle invoices. etc. You lead your customers to quality things they want to buy. You can also sign up for any of the thousands of "mini sites" available and put your link on your site to advertise it.
I recently visited a site by request from one of my Newsletter subscribers. He had quit advertising it because he's sent thousands of visitors there and not made any money. It was easy to see why before the whole page loaded. He didn't have any theme. He had just listed one advertisement after another and sent people to the site. Is this the kind of site you're going to find "sticky" or visit again?
You can spend a lot of money starting your site, or you can spend time instead. Website design is no longer the realm of 'webmasters." Anyone can design their own site if they are willing to spend the time. Remember, when designing your website, come up with a theme to make your site sticky. Later on you can partner with programs that fit your theme to make money. You do not have to be an affiliate of every business available to make money. Actually, doing this will probably ensure you DON'T make money.
Most hosts support Microsoft Frontpage design and most people already have it on their desktops. Go to your start menu. Click on programs. Click on internet Express. It will show you three options. One will be Frontpage Express that is a free download that comes with IE.
People have free or low cost hosting to them available and usually don't know it. It's with your ISP. If you have a regular dial-up, you'll only find out about the free hosting usually by reading the teeny, tiny print. If you have a more expensive plan, your ISP will plaster this all over as an incentive to get you to buy.
OK, now you know this, who are you going to sell for? There are several programs available to find legitimate businesses that won't charge you to sell for them. I use Commission Junction and Linkshare. However, these aren't the only ones available.
If you want step-by-step instructions on doing all of these things, I have developed a package called NetSteals. It is available to purchase for $39.95 at mailto:pooka@frognet.net I provide ongoing support for all of my customers, along with all of my resources. NetSteals was developed after months of my own personal research. However, you can do this for free if you're willing to invest the time.
Cheryl A. Crossan is the author of NetSteals News, dedicated to web design, hosting, marketing and advertising. For free membership with free ads mailto:pooka@frognet.net
About the Author
Cheryl A. Crossan is a fiction writer, an internet marketer and the publisher of NetSteals News, an ezine focusing on helping people design, host, find marketing partners and advertise their sites for little or no cost.
