Welcome to my blog about building an online business. I’ve been doing this for several years and have learned a few things that I’d like to share.
This all started for me in 2006 when I joined a network marketing company. I tried to do the whole coffee shop / hotel meeting thing but it just didn’t fit my personality or lifestyle. For one, I prefer to live in places where there are more cows and cornfields than there are people and houses. So I decided to take my new business online. Well, at least the product side of it. I essentially became an affiliate marketer. And I like it.
Building just about any kind of business is easier online. You can publish or offer whatever kind of content or product that you want, then figure out how to get people to your website, or someone else’s, to see it. The Internet has made it easier for authors, artists, and musicians to self-publish their work. There are places where anyone can post beauty or cooking tips and get sponsors to pay them. People can even make money playing video games online so others can watch and chat along.
As I said, I’ve learned a few things over the years. The most important thing is to find something you’re passionate about. then create a vision and a plan.
Where I Am Now
My business finally got to the point where it wasn’t going anywhere and I decided to figure out how to fix it. I’ve never had any real business training except for what the network marketing company offered, essentially feed your friends to your upline so that they can be badgered into joining you. That doesn’t really work and, like I said, cows and cornfields. I went looking for an online program that could teach me something.
I remembered a program that I was told about several years ago, but reviews said it hasn’t been kept up to date. But a comparison review brought me to another one – Modern Wealthy. It is very up to date and it felt right, so I went with it. I’ll share my own review of it later on.
The purpose of this blog is to share the things I’m doing, and what I’ve learned, as I revamp my online business.
When you build an email list there are a few things you should do, and a few you shouldn’t. I received an email recently from a list that I subscribed to a while back. The email marketer made a few of the biggest mistakes I have seen in a while and I want to share them. I don’t claim to know the best practices, but I can at least show you some better email marketing practices.
My blog is a big part of my business, so I read a lot of other blogs, especially blogs about blogging. One thing that blogging bloggers say A LOT really irks me. It’s the worst blogging advice EVER!!!
Can you build a website for free? That’s a question I hear all the time. Yes, you can build a website for free, but you really don’t want to. The better question is what parts of a website cost money?
Have you read anything about how long should a blog post be? I read a lot of blogs about blogging and I see posts on this topic all the time. The answers run a very wide range, from a few hundred words to a few thousand words. Of course, everyone you read says that they have the definitive answer. But since they are all so different, how do you know which guru is right?
I was talking to someone recently about helping them create a website for their business. We ran into some difficulty when we started talking about the search engines – how your website shows up on Google. I made an incorrect assumption that everyone understands what the search engines do, but not everyone does. How do search engines work?
If you are involved in a home-based business these days, you need to have a website to support your business. If you are going to have a website, you should know how to build a website.
Why Blog Comments Are Important
I’ve read a lot of blog posts that argue about whether you should allow comments on your blog or not. There are a lot of factors to consider for and against comments and then a few different comment systems to consider. Let’s take a look at why blog comments are important.
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