About this site – resource page

If you want to know about me – visit my About page

Successful website RESOURCE page – behind the scenes!

Want to know how everything is done on this website?

I frequently get emails about how this site is set up and the journey I’ve taken to go from knowing nothing about blogging to having my own blog with membership area all within a few weeks.

Well it certainly wasn’t an easy ride and I would really have loved to have someone just tell me the best way to do everything, rather than the weeks of research I have had to put into this. So that’s what I’m doing for you here! And yes some of these are affiliate links by the way (well every bit towards the website running costs helps doesn’t it)!

Stage 1

Which web host to use (the skeleton of your website)?

Ok, first off, buy a domain name and then a host for the website – I do it all through Dreamhost as they were recommended to me by a web developer friend (Click here to visit Jeff’s site). He’s pro them because he does a ton of client websites (obviously!) and hasn’t had any problems and has found them to be very reliable not to mention extremely well priced.

They also have the added bonus of a one click installation of Wordpress (which is the blogging platform the website content sits in). If you want to try out Dreamhost if you enter this promotional code SUCCESS2 you will get $10 off the hosting fee.

A good alternative webhost I’ve tried recently for another website is InMotion they let you have multiple websites within the same hosting package at a very reasonable rate – so far their service has been excellent.

Traditional website or blog?

The first decision you need to make is the type of website to have – I went for a blog because I want to blog – but even if you don’t fancy blogging, don’t dismiss using a blog platform to run your website with. It’s a very cheap and easy alternative to traditional website because you don’t have to hire a web expert to make it look good and it can function like a normal site and not a blog. Updating your content is very easy, so no more relying on someone else to update your website. And there are things called Plugins which are usually free which you can add to your site to easily customise it with extra functions.

Wordpress blog screenshot - almost like using a word processor!

Which Blog Platform (the body of your website)?

Ok next up is WordPress itself – the good news with WordPress is it is completely FREE and it works in a similar way to a word processor. I don’t know how easy it is to upload WordPress to your web host manually because Dreamhost took care of that part. If you’ve never touched a website or blog before, WordPress does take a little getting used to but once you understand the difference between pages and posts then it’s pretty easy to use (if you want to know more check out the WordPress beginners guide).

So which WordPress Theme (the fancy clothes)?

Firstly, what the heck is a theme?! Well that’s like the clothes that make your WordPress blog look funky – the theme dictates the layout and the colour of your pages. There are a lot of free themes to choose from which is excellent because it keeps costs down…. or so I thought! Apparently, according to those who know, FREE doesn’t necessarily mean good. This is because of the coding, called CSS. If the code is messy, for want of a better expression, then Google has trouble telling the difference between what is code and what is your blog. Google doesn’t like that, you won’t get good ranking with messy code!

The current theme (which I have tweaked with very limited CSS skills) is from WOO Themes.

It’s very easy to use and customise into a variety of different colours. I was using Thesis on the site, but whilst it’s probably better with speed on page load times as well as search engine optimised, it just doesn’t look as good without major coding skills which I do not have!

Need help with it?

A sample of Jeff's web skill

Blogging platforms are the cheapest and easiest way to have a website but if you don’t fancy doing it yourself I have some suggestions. I mentioned my friend Jeff earlier – he specialises in customising Thesis but he also has some package solutions take a look at Jeff’s site. Or another alternative is Wordprezzie , they also have a good and inexpensive theme that has customisable colours but not shape (not on Thesis format though but still has good code).

Stage 2

Ok so once your website/blog is up and running then what?

That all depends on what you want to do with your site. If you want regular contact with people who want to know about your blog and your services then a good way to do that is to set up an email list. Then you know you are only sending emails to people that are genuinely interested in your products and information. You do that with an autoresponder service.

Which autoresponder service to use?

There are a lot to choose from. I’ve only tried one because they were recommended to me by Sonia Simone and frankly anything she says goes! If you don’t know Sonia, she’ an absolute sweetheart – her thing is advising small businesses how to promote themselves without being yucky internet spammers or second hand car salesmen on commission! She has been in marketing for a while and has used a lot of autoresponder emails. Her advice was to go with Aweber Communication.

Why Aweber?

Simply because Aweber get more emails through spam filters than anyone else Sonia (the marketing expert) has tried – and she’s tried a lot of systems – some who charge significantly more than Aweber! The reason Aweber has such a high success rate is they have a very good communication with all the service providers and they do a double opt-in which basically means if someone complains that your email is spam, rather than shut your service down, Aweber can prove that you have permission to email that person. They’ve been as good as she said and no problems on delivery!

I sometimes find formatting an email difficult with their software so I now write the email in a Word doc or Mac Pages and then cut and paste it into the email rather than using their system – seems to be much easier!

Do you need a membership area for your website?

For the membership area and sales pages, I use OptimizePress in conjunction with DAP (Digital Access Pass), which is just awesome! Unlike Kajabi, OptimizePress works on WordPress and you don’t have to pay a monthly subscription! I’ve found it to be easy to customise (although a bit of a learning curve compared to blog templates, but very easy once you’ve seen the video tutorials). What I love about OptimizePress is that the creator James Dyson personally gets back to you with any questions asked in the members area and he is constantly improving the ease of use and functionality of the template. He’s also designed templates for some of the top internet marketers and his templates are very nice to look at and have a higher conversion rate than a normal blog. Can’t recommend them highly enough!

If you are setting up an online course or any area of your site that is for paid members only then you’ll need a way of keeping it private. The easiest way to do it is to use DAP (Digital Access Pass). I used to use WishList Member but if you want to drip feed content, it requires a lot of work to set up properly. I MUCH prefer DAP as it has a lot more options and I find it easier to use. It is easier to protect content like pdfs, video and audio, which when I last used WishList Member, couldn’t be done. It also sets up users with an affiliate link so you won’t need to have a separate affiliate software. Customer service is outstanding. Any queries are usually answered within 24hrs.

Got lots of video tutorials to watch? Want to save time?

Another great resource if you have a lot of video tutorials to watch but don’t have the time to waste watching at the set speed, then try Enounce MySpeed It allows you to watch videos faster or slower without the voice sounding like the person had glugged a load of helium down beforehand! This will save you hours and you can try MySpeed for FREE for 7 Days! Works on Mac and PC.

Stage 3

Need people to find you?

Other than Sonia who I already mentioned – my other favourite small biz marketing guru is Naomi Dunford from IttyBiz – she offer’s excellent, no nonsense advice. BE WARNED Naomi is as brilliant as she is unique – she is slightly prone to cursing – in a funny way but she does swear – don’t let that put you off (unless you can’t cope with humorous cursing!).

The most useful info on the net I’ve found is from Naomi (yes the one who swears!)

Everything you need to know about SEO

SEO School – this explains how to write your blog posts/ webpages effectively and make sure Google finds and ranks you well as a result- it’s the best and easiest to understand that I have read on the subject. Also tells you why you don’t want to optimise your website for the search terms you think you do! Very clever stuff to help you beat the competition. Click here to view more details

Step 4 Taking things to the next level

Just getting your blog or website up and running is only really the beginning. To get anywhere in life you need people. Going it alone isn’t an option. But how do you meet people? How do you strike up relationships with complete strangers and get them to help you promote your blog and your business efforts? Joining a group helps. One of the groups I’m part of is called the The Third Tribe.

What on Earth is The Third Tribe I hear you ask? It’s a group of the World’s most successful bloggers and entrepreneurs, together in one room, chatting and helping one another grow their business and network. It’s also a group of people that advise one another on the latest information, blogging tips. Basically if you’ve got a problem that needs solving, you can bet someone will have an answer in Third Tribe.

That’s all for now, hope you have found the information helpful. If you haven’t tried having your own website before, don’t be scared, it’s not as hard as you think and there are lots of people offering free advice if you get stuck – so go for it!