Kit Miller Group

I want to start a website and just get doing something I feel passionate about. Is there a free way to do this or how hard is it to do it? Do I need any special licensing or certificate?

Check out this youtube video. It will teach you how to build a website step by step. The only thing you buy is your domain name which is like $4.

Part 1 of 2 – Build a website fast and easy with Wordpress
www.youtube.com

"This video is part 1 of 2 in which I start from the very beginning on how quick and easy it is to put up a website or blog with Wordpress. It can’t get any easier than this."

"If you build it, they will come" is not necessarily true on the Web. Putting a website up is one thing, but getting visitors to come to your site is another. The process becomes even more difficult if you have limited resources to market your business.

Here are some shoestring marketing ideas that can help you get the visitors you need at the least cost possible:

1. Create the best content you can with the best products you can possibly offer. Your content is your best advertisement – if visitors love your content, then they will go back and spread the word to others.

2. Make it easy for users to recommend your site. Viral marketing is very important — and easy to tap on the Web. But give your users the tools. Get a Recommend this Site script from websites such as cgiscripts.com and similar directories of scripts. Some even go as far as giving incentives to those who recommend the site to their friends. If only 10 people go to your site, but these 10 people invite 10 more – that’s additional traffic that you get for FREE!

3. Rank well in the search engines (organic search results, not the pay per click). SEs can be a big source of traffic. The key is to create the best content in your niche. If you have good content, other websites will gladly link to you and offer your site as a resource to their audience. Check the on-page factors and be sure to get linked from authority sites in your topic area.

If you are going to read only one piece on search engine optimization, I suggest you read Brett Tabke of WebmasterWorld.com’s "Successful Site in 12 Months with Google Alone: 26 steps to 15k a day." http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum3/2010.htm

4. Send out press releases. While outfits charge as much as $650 per release, there are free press release submission places on the Web. Press releases allow you to (a) attract media attention; (b) get more back links to your website without sending each website an email request; and (c) get more visibility especially if your press release gets in Google News or Yahoo News. My website (see my profile) accepts free press release submission (no strings attached!)

5. Submit articles. Write articles and submit them to websites accepting author submissions. You get exposure for your business; establishes you as an authority in your field, and allows you to get backlinks for your website. If 50 websites publish your article and it contains a link back to your website, then you easily get 50 links from a single article. The more links you have, the greater your chances for increasing your search engine rankings.

6. Improve your conversion. Getting visitors is one thing; getting them to buy your products is a whole different story. Read the article "10 Ways to Convert Visitors to Buyers" http://www.powerhomebiz.com/072005/conversion.htm for tips on how to improve your conversion rates.

http://www.powerhomebiz.com/guide/cases/ii-lexi.htm

What is required for licensing (tests, fees, experience?)

you need to be a registered sex offender to work for most companies. Just kidding.
Depends on the place you are applying at. Some require at least some form of degree some don’t care. I don’t like hiring people without at least a bachelors but I have. I respect experience more than education.

I am a young marketing professional located in the Houston, TX area. I received my B.B.A. in Marketing in 2006 and I am eager to establish my on Marketing Business with the target market of small businesses. I am currently a Marketing Assistant and plan to join the American Marketing Assocation. Is there any advice that can be shared for my endeavors?

From one marketing pro to another, congrats on your BBA and on your upcoming business!

A former product marketing colleague started a business here in the Dallas area, he found that he could give talks at Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Club meetings and even holds several of his own events. The idea was basically to share his expertise on certain topics ("how to market your services" or "how to increase your sales") in a public forum, and hand out business cards and pamphlets to attendees regarding the services he could offer.

Another suggestion is to look at local nonprofit organizations and pitch those that need your part-time consulting help. (Examples: I marketed our church’s school for a year, also contacted the city-run golf course because I read in the newspaper that their revenue was declining, so I figured they needed some marketing help!) )

Be sure to offer different packages at various price levels, so you can market to any size of business.

After you’ve been in business a while, word of mouth will be your best advertisement.

Best of luck to you!

No lender will talk to you unless you provide them with a valid business plan. Go to http://www.sba.gov , http://www.score.org or http://www.bplan.com for sample business plans and instructions on how to write a business plan.

Then, go to http://www.score.org/ and in the upper left hand corner, enter your zip code. On the next screen, you will get information on the nearest SCORE chapter. Call them and arrange for a free meeting with a SCORE counselor to review your business plan and discuss various loan options available to you.

SCORE is a nonprofit association dedicated to entrepreneur education and the formation, growth and success of small business nationwide. SCORE is a resource partner with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

SCORE has 389 chapters in locations throughout the United States and its territories, with 10,500 volunteers nationwide. Both working and retired executives and business owners donate time and expertise as business counselors.

I do NOT want to use Constant Contact. I would like a company that will create a custom e-mail newsletter to send to clients and prospective clients. I also do NOT want a Do-It-Yourself company.

Thank you in advance for your answers!

I use aweber

I’m trying to get commercial accounts for my janitorial company.

Online directories and forums can help. Also, email marketing campaigns to existing customers can help spread word of mouth advertising. Here’s some info on that, good luck with the biz!

Its an small I.T training company.. thanks

One thing that helps is to set goals and project milestones. You want to have long-term goals and short-term goals. When you set these, you can include in your report what progress you made on the long-term goals, which short-term ones you’ve accomplished, and what new goals you’re setting this month. You’ll always have something to talk about this way and it makes your marketing efforts measurable.

Your marketing report might also discuss budgeting. While you don’t want to share specifics with a wide audience, you can talk about whether projects are overbudget or underbudget and talk about how you troubleshooted things…this will make you look good and will also energize your employees to do more to keep their projects in budget and on time.

You can also put focus on the clients and talk about the projects you did and the success that it had and how your training impacted their organizations. If the report is going to be shared with anyone outside of your company, get clients’ permission before using their names.

Lastly, think of it as a newsletter. Some people think of marketing as only Promotions (as in, how well did our ad campaign go?). However, you can also talk about other aspects of the marketing mix. Where did you PLACE ads? What new PRODUCTS or programs did you develop? Are you offering any special PRICES or discount packages?

Hello

I have been running an online canvas art retail business for a few months now – http://www.espiritoart.com

Visitors I do have have generally liked the design and functionality (although I do have some suggestions to work on), and given the low traffic, my conversion ratio is actually good. All of this suggests that I just need more people to know about it (not an uncommon problem I imagine!!).

On the internet side, I have submitted to about 200 directories, have a priority listing on a commonly used business search directory and have numerous successful art profiling sites which generate some traffic. Although an amateur I’ve also done things with stumbleupon, digg, delicious etc.

On the traditional side, I’ve had a free article in a local newspaper, and taken my work to various galleries, fairs etc.

I know there’s no one solution, but does anyone have any suggestions for low cost activities that have worked for them, perhaps if you have been in a similar situation?

Thanks a lot!

First of all – you need to change your site slightly – both from a SEO and customer conversion perspective. Put what you do above the fold – ie on the first screen you see. Use key words. This will help get you better search rankings and let people who visit know what you do.

Secondly – start a linking campaign with other sites that may need graphics or your services. Write a nice email to each site saying that you have visited their site, mention something you have seen on the site so that they know you have and introduce your service. The whole email should be about 200 words long at the most and preferably about 150 words. This works is you target them correctly.

Thirdly – put your website link on everything – your emails, letters, car etc.

Lastly – offer talks on a subject to local clubs groups etc. If you convert well from the site this should work as well,

I am currently creating an online site to archive my music at, and as an amateur singer/songwriter, I have a few of my own songs recorded, along with a couple of cover songs. I was wondering how I go about obtaining the licensing rights to upload such covers and host them on my site.

You actually don’t need to license them to just put them up on your site. You’ll usually only need to license if you are putting them on an actual release, and even then only if you are making more than 999 copies (1,000 and up you have to pay the mechanical license).