Forget Marketing

I want to make this abundantly clear - entrepreneurship is a calling. Most people view being a “lone ranger” “going it alone” and “pioneering” as something terribly romantic, deliciously enticing, and amazingly exciting. The first time the entrepreneur quits his full time job (and steady paycheck!), however, they are in for a rude awakening.

Being an entrepreneur is all about perseverance, drive, ambition, and balance. Over my years of being

“lone ranger”, I’ve made an infinite amount of mistakes. Each mistake wasn’t a failure - but rather a learning experience and an opportunity to build my personal integrity to a new level. Although many times I thought about giving up and going back to the 9-5, I stuck it out. Here’s what I’ve learned. Following them cannot guarantee success, but it will greatly improve your chances.

“No challenge in business is identical to any other.”
-Norm Brodsky

1. Know the Math

A business is almost like a living creature. Unless you pay attention to every one of it’s needs, you will eventually be putting your tail between your legs and begging for your old job back. Knowing your business needs is a challenging thing, but the only way to succeed in doing this is by looking at the core numbers that your business is producing and understanding the relationships between them all.

This will give you an idea of how your business sales are doing, if you can afford to hire a new salesperson or office manager, how much money you’ll need to deal with all the new business you’re bringing in, and how you can afford to market your small business. You absolutely cannot wait until your accountant tells you about this stuff - you need to be able to tell your accountant!

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2. Don’t count a sale until you receive the check.

My first sale with my first business was when I was giving guitar lessons as a 14 year old freshman in high school. Boy, was I excited. Every time my phone rang with someone who was interested in receiving guitar lessons, I would immediately start counting them in my head as a sale, and start counting my profits already! When I wouldn’t hear back from that individual, I would simply say, “They’ll call next week!”

Even later in life, I would make somewhat of the same mistake. I would have an excellent meeting with a potential new client (one of my internet start-ups) and I would walk away sure of a sale. I later read an article that informed me that if you don’t receive a check on the initial sales call, 96% of the time you never will.

3. Just say “no” to shortcuts.

Your business is going to take a lot of hard work. Nothing is easy in creating a small business. With that said, we all look for shortcuts - ways to do things easier. It’s only natural, especially if it’s it’s your first start-up. I’ve learned that the unfortunate reality that my shortcuts almost always come back and bite me.

I am one of the most impatient people you’ll meet. Since I was able to walk and talk, I’ve tried to find cheaper, faster, and easier ways to get things done. I’ve learned that I need to work with my business and make decisions based on the assumption that my business will last forever - not just TODAY.

5. Cash is tough to save and easy to spend.

It takes money to make money. One of the first things I learned was that in the start-up phase, I learned to only spend what was needed to survive. I’ve seen companies waste tons of money on furniture, office space, branding, etc - when they could have waited! If your cash runs out before you start gaining customers, your business is dead.

Growing up, my father always used to say, “Andy, always pay yourself first.” He didn’t mean I should immediately draw from my business account first - he meant that whenever money was coming in, I should invest in my savings account. Saving money is crucial to any business survival.

1. Decide How to Develop Your Website
Today, web design is easy! Anyone with a computer and a little creativity can design and create an elaborate web page in just a few hours of work.  But beware – you want your website to look professional!  This is not something that should be taken for granted.  As the old saying goes, “You get what you pay for.”  This saying is especially true in web development - simply because there is just so much competition!

Here are some tips on how to start a new web site:

A.    Buy one on eBay (Pretty cheap, and quick!)

This may sound absurd, but it’s for real.  At this very second, there are dozens of websites for sale on eBay.  The benefit of buying a website on eBay is that everything has been pre-made for you!  All you have to do is find a good deal, and make sure that you don’t pay too much.  When it comes to eBay, $50 US is a good price to pay for a pre-packed website.  Occasionally, someone is selling a website that they developed which already has many members - the members are what you will be paying for as these members are extremely valuable.  Anyone can create a website - but it takes time, money, and energy to bring in the members.

Chances are pretty likely that a website that you are buying on eBay has been bought 50 times before.  In 2007, Google has started to penalize websites for duplicate content.  This means that if your website has text that is on 500 other websites, don’t expect good search placement when a users searches for your keywords.

Personally, I have had decent results with websites bought on eBay, but you need to make sure that you either re-write the text on the website, or do a search on Google to make sure that your content is not on 1000 other websites.  I once bought a website off eBay only to find out that the articles on the website I bought could easily be found on over 50,000 other websites!

When trying to search for other websites with your content, follow these steps:
1.    Highlight 3 or 4 sentences from your website
2.    Open your web browser and go to www.google.com
3.    In the SEARCH bar, type in a quotation mark (“)
4.    Paste the text that you took from your website
5.    Put a quotation mark at the end
6.    Press search

If your search returns a LOT of search results, grab another few sentences and try it again.  If you continue to have high search results, then your content is most likely all over the internet, and it may not be a good investment.  However, even if the content is all over the internet, it may still be a good investment - if you’re interested in taking the time to create entirely new content!

Last comment about eBay – if you buy a website from eBay, hosting is always a question.  While most people who are selling websites are hosting them, I would always recommend a third party hosting company.  You can find great deals on hosting through my company, Synergy75.com.

B.    Build your own website

This can potentially be a great way to start your website.  Doing so will save you money and you’ll also be able to customize your website exactly how you see fit.  This also ensures that you have 100% original content.  It would be ideal for you to create your own site, but beware! Your website must look professional. If you do not have the ability to create a professional looking website, then don’t bother.  Again, you get what you pay for!

C.    Hire a local web development firm.

Though often the most costly route, hiring a web development firm to create your website for you is always the best way to start off.  Any good development firm will be able to add a content management system of some sort which will allow you to edit your own website easier than sending an email.

I’m (of course) partial to my own development company, Synergy75.com.  I employ 6 developers from across the country.  We have some of the best designers and coders in the industry today and can offer some amazing deals (especially to new customers!)

D.    Hire a freelancer

The only website that I would recommend to hire a freelance from would be www.GetAFreeLancer.com.  Before I created Synergy75.com, I used this service extensively, and I still use them on occation.  You are allowed to post your first project for free, then freelancers bid on the project, and communicate through the website.  Finally, you can choose a provider and deposit money into an escrow account.  The money is not released to the provider until the project is 100% completed to your specifications.

2.    Buy a domain name and sign up for web hosting services.

If you bought a turnkey website on eBay or anywhere else, then chances are pretty good that your website has also come with a domain name.  If it has not, you’ll need to get one.  This is a simple and cheap task!

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A.    Decide on a domain name.

First, choose the domain name that you’d like to have. A domain name is the address or URL (universal resource link) that you type into your address bar to navigate to any website.  Generally speaking, it starts with a www and ends with a .com, .org, .net, .info, or .co.uk.  It should be easy to read and relevant to your site.  For instance, if your site is about quitting smoking, then you don’t want a website www.chocolatelovers.com.

B.    Check to see if someone has already taken that domain name.

Again, this is another simple step.  You need to navigate to www.GoDaddy.com and look for this box:

Enter your domain and press Go!  When you do, it will tell you if you are able to purchase your domain name, or if someone already has.  If it is available, purchase it.  It then belongs to you!

C.    Find a hosting provider.

Now you need to find a hosting company to “host” your website.  Hosting is basically the physical place that your website sits – usually on a computer in a warehouse somewhere in the world.  I rent an entire server from LiquidWeb because they have decent hosting packages that are affordable, plus 24 hour customer support.

HINT: If you are a UK citizen, buy hosting from America! As I am writing this article, the dollar is worth less than half of the GBP.  That basically means that you get HALF PRICE monthly payments!

D.    Change your domain’s name server to point to your new hosting.

When you have acquired hosting and need to point your domain name to this hosting, it’s time to change your name server.  This is the sort of tasks that could be confusing to a beginner, so I’ll try to explain clearly. (Note, when you sign up to my hosting services, we will do this for you)  Your name server is what tells your domain what to “show” to someone who types it in.  It’s basically the link between what you type into your browser window and the data that is displayed.

Go to the website that you bought your domain name from (IE GoDaddy.com) and log in.  Somewhere in your account settings will be a section that says something like “Manage My Domains” or “Advanced Settings” or something along those lines.  Click on it, and it should have something that says “Change Name Servers.”
You basically need to copy the name server that your new hosting account has sent to you, and put them into this section in your account.  A typical name server looks something like NS1.SYNERGY75.COM.  There should be an NS1 and an NS2 number.  Copy and paste them both.  If you have any trouble, don’t hesitate to call customer support.

3.  Install You Website

If you chose to build your own website then you will need to upload these files to your server.  To do this, you’ll need an FTP program such as SmartFTP or CoffeeCup FREE FTP which can both be downloaded from www.download.com.

Then, you will need to find out what your FTP information is.  The general standard is the following:

ftp.example.com
Username: root
Password: example_password

The FTP program you choose should be able to tell you the rest.  Once you are connected, you need to upload your files - but make sure you name your home page index.html or index.htm in order for your server to see it as your, “home” page.

In most cases, if you’ve bought your website from eBay or paid for custom development, the professional organization you bought from will handle the installation for you.

All you have to do now is market your website!

As the owner of a web development company (Synergy75.com), I am constantly coming across new clients who are excited about their ideas, hopes, and dreams for their new web development project. I’ve built dozens of websites from complex ecommerce websites (IonLife) to extremely simple and low-key projects (RedFish). Time and time, again, clients of all shapes and sizes always ask me questions about how the server they are going to use will handle an obscene amount of traffic - will it shut down? Will the server run slowly? Will the server fail entirely wreaking havoc on their long-awaited (and costly) hopes and dreams? Most people who are developing a website believe the old Field of Dreams phrase, “If You Build It, They Will Come” applies to web developement and Internet marketing. But it doesn’t.

While it’s clearly not my job to bash my potential client’s hopes from the get-go, it is my job to be real with them on what to expect before, during, and after a project has been completed. In very rare cases (IE MySpace & Facebook), a new web platform is launched spurring an amazing onslaught of word-of-mouth marketing that doesn’t cost a dime. Before MySpace or Facebook knew what was happening, they had literally thousands of members! They truly broke the mold of traditional marketing - MySpace did not spend a dime on advertising their own website. This is not the norm.

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I have explained to my customers again and again that after my company (or another) is finished with their website, that’s when the real hard work comes into play. It’s simply not enough to build the website - you then need a way to show people that you exist, that your costly project is important enough to take a look at, and that your somehow relevant to their busy lives.

Getting people to come to your website is simple - but tedious. I usually explain Internet marketing to my clients this way - it’s exactly like pushing a car! When you first try to push a car, you give it all your possible strength - you literally give it all you’ve got. But it doesn’t budge! Still, you keep giving it every ounce of strength in your body and it eventually moved an inch. Encouraged by this slight movement, you give it another burst of strength, and it starts to slowly move. After a few more tense moments, your energy has succeeded and the car starts to roll! Now, you’re simply jogging beside it giving it a tap every now and again.

Unfortunately, Internet marketing is very much like pushing a car. At first, the marketing campaign needs to be jump started - and it will take a lot of time and energy to do so. This is where most of your marketing dollars, your time, and your energy will be spent - and at first, it will seem like nothing is happening. Finally, after nearly exhausting all of your resources, your marketing campaign will start to pay off. From there, all you need to do is jog along side and give it a nudge every once in a while.

This blog was created to help any person who has created any type of website to get over the initial “push” process of their Internet marketing campaign and to hit the ground running. We will be talking about all of the relevant Internet marketing tricks, tips, and techniques, and also talking about technical issues such as Wordpress, Joomla, and other popular web development solutions.

Please feel free to get in touch with us (Synergy75.com) and ask any questions - from tips on Internet marketing to advice on how much to pay for your next web project, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us!