Archive for May, 2009
Low Cost Reliable Web Hosting
There’s one nice thing about the internet these days- low cost reliable web hosting is no longer just a dream. You can get great low cost web hosting service for less than $10 a month — sometimes even a lot less!
When I created my very first website, the cheapest hosting I could find was $30 a month; and for that I pretty much got nothing except 30 MB of space for my hosting. No instructions, no real help.
Time went on and web site hosting got cheaper, but so did the services! Downtime was all too often, and to make matters worse, my entire website vanished not once, but twice!
Fortunately, things have come a long way. There are quite a few low cost reliable web hosting services that balance a small price with the capabilities you need. But before you buy that plan, know what questions to ask!
First: Your Domain Name
If you don’t already have a domain name for your website, be aware that some low cost web services include a free domain name when you host with them. BlueHost has such a service — free domain with $6.95 per month hosting package. If you don’t already have a domain name, this can be an added benefit.
Even if you don’t want to buy a plan from a low cost reliable web service that includes a domain name, it’s definitely easier when you purchase your domain name at the same place you plan to host your site. Trust me on this one — you don’t want to be dealing with the hassle of getting the DNS addresses pointing in the right direction! Buying your name where you plan to host takes care of that for you.
Who Does the Backups?
It’s very important for you to know how often the hosting service performs backups of your website. Some services do it daily, some weekly…some not at all. You need to know this in advance.
Here’s an example. Say you have your website hosted at company “x” and you use their WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor to create your web pages. That’s so convenient, but it also means that because you did it on their system, you don’t have a backup. Instead, you’re trusting the host to keep your data safe.
What happens if one of the servers goes down and they have to restore your website from a backup? If they backup the data daily, perhaps the worst you would lose is one day’s worth of work. But what happens if the host only backs up weekly? Or not at all?
What’s that to you in lost business?
Low Cost Reliable Web Hosting: What’s in a Package?
If you’re looking strictly for low cost and don’t need anything beyond very basic service, there are three internet hosting providers I recommend from personal experience. Each of these low cost reliable web service has plenty of disk space and bandwidth allowances that are more than enough for most people.
Next is BlueHost, who has reliable, affordable business hosting. DreamHost is my next choice for a great low cost reliable web hosting service; I’ve never had an issue with downtime.
Finally, there is 1&1, who has the corner on the ultra-low cost. Plans start at $3.99 month and you can save 50% off hosting. If you’re just looking to host a very basic site, or perhaps just host some graphics or mp3 files, 1&1 is a definite consideration
(Of course if you want to build a website that generates traffic, check out the options with a managed web hosting service — it’s a lot less expensive than you think.)
What About Free?
If you are really serious about your home business, don’t bother with free web hosting. Either you will be bombarded with banner ads, you will have uptime problems or you will have a tacky domain name. The only free hosting I might recommend is something like PhotoBucket.com that hosts images for you.
Low cost reliable web hosting services are available for less than $50 a year, so it makes sense to do it right the first time.
Is A Home Based Business The Way To Go?
Opportunities Arise Everyday
Everyday, you’ll have opportunities to take chances and to work outside your safety net. Sure, it’s a lot easier to stay in your comfort zone…but sometimes you have to take risks. When the risks pay off, that’s when you reap the biggest rewards. Now think about this statement – starting a home based business is a great risk taker and you’re definitely out of your comfort zone because its something many people are not doing today considering the economy.
- Are you rich?
- Do you have everything you want?
- A nice car?
- A great relationship?
- The house of your dreams?
- The freedom to go anywhere and do anything regardless of the time or cost?
If you can answer yes to each of these questions, congratulations! You’re living a totally fulfilled life with no limits on your potential.
But if you’re like most Americans, you probably can’t answer yes to all these questions. You may be working forty or more hours a week, earning just enough cash to slowly keep sinking a little more into debt every month. Maybe you’re relying on credit cards to keep paying your bills, but you know that can’t last forever. Even worse, do you even know whether you’ll have a job in the future? With outsourcing, downsizing, and corporate bankruptcies, working a job is no longer a secure way of making a living.
What about your retirement?
If you’re having trouble paying your monthly bills, you can’t set anything aside for retirement. By the time you reach retirement age, Social Security may be paying only a fraction of what you should be getting. Hopefully Social Security is even around to pay you anything at all.
In a typical year, how much time do you spend working on a detailed retirement plan that has a realistic chance of being implemented? Or are you like most people, who have a someday wish list. Someday, I’m going to retire. Someday, I’m going to pay off the mortgage. Someday, I’m going to travel.
Maybe working a second job might help pay the bills, but at what cost to your physical well-being, emotional state, and the time you spend with your family and friends? Do you want to work so hard and for so long just to pay your bills? I don’t think so, and that’s why I’m here to tell you that there’s another way to live.
It’s a Home Based Business!
So why it’s the way to go? First, you can get started right away. Second, you can get started in your spare time and then decide to go full-time later if you want. Third, you can get started where you live. Fourth, you can make a little money or a lot. Remember, the only person setting limits on how much you can make is you. Think about your home based business and go for it – you’ll realize this is the best move you ever made in the long run. I truly hope by reading this article – it had something to do with your decision.
Back to Make Money With a Home Based Business.
How to Start a Blog that Makes Money: For Real
How to start a blog may the question on your mind, but maybe it should actually be…
…how to start one that makes money. And there is a big difference between the two.
Just creating a blog with no real target in mind won’t generate dollars. Neither will the fanciest blog on earth, if it doesn’t have great content.
And for that matter…blogs with great content get passed up in the search engines all the time. So what is the key to unlocking the bank vault (so to speak)? How to start a blog that makes money isn’t easy if you don’t know the money-making rules!
There is a way, though, if you’re serious about wanting to learn.
Program Review: Atomic Blogging
When I first read the title, I groaned; give me a break! So I passed on it at the time.
A while later, something was bugging me; I had this blog and knew it had some great content. Why wasn’t I getting the traffic? Because as you know, no traffic means no income. Oh sure, I was getting some traffic and making some money. Just not enough to do more than buy a fast-food dinner for two each month with the blog income.
I was missing some pieces of the puzzle, but wasn’t sure where.
Then a friend with a successful blog recommended an ebook to me; it sounded great, so I thought I’d take a look. What? Atomic Blogging? Isn’t this the same one that I passed on before?
Yes it was. And now it was time for me to decide if I should break down, get the ebook and really give it a try…or keep doing what I was doing? While I didn’t exactly need to know how to start a blog, I did need help with building the traffic.
Well, the fact that it had a money-back guarantee helped, so I figured I may as well buy it. Atomic Blogging, here I come.
How to Start a Blog…That Makes Money
I do know some search engine optimization — meta tags, keywords, etc. — so I wasn’t sure what the Atomic Blogging system would do for me. But I figured that if I was going to try it, I was going to give it my best effort.
And you know what? By the time I really started reading this ebook, and looking at all the tools provided, I was impressed. It wasn’t just a “build a blog and they will come” book. Instead, it gave you actual steps and walks you through examples of how to start a blog that makes money — from the very start.
What I Liked
The ebook is broken down into ten chapters that are easy to read and understand. They are:
- Dos and Don’ts
- Getting Started
- Building Your Success with Market and Keyword Research
- Setting up a Profitable Blog to Generate Cash Online
- Optimizing Your Blog to Perform
- Powerful Tips on Blogging
- Monetizing Your Blog
- Getting Traffic and Really Lots of It
- Leveraging on the Web 2.0 Social Networks
- Advanced Traffic Tips and Bonus Chapters
Each chapter is loaded with ideas and practical strategies for building a blog that will make the money. It’s not for the faint of heart; there is definitely work involved, and it won’t happen overnight. Atomic Blogging is not a get-rich-quick.
What it is a guide for making the very best decisions, to give you blog the highest chances for success.
Well, not only does Alvin Phang (the author) give you information, but he puts his money where his mouth is and gives you the tools you can use! He especially emphasizes choose your blog theme carefully, with an eye to the search engines. He also explains why you should care about the keywords you use, how often to use them and how to use your blog to make the most of them.
There’s no tip-toeing around; if you want to know how to start a blog that makes money, you need all the tools you can get. And that includes using WordPress as your blogging platform, as it has the best SEO features of any blogging software. So don’t even think about using Blogger or any of the other free services! This system is playing for keeps.
What I Didn’t Like
Alvin talks about the ways you can make money from your blog, and they are indeed great ideas. But there’s only one problem. For most (but not all) of the ideas, you need some substantial traffic before you can even participate!
For example, if you want to get paid to write reviews on your blog, you have to be getting a lot of traffic before the advertisers will want to even talk to you. That was kind of glossed over. Sure, you can make money from these methods…but the time it takes to ramp up wasn’t really spelled out. (Here’s a hint: it will take more than a few months unless you can do this full time from the very start.)
On the other hand, Alvin did describe some ways to make money from your blog that you can use even if you don’t have any traffic.
(Granted if you have no traffic you have no sales…but the point is you can implement the monetization immediately. And the income grows with the traffic)
Why I Recommend Atomic Blogging
I am recommending this e-package because I see that it works. Period.
I recommend it because it is not get rich quick — it is an honest business and profession you can be proud of. No pyramids, no hype, just real work and real results.
I recommend Atomic Blogging because of the quality of the tools and software that come with the package. It’s much, much more than just an ebook. It’s a roadmap.
Even now, I go back and re-read chapters from time to time; beyond learning, it’s also an excellent reference.
Anyway, that’s my opinion and review, if you want to know how to start a blog that makes money. Is it right for you? Only you can answer that one.
But if you are intrigued, click here and you’ll be wisked to the site. Take a look and decide for yourself if it’s the right purchase. Remember, there’s a money-back guarantee, so there’s nothing to lose.
But I think if you do decide to take the plunge, you won’t regret it.