THE ESSENTIALS OF YOUR WEBSITEWell you know the “age-old” saying…”No money, no honey”. Oh wait, what I meantto say was, “No website, no client bites”. Yeah, that’s it. And this is for reals.If you want to play in the online world, this is the #1 most essential tool you need tostart with. Consider your website like your storefront, your <strong>of</strong>fice, your firstimpression. Would you even entertain the idea <strong>of</strong> buying or using someone’sservices when you can’t “Google” them or find out more about them online? <strong>The</strong>term “Google it” is so part <strong>of</strong> our every day vocabulary, it would be absolutelyludacris for you not to have a website when you start your freedom-based business.And guess what “freedom-based” means? Not being stuck in one spot – an <strong>of</strong>fice, acubicle, a location. So that means you are pretty virtual and online-based.Although a website is essential to kick-start your freedom-based business, it doesn’thave to cost an arm and a leg. It’s up to you where you want to spend your money,but if you don’t have much to start with, you can easily make one yourself, or for ourfriends that are super un-technical, outsource it to developers OUTSIDE <strong>of</strong> first worldcountries to do it for you.Here are your options:Option 1: Hire someone to do it for youAs much as Option 1 is obviously the most headache-free and easiest route, noteveryone can afford it. Website design costs anywhere from $1,000 – $3,000 forbasic sites, especially if you want it to look purrdy. My first business website cost me$2,500, and the process was super smooth and headache-free, but my secondbusiness website (Screw <strong>The</strong> Cubicle), I decided to go another route. I took the timeto create a branding board <strong>of</strong> what I actually liked, and scout out websites I alreadylove, and created a detailed document for an outsourced designer (an actual goodone!). And to be honest, I had to give her A LOT <strong>of</strong> direction, hence the cheaperrates. But, if you’re someone that is great at details and like being a part <strong>of</strong> thecreative process, then go for it! Because <strong>of</strong> that route I took, my website ended upcosting 60-70% less than what I was quoted before.Option 2: Outsource itYes, you can outsource shit you don’t want to do. Most solopreneurs and start-upbusiness owners spend a hell <strong>of</strong> a lot <strong>of</strong> time trying to figure out how to do itthemselves, and they get frustrated and end up struggling through it rather than puttheir time to the things that they’re good at AND will actually help the business grow.Some freelance and outsourcing links:E-Lance | http://www.elance.comOdesk | http://www.odesk.com<strong>The</strong> <strong>Must</strong>-<strong>Haves</strong> <strong>of</strong> a <strong>Successful</strong> <strong>Online</strong> Business | www.Screw<strong>The</strong>Cubicle.com
Virtual Staff Finder | http://www.virtualstafffinder.comI like dealing with the Philippines for web design, I find they can be super creative(and great English!) if you found a great developer and designer there. I’m going tobe honest..it took me 7 interviews to find a good one, so be prepared to put in sometime to filter through and interview them before letting them touch your back-end(not that kind, your website back-end).<strong>Online</strong> Jobs Philippines | http://www.onlinejobs.ph – you can pay them extra tointerview for you once they know what they are looking forEasy Outsource | http://www.easyoutsource.comOption 3: DIYDo it yourself. <strong>The</strong>re are lots <strong>of</strong> DIY options nowadays that doesn’t require coding ortech skills to be able to whip up a nice looking site. If you can drag and drop, youare good to go. You will still need to spend some time and effort on this though.SquareSpace | http://www.squarespace.comWix | http://www.wix.comWeebly | http://www.weebly.comYou’ll also need to find your own images, and have a bit <strong>of</strong> a design on banners,boxes, etc. Of course your business SHOULD have your own photographs, but youmay need stock photography or images to plunker around your site. In that case…Purchase images at:iStock | http://www.istockphoto.comShutterstock | http://www.shutterstock.comPhotodune | http://www.photodune.netNeed to do some DIY graphic design on existing photography? One <strong>of</strong> myFAVOURITE tools to use for banners, Facebook timelines, social media images, e-book maker, etc.Canva | http://www.canva.com(You have been warn, this is SUPER addictive)If you need someone to do things like graphic design, musical jingle for your videos,simple logo, and really, some pretty random things, you should check this out.Fiverr | http://www.fiverr.com<strong>The</strong> <strong>Must</strong>-<strong>Haves</strong> <strong>of</strong> a <strong>Successful</strong> <strong>Online</strong> Business | www.Screw<strong>The</strong>Cubicle.com
Change language