Home Based Business?

7 Big Reasons To Create Your Next Small Business Website With WordPress

Adam Kreitman — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 08:27:31 +0000

Which would you prefer for you small business’ website?

One that involves custom programming costing $3000 or more, requires a knowledge of complex programming languages in order to make even simple changes to the content, and requires a complete redesign (again costing thousands of dollars) if you decide the look is outdated?

Or a website built on free software that has thousands of free add-ons available to make it do pretty much anything you want, an easy-to-use interface that you can use to update the content yourself without any programming knowledge and hundreds of professionally designed, quality templates you can use to change the appearance of the site at the drop of a hat?

No brainer, right?

If you aren’t familiar with it, an introduction to WordPress is in order.

Originally a software package used primarily for blogging, WordPress has become an amazingly robust Content Management System small business owners can use to easily create professional looking websites for their businesses.

Here are 7 reasons why using WordPress for your small business’ website is such an appealing option:

1. It costs nothing! Not one penny! WordPress is available for download at WordPress.org at no cost – you won’t even have to give up your email address. To host a WordPress site yourself, however, you will need to find a hosting company. That’s generally not free. But it’s not expensive either. For just $5 – $10 a month you can host your WordPress site at any number of quality web host providers. Many of them include Fantastico with your hosting plan which is software that lets you install WordPress in just a few clicks without even having to download the software.

2. Easy to Use. Not only is WordPress easy to install, but it’s extremely easy to use. I’m not saying there won’t be a learning curve, especially for those who are technically challenged, but there are plenty of how-to tutorials around the web to teach you everything you need to know about using WordPress and then some. After that initial learning curve, adding new blog posts or pages to your site is about as easy as using a word processing program. And there is absolutely no requirement to know how to write code or do any other technically-involved activities to update and maintain your WordPress site.

3. Themes. Think of a theme as a template. It will change the look and feel of your WordPress site. It can also change the behind-the-scenes workings of your site to provide additional functionality. You can choose from thousands of different themes – some are free, some you have to pay for. And if you can’t find one that quite suits your requirements, you can hire a designer to create a custom theme for your WordPress site.

Themes make it easy to get a clean, professional looking site without having to pay for a lot of custom design work. And they’re easy to install and change. If you wake up one morning and decide your site needs a facelift – no problem! Find a theme you like better, activate it and you’ve got a brand new look to your site – without having to touch the content of your pages or blog posts.

4. Plugins. Plugins are software the extend the capabilities of WordPress to do pretty much anything you want. Using plugins, you can track site visits, add social bookmarking to your site, automate backups of your site, fight spam, create contact forms, improve site security and a lot more. And, with few exceptions, the plugins are absolutely free.

5. Search Engine Love. Google (and the other search engines) love WordPress. Using WordPress can give your search engine optimization efforts a big boost. And if you take advantage of some of the SEO-related plugins available for WordPress, the searc engines will really think your site is the bee’s knees.

6. Technical Support. WordPress does not offer tech support for you to email or call with your questions. However, have no fear, there are still a ton of options for you if you have an issue you need addressed. You can turn to the forum on WordPress.org, which is a very active community of WordPress users who are always willing to help those having problems with the software. In addition, there are a bunch of other websites, message boards and blogs that you can turn to for advice. There are also plenty of wordPress experts for hire to assist you. Whatever issue you may encounter, help is always close at hand.

7. Control. Hosting your own WordPress website puts you in control of your web presence. Need to update your content, add new posts or pages? You can easily do it yourself. Want to update the appearance of your site? Find a new Theme, upload it, activate it and you’re done. Don’t like the hosting company you’re using? Find another and move your site – there are plenty of good hosting companies around.

So there are seven strong benefits to using WordPress for your small business’ website/blog. Without a doubt there are reasons why you may WordPress may not work for your situation and hiring a programmer to develop a custom site is the best option.

For most small business owners, however, WordPress will provide all that you need to get a professionally looking website that you, and the search engines will love. It’s a highly functional, flexible and cost-effective option that is hard to top.

Adam Kreitman is a St. Louis online marketing consultant. While he is not a designer, he got tired of seeing small business clients with overpriced, poorly designed websites so he started helping clients develop sites using WordPress. To get the word out to a larger audience he started a website which provides tips, video tutorials and resources for using WordPress for business.

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Give Your Customers The Gift Of Desk Organization

Richard Joseph — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 14:47:19 +0000

Offering promotional products can be a first-class marketing instrument for all kinds of companies. A few items might be utilized merely seasonally, or consume particular uses that restrain the products’ functionality (such as a soccer ball). The ideal direction to advertise your business is to furnish possible customers with one of the numerous desktop promotional products accessible.

Each of these products are excellent choice for your promotional marketing and will be well excepted by your customers and clients. They are an ideal tool in promoting your business since they will not only be utilized on a daily basis, but they have the potential to be placed on a desk and viewed all day, even if there is no need to utilize the item at that time.

There is a wide range in the styles and types of a desktop promotional item. You can choose something silly and fun, like a promotional stress toy, to something functional and high class, such as promotional clocks. In order to find the perfect item for your company to utilize you need to take a look into your marketing budget, as well as which items would best represent your business.

Here are some items that you can choose from:

Four in One Stapler- These staplers, blazoned with your business logo, cab be a convenient trivial instrument that is certain to be in the custody of most. This great product accommodates its own staples, serves as a stapler remover as well as a letter opener.

Highlighter (3 in 1)- There is not a person on the globe that does not use highlighters at some point. Although a highlighter can be purchased in any store you walk into, find one that offers you three color choices in one highlighter can be a little more difficult. This make the 3 in 1 highlighter not only a useful promotional item, but a unique one.

Caddy- Made of genuine leather, caddies are necessary to hold pens, pencils, scissors and are almost always found on anyone’s desk, whether they are an assistant or an executive. Due to their design, caddy’s may be the ideal tool to promote your company, with the logo facing the client on a constant basis.

Book Ends- Sleek and stylish, bookends imprinted with your company’s logo will stand as a durable and long-lasting reminder of the strength of your company. Just about every style, design, color and material is available.

One of the greatest ways to market your company is through promotional products. These items include everything from promotional pens to promotional high end desk clocks. For a wide variety of promotional merchandise visit www.promotionalpromos.com.

Brand Design -Why Get A Brand Redesigned

Sally Tan — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 14:03:41 +0000

Most people mistake brand design with just developing a logo. However, this is not actually true. Brand designing plays an important role in the success of the organization as it helps in creating a bond with the customers, who identify the organization by its brand. A brand is a key element of an organization\’s marketing strategy and if it is failing in its purpose, it is time to get it redesigned.

A good brand design covers all aspects of an organization\’s brand identity and its communication with outsiders. Along with the logo, it must be reflected in the jingles that the business uses in its advertisements, the marketing materials, the website, and any other customer communication points.

Customers identify with an organization when brand designing is successful, which in turn enables the organization to generate more profits. To create a good brand identity one needs to comprehend what the consumer needs, how the business\’ products or services satisfy those needs, and how those offerings are better than the competition. This is why it becomes critical to engage brand design consultants when you decide to redesign your brand.

Brand design consultants are specialists in this area. Brand design consultants look at the current brand and the client\’s aim behind going for a change in it, the existing market trends, and the anticipated reaction of the competitors to it before implementing redesign decisions. After they are done with all the research, they create a new brand identity on the basis of the results. This task involves an assortment of activities like developing engaging ads and attractive logos; and modifying packaging design, company literature, and corporate website.

Therefore, it is critical that you engage brand design consultants when you want to conduct a brand designing exercise for your business. Their knowledge and experience will end up playing a crucial role in creating a successful brand image.

Find out more about unique ideas designs from the best advertising company.

How To Use Tele-seminars To Advertise Your Brick And Mortar Business!

Gavin J. King — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 13:26:48 +0000

Using a tele-seminar is not limited to net-based product or goods, just because they are typically promoted by the tele-seminar. Suppose you have designed a good that you would like to introduce to the public. You have the ability to advertise the tele-seminar to spread the word that people can voice their opinion on a new product. Using a website for your registration is vital to have a successful tele-seminar.

Once you have reached a comfortable number of registered users you can send an e-mail advising them of the time and date of the tele-seminar. Sending out the access phone number and password is important once you have enough attendees.

Showing courtesy by starting your tele-seminar on time is a must. Structure for it is easy. Always start out by introducing yourself and listing your qualifications, then introduce any guests you have. Using this platform allows you to demonstrate or advertise your services to your guests. You could talk about price, the benefits of owning the good, and how the consumer could obtain the product.

Ideally you would allow anyone with any feedback to speak so you can use their feedback in further service development. This practice will reveal to you exactly what users are getting from using your product. The price of your service will even be discussed. You may even learn additional features that people will pay extra money for.

The possibilities are obviously extended past any net-based product or service to include conventional goods. Given that you have a receptive an interested audience of voluntary attendees, making sales and closing deals is easy. With a captive audience your sales numbers will jump through the roof and fuel your next few steps. Seeing the power of the internet for advertising your business will bring focus to your advertising. Introducing a whole new service line can be costly and using a tele-seminar before you do may save you thousands. You will find that there is no better way to relay information to your customers.

Focusing on tele-seminars will help you refine your business approach so that you aren\’t even dealing with phone calls anymore. Using tele-seminars will put your service in the hands of eager customers faster than any other selling method.

The author enjoys writing articles on make money with teleseminars & teleseminar. Click on the links above to learn more about these topics!