In the previous lesson, I talked about the importance of having your own website, and we went through the process of registering a domain name.
Now it’s time to take the next step toward getting your website up and running…
(Watch this video…)
Main points:
1) The resources and tools that you’ll need
-Plenty of storage space and data transfer
-Cpanel control panel (I wouldn’t go anywhere without it)
-MySQL, PHP, etc…
-Fantastico scripts installer (one click WordPress, etc)
2) Great support
-look for 24/7 support, and multiple support options
3) Reliability.
-If your website isn’t online, it’s not making money!
4) Affordable price.
Action step:
1) Get web hosting.
Click here to visit my recommended web host…
In the video, I talk about how to choose a hosting plan that best meets the needs of your business. Essentially, it comes down to this question:
How many websites do you intend to have?
If you only plan on having one website (ever), then you should go with a single hosting plan such as Hostgator’s “Baby” plan. You can get started with your first month for as cheap as one penny by using my coupon code during checkout.
Coupon codes:
ERICSTIPSCOUPON ($9.95 OFF)
TAKE25PERCENT (25% OFF)
If you plan on having multiple websites, your best option is to get a Reseller account, such as Hostgator’s “Aluminum” reseller plan. This will allow you to launch an unlimited number of websites without having to pay any additional hosting costs.
Watch the video for a comparison of shared hosting, reseller hosting accounts, and dedicated servers to see which one is best for your business.
After you’ve obtained hosting, we’ll want to make sure your domain is pointing to your hosting account, and we’ll get familiarized with the tools you’ll be using (I’ll be covering those things in the next lesson).
As always, you are welcome to post your questions and comments below 🙂
Have a great day!
Heh Heh! That gravatar is me which my wife Joy who used the same email address. Can we join four affiliate programs to be reserved just in one business website with one domain name for a newbie’s start?
With just one Hostgator Baby Plan, I can download all the clickbank, Commission Junction, Hydra Network and PayDotCom into my one online store or what? Please advise. Thanks to Eric!
Upon opening cPanel of Hostgator, what are the essential plug-ins should I be recommended for a start? I should follow what you’ve succeeded – of course, not what you’ve failed in the past. I do not wish to have so many hassles in the cPanel when you Eric has the direct answer right away. I am not a writer at all, can I install WordPress Blog of Hostgator into my website as well?
With one hosting plan you can have a website. And with your website you can do many different things, including affiliate marketing and promoting products from the afformentioned affiliate networks. You don’t download them into a store though. You choose individual products or services to promote as an affiliate, and then you promote them in verious way, some of which I will be covering later in these lessons.
I would recommend starting with a WordPress blog. Yes you can install WordPress even if you’re not a writer.
I don’t think you quite understand how affiliate programs work yet 😉 But yes you can join four of them and promote them all from one website.
Dear Eric
I have no received lesson 23. Would you please
it?
Thank you very much.
As a newbie, I do not know what contents to write in the web pages for my business website because I have no services or products to sell online yet. Will you advise me, please?
Eric,
After signing up for a web host, what contents do I need to write in my web page if I enter clickbanks as you suggested?
Good day Eric, How can i get a domain name without paying any money?
Some companies advised us to first use blogger sites at a minimal fee every month to start our homebased business without so much hassles to build a business website by going through all those FTP plug-ins and so on. They pointed out that the blogger sites could attract SEO quicker than first having a business website with or without WordPress blog installed to promote what we sell. If we could be successful at working out things in the blogger sites, we might gradually and eventually create a business website from there onwards. How do you comment on this?
Blogger sites can be a good tactic to use for SEO in some cases. But they should not be the backbone of your business, and that’s why I think it’s better to start with your own website on your own domain.
Obviously there are more than one way to skin a cat, but I would focus on building your own website as a priority over Blogger blogs. And add some blogger blogs if you have a reason for them.
some hosts offer free domains with their hosting, but I recommend keeping your domain registration and hosting seperate; which means you will need to pay for the domain.
Sorry I missed your comment. Let us know if you still have questions.
A good place to start would be building a blog. Create content that people want to read. Then you can throw in some recommendations for clickbank products. I cover blog building in the upcoming lessons.
Eric —
Cash flow is preventing me from moving forward at this time. I have begun advertising my existing storefronts on Traffic Swarm and hope that cash flow improves soon. I will also be investigating other FREE advertising to get my presence out there in cyber space. I will continue with building my own site as funds become available.
I do have a question: I am not planning on doing any blogging on my website. It seems a bit counter-productive since my service is intended for those who are moving or remodeling. I am planning on getting testimonials, when deserved, from my customers. Would I need blogging software to post these testimonials on my site? I do not foresee doing any affiliate advertising on the site as related companies would be contractors and moving companies. I do not think they use affiliate advertising. I may be wrong though. That will have to develop naturally as time goes along.
Louise
I think you’re getting a little ahead of yourself 😉 As you will see from the blogging lessons, blogging can be a useful tool for almost any type of business. However, it’s not essential, so its fine of you don’t want one. You do not need blogging software to post testimonials. You could put them in any HTML editor. However, WordPress blogging platform might make it easier to post them.
Also regarding affiliate advertising… you are probably correct in not putting any directly on your site, as you want your visitors to focus on your services. However, I can pretty much guarantee that there are some related affiliate products/services that you can promote on the back end of your business to make extra income. You may just have to think a little more laterally to find those products/services. I’m guessing some moving companies even have affiliate programs… and if not, that could be a great opportunity for you. You could talk to them and set up an exclusive affiliate program. Think about it… if a moving company charges $10,000… they might be able to pay you $1000 commission for 1 sale.
Eric…I have several domains registered on GoDaddy.com…my question to you is…Can I edit these domains to change their names on GoDaddy?…Thanks…TerryWc
No you can not edit the domains themselves. But you can change the name servers to point your domains to your hosting on Hostgator.
So if you want to use the domains that you have, then you can keep them registerd at Godaddy and simply change the name servers. But if you want to use a different domain for your website then you would need to register a new domain.
Its 2am in the morning..and i cannot stop laughing…I’m such an idiot. Just looked at what my hosting company offers and it does not even compare with HostGator.
Should have watched the seminar 2 weeks ago. Just cancelled my account at will swap over. Amazing fact: very few hosting companies in the UK do offer c-panel. Actually, I have not seen any who do. Thanks Eric. Just think you made my life easier. 🙂
P.S. I’ve learnt more in the last couple of hours than i thought possible.
Cool, I’m glad to hear it!
Hi Eric,
Thanks for all the valuable info. I have several sites hosted on Host Gator & have used the online chat for help at least 4 or 5 times. It is ” Excellent “. My issues, (all caused by me) have been taken care of immediately by their staff. I would not consider any other hosting for my sites! Keep up the great work.
Hi Eric, hey I got a question, if I want to sell clickbank product can I have my own website? I do not know if you probably said it but my english is not very well and I am unemployed and I really need to do some cash.
Im 15 years old and i get my first credit card around the holidays. thats when im going to buy my domain. right now im taking the time to think about a good website.
ps- anyone have any pointers for what its like to first start and ways to get alot of traffic to the website
in the mean time im coming up with a great idea but i cant say it because someone could steal my idea 🙂
Hello Francisco,
Yes, you would provide ClickBank with the links to your website when you submit your product details.
Hello Zachary,
Wow! We’re very impressed at your initiative, and believe you will have a great future in your online business!
When it comes to getting a lot of traffic, Eric uses and recommends Traffic Sage:
you know i’m a newbie and i’m not sure how do you set up a link to clickbank i have clickbank products but no idea what to do with them. i have domain names and will probly go with hostgator as web site host but putting this all together is kind of mind blowing.does this all come together soon?i need to start earning something to justify money i spent already.still i love getting your lessons and try to follow each of them to the best of my limited abilty.keep them coming.thanks
Hello Robert,
Eric has completed more lessons that should help everything come together for you. You can learn the next steps whenever you are ready here:
http://www.ericstips.com/tips/category/lessons/
thanks for the great information
Hi Eric,
I like Host Gator and will host my sites from there. I do have my first couple of sites through myclickbankbusiness.com on hosting that they provide. It is also very good hosting. I like the fact that Fantastico is available. I’ve recently heard the word WordPress – what is that? Is that templates to use for building sites???
These lessons are awesome…I’m not going to quit!!! No way. If you haven’t seen the Tony Robbins interview with John Reese and Frank Kern – it’s very motivating.
http://tonyrobbinstraining.com/320/interview-with-frank-kern-and-john-reese/
I’m doing this!!!
Hi Eric,
Once again Thank you.
Butch Hannan
Hi Eric,
I entered your Coupon code at Hostgator.com but they did noy deduct the $10,00. I replied to their support division but as yet I paid the full amouny of $9,95.Please advise how I can rectify this.
Hi Eric,
I have been following you and your lessons are big help to me as a “newbie”. I have some questions based on the previous lessons.
1. What is the difference of a website and a blog? I owned 1 (expresslinkexpert.com) but I don’t know for sure if it is a website or a blog.
2. Is it right to conclude that I don’t need a web hosting services for my blog to be up and running in the net? While a website it can’t be? If that will be so what is the disadvantage of a blog not hosted especially if it is use in internet marketing business?
3. Is it wise and/or right to just register a domain name, make a blog and run it without being hosted by a web hosting service?
Thanks,
Arlan
1) I cover this in lesson #33 and #37. A blog is a website (or a component of a website), but a website is not necessarily a blog. A blog is an online journal, or series of entries of some sort. It could contain text, photos, videos, or other types of content.
2) Not necessarily. There are some free blogging services where you can have a blog for free, such as blogger.com or wordpress.com. However, it is better to host your blog on your own website using web hosting like I explained in this lesson.
3) It needs to be hosted otherwise it will not be on the Internet.
Hmmm… if you typed the code correctly they should have deducted $9.94. I would recommend getting in touch with their billing department and see if they can give you a $9.94 credit on your next bill.
I am in the process of building a website from scratch. I have outsourced it to a techie for design, development etc.
Your lessons are very useful and much relevant. As I learn I am able to cross check. I wish I had known earlier about yr lessons and I would have built the site mysel.
I am anyway listing my doubts separately and will send for your advice.
Regards
Mothiram
I am still hanging in here, and want you to know Im following closely,and really like your lessons.I am on a limited budget with two teenage daughters.I work construction and the economy has added further strain but “I will not give up”
god bless
as I remain
Bobby
Hi Eric
thank you for these lessons They are such good quality, I often wonder how much one would have to pay else where for something similar.I already have a website on which i rely on the designer to make changes each time i require them. Would it be possible to change from the current host to Host Gator in order to follow with you in the lessons and learn to have more control over my site?
Hi Eric ,very interesting lesson!
Angie
FYI I just clicked on your link to hostgator and got gibberish.
I also went to getgator.com and got giberish.
I want to get Host Gator today so I will go to HostGator and enter the coupon code ericstips.com
Hmm… sounds like your browser is not allowing redirects, or else it’s spyware. Anyway please try this link if you haven’t already:
Click here
thanks
Yes it’s definitely possible to switch over to Hostgator, and in most cases they can even move your site for you.
I have already bought a hosting plan with ipower.com They seem to look good but iam new in this and i dont know how they compare with hostgator. Can i have an input on this
I have not used Ipower personally, but I know they are a very popular host and have been around for a long time. Their features seem comparable to Hostgator, however if you are hosting multiple domains then Hostgator’s reseller account is a better deal unless you want to host all your domains under one control panel as “addon domains”. Ipower does not offer reseller accounts with WHM, which allows you to set up individual hosting accounts for unlimited number of domains. For that reason I would go with HG if you have multiple domains.
Hello Eric,
I think I already have a good Webhoster, but for future domains I will probbably use Hostgator, too.
Thanks for the tip,
Arne
I ordered my hostings through lifedomains.net, but before I had watched this lesson. Was that OK, or should I go through hostgator??
Yes you did the right thing. I always prefer to keep my domain registration and hosting separate.
The next lesson will show you how to connect your Lifedomains domain to your Hostgator hosting 🙂
I als have 2 more with Global Network and 3 sites with GDI.