If you have decided that Internet Marketing is what you want to do then there are several tools that are necessary for your success. It is important that you spend time learning them all even if in the end you plan on outsourcing.
1. The Basics of Copy writing.
Copywriting, or sales copy, is one of the essential elements of an Internet Marketer’s business. Even though you may be considering hiring someone to write your sales page you will still be involved in some form of copywriting. You are actually creating mini sales copy every time you write an email to send to your list, every time you review a product on your blog, every time you are interviewed, and more. Good copywriting includes attention grabbing Headlines, a list of features with relevant benefits for the customer, writing in a natural style, ending with a call to action – but not making claims that are changed later. There are many sites available with information on Copy writing.
2. How to FTP.
FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is a standard network protocol used to copy a file from one host to another over the internet. FTPing is what you do to upload an html website-page or a PDF ebook stored on your hard drive up to your website so that it’s visible and accessible to others. At first the thought of FTPing sounds very scary but with a little practice it does become very easy and quick to do. The program I use is called Filezilla which is available as a free download and there are many free tutorials for installing and using, which are available by searching on Google or YouTube.
3. Create your own Website or Outsource?
Yes, once again this is where you can outsource the creation of your website, but what happens when you want to add another page or make some simple changes? And believe me, even if you are not yet an active marketer there will soon be many changes you will want to make. Some pages you will be constantly adding will be new squeeze pages, affiliate pages, sales pages, giveaway pages, etc. so do you want to always have to pay someone else to do the changes and have them done at their convenience? A simple website can be created using free HTML editors called NVU or Kompo Zer which can be found by searching on Google. Installation and tutorial videos can also be found on Google and are free. I mostly use Kompo Zer but also learning to use XSite Pro2 which is a great program.
4. A Domain Name or more than one.
It’s important to own your own domain name and not go down the free domain line, which does not look as professional, from what I have seen. Paid domains are not very expensive, depending on where you buy them from, and the price varies on the type of extension. For example, .com names are the ones most recommended but tend to be more costly than net and but the prices can also vary due to the country where the supplier is based. From what I have found recently domains have been much cheaper (and for 2 years) when purchased from a UK based supplier. Once you get rolling you will find you finish up buying more domains that you actually have time to set up sites for. My original .com domains were purchased through Go Daddy but more recently I have been using Name Cheap. Discount coupons are quite often available by searching on Google. For my domain names I am using Heart Internet. At the moment my count of domain names is 12 but has been up to 21.
5. Web hosting
Don’t go for free hosting, leave that to other beginners and pay for yours. You won’t be sorry as you will most likely have a better service with less down time and more tools. There are so many hosting companies about and everyone seems to have a different opinion so you should listen to what they have to say. Pick one that not only will work for you now but also when your business grows. You don’t have to pick the most expensive as there are many reliable and reasonably priced hosting companies that will fit your needs. I started off with Host Gator using their Baby Croc Plan and during my 4 years with them I never had any problems. This account gave me unlimited sub-domains, unlimited add-on domains, unlimited disk space and bandwidth.
About 15 months ago I changed over to D9 Hosting as they were highly recommended by my mentor at the time and also it is run in the UK by two Internet marketers who give great backup service when needed. D9 Hosting are also recommended by my present mentor so it shows how good they are. Someday you may be making tons of money and will then be able to afford outsourcing everything. You might even eventually have someone working for you who handles it all. Doing it yourself helps when you don’t, as yet, have the money to outsource and knowing how to do it will help when agreeing a fair price to pay when you do outsource. There are many resources available, free and paid, to help you learn what you need to know. Start with a marketer you trust and look for what you need. Some things, such as FTPing, can be learned from YouTube videos if you do a simple search for them.