Hello everyone,
I am in the process of setting up my first website and wondered if anybody had some comments about the place to go to set it up? I have picked out a few domain names for buying and selling, and hoping to attract a few private money investors, but need to find the best options for templates, hosting, etc. with autoresponders and such. Any recommendations?
Thanks!
It all depends on how much you are willing to spend.
For hosting, you can check out:
hostgator.com
hostmonster.com
mediatemple.net (more expensive)
For autoresponder:
aweber.com (i recommend)
getresponse.com
Templates? That is a very open question. You can search on Google, but it from someone, or have it outsourced on sites such a elance.com or rentacoder.com
Good luck,
Peter
I have had a e-coomerce web site through Network Solutions for a few years and they have been great, I highly recommend them. Just google “Network Solutions”.
are you planning on creating and running the site yourself? if yes, are you using a mac or a pc? If you’re using a mac, try rapidweaver, it’s what i based all of my sites on. I use yahoo for hosting and streamsend for the email service.
I’m glad nobody said GoDaddy! He would have earned :banghead from be if he did! 
whats the issue with godaddy?
A lot! Godaddy sucks!
http://www.google.com.ph/search?hl=tl&q=godaddy+sucks&btnG=Hanapin+sa+Google&meta=
I’ll have to agree with MaryBurton about Godaddy. I wouldn’t go with them when it comes to hosting.
There are several reasons which I’m not going to discuss in the forum. If you would like to know what they are, email me. However, I used to have them host about 10 domains.
I’ve transferred all of them in the past year to namecheap.
if you are curious, let’s just say, they don’t ask questions!
Peter
I use 1and1.com, and I have heard nothing but great things about hostgator as well. GoDaddy is fine, it is just depends on how hands on or hands off you want to be.
I’d encourage you to go with video on your website where you give some information about how the process works – I believe in having prospects who are somewhat educated before you arrive, and a website is the best way to do that…
Here is an example with my site:
http://www.pauldinghomestv.com
Carl Ross
Video on sites can be good, but that site lacks some elements.
besides, don’t advertise plz
I’m sorry if you felt I’m advertising, but the guy did ask specific questions about a website and I provided my thoughts…
Some of the points you made are relevant, but on the other hand, unless you actually tested the results yourself, I’d be very careful about what you say, because some of the stuff you mentioned are outright lies – or, perhaps you just really didn’t know what you were talking about – I bring those points up further into the post. It’s one thing to have knowledge and know a few facts, but it’s another to have real life experience, and unless you’ve tested this for yourself, you’d wouldn’t know the answers.
I run a direct response advertising firm where our clients generate tens of millions of dollars per year directly from their websites alone (these figures do not include offline campaigns, just dollar amounts exclusive from their sites).
It sounds like a theory when you say people won’t stick around long enough to watch the video (almost sound like the guys who say people won’t read long copy). People who are in a desperate situation will read or watch a video that runs 60 minutes long if they feel it’ll help them make a decision. This notion that people will only read or watch 15 seconds of stuff is hogwash. People are looking for information and will suck up as much as they can in order to make an informed decision – not a bonehead decision because they didn’t have enough information.
Frankly, I think the video can go longer and we will test a longer one and let the ‘prospects’ decide – not an “Internet Marketer” who has it all figured out.
Perhaps you’re right… the form the prospect has to fill out is massive. Many will fill it out, while many may not. But one thing we do know for certain is the fact that those who fill it out are more qualified leads and that’s what we’re looking for. Each investor has their own formula or guidelines for dealing with prospects/leads, and this is simply our preference – whether you like it or not. We are in no way saying that those who don’t fill out the form aren’t qualified, but maybe they weren’t ‘desperate enough’, and we are targeting those who are desperate, and if they take the time (10-15 minutes) to fill out our form and go pull out their paperwork to fill in the answers, then that’s what we want… and it’s been quite successful so far.
Again, we’re dealing with facts and data here, NOT theories of how or why you think how things should work.
In response to your comment that search engines don’t index videos… that’s hogwash. It’s happening more and more everyday. Google has a freakin sitemap exclusively for video content. We haven’t submitted our videos just yet, but our youtube videos appear right in the search engines (not Google Videos) but Google’s natural listings (the video itself) and the url to the youtube page too… Be careful when you make statements you know absolutely nothing about.
If you go to Google.com and type in the following phrase:
how to make t-shirts
The first 2 freaking things that show up in the natural listings are videos from youtube.
If you type in the phrase: night guards (which is a device for people who grind their teeth), you’ll see a video of my foolish looking self in the middle of the page.
I can give you thousands of examples like this, so don’t go telling people that videos don’t get indexed. In fact, in many cases, they get listed in the search engines a hundred times faster than keyword phrases…
The only thing I agree with you on is the fact that many people do a lot of searching from their job, and may not be able to watch the videos – but because we actually tested multiple versions of our site, we’ve found that the results were pretty much even… But see the difference here is that we actually know – we’re not trying to rationalize what ain’t right… We actually know – our business model depends on facts, not wild hunches and theories.
And by the way, I am running an advertising campaign on this site – just so you know. Click around on the other pages of the site, I’m sure you’ll see my big a** banner ad…
And let me guess… you’ve been told that “banner ads” don’t work either right?
By the way… the fact that you sat here and read this entire post is proof enough that people will sit and read through any and everything (no matter how long it is) to get the information they need (and in this case – the information you need to make your rebuttal).
Carl Ross
You have your opinion, and I have mine. I do think yours is influenced by the fact that you’re selling the concept so you have to defend it.
google does not index the video for search terms because google CANNOT parse the audio to find matching search terms. Google DOES have video search, it is ranked very low among online Video sites, with YouTube being top of the list and highest market share. Besides, home sellers do not search for videos for home sellers. But you can argue it all you want.
Most People at work will NOT listen to the video. Say all you want, call it lies, or whatever you like.
Stating that only those who fill out the massive form are motivated is total B.S. and yes you are turning motivated sellers away. I have purchased houses from people who were reluctant to talk much and some called just to ask what was it I did when they did not feel comfortable filling out forms online.
long copies do work. They actually work well. You know why? because and according to direct marketing experts such as Dan Kennedy and the likes explain… because majority of people will ONLY READ HEADLINES and skim over the copy to find the parts that interest them to read. There are those who will read all of it of course. VIDEOS are NOT long copies. They are infomercials online.
Where the heck is the call to action?
Where the heck the irresistible offer?
Doing massive marketing can produce results, but you cannot claim IT WORKS BETTER, because it doesn’t.
I’m not going to go back and forth with you… Go back and continue reading your Dan Kennedy books. It sounds like that’s the only thing you’ve actually done is “read”.
I stand by the points I made in my previous post, and I really don’t have a need to rebut anything you’ve made in your recent post because you really haven’t said anything new.
Have a great day and enjoy the rest of your weekend reading, while others are out there “doing”.
Carl Ross
neither will I…
specially when it comes from someone who is trying to sell people on the importance of video and not requiring content on a website in their signature that CONTAINS CONTENT and not VIDEO to convince people on the importance of VIDEO only.
specially when it comes from someone who claims to know all about direct marketing then makes a dumb statement that it is ok to lose prospects and writing them off as not motivated enough.
I can go on and, but not wasting my time on you
You’re right…
You can go on and on about your theories, but please don’t twist my words. Your very own mentor, Dan Kennedy speaks about qualifying your prospects, and if that isn’t something you comprehend, then chances are, you’ll never be successful as a direct response marketer.
If I choose to mail to a list of people in an effort to get them to purchase a product that I’m selling from a website, and I request that everyone on that list must have a credit card, then by your standards (statement), I’m a dummy for alienating all the others who do not have a credit card… By your standards, I’m making a dumb move by “writing off” the other prospects because they’re not motivated enough (or don’t have a credit card). Well Fadi, if that is a dumb move on my part, then you clearly don’t have a clue to direct response marketing and you should either 1) shut down your blog and stop pretending that you actually know something, or 2) go out there and actually test some of this stuff that you’re actually reading and stop acting like you know what you’re talking about (or should I say… quoting someone else material because you haven’t the experience to come up with your own stuff).
By saying I only want to mail to people with a credit card is in no way saying that the others aren’t capable of buying the stuff… But if I’m going to spend tens of thousands of dollars direct mailing a package, then I’m going to make dam well sure they’re going to people with the means and capability of paying. It’s my money and I want my efforts (dollars) spent on people who I deem most qualified.
If I’m dumb for picking the cream of the crop, then let me be dumb… I’ve made myself, and my clients a fortune being stupid (by your standards).
Let’s give a crash course on a real life example… not fluff and talk, but real stuff!
Take this site for example:
http://denturecorp.com/
A direct mail package goes out each and every month to a list of denture wearers.
Now… as our “genius” Fadi would suggest… we could mail to all denture wearers and by his standards, they would be all great, quality prospects. Based on Fadi’s standards, if we pick and choose who we want to mail too, then we’d be ‘writing them off’ and by his own admission, we’d be “dumb”.
Now… unlike our marketing guru Fadi here, I’d pick and choose who I’d mail to.
Here is what I would require from our prospects before I’d mail them a darn thing:
Fadi has no standards…
He’d mail to those with no credit card, he’d mail to those who have no income (because the fact of the matter is, there are many denture wearers in the list who have no income), he’d mail to those who never, ever made a purchase online (or mail order), heck… based on Fadi’s standards, he’d mail you a package even if you didn’t have any dentures (remember, he doesn’t believe in leaving anyone off the list).
Since I’m spending my money on this direct mail campaign, then by all means, I want the package to go to the most likely candidate with the means to purchase, and that’s exactly what happens here.
True… some people who don’t have credit cards will send in a check or money order, and that’s fine, but that’s not who I want to mail. That’s not who I want to spend my marketing dollars on. My goal is to get the highest ROI and it’s not achieved thinking everyone in the world who wears dentures are your prospects…
Why do we cut off at the $55,000.00 mark? We found that those who made more tend to use a dentist because they can afford it… The majority aren’t interested in doing it themselves, so we don’t market to them – based on Fadi’s standards, they’re all fair game… yes, he’ll pull sales from them, but not as many if he stayed under that $55K mark, but again, Fadi has all of this figured out.
Again… this isn’t all theory and fluff, this is the real deal, real data, and real world decisions made based on the data, not something pulled from a book.
This notion that you must have content on a page, or you won’t be successful is another one made by people like Fadi who doesn’t have a clue. Under most circumstances, I would agree that content is king and content should be on a website. It’s the content that search engines are needing if you’re hoping to get optimal results with search engine optimization. Plus, many people still prefer to ‘read’ versus ‘watch’… but as I would tell anyone, you should be testing multiple versions of your landing pages to see what prospects respond too…
Now… but let’s look at the other end of the spectrum here. Many people spend their time trying to “optimize” their website in an effort to get free traffic. And that’s fine and there is nothing wrong with that. But if you’re depending solely on traffic from natural listings, then you’re only hurting yourself.
You should have a multi-prong approach to driving traffic to your website. I personally know of clients I work with who don’t use SEO at all, but yet drive hundreds of thousands of visits to their site each month (targeted traffic).
For me, I choose NOT to have content on the front end of this particular site because we use other methods to drive traffic to the site (postcards, classified ads from local newspapers, video clips on youtube – although I admit we have not used this strategy as much as we should – advertisements on other local community websites, direct mail mailings to divorce, etc…)
That’s how we drive traffic to our paulding homes site – could we do article marketing? Yes we can. Could I spend time on SEO? Yes we can. Could we spend time trying to do all the social networking stuff? Yes we can. Could I create a myspace page? Yes we can… But, we choose not too. It doesn’t make it right or wrong, it’s just our preference, and it has worked well for us and we get plenty of targeted, local traffic and our site has always converted very well.
There are a million ways to do things and that’s just our way. On other sites, yes, we spend time on SEO, and all that other fancy stuff, but I’ll say this… Use multiple methods to getting targeted traffic. For those of you who are depending on SEO to get qualified leads, I’d urge you to seek other practical ways of getting traffic – SEO is not the end-all, and it’s certainly not the ONLY way to be successful online. Like any other business, you gotta put the time and money into actively promoting your website and don’t waste it on people who aren’t in your targeted market.
While we qualify our prospects by requiring them to fill out our form, that’s our method. It may or may not be the right strategy for you, but that’s the strategy we choose to use. Fadi is simply twisting our language to suggest that we don’t think people who don’t fill out our form is NOT qualified… here is my exact comments immediately after I talked about our forms:
“We are in no way saying that those who don’t fill out the form aren’t qualified, but maybe they weren’t ‘desperate enough’, and we are targeting those who are desperate, and if they take the time (10-15 minutes) to fill out our form and go pull out their paperwork to fill in the answers, then that’s what we want… and it’s been quite successful so far”.
I’m simply saying this is the formula we choose to use with regards to our business model. We don’t want people calling on the phones all day. We want them to go through the site, get us the information we want, and we’ll get in touch with them. Obviously, we don’t get ‘all’ the deals because many people won’t fill out the form – but who in this world gets “All the Deals”? No one… Just like you don’t close all the deals who call you on the phone! Again… this is the model we chose to use.
Many of you have your own model whereby you answer the phone and give your pitch, and there is nothing wrong with that at all. That’s your preference and it obviously works for most people, and it works very well. I’m in no way asking anyone to adopt our model – you’re free to add phone numbers and content all over the place if you prefer (nothing wrong with that), but do be careful to some of the ‘quacks’ out there giving you advice.
Now feel free to Quack away Fadi…
Carl Ross
Carl… let’s stay professional or take it to the PM system. :rolleyes
Carl Ross,
The first thing I recognized in your first post is you started right out Board Hustling by posting your own website. Now I moderate on several discussion boards and have for over 6 years, so I know the difference no matter what your reasoning was.
Fadi, was being polite when he said watch the advertising, he recognized what you were doing also. He is new to being a Moderator here at the REIClub, but will soon learn that when someone starts out Board Hustling they will always try to defend their position and keep on Advertising until they are banned.
Your style of posting tells me you have a lot to learn about what it takes to post without thinking you are above others and their opinions.
Don’t even think about any smart replies to me!
John $Cash$ Locke
REI Club Moderator
Board hustling huh…
I don’t have anything “smart” to say to you John $Cash$ Locke…
Don’t think for one minute my comments are about Fadi making a statement about my advertising. Fadi made statements concerning video and content that were not accurate and I simply rebutted his statements.
I think I’ve made my points, and have nothing further to say unless of course Fadi makes an inaccurate statement.
If it’ll make all of you moderators happy, how about refund my advertising fees and we can all call it quits.
This was a post about websites and I added my .02 cents. My link to my site was relevant to the initial topic at hand, even if it had a link to my site to show an example… I didn’t have a link to my site advertising the page that pushes the product – although it is in the signature, which apparently is authorized by the powers that be.
I’m not trying to get into a pissing contest with you guys, but Fadi is the one who made the comments he did about video/content, and now you guys are saying there can be no disagreements…
I guess the moderators win.
Thanks for taking the time to let me know John $Cash$ Locke
Carl
Carl,
I you take things too personal, and you quickly shifted to personal attacks. That you post on public forum is open for comments by everyone. I made a comment about the video on the site, and you quickly turned it into personal attacks.
I honestly don’t care one way or another, and my comment would have been made if I was moderator or not. I actually was not speaking as a moderator in any case.
The reality is that I know more about Direct Marketing than you think, but once this conv went personal, well… it lost its meaning.
In any case, wish you luck no hard feelings.