Finally I was able to published my website www.yourvdesk.com and YES finally I found time to write this blog.
As a project manager, I’ve been managing a lot of small and start-up businesses websites. I found it very enjoyable except for the times when some clients are not really sure about what they want…and that’s when it gets frustrating! The good news is, with my 5 years of experience in the industry I came to understand how to make the process easier both for Small Businesses owners and Project Managers like me.
Don’t let that one million dollar business Idea sit around your head, it’s about time to DO SOMETHING!
1. Describe your business in one line of 7-10 words.
Very simple, don’t even bother right away if it sounds right or not. Just go ahead and write it down and read it over and over. Below is what I wrote and you can’t even find it anywhere in my website.
One stop shop for your Internet Marketing needs
With that single line you will pretty much figure out what your business name is going to be. Again, don’t try too hard because everything can still change until you get to the next step. For now, just write 2 – 3 business names which will best describe your services. Here’s what I came up with:
Online Business Solutions 2. The Project Manager 3. The Virtual Desk
2. Buy your Domain and Hosting.
For most of those who are familiar with online businesses a domain name can be a common word, in lay man’s term – a website address or the website URL. On the other hand, hosting is almost a mystery even to most small businesses owners who already have their websites. It’s very important to have an understanding of what a domain and hosting is. If you are a project manager, makes sure to educate your client about it. Whenever I need to do a website maintenance, obtaining hosting/ FTP access has been always a cause of delay.
I went to GoDaddy.com to buy my domain and hosting. You can shop around and look for other providers.
When choosing a domain name, you would want it to be the same as your company name. Unfortunately most names now are taken. This is why I didn’t want you to stress out earlier with choosing your company name, because the process of choosing a domain name can change everything.
You will notice that none of the 3 company names I have initially listed is my current domain, nor my company name. After trying several names, I ended up buying “yourvdesk.com”. I am happy about it and so I called my company Your Virtual Desk. Now, if you find the domain that makes you happy BUY IT!!! Don’t wait any longer because it won’t sit there for a long time waiting for you to make a decision. You can typically get a great deal if you buy it with 1 year of hosting.
Now let me explain very quick what what a web hosting is. I will not discuss it in full detail because my goal is to make you understand that it is very important and you must have an access to it. Through a web hosting you can store and access everything you put, add, upload or install in your website and that includes your domain. Also, through your hosting, your websites can be integrated to different tools available online which are necessary for different marketing efforts which includes seo, website traffic watch, social media, email campaign, shopping cart and more. To cut the long story short, it is very important as a business owner to know about this, you cannot have a house and not have the key to it. If you hire a website developer, make sure to at least ask for the FTP access.
3. Finally Choose the CMS – Content Management System for your business.
There are 2 CMS that I commonly use for my clients, one is WordPress and the other one will be Joomla. When you buy your domain and hosting these are typically available for installation in just a click away. In choosing a CMS, you have to list down what features you want to have in your website, you may also want to consider your future plans. Below are common features:
- Gallery
- Portfolio
- Custom
- Online Store
- Free and Paid Subscriptions
- Online Profile sign-up/ registration
I would recommend WordPress for simple websites such as portfolio and company information website and for more complex websites like online store and subscriptions you can choose Joomla.
Commit to finish all these steps in 2 days! If you go longer than that…it’s called procrastination and who knows when you can ever finish it.
Next Step? Content Writing! I should have my next blog for the Guide to Website Content next week. Right now you have things to do before the end of this week! No Excuses!!