Web hosting as a business?

Today, I am happy to bring you the first Virtual Earner Podcast!  In this podcast, I talk with my friend, Dave Starr regarding doing business online, and particularly about the Web Hosting Business.

I have been thinking of getting into the Web Hosting Business myself, and have even begun to set it up.  I have a server, and really I have everything necessary to be successful in the business, so why not do it?   It’s just another business that I can start up with virtually no additional costs involved, yet some nice income potential!

Give it a listen by clicking on the “Play” arrow below, and let me know what you think!

A little less talk, a lot more action

I am a fan of Toby Keith, the country singer.  He has a song called “A little less talk, a lot more action.”  It’s a good theme to follow in many areas of our lives!

I can’t tell you how many people I talk with, and when the subject turns to making money online, everybody seems to have a plan!  They are going to do this, and they are going to do that.  After their current project is finished they are finally going to get into e-commerce.  This is the year that they are going to build a website for their business, even though their top competitors all had websites 5 years ago.  Another guy is complaining about not having money for the rent, and he wants to set up a blog to earn some extra money, but he’s been talking about doing it for 3 years now.

The thing is, if you are all talk and no action, you won’t ever make any money online!  You need to put together a plan, and even better than that - you need to follow it!  Set up a schedule with deadlines of when you must complete the tasks!  Build in penalties for yourself if you don’t follow through.  Build in rewards for yourself when you reach milestones!  You build the site, maybe you get to buy yourself that new digital camera that you’ve been wanting.  First sale on the net?  Go out for a night on the town!  First check from AdSense - hey, that calls for a party!  In other words, it doesn’t have to be work, it can be fun!  I know that the things I do to earn money online are almost all fun for me.  Sure, at times they are work, but overall they are fun activities!

Remember, if you just talk and talk and talk, those checks won’t be in your mailbox!  Take a few hours per week and get some things done.  You’ll be surprised at the results!

Keeping it fresh!

When you run a website, especially an e-commerce site where you want people to spend money, you need some degree of continuity on the site.  You want to keep things the same as much as possible.  The longer that you are in business on the site, the more loyal customers you will attract, and the more they will come back again and again.  If you have a site that is selling ladies clothing, and you suddenly change and your product line is books, you will confuse your customers, and also the ladies who have been buying clothing will mostly not buy from you anymore.

That said, you also need some changes to keep the site fresh and interesting!  I know, I know… this seems to be in conflict with the previous paragraph, but in my experience it is very true.

Think about this.  If you went to a site a year ago and just looked at their goods, or even bought something, and then you went back again today and it was EXACTLY the same, how would you feel?  Well, if it were me, I might wonder if the site was still in business.  If you drive up to a store, you can look with your eyes and see if the doors are open, if there are customers inside, or if the lights are on in the store.  On a website, you can’t be 100% certain that they are even still in business, unless you see that the site is dynamic, that it changes and gets updated, etc.  For example, if you go to the site on December 17 and it has a Christmas theme to the site, that would indicate that things are being updated and kept current.  Somebody is keeping the site running.  If you went there on January 19 and found a Christmas theme, you would probably wonder if the owner of the site is even still alive.  If it were me, I probably would find another site to purchase from.

Because of this, I like to keep my sites fresh and keep them changing in subtle ways.  I change the theme of my sites to fit in with current holidays.  I change the colors of the site to a certain degree with the seasons.  I keep new products coming on the site to show that new activity is ongoing on the site.  This gives my customers confidence that I am open for business, the lights are on, and there are probably some other customers roaming the aisles in my virtual stores.

See what I mean?  Don’t make massive or drastic changes suddenly, but make subtle changes that show activity.  I know that whenever I make an update to the look on the site, I see a little bump in business on the site.  It’s the smart way to do business!