Webby
Tue 21 Aug 2007
One of the great things about making websites for online income is that you don’t have to spend much money initially to get things up and running. In theory you could spend nothing providing you have access to the Internet!
So assuming you have access to the Internet and a PC or Laptop you can have a site up and running in minutes. There are two ways of doing this.
1. Using blogger or similar service
Simply go to http://www.blogger.com and sign up for a new blog and you are away!
Once you have your blog up and running then apply for the Google Adsense program and look for affiliate programs to promote.
2. Creating a traditional website with a domain name
This is the better option in my opinion but will involve a small outlay of money.
- You need to buy a domain name and the pay for hosting. This can be done very cheaply these days and there is a plethora of budget domain name and budget hosting options.
- You will need some sort of web page editing software to create web pages and perhaps an image editor.
- You will need some FTP software to upload your site.
So lets see how cheap we can make this.
Domain name and hosting
With 1and1.com we can register a .com domain name for free with 6 months hosting for a total of $23.94 (1&1 Beginner Package).
Web page and image software
A great free image editor is the open source Gimp. Cost $0.00
For making web pages a free authoring software that competes with Dreamweaver / Frontpage (not free) is NVu. Cost $0.00
FTP software (to upload your web pages)
FTP commander is a simple FTP program that can also be downloaded onto a memory stick / flash drive. The Demo version is free and has no restrictions.
Cost $0.00
So the total cost for getting a web site online works out at less than USD $1 a week.
Now all you have to do is invest your time!
August 21st, 2007 at 4:28 pm
Microsoft and Sun have also made their proprietary software free. Well, MS offers free ‘Express’ versions which has allowed me to get into ASP.NET. All of Suns software is free now (their framework uses Java Server Pages - JSP)
Visual Web Developer 2005 - Express Edition
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/express/aa700797.aspx
Sun Developer Network
http://developers.sun.com/web/
What software you use is really just a matter of preference and eventually familiarity. I also use Dreamweaver and find myself hand coding more and more.
It can be fun to get into more advanced programming but if you decide to get into advance structural designs for your sites, don’t get too distracted because the simple stuff tends to work better and is a better use of time… Dynamic page structures are nice but without content the search engines are blind.
In the end just remember that Content is King
August 21st, 2007 at 8:07 pm
It’s that lack of any barriers to entry that makes me a bit nervous in this business. But then again I like the lack of risk involved so I’m a bit torn.
August 21st, 2007 at 9:15 pm
the only barrier to entry really is commitment. you’ve got to have a lot of self-discipline to work on your own.
i doubt i would have got involved in this if i’d had to shell out a load of money before i got to see any money coming in.
there’s some great free software out there: i like http://www.getpaint.net/ and http://filezilla.sourceforge.net/
August 22nd, 2007 at 8:09 am
“It’s that lack of any barriers to entry that makes me a bit nervous in this business.”
Yeah Kirsty, I feel the same way about it. My problem is that my mind is more in “hobby-mode” instead of “business-mode”. That makes it hard for me to just pick a topic and start working on it. I hope I can clear my head soon and get mentally prepared for the business oriented approach of site creation.
Reading “offline” on marketing topics is helping me a lot, I am happy I’ve put my starting date on 1 september 2007.
STill gives me some time to work on topic issues, and then I’ll just have to go for it.
Dionys
Webby, good newbie post
I like the promotion of free software.
August 22nd, 2007 at 9:31 am
It would be nice to have an idea or two, and some self-starter genes.
August 22nd, 2007 at 10:33 am
Dionys it’s possible to be in hobby and business mode at the same time. The topics for all my sites are hobbies of mine I suppose but the business part of it is monotising and promoting the sites. I don’t think treating this as a business from the start is the way to go. Just get something up there, anything, and worry about the rest later.
August 22nd, 2007 at 11:48 am
Thanks for the feeback.
Dionys
August 23rd, 2007 at 11:07 pm
Hey Webby,
Question. I know that you’re making $10,000 per month now. But, if someone would have offered you $10,000 a month to stay and work where you were 2 years ago, would you have taken it, and not become a working nomad?
August 24th, 2007 at 3:10 am
In regards to cheap hosting, I pay about 10 US$ more per month than the cheapest plan out there. I consider those $ well spent when I actually get a fast reply to whatever confused questions I may have.
August 24th, 2007 at 9:16 am
Great question John. Being honest I would have stayed on at my last job as GBP 5000 a month would not have been far short of them doubling my rate!
I would have stayed on for sure but as my web earnings increased the wanderlust inside me would have grown and I would have been off!
August 24th, 2007 at 4:55 pm
Kirsty & Dionys, I understand where you are going in regards to low entry level. In writing the entry level is ability to set fingers to keyboard and see how hard it is to make a living from writing.
But I think that should one want to:
a. making a living from creating/publishing, b. be ones own boss, and
c. have the freedom to do it (work) from anywhere,
then the internet is now the best chance for establishing oneself simply because of how new the medium is.
I think that as soon as internet based creators/publishers start getting the same social respect as creators/publishers in the traditional medias (writers, news reporters, artists) then that window of opportunity will have closed.
August 24th, 2007 at 5:15 pm
Thanks for the response Webby.
I told my boss I was leaving to start a working nomad type business (affiliate sales and advertising, destination TBA), and instead of freaking out he offered me a 30% raise to keep me at my job.
I really want to take off on another adventure, but I could definitely use the extra travel/business money.
Decisions decisions.
Thanks Webby.
August 24th, 2007 at 5:25 pm
I was actually made redundant from my last job so there were no carrots dangling for me! Although I was only on a rolling contract it was expected I would be there for a while as other contractors had been there years.
Then the French management team came in and it was au revoir to non-French speaking Webby!
Of course I don’t look back in anger because as this door closed my world opened up and this enabled me to concentrate more on my sites and therefore get to where I am now.
So either get your boss up to 50% or get your ass out of there
August 24th, 2007 at 9:46 pm
Thanks for the advice Webby.
Those carrots are mighty tempting, but my wanderlust is in overdrive. I’m still making $0 from my online business though, so might be good to wait to leave until I’m making at least twice that
.
August 28th, 2007 at 11:24 am
John,
The first few $’s are the hardest ones to make. Even now after making about $40 from affiliate sales last month I’m back at $0 again this month.
Once the momentum is there I believe it takes on a life of it’s own. Patience, persistence, but don’t let it stress you.
That’s the beauty of such a low or free startup costs, no stress.
August 28th, 2007 at 3:18 pm
The problem lies when you do make quite a bit of money and then it becomes your main income.
Then it can get a wee bit stressful, particularly when Google does an update!
August 28th, 2007 at 4:16 pm
Of course Webby. You know better than me, but the income is still spread better if you cover different niches (I’m sure you do). Better than a job, which is one source of income that can be stopped at anytime.
Even better would be to invest some online income into offline ventures like property and then you’ve got something a bit more solid too.
August 28th, 2007 at 4:43 pm
Good advice to anyone. Diversify to survive.
August 28th, 2007 at 9:21 pm
“Patience, persistence, but don’t let it stress you”
I think that’s some of the best advice I’ve ever heard on starting a business. Expect them to take a long time, and don’t freak out when it takes even longer than you thought.
Thanks for the advice Rob.
John