The bottom line:

1. You need a professional website for your small business
2. Don’t waste your time making it yourself “from scratch” (unless you already know how)

Why not make it yourself?

1. you will spend an inordinate amount of time learning how to do it
2. the time you spend will take you away from other more productive marketing activities
3. your results will likely look homemade

But people have told you that Microsoft Frontpage, Dreamweaver and other web design programs are really easy to learn, right?

Well, that hasn’t been my experience. I’m a reasonably competent computer user but after two years of learning (including taking two continuing education courses, reading several how-to manuals, and hiring a tutor), I’m just now getting comfortable with Frontpage.

I think it’s fair to say that Frontpage and other web design programs are easier than programming a website using pure HTML, but there’s still a steep learning curve.

There are two options I recommend:

1. Hire a professional webdesigner to build your website, and get them to teach you how to make small changes yourself (this way you won’t have to pay for every small change, and you’ll have control over updates). Choose a web designer who has good communication skills and a service attitude who is willing to tutor you for a fee.

2. Use an easy online website designer such as AtomicShops. AtomicShops includes everything that you could possibly want for $19.95 a month: shopping cart, autoresponders, discussion forum, various forms, etc. Using AtomicShops you can get a professional-looking home business website up and running in less than two hours (they say 30 minutes but my experience has been more like two hours).

If you choose the AtomicShops route, there are two options to choose from:

The term "vertical marketing" is a fancy way of saying "marketing to the clients of your clients". One way you can do this is to have a report or tool that you give your clients with permission to pass along to others. How is this done?

A practical example of how to market to clients of clients

For instance, suppose your home based business is landscaping. You might want to make up a one page checklist of landscape maintenance tasks that need to be done in each month of the year, or a handy list of drought resistant plants. You could give copies to your customers and ask them to pass them along to their neighbours.

Perhaps the local garden centre would like to give it away to each customer who comes into the garden centre. Of course, you would have your home business name, contact information and a "hard to resist" special offer prominently placed on the handout.

Or maybe you are a home based stress coach or consultant. You could write an article on “How to ______”, make some copies and give them to your doctor and other service providers who come into contact with people who could use your services. Or perhaps have a “10 Ways to ______” printed on a postcard along with a relaxing or humourous picture.

Think about it: who do you know?

Who do you know who comes into contact with people who could use your product or service? If you sat down right now and made a list, I bet you would be pleasantly surprised.

Now develop an information product and give it away

So make a list of your contacts, develop an information product, and then offer them copies to give it out to their own clients or friends. And then pat yourself on the back for being such a smart home based business"vertical marketer".

Your goal is to create a business cards that prospects keep. Sadly, most business cards are tossed within hours of a meeting. The key to making a card that recipients keep is to have information on it that benefits them.

Six things you must have on your card:

1. Business Name

2. Tagline or Slogan

You can skip this if the business name clearly conveys what the business does.

3. Your Name

But it's not necessary to repeat if your name is the same as the business name.

4. Phone Number

Don't forget the area code, and the country code if you have international callers.

5. Email Address

Many of your customers will prefer to contact you by email.

6. Web Page Address

Start with the www (you don't have to include the http://)

Three optional things to include on business card:

1. Your Job Title

If you are the business owner, this might be Owner, President, Owner/Operator, Partner, Team Leader or something along those lines.

2. Business Physical or Mailing Address

Include your mailing address if people will be mailing you things. Include your physical address if they will be coming to your office or dropping off things (e.g. courier deliveries). If you don't want anyone dropping by your home based office, don't put the address on your card.

3. Logo or Photo

People tend to keep cards with photos longer than standard cards, and showing a friendly picture of yourself is appropriate for a service business.

If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to the free HomeBusinessWiz newsletter.

To get a logo designed for your home based business you have four main options:

Option #1: Hire a graphic designer

Pros: Fastest option. You can leave it to a professional, rather than fiddling around with it yourself. Your home business logo needs to look good, and if you are not a graphic designer you may not be able to do it justice. There's a lot to be said for leaving specialty tasks to specialists. You might be able to get your web designer to also design your logo, but be aware that graphic design and web design are two separate specialities and not everyone is good at both.

Cons: This is the most expensive option. The cost of having a logo designed by a graphic designer will vary depending on the designer’s rates (expect to pay $60 - $80 an hour), how clear you are about what you want, and how many revisions you ask for. Typically you are looking at about $300 - $500 and up to get a custom logo designed. That may sound like a lot of money for a start-up business, but your logo is a big part of your company image. Your investment in a well designed logo will pay off in the long run.

Recommendations:

dan@dandroid.com

http://elegantwebscapes.com/custom

Option #2: Use the online LogoYes service

Pros: Fast. You can create a professional-quality home business logo online in minutes. No design experience or special software is required, and it only costs $99.

Cons: There aren't many cons with LogoYes. You may not get the same design quality you would hiring a professional designer. But the system is so well-designed that it's hard to go wrong.

Barbra Sundquist can be reached by emailing:

barbra [at] homebusinesswiz [dot] com