GETTING STARTED
LESSON 2 GETTING STARTED
1. Where to get free web building software
2. Where to sign up for a free 20 meg site that has
both a file manager an on site web editor and full ftp privileges.
Plus an ftp program.
3. How to set up your site
Choose a name
Choosing content and adding the fun stuff
Build a path .... the advertising formula
4. How to sell your product online
1. Where to get good free web building software.
NETSCAPE
COMMUNICATOR DOWNLOAD
WebPageOmatic
These take a while so it might be best to copy this page or print
it out for later reference.
The Netscape Communicator includes," Composer " which is a very
good wysiwyg software package.
When you are finished downloading and installing it you will be
asked if you want it it be your main browser answer this based on whether
or not you are a member of some online community that forces you to use
their browser.
At any rate you will be able to access composer by clicking on the
pen and pad icon in the lower right of the netscape communicator interface.
Create a folder on your desktop to save your web pages in.
When you open composer a default page will come up click on file,
edit page, next click on the NEW icon in the upper left corner, then choose
from the dialog box that pops up. once you have created the page hit save
and browse to your newly created file folder on the desktop.
If you insert images, save them to the same file folder or
you have to hit edit, edit html html and use notepad to add
<No save> after the image file name, otherwise Composer will rewrite
the code to show that your images are in the default location thus saving
to an images folder creates broken links to your image files that have
to be fixed by editing the html in a text editor.
Netscape Composer has extensive help files so I'll leave the rest
of the technical stuff to the Netscape resources department.
Web page O Matic will create your basic site for you and save it
in a file on your computer. It will try to sign you up with a good but
fairly expensive host you don't have to do this to use the program just
move the files it creates to your desktop folder then use composer to edit
them to your liking.
2. Where to sign up for a free 20 meg site that has
both a file manager an on site web editor and full ftp privileges.
FORTUNECITY.COM
HOW DO I GET MY SITE ON THE INTERNET?
CUTE
FTP
This is shareware or an evaluation copy you can use it for free
but you should eventually pay the $39.00 for it.
3. How to set up your site
You must choose a business district site to
do a commercial enterprise site.
Read the terms and conditions carefully and follow the rules.
Choose a name
Take care in naming your site (This is the
first biggest mistake I made when I first started)
Consider your interests ...What
you are excited about... your products or services and try to be both descriptive
and clever .
Choosing content and adding the fun stuff
Choosing content for a web site can be the most important decision
you can make in internet commerce.
The content for your site can be just about anything you are knowledgeable
and
excited about. From apple polishing to zoology any informative and
entertaining subject will do.
Why bother with content I just want to sell my products
and make some money.
Fact: Whether we want to admit it or not most people do not shop
on-line only about 5%.
The majority look for information and entertainment not to mention
free services.
The key is to keep these people coming back until they are both
comfortable with the fact that your going to be there and they actually
need your product or service.
Provide Lots of useful Information. And add services that benefit
your visitors
You can find lots of services like this
shopping service that you can add to your site. (Just
click on the "affiliate plan" link and follow the instructions)
The thing is to work the content so that the services fit and vice
versa.
Some of these services even pay you like the one above but don't
be above doing something selfless like posting a free bulletin
board or Chat room
just be sure to work your content to fit your services and choose
services that compliment your content. Remember you don't go to a car lot
to buy oranges.
Adding the fun stuff.
You can use cool background images and images of various things
to complement your content , even the very cool animated gif. file but
use them sparingly as they increase the time it takes to load a page and
if a page takes too long most surfers will just move on. Just because
you have a 56k modem doesn't mean your viewers will. You can check out
your sites suitability here
Build a path .... the advertising formula
Back to business . Use your content to suggest your products. You
can't force the sale just work the wording to include what you are selling.
When you get to the meat of your actual pitch, "The display
of your wares"
You want your visitors to feel like looking them over was their
idea.
Advertising professionals follow this formula in everything from
business letters to tv commercials. Here it is REMEMBER IT.
AIDS
(This has become an unflattering acronym but this is what it stands
for in advertising)
A= Attention ....... The very first thing you must do is get your
visitors attention.
A lot of advertisers do this with humor doing something goofy or
outlandish.
Others have slightly more subtle means.
Remember your audience is probably here looking for information
so target the attention getter in the first part of your content.
I= Interest ........ After you have their attention build interest
in your 1. site, 2. products and or services. Casually referring to the
benefits of book marking your site (because you update on such and
such a schedule etc.) A new version of such and such will be arriving
at this or that time.
then lead into how you are so pleased with being able to offer such
and such a product and by the way I have these as well.
D= Desire........ If you are selling lifeboats on the Titanic you
have no problem here.
If you have done your job so far then it should be almost as easy
to create a desire for your product in your visitor.
Having flashed the steak as you removed it from the refrigerator,
then as it broils you mention the herbs and spices you used to season it.
It should not be too hard to get them to want to take a bite if
you are careful in the way you display it on the platter and then gently
wave it back and forth under their noses.
THIS IS HOW TO SELL YOUR PRODUCT ON LINE
S= Making The Sale ..........This is no more or less than providing
the visitor with a way to get the product or service.
You would be surprised at how many newspaper ads leave off the address
or phone number. Your link to your affiliate programs IS this step.
Not that it can't also be your link to your shopping cart or order
form for products that you are selling yourself .DO NOT HIDE IT. I am showing
what you can do for free and with a minimum of work . You can and should
use all these selling techniques for your own programs and products if
you have access to a cgi-bin and a secure server.
but using these affiliate programs you don't have to worry
about all that .
Check back for the next lesson
3. Choosing The right program
4. Promoting your site
5. Domain name Sites -Vs- free hosted
6. What's Next
( May 5,1999)
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