Online Business Quick-Start Guide, Month One: Part Two
Newsletters, Wordpress, and Some Plugins
Welcome back, entrepreneurs! You are still chewing on yesterday’s article, no doubt. If you have missed out on this whole series, article one is still (and will always be) available. As always, I am open for questions in the comments, below. You can also check me out on my website. I love talking to people! Tell me about your business!
We are still working on the first month of your new venture. I should explain the time estimates. I am not expecting you to complete the task in the allotted time. That would just be crazy talk. This is the amount of time it should take a seasoned freelancer to do the job for you. Many freelancers work hourly. This will give you an estimated cost to hire the work out.
For example, the task takes about two hours and the freelancer charges $50 per hour. The quote should be for around $100. It might be more or less. What does that mean, Basil? You make up your mind (no judgments, here).
Are you ready? Don’t much care, ’cause I’m ready!
6. Coming Soon Page
Estimated Time: 2 Hours
All right. You have a domain name and a hosting account, but there is nothing on your page. You haven’t started to advertise or tell people about your new website. At this point, only random robots would find your website. Let’s put up a placeholder page.
It is quick (relatively) and easy (relatively) to have a temporary page. This will have your logo, business name, and a bit about you. Better yet, our coming soon page will still show us the “hidden” page that is in progress. You can see the “in-progress” page without showing our mess to John Q. Public (he’s so nosy!).
After you log into the dashboard of your WordPress, go to the plugins section. Add a new plugin and search for “Coming Soon.” You will find the plugin “Coming Soon Page & Maintenance Mode by SeedProd.” The free version will let you install a basic “Coming Soon” page. The paid version includes… some other stuff. I haven’t used it before.
7. Email Marketing Setup
Estimated Time: 3 Hours
I use MailChimp for my email marketing. The interface is slick and it is free, free, FREE (as of this writing). The free account is for up to 2,000 subscribers. When you have that number of loyal fans, you can afford to pay for a monthly account!
How do you get a loyal following? Slow down, there, pardnah. Let’s get the business going before we talk strategy. If’n you have your panties in a wad right now and want answers, I’ll talk all about that in a future article. Just stick with me.
Note: MailChimp does charge a little bit more than competing services. These are called Email Service Providers (or ESPs). I don’t much care, ’cause the cheapo account is free, free, FREE! We all gotta make some money!
With the free account, many would-be business owners selected MailChimp. I got used to setting them up and using them. Congrats! The monkey has wormed his way into my heart.
Quick Joke:
Q: What’s black and dangerous and lives in a tree?
A: A monkey with a machine gun. Source: Jokes4Us.com
The time estimate is high on this step because you are going through the full setup. The name you use is also not important. People won’t see that name very often (if ever).
Here’s a mini-checklist of items to configure:
- Physical mailing address (required by law)
- Email authentication (DKIM and SPF)
- Mailing Address
- Welcome Email Text
8. WordPress Install
Estimated Time: .5 Hour
WordPress started as just a blog. You can still create an account over at WordPress.com and start blogging. Don’t do this. Do. Not.
This has more than one reason. If’n’ you want to argue, go somewhere and do your research. We only look at the bright side of life here. We are trying to present a professional image. This is our own domain name. Our own hosting. Our own WordPress install. Our own piles of money (that part comes later).
WordPress has grown and developed over the years. Now it is not just for blogging. You can build your whole site on WordPress. A blog is just a bonus.
If you need to do something that isn’t included in the base WordPress, there are hundreds of free plugins. They are easy to install and use (for the most part).
You can hire a freelancer to set this up for you, but I highly recommend that you take the time to learn it yourself. It doesn’t take any programming skills to edit and use WordPress. If a freelancer sets it up for you, you are married to that freelancer. Every single change or addition requires him or her. If money is no object, hey! We should talk!
If you at least know the basics of WordPress, you can perform some things all by yourself. You will save yourself a lot of time and money.
This is a silly-easy step to do. Install it. Learn it. It’s so easy, I hereby congratulate you on a job well done.
Oh, if money is no option, we should talk. You don’t have to worry about a single thing… ever.
9. Template install
Estimated Time: 4 Hours
The look/feel/function of your website is controlled by a WordPress “theme.” Think of each theme as a different set of clothes. They are a bit more complicated since each theme will need to be customized, but the analogy still stands.
You would think that nowadays every theme would be cell phone and tablet compliant. That requires a “responsive design.” That means that the design “responds” to the size of the screen viewing it. It makes itself bigger or smaller to fit. This is, of course, harder to design for. A graphic designer has to create at least two designs (or more). This might be the reason that not all WordPress themes are responsive. Some people are lazy.
Pull up your favorite search engine and type in “responsive WordPress theme free.” Some are harder to set up than others. Unfortunately, the only way to know is to try them out. A freelancer might know which are easier than others. Test out your potential template on a smaller screen (Hint: make your web browser smaller).
I am using the Hestia https://wordpress.org/themes/hestia/ template for my own website. Is it easy to set up? I guess I’ll find out.
You might get through all four hours of setting up a theme and then decide you don’t like it. If that happens, your 4-hour time starts over. Prepare to pay extra for your indecisiveness.
What’s the difference between free and paid themes? You would think a theme you pay for is better than a free theme, but I have’t found that to be the case. That’s why I recommend looking for a free theme. The major difference is that paid themes usually come with free customer support.
It really tans my hide to pay good foldin’ money for a theme and not have customer support. It has happened to me. Tans. My. Hide. It made me so angry that I will never again pay for a WordPress theme. That’s a personal thing (I’m talking to you, ThemeForest).
If you’re gonna pay for a theme, pass it by your freelancer first. If you are going to set it up, make sure it comes with support.
10. ListBuilder & Yoast plugins
Estimated Time: 3 Hours
Installing a new WordPress plugin is silly easy. You can do this one yourself. I’ve never had a problem installing a plugin.
Using a plugin is a different story. Each plugin is a different program. They all act differently. If you’re not a programmer (I’m not), don’t go futzing around with what you don’t understand. Install it, read the instructions, and use it. If you don’t like it, uninstall it and try a different plugin. Do not hire a programmer to “tweak one little thing” (unless money is no option). They will take your money, work for a long time, and maybe do the job the way you wanted (like a lawyer).
I have listed two plugins below (more to follow):
Email List Builder — This is a suite of popups and tools that will help you market your email newsletter. Don’t like pop-ups? Get over it. You will get many more signups with a pop-up.
Yoast SEO — SEO stands for “Search Engine Optimization.” The goal is to be on the “first page of Google.” A very popular site will do just that. Most other sites will need a little help.
WordPress, by itself, does a pretty good job of SEO. You can kick that up a notch by installing Yoast. This task is a bit longer because you should learn to USE Yoast. But even if you did nothing more than install Yoast, you’re one step ahead of the dude who did not.
Ideally, you will learn how to do the following:
- Use keywords in your articles
- Use keywords in your headlines
- Customize your listings in search engines
Install it. Use it. Retire to a tropical island (optional).
11. Newsletter/Website Connection
Estimated Time: .5 Hour
You’ve already done the heavy lifting when you set up your MailChimp account. Now you can put a little bit of code on your website and let folks sign up for your regular newsletter.
How often should I send a newsletter? That there is a topic for another time. The answer for now is, “That depends.”
There are plugins that make it easy to install a MailChimp sign-up form. That’s for people that can’t handle the old copy-and-paste. Just about everybody can handle that old copy-and-paste. If you can’t, here’s what you do:
- Write these instructions down on a piece of paper. Use a pencil in case you make mistakes.
- Gather all of the packing materials used to put together your computer.
- Call UPS and arrange for them to ship your computer back to the manufacturer. Their phone number is 1–888–742–5877.
- Call one of your grandchildren. Let them buy a computer on your behalf, set it up, and train you to use it. Bake them cookies. Perhaps they will complete the rest of these instructions for you.
That’s all for today! Tune in tomorrow when we tackle “Month Two” of the “Online Business Quick-Start Guide!”
Download a FREE checklist, “The Online Business Quick-Start Guide” on my website.