Online Business Ideas for Web Development Online Business Ideas

Kajabi Alternatives NON Affiliate Review

If you have a Kajabi trail version or after trial version share this with them. Plus there is a Kajabi Killer coming!

Well since my infamous post about Kajabi I have been:

Threatened via email, blocked by a syndicate friendly on Facebook, and attacked on a few forums. And that was just the first day (laughing). Plus a certain FORUM ERASED ALL of our Kajabi threads. There were some SERIOUS conversations happening about Kajabi alternatives. Now POOF GONE!

The good news is that many veterans throughout the internet have agreed with my assessment of Kajabi. And many using the trial have begun to share their distaste for the application. Also I was able to get a lot of info from those disappearing forum threads to share here today. Er ah of course BEFORE they vanished (laughing again).

First Lets Get Something Strait

I want to clarify that since everyone reading this is at different skill levels I am going to walk through this process briefly. But remember YOUR GOAL. And that is to identify and create a unique selling proposition. For the love of god please don’t just copy everyone else. Remember you want the GURU’s money not their brand. Because you will be too busy building your own.

Customize these tools, applications and services I recommend below (non affiliate links). That means what ever your selling no matter what niche your in you have to differentiate yourself from competitors in a way that a potential customers sees and understands.

Want to make money online? Well no half ass, bullshitting, or bitching and moaning about the “easy magic bullet”. Like every industry in the world you have to work for it. The only difference in this industry is that though there is a learning curve. The returns are greater. I know some of these guys make it “look” easy but there is a fair amount of work involved. I explain the process in strategic detail here.

So Here are your Alternatives Kajabi (non affiliate links)

So I have split this up into several areas and most of them are wordpress related. The reason everyone is using wordpress is simple. They are search engine friendly, almost anyone can set a wordpress site up for next to nothing (price of hosting). Plus they have a million themes and plugins and most are free.

The criteria for each are simple.

They must involve 1 time charges (none of that continuity stuff)
Easily (within reason) customizable
Must allow for unlimited use on multiple sites (use them with as many sites as you want no limit)
Should have some form of decent to excellent support w guides
Should have updates
Cool bonuses or extras

Sqeezepage/ Launchpage/Sales page combos

A few stood out from the crowd. Not only by their great sales pages but by their reputation for support.

UPDATE:

profits theme came out with a killer theme and has beat the others by far. I have since become admittedly a SUPER affiliate. Read my comparisons here.

http://jvpress.com/ - $97 – $127
This is Sean Mcalisters project and it is launching in November 2010 but I got a chance to see sneak peek and it looks good. For a one time cost I heard it is going to price somewhere between $97 – $127 for a multi users license. And YES the license is transferable if you sell the site.

They also have facebook integration as well. Hopefully in the future they will have a closer tie to membership sites but for now a autoresponder like aweber and the two memberships sites I talk about here should help. But whats great is that they have redirection and a timed button popup within the video like Kajabi.

Downside: They really didn’t show a lot of sales pages for examples just video sales page and product launch examples. But you can make all (4) squeeze, product, and sales. Another thing which I didn’t like is that they have their brand on our video players. Sean said they are working on changing that. I just think if WE PAY we should be brand free.

http://creationspire.com/wpspire/ – $77 theme/$67 plugin/ Bundle is $97

It is $77 for the theme and $67 for the plugin. The only difference is that the plugin doesn’t offer the frontpage adjustment options (no biggie). They have greater focus on traditional landing pages (lot of detail and graphics) than video. But you can add video. You just wont have that “Kajabi” look. Thanks Kim for recommending.

http://www.optimizepress.com/ – $97

Update from below: James reached out to me and changed the controls. He has also been pretty cool about explining the features. I will have more info for you in the near future.

Now this is a nice sales page BUT what ticked me off was that the guy didn’t have the control display for the video presentation. Somebody needs to tell him that’s a no no in this niche. Marketers and online entrepreneur are some of the MOST A-D-D (attention deficit disorder) people on the web (laughing). Plus he is saying he has IPad/IPod integration as well as Facebook integration.

Video Solutions

WARNING update: Do not buy until you see my review (coming within 24 hours):

Easy Video Player $127 ALERT 9am- 12pm EST Tuesday Oct 19th they have it for $97. Basically it is a player that secures membership, Facebook functions, and other options for stats, optin forms etc. What I really like is the A/B slit testing option but also BE WARNED. Some forums are not too happy with the version 1 vs. version 2 confusion. Will they provide upgrades for V2 and introduce a paid version of v3 like they just did with V2? I don’t know but it is still worth a try. Another RED FLAG is that I saw a mention of a higher price for non branded video players. I frankly think that if WE PAY we should not be branded. I don’t mind Flowplayer video for wordpress branding. Because they are FREE. But to charge me and say your branding your logo in my videos is a no no in my world.

Membership Sites

Trish Jones of
TRISHJONES.COM asked a relevant question regarding membership sites.
“Darren when you do your review, would be great if you could include some with the community element … to me, this increases retention big time. I hate the “no one’s at home” feel of most membership sites but loved using Video Boss membership portal which, is based on Kajabi. Lots more I love about it but would rather not spend $200 per month if I don’t have to! ”

Well Wishlist and DAP seem to be the most prevalent. Both cost $297 ONE TIME payment (like everything else) for a multi user license . That means you can use on as many sites as you wish and Wishlist is always updating.

Though I am in favor of wishlist. It is not that they are better in some features but their INCREDIBLE customer service.Keep in mind I am not even a affiliate for these guys.

DAP seems to have some great features. But the greatest turn off for me was how they were rather insulting to Wishlist. Hey I overstand having a good competitive product but if your better then let your features and support speak for itself. Leave the tough talk for the internet forums and affiliates.

Wishlist gives a greater focus on actually building a community. They interview the top internet marketers around the world. And they really focus on membership models.

In other

Kajabi Similar Platforms STAY AWAY

DON’T purchase Nancast, Fusion HQ or Traindom. For the same reasons you shouldn’t buy Kajabi. They are rental situations. Not Traindom at least waits until you have sales but the issue here is that THEY still control YOUR content. All 3 of them do.

OK Darren so who do I choose?

Honestly it depends on WHAT your trying to do. I originally was going to do a video with this post until I realized that there are so many strategies. I will post future strategies for using these items. In the meanwhile this is what I suggest based off of my purchases.

UPDATE: The Kajabi Killer is coming out which DOMINATES the others below

UPDATE In the past I have told you to get the options below but frankly you would be wasting your money compared to profits theme. And again I know you might think (well wow you make money from it) so tell you what… look up profits theme in Google and get it. Now you wont get my bonuses if you do that but when is the last time someone told you to get something without them getting anything even though they are an affiliate? (laughing)
Get the JVpressplugin theme looks like they have great support and updates coming.
Get the WP spire plugin. This item has been around and through the bug phase. Plus they really focus on detail. The reason you want this is to launch pages from your main wordpress site.
Get Wishlist membership site plugin multi user license: I can speak personally for their support.
Easy Video Player ??? Hmmm well I will say that the jury is still out on their 2.0 version. But the a/b split testing and stats may be a plus. Especially if you can incorporate that itn o a blog post as well as a page. As I write this (I will update this article) I am going to think over the easy player video purchase. Not 100% on that purchase.

So whats all of this costing me Darren?

Well not adding the easy video player its just under $500 bucks one time only. BUT REMEMBER if you don’t need the membership plugin right away its under $200 one time only. That’s 2-5 months in Kajabi rent. And WELL WORTH IT. The WP Spire plugin is the only thing I haven’t purchased yet.

I sincerely hope this has helped everyone with their decision.

13 Oct

Kajabi The Non Affiliate Truthful Review

The MOST important audio you will hear about Kajabi listen:

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UPDATE: The Kajabi Killer is COMING!

OK I know I am going to get a lot of emails, DMs, and calls on this one so here goes.

I know all of us have seen the BIG HYPE about this new application called Kajabi. But first I would like to say this:

I am NOT an affiliate this is not a sales review
I am not a HATER this is not a I am mad a Andy Jenkins the Kajabi creator review

I want to get that out the way. There are several things that I want to share that should help clarify this whole Kajabi Phenomena.

What the Heck is a Kajabi?

Kajabi is a new cross application that helps you manage your landing pages, email list building campaigns, and sales funnels all in one place.

Kind of like a universal remote for your TV, DVD player, stereo. So if say your using aweber for email marketing which I strongly endorse (there are no affiliated links in this article). And you have a landing page, a shopping cart like 1shoppingcart then you can integrate then and setup campaigns etc from Kajabi.

Membership sites/ Community sites

Another feature they are providing is a way to create a customer community through a membership site.

Landing pages, Sales Funnel, Shopping Cart integration, Email signup, Autoresponder, Membership sites.

Sounds great huh? But wait there are a few issues Kajabi doesn’t answer.

OK Here is the REALITY check with Kajabi

Kajabi is not free it is a 14 day free trail. And afterwards a monthly charge. Now for the record I don’t think these are bad prices below given you are making more than what they are charging.

Starter package: $99 see video below

Pro package: $199 see video below

Ultra Package: $299 see video below

Here are 3 MAJOR challenges to using Kajabi.

Challenge 1: If you suffer from information overload and a lack of ONLINE entrepreneur PURPOSE. Then Kajabi will BLEED YOU DRY. But it isn’t because they are scamming you or trying to dupe you. It is because it will still take you time to wrap your head around their system by using your purpose and talents to make money online.

Challenge 2: If you only have ONE source of online income DO NOT use Kajabi. WHY? Imagine wanting to leave or your business hits a bump. Kajabi in the video below says that if you cancel ALL OF YOUR CONTENT WILL BE ERASED. And hey I am not saying that they are wrong for doing that after all your no longer paying them why should they keep it on there? But then you have to find other solutions to fill the gap of the remaining business you were getting. Like the investment people say never put all of your eggs in one basket.

Challenge 3: If you do NOT have a running online business making at least $200 a month DO NOT buy Kajabi. Hey challenges 1 and 2 may not be a problem for you. So lets say you have for example (3) sites each earning around $100 a month. Here is why you should rethink about going to Kajabi with at least one of those sites.

Kajabi will cut your investment in half and unless YOU have a way to grow your sales with their application.

Darren you don’t have these 3 challenges are you using Kajabi?

I don’t wanna (KIDDING). Seriously here is why I am not in favor of Kajabi.

When I was a kid my grandmother taught me how to add numbers very quickly. But of course if there were too many numbers I would (and still do) grab a calculator. I am not Dustin Hoffman’s rain man character. I can’t tell you what 134 multiplied by 198 is inside of 60 seconds (laughing). But I can tell you the percentage on a sale instantly or the 2 set number addition and multiplication answers quicker than most.

What I am saying here is that I was taught long ago how to solve problems without relying on technology to solve them for me. Nothing wrong with grabbing a easy calculator (or fantstico cpanel in some cases). But if I relied on a calculator all the time being without one would WEAKEN you.

Kajabi solves a problem for some but potentially weakens the problem solving ability of online entrepreneurs. I am not saying take the hard road but realize with Google and other search there are other avenues IF your a intermediate blogger or online entrepreneur.

Lastly there is an admitted TRUST factor

If my memory serves me correctly one or two of the GURUs associated with Kajabi have been SLAPPED and or BANNED by Google, Authorize.net, and Twitter. Do you really want them to have access to your sales data or campaign information? Because I do not. I am not saying they would but by association there is always a possibility.

So Darren What do I do if I am a non tech person?

The first thing you do is STOP paying the price with your lack of knowledge by doing your homework. So I am going to lay this out for you.The following are NON affiliate related to me services you can use.

Kajabi streams videos uploaded: so does most hosting companies. It is a standard thing to have unlimited bandwidth. Don’t get me wrong you can’t go crazy but for $20 hosting package I almost guarantee you your covered on streaming. Hey listen I am not saying become one but sooner or later you got to learn this stuff or pay the cost of not knowing it.

Kajabi launch pages: good idea to have a software to make these. But there are plenty of wordpress and HTML templates you can create with free software. And if you stop using them they wont delete your pages…Kajabi will.

Kajabi is selling Microsoft packaging. Is Kajabi relevant? Possibly, only time will tell. As we all know Microsoft is certainly is relevant.But that doesn’t stop the pros from using Google Docs, Open Source Word Documents, Firefox, Mac, and Safari.

Nothing replaces research, education, instruction, and consistent follow through. Coupled with assessment and affirmation of your online purpose Kajabi will begin to look different to you.

You must begin to learn the sales funnel, landing page, email marketing, and how membership sites are made without Kajabi. The world is your search engine and there is a ton of options. The MOST important thing you could purchase right now is instruction. You need someone who will give it to your strait.

Don’t let shiny thing syndrome stray you from your life’s path. All that Kajabi (or glitters) ain’t gold. STAY FOCUSED.

Search for alternatives besides the easy fix The internet world is in your keyboard typing hands!

Kajabi Video (its a hour but good presentation) give it a sec to start

PS make sure you check out the Kajabi Killer alternative

25 Jun

180 Second Solution to Your Blog Money Problems

OK some of you might remember my 90 second solution in general. But this post is specifically for people who NEED ANSWERS who have blogs.

90 Second Solution to Your Blog Money Problems

I am having some issues with the audio player so instead please feel free to download sorry for the inconvenience.

Download here by right or left clicking and choosing either “save as” or “save target as” depending on your browser

22 Apr

FREE Hot Marketing Data and Video for Online Business Ideas

This is a new project I am working on that I want to share with everyone. Signup below for 50 plus Marketing charts and some great ideas on how to take advantage of that data!

One of the best online business ideas I can share involves you being PREPARED for the future trends. First we will start with whats happening NOW. And work our way to future opportunities.

Here are some of the things this data covers

Social Media Stats

Facebook vs Twitter

SEO Stats for Sales Leads

Social Changes in Media Landscape

WHO Leads Social Media for Sales? HINT it is NOT Facebook OR Twitter!

And that is just the small stuff!

If you can’t see the form below then click this link

The Future is NOW

Signup Below

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24 Mar

7 Essential Steps to Launch an Online Business

7 Essential Steps to Launching an Online Business

As a do it yourself (DIY) online entrepreneur you don’t have time to waste building a website that doesn’t earn a profit. And if you repeat that process with the same results your company of one will soon dissolve into a company of none. In this article I am going to explain why almost 90 % of the websites lose money. And although this is a beginner to lightly intermediate overview, I also want to assure you that I will follow up on each subject in detail in the future.

This is a unique opportunity to not only learn from my advice but my mistakes. My goal is to enlighten you about the process involved in creating profitable websites and blogs online by yourself.

The majority of people create an online business incorrectly. They have an idea and then they create a website. Then they wonder how to get traffic. Even if they figure out how to get traffic to their website they are still missing several components like a sales strategy, effective email marketing and other areas I will briefly cover in this article.

1. Research Your Target Market

Making real money online with your website requires a target market aka a specific group of people. An example would be a car enthusiast or people who like to play online games. Creating sales online from your website begins with identifying your target visitors (potential customers). The best part is that you can find out if that site is a good online business idea without investing any money.

This is rough overview of how to research any potential target market online. Our research begins with a series of searches on Google. None of this information will cost you money but I guarantee you that what you are about to read has cost professionals thousands to learn.

The first thing we want to do is search with Google tools Adwords and Estimator. We want to discover if any keywords or phrases in our target market are actually searched on these Google search tools. Remember think like your customers. So search the most likely keywords and phrases buyers would use when searching for a product and or service.

Now we are going to locate our competitors. First enter the keywords and phrases of your target market (niche). If you’re interested in the baby healthcare niche for instance then you want to search Google for teething or infant care.

When the results show up I want you to look at one location for free listings and two locations for Google advertisements. The bottom left listings 1- 10 are the non paid listings. This area is commonly known as the organic (meaning free) listings. Websites listed here don’t pay to be listed and Google has indexed them by order of most relevant and authority (importance of site).

The right and the top left of your search results are advertisements and this is where you will find your competition. So keep searching until you see the advertisements. You are looking for a specific type of advertisement. You are only looking for online marketers who are trying to get people to their sales pages. They are easy to spot because they are not a major brand name and or corporation. Also you can tell if it’s an online marketer by clicking their “buy” buttons. The reason your doing that is to see who is processing their credit card sales. Online marketers are using companies like use www.PayPal.com, www.1Shoppingcart.com, www.Ejunkie.com, or www.Clickbank.com. Any sales pages with any of these payment solutions are more than likely online marketers..

These are advertisers using Google’s advertising service called Adwords. Each ad has a headline, description, and link to a sales page. Your competition is advertising according to the key word or phrase i.e. “infant care”. Once you see the advertisements by online marketers show up on the search results then click each of the advertisements links. The purpose of this strategy is to find out what your competition (online marketers) is trying to sell to your target market.

Then do a “who is” search on the internet in an effort to find out how long their sales page site has been in existence. You can use free domain searches at almost any hosting website.

An additional strategy is to write down and keep a list of the advertisers. You want to find out length of their advertising. You will begin to see that some of the same advertisements over the next 8 weeks or more. That means that it is highly probable that these competitors are making money.

The next thing you need to ask yourself is what exactly are they selling? And how can you sell something similar but with a unique selling proposition?

2. Clearly Define Your Unique Selling Proposition: Innovation meets Simplicity

Study your competition but don’t imitate them Imitating your competition is a big online mistake. Your visitors (potential customers) have to clearly understand the purpose of your site and why you stand out from the competition. What is your unique selling proposition? In other words how do you differentiate your websites products and or services from your competitors?

And what is your strategy to make sure your visitors (potential customers) clearly understand that difference? Successful websites are innovative and simple in their sales presentation.

The following is an example of how to differentiate from your competition. Let’s say your competitors are selling a $27 ebook on infant care. Then you should offer a $27 ebook and online video instructional on infant care with other bonuses like weekly audio tips delivered to their inbox. The amazing part is that video instructional and audio tips are easy to record. However the best part is that you are offering more value for the same price.

Another great idea is to brand your product line. A brand name can also lead to a loyal following and a great markup. The more you stand out from the competition yet relate to their customers the better.

3. Establish an Online Sales Strategy: Sales Anyone?

An effective online sales strategy outlines exactly how you are going to turn visitors into customers. This strategy also clarifies how you are going to do that repeatedly with your current customers. I strongly urge against creating a site without a clear plan to earn money. This is one of the top reasons why online businesses fail. They might have a great website with thousands of visitors who never become customers. Imagine opening a store in a busy mall with no cash registers or items to sell. The mall patrons walk in and within seconds they turn around and walk out.

The best way to establish a strong sales strategy is by researching your target markets buying habits. Find out when, where, why, and how your market purchases their products and or services. Also study the price ranges. Some customers make purchases only on Friday (payday). Also select markets only purchase during certain seasons i.e. Halloween products might sell higher between September and October.

Another smart online business idea is to target your markets preferred method of payment because their choices could vary. For example patrons from one of my websites only trust PayPal for their purchases. Also in certain niches purchasers outside of the United States trust Pay Pal more vs. other credit card processors. This is because of rampant credit card fraud. Apparently Paypal has been able to establish a trusting bond in countries like the United Kingdom.

Examine your money making strategies carefully. Remember, if you cannot solidify how, when, and where you will make money with your ideal website. Then you should not continue to invest any more time and or money. Know when to quit and go back to the drawing board.

4. Create an email marketing Strategy to capture your Visitors Information

Email marketing allows you to gather your potential and current customer’s information. Imagine having a store full of visitors that didn’t purchase anything. Wouldn’t you like to have an opportunity to reach them later for another chance to sell your online products or services? Email marketing allows you to continually build a relationship with your potential and current customers. Building relationships via email marketing can increase the opportunity of initial, repeat, and long term sales. The foundation of email marketing is getting the permission to email them.

The spam button is too easy to click these days when you receive an email in your inbox you don’t recognize. Gaining permission can begin with offering your visitors an opportunity to signup to your email list in return for a free gift. One of the best email marketing services out there is aweber because they make sure your subscribers confirm they want to receive the information you’re sending. That way both you the recipients and for instance Gmail understand that your emails are not spam because you have permission to send them to the recipient. There is an excellent book on the subject of email marketing ethically called Permission Marketing by Seth Godin I highly recommend. In fact Seth is offering (4) free chapters in return for an email signup.

5. Know your Hosting Solution: Servers you can trust

Hosting is the foundation of your website. And poor hosting will cost you a fortune. Your ability to stay online 24/7 is a priority. No website, no sale, no business. The worst thing in the world is to get a message or call saying that someone couldn’t give you money because they can’t get your website online. The best type of hosting is dedicated for Linux servers. That is because you control the server and most importantly you are the only person using the server. Another advantage is that you can start and run hundreds of websites on one server at no additional cost.

6. Understand Your Choice in Content Management Systems

Content management systems like WordPress and Joomla help even the most non techie person effectively mange their online content. The right content management system will help you automate, customize, and save a backup copy of your site. Also as I said in #5 the right hosting plan will make creating these sites very simple. If you need some direct instruction on how to do that then click here and get a blog going.

7. Create a Flexible Online Traffic Strategy: Search Engines, Social Media, and Beyond

Gaining traffic to your site is the easiest part of developing an online business. Google, Facebook, Ning, and Twitter are household names that offer free access to billions. Now more than any other time in history is the opportunity build a massive network that reaches millions. There is one key thing to remember when gaining traffic is to master just a few techniques then repeat the process. You for instance could for instance focus on search engine optimization (SEO), social media (Twitter, Facebook etc.), and social book marking (Delicious, Digg, etc) to gain traffic. You don’t need to do everything just specific actions repeatedly will build your results over time.

Repetition of these 7 Essential Steps to Launching an Online Business will provide you with an insider strategy. And this will give you an edge that more than 80% of businesses online neither know nor follow.

30 Sep

Google Wave Explained in Plain English

This was the simplest and cutest way I have seen it explained. The real question is will millions actually USE it? Yeah the techies will but will people who are not deep coders, developers etc use it? The technology and idea is not nearly as in question as the usability.

So what does it really mean for businesses? Well it could mean that the cross platforms used to manage projects could be in danger if Google pulls this off. Google Wave to me looks like project management for Google in real time simply put.

24 Jul

Web Development for Business

Web Development for Business: The Real balance between web optimization and business

Most times when I see people writing about web development they are doing so from a web perspective more than from a business development perspective. There has to be a balance. You can have the most optimized site on the Internet and still be in a studio efficiency with only one window facing a brick wall. My point here people is that if you continue to rely on one web development optimization tactic then your doomed.

In business it”s not about the visitors but the buyers.

You must integrate monetization techniques from the very beginning. Which would you rather have 100,000 visitors and 5 buyers? Or 1000 visitors and 50 buyers? The more you use the optimization to pinpoint your searching buyers the better. In business the reason you are trying to get traffic is the first place is NOT for visitors. You are focusing (or should be) on customers.

There needs to be a partnership between the two

When a business owner decides to bring their business to the web, generally the last thing that they think about is search engine optimization. But the flip side is true also. When a SEO or web development expert adds a site you need to think before you start about monetize options for your website. On the business side business people often assume that whomever they hire to do their web design will put up a site and then submit it to the search engines and the traffic will magically pour in. And many SEO experts (clients of mine) think that you can optimize a site and just throw an affiliate link and their income is assured. Both are incorrect.

Here are two key SEO tactics I use

But first let me warn you that like two fingers on a hand this is far from complete. I just wanted to share some examples.

Use proper tags for headings, bold text, italic text, and lists – HTML has heading tags, bold tags, italic tags, and ordered and unordered lists for a reason and you should use them. Using CSS you can practically style them however you like, but actually using a heading tag for your headings, and bold tags for important text, will help allow search engines understand what text on a page is a heading or what is more important than the surrounding text. Simply applying a CSS style that makes text larger or bold doesn’t do that.

Now I have been told to optimize your images – search engine spiders can’t read text within an image. Adding ALT text to your image tag helps. And that ideally you should remove all wording from the image and style it using CSS, adding the remaining portion of the image as a background image to the text.

However images that I name seem to get some serious traffic to me. Especially when I combine them with great titles and content.

Now at this point you may be asking:

“OK Darren I need to align both Web Development and Business to create more business so how do I do this?”

——————————————————————————–

Listen to my FREE Audio about Web Development for Business

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

This may seem simple be the idea is simplicity without tricks:

Map out HOW you will make money before you build a website.
Focus on your titles and make the name your images similar if not the same as your titled articles.
Write to interest your readers (future buyers/customers and clients). PS think about how you ended up reading this.
Develop more than one way to bring traffic.

22 Jan

Online Business Ideas for Locating Great Hosting

OK here are some online business ideas for locating great hosting. But this is by far not the most comprehensive on this subject. Since I launched (through my company) a web hosting site I felt obligated to share some information. Especially those who are trying to find a way to make money blogging. I am not going to point out my current nor past hosts because of course my option of each would be biased.

Top Ten Online Business Ideas for Finding Great Hosting

I don’t care what they offer. Low costs, a lot of bandwidth money back guarantee. If their servers are down more than 90 percent of the time then your business on the web is losing money. You only have a second to pull a customer in when trying to make money blogging. If your down your dead.

How do you check if their 99.9% up-time is true?

I have four great ways to check.

First find out if the hosting service in question has a forum because they tell all. Irate customers will definitely air out any issues they have with the hosting. I remember looking at a host and reading the-negative comments on their forum. This initially discouraged me but when I read how the host moderators answered I was really impressed. No matter how mad the clients were they were always professional and prompt in their response. Hosting companies that have forums and that are willing to address the issue’s professionally and publicly should be respected.

Second type negative statements in Google using the hosts name i.e. “I Hate Go Daddy” and read. This may lead you to a lot of personal opinions but the key links you are looking for are in forums across the web where the discussions will be hot and heavy. Then Google positive comments excluding the ones posted on the host you are investigating.

Third Google the words “hosting reviews” and see if you can find some forums. Unlike the forums on the hosting companies website, these are specific forums that webmasters visit to talk about great and not so great hosting companies. Search these forums to see if the hosting companies you are considering are mentioned. Here are a few suggested forums WebHostingTalk (aka WHT) and HostHideout, Hostingdiscussion.com, Resellerboard.com and SitepointForums.com. But there are tons of them. And if you know of any good forums please feel free to comment.

2. Got Support?

Imagine signing up for hosting only to discover that “rickyretardohosting.net” can find their a** from a hole in-the wall. As your laughing I am sure someone isn’t. Remember three tactics to expose this challenge.

Response time. Email them some questions initially and see how long it takes. If they are delaying to answers to sales questions then you know what to expect as a customer. One of the worst online business ideas to me was to create a barrier between your prospects and yourself.

Quality of the response: Did they give you the answers you needed or again did you discover another relative of George Bush?

Personable (politeness): How personable were they?

3. Are their servers Linux or Windows based?

Though windows has the brand names. But if you want script heavy hardware then know that Linux rules! Youtube, Facebook and Google use Linux. I started out on windows but when I began developing more web intense apps and I noticed that most were made for Linux. Initially this may mean nothing to you but as you develop your website(s) you may want to look into Linux. If you want to make money blogging you will heed my advice and use the correct server.

4. How many clients are using each of their servers?

Yeah that 2500 gigs and 300 disk space for 10 dollars may seem like a deal but not if they have 300 people using one server on a shared hosting plan. Your site (s) will be slow and you dont always get what you pay for.

5. What are the Sales, Billing, and support hours?

Sale usually keeps business hours but some really smart companies have 24 hour sales available via chat. I love these options for all three billing, sales and it is a must for support. If a company is flaky with their chat support don’t use them.

6. How many people are on their staff?

24 hour chat support means nothing if you are always waiting 4 customers behind. That should never happen. Though it does. One of the poorest strategies is to shorten your staff. If you really like the company and this is their only issue then check to see if they have a support ticket system / forum and then follow suggestions from #1 and #2. Actual live chat with little or no wait is by far one of the most powerful business ideas for sales conversion and retention.

7. How much of a knowledge base do they provide?

Can you answer your own questions from their knowledge base? Is it detailed? comprehensive? Offer links?

8. What kind of operational panel do you use?

OK I been pretty good so far not to bad mouth any companies but I must say this. PLESK SUCKS!! Horrible panel and I have yet to find ONE developer that likes it (I have roughly about 3700 plus developers and programmers in my network). Of course plesk was on Windows servers making Linux definitely more attractive with their Cpanel model. As I write this I have been using them for a short time so far so great.

9. Are there any services that are not displayed on your site?

You will be amazed what you find NOT listed. Sales, extra packages, server brands not listed. Just ask and see what they say you may be surprised. Plus always ask what extra they can throw in. The worst they can say is no. Hey the only way you are going to make money blogging is bybeing bold. And I see no better time to start than with your hosting.

10. Are there any bonus scripts or training services you provide?

The smartest thing I think any company can do is educate their customers. the more they learn the better they respect and support you. Most people are looking for hosting are novices just trying to start a site. But any company that offers free beginner’s or intermediate training in MySQL, PHP, Open Source, HTML, basic SEO, web marketing, and retail services are worth their weight in gold. And again it certainly doesn’t hurt to ask.

Honorable Mentions

I had to mention these. you might think some should be on the top ten but I will explain why they are not.

How much Do They Cost? This is the first question and a given. Price is always a factor whether its a company or individual. Price must be balanced with the top ten factors.

What is the bandwidth? Again another given. the only thing to remember if your starting out you will probably use less than 100 gigs so don’t go over board. In fact the average blogger uses rougly less than 5 gigs if that much.

What are the storage capacities? Remember if your starting a website for the first time whether you want to make money blogging or not the capacity shouldn’t be more than 5 -10 gigs or less.

How many Domain’s do they Allow? Remember its not just one site that matters. Look at it like this, the web is the largest intellectual property in history! Did Donald Trump become a billionaire with one building or several? Keep your options open and see the future. A hosting company with unlimited sites could be the option for you. Most now offer that option.

What are your goals? As a website? How do you intend to grow whether you are a new upstart or a 5+ year company. Keeping abreast of the latest design and goals can save you time and money.