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THE
BASICS
Are you considering getting a website, but don't know where to start?
Are you unsure about how to select a designer?
Do you feel confused about what to put into a website?
If you are like most people, chances are you answered "Yes"
to at least one of these questions. Chances are that you could use
a little help.
At
Navas Multimedia, our mission is to support small businesses, home-based
businesses, and private organizations that are moving to the Internet
for the first time. We know first hand how much time it takes to operate
a small business - providing customer support, tracking inventory,
marketing, advertising, managing money, paying the bills, and of course,
providing your services and products. There isn't enough time to do
everything.
To
begin, let's assume that you know nothing about websites other than
that they are the things that come up on your computer screen when
you get on the Internet. You may not even be sure what the Internet
really is. So let's start there.
TOPICS
1. USE YOUR WEBSITE TO PROMOTE YOUR BUSINESS
(back to the top of the page)
You know what a website is now. It's a group of files that you view
from another computer over the Internet.
But
to a business, a website is much more than just files. To a business,
a website is a marketing tool. It is a form of advertisement just
like an ad in a newspaper or a magazine. And it has the same goal
- to increase your company's profits. In this respect, it is no different
than any other form of advertising you might use to promote your business.
But
websites have several advantages that other forms of advertising don't.
Websites are interactive. Your customers can explore those areas that
interest them, follow links, and contact you by email. Your website
gives your customers 24 hour access to your business. It doesn't matter
where you are or what time it is, your website continues to work.
A website is not space limited. You can describe your products and
services in as much detail as you wish without being constrained to
a small printed advertising space.
Websites are market focused. When you advertise in print, you typically
broadcast your message to a very wide audience, and many of them are
not good prospects. But someone who visits your website is already
searching for your products or services.
Websites last beyond today's paper or this month's magazine. Once
you put a website online, it stays there until you decide to take
it down. This isn't to say that all other forms of advertising are
useless. Print advertising, television commercials, and direct mail
still have their place, and if you have a print advertising campaign
that is bringing in customers - stick with it, just be sure to add
your new website address to all of your print materials.
2.
CAN YOU MANAGE A WEBSITE?
(back to the top of the page)
You don't need to be a mechanic to own a car. As long as you can drive
it and put gas in it, you can operate your own car. If it ever needs
to be fixed, there are people available to do that.
A
website is the same way. If you have enough basic computer skills
to get onto the Internet and send and receive email, you can manage
your website. Email will let you correspond with visitors to your
site, with customers, and with your site designer. You don't need
to know a lot about websites to get started. A good designer will
guide you through the development process and will do all of the design
work for you. Your designer will also update your site for you if
it ever needs it.
If
you want more out of a website - an online store for example - you
need a little more computer knowledge. An online store enables you
to access customer order data, download it to your own computer, and
process the orders and credit card information. If you can use a word
processor and can move files around on your computer, you already
have the skills you need to run an online store.
3.
BUT WHAT ABOUT THE COST?
(back to the top of the page)
Website design prices are competitive with the cost of designing print
advertising. The cost depends on the size of the site, special features,
the designer's rates, and the number of hours required to do the job.
But this is true with any form of advertising. If you want to have
a print ad designed for a national magazine or just for a local newspaper
insert, you will still have to pay for the design, the copywriting,
and the printing. The complexity of the ad drives the price, just
as it does with a website.
But
after the initial design is done, websites are much, much cheaper
than print ads. To keep a small print ad in a daily paper or in a
monthly magazine will cost you hundreds of dollars per month. A full-page
color ad can cost thousands of dollars every month.
You
can keep a website online for less than $30 per month. And it doesn't
matter how big the website is or how many colors it uses.
4,
DOES YOUR BUSINESS REALLY NEED A WEBSITE?
(back to the top of the page)
For most of us, the Internet started out as a curiosity. It was like
a video game. It was entertaining, but it had no real importance to
the average person. But things have changed. The commercial world
has moved on to the Internet and changed it forever. It is now the
fastest growing advertising and distribution channel on the planet.
Businesses are moving to the Internet at an incredible rate.Your
customers are moving there too.
Every
day thousands of new computers are sold to people who want email and
Internet access. They want to be a part of what is going on. Once
they figure out how the computer and the Internet work, they are hooked.
They spend hours sending email and surfing.
They
quickly learn to use search engines instead of the phone book. They
use email instead of the telephone. They learn to find products and
services from websites. After they are on the Internet long enough
to be comfortable, they begin to buy products and services online.
If
you are not on the Internet, your customers are buying from your competitors.
Local or worldwide, if you have a business that is not on the Internet,
you are at a severe competitive disadvantage. Even if you build a
website that doesn't do any direct sales, a website gives you a contact
point and a chance to put your name, your products, and your services
on display for potential customers.
The
expectations of the buying public have changed. Every day it gets
harder and harder to find a magazine ad or a business card that doesn't
have a website address included. Your customers expect you to have
a website and an email address, just as they expect you to have a
mailing address and a telephone number.
Commerce
is changing rapidly to embrace the Internet. Big businesses are on
the Internet. Small businesses are on the Internet. Home businesses
are on the Internet.
Your
competitors are on the Internet. So to answer the question - yes,
your business needs a website. The Internet has revolutionized the
world just as radio did, just as the telephone did, and just as television
did. It continues to grow and it's not going to go away. People shop
on the Internet, people pay bills on the Internet, people find services
on the Internet, and people are entertained on the Internet. One way
or another, almost everyone is on the Internet.
Your
business should be there too.
5
THE FINAL DECISION (back
to the top of the page)
Sooner or later, your business will have a website. The size of the
viewing market and the level of exposure you get, combined with the
low costs, make it too good a deal to pass up. And no other form of
advertising offers you this tremendous level of market access for
less than $1.00 per day.
6.
WHAT DO YOU NEED FROM YOUR WEBSITE? (back
to the top of the page)
A site can serve many different functions all at the same time, but
for a small business, the bottom line is always the same.
Your
website should increase business and help generate revenue. If your
site doesn't improve customer contact, bring in customers, or create
revenue, it may not be a good business decision.
You
need to define the functions of your website. If you don't have a
clear set of goals and requirements, you will not spend your time
and money effectively. Before you can define your website, you must
define your business needs.
Take
a few minutes to review the following groups of questions. Answer
as many as possible. This is the information you need to define your
website and it is the information your designer will need to develop
an effective site for you.
7.
Describe Your Business or Organization (back
to the top of the page)
What does your organization do?
What products or services do you sell?
How do you sell them now?
Who are your competitors?
How are you different from or better than your competitors?
Define Your Customers and Their Needs
Who is the target market?
How many different kinds of customers do you have?
What kind of information do your customers want?
What response do you want from your customers?
Define The Goals For Your Website
Create revenue through direct sales
Communicate with customers and potential customers
Provide information and answer questions
Provide online services
Enhance your business image
Get increased exposure
Generate leads
Gather customer information
Display your products and services
Use the answers to these questions to define the main goals for your
site. If you can define one or two very clear goals for your site,
it will be much more effective than if it has no goals or if it has
dozens of goals. Your goal statements should be clear and should be
very short. They are generally stated in terms of what you want the
site to do or what you want your visitors to do.
7a.
Sample Goal Statements (back
to the top of the page)
Promote our employment seminars to the recently unemployed
Sell my new book to people who collect stamps
Attract new members to our organization
Provide information about our services and activities
Gather customer information online
Provide a ready source of information to our customers
Encourage visitors to contact us for information and quote
8.
DEVELOP A CONCEPT FOR YOUR WEBSITE (back
to the top of the page)
Your life, and your designer's, will be much easier if you have some
idea of what you want to put in your website. After you have determined
the goals for your site, you should spend an hour or two searching
the Internet to find sites that offer similar products or services.
Look at how they are designed. Look for special features that you
might want to include in your own site. Identify things that you don't
want in your site.
Search
some more and find some sites that really appeal to you. Then find
three or four that you really don't like. Jot down the addresses of
all of these along with notes on what appeals to you and what doesn't.
Consider things like navigation (menus), color schemes, how easy the
site is to use, etc.
Note
that you are not trying to design the site. You are just trying to
get enough information so that you can give your designer an idea
of what you want.
When
you have done all of this, you will be ready to talk to a designer.
You will know the goals for your site and what it should include.
You will also be able to give your designer some general direction
as to a look and feel for your new website.
If
it turns out that you have trouble putting exactly what you want and
need in a website into words, that's all right. Your designer will
be able to help you with this. That's what a designer does. And you
will find that just having gone through the process of reviewing your
business and other websites will help you communicate with your designer.
9.
THE WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS
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The website development process can be broken down into four distinct
phases:
a.
Contracting
b. Preliminary Design
c. Detailed Design
d. Search Engine Submission
Smaller jobs may combine some of the phases, and larger job
may add more, but one way or the other, all of these steps have
to happen.
9a.
Contracting (back
to the top of the page)
During the first phase of the development of your new website, you
will talk with your designer so that you both have a common understanding
of the goals of the site and the work required to complete the job.
This is also your opportunity to have all of your questions answered.
Your
designer will then present a proposal. Depending on the designer
and the size of the job, this may be a formal proposal or it may
just be a verbal quote.
If
you agree to the proposal, you will probably be asked to sign a
contract. The contract should define who is going to do the work
and what they are going to do. Costs and payments should be clearly
spelled out. When you return the signed contract, you will also
be asked to send the first payment (or the entire payment if it
is a small job.)
9b.
Preliminary Design (back
to the top of the page)
After you have signed a contract, the preliminary design of your
website will begin. Your designer will typically perform the following
steps during this time:
Register your domain name
Set up hosting
Develop a site map (table of contents) for your site
Design the page layout that will form the basis of all the pages
in your website
Create the navigation structure (menus)
Design preliminary artwork and graphics
When this work is finished, you will be asked to review and approve
it. Some designers actually do all of their development work online
so that you can watch the site develop.
If
you are not satisfied with the initial design or if you want changes
made, now is the time to say so - before too much work is done.
If you wait until later, your designer may have to change every
page in the site and you will be charged for the extra work.
Once
you are satisfied with the initial design, you will usually be expected
to send approval in writing and send a partial payment so that the
work can continue.
9c.
Detailed Design (back
to the top of the page)
Now your individual pages will be created and built into a website.
Before this effort can be completed, you will be required to send
in all of your submissions to the site. Your designer will do the
following:
Create the individual pages
Link all pages
Finalize all graphics
Incorporate special features
Upon completion of this phase, you will once again be asked to approve
the work. You will also be expected to send the final payment.
9d.
Search Engine Submission (back
to the top of the page)
The last step in the development of your site is search engine submission.
After both you and your designer are satisfied with the site, it
will be submitted to the search engines. If your contract includes
any follow up support, it will also occur during this phase.
10.
UNDERSTANDING WEBSITE COSTS (back
to the top of the page)
Most people starting out on the Internet have no idea what a professionally
designed website will cost. We offer packages ranging from $399/$599/$1099
and up, depending on the features you want. Websites vary in complexity
and you could pay anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars.
11.
WEBSITE COST DRIVERS (back
to the top of the page)
It is impossible to tell you exactly what your site will cost because
there are so many factors that drive the final cost of a website.
The
following items are the most common cost drivers in any website...
a. Registering
a domain name
b. Hosting your site
c. Designing your site
d. Maintaining your site
e. Paying search engine registration fees
a.
Choosing and Registering a Domain Name
Registering a domain name (www.yourname.com) is the easiest and
cheapest part of getting a website. You can register a domain name
for about $20 per year. The registration needs to be renewed every
year, or you can just register the name for several years. For most
businesses, the .com version of the domain is the only one you'll
need. If you can't get the .com domain name you want, either create
an alternative name or consider the .net, .org, .us (or other country
suffix), or .biz versions - but it's best to have the .com.
b.
Hosting Your Site (back
to the top of the page)
To get your website on the Internet, you have to rent space on a
computer that has high speed Internet access. This is called hosting.
Hosting prices typically run from $20 to $30 per month for full
service hosting. There may also be an initial set up fee. Some firms
require yearly payments in advance and others require monthly payments.
If you shop around, you can find cheaper hosting, but you may give
up important features.
Selection
of a host can be a tough decision. You have to carefully compare
costs and features, and if you aren't familiar with computers and
the Internet, it is hard to make informed decisions. One of the
advantages of hiring a design firm is that these decisions are taken
care of for you. Many designers provide hosting as part of their
services. Those designers who do not offer hosting usually have
a working relationship with someone who does.
d.
Designing Your Site (back
to the top of the page)
Designing your site is where the bulk of the expense comes in, and
it is impossible to define a generic cost. Prices are driven by:
- What you want and need in your site
- The designer's hourly rate
- The size of your site
- Software development (e.g., JavaScripts, CGI, etc.)
- Custom artwork
- Copywriting
Prices
for a four or five page site will vary from $600 to $800 for "package
deals" to thousands of dollars for a custom design. Some package
deals are a good value for the money because the designers will
be focused on developing a good marketing tool for your business.
Other designers will put your submissions into a pre-made format
and put it online, whether or not this design is right for you.
Fortunately, you can tell the difference between these two very
quickly by talking to them on the phone.
If
you want a custom designed website to display your products and
services with nice features like online forms and custom artwork,
then $1,500 to $4,500 is a reasonable price.
e.
Maintaining Your Site (back
to the top of the page)
Once your site is on the Internet, keeping it there can be fairly
cheap. To keep your site online, you have to pay your monthly hosting
fee and annual domain name renewal. You can keep a site on the Internet
for less than $30 per month. If you maintain your site yourself,
or if your website needs no updating, there are no site maintenance
charges. If you decide to have someone else maintain, update, and
track the performance of your site, you can expect to pay for an
hour or two per month at about $50-$100 per hour
12.
Paying Search Engine Registration Fees (back
to the top of the page)
Some search engines charge to list your site. Others charge just to
review them and do not guarantee to list them after the review. Still
others list your site and rank it by how much you pay.
It
is not realistic to define search engine fees here. Rates are constantly
changing and the search engine that is free today may charge tomorrow.
Furthermore, the relationships between search engines change frequently
as well (they form partnerships and share listings.) But to give you
an estimate, you should expect to pay about $500 in search engine
registration fees.
When
you talk to your designer, be sure that search engine fees are discussed.
There is little point in getting a beautiful site and then not listing
it with the most popular search engines.
13.
WEBSITE MECHANICS (back
to the top of the page)
The mechanics of your website are the technical features that make
it work and make it easy to use. Does the website load quickly, or
do your visitors have to sit and wait? Can your visitors find their
way around your site, or do they get lost trying to figure out your
menus? Can all your visitors see your site, or does it get scrambled
because they are using a different browser?
a.
Loading Time (back
to the top of the page)
Research has shown that if your pages take more than ten seconds
to load, you will lose a substantial portion of your visitors before
they even see your site. Internet users can be impatient, and there
are too many competing websites around to wait for slow web pages.
This
should be a major design driver for your site.
To
get your pages loaded quickly, keep the number of pictures and graphics
to a minimum. All images should be as small as practical and should
be compressed to reduce file size. If it is necessary to include
large pictures, place them on interior pages and toward the bottom
of the page so that your visitors can read text as the pages load.
b.
Navigation (back
to the top of the page)
Your site navigation scheme (menus) must be intuitive and easy to
follow. By the time your visitors get to the second page, they must
understand how your site is arranged and how to get around. Pages
must be clearly labeled in the main menu, and submenus must be very
obvious. If visitors get lost in your site, they are much more likely
to leave than they are to struggle with a confusing navigation scheme.
c.
Browser Compatibility (back
to the top of the page)
Your website must be compatible with all common browsers and with
all common computers. The Netscape browser and the Internet Explorer
browser both have unique features. They each recognize web pages
that the other browser cannot read. Websites also look different
on Personal Computers (PCs) than they do on Macintosh computers
(Macs). To be effective, your site must be designed to be viewable
with either browser on any home computer.
d.
Special Effects (back
to the top of the page)
The word on special effects - Don't! Special effects drive your
development cost up and they drive your visitors away. Your visitors
are looking for products, services, and information. They are not
looking for "cool" effects, commercials, or things that
slow page loading.
If
you believe that adding special features (animations, music, flashing
graphics, etc.) will add something to your site, put them on internal
pages, not the first page.
e.
Legibility (back
to the top of the page)
Finally, your site should be legible. Avoid small fonts and hard
to read fonts (scripts, italics). Be sure that the font color provides
high contrast with the page background so that it is easy to read.
Poorly designed sites with illegible black text on dark backgrounds
are all too common on the Internet. Don't let it happen on your
site.
14.
WEBSITE MARKETING (back
to the top of the page)
Getting the mechanics under control is only half the battle. It's
what happens after the site is displayed on your visitors' monitors
that determines how well your website meets its goals. This is the
point where your visitors quickly skim over the contents of the page
and decide whether your site will meet their needs or not. It is essential
that you capture and hold their attention immediately or you will
lose them forever.
This
is why your site must be designed with a clear set of goals and a
well-defined target audience. You have to know who your visitors are
and what they need. Keep in mind that your visitors have come to your
site looking for products, services, or information. Remember also
that every visitor is only one mouse click away from leaving. If you
can't convince them that you have what they want, they're gone. You
only have a few seconds to capture their interest.
15.
Effective Copywriting (back
to the top of the page)
Fortunately,
the techniques to do this are well known. They are written down in
every Marketing 101 textbook. The same methods that work in print,
on the radio, and on television also work on the Internet. It is just
a matter of knowing and applying them. A good website designer will
be able to help you with this by writing your copy or rewriting your
first draft.
The
basic guidelines are simple - start with well-written and useful content.
Give your readers the information they came for. Lay out your pages
so that they can be scanned quickly, using headlines, highlighting,
and short bulleted lists to emphasize key ideas.
Once
you have convinced your visitors that you have what they came for,
you have to deliver. The information that you give them should be
clear and concise. Paths to contacting you or to purchasing your products
should be obvious and obstacle free.
If
you don't know how to write captivating copy, select a designer who
offers copywriting services in addition to website design services.
16.
SEARCH ENGINES AND DIRECTORIES (back
to the top of the page)
When you type a search term into a search engine, it returns a listing
of hits for that term. The listing often contains thousands of entries.
Most people only look through the first few pages. If your website
shows up at the end of the listing, no one will find your site. The
goal is to make sure that your site gets listed in the first page
or so. Top ten ranking is excellent. Getting high ranking is what
search engine positioning is all about.
Good
search engine positioning is critical to your business' success on
the Internet. No matter how good you website is, no matter how well
it is designed, it is useless if no one ever sees it. You have to
work closely with your designer to optimize your website to get the
best search engine positioning.
17.
HOW SEARCH ENGINES WORK (back
to the top of the page)
Each
page of your website has a title, a description, a keyword list, and
content. The description and keyword list are hidden from the casual
user in the page code. When a site is submitted to a search engine,
the engine looks at the title, the description, the keyword list,
and the page contents to create a ranking for the page. The ranking
is based on keyword density (how often certain words are used), keyword
positioning (where the words appear) and keyword emphasis (how important
the keywords are in the text).
Every
search engine uses a slightly different method to evaluate pages.
Some look only at page content. Others look at the title and the page
content. Still others look at everything in the page and assign relative
weights to each word depending in its location and use. As a result,
it is extremely difficult to design a web page that gets top ranking
in every search engine. Techniques that will help you gain good ranking
in one search engine will lower your ranking with others.
And
there's more…
Search
engines are constantly changing the way they evaluate and rank web
pages, making it nearly impossible to achieve top ranking with all
search engines all the time. The real goal is to create a site that
will rank well with most search engines most of the time.
18.
GETTING GOOD SEARCH ENGINE AND DIRECTORY POSITIONING
(back to the top of the page)
How the search engines and directories rank your site has a real effect
on how many visitors you will get. If you site is ranked in the top
five, it will pull many more visitors than if it is ranked in the
next five. If it is ranked below 50, you will get little or no search
engine traffic.
Again,
the keys to getting high ranking are to target your customer market
carefully, define relevant keywords, and provide clear and useful
content for your users. This all goes back to the marketing aspect
of your website. Developing keyword-rich copy that effectively promotes
your organization is the secret to a successful website.
There
are also features in the layout of your site that can improve your
search engine ranking. Keywords, how they are emphasized, and where
they are located on your web pages, can make a tremendous difference
in your search engine positioning. Designing for search engine ranking
is one of the things a good designer will do for you.
19.
KEYWORD SELECTION (back
to the top of the page)
With the growth in the number of websites, getting high search engine
rankings with single keywords is very difficult. You are much better
off targeting keyword phrases. Keyword phrases are two or three word
phrases that your target market is likely to use to search for your
site. "Home Business" is better than "Business"
and "Home Business Software" is better still.
The
more targeted your keyword phrases are, the less competition you will
face in search engines, the higher your ranking is likely to be, and
the more effective your site will be in attracting its target market.
Careful keyword selection is one of the secrets to a great website.
Your site designer will work with you to select keyword phrases and
will help you work these into your site effectively.
20.
SUBMITTING TO SEARCH ENGINES
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Once your site is online, the first thing to do is to submit your
site to the search engines. Some will list your site for free. Others
charge an annual fee.
Most
free search engines have a "Submit New Site" link. Once
you submit your site, they will index your site. This process can
take anywhere from 24 hours to several weeks.
Some
search engines charge to list websites and charge an annual fee to
remain listed.
Other
search engines don't have "Submit New Site" links anywhere
on their site. This is because they search databases provided by other
search engines. The relationship between search engines and database
owners is complex and is constantly changing. Your designer should
be aware of the best (and worst) places to submit your website so
that you can get the best value for your money. You should expect
to pay an annual renewal fee to keep your site listed in the search
engine's database.
Be
aware that paying to be listed by a search engine does not guarantee
your website good ranking. The site will still be evaluated on its
own merit.
21.
PROMOTING YOUR WEBSITE (back
to the top of the page)
Once you have a website, how do you get people to visit?
Registering
with search engines is a good start, but it isn't enough. To get the
best return on your investment, you should do everything you can to
attract visitors to you new site.
The
following methods are all good ways to encourage people to visit your
site. Depending on your business and your implementation, some will
be very effective; others will not work at all. The secret is to try
them. And if one method doesn't work, it doesn't mean that you should
give up on it. You may just need to refine your implementation.
Talk
to your designer about promotion before the design starts to see if
any of the following promotional tools need to be included in the
design of your site.
22.
REGISTER WITH SEARCH ENGINES AND DIRECTORIES
(back to the top of the page)
Your website is displayed on the Internet and many of your visitors
will come from online searches. The best way to promote your website
is to register it with the major search engines and directories.
23.
EXCHANGE LINKS
(back to the top of the page)
Another good way to promote your site is to exchange links with other
sites that complement your business. Text links or simple graphic
links on related sites can bring you lots of well-targeted visitors.
Select your link exchange partners carefully, choosing those that
complement your business and attract your target market. You should
also consider listing with trade and professional associations.
Having
links on other sites has a side benefit. Some search engines use link
popularity (how many sites link to your site) as a factor in determining
ranking.
24.
SEND OPT-IN EMAIL
(back to the top of the page)
When you visit a website that asks if you would like to receive more
information about their organization, services and similar products,
and you agree, you have "opted-in." You have said that you
are interested in this type of information and you would like to receive
more. Your name and any information you provided (email, questionnaire
results, etc.) will be distributed to other suppliers of similar information.
Soon you will begin to get email from similar businesses with similar
products. That's OK though, because you said it was acceptable.
You
can buy opt-in email lists or subscribe to opt-in email services that
will send your advertising to interested customers. This is a legitimate
means of advertising and can be very effective. But you should be
careful where you get your opt-in email lists. Don't respond to unsolicited
email offering opt-in lists. If they are sending unsolicited email
to you, they are sending it to others.
25.
START A NEWSLETTER
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A very effective means of gathering and retaining clients is to create
a newsletter. Every few weeks you can send out a newsletter with the
latest information on technology, services, and information that relate
to your business. You can also include information on your products,
sales, etc. Since this is a requested subscription, it gives you a
market of people interested in what you have to offer.
You
can manage a small newsletter yourself or use a newsletter service
to send your newsletter. The real key to a successful newsletter is
to create useful and interesting content for your clients. Information
on products and sales alone is not sufficient to maintain your subscriber
base.
26.
INCLUDE SIGNATURE LINKS IN EMAIL
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Every email that you send should have your email address, your website
address, and a business line in the signature. Almost all email tools
will let you set up a signature file that will automatically append
you signature to every email that you send. (Make sure your software
actually includes the signature at the end of the e-mail; some programs
treat them as attachments, which are an unwelcome nuisance and will
not be seen.)
27.
PARTICIPATE IN ONLINE DISCUSSION GROUPS
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There are many online discussion groups and newsgroups. Find some
that relate to your business and join. Sit back and watch for a while
to get a feel for how they operate, then start to contribute. Don't
use your contribution to sell your products and services or you will
be kicked out. Instead, ask questions when you are new, answer questions
and give advice after you have been there a while. You will find that
other members will begin to visit your site and will contact you offline.
Just be sure to include your email address and your website address
as part of your signature in every submission.
28.
INCLUDE YOUR WEBSITE ADDRESS ON YOUR STATIONARY
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Put your website and email addresses everywhere you put your phone
number. This includes company stationary, business cards, invoices,
envelopes, advertisements, mailing labels, etc.
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