Ten Ton Online

From zero to profitable online business in just 7 simple steps! Download your FREE Online Business Jumpstart guide: https://www.tentononline.com/jump "Escape the grind, build a fulfilling online business, and launch a better tomorrow!" -------------------------------------------------- Show Notes: - Online business guide (free download!): 7 Steps To Profits! https://www.tentononline.com/7-steps-to-profits/ - Domain registration: https://10tn.tips/domain - Solid web hosting (with discount!): https://10tn.tips/hosting - Business-grade email: https://10tn.tips/email - Best email marketing service: https://10tn.tips/email-marketing - Best website builder: https://10tn.tips/web-builder - Top web and marketing tools and services: https://10tn.tips/tools Support my work (thanks!): - https://10tn.tips/boost -------------------------------------------------- Transcription: what web hosting features do i need Have you ever researched web hosting options and features? Often times you see things like "Unlimited Subdomains," "SHH Access," "SEO Credits," and all sorts of other technical jargon and mumbo jumbo. I really wonder if all this stuff is meant to confuse us and scramble our brains...just like when you go shopping for a new car or start researching a new cellphone plan. What a mess of jargon and junk! Really, as a website and online business owner, there are just three simple things you need most from your web hosting company: And they are, solid reliability and security; fast, helpful customer service; and fair pricing. That's really it. And what's great is, the hosting recommendations I make to my students offer these in spades. Now there are some techie-sounding web hosting add-ons that can be useful for you and your website. For instance, when you're researching hosting you might see a feature called "Unlimited MySQL Databases" (or something similar). Sounds pretty techie, doesn't it? Well here's what this means: If you're using a web platform like WordPress -- which I hope you are! WordPress is amazing -- then it relies on this thing called a MySQL Database. If a host says that their plans come with "Unlimited MySQL Databases" then that means that you can run multiple WordPress installations on your account. So what does this really mean? It means that you can run several websites side-by-side. Maybe you have a few online businesses that you want to run...well, you can run them all from a single hosting plan -- there's no need to run each website on a separate hosting account. This alone will save you tons of money! Next, you might see something like, "Free Website Transfer," or "Free Website Migration." What this means is, the hosting company will move your website from your existing host to them at no cost. And while you can move your website yourself if you like, it's always nice to have the professionals do it for you. It's a nice extra to have. Here's another web hosting add-on that's important to have: You may see something like "Free SSL," or "SSL Add-On Included." Without getting into the technical stuff, SSL creates a security certificate for your website. You'll know if a website is secure if you see the tiny padlock icon in your web browser's address bar. This means that any information sent between the web browser and the website is encrypted...and this is critical for business websites -- especially those that are accepting payments online. -------------------------------------------------- TONS more at https://www.tentononline.com/blog

From zero to profitable online business in just 7 simple steps! Download your FREE Online Business Jumpstart guide: https://www.tentononline.com/jump "Escape the grind, build a fulfilling online business, and launch a better tomorrow!" -------------------------------------------------- Show Notes: - Online business guide (free download!): 7 Steps To Profits! https://www.tentononline.com/7-steps-to-profits/ - Domain registration: https://10tn.tips/domain - Solid web hosting (with discount!): https://10tn.tips/hosting - Business-grade email: https://10tn.tips/email - Best email marketing service: https://10tn.tips/email-marketing - Best website builder: https://10tn.tips/web-builder - Top web and marketing tools and services: https://10tn.tips/tools Support my work (thanks!): - https://10tn.tips/boost -------------------------------------------------- Transcription: technical issues in e-commerce Interestingly, a lot of posts and articles I've come across that discusses the online transaction process and the various components that are involved, like payment gateways, merchant accounts, and so on tends to be...let's say overly dramatic. I've read articles where they'll say things like (and these are actual quotes), "You have to ensure that your customer's sensitive personal information is secure," or "There are plenty of people online who'll do whatever it takes to steal your customer's information," and "You’ll be handling customer's highly confidential information." What I want to make clear is this: When building an online business, we HAVE to accept online payments, right? Without being able to accept payments online, then by definition, we don't have an online business! And the only way to accept payments online is via a payment processor like PayPal or Authorize.net. Now it's important to understand that these and other payment processors are "enterprise-grade" services. So by design they're incredibly secure and robust (not to mention, governed by federal law). So using a reputable payment processor along with an SSL certificate on your website means OF COURSE customer info is gonna be secure! The above quotes I pulled from those aforementioned articles are frankly just overly dramatic fear mongering. They're not helpful to you or others who want to learn about online business and how to set all this up for themselves. These kinds of articles and post are making things sound as if the entire thing is massively complex...that you as the vendor will actually be handing sensitive customer information. But, you won't be personally handling any sensitive payment information or data. As soon as your customer begins the checkout process on your website or clicks "Buy Now," everything from that point forward is in the hands of your payment processor, not you. So as the business owner you won't even see your customer's transaction details. That information is kept secure and private from you and from everyone else thanks to your payment processor and your site's SSL certificate. So it's not like you have to build a secure online payment system from scratch all by yourself. All the various pieces -- shopping cart software, payment processors, merchant accounts, and so on -- are all readily available from very reputable, enterprise-level companies who've been around for a long, long time. And best of all, even if you're sitting there thinking that all this stuff seems complex and overwhelming to set up...really, it's all very easy and straightforward. -------------------------------------------------- TONS more at https://www.tentononline.com/blog

From zero to profitable online business in just 7 simple steps! Download your FREE Online Business Jumpstart guide: https://www.tentononline.com/jump "Escape the grind, build a fulfilling online business, and launch a better tomorrow!" -------------------------------------------------- Show Notes: - Online business guide (free download!): 7 Steps To Profits! https://www.tentononline.com/7-steps-to-profits/ - Domain registration: https://10tn.tips/domain - Solid web hosting (with discount!): https://10tn.tips/hosting - Business-grade email: https://10tn.tips/email - Best email marketing service: https://10tn.tips/email-marketing - Best website builder: https://10tn.tips/web-builder - Top web and marketing tools and services: https://10tn.tips/tools Support my work (thanks!): - https://10tn.tips/boost -------------------------------------------------- Transcription: technical issues in e-commerce Interestingly, a lot of posts and articles I've come across that discusses the online transaction process and the various components that are involved, like payment gateways, merchant accounts, and so on tends to be...let's say overly dramatic. I've read articles where they'll say things like (and these are actual quotes), "You have to ensure that your customer's sensitive personal information is secure," or "There are plenty of people online who'll do whatever it takes to steal your customer's information," and "You’ll be handling customer's highly confidential information." What I want to make clear is this: When building an online business, we HAVE to accept online payments, right? Without being able to accept payments online, then by definition, we don't have an online business! And the only way to accept payments online is via a payment processor like PayPal or Authorize.net. Now it's important to understand that these and other payment processors are "enterprise-grade" services. So by design they're incredibly secure and robust (not to mention, governed by federal law). So using a reputable payment processor along with an SSL certificate on your website means OF COURSE customer info is gonna be secure! The above quotes I pulled from those aforementioned articles are frankly just overly dramatic fear mongering. They're not helpful to you or others who want to learn about online business and how to set all this up for themselves. These kinds of articles and post are making things sound as if the entire thing is massively complex...that you as the vendor will actually be handing sensitive customer information. But, you won't be personally handling any sensitive payment information or data. As soon as your customer begins the checkout process on your website or clicks "Buy Now," everything from that point forward is in the hands of your payment processor, not you. So as the business owner you won't even see your customer's transaction details. That information is kept secure and private from you and from everyone else thanks to your payment processor and your site's SSL certificate. So it's not like you have to build a secure online payment system from scratch all by yourself. All the various pieces -- shopping cart software, payment processors, merchant accounts, and so on -- are all readily available from very reputable, enterprise-level companies who've been around for a long, long time. And best of all, even if you're sitting there thinking that all this stuff seems complex and overwhelming to set up...really, it's all very easy and straightforward. -------------------------------------------------- TONS more at https://www.tentononline.com/blog

From zero to profitable online business in just 7 simple steps! Download your FREE Online Business Jumpstart guide: https://www.tentononline.com/jump "Escape the grind, build a fulfilling online business, and launch a better tomorrow!" -------------------------------------------------- Show Notes: - Online business guide (free download!): 7 Steps To Profits! https://www.tentononline.com/7-steps-to-profits/ - Domain registration: https://10tn.tips/domain - Solid web hosting (with discount!): https://10tn.tips/hosting - Business-grade email: https://10tn.tips/email - Best email marketing service: https://10tn.tips/email-marketing - Best website builder: https://10tn.tips/web-builder - Top web and marketing tools and services: https://10tn.tips/tools Support my work (thanks!): - https://10tn.tips/boost -------------------------------------------------- Transcription: importance of subject line in email Don't forget the critical importance of the subject line in your email marketing. Really, your subject line is what people see when your email lands in their inbox. So your subject lines have to entice, invoke curiosity, maybe provoke a little bit, and get your subscribers to click and open your email. In fact, that's the sole purpose of your email subject line -- it's job is to get your subscribers to open your emails. So from one point of view, your subject lines act just like a headline does for an article, blog post, video, or ad. It has to grab people's attention, maybe make a promise or tease them a little with some curiosity. No matter how you do it, your subject line acts like a hook that grabs your subscriber's attention. Your subject line largely determines if your subscriber will bother reading your email or not. Lately, I've been experimenting with very short subject lines, just to see if it makes a difference in my open rates. So I'm trying out subject lines like, "Top Secret," "Bad idea," and "Dusty Myths" Alternatively, you might want to try longer subject lines to see if there's a difference in the results you get. Maybe something like, "I Tested 3 Hosting Services. Here's What I Found" or "5 Simple Steps To Faster [result]" or "Get [result] In Just 7 Days Or Less" Ultimately, you'll have to experiment and see for yourself...because every market, sub-market, and special interest group responds differently. Keep an eye on those open rates as you do this, and then you can tailor your future campaigns for best results. -------------------------------------------------- TONS more at https://www.tentononline.com/blog

From zero to profitable online business in just 7 simple steps! Download your FREE Online Business Jumpstart guide: https://www.tentononline.com/jump "Escape the grind, build a fulfilling online business, and launch a better tomorrow!" -------------------------------------------------- Show Notes: - Online business guide (free download!): 7 Steps To Profits! https://www.tentononline.com/7-steps-to-profits/ - Domain registration: https://10tn.tips/domain - Solid web hosting (with discount!): https://10tn.tips/hosting - Business-grade email: https://10tn.tips/email - Best email marketing service: https://10tn.tips/email-marketing - Best website builder: https://10tn.tips/web-builder - Top web and marketing tools and services: https://10tn.tips/tools Support my work (thanks!): - https://10tn.tips/boost -------------------------------------------------- Transcription: importance of subject line in email Don't forget the critical importance of the subject line in your email marketing. Really, your subject line is what people see when your email lands in their inbox. So your subject lines have to entice, invoke curiosity, maybe provoke a little bit, and get your subscribers to click and open your email. In fact, that's the sole purpose of your email subject line -- it's job is to get your subscribers to open your emails. So from one point of view, your subject lines act just like a headline does for an article, blog post, video, or ad. It has to grab people's attention, maybe make a promise or tease them a little with some curiosity. No matter how you do it, your subject line acts like a hook that grabs your subscriber's attention. Your subject line largely determines if your subscriber will bother reading your email or not. Lately, I've been experimenting with very short subject lines, just to see if it makes a difference in my open rates. So I'm trying out subject lines like, "Top Secret," "Bad idea," and "Dusty Myths" Alternatively, you might want to try longer subject lines to see if there's a difference in the results you get. Maybe something like, "I Tested 3 Hosting Services. Here's What I Found" or "5 Simple Steps To Faster [result]" or "Get [result] In Just 7 Days Or Less" Ultimately, you'll have to experiment and see for yourself...because every market, sub-market, and special interest group responds differently. Keep an eye on those open rates as you do this, and then you can tailor your future campaigns for best results. -------------------------------------------------- TONS more at https://www.tentononline.com/blog

From zero to profitable online business in just 7 simple steps! Download your FREE Online Business Jumpstart guide: https://www.tentononline.com/jump "Escape the grind, build a fulfilling online business, and launch a better tomorrow!" -------------------------------------------------- Show Notes: - Online business guide (free download!): 7 Steps To Profits! https://www.tentononline.com/7-steps-to-profits/ - Domain registration: https://10tn.tips/domain - Solid web hosting (with discount!): https://10tn.tips/hosting - Business-grade email: https://10tn.tips/email - Best email marketing service: https://10tn.tips/email-marketing - Best website builder: https://10tn.tips/web-builder - Top web and marketing tools and services: https://10tn.tips/tools Support my work (thanks!): - https://10tn.tips/boost -------------------------------------------------- Transcription: how do you write a good headline In your marketing, sales messages, and even the headlines you use for your articles and posts and your email subject lines, there's a powerful technique you can use to attract more attention. And that is to use specificity. What this means is to use very specific numbers, projections, or results. Here's an example: What sounds better -- "How To Increase Your Sales," or "Increase Your Sales 27%"? The second one is much more powerful, right? Why? Because it isn't vague or broad or general. It's very specific -- 27%. Not 20%. Not 30%...27%. And then maybe in your article, email, or messaging, you cite a study or report to back this number. So be super-specific. This subject line, "Increase Your Email List With This Simple Method" is okay and uses a bit of curiosity...But "Use Video To Magnetically Attract 2,239 New Subscribers In Just 7 Days" is way, way more specific. Readers know EXACTLY what they're going to get. It's intriguing. It offers something extremely specific and tangible within a specified amount of time. Really, it promises a very specific result...and that's exactly what your audience is looking for. Now, think about how you can use specificity in your marketing and sales material. Again, you can use numbers or timeframes -- as in, get a result within a specific period of time -- you can use results that you've gotten for your existing customers, recognizable and credible names, and so on. Most importantly -- and I hope this goes without saying -- it all has to be real, true, and genuine. No fluff or scammy stuff here. This means that within the body of your messaging, you'll have to back up the claim made in the headline or subject line. "How The New York Times Increased Their Subscriber Base Using Our Top 3 Methods"..."A Simple 5-Step Process For Doubling Your Website Traffic"..."Lose 10 Pounds In Two Weeks With These 3 Simple Tricks" Again though, all of this HAS to be true. Did you ACTUALLY help The New York Times? Do you ACTUALLY have a 5-step process for doubling website traffic? Do you have a system to help people loose weight fast? Using specificity gives the reader clarity, directness, and as mentioned earlier, it makes them a big, irresistible promise. -------------------------------------------------- TONS more at https://www.tentononline.com/blog

From zero to profitable online business in just 7 simple steps! Download your FREE Online Business Jumpstart guide: https://www.tentononline.com/jump "Escape the grind, build a fulfilling online business, and launch a better tomorrow!" -------------------------------------------------- Show Notes: - Online business guide (free download!): 7 Steps To Profits! https://www.tentononline.com/7-steps-to-profits/ - Domain registration: https://10tn.tips/domain - Solid web hosting (with discount!): https://10tn.tips/hosting - Business-grade email: https://10tn.tips/email - Best email marketing service: https://10tn.tips/email-marketing - Best website builder: https://10tn.tips/web-builder - Top web and marketing tools and services: https://10tn.tips/tools Support my work (thanks!): - https://10tn.tips/boost -------------------------------------------------- Transcription: how do you write a good headline In your marketing, sales messages, and even the headlines you use for your articles and posts and your email subject lines, there's a powerful technique you can use to attract more attention. And that is to use specificity. What this means is to use very specific numbers, projections, or results. Here's an example: What sounds better -- "How To Increase Your Sales," or "Increase Your Sales 27%"? The second one is much more powerful, right? Why? Because it isn't vague or broad or general. It's very specific -- 27%. Not 20%. Not 30%...27%. And then maybe in your article, email, or messaging, you cite a study or report to back this number. So be super-specific. This subject line, "Increase Your Email List With This Simple Method" is okay and uses a bit of curiosity...But "Use Video To Magnetically Attract 2,239 New Subscribers In Just 7 Days" is way, way more specific. Readers know EXACTLY what they're going to get. It's intriguing. It offers something extremely specific and tangible within a specified amount of time. Really, it promises a very specific result...and that's exactly what your audience is looking for. Now, think about how you can use specificity in your marketing and sales material. Again, you can use numbers or timeframes -- as in, get a result within a specific period of time -- you can use results that you've gotten for your existing customers, recognizable and credible names, and so on. Most importantly -- and I hope this goes without saying -- it all has to be real, true, and genuine. No fluff or scammy stuff here. This means that within the body of your messaging, you'll have to back up the claim made in the headline or subject line. "How The New York Times Increased Their Subscriber Base Using Our Top 3 Methods"..."A Simple 5-Step Process For Doubling Your Website Traffic"..."Lose 10 Pounds In Two Weeks With These 3 Simple Tricks" Again though, all of this HAS to be true. Did you ACTUALLY help The New York Times? Do you ACTUALLY have a 5-step process for doubling website traffic? Do you have a system to help people loose weight fast? Using specificity gives the reader clarity, directness, and as mentioned earlier, it makes them a big, irresistible promise. -------------------------------------------------- TONS more at https://www.tentononline.com/blog

From zero to profitable online business in just 7 simple steps! Download your FREE Online Business Jumpstart guide: https://www.tentononline.com/jump "Escape the grind, build a fulfilling online business, and launch a better tomorrow!" -------------------------------------------------- Show Notes: - Online business guide (free download!): 7 Steps To Profits! https://www.tentononline.com/7-steps-to-profits/ - Domain registration: https://10tn.tips/domain - Solid web hosting (with discount!): https://10tn.tips/hosting - Business-grade email: https://10tn.tips/email - Best email marketing service: https://10tn.tips/email-marketing - Best website builder: https://10tn.tips/web-builder - Top web and marketing tools and services: https://10tn.tips/tools Support my work (thanks!): - https://10tn.tips/boost -------------------------------------------------- Transcription: problems with social media for business Social media is not the place to build an audience long term for your online business. There are a truckload of reasons for this, but let's start with this one: Imagine if, like many, many other people, you'd worked for years and years to build a strong, loyal audience on MySpace. Well...where's your audience now? They've moved on. Sure your "follower" count or "subscriber" count might be a big, juicy number... ...but that number only tells us the total number of people have ever clicked "follow" in the entire history of your social media account. In other words, it doesn't mean much today. The point here is that social media platforms come and go. They're trendy and eventually, once the hype's all over, they start falling out of favour. And so this isn't a good environment to build a long term audience for your online business...no matter what the "online gurus" and experts say. And these days, social media giants like Facebook and Twitter are getting themselves in trouble with governments. That's not good for your business either! Another big problem with relying solely on social media for your online business is that you don't own your list of followers. I've been in this game long enough to remember when these big platforms first came along... ...and one of the first things I realized was, there's no way to download or make a copy of your followers or subscribers. There isn't even a way to move subscribers from one account to another on the same social media platform. In business terms, what this means is that you don't own your list...some tech giant does. You can't download or backup a copy of your list. And worse, the tech giant controls your access to the audience you've worked so hard to build. In other words, they decide what gets seen and what doesn't. In fact, because of the algorithms that control social platforms, most of your followers won't see your posts and content. As if things couldn't get worse...don't forget that the tech giants that own these platforms can change their rules and the terms of service that govern your use of the platform -- and of course, apply them retroactively. All of this means that social media, while potentially useful in some ways, is simply too unstable an environment to rely on for your online business. The audience you're building around the work you do and the valuable products and services you offer is simply too important. Your list of followers is absolutely critical to the survival of your business. So what's the alternative? If social is just too unstable, too trendy and short term, and relinquishes too much control to tech giants...what are us online business owners to do? Well, there's another approach to online marketing that I'm a huge advocate for. it's cheap, it's incredibly reliable, everyone understands it, it's been around for almost 30 years, and it gives you total ownership and control over your list of followers...and that is, Email! it isn't trendy, it isn't sexy, it isn't what all the fake gurus are hyping. But you know what? It freakin' works! A single subscriber to your email list is worth many, many times more than someone who follows you on social media. Think about it: Someone who subscribes to your email list is saying, "I really like what you do and I think it can help me. Send me more!" That's insanely powerful! Further, unlike social, when you send out an email, your subscribers will ACTUALLY see your message! What a concept! -------------------------------------------------- TONS more at https://www.tentononline.com/blog

From zero to profitable online business in just 7 simple steps! Download your FREE Online Business Jumpstart guide: https://www.tentononline.com/jump "Escape the grind, build a fulfilling online business, and launch a better tomorrow!" -------------------------------------------------- Show Notes: - Online business guide (free download!): 7 Steps To Profits! https://www.tentononline.com/7-steps-to-profits/ - Domain registration: https://10tn.tips/domain - Solid web hosting (with discount!): https://10tn.tips/hosting - Business-grade email: https://10tn.tips/email - Best email marketing service: https://10tn.tips/email-marketing - Best website builder: https://10tn.tips/web-builder - Top web and marketing tools and services: https://10tn.tips/tools Support my work (thanks!): - https://10tn.tips/boost -------------------------------------------------- Transcription: problems with social media for business Social media is not the place to build an audience long term for your online business. There are a truckload of reasons for this, but let's start with this one: Imagine if, like many, many other people, you'd worked for years and years to build a strong, loyal audience on MySpace. Well...where's your audience now? They've moved on. Sure your "follower" count or "subscriber" count might be a big, juicy number... ...but that number only tells us the total number of people have ever clicked "follow" in the entire history of your social media account. In other words, it doesn't mean much today. The point here is that social media platforms come and go. They're trendy and eventually, once the hype's all over, they start falling out of favour. And so this isn't a good environment to build a long term audience for your online business...no matter what the "online gurus" and experts say. And these days, social media giants like Facebook and Twitter are getting themselves in trouble with governments. That's not good for your business either! Another big problem with relying solely on social media for your online business is that you don't own your list of followers. I've been in this game long enough to remember when these big platforms first came along... ...and one of the first things I realized was, there's no way to download or make a copy of your followers or subscribers. There isn't even a way to move subscribers from one account to another on the same social media platform. In business terms, what this means is that you don't own your list...some tech giant does. You can't download or backup a copy of your list. And worse, the tech giant controls your access to the audience you've worked so hard to build. In other words, they decide what gets seen and what doesn't. In fact, because of the algorithms that control social platforms, most of your followers won't see your posts and content. As if things couldn't get worse...don't forget that the tech giants that own these platforms can change their rules and the terms of service that govern your use of the platform -- and of course, apply them retroactively. All of this means that social media, while potentially useful in some ways, is simply too unstable an environment to rely on for your online business. The audience you're building around the work you do and the valuable products and services you offer is simply too important. Your list of followers is absolutely critical to the survival of your business. So what's the alternative? If social is just too unstable, too trendy and short term, and relinquishes too much control to tech giants...what are us online business owners to do? Well, there's another approach to online marketing that I'm a huge advocate for. it's cheap, it's incredibly reliable, everyone understands it, it's been around for almost 30 years, and it gives you total ownership and control over your list of followers...and that is, Email! it isn't trendy, it isn't sexy, it isn't what all the fake gurus are hyping. But you know what? It freakin' works! A single subscriber to your email list is worth many, many times more than someone who follows you on social media. Think about it: Someone who subscribes to your email list is saying, "I really like what you do and I think it can help me. Send me more!" That's insanely powerful! Further, unlike social, when you send out an email, your subscribers will ACTUALLY see your message! What a concept! -------------------------------------------------- TONS more at https://www.tentononline.com/blog

From zero to profitable online business in just 7 simple steps! Download your FREE Online Business Jumpstart guide: https://www.tentononline.com/jump "Escape the grind, build a fulfilling online business, and launch a better tomorrow!" -------------------------------------------------- Show Notes: - Online business guide (free download!): 7 Steps To Profits! https://www.tentononline.com/7-steps-to-profits/ - Domain registration: https://10tn.tips/domain - Solid web hosting (with discount!): https://10tn.tips/hosting - Business-grade email: https://10tn.tips/email - Best email marketing service: https://10tn.tips/email-marketing - Best website builder: https://10tn.tips/web-builder - Top web and marketing tools and services: https://10tn.tips/tools Support my work (thanks!): - https://10tn.tips/boost -------------------------------------------------- Transcription: what is google search console used for Google Search Console (formerly Google Webmaster Tools) is an invaluable (and free!) tool for website owners. With it's new interface (released in 2018), you can track the exact keywords visitors are using when they find you. Seeing the exact keywords people are using to find you is HUGE! Google Search Console also catches any problems with your site, making fixes easy to resolve. You can also submit pages to be crawled with Google Search Console to ensure they get ranked. This "mini course" will tour you through these and many other great features in Google Search Console! Specifically, Google Search Console allows you to do a number of things. For instance, with Google Search Console, you can confirm that Google has found your website and web pages online. When you sign up for Google Search Console, you'll be asked to confirm ownership of your site. This tells Google who you are. They now know about your site, that your site exists, and they know where to find your web pages and content. This also allows you to submit new or updated content for crawling and indexing, which is critical. Here's something else: Probably the most commonly used function of Google Search Console is using it to find what keyword phrases your pages are ranking for. Google Analytics can tell you what pages are most popular on your site, but Google Search Console tells you the exact keyword phrases your visitors used to find you, and what pages you landed on. This provides valuable insight into your content...and what content you may choose to target in the future. Next, Google Search Console provides data about internal and external linking on your site. So, you can not only see what pages link to one another within your site, but you can also easily see and track which websites are linking back to you. Here's another big, powerful feature: Google Search Console will report any problems Google's crawlers encountered when trying to index your website's content. This is huge as it allows you to correct the problems that might come up on your site so that Google can properly crawl, index, and rank your content. Lastly, You can add a sitemap to Google Search Console. A sitemap is a list of all the pages on your website. Submitting your sitemap to Google Search Console will allow Google crawlers to more quickly find your new content or any pages that you've updated. Every few days or so, crawlers will return to your site to see if anything's new or changed...but only if you submit your sitemap to Google Search Console. -------------------------------------------------- TONS more at https://www.tentononline.com/blog

From zero to profitable online business in just 7 simple steps! Download your FREE Online Business Jumpstart guide: https://www.tentononline.com/jump "Escape the grind, build a fulfilling online business, and launch a better tomorrow!" -------------------------------------------------- Show Notes: - Online business guide (free download!): 7 Steps To Profits! https://www.tentononline.com/7-steps-to-profits/ - Domain registration: https://10tn.tips/domain - Solid web hosting (with discount!): https://10tn.tips/hosting - Business-grade email: https://10tn.tips/email - Best email marketing service: https://10tn.tips/email-marketing - Best website builder: https://10tn.tips/web-builder - Top web and marketing tools and services: https://10tn.tips/tools Support my work (thanks!): - https://10tn.tips/boost -------------------------------------------------- Transcription: what is google search console used for Google Search Console (formerly Google Webmaster Tools) is an invaluable (and free!) tool for website owners. With it's new interface (released in 2018), you can track the exact keywords visitors are using when they find you. Seeing the exact keywords people are using to find you is HUGE! Google Search Console also catches any problems with your site, making fixes easy to resolve. You can also submit pages to be crawled with Google Search Console to ensure they get ranked. This "mini course" will tour you through these and many other great features in Google Search Console! Specifically, Google Search Console allows you to do a number of things. For instance, with Google Search Console, you can confirm that Google has found your website and web pages online. When you sign up for Google Search Console, you'll be asked to confirm ownership of your site. This tells Google who you are. They now know about your site, that your site exists, and they know where to find your web pages and content. This also allows you to submit new or updated content for crawling and indexing, which is critical. Here's something else: Probably the most commonly used function of Google Search Console is using it to find what keyword phrases your pages are ranking for. Google Analytics can tell you what pages are most popular on your site, but Google Search Console tells you the exact keyword phrases your visitors used to find you, and what pages you landed on. This provides valuable insight into your content...and what content you may choose to target in the future. Next, Google Search Console provides data about internal and external linking on your site. So, you can not only see what pages link to one another within your site, but you can also easily see and track which websites are linking back to you. Here's another big, powerful feature: Google Search Console will report any problems Google's crawlers encountered when trying to index your website's content. This is huge as it allows you to correct the problems that might come up on your site so that Google can properly crawl, index, and rank your content. Lastly, You can add a sitemap to Google Search Console. A sitemap is a list of all the pages on your website. Submitting your sitemap to Google Search Console will allow Google crawlers to more quickly find your new content or any pages that you've updated. Every few days or so, crawlers will return to your site to see if anything's new or changed...but only if you submit your sitemap to Google Search Console. -------------------------------------------------- TONS more at https://www.tentononline.com/blog

From zero to profitable online business in just 7 simple steps! Download your FREE Online Business Jumpstart guide: https://www.tentononline.com/jump "Escape the grind, build a fulfilling online business, and launch a better tomorrow!" -------------------------------------------------- Show Notes: - Online business guide (free download!): 7 Steps To Profits! https://www.tentononline.com/7-steps-to-profits/ - Domain registration: https://10tn.tips/domain - Solid web hosting (with discount!): https://10tn.tips/hosting - Business-grade email: https://10tn.tips/email - Best email marketing service: https://10tn.tips/email-marketing - Best website builder: https://10tn.tips/web-builder - Top web and marketing tools and services: https://10tn.tips/tools Support my work (thanks!): - https://10tn.tips/boost -------------------------------------------------- Transcription: what is google analytics used for If you aren't sure what Google Analytics is, or if you should use it, or how it can help you, then here's the gist: Google Analytics is a free service from Google that you can connect your website to, to view and track your website traffic. With Google Analytics, you can see where your visitors are coming from, what pages on your website they're landing on and navigating through, and much more. You can see what pages are most popular on your website, view visitor information for specific web pages, and even see what web browsers, devices, and even what countries your website visitors are from...plus of course a whole heck of a lot more. Now, while Google Analytics provides website owners and online business owners with tons and tons of valuable and insightful information about what's happening on our website and how visitors are behaving on our website...it can be overwhelming too. The Google Analytics interface can feel complex and tricky to navigate. This is why I love breaking it all down and showing website and online business owners just like you exactly how it works -- what parts of Google Analytics are most important...and what areas that you can safely ignore. Google Analytics is a powerful tool for every website owner, so I highly recommend that you get it set up for your online business. -------------------------------------------------- TONS more at https://www.tentononline.com/blog

From zero to profitable online business in just 7 simple steps! Download your FREE Online Business Jumpstart guide: https://www.tentononline.com/jump "Escape the grind, build a fulfilling online business, and launch a better tomorrow!" -------------------------------------------------- Show Notes: - Online business guide (free download!): 7 Steps To Profits! https://www.tentononline.com/7-steps-to-profits/ - Domain registration: https://10tn.tips/domain - Solid web hosting (with discount!): https://10tn.tips/hosting - Business-grade email: https://10tn.tips/email - Best email marketing service: https://10tn.tips/email-marketing - Best website builder: https://10tn.tips/web-builder - Top web and marketing tools and services: https://10tn.tips/tools Support my work (thanks!): - https://10tn.tips/boost -------------------------------------------------- Transcription: what is google analytics used for If you aren't sure what Google Analytics is, or if you should use it, or how it can help you, then here's the gist: Google Analytics is a free service from Google that you can connect your website to, to view and track your website traffic. With Google Analytics, you can see where your visitors are coming from, what pages on your website they're landing on and navigating through, and much more. You can see what pages are most popular on your website, view visitor information for specific web pages, and even see what web browsers, devices, and even what countries your website visitors are from...plus of course a whole heck of a lot more. Now, while Google Analytics provides website owners and online business owners with tons and tons of valuable and insightful information about what's happening on our website and how visitors are behaving on our website...it can be overwhelming too. The Google Analytics interface can feel complex and tricky to navigate. This is why I love breaking it all down and showing website and online business owners just like you exactly how it works -- what parts of Google Analytics are most important...and what areas that you can safely ignore. Google Analytics is a powerful tool for every website owner, so I highly recommend that you get it set up for your online business. -------------------------------------------------- TONS more at https://www.tentononline.com/blog

From zero to profitable online business in just 7 simple steps! Download your FREE Online Business Jumpstart guide: https://www.tentononline.com/jump "Escape the grind, build a fulfilling online business, and launch a better tomorrow!" -------------------------------------------------- Show Notes: - Online business guide (free download!): 7 Steps To Profits! https://www.tentononline.com/7-steps-to-profits/ - Domain registration: https://10tn.tips/domain - Solid web hosting (with discount!): https://10tn.tips/hosting - Business-grade email: https://10tn.tips/email - Best email marketing service: https://10tn.tips/email-marketing - Best website builder: https://10tn.tips/web-builder - Top web and marketing tools and services: https://10tn.tips/tools Support my work (thanks!): - https://10tn.tips/boost -------------------------------------------------- Transcription: why are customer testimonials important You know what testimonials are, right? Short statements of endorsement from your previous customers, right? Sure. But really, testimonials are much more than this. Testimonials provide proof, create trust and credibility, and minimize risk for your potential customers. See cuz here's the thing...it might sound kinda cold and harsh but it's the truth: For your potential customers, buying from you seems risky. And don't take it personally...buying from anyone is risky! In any kind of financial transaction, it's the buyer who's taking the risk. They're the ones putting their money on the line...and their money represents their security. It's kind of a big deal when you think about it. And so your product or service offer is making them a promise...and they're being asked to take a risk and trust you. And of course, your potential customer doesn't want to risk losing their money or wasting their time. To help sooth their concerns, you can use testimonials. Your testimonials tell new customers, "Hey, other people have gone ahead before you...and have gotten great results after buying from this business." So in this way, testimonials serve as a badge of trust. In other words, someone else just like them has gone ahead, taken the risk and plunged in...and not only survived, but gotten amazing results once they used your product or service. So if you have some testimonials already from some of your happy, satisfied customers...use 'em! And if you don't have any testimonials yet...get 'em fast! All you've gotta do is reach out to a few customers and ask. If they're happy with you, then they'll be happy to help! -------------------------------------------------- TONS more at https://www.tentononline.com/blog

From zero to profitable online business in just 7 simple steps! Download your FREE Online Business Jumpstart guide: https://www.tentononline.com/jump "Escape the grind, build a fulfilling online business, and launch a better tomorrow!" -------------------------------------------------- Show Notes: - Online business guide (free download!): 7 Steps To Profits! https://www.tentononline.com/7-steps-to-profits/ - Domain registration: https://10tn.tips/domain - Solid web hosting (with discount!): https://10tn.tips/hosting - Business-grade email: https://10tn.tips/email - Best email marketing service: https://10tn.tips/email-marketing - Best website builder: https://10tn.tips/web-builder - Top web and marketing tools and services: https://10tn.tips/tools Support my work (thanks!): - https://10tn.tips/boost -------------------------------------------------- Transcription: why are customer testimonials important You know what testimonials are, right? Short statements of endorsement from your previous customers, right? Sure. But really, testimonials are much more than this. Testimonials provide proof, create trust and credibility, and minimize risk for your potential customers. See cuz here's the thing...it might sound kinda cold and harsh but it's the truth: For your potential customers, buying from you seems risky. And don't take it personally...buying from anyone is risky! In any kind of financial transaction, it's the buyer who's taking the risk. They're the ones putting their money on the line...and their money represents their security. It's kind of a big deal when you think about it. And so your product or service offer is making them a promise...and they're being asked to take a risk and trust you. And of course, your potential customer doesn't want to risk losing their money or wasting their time. To help sooth their concerns, you can use testimonials. Your testimonials tell new customers, "Hey, other people have gone ahead before you...and have gotten great results after buying from this business." So in this way, testimonials serve as a badge of trust. In other words, someone else just like them has gone ahead, taken the risk and plunged in...and not only survived, but gotten amazing results once they used your product or service. So if you have some testimonials already from some of your happy, satisfied customers...use 'em! And if you don't have any testimonials yet...get 'em fast! All you've gotta do is reach out to a few customers and ask. If they're happy with you, then they'll be happy to help! -------------------------------------------------- TONS more at https://www.tentononline.com/blog

From zero to profitable online business in just 7 simple steps! Download your FREE Online Business Jumpstart guide: https://www.tentononline.com/jump "Escape the grind, build a fulfilling online business, and launch a better tomorrow!" -------------------------------------------------- Show Notes: - Online business guide (free download!): 7 Steps To Profits! https://www.tentononline.com/7-steps-to-profits/ - Domain registration: https://10tn.tips/domain - Solid web hosting (with discount!): https://10tn.tips/hosting - Business-grade email: https://10tn.tips/email - Best email marketing service: https://10tn.tips/email-marketing - Best website builder: https://10tn.tips/web-builder - Top web and marketing tools and services: https://10tn.tips/tools Support my work (thanks!): - https://10tn.tips/boost -------------------------------------------------- Transcription: how to avoid making mistakes in business research For your online business, it's critically important for you to eliminate guesswork as much as you possibly can. This means no guessing, no coming up with "magical big ideas," or following your "gut instinct." Humans are notoriously bad at predicting the future and gut instincts have a terrible track record! So, no "playing business" here. No dinkin' around. This is where the rubber meets the road -- where your business ambitions come into contact with cold, tactile reality. In perhaps a demented way, it's invigorating! Here, we're not playing fantasy or "playing business." Instead, we're coming into direct contact with reality itself. Rather than hunches, gut instincts, or fantasies about bazzillion-dollar business ideas, instead, we're going to do the real, dirty and hands-on work of finding out what your market -- that is, the group of people your business will serve -- really, truly wants. Now truth be told, learning more about your target audience isn't an easy process. You won't finish your research today or even this week. Solid research takes a lot of effort, it isn't fast, and it's often a chaotic, disjointed mess. And this is why so few people do it. But the more time and effort you put into your research, the better your results will be. And those who take the time and really dig into learning about their audience have an incredible advantage over their competitors who don't. Research uncovers for you the actual issues and challenges your target audience is facing. And it beats the living heck out of the alternatives...Guessing, hoping, and spending months developing a perfect product for a market that isn't interested anyway. And you know what solid, in-depth research really does? It skews probability in your favour. See, in business there are no guarantees. All we've got is probability. We can't control outcomes, but we can control our actions and we can greatly influence probability. And so by taking huge action towards uncovering the pains, problems, and challenges your audience has, you're greatly skewing outcomes in your favour. You can't guarantee that your business will succeed...but you can skew probability so far in your favour that your odds of success are vastly increased. -------------------------------------------------- TONS more at https://www.tentononline.com/blog

From zero to profitable online business in just 7 simple steps! Download your FREE Online Business Jumpstart guide: https://www.tentononline.com/jump "Escape the grind, build a fulfilling online business, and launch a better tomorrow!" -------------------------------------------------- Show Notes: - Online business guide (free download!): 7 Steps To Profits! https://www.tentononline.com/7-steps-to-profits/ - Domain registration: https://10tn.tips/domain - Solid web hosting (with discount!): https://10tn.tips/hosting - Business-grade email: https://10tn.tips/email - Best email marketing service: https://10tn.tips/email-marketing - Best website builder: https://10tn.tips/web-builder - Top web and marketing tools and services: https://10tn.tips/tools Support my work (thanks!): - https://10tn.tips/boost -------------------------------------------------- Transcription: how to avoid making mistakes in business research For your online business, it's critically important for you to eliminate guesswork as much as you possibly can. This means no guessing, no coming up with "magical big ideas," or following your "gut instinct." Humans are notoriously bad at predicting the future and gut instincts have a terrible track record! So, no "playing business" here. No dinkin' around. This is where the rubber meets the road -- where your business ambitions come into contact with cold, tactile reality. In perhaps a demented way, it's invigorating! Here, we're not playing fantasy or "playing business." Instead, we're coming into direct contact with reality itself. Rather than hunches, gut instincts, or fantasies about bazzillion-dollar business ideas, instead, we're going to do the real, dirty and hands-on work of finding out what your market -- that is, the group of people your business will serve -- really, truly wants. Now truth be told, learning more about your target audience isn't an easy process. You won't finish your research today or even this week. Solid research takes a lot of effort, it isn't fast, and it's often a chaotic, disjointed mess. And this is why so few people do it. But the more time and effort you put into your research, the better your results will be. And those who take the time and really dig into learning about their audience have an incredible advantage over their competitors who don't. Research uncovers for you the actual issues and challenges your target audience is facing. And it beats the living heck out of the alternatives...Guessing, hoping, and spending months developing a perfect product for a market that isn't interested anyway. And you know what solid, in-depth research really does? It skews probability in your favour. See, in business there are no guarantees. All we've got is probability. We can't control outcomes, but we can control our actions and we can greatly influence probability. And so by taking huge action towards uncovering the pains, problems, and challenges your audience has, you're greatly skewing outcomes in your favour. You can't guarantee that your business will succeed...but you can skew probability so far in your favour that your odds of success are vastly increased. -------------------------------------------------- TONS more at https://www.tentononline.com/blog

From zero to profitable online business in just 7 simple steps! Download your FREE Online Business Jumpstart guide: https://www.tentononline.com/jump "Escape the grind, build a fulfilling online business, and launch a better tomorrow!" -------------------------------------------------- Show Notes: - Online business guide (free download!): 7 Steps To Profits! https://www.tentononline.com/7-steps-to-profits/ - Domain registration: https://10tn.tips/domain - Solid web hosting (with discount!): https://10tn.tips/hosting - Business-grade email: https://10tn.tips/email - Best email marketing service: https://10tn.tips/email-marketing - Best website builder: https://10tn.tips/web-builder - Top web and marketing tools and services: https://10tn.tips/tools Support my work (thanks!): - https://10tn.tips/boost -------------------------------------------------- Transcription: types of small business websites Really there are only so many types of online businesses you can build. And as a matter of fact I've been able to narrow it all down to just 5 types. Yes, no matter what kind of business you have in mind to build...it'll fall under one of these types. So for instance, first you can build whats called a brochure-style website. Imagine a website for a local bistro or barbershop. A business like this would likely just need something simple that would convey basic information about the business -- hours of operation, services they offer...that sorta stuff. And really, more often than not, this type of website of course wouldn't be for an online-only business...although I'm sure there are exceptions. Next you can build something very similar to a brochure-style website...but that includes the ability to accept bookings online. Think of service-based businesses like a mortgage broker, bed and breakfast or hair salon. So the site would still contain essential information about the business...but it would also have some sort of system in place to schedule a booking or appointment. A business like this could reside entirely online with no need for a physical location. Now what if the online business you have in mind will sell a variety of physical products? Then here you'd be building an e-commerce website. Typically this kind of online business allows visitors to browse through categories of products, add items to their shopping cart, and then finally to check out. I think we're all pretty familiar with this sort of online business so there's no need to dig into more detail here...I think we both get it! Next up though is my favourite kind of online business -- what I call a "digital download" website. With this kind of online business you'd sell any kind of product that's in digital form...and this means products that are either text based, audio, or video. So you might sell ebooks, music, or video content. What I love so much about this type of online business is that most of your business can be automated. Further, what's great is that you create the digital product once...and then sell it over and over again for years. The final type of online business website that you can build is some kind of membership website. Here, you could have some kind of specialized knowledge or service that your customers pay an ongoing (usually monthly) fee to access. You could incorporate exclusive content, a membership area, a forum, and much more...which is really great for community building. -------------------------------------------------- TONS more at https://www.tentononline.com/blog

From zero to profitable online business in just 7 simple steps! Download your FREE Online Business Jumpstart guide: https://www.tentononline.com/jump "Escape the grind, build a fulfilling online business, and launch a better tomorrow!" -------------------------------------------------- Show Notes: - Online business guide (free download!): 7 Steps To Profits! https://www.tentononline.com/7-steps-to-profits/ - Domain registration: https://10tn.tips/domain - Solid web hosting (with discount!): https://10tn.tips/hosting - Business-grade email: https://10tn.tips/email - Best email marketing service: https://10tn.tips/email-marketing - Best website builder: https://10tn.tips/web-builder - Top web and marketing tools and services: https://10tn.tips/tools Support my work (thanks!): - https://10tn.tips/boost -------------------------------------------------- Transcription: types of small business websites Really there are only so many types of online businesses you can build. And as a matter of fact I've been able to narrow it all down to just 5 types. Yes, no matter what kind of business you have in mind to build...it'll fall under one of these types. So for instance, first you can build whats called a brochure-style website. Imagine a website for a local bistro or barbershop. A business like this would likely just need something simple that would convey basic information about the business -- hours of operation, services they offer...that sorta stuff. And really, more often than not, this type of website of course wouldn't be for an online-only business...although I'm sure there are exceptions. Next you can build something very similar to a brochure-style website...but that includes the ability to accept bookings online. Think of service-based businesses like a mortgage broker, bed and breakfast or hair salon. So the site would still contain essential information about the business...but it would also have some sort of system in place to schedule a booking or appointment. A business like this could reside entirely online with no need for a physical location. Now what if the online business you have in mind will sell a variety of physical products? Then here you'd be building an e-commerce website. Typically this kind of online business allows visitors to browse through categories of products, add items to their shopping cart, and then finally to check out. I think we're all pretty familiar with this sort of online business so there's no need to dig into more detail here...I think we both get it! Next up though is my favourite kind of online business -- what I call a "digital download" website. With this kind of online business you'd sell any kind of product that's in digital form...and this means products that are either text based, audio, or video. So you might sell ebooks, music, or video content. What I love so much about this type of online business is that most of your business can be automated. Further, what's great is that you create the digital product once...and then sell it over and over again for years. The final type of online business website that you can build is some kind of membership website. Here, you could have some kind of specialized knowledge or service that your customers pay an ongoing (usually monthly) fee to access. You could incorporate exclusive content, a membership area, a forum, and much more...which is really great for community building. -------------------------------------------------- TONS more at https://www.tentononline.com/blog

From zero to profitable online business in just 7 simple steps! Download your FREE Online Business Jumpstart guide: https://www.tentononline.com/jump "Escape the grind, build a fulfilling online business, and launch a better tomorrow!" -------------------------------------------------- Show Notes: - Online business guide (free download!): 7 Steps To Profits! https://www.tentononline.com/7-steps-to-profits/ - Domain registration: https://10tn.tips/domain - Solid web hosting (with discount!): https://10tn.tips/hosting - Business-grade email: https://10tn.tips/email - Best email marketing service: https://10tn.tips/email-marketing - Best website builder: https://10tn.tips/web-builder - Top web and marketing tools and services: https://10tn.tips/tools Support my work (thanks!): - https://10tn.tips/boost -------------------------------------------------- Transcription: most important parts of a website When running a business website, there are three critical components that you’ll want complete control over: Your website’s domain name, your web hosting, and your website’s email. The longer you’re involved in running your own business’s website, and with web design in general, the more you realize just how important it is to keep these three services separated and isolated from one another. Experience has taught me that by keeping these three components separate, if a problem ever arises with one of them, the other two won’t be affected at all. Here's what I mean: If you've bundled all these web services together, if one of these services goes down, it could potentially take the other two down as well. Imagine...your entire business going offline because one of your key services got disrupted! Even if you’re just running a small website, keeping your three essential services separate means fewer headaches and potential problems down the road. What muddies things up...and what I'm working hard to untangle and clarify...is that in the world of web design, you can register a domain name, set up your web hosting, and set up your email email service all from one vendor. For instance, vendors whose core service is domain name registration now offer web hosting, email, SEO services, and a pile of other add-ons as extras. And web hosting companies offer to manage your email and your domain name registration, as well as provide other extras like website builders, advertising credits and so on. It’s a confusing mess! If your head’s spinning a bit, I don’t blame you -— it’s a confusing mess! With so many options and add-ons available, it’s hard to know what’s important for you and your business, and what isn’t. Now while a one-stop solution for all your website needs might sound convenient, keeping our 3 primary business web design services -— again, your domain, hosting, and email —- all separate not only gives you the most control and autonomy over our businesses online, we also get the best quality of service. That’s huge. But that’s not the only reason to keep your services separate. Issues like reliability, security, protecting your business’s online assets, and more also factor in. Or, in the event that a particular provider’s service begins to slip, or our business needs change (it sometimes happens)... ...we can easily switch out that service’s vendor without impacting our other two critical services. This does mean a bit more work and a bit more management on our part, but it gives us complete autonomy and control over our creative and business assets. And to me, after doing this stuff for so long, that small price is totally worth it. So if you agree that keeping your business services separate is smart, then when your domain name registrar offers you web hosting when you’re in the process of signing up, you can safely ignore that option. And when you’re signing up for web hosting, and you see an offer for a free domain name and email, you can politely decline. We’ll be using dedicated services for our business instead. -------------------------------------------------- TONS more at https://www.tentononline.com/blog

From zero to profitable online business in just 7 simple steps! Download your FREE Online Business Jumpstart guide: https://www.tentononline.com/jump "Escape the grind, build a fulfilling online business, and launch a better tomorrow!" -------------------------------------------------- Show Notes: - Online business guide (free download!): 7 Steps To Profits! https://www.tentononline.com/7-steps-to-profits/ - Domain registration: https://10tn.tips/domain - Solid web hosting (with discount!): https://10tn.tips/hosting - Business-grade email: https://10tn.tips/email - Best email marketing service: https://10tn.tips/email-marketing - Best website builder: https://10tn.tips/web-builder - Top web and marketing tools and services: https://10tn.tips/tools Support my work (thanks!): - https://10tn.tips/boost -------------------------------------------------- Transcription: most important parts of a website When running a business website, there are three critical components that you’ll want complete control over: Your website’s domain name, your web hosting, and your website’s email. The longer you’re involved in running your own business’s website, and with web design in general, the more you realize just how important it is to keep these three services separated and isolated from one another. Experience has taught me that by keeping these three components separate, if a problem ever arises with one of them, the other two won’t be affected at all. Here's what I mean: If you've bundled all these web services together, if one of these services goes down, it could potentially take the other two down as well. Imagine...your entire business going offline because one of your key services got disrupted! Even if you’re just running a small website, keeping your three essential services separate means fewer headaches and potential problems down the road. What muddies things up...and what I'm working hard to untangle and clarify...is that in the world of web design, you can register a domain name, set up your web hosting, and set up your email email service all from one vendor. For instance, vendors whose core service is domain name registration now offer web hosting, email, SEO services, and a pile of other add-ons as extras. And web hosting companies offer to manage your email and your domain name registration, as well as provide other extras like website builders, advertising credits and so on. It’s a confusing mess! If your head’s spinning a bit, I don’t blame you -— it’s a confusing mess! With so many options and add-ons available, it’s hard to know what’s important for you and your business, and what isn’t. Now while a one-stop solution for all your website needs might sound convenient, keeping our 3 primary business web design services -— again, your domain, hosting, and email —- all separate not only gives you the most control and autonomy over our businesses online, we also get the best quality of service. That’s huge. But that’s not the only reason to keep your services separate. Issues like reliability, security, protecting your business’s online assets, and more also factor in. Or, in the event that a particular provider’s service begins to slip, or our business needs change (it sometimes happens)... ...we can easily switch out that service’s vendor without impacting our other two critical services. This does mean a bit more work and a bit more management on our part, but it gives us complete autonomy and control over our creative and business assets. And to me, after doing this stuff for so long, that small price is totally worth it. So if you agree that keeping your business services separate is smart, then when your domain name registrar offers you web hosting when you’re in the process of signing up, you can safely ignore that option. And when you’re signing up for web hosting, and you see an offer for a free domain name and email, you can politely decline. We’ll be using dedicated services for our business instead. -------------------------------------------------- TONS more at https://www.tentononline.com/blog

From zero to profitable online business in just 7 simple steps! Download your FREE Online Business Jumpstart guide: https://www.tentononline.com/jump "Escape the grind, build a fulfilling online business, and launch a better tomorrow!" -------------------------------------------------- Show Notes: - Online business guide (free download!): 7 Steps To Profits! https://www.tentononline.com/7-steps-to-profits/ - Domain registration: https://10tn.tips/domain - Solid web hosting (with discount!): https://10tn.tips/hosting - Business-grade email: https://10tn.tips/email - Best email marketing service: https://10tn.tips/email-marketing - Best website builder: https://10tn.tips/web-builder - Top web and marketing tools and services: https://10tn.tips/tools Support my work (thanks!): - https://10tn.tips/boost -------------------------------------------------- Transcription: what to use instead of social media Social media is noisy, intense, fast-paced, and users of these platforms have short attention spans. When you post on any given social media platform, you're hoping that you'll wind up in front of your follower's eyeballs. But with such a fast pace and feeds constantly getting filled from the top, it only takes a few seconds for your posts to get buried. So what's the alternative? How are you supposed to build an audience around your online business and the work that you do? Online advertising's an option if you have deep pockets and the patience to figure out how it all works...or there's another alternative that comes at a very, very low cost and allows you to connect directly, practically one-on-one with your audience. Maybe you know about it already or maybe it'll kinda catch you off guard: Email. Yes, good old fashioned plain old email. The first huge benefit email has over all other forms of online marketing is that when someone subscribes to your list, they're saying... "Send me great stuff. I like what you do and I may want to buy." That's huge. That's way, way more powerful than someone half-heartedly clicking "like" or "follow" on social media. With email, there's a much closer relationship. If you land in someone's inbox, it's because you've been invited in -- they're choosing to let you in there. And people's inbox is a pretty private, intimate place. And we protect this space, don't we? We don't want other people seeing our inbox -- I don't want people to know that I'm a member of the "Bacon Of The Month Club," or that I subscribe to Aaron Carter's newsletter or that I just sold my entire collection of Nickelback Bobbleheads on ebay! That's private stuff! And you're the same way too, right? Well guess what? So are your subscribers...and they're inviting you into this private, personal space. This is a totally different relationship than someone who follows you on social. -------------------------------------------------- TONS more at https://www.tentononline.com/blog

From zero to profitable online business in just 7 simple steps! Download your FREE Online Business Jumpstart guide: https://www.tentononline.com/jump "Escape the grind, build a fulfilling online business, and launch a better tomorrow!" -------------------------------------------------- Show Notes: - Online business guide (free download!): 7 Steps To Profits! https://www.tentononline.com/7-steps-to-profits/ - Domain registration: https://10tn.tips/domain - Solid web hosting (with discount!): https://10tn.tips/hosting - Business-grade email: https://10tn.tips/email - Best email marketing service: https://10tn.tips/email-marketing - Best website builder: https://10tn.tips/web-builder - Top web and marketing tools and services: https://10tn.tips/tools Support my work (thanks!): - https://10tn.tips/boost -------------------------------------------------- Transcription: how to attract more customers to your website As an online business owner, one of your most important jobs is to influence. And no, I don't mean in the stupid "Instagram Influencer" or social media influencer way...with a fake lifestyle, fake success, and fake boobs. What I mean is more like, leading and guiding the people within your business's target audience...and leaving a positive impression with them. Nothing's better than giving your audience a positive feeling about you, your business, the products and services you offer, and what doing business with you is like. This is why influence -- positive messaging if you like -- is so important. You can create the greatest products and services...but if you can't persuade anyone to buy it then it goes unused. This explains why garages, basements, and hard drives all over the world are packed with ideas that couldn't take off. So, developing pain-solving products and services that your target audience ACTUALLY wants to buy is only part of the equation. The other part is communicating to them what you've created for them. This is where influence and persuasion come in -- and I have to stress...we're doing this in an honest, genuine way. We're here to guide, help, and serve the sorts of people that we WANT to work with day in and day out. Here, we want to provide a positive impression -- "I know this is a painful challenge. And here's some of the short and long-term consequences. And here's how we can fix it together." Think of someone who genuinely cares for your wellbeing -- maybe your Mom, or a local business owner who you've frequented for years, or maybe a friend. That's how you want to treat your customers. Serve them and help them and keep everything positive...and they'll take care of all your needs, guaranteed! -------------------------------------------------- TONS more at https://www.tentononline.com/blog

From zero to profitable online business in just 7 simple steps! Download your FREE Online Business Jumpstart guide: https://www.tentononline.com/jump "Escape the grind, build a fulfilling online business, and launch a better tomorrow!" -------------------------------------------------- Show Notes: - Online business guide (free download!): 7 Steps To Profits! https://www.tentononline.com/7-steps-to-profits/ - Domain registration: https://10tn.tips/domain - Solid web hosting (with discount!): https://10tn.tips/hosting - Business-grade email: https://10tn.tips/email - Best email marketing service: https://10tn.tips/email-marketing - Best website builder: https://10tn.tips/web-builder - Top web and marketing tools and services: https://10tn.tips/tools Support my work (thanks!): - https://10tn.tips/boost -------------------------------------------------- Transcription: what's important to know about seo Alright, while your initial thinking might be, "I want my site to show up in Google," understand that this is the goal of every other website and online business owner, too. What we need to do is refine things. You can't just "show up" in Google unless you're providing content that matches what people are searching for, right? And the competition for certain keyphrases is fierce, which is why it's important to narrow your focus down to a much more targeted audience. Also know that applying a solid SEO strategy to your business takes time. Because Google and other search engines have to crawl through so much content, index it all, and then sort it all out in giant databases, you won't see results quickly. SEO is playing the long game. Patience is mandatory. How long will your content take to appear in search engines? Weeks and weeks. Maybe months. No joke. And I think it's important for you to know this up front. That way, you're completely clear on what you're signing yourself up for. None of this is easy. If anyone's told you it is, they're being fraudulent. But it's all definitely worthwhile -- that's the key. That's the silver lining. I've said this in other posts and I'll say it again: We're running a marathon, not a race. Now with all this said, a word of caution: I strongly advise against hiring someone to handle your SEO for you. The "SEO marketers industry" (if we can call it that) is loaded full of hustlers, former used car salesmen, and failed politicians -- at least, that's been my experience. Not a week goes by where I don't get at least four or five emails from "SEO experts" promising big results for me, my website, and my online business. Thing is, I'm doing just fine with my SEO...better than fine, in fact. See, once you know the fundamentals and develop a simple strategy, you discover that SEO is a straightforward task that you're more than capable of handling yourself. -------------------------------------------------- TONS more at https://www.tentononline.com/blog

From zero to profitable online business in just 7 simple steps! Download your FREE Online Business Jumpstart guide: https://www.tentononline.com/jump "Escape the grind, build a fulfilling online business, and launch a better tomorrow!" -------------------------------------------------- Show Notes: - Online business guide (free download!): 7 Steps To Profits! https://www.tentononline.com/7-steps-to-profits/ - Domain registration: https://10tn.tips/domain - Solid web hosting (with discount!): https://10tn.tips/hosting - Business-grade email: https://10tn.tips/email - Best email marketing service: https://10tn.tips/email-marketing - Best website builder: https://10tn.tips/web-builder - Top web and marketing tools and services: https://10tn.tips/tools Support my work (thanks!): - https://10tn.tips/boost -------------------------------------------------- Transcription: cheapest way to drive traffic to a website I'll tell you, years ago I remember feeling stuck. I'd worked very hard on my website and products. It took a TON of effort to get things "just right." So why was I frustrated? Because of what happened next... Crickets. It was gut-wrenching. But you know what I learned? I learned that you can have a great website and the best products in the world...but if nobody knows you exist... Crickets. That's why drawing traffic to your website is SO important. And really, there's just 2 ways to get traffic: You can pay for it, or you can attract it for free. Paid traffic usually means buying ads from Facebook or Google. And the problem with this approach is that it's expensive and often ineffective. And as soon as you stop paying, your traffic stops instantly. The other option is to attract traffic for free. This is about discovering what people are already searching for. And then giving it to them. Here, the traffic never stops flowing...cuz you're giving people EXACTLY what they want! In other words: they search, you show up, they click! It's this second method that's often best for online business owners...because the cost is essentially zero for you! And really, it's all about SEO or Search Engine Optimization. Here, it's not just about publishing helpful content...but it's about publishing helpful content that you've carefully and intentionally structured and put together to target specific search phrases and keywords. -------------------------------------------------- TONS more at https://www.tentononline.com/blog