“My biggest problem is TIME MANAGEMENT. During the day, I do the
bookeeping for my husband’s “real world” business and I try to fit my
online business into the gaps. Two problems I keep encountering are: 1)
Whenever I think I have everything caught up and can give my business
some attention, I get interuptions and more “honey do” lists, and 2)
People don’t seem to respect my requests to treat my “job” the same way
that they would theirs because “if I’m home, I’m not REALLY working.”

“Didn’t mean to go on a rant there, but I’m really passionate about my
business and it’s getting very frustrating to not be able to devote the
amount of time to it that I would like to. Were you able to work from
home, or did you have to set up an outside office to work from? I’m
starting to feel like this would be my best option.”

Doreen, this is an important piece of the puzzle to get nailed down,
because it separates those who succeed wildly and those who struggle
with the daily tasks of everyday living.

Your environment AND team is critical to your success. For example, I
have THREE young children (all under the age of 10). I’m a single dad.
I work from home, running a successful online business, while producing
films. I go on EVERY class trip with my kids, and even pick them up
for lunch EVERY DAY.

The day I found out Steven Spielberg, while producing and directing
Hollywood blockbusters and running a world-class studio, carpools his
children to school EVERY DAY, was the day I KNEW something had to change
in my life!

Instead of retelling how to take control of that beast called time
management, and how to tame it, let me direct you to my January 1st
post. It gets more specific.

You can see it here: http://netslingers.com/updates/new-year-new-slate/

Let me know if that helps…

* * *

sveg4 asks:

“How do you build a downloadable product page?”

This question can be a big one or a simple one. Let’s start with
simple first…

A downloadable product page is no different than a sales page,
except the links you have on this page allow you to access or download
your digital product.

Where are the products located? On YOUR server, in another folder,
that allows your buyer to access those items.

The REALLY short answer is to go back to ANY download page where
you have purchased something yourself, and see and learn from their
example.

The long answer depends on how much knowledge you already have
about building pages. And personally, even though I can build
a download page, I’d rather have someone else do it. That way,
my time can be more focused on teaching and marketing.

* * *

Ray asks:

“I am a beginner at internet marketing. I do not have a website. My
interest is in affilliate marketing. I can use all the help I can get to
start this business the right way. So any suggestion that you could give
me on getting started would be greatly appreciated.”

If you want to become a GREAT affiliate marketer, then you want
control and specific knowledge. What do I mean?

You need to position yourself as the “GO TO” guy for the best
products available for your target market. If I was starting
out today to become a top-producing super-affiliate, I would
specialize in ONE market.

It doesn’t matter which market you choose when it comes to affiliate
marketing — mainly because if there are worthy affiliate products
out there, then we must assume there’s a market for it. (Otherwise,
you’re struggling upstream without a paddle, by choosing a product
to promote with NO market. This is critical…making sure there’s
a demand for your products.)

So, first choose a market you’re passionate about. If you love fly
fishing, that’s your first choice. If you love fixing-up run down
properties, then that’s your first choice.

Second, whichever product you choose to first market, make certain
you have used it, learned from it, benefited from it, and KNOW it.

This is probably the BIGGEST mistake first-time affiliate marketers
make... promoting something they’ve never used or have any clue about.
It’s your DUTY to the know the product you’re promoting inside out and
backwards on any given day.

Otherwise, how will you effectively promote it? What will you do if
someone asks you specific questions? Plus, here’s the biggie…

Is this product you’re promoting even worthy of anyone’s time?
How important is your reputation online or anywhere?

To be blunt here…if you promote crap, you’ll be out of business
overnight. If you promote excellence, you’ll be building a
business, as people will come to expect only the best from you.

And they will VALUE your opinion and recommendation — being the
‘GO TO’ guy for this market.

That’s a start. There’s more, but starting is your first step.

Let me know if that helps, and we can go further.

- Andy

REMEMBER, if you’d like to leave your question or have any comments about
this blog post, I’ve set-up a special netSlingers HOTLINE for you, if you
don’t like to write. Call anytime: (214) 615-6505 ext. 8698

Well, it’s homeless — and it needs a place to live.

Just like when you registered your business name, you still don’t really have a business until you “open shop,” whether it’s online or in the bricks-and-mortar world.

The next step is web hosting.

Because you’re starting out, all you need is plain vanilla hosting. You don’t need dedicated or special platform hosting or robocop hosting. Let’s make this simple.

First, what is hosting?

Think about if you were to open a store, you’d need to either LEASE or RENT space to have customers visit you, right? Well, hosting is the place you would “lease” space to “host” your new (domain or store) name.

You can Google “top 10 web hosting companies” but be cautious because there are a lot of rats out there. Not all web hosting companies are created equal.

Here is one I’ve used, and one that’s recommended by the World’s Fastest Webmaster: www.lovellhosting.com and www.hostrocket.com. The key is getting great tech support. And these two companies’ support services are very good.

You can expect to spend anywhere from $7.95 to $14.95 per month for shared web hosting. And that’s more than you’ll need to get started.

When you get successful in your online business, simply upgrade your package to accommodate the amount of traffic you’re getting.

You’re almost there…

Stay for the next episode of building your very first website.

Andy

P.S. If you just can’t wait to learn more, check out: www.faster-webmaster.com.

P.P.S. Yesterday, I interviewed Erik Stafford – The Faster Webmaster. You can still listen to the replay call here for FREE.

Here it is:

Choose a name, and register it.

But how do you choose a name? Here’s a secret. Whether or not you plan to drive traffic to your first website from search engines or affiliates or press releases or any other form, choose a name that hits the heart of what you are offering.

What does that mean?

Most people make the BIG mistake of trying to be clever with their names, and try creating a “brand” right from the start, like kaboom dot com. What is that? I have no idea, and I don’t have the time to find out.

The whole idea of branding is great, IF you’re a major corporation with an unlimited budget, because only then can you afford to educate the public (with LOTS of advertising) to put that name in the minds of your prospects.

You’re NOT a major corporation, so you need to hit your prospect quickly and not waste precious time. Be specific. Be clear and to the point.

Here’s a personal example: Toronto-Filmmaking dot com. Do you know where and what the website MUST be about? Sure do. It’s clear and specific.

So, think about what kind of business you’re in or would like to be in, and let the (domain) name indicate that idea. Here’s another quick personal example: Make My First Movie dot com. What do you think this website is about? It’s pretty clear, isn’t it!

Here’s an added bonus to having a clear domain name: It’s search engine friendly. By having your website name tie-in with a keyword that people would naturally search for your website, you’re already on top of the search engine game.

Okay, you have your name chosen, what’s next?

You need to officially register it. This is no different than having to register a business name, whether it’s a corporation, partnership or sole proprietorship. You are “doing business as” this new domain name.

I use GoDaddy.com to register my domain names. You will first have to search to see if your name is available or has already been taken. If it has been taken, try a variation of it, or look at their suggestions, if they’re helpful. It costs $8.95, as of this writing, for a single domain name registration. Don’t worry about getting ALL their crazy add-ons. Just keep clicking “No Thanks” and get to the end to register it.

You’ve just jumped over the first hurdle. You’ve got a website (domain) name registered that’s ALL yours!

Stay tuned for more steps in building your first website.

Andy

P.S. If you can’t wait to learn more, check out www.faster-webmaster.com.

P.P.S. I’d like to know if you have found this to be helpful. Feel free to Comment below…