RECOMMENDED TOOLS TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS
If you are going to blog to grow your business, there are certain tools that you will need. I will share the ones I am using and also recommend some alternatives for you to choose.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we got paid when we recommended movies or restaurants to our friends? We don’t get paid for those recommendations, but when it comes to business services and many products online, we can get paid for referring people. It’s called Affiliate Marketing. Since I am in business to make money by helping other people, if you decide to purchase any of the services below and you purchase through the link I provide, some of the links are affiliate links. What this means is, I get a commission (I get paid) for recommending you! When you set up your business, you can do the same thing! Referral marketing is not new… it’s simply word of mouth… trusted advertising! We all do it!
Thank you for checking out these recommended tools and thank you for purchasing through my affiliate link!
HOSTING
I use BlueHost for hosting Barb’s Challenge. I find getting into their Cpanel much easier than some companies and they send me emails when issues occur or when it’s time to renew domains. They are competitively priced and have programs to suit your needs as you grow your business. They do provide training.
I also have a Hostgator account. They are very user friendly and provide training. They have a special $1 trial program to get you going. This is very popular with online marketing businesses.
Liquid Web is another great hosting company. They are very strong on back up services so they rarely if ever go down. I personally find their Cpanel area a little more complex but it is all in what you get used to! They do have excellent support and are willing to answer all your questions.
If you are blogging for business I would definitely recommend a paid hosting option. It is a small price to pay for your business. It puts you in control. If you are going to blog for fun you can get free sites at blogger.com, wordpress.com or hubpages.com and blog away! This is great for people with hobbies.
DOMAINS
I have two favorite places for domains, GoDaddy and NameCheap. They are both good and both offer specials from time to time.
For example, I just did a search for bettysbestbuscuits.com and found GoDaddy had a price of $2.99 for the first year and $14.99 for the second year if you purchased the domain for two years. For the same domain, NameCheap had a price of $10.69 for one year.
When you decide on your domain and company, be careful not to get all the different add on things that they offer. Just say, no thank you and pay for your domain. Once you have your site up and running you can determine what else you may need. Let’s keep this simple to start!