Domain Names and Hosting Them

Domain Names and Hosting Them

By Aaron Guzman


If you are thinking about starting up your own website or blog, one of your considerations should be whether or not to purchase your own domain name (.com, .net, .org, etc.). If branding, customization, and control are important to you, then owning your own domain might be a good idea. Obtaining a domain name and hosting it is a simple process that can be affordable for anyone.

There are plenty of places online where you can register your domain name, including godaddy.com, google.com/apps/, and many others. I recommend using godaddy.com. Here you can not only register your domain, but obtain hosting at the same time. Regardless of what site you use to register, take the time to think about and choose the proper name for your domain. Keep in mind that even though there are other options, .com and .net domains are still the most popular and therefore most recognizable, and they should be your priority choices. Registration can cost anywhere from $6 to thousands of dollars, depending on whether the domain name you are trying to register is already owned privately or in high demand. Generally, though, you should be able to secure a domain name for roughly $10 per year.

Once you have registered your domain, you need to host it. This means that another company will give you space on server computer where you can upload your website and files. The server/host will provide you with hard drive space (for your actual webpage, pictures, videos, and related files) and usually a local email address attached to your domain (yourname@website.com). Most host sites offer various packages and services ranging from more space, more emails, to direct support. All of these factors may affect the price of the web hosting you sign up for. Depending on your needs, web hosting can cost you anywhere from about $50 to over $300 annually.

If you are new to the game and just considering purchasing your own domain, go cheap. Shop around and see who offers competitive prices. Make sure that any registrars or web hosts that you do business with are reputable and have a clean service record for their previous clients. It would be wise to do some quick research before choosing to make sure any company you are interested in hasn’t had problems in the past.

If you are being conservative, you should be able to secure your own hosted domain for about $100-150 per year. That’s a small price to get your enterprise going, or simply to get yourself more motivated. Obtaining your own domain is definitely a sound investment. Get started today!


Photo By Jay Simmons

Thinking About Freelance Writing?—What You Should Do First

Thinking About Freelance Writing?—What You Should Do First

By Aaron Guzman

Whether you like to write, want to make some income on the side, or if you are just looking to beef up your portfolio or resume, freelance writing can be the perfect outlet and a challenging and rewarding experience. But before you jump in the pool and start looking for work, here are a few things you should seriously consider doing first.

• Develop Your Resume – When it comes down to it, your resume is your ultimate selling point. When a potential client isn’t actually looking at your picture or speaking with you, all they have is the resume. It’s time to re-work that old teaching or dishwashing resume and sell your writing skills! Emphasize what you do well: creative writing, product-oriented writing, health/lifestyle writing, etc.

If you are having trouble coming up with writing-related experience, don’t worry. As you start to build up a portfolio with your online writing you will realize that all the cumulative work you do will act as a resume for you. Take the time now to figure out if you will need to create writing samples or online content to show potential clients, and figure out how to properly organize and display that work.

• Specialize – Figure out what your interests and passions are. Do you collect action figures? Are you a yoga instructor? Are you passionate about environmental issues and green living? Any of these areas of interest can help you develop content and writing ideas to help you land a niche-specific writing gig. Write about what you know. Write about what you love.

• Write Now! – That’s right (or write?), don’t put it off; don’t start tomorrow; let an idea pop in your head and write it down now. A typical internet article can be as short as 300-500 words. That’s less than a typed page. Easy. So do it! The sooner you start, the sooner you will have content to help market yourself, or possibly even publish.

• Read – Get on the net and do some research. Look for job listings to see what types of jobs are in demand. Learn about the craft of online writing and what is expected of writers. Do you want to write articles and content for websites?—find out what else you need to know, including the use of keywords and keyword density. Thinking about blogging?—make sure you know how to use the popular platforms and see what other bloggers can teach you about the process.

The more you read the more knowledgeable and better prepared you’ll be when it comes to finding work and getting it done.

• Network, Network, Network – Get out there and talk. Find people with common interests or people in your desired area of work and find out everything you can. Take advantage of social networking sites such as FaceBook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Join groups, follow blogs and participate in forums.

With every network you join, make sure to have a profile that links to your work and any websites or blogs you may have.

• Be Realistic – Understand that developing a resume, building a portfolio with content, and properly marketing yourself takes time, just as it may take time before you have any clients who are willing to give you a chance. Even when you are able to find paying freelance work, it might not always be in supply nor will your services always be in demand. Be prepared for these financial dry-spells.

Make sure you use your time wisely: work on a personal project that involves your writing skills, make a website or blog, or write articles for a third-party site such as Bukisa or Xomba to earn some residual income.

• Become Web-Savvy – Like it or not, the Internet is the final frontier for the freelance writer. It only makes sense that you know how to navigate out there, including being able to communicate with clients in a variety of ways and being competent in any software you might encounter in your field of work.

A few things freelancers should have a strong grasp of: basic HTML (especially if you are thinking of doing any blogging or work with websites), social networking sites, Microsoft Word, Excel, and Power Point, an FTP program (File Transfer Protocol program for uploading files to servers and websites), instant messaging (AIM or Yahoo), and email services. It would also be useful to have Adobe Photoshop and Dreamweaver under your belt for any creative projects you may have.

• Keep Writing! – I can’t stress this enough. If you haven’t started looking for work, keep writing. If you can’t find work, keep writing. If you have plenty of work and high-paying clients, keep writing. You reap what you sow, and the work you do know can always help you in the future, even becoming a source of income.

If you can read this, then you’re not writing.

What You Should Be Doing When Your Blog Is Young

What You Should Be Doing When Your Blog Is Young

If you are new to blogging or just starting a blog as a means of generating web traffic and making money, this is an article you really need to read. Things can be overwhelming when your blog is young, and your to-do list can be filled with hundreds of entries, but this article by Darren Rowse pins down some of the more important tasks you should be focusing on for long-term success.

Remember you need to think large. Think beyond just great content--think about building community and readership!

Read the Full Article@ProBlogger!


Photo by Rodrigo Vieira

A Beginner’s Guide to Web Development

A Beginner’s Guide to Web Development

Like it or not, if you are looking for work online, at some point you are going to have to learn some HTML and basic design principles. This article gives us a general outline for picking up the language, as well as some useful hints that might otherwise be overlooked. If you are anything like me, trying to learn this material is a crap-shoot process, and it's something I learn as I go.

Any help is good help.

Read the Full Article@FreelanceFolder!


Photo by Zanetta Hardy

How Getting An F On Your School Paper Makes You A Better Blogger

How Getting An F On Your School Paper Makes You A Better Blogger

The truth is, throughout school and college we are essentially programmed to be "academic" writers. In other words, we've been molded into boring writers. Any writing style you might have picked up won't be of much use to you or of much appeal to the rest of the world. There aren't many people out there who want to read your essay on The Old Man and the Sea.

This article reminds us that poor performance in school doesn't translate to bad writing in the real world. In fact, you might just be better off with a poor academic style: the real world (especially readers on the Internet) want human writing that sounds natural and isn't stilted or lofty. Rob Sutton lists numerous ways to tweak and utilize your writing to make it palatable and possibly even profitable.

Remember, your writing abilities can extend beyond the classroom!

Read the Full Article@ProBlogger!

Why Every Freelancer Should Have a Personal Project

Why Every Freelancer Should Have a Personal Project

The decision to go freelance is not dictated solely by money or the want of freedom from the workplace, but also as an outlet for personal growth and artistic development. The freedom we experience freelancing should allow us to pursue our own interests in some productive and meaningful way, whether that be writing, art, development, or exploration into a hobby. Any of these things can be turned into a personal project that can greatly enhance one's resume and professional portfolio.

And you never know--your personal project could turn into a lucrative, full-time job. Remember, think 'down the road.'

This article further explores the wisdom and necessity of pursuing personal projects and what they can do for us.

Read the Full Article@FreelanceFolder!


Photo by Ariel da Silva Parreira

The 10 Biggest Mistakes People Make on Twitter

The 10 Biggest Mistakes People Make on Twitter

If you are even thinking about using Twitter for driving traffic to your blog, website, or articles, then you need to read this article. The primary lesson here: don't bombard or abuse your followers. You are using Twitter to build a network of loyal readers, not just filling a shooting gallery for spam. These are common sense tips to help you be professional, and encourage people to want to follow you.

Read the Full Article@GuerrillaFreelancing!

Photo by Cecile Graat