Basic online marketing tools and resources.

What I have outlined on this page are the basic tools you need to get your business going. These resources are linked to both my model and refer to the simplest and most cost effective way to go. Make sure you understand why you are getting any of these tools or resources.

Some of these items are free but some carry a once only cost and some involve a recurring cost. I have spent a lot of time trying out and testing everything that is on this page an so I am completely confident about the product or service I have recommended here.

Getting started in online marketing.

1. Get your online marketing website in place.

If you don’t have a copy of my “start-up checklist” then go get it  here so you can follow along.

1. Domain name. I have used a number of companies to get various domain names but highly recommend HostMonster. You can get your domain name(s) by following this link.

Click here to get your domain names from HostMonster

2. Hosting service. The hosting service I use for my online marketing business is HostMonster and I have dozens of sites out on the net.They are priced very reasonably, have been in business a while, have a great up-time record, good on-site training resources, a very good customer service desk and lots of useful free things on their site.You can sign up for your hosting service for you online marketing business by following this link.

Click here to get your hosting service from HostMonster

3. Website structure. The most popular “out of the box” web design product is without a doubt WordPress.com and the good thing about that is HostMonster installs it with a click of a button so go there and do that.

If you follow the tutorials along on HostMonster you will have your site up in no time.

4. Website appearance. The most popular “out of the box” web design product is without a doubt WordPress.com and the good thing about that is HostMonster installs it with a click of a button. You can check them out from this link and what you are looking for is the gallery of themes.
   There are thousands of these and you can find them on the net as well. There are many that are free and many that only cost a few dollars.

Don’t worry if you don’t get it right the first time, they are very easy to change. The point is, find one you like for now for you online marketing business and replace it later if you really must. There are also a lot of free tutorials on the WordPress site that you will find useful as well so make a point of reading some of those as well.

Of course you can outsource all of this but I like to have a degree of control over how the sites work. This way I can log in and make a few changes, add some new material, take some away all in a matter of minutes and virtually from anywhere. If you want to run this type of business, online marketing, it doesn’t hurt to learn as much about it as possible.

2. Set up your online marketing money collection systems.

If you do business online much of it will be across borders and in other currencies. What is needed is an internationally accepted method for collecting money that is tied to an equally robust method to deliver the products being sold. I recommend two systems and the odds are you already have one of them.

1. PayPal.

If you don’t already have a PayPal account then follow this link and get one now.

Open a PayPal account

Now you need to convert it to a business account so you need to login to PayPal and upgrade your account. At the time of writing this all of the above is free.

To start with all you need is a login to PayPal and go to your account. Find the button there that says “Merchant Services” and learn all about their “Website Payments Standard” service. Note the fees but also note it costs nothing to set it up.

PayPal also has a free shopping cart but can integrate with other carts if needed later down the track in your online marketing business.

2. ClickBank. If you don’t have one of these accounts already then follow the link and open one.Open a ClickBank accountYou will need one of these accounts for your online marketing business and ClickBank covers it in their blurb with “ClickBank is the Internet’s leading retailer of digital products. Whether you’re looking to sell, promote, or shop for digital goods, ClickBank is for you.”

So here is what you have done to this point:

• purchased a domain (at least one)
• set up a hosting account
• transferred your domain to that account
• loaded WordPress onto your domain
• you site is now live
• explored a theme that suits you and installed it
• set up a PayPal business account
• explored the “website payments standard” option
• set up your ClickBank account
• Awesome.

Now you have the bare necessities in place for your online marketing business.