Contrary to what you may have heard, it is a really good idea to have a site of your own. Web hosting can be as low as $30 a year. Add a domain for $15 or less, and for less than $50 you can have your own site.
The reason I bring this up is because I have seen a lot of offers in the past several months that promise a way to make a lot of money without a site. That may be true, but I doubt it. Either way, a site and domain of your own opens a lot more opportunities to profit than without one.
All you need to make this happen is to select a hosting company and pay for a hosting account. You will be asked at the time you order what domain you will be using. Some hosting accounts will also set you up with a domain name for an extra fee.
If you want to get your domain first, do a search and you'll find the top options. I use Namecheap, and I have used Godaddy. I had good luck with both of them.
Once you decide who to go with, enter the domain you want to use and see if it's available. If it is, you're good to go. If not, you will be presented with related domain names that you can register. You can go with one of the suggestions, or you can enter another of your domain ideas and do another search.
It is going to require you to learn how to use cPanel and how to link your domain to your hosting account. If you use the same company for both, this will probably already be taken care of automatically.
If this is the first time you have had hosting or registered a domain, you are in luck. There are lot of site that offer articles and videos that will walk you through how to register a domain, how to log in and use cPanel on your hosting account, and how to upload your web site files.
If you are going to install wordpress as your site, cPanel includes software that will install it in a few easy steps. Again, there are a lot of free resources that you can access doing a web search.
A good place to do your search is YouTube. Lots of free videos that will show you how to anything you can think of.
Once you have a domain with a site attached, make sure to set up your email address. It makes you look professional and like a real business.
Once you have the above steps complete, you have the basics of your first web site. Now you have some work to do. If you are using WordPress, you can select a theme that works for your type of business. There are a lot of free themes out there, and paid ones as well.
The paid themes usually offer more options, but be aware that there can be a bit of a learning curve before you can get the results you want.
What you want is to create a site that looks good and is easy for your visitors to find what you are offering. Easy access to your blog posts, info on the products you are offering with easy to understand links, and of course a way on every page of your site for your visitors to become subscribers.
One of the ways that I use to create new sites is to set up a subdomain on my hosting account and install wordpress. Then I download a few themes to try out, and add a few plugins.
My goal is not to create an awesome site. If I do end up with a great site, I win. What I am doing is trying out new things that I am just learning. If I make a mistake and end up with a mess, it's not a problem, because it is just a test site.
I can delete the site, and start over. What this does is keep me from trying to get it right the first time on my main site. If I try to get it perfect, I end up spending a lot of time researching and wasting time instead of doing the actual work.
The test site is a place where it is OK to fail. I can try out the things that I have learned in my research. The best way to learn is to do it. It is great to learn and take courses. I do it all the time, and I am all for it.
The way all of the training courses pay off is when I can implement what I have learned. However you decide to proceed, just get started. Get a domain and web hosting. Set up your site, either WordPress or a traditional site. Once you do, you're on your way to success.
