OK, so you've got a domain name and set up a hosting account for your new WordPress website (explained in my previous post).

What next?

For this, I'll be following the instructions on the WordPress website: http://codex.wordpress.org/Installing_WordPress

(You need to install WordPress itself first, before you install Thesis or any other themes.)

The installation instructions web page looks so long I have doubts that their "famous 5-minute installation" really will take 5 minutes! I'll time how long it takes me to do it and will write the steps I've taken as well.

1. Download WordPress

Here's the page where you do that: http://wordpress.org/download/

Unzip the downloaded file and save it on your computer's hard drive. (I've saved mine to the C-drive, in "Program Files".)

OK, that's the easy bit. It gets a bit trickier now.

Time elapsed so far: 8 minutes

2. Install WordPress onto your web host

I'd suggest ignoring the instructions on the WordPress website, they are VERY confusing and I've wasted a heap of time trying to follow them.

Instead, this video is really helpful:



Time elapsed so far: 46 minutes (told you I'd wasted a lot of time!)

Uploading the files by FTP to my web host took approx. 12 minutes (on broadband).

I wasn't sure whether I was uploading to the right folder, as both the video and WordPress instructions are vague on this. In my cast, I uploaded to the "htdocs" folder.

Has it worked? Nope, not yet. I tried going to my website and got an error message:

Error establishing a database connection

Before you can get your WordPress website up-and-running, you need to have it "hosted" somewhere, i.e. the programme and files need to sit on a server (special computer) that lets the world see your website.

There are many different hosting companies, and their services and charges can vary. Many charge for this monthly.

If you've taken the hint in my previous post and read WordPress Defender, you'll know that you need to ask your potential hosting company some questions about their service before you buy from them.

These go above and beyond the recommendations made by WordPress, which you can find here:
Hosting WordPress: server requirments - http://codex.wordpress.org/Hosting_WordPress

NB: You'll also need a domain name for your website. You may or may not already have a domain name. If you don't have one, your hosting company may offer the registration service, which usually has an annual charge.
What's a domain name?

It's the website address. For example, the website I'll be building with WordPress will be at www.westie-terriers.com.

So www.westie-terriers.com is my domain name, which I pay for annually, as well as the hosting charge.

Keeping Your WordPress Website Secure

As mentioned in my previous post, WordPress has many benefits.

But it has a downside: it's so popular that it's an easy and common target for hackers.

Being informed and prepared is a good idea, so before you do anything else, you can take measures to ensure that your WordPress website is set up in a way that's as secure as possible.

I'd suggest you check out WordPress Defender: it's a very helpful eBook. I've bought my copy, and I'll be implementing the techniques it suggests as I progress.

So yes, go and read more about WordPress Defender :)

PS. If you're wondering why anyone would want to hack your website - it's because they can. That happened to the author of WordPress Defender, and it's why he wrote this ebook so it less likely to happen to you.

I'm about to set up my very first Wordpress website.

Follow my trials and errors, as I'll be posting useful links and resources on the way!

Why use WordPress?

I love how it's a future-proof and very flexible website infrastructure. There are lots of "plug-ins" that give these websites a wide range of functions. And it's inexpensive to do so.

WordPress started out as a blogging platform, but these days it's a perfectly respectable way to build an entire website. Have a look at the Showcase page on the WordPress website to see what I mean.

What is a WordPress theme?

WordPress websites need a "theme". There are free ones available, but I've heard that many of these are badly coded (i.e. will cause you issues), and some even have malware coded into them (i.e. virusy-things that will give you BIG headaches).

So along the way I'll be choosing a theme and blogging about that aspect too.

Why should you read this blog?

There are dozens, if not hundreds on blogs about WordPress. Most of them seem to be written by techie types who are into programming and other geeky stuff. I'm not. While I'm web-savvy, I haven't the fogiest about programming.

So I'll be trawling through all those other blogs, and either linking to useful stuff, or writing my own posts here - in plain English!

Who should attempt setting up this kind of website themselves?

You don't need to be a programmer to do this.

But you need to be confident with computers and technology - and willing to learn. At the very least, know how to upload files by FTP.

Be prepared to ask your web host questions, and to research stuff on the internet.

If you're not keen or willing to do that, but would still like a WordPress website, I'd suggest that you find a good website designer that'll do that for you. NB: this is NOT a service I offer, I'm just writing this blog to help people who are looking for non-techy instructions :)

For decades business owners have wanted a magic wand for their marketing: the quick, easy, cost-effective campaign that brings scores of new customers through the door with zero effort and minimal cost.

Till now, that’s never existed (despite what’s been promised). And now, it appears that this really is possible... or is it?

The new marketing superstar: One Day Offers

There are now scores of websites offering this new promotional or advertising model. In New Zealand, there’s Dailydo, Spreets, 1-Day and Grab One to name but a few of these websites; more and more appear to be springing up all the time.

These websites all work in pretty much the same way: you offer your product or service at a ridiculous discount; they put the offer out to their database; and you pay for a percentage of the deals sold. Some of the models may vary, but that’s the basic crux of it.

Finally, an advertising model that’s based on success!

This is what’s really good about these One Day Offers; you only pay based on the success of your campaign. In the current economic climate, small businesses are struggling to find the budgets for advertising. So these success-based models are brilliant in that regard: you only pay for what you get.

Best of all, the One Day Offers can give a small business a very sizeable cash flow injection, when the company makes the payment for all the one day offers.

What’s not to love?

Love can make you blind... so don’t get too blinded by these campaigns.

The punters don’t love you

The people who buy the One Day Offers are punters – people who take a punt on things... they’re definitely not customers. Remember, someone who buys from you once is NOT a Customer – they are a Shopper. Shoppers flit here and there till they find the perfect supplier (or else they’ll keep chasing deals). Someone is not a Customer till they have bought from you twice.

Beware of the bargain hunters

The people who buy the One Day Offers are bargain hunters. Some people can be addicted to getting “bargains”; other people use this is a means of saving money in tough times.

Therefore the One Day Offer business model actually discourages customer loyalty... they may even breed disloyalty. Pinning too many marketing hopes onto these bargain hunters could be a risky marketing tactic – especially if you’re not supporting these campaigns with customer retention strategies.

Customer retention strategies are vital

Of course, many business owners hope that at least some of these bargain hunters will become regular customers. But you need to work at that. Out of sight becomes out of mind all too easily – not just with your bargain hunters, but your existing client base too.

If you don’t keep in touch with your clientele, it’s easy for them to assume that you don’t care about them, or don’t value them. So the chances of them defecting to a competitor becomes much greater. (They may even have a punt on a One Day Offer themselves!)

Therefore it’s absolutely vital that you work hard at making sure every Shopper and every Customer comes back again and again and again. And you have to work at that. It means that everyone in your team has to have top-notch sales training, with well-planned processes and scripts in place to lure these Shoppers back for a repeat purchase.

You’ll need to have sound marketing initiatives in place too around customer retention: that includes things like newsletters, text reminders, social media updates, loyalty cards, courtesy phone calls – whatever is appropriate to your business.

Regular customers are the lifeblood of your business

Regular customers keep your business alive. This is where the real marketing gold lies – in having as many loyal customers as possible, who love your business so much, they’ll send all their friends to you.

Best of all, these are people who are wiling to pay full price – they’re not just there for a bargain or a discount. It’s these regular customers who make your business profitable. And it’s up to you, as the business owner, to keep an eye on those profit levels.

Measure your marketing campaigns

If you want to know if the one day offers are doing your business a favour or costing you money, you need to measure. And the way to measure these campaigns is to look at the number of punters who become regular clients.

The bargain hunters simply cost you money; it’s the people who come back who are vital to success. Make sure you crunch some numbers so you can measure the Costs versus the Benefits of the campaign.

Avoid eroding your profit margins

While the bargain hunters might keep your staff nice and busy and give you a convenient cash flow injection, don’t forget that they are buying from you at a discount. And discounting does nasty, terrible things to your profit margins.

For example, if your current profit margin is 40% and you discount your price by 30%, your sales must increase by 300% to keep the same profit margin.

Only by measuring and crunching your numbers will you be able to see what’s really working – and what isn’t.

Summary

1. By all means give these One Day Offers a go – but don’t become over-reliant on them; you need to have additional strings to your marketing bow.
2. Have strategies in place to try and convert these disloyal bargain hunters into loyal, ongoing customers. This requires planning and working hard at consistent implementation.
3. Measure the success of these One Day Offer campaigns in terms of repeat business. Did the influx of punters make up for your eroded profit margins – or did the campaign cost you more than you thought?
4. Don’t forget your existing clientele, who pay full price for your product or service. This is where the real marketing gold lies.

If you're looking for marketing articles that you can use in your business-to-business marketing, now's a great time to invest in a year's membership of The Drippy Tap, as there's 10% Pre-Launch Discount.

Premium Members who join by 24 December 2010 will get access to the archive of marketing articles before Christmas!

... Perfect for putting your marketing-related New Year's resolutions into action!

What will these articles be on?

The articles are written to be of interest to your customers, i.e. SMEs who want to grow their business. So the topics include a range of subject including marketing, sales, customer service, copywriting, websites, design, and general business topics.

Here's a sneak preview of what will be available for Premium Members next week:

• Is Your Website’s Contact Us Page Actually Deterring Prospects?
• How To Stop Those Cliff-hanger Endings In Your Sales Meetings
• 4 Simple Tips On Giving Your Customers A Worry-Free Buying Experience
• What Do The Colours Of Your Logo Say About Your Business?
• Do You Assume That Everyone Who’s Bought From You Is A Customer?
• Have You Re-Aligned Your Marketing Tactics For Today’s Challenges?
• Is Your Business Card Harming Your Image?
• How To Use Positive Language For Positive Results
• Why Do Some Prospects Dither For So Long – And Then Back Out?
• Should You Really Bother With An FAQs Page On Your Website?
• Does Your Marketing Splutter Like A Smoky Old Engine?
• How To Implement A Mystery Shopping Campaign That'll Motivate Your Team
  

Web, Design, PR & Marketing Professionals & Business Consultants:
Do You Struggle To Find Time For Your Marketing?

Chances are, you’re always telling your clients they should send regular newsletters or post regular blog updates.

And you have every intention of doing so yourself.

But you just get too busy, and it never quite happens.

Where do the days go?

Somehow, the days are so busy working on your clients’ projects that you never seem to find the time for your own marketing. The days turn into weeks; those weeks turn into months; and a year later very little has changed!

But here’s the thing. It doesn’t actually take very much to do these things. Well, not if you’ve got some handy, cost-effective resources to help you...

Imagine a drippy tap.

(Or a drippy faucet, if you’re American.)

Each drip doesn’t seem to have much of an effect by itself.

But over time, these drips can fill a container – to the extent that it’s over-flowing.

That’s what your regular client communications are: a refreshing drip. The drips should be interesting and add value. They help you stay at the forefront of your customers’ minds.

• Newsletter
• Blog
• Website resources
• Social media updates
• Information sheet library
• Networking group speeches
• Whatever you like, provided it’s for marketing your own business. See the Terms & Conditions for more details.

• Marketing consultants
• Business consultants and business coaches
• Graphic designers and advertising agencies/companies
• Web designers, web developers and online marketing companies
• PR companies and PR consultants
• Copywriters.
• Any business-to-business organisation, whose clients are interested in business and marketing articles.

Last week I got an enquiry from a prospect who'd put her business on hold for 5 years due to personal reason.

That caused me to reflect just how much has changed in 5 years:

... We've gone from boom times, through a recession, to a new economy that is unpredictable and volatile.

... Technology (especially the internet and Google) have transformed consumer behaviour. The way we research products and services has changed dramatically. Printed directories are seriously struggling. Therefore having a website (and a good website at that, with Attraction and Conversion factors nicely covered 0ff) is more important than ever.

... Prospects and customers are probably more demanding than ever: and it has never been so easy for them to compare you against your competitors.

... Social media has become HUGE. And many business owners are wanting to jump on the bandwagon without understanding it, or are too scared to go anywhere near it!

It's a brave new world out there. Has your marketing adapted?

That said, many of the "old" pillars of business still hold true:

-- Having a plan is a good idea: just be prepared to review it and update it regularly.
-- Good, old fashioned customer service is NEVER out of fashion.
-- Working consistently and diligently usually does pay dividends, provided you keep an open mind and open eyes to things going on around you.
-- One person's problem is another person's opportunity!

I read an interesting article at the hairdressers today, I think it was in Marie Claire magazine.

4 women had to do one new thing repeatedly, each day for 30 days.

These challenges were quite simple, but still required thought on how to achieve this within a busy schedule.

• One woman had to wear red lipstick every day. The result: she felt more confident, and got lots of compliments - people responded differently to her. She started taking more pride in her appearance in general, and feels empowered.
• One woman had to phone her mother every day - and she wasn't sure if this would be a good or bad thing for their relationship. The result: she understands her mother a lot better, and have a closer relationship - more like friends than the mother/daughter roles.
• One woman had to eat all her meals off a real plate. The result: she thought more carefully about her diet, but the ongoing change is that she and her partner are eating their breakfast together every day. These 10 minutes spent daily with her partner has improved their relationship, and the quality of their everyday lives.
• One woman had to meditate every day - something which she found difficult to do. The result: not only did it help her manage her stress levels, but her approach to life is a bit more "zen".

• Posting to your Facebook page each week.
• Writing an article every fortnight.
• Phoning an existing client (or lapsed client) - 1 call a day.
• Write one thank you card every week.

Yes, I'm now presenting marketing techniques at small business workshops and seminars!

Do you feel like you’re working harder than ever – but not getting ahead?

Running a small business is hard work: there’s all the admin, sales, marketing and management to do – as well as your actual job.

Perhaps you're struggling to:

• Get more customers through the door?
• Convincing those customers to buy from you?
• Get the best performance out of your team?
• Maintain - or grow - your profit margins?
• Have a good balance between work and life?

Above: Cornelia Luethi took the hocus-pocus out of marketing at the first Business Soda workshop earlier this month.