Creating a Web Site for $15 per Year

This post is for my consultant friends who need a web site for credibility, and don't want to hire someone. I used GoDaddy's Website Tonight product. I am paying $45/year for two years. However, since then I've found easier and even cheaper options. Here is what I've learned. I'd love your comments as well.

Microsoft Office Live
Microsoft Office Live offers the same thing as GoDaddy offers except it's free. Then for $15/year you can get your own domain name. The user interface looks a lot more straight forward. Go to http://home.officelive.com/settings/pages/home.aspx.

Office Live gives you three steps to get your site up and going
1. Design it (using premade templates for most types of pages you'd need)
2.Get a url
3. Set up your email address.

I don't think it's any harder than using PowerPoint.

Intuit
I see that Intuit offers something similar. Please comment if you end up trying that one.

Blog-centric: WordPress
Finally, if you want your site to be blog-centric, consider WordPress. Then your home page will be your blog. Other than that, it offers the same capabilities to add pages, use a template for your look, and purchase your own domain name for $15/ year. No email. Some nice traffic reporting if you want to count visitors.

Final Tip on Art
I have been consistently pleased with www.istockphoto.com. They offer rights to use photos and artwork for as low as $1 per image and it's very easy to use. You can make your site much more professional that way.

Product Management for Web 2.0

This presentation, by Dan Olsen, does a great job of capturing the key concepts of Web 2.0 product management: Designing and Optimizing the DNA of a Killer App

Let the customer be the rock star

I'm seeing lots of job postings for rock stars who want to come help change the world. I know it's just a fun term. But I say, let the clients be the rock stars.

My favorite book toward that end is the business classic, Crossing the Chasm, by Geoffrey Moore. Click here for a nice summary. If you're a marketing manager you've probably read it but I'll reiterate the main point. To succeed with a new technology business, start with one very well defined set of customers. Look at their needs from end to end. Address every single one, so it's a no brainer to use your product. Not just via the feature set, but all the other factors around it - quality level, documentation, service, add ons, delivery, so that they are sure to come out ahead even after all factors have been considered. If it's too much, simplify rather than sacrificing the winning experience by missing details that end up affecting cost or effort. Narrow your market to limit the scope of what you need to do.

Make your customers feel like rock stars for having done business with you. Make them references to their peers. Be the go to company for that one little market. Then you're ready to do the same for another market.

Keep this question top of mind: Looking at the end to end experience, is your customer getting an off the charts win?

Twitter Effects

Since I started using Twitter, my posts here have gotten shorter. I wonder what happens to your attention span after prolonged use. Wait. What was I talking about?

Lots of Case Studies on Social Media Marketing

If you're interested in Social Media marketing, here's a really big list of case studies.

Twitter Tip

Learning how to use Twitter for business purposes? I find a blog by Darren Rowse of ProBlogger useful, starting with this post ... http://tinyurl.com/6cj563 and including the comments.

Quickest Website

I think I've found the cheapest and easiest possible way to get a web site for small businesses like mine. You can buy a domain name on Blogger for $10 per year. It comes with free web pages, email, and a calendar and promises more features in the future. I'm wondering, is there a catch?