We are one of many families who use one company to supply our Internet, cable television, and phone service. Usually that isn’t a problem, but now I’ve realized we need to have an alternate plan for our communication services. Our neighbours were having satellite installed and no longer needed the cable. But the panel for our street had the wrong house numbers allocated, so instead of disconnecting next door, we lost all of our services.
That wouldn’t have been so bad for a short time, but it was Friday of a long weekend. We called right away to report the mistake, but the technician couldn’t come back and we would have to call again Monday. It turned out that the whole week was a busy one and our service wouldn’t be restored until the following Thursday.
We did have a cell phone for emergency use. It was necessary since one of our grandkids had to go to hospital. An old tv antenna helped us get a couple of channels. As for the Internet, I visited places that had wireless access and managed to get some of my email. Without a laptop and the mobile phone, it would have been much more difficult to take care of our family and our business.
Now that life is back to normal, we have some decisions to make. Should one company supply all of those services in the future? What alternatives do we have?
Technorati Tags: loss of communications, Internet problems, telephone interruptions
One of the things I’ve noticed a lot of business owners do is to set up a free blog on Blogger.com or one of the other free hosting services and then neglect to register a domain name of their own for the blog. So instead of being able to tell people to go to FromKnowledgeToProfit.com, for instance, I would be telling them the Internet address is FromKnowledgeToProfit.blogspot.com instead. Not nearly as professional sounding. And when the price of domain names today is less than ten dollars a year, not a very good business decision.
I’ve created a short tutorial to help you register a domain name and then point it to your free blog. I hope you find the information useful and welcome your comments.
DomainRegistrationBooklet
Technorati Tags: domain name registration, forwarding a domain name
This is a last minute note to let you know about NAMS. It’s the affiliate marketing workshop I have attended twice in the past and will be held this August in Atlanta, Georgia. Three days of hands-on intensive training by some of the best Internet marketers in the business. No sales pitches are allowed, just solid content.
I wasn’t planning to attend and the price had been raised to $697. As each week went by, I started wishing I’d registered. Then I got an email the other day offering a large discount on tickets. But the special price is only available until the end of May – which is tomorrow! So I paid my admission right away, then I started thinking I should at least let my readers know.
You’ll have to act fast. Click on this NAMS link and before you buy your ticket, add the coupon code NAMS4MAY and it will only cost you $397 – a savings of $300! It doesn’t matter what your experience level is, there are groups for Beginners, Intermediate, and Advanced.
If you decide to go, please comment and let me know and we can get together while we’re there. You won’t regret it. And did I mention that my 85-year-old mother will be there too? After all, Internet marketing can be done even from your rocking chair.
Technorati Tags: NAMS, workshop in Atlanta, Internet marketing
I’ve mentioned before that I host my websites on Hostgator and how much I like their service. After today, I more than like their service. I was updating this site a short time ago when for some reason all of my content disappeared. After my initial heart failure, I went straight to the chat feature for Hostgator’s tech support. There were two people in front of me in line, but my wait was less than two minutes.
I quickly typed my problem into the chat feature and the technician, Kervin, asked me to wait while he looked at the problem. Less than a minute later, my site was back to normal. There had been a problem with the WordPress database and he had repaired it. Then he took the time to explain to me how to fix it myself should it ever happen again.
With my former hosting service, I had to send an email if there was a problem and wait a day or so for the answer. I love the fact that I can chat to a Hostgator support person whenever I have a problem. I have a number of websites, all hosted with Hostgator for a low monthly fee. Add that to their excellent customer service and it’s no wonder I recommend them whenever I can.
Technorati Tags: Hostgator, hosting tech support, website problems
I often take it for granted that every local business has a website. The reality is that a large percentage still don’t have an online presence. Last week’s Cambridge Times carried a column written by the advisor of the Waterloo Region Small Business Centre. The title, “Website a Must for Business”. Roy Weber, the author, likens not having a basic website today to being without a telephone.
That’s a powerful example. Would you ever try to run a business without a phone? Even the companies that are too busy to provide personal customer service at least have an automated system that answers some of their client questions. But many consumers today go straight to the Internet when they want to find a local business or service. Without a website, you don’t exist to those people.
A basic website can provide information regarding hours of operation, location, answers to frequently asked questions. Add topic related content and a way to collect the names and email addresses of potential customers. Now your website becomes a means to interact and keep in touch with those people. Your target market has given you permission to ask what they would like from you, to send them announcements, even to sell to them. All for less than the price of a coffee a day. Include social media in your marketing plan and your customers become your tribe and look to you as the expert in your field.
Ask yourself the following questions: Read more…
