Facebook

Well...I think I may like Facebook's business page better than their actual pages. Still some investigating and I may delete my own Facebook profile. I like these helpful fbb pages: X x X . My affinity towards these pages may or may not be directly linked to the fact that they have visually interesting info graphs.

• I like how involved fbb can be with its followers ranging from polls to posting comments to share as well as asking for feedback such as having your followers submit posts.
• If you're familiar with facebook, the layout is relatively simple and uniform, so everyone can navigate your page so long as they are familiar with the site themselves.
• However, I personally find facebook's layout hideous. I can't stand the fact that you can't move around any of the widgets, only hide them- even then some information must be publicized.
• It is a lot of work to get your page popular and then even more work to keep that popularity sustained or growing steadily. Although it is easy enough for one of your posts to go viral, so long as it is an interesting post.
• I really like giveaways.

Apparently, fbb pages can't like other pages, so I'm keeping my profile. So many things to keep track of now.  I'd like to use my facebook to hopefully keep followers interested in what I'm selling and to post updates on items I may be selling. It'd also be great if I could get even more customers through facebook.

Legal Structure's and DBA's

I swear this is going to make my head explode. I don't understand why it has to be worded in such an ambiguous way. I'll be going with a sole proprietorship mainly because my 'business' is just me selling art. I don't want to sign up for one right now, though, mostly because I really don't have the money at this moment, but also because I'm not even sure how well this is going to pick up. I would love to spend all my time on it, but I have school.

• I think I'm going to go with a dba. Still not 100% sure what this means but I think it's best for sole proprietors.
• Again, don't get what this means, but I can run my business under a name that is not mine, for instance pineapple- however, I don't own that name, I just get to call myself that.
• I'm hoping it's cheaper and less confusing than an LLC.

If I ever get enough money, I'm going to pay for someone else to do this for me.

Google Analytics

I think it's nice to be able to see who visits your site and from where. Very convenient. I mean, stores can kind of do the same thing, although it requires the manager to be there in person and to study every customer that walks into their store. I guess this is just another convenient technological advantage we get in this day and age.

Website Designing

http://www.hh-candy.com/product-category/accessories-goods/
http://griffsnuff.deviantart.com/journal/Commission-Pricelist-222815518
The first site is what my main goal is, however, it is more geared to merchandise that sells on a frequent basis. I would love to be able to sell my own crafts online, but that will have to wait until I return home and I'm not able to produce products for mass production. It would be more beneficial to sell my handmade products on etsy or even ebay, because they are widely followed sites that most people have an account with and could follow me easier. I'd like to feature my products still on my own site, but have it mainly feature commissions.
The second site is a journal entry off of an artist's deviantart site that I follow. Her page is a bit messy, but that is, for all intents and purposes, what I'm looking to produce for my own webpage.

• First off, the major differences are of course the site layouts. The first site has its own hosting, while the second is merely a page of an online art web hosting site.
• They both, however, offer some form of ability to subscribe to their page and follow their updates and they both make reasonable business. Both use paypal for billing.

Choosing a Web Host

Okay, I think I know the difference between a web host and a web builder, but I'm not entirely sure if web builder's provide a domain...and what that difference is with a host. I'll update the title of the post below once I do.

1.      Will the host work "easily" with the site builder I chose. Most allow one-click installs for WordPress, but building a site in Weebly, Wix, or Webstarts and transferring that site to another host if very cumbersome.

2.      What is the total cost for the time that I plan to host the website? If you choose a host that has a very low monthly fee, but requires you to sign-up for three years to obtain that price, and if you only want to host the site for two months, you may be paying much more than you planned. Determine the length of the contract and do the math for overall cost.

3.      Does that host offer promo codes that will substantially decrease overall cost.

4.      Is the Domain name included in the price of host? Domain names would otherwise cost around $10.00 to $12.00.

5.      Will you be able to get good support in a timely manner? Some hosts have telephone support from people in the US. Other only have email support with two day turn-around time. If you are new at this you might need and want some support.

6.      How much AdWords credit is available? Many hosts offer $25 to $75 Google AdWords credit.

I posted these questions for the required assignment for clarity and so that I could come back to them again. Or you could use them if you'd like non-existant page viewers.
So iPage, the cheapest site from those listed here: http://webhostingreviews2013.net/

• It has a 'drag and drop' site builder, which I'm assuming it means it supports other site builders, as well as features its own. However it only allows up to six pages, but I don't even know what that specifies.
• The site costs a $2.95 a month. However they apparently have a sale right now so that for the first three months it's only $1.99, but it comes with a 2-3 year contract where you pay $2.95 for the rest of the months. Or you can sign up for a 12 month contract where you pay $1.99 for the firs three and $4.60 for the remainder.
•  Okay, apparently the above is the promotional price for the first term only. Here are the regular rates that follow: 

36-month term: $6.99 a month (billed $251.64 for 3 years)

24-month term: $7.99 a month (billed $191.76 for 2 years)

12-month terms: $8.99 a month (billed $107.88 for 12 months)

• It is free for the first year, afterwards you have to pay. I can't easily find the price for that but I think for a two year registration it costs about $30.
• They offer customer support.
• $100 google adwords credit, $25 for a yahoo/bing search bar, $50 for facebook advertising.

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Choosing a Website Builder

Wordpress.org would be my main choice but after some first hand experience it seems a bit more complicated than anyone initially let on. The advertisers say it's very easy to maintain- after a few hours of training. After checking out a couple of sites, I do realize now that it is indeed a blog. Which would not normally bother me but I'm looking for a more simple and 'one-click' type of website so that maintenance would be easy and it would actually look like a shop. However, I'm not very inclined to most online shops, etsy.com being one of the few exceptions. Wordpress's domain cost, however, keeps it in the running. Squarespace may be the one I actually try out.

• I like its diversability, being a blog and/or a shop. But the shop set up is not to my taste, at least as it appears on the sample. I'm hoping they offer custom html options.
• They offer a somewhat limited html customization option, I'm looking more into it.
• They have a really nice introduction video.

Hopefully I can get to use a demo or something to try and get a feel for how the site works.

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