Starting an online business but not exactly sure what you need to get started?

You are in the perfect place my friend. I have put all the resources and tools you will need to start your online business.

NOTE* Everything I recommend, I use in my own business. I would never recommend anything I don’t use myself.

Ok, let’s get started..

Step #1: Buy A Domain Name

If you are getting started with an online business you need a website.
Of course there are ways around it with web 2.0 sites, social media sites and services like Leadpages.net where they will host your opt-in page on their servers, but if you are creating a real business that is going to be sticking around, you will need a website.

My top recommendation for purchasing your domain/website is to use Namecheap.com

Why I love NameCheap is because they always include free WhoIs Data protection which other providers like GoDaddy, MyDomain or the many other providers out there usually charge $20 or more per year.

I’ve always had a great experience with Namecheap.com and they have some of the lowest prices out there along with great customer service if you ever need it.

GoDaddy isn’t bad and you can usually find a coupon to get a great deal on your first year of registration, but in the end, just go with NameCheap.

Step #2: Buy Hosting

Once you have your domain, you will need hosting. I have tried different hosting services and for a while had good luck with all of them but then things started taking a turn for the worst.

I used to use HostGator until my server kept going down for hours on end and I had a support ticket open where I couldn’t edit anything on my site or respond to comments for almost 2 weeks where I had to call their customer support line 4 times without any update.

When it comes to an online business, your website is everything and if it goes down, that means you are losing money and possibly brand authority. So you want to make sure you have the most reliable service out there.

After all my ranting, I highly recommend Siteground.com for web hosting.

They are a little more expensive for shared hosting but have great customer service and I have never run into any server downtime, which is a big plus in my book.

If you have many sites that you need to host and are looking at SEO using PBNs, I recommend http://ip-networx.com/

They are built for PBNs and SEO in general but if you are just starting with one site, stick with Siteground.

Step #3: Start An Email List

You’ve probably heard it before and I will say it again, email is NOT dead! It is still one of the best ways to keep in contact with your customers, build a relationship with customers and potential customers, follow up after a sale, upsell, and upsell some more 🙂

So to capture email addresses you will need an autoresponder and a way to build an opt-in page (also known as a squeeze page and landing page).

Opt-In Page Builder:

First, if you want the easiest thing out there for building landing pages go with Leadpages.net. If you want more information on other softwares and services I use and recommend to build great looking, high converting opt in pages, check out my post here.

AutoResponder:

There are a ton of good autoresponders out there, but if you are getting started, go with GetResponse.

I recommend it because of it’s price, email deliverability, FREE 30 Day trial, and the best feature, “Time Travel.” Time travel lets you send your newsletters and autoresponder messages to people at a certain time, local time zone, with just the click of a button. This can greatly increase open rates without any extra work!! Other autoresponders can do this but it usually takes quite a bit of effort.

If you want a ton more flexibility and a built in sales solution with the capability to have affiliates, I highly recommend going with Infusionsoft.

That is all you need to get started and build your online business!

Now go out there and start putting everything together. If you have any questions, please leave a comment below and we will try to respond within 48 hours.

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