Building a coaching website, quickly, cheaply & easily.
There are a lot of slow, expensive and difficult ways to build a website. Profit by my mistakes. Here are common-sense alternatives.
1. Use a format that others have also used - like a template. In the case of the www.nycmcc.com website, I asked the website developer to show me some of his favorites. When I saw one that made sense I said: "That one." You can spend thousands of dollars for custom design. I've done that too. My other website, www.craigjennings.com, is a higher-end effort, not a template, and it shows.
2. Write text in MS Word. If you have several pages or sections of text, give each a name. In our version, I think there were 5 pages. They needn't be different files, however. Don't try to get everything perfect. After you've looked at it for a while, you can re-think it. Changes are not without cost, but what's really expensive is not starting until it's perfect (i.e. never!). E-mail your text to your developer.
3. You can also organize material in Excel if that's warranted.
4. Select several domain names. You might like yourname.com, or coachname.com or perhaps something more unique. Try to keep it short - people checking you out don't like to write a lot. That's one reason why we selected www.nycmcc.com. Your webmaster will check out your alternatives for you. If somebody already has taken what you want, move on and stay creative. (Hint: avoid suffixes other than .com. There are a bunch of alternatives on the market. They confuse the hell out of people!!!)
5. Get your website developer to set you up so that you can update material from your own pc's browser. This saves a huge amount of money.
6. Graphics, logos, fancy stuff. Ask a designer-friend to prepare a logo. E-mail this stuff to the developer, suggest where they might go.
7. Content: Keep it personal - the more personal the better. I get a lot of comment about the personal stuff on my website -craigjennngs.com. It's one place where you can be unabashedly autobiographical. This is the place to show what you've got and who you are, not how elegantly or corporately you speak.
About costs.
a. You'll pay for registering the domain name. Our price was $24 for two years for our site.. You can pay more. I know I initially paid $65 for the first two years of www.mycoaching.com. I also paid $2500 for the development, unnecessarily, just because I was ignorant. You will NOT see the name of that developer among my recommendations at the bottom of this article!.
b. You'll pay for "hosting" - the service of keeping your stuff on a server (computer) perpetually in contact with the web. This varies with the size (in megabytes) of your website. Basic cost is $15 a month for 2 pages.
c. You'll pay for work your web designer does for you. You'll pay professional rates, which run from $60-$150/hr.
Who to use.
Four different references:
1. Allen Arber at Roughhouse Design - responsible for the format and layout of www.craigjennings.com. High-end, really good. 212 6765-9693; allen@roughousedesign.com
2. Cassandra Winterton, Platinum Web Creations, 516 599-3754; cass@4-pwc.com - uses templates. Very capable, did a great job for one of my clients.
3. Eugenia Antipas, at PushLive. Professional, but not high-priced. I've gotten some good feedback on her from clients I've referred her to. 917 400-6514, eugenia@pushlive.com.
4. Network Solutions.com - on the Web, offers a lot of templates, modest fees, you do all the work. I have one client who was pleased at the money he saved. Frankly, the look of his site is dandy, and the copy (which he wrote) really sucks. (He's working on this with his coach!)
But it looks like you get what you pay for here, as elsewhere.
Why should you create a website?
A guy called me today and asked me to be his coach. I asked him how he got my name and why he called. He'd seen a listing and checked out my website. He liked what he saw. That was enough for him. And that's enough for me!
No website, no call, no business. A coach can't afford not to have one. What talks to me especially - it's a brochure you can't lose!
When should you get started?
If not now, when???
Make a phone call!
Good luck!
Craig Jennings, President
NYC Midtown Coaching Center
516 944-6454
cjenning@optonline.net
www.mycoaching.com
www.nycmcc.com
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