I am terrified but I will post it here anyway.

[sunrise_rachel]

This is my first ever website so be gentle please. Bite sized portions are best! (We need a wink emoticon!)

I do know I may need to flesh out the wording. According the the readability test I did my site is at a 5-6th grade reading level. I was hoping for at least high school. So suggestions there would be great too.

I am doing all the work myself. I have just started and do not have funds for anyone to do anything for me. So suggestions for things I can do myself will be the best!
Thanks all.

I will be ducking for cover. :)

Sunrise at Home (http://www.sunriseathome.blogspot.com)

[Harold Mansfield]

(in my Ronald Reagan voice) "Well" ,

I can appreciate the fact that you are just starting out and are bootstrapping it. However, a free blog on Blogger is not the way to go. There's not much I can critique there because it won't make a difference.

My suggestion is that you do 1 of 2 things.

1. Register your own URL, apply it to your blogger account and choose a different theme ( this is not my favorite suggestion).

2. Get your own URL ( about $12 a year) and your own hosting ( about $75 a year on BlueHost, and about $65 a year on Hostgator). They both have WordPress one click install (https://my.bluehost.com/cgi/help/wp_install), and both have phone support should you need help.

*Learn the basics of using (http://codex.wordpress.org/First_Steps_With_WordPress)WordPress (http://wordpress.org/). There are blog posts, articles, forums (http://www.small-business-forum.net/wordpress/), and videos all over the web. The dashboard is much more user friendly than Blogger and you have more control over your site.

*Then grab a decent free, or affordable, theme to build something simple, yet professional. You could even use the default 2012 theme (http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/twentytwelve) that is included with the WordPress software. A few decent images, and little HTML knowledge can go a long way.

You can keep it simple and still look good.

This will cover multiple birds with one stone:
a. You'll have your own website on a CMS that can grow with you as you can do better with design and function.
b. It's far more SEO friendly and there are 100's of free plug ins that you can use to enhance functionality without knowing much or any code.
c. You'll have a company email address ( free email addresses aren't cutting it either).
d. You'll be off Blogger.

And you can do it for under $100: (http://nhab.it/do-it-yourself-website/)


IMPORTANT!: You will be using WordPress from WordPress.org NOT Wordpress.com. Yes, they are the same software, but, WordPress.com is a free blogging service like Blogger. DO NOT register a blog with WordPress.com. You will be using self hosted WordPress. The one click installs takes care of this for you.

If you are going to be running your own website, you may as well start using WordPress now. There are other CMS ( Content Management Systems) options like Joomla, and Drupal, but the learning curve is too steep and you will need to know some code.

There are all in one services and site builders, but many end up costing more than just doing it yourself, are limited, and you won't own the website...you'll just be renting the service.

That's my opinion.

[vangogh]

First don't be terrified. Remember what we say is mostly opinion. Often it'll be an informed opinion based on a good amount of experience, but it's still our opinion and you should take it with a grain of salt. Take in what people say and then decide for yourself what you agree with and don't agree with and use that to make improvements in your business.

I completely agree with Harold about getting your own domain. That's your prime real estate and it's something you need to own. It'll cost $10 or so a year. I think the best thing after that is to set up a hosting account and have a site developed or use WordPress.org and have a theme developed for you like Harold suggests, but I understand there isn't always the budget for that initially.

If you want to keep costs to the absolute minimum, instead of Blogger, I'd recommend using WordPress.com (http://www.wordpress.com). It's also free and you can have it set up so it uses your domain instead of yourdomain.wordpress. It also has a more active development community than what you'll finder at Blogger. I know it gets a little confusing with the .com and the .org

WordPress.org - You install WordPress on your own hosting account.
WordPress.com - You sign up for a free account and they host everything

The former is preferred. The latter will work fine initially.

As far as content is concerned, stay away from things like:


Hello! I am just getting the site underway so please excuse the clutter and mess while I polish things up a bit.

It's the first thing someone reads on your home page and all it really says is you don't think you're ready yet. Be confident. You're ready and open for business. Sure some people might not think so, but the message isn't going to change their mind. All it does is convince some who wouldn't have thought you're not ready, that you're not ready. Do the best you can on the site and don't apologize for it.

Overall I think you have a good tone in all the content. It's friendly. I get a sense of who you are. It reads well. I'm not sure it's the right content to convince me to hire you, but it does read well.

I realize a big part of your business is partnering with Arise, but I would downplay that. I don't know that I'd even mention them. If I read that you work with them and ultimately that's who I'm working with too, why do I need to hire you? Why not just hire Arise directly…Ok, not that I've looked through the site more, I understand why someone would still choose to go through you. Still I think it's too much focus on Arise and not enough on you.

Speaking of why hire you, it's something you want to address right away. Your business is to help someone work from home. Make that obvious right away. Why not a headline on the home page that says

"Let me help you work from home"
"Find your dream job"

Not necessarily the exact lines you might use, but hopefully you get the idea. Make sure people know right away what you can do for them. It should be obvious on ever page.

Since you are set up on a blogging platform and both Harold and I recommend another blogging platform in WordPress, why not add a blog. You could talk about the benefits of working from home and how your life in general is better for it. You could also help people with the things usually taken care of by an employer like getting health insurance, and understanding taxes, and generally running their own business. This is the kid of content more likely to attract people to the site. You'd be able to attract people who are thinking about working from home, but still unsure whether they can afford to leave a job. Your blog helps convince them they can and when you do, your services will be right there.

I guess I should give someone else a turn. Remember though don't be afraid to put stuff out there. Feedback, both good and bad, can help you make improvements. Just think about what others tell you and decide for yourself. You don't have to listen to any of us. We're really just people like you. Many of us felt lost when we started and little by little started figuring some things out. We're sharing what we learned to help you avoid some of the mistakes we made. It doesn't mean what we say is the gospel though. All of us still make mistakes and then try to learn from them.

[sunrise_rachel]

Thank you for your words. They are extremely helpful.

I was tossing the idea around for my own domain, I should just up and do that. I want to be in this for the long haul and I might had to bleed a little to get there.

I'll have to see about how to downplay the Arise connection. I don't want to omit it entirely, I feel that is dishonest but I can see what you mean by wondering why they need me. Hmmm. I need to think on how to do that.

Wondering now if I should put a couple of the services I offer on the home page. I might have to mix it up a bit and I tend to like to compartmentalize things. I like everything in it's own spot.

I have thought of blogging but my main problem is content. I want make sure I have enough content to keep it going without beating a dead horse. I have a few ideas and you have given me more... so maybe use this as the blog after I get my domain.

I will still keep this up while getting my own domain page going.

Oh and You said Gerald recommended my own domain. Who is Gerald? Vangogh, you are the only response I can see.

[MyITGuy]

I was tossing the idea around for my own domain, I should just up and do that. I want to be in this for the long haul and I might had to bleed a little to get there.
sunriseathome.com is currently available, if you need some assistance with registration and setup just let me know.


Oh and You said Gerald recommended my own domain. Who is Gerald? Vangogh, you are the only response I can see.

Harold is another member of the forums that is a web designer...but I do not see his post either?

I would also recommend using a WordPress platform instead of blogspot. If you have the means, I would suggest getting your own hosting account and installing WordPress so you can have modules to automate some of the work for you (I.E. Instead of requiring interested parties to constantly check your opportunities page, you can have a module that automatically informs them when you post a job that meets their requirements). There are plenty of themes/modules out there to get you started if you don't have the funds on hand to hire a designer.

Overall, I would eliminate the Arise references, and would look into consolidating and explaining certain sections. I.E. "Being an IC" and "Requirements & Fees" could be combined into one page, possibly even combined with the "Joining Us" page to make it even simpler.

[Harold Mansfield]

Sorry about that. You should be able to see it now.

Funny thing, I thought people only called me Gerald by mistake in person because they misheard it.

[sunrise_rachel]

Sorry Harold. I will get than right in the future! :)

I am looking into my own domain now. When I signed up for blogger I was just thinking of cost and not so much functionality. However even after only being in the game for three weeks I do see the advantages of doing it. It will look and feel more like a business as opposed to maybe a hobby.

I like the idea of having my own domain anyway. Makes it feel more like mine rather than I am borrowing it. I do want to learn do HTML and I have learned a little on the fly but I am limited mainly to font color, size and style. Well no time like the present to learn and I learn best on the fly anyway.

Whew. I can't wait to get the other one up and running. I will post it here when I am done. I do have someone working on a logo for me right now so I will be incorporating that into my page.

Thank you so very, very much for all the input!

Is wasn't as bad as I feared! :)

[vangogh]

Weird about Harold's post. Obviously I saw it fine. @Harold. What was the matter with it? Was the post in moderation for some reason?

Rachel if you want to keep your existing name jump on sunriseathome.com and register it before someone else does. Even if you decide on another name later it's only $10 to register.


I was just thinking of cost and not so much functionality.

Cost is certainly a consideration, but it's never the only consideration. Keep in mind the low cost option is often low cost because it doesn't do as much. Not always, but quite often.


Is wasn't as bad as I feared!

Good. We're honest here to the point where some people have gotten upset, but it's always mean in the spirit of helping.

[sunrise_rachel]

Weird about Harold's post. Obviously I saw it fine. @Harold. What was the matter with it? Was the post in moderation for some reason?

Rachel if you want to keep your existing name jump on sunriseathome.com and register it before someone else does. Even if you decide on another name later it's only $10 to register.

Cost is certainly a consideration, but it's never the only consideration. Keep in mind the low cost option is often low cost because it doesn't do as much. Not always, but quite often.

Good. We're honest here to the point where some people have gotten upset, but it's always mean in the spirit of helping.


I did get my domain with Cingular from Jeff here on the board. I must say his service is wonderful!

[Harold Mansfield]

Weird about Harold's post. Obviously I saw it fine. @Harold. What was the matter with it? Was the post in moderation for some reason?

Yeah, somehow it ended up moderated.

[vangogh]

I did get my domain with Cingular from Jeff here on the board. I must say his service is wonderful!

I think any of us here would happily recommend Jeff too.


Yeah, somehow it ended up moderated.

Clearly you're a spammer. :)