How do you build a website?

[Guest]

What does one have to do to design their own website?

Does one have to take classes? Get a degree? Get certified? Belong to a guild? Pay dues? Pay don'ts?

Can one learn it from a book? From a cook? From a star-bellied schnook?

Do you have to purchase space on the internet? What happens if someone named Larry wants that exact same space? Is there a bidding war? I mean, how does this whole website-building thing really work?

Does anyone here have experience building their own website? Can you do it yourself without being a "website guru" like our marvelous leader, Lynn Terry?

[Lynn Terry]

I have listed my favorite do-it-yourself resources here:
http://www.selfstartersweeklytips.com/a ... wnsite.htm

I'm going to give you ONE guess as to where the "self-starters" name came from...

... I, myself, was a Self Starter - meaning self-educated, self-motivated - and now self-employed!

If I can do it - then you definitely can! Not to mention you can come here and post any questions you have along the way... we'll all pitch in and help!

[Guest]

Thanks, Lynn!

I'll check these resources out.

You're the best,

--Emit

[navajostar]

[Lynn Terry]

[Guest]

Thanks for this tip, Angela! I'll definitely keep it in mind.

And yes, I have to agree, our Founding Mother Lynn Terry is absolutely sensational! I wouldn't go to anyone else.

Have a great day,

--Emit

[Mike Merz]

[James Mann]

[Lynn Terry]

[psadvisor]

[Guest]

[Guest]

Does anyone else here do virtual training besides Kathleen?

Also: who here does website design?

Thanks,

Emit

[Steve MacLellan]

Hi Emit,

I do web development. HomeBusiness Websites is a registered business as well as my URL . I employ four other people who assist me.

I also re-sell Shelley Lowery's "Web Design Mastery" program. People who buy the course from me have access to a private forum where they can ask any questions relating to the course, and I will answer them. So far, no one has ever bought the course from me... but then... I don't make my living selling web design courses. I guess that would be about as close to virtual training as you can get — text books and someone to answer all of your questions.

There is also an open forum for general questions about building a business website on my main site.

As for any formal education I received to do this, I would have to ask: "What's that?"

Rich DeVos who was one of the founders of Amway once said something to the effect of "...if I wanted to open an air pilot training school, I wouldn't let a little fact like not having a license to fly, stop me."

In 1993 I was using a browser called Mosaic, on a Pentium 350Mhz using Windows 3.11. This computer had the biggest hard drive of its class — a whopping 350MB. My modem was already a little out-dated so I upgraded to a 14.4kbs, even though the newest (the 28K) was just around the corner.

I had promised my wife that if we bought me that old second hand computer (paid $300 for it) I would figure out a way to make money with it. Forget the fact that I didn't even know how to turn it on at that time.

I have a background in electronics and was fascinated by Internet programming, and how the Internet worked. In 1995 Netscape 2.0 was released from BETA that year, and it was amazing what could be done with it. The rest is history. I bought several programming books and used to participate in USENET forms in many of the Internet programming newsgroups for html, cgi, Perl, PHP, Javascript, etc...

I started networking with a lot of people through the Internet. Although web development became my passion and hobby, I was still trying to figure out a way to make money. Pretty soon my elusive pursuit of money was getting put on a "back burner" because too many people were emailing me to help them with their web development issues.

In an exchange of private emails between Marty Foley and myself, he suggested that if I didn't have time for anything else... I should be charging for my help. Then Gordon Alexander took the time to email me and show me how to setup and run the business.

By the Fall of 1996, I had my first paying client. (he-he).. and for the record, that client is still with me.

These days it is a lot easier to get "into" web development. WYSIWYG editors will pretty well write all of the web pages for you. All you have to do is drag and drop items onto your webpage and "presto"... it is built. That doesn't mean you're a web developer... but for most people, this isn't important. They just want to put up a web site to make some money with. You don't need a computer degree, or anything else, really, other then the desire and will to succeed.

If buying a course isn't something you want to do... you might look into courses offered by your local community college. Some times they will put on courses like this. If they have one... it is wise to check the instructors credential as well. Sometimes they have people teaching these courses at community colleges that don't have any idea what they are talking about. A friend of mine attended a course like that and didn't learn anything of value. But if the instructor is good... then you will get something out of it.

Best Regards,
Steve MacLellan
homebusiness-websites.com

[Guest]

[Mike Merz]