I was doing my reservist last week.  And I got to know a couple of new friends over there who actually don’t know how to start their own websites.  They are very interested to start one, but they just couldn’t figure out how to do so.  I think I should do one back-to-basics post for you to understand. :)  (Do note that I have affiliated with GoDaddy and HostMonster when writing this post.)

What do you need to get started?

First of all, you need to register a domain name of your own.  This is where you can have your own name such as CharlesLau.com for myself.  A full URL link will be http://www.charleslau.com or http://charleslau.com .  I will recommend you to use GoDaddy to register all your domain names because they provide very professional service and yet extremely affordable as well.  It should cost you below US$15 per year (depending on their promotions).

Secondly, you will need a web hosting plan.  This is where your website files will reside once your visitor clicks on your URL.  I will highly recommend you to use HostMonster as a starter.   They are always costing between US$5.95 and US$6.95 per month.  And you will only have to dedicate 1 year, which I think it is just nice to try it out.

That’s all you need.  An investment of less than US$100 to try out starting a website for one year!  :)

So how to start a website with your own domain name?

Step 1: Simply do a search of your ideal domain name at GoDaddy website.  Once you have found it, get your credit card and purchase it.

Step 2: Once you have gotten a domain name and login, go to your Domain Manager found at the top left corner (as shown in the screenshot below).

godaddystep1 7 steps to start hosting your own website with your very own domain name!

Step 3: Tick on your domain name, and click on “Nameservers” (as shown in the screenshot below).

godaddystep2 7 steps to start hosting your own website with your very own domain name!

Step 4: A pop-up will be shown.  Just fill in the two nameserver addresses as follows:

godaddystep3 7 steps to start hosting your own website with your very own domain name!

Step 5: You are done with GoDaddy.  Now, work on your web hosting plan with HostMonster.  Start purchasing a plan with them, and log into your account.  It’s advisable to get their free domain name as the name of your control panel for internal usage.

Step 6: Look for this link “Addon Domains”.  Click on it.

hostmonsterstep1 7 steps to start hosting your own website with your very own domain name!

Step 7: Fill in your domain name and get yourself started!

hostmonsterstep2 7 steps to start hosting your own website with your very own domain name!

You are done!

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Using Viral Video To Boost Sales

by Charles on 8 February 2010

4173331147 17eea20698 Using Viral Video To Boost Sales

I heard that Common Craft is being mentioned in Inc magazine.  Hence, I went ahead and read the Inc magazine article that companies like Smule and Kiva Systems creating clever Web videos to explain their technology to customers and produce sales leads.

I agree with Lee LeFever of his following three points when creating a viral video:

  1. It’s not about how something works, it’s why anyone should care about
  2. The script is really important, write it first
  3. Keep it short

Lee LeFever is one person whom I respect for his innovation to create viral videos.  Here are some viral videos (related to Internet)  that he has created:

  1. Blogs in Plain English
  2. Cloud Computing in Plain English
  3. Online Photo Sharing in Plain English
  4. Podcasting in Plain English
  5. Protecting Reputations Online in Plain English
  6. RSS in Plain English
  7. Social Bookmarking in Plain English
  8. Social Media in Plain English
  9. Social Networking in Plain English
  10. Twitter in Plain English

Having viral video to allow social media users to spread, it allows not only brand awareness, it also gives the people a chance to understand better about your products and services in an entertaining way.  Thus, it actually boost sales directly/indirectly when everybody simply enjoys spreading the videos to their online friends.

Photo credit:  lyon photography

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Starbucks wants to hear your idea! They are ready to make your ideas happen!

7 February 2010

Though it has been around for almost two years, I have just got to know about this that Starbucks is also jumping into the social media wagon where they allow people to share their ideas online.  They called it “My Starbucks Idea“.  It sounds like what Dell has done with their IdeaStorm website where they [...]

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Do you have burning questions to ask Toyota US President live on the Internet?

6 February 2010

I’ve just checked my email.  12 hours ago, Digg emailed me a notification that they are giving us (the social media users) an opportunity to ask Toyota questions since the recent controversy surrounding the Toyota vehicle recall, one of the largest in history.
The Toyota US President and Chief Operating Officer, Jim Lentz, will be in [...]

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Are you facing social media access restriction in your job?

3 February 2010

Well, I think this is a common topic for many MNC companies.  A lot of employees working in big companies are facing the same issue of being restricted to accessing the social media websites in their respective offices.
Companies’ dilemma to social media websites
A recent article from Harvard Business Review discussed about majority of firms with over [...]

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What’s so happening about Apple IPad?

1 February 2010

Everybody is talking about IPad.  I don’t know why… Robert Scoble is abandoning his Amazon Kindle for Apple IPad.  My colleagues are talking about it… My twitter friends are talking about it… Everybody is retweeting about IPad… It seems like Apple IPad has brought in a lot of awareness even before it is being released [...]

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Thanks to all the brands for being a human on the Internet

31 January 2010

It’s my birthday today!  Thanks for all the birthday wishes on my Facebook.  Really appreciated it a lot… All the wishes came from my colleagues, friends i know of, and also friends of the social media…

Photo credit: Builders Studio
Other than from Facebook, I also received birthday wishes through my emails and my mobile phone.  One [...]

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3 things to consider internally before building your social media marketing strategy

31 January 2010

Those of you who have fluent with the usual “offline” marketing strategy, will just think of how to allocate a certain marketing budget, and do a one-time campaign only for the social media marketing.  It can be disastrous if this is what you are doing…
Many of you will do marketing this way:

Think of a marketing [...]

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How to improve my desktop performance for Windows Aero?

30 January 2010

Just some ramblings from Charles
I bought my laptop last few months ago.  The performance has been satisfying.  The only hindrance is with the random hangs that it gave me along the way.  I got really frustrated and asked around how to improve my hardware problem (I am guessing it could be an hardware issue).  Then [...]

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Using social media to humanize your business!

29 January 2010

Just some random check outs of a nice website
I found this post from my favorite blogger Chris Brogan who had a Kitchen Table Talk about How Social Media Can Power Your Business.  It speaks about Joe Sorge, who runs AJ Bombers in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as well as Water Buffalo, and a few other restaurants in town. Chris [...]

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