• They can be expensive - especially if you
want multiple websites. Good templates aren't
cheap. The few I've bought are in the $60-$70
range.
• If you don't know what you're doing, you
can waste your monëy on templates that won't
work for you. For instance, you will often see
templates with icons, pictures, company logos,
"Buy Nöw" buttons and more. Yes, they
look great. But when you download the images they
are not editable because if they are in jpg or
gif format, you can't make changes. The most
common 'editable' images are in 'psd' format. If
you own image editing software, like Photoshop
(which usually sells for about $600), you can
make the changes you wish. But if you don't own
this kind of software then forget it - your
images can't be changed.
• Editing templates isn't easy. You might
unwittingly purchase a template that allows
8" of space - and your copy needs 10"
of space. Nöw what? Cheaper templates require
the purchaser to "slice" them. This is
tedious and time consuming and requires editing
knowledge that most people don't have. Higher
quality templates allow the owner to edit them
without slicing, but they are more expensive.
• Even if you can edit your new template, do
you really think that you should allow a designer
to dictate the placement of your salës copy?
Beautiful design does not equal salës. Just
because something looks good doesn't mean it's a
good salës site. Many novices are impressed with
the good looks of a template, but Madison Avenue
beauty doesn't equal profits on the Net. Earning
monëy comes from effective direct response
marketing which means testing the elements on
your salës page and changing them until you have
a winnër. If your design is forced on you, you
are limited in the changes you can make. 2. Pay a Website
Designer to Build a Site for You:
• Hiring a
professional can be expensive. I currently have a
goal of building two websites each week for a
year. Let's assume I pay someone $500 to build a
website (which is quite a reasonable amount for a
well done site - it often costs much more.) That
means I will be paying $1,000/week, every week,
for a year. My monëy is better spent on
marketing than design.
• Every time you want to make a change on
your site, you must wait on a designer to make
the changes. This is expensive and can be time
consuming, if the designer is busy with multiple
clients.
• Just
like a purchased template, most web designers are
focused on looks and appearance, rather than
functionality or salës. All the best marketers
acknowledge that plainer sites are more lucrative
because the focus is on the copy, the words,
rather than fancy graphics or beautiful colors.
Take a look at the top money-making sites on the
net. They rarely are flashy or dramatically
impressive.
• Relying on a web designer creates
dependency. Generally the motivation of
entrepreneurs is freedom so waiting for another
person to make even the smallest changes to your
site isn't taking you in the direction you want
to go.
3. Buy Site-Making Software:
Every program I
have seen involves a learning curve. One popular
site builder, for example, has a 500 page manual,
is expensive and a lot of the learning doesn't
transfer to other site systems. I looked at
another one recently with a 300 page manual. The
time that you spend learning these methodologies
could be spent learning an HTML editor that will
make you fully capable of building your own
sites, whenever you choose, for almost zero cost.
Spend the time and
learn do it yourself websites. I personally spent
two weeks in 'Dreamweaver Hell' several years
ago. All reviews indicated that Dreamweaver is
the best HTML editor, so I bought a book and
determined to learn the software on my own. The
first book wasn't long enough so I returned it
for a second - and longer - book, which
eventually was exchanged for an almost-1200 page
manual. There were moments of frustration, tears,
triumph, cursing and the thrill of success, and I
emerged able to put together websites whenever I
chose.
Saying "I
want to be an Internet marketer" and not
learning how to build websites for yourself is
like wanting to be a dentist - and refusing to
learn about teeth; like being a star athlete -
and refusing to practice your sport. So what if
your first sites won't win a design award? You'll
get better. And you will be independent. Isn't
that the entire point of working on the Internet?
About The Author
Article by Sydney Johnston. Starting an eBay
business is easier with mentoring from an eBay
expert. Learn from our offers with an 11 Day
Course that teaches how to sell on ebay: http://www.auction-genius-course.com/11days.shtml.
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