Starting a Web Business

[tommy]

I'm planning on launching a site similar to Steve's in functionality in that I want to able to include an archive of articles, blog capability, pod cast capability, foums, e-commerce and the ability to have registered users complete surveys. The difference in my site is that it will be exclusivley for sales professionals. I've been in sales and sales management with some of the largest firms in the world and think I have a great deal to offer other professionals who have desire to be the best that they can be. I also want to provide a resource for sales professionals to go to and get ideas, advise and counsel from their peers.

I have no idea on where to get started. I have seen posts on various hosts/ISP's but not sure what's best for me given what I'm trying to put together.

Thanks in advance for your help and by the way if you know of site that is exclusively for sales professionals with an emphasis on PD, please pass on the URL.

Thanks.
TH

[Dating Specialist]

Alright, this site is not exclusively for sales professionals, but you can get lots of information on how to set up the web business you want. You can check it out - Internet Marketing Singapore - Asia's Ultimate Internet Marketing Hub

Btw, you can consider using Joomla, an open source CMS to run your site as it offers the capability for all the features you want. It's free too.

[Wulfen]

Yep, Joomla is a nice CMF. Drupal is nice too.

My favorite is Plone, but that's because I'm lazy, and lazy people code in Python

You can look at a myriad of other CMFs here:
Content management framework - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[birger]

Originally Posted by tommy

I'm planning on launching a site similar to Steve's in functionality in that I want to able to include an archive of articles, blog capability, pod cast capability, foums, e-commerce and the ability to have registered users complete surveys.

I have no idea on where to get started. I have seen posts on various hosts/ISP's but not sure what's best for me given what I'm trying to put together.

There are dozens of frameworks out there that has the ability to do all that you want, but that's not really relevant. You can have the fanciest CMF in the world, without quality content, it will get you nowhere.

I would suggest you start out with a blog, and build a community out of that. Just install a simple Wordpress or similar blogging tool, or just use a free site like Blogger: Create your Blog Now -- FREE or WordPress.com » Get a Free Blog Here. Start blogging, and when your site reaches a comfortably amount of visitors, install forum software, like here, or consider converting your site to a complete CMF solution. This will also serve as a test to wheter you are determined enough to reach your goal, or if you'll get tired of blogging to apparently no readers after a couple of months.

[TheBull]

Joomla isn't a bad idea and has a good admin interface. The blogging idea isn't bad either, as you can later add forums (like this one) or there are embedded forum options available for at least Wordpress. I use an embedded forum and the nice thing about it is that, well it is embedded so the user doesn't feel like they are leaving the site. The downside is that they don't offer the amount of admin control that something like phpBB or vBulletin (this setup here) offers.

Unlike birger I wouldn't get a free blog, go right for a domain name. Two main reasons, one is that once you get a community of followers you will have to move them along with your blog once you do get a domain. Two, a domain name will help you in search traffic as well. A third minor point is that with a free blog site (wordpress, blogger, etc.) you have almost no control over options. Wordpress for example has a ton of plugins and capabilities, but only if you install it yourself (which isn't hard).

[AndrewJ]

I'm helping a friend set up a site/blog/forum with Build a Website - Start a Blog - Squarespace
I love it.

Andrew

[AndrewJ]

That's weird, I typed in the squarespace url and the page title came up automatically! Never seen that before.

Andrew

[Ibanez]

I think the hardest thing about getting a website started is getting visitors to come to your site. Even if you have great content if no one knows your site exists then you will have no returning visitors.

[Nico Kempe]

Originally Posted by Ibanez

I think the hardest thing about getting a website started is getting visitors to come to your site. Even if you have great content if no one knows your site exists then you will have no returning visitors.

easy, just create some techie article and submit it to Slashdot..

[Michael Chui]

Originally Posted by AndrewJ

That's weird, I typed in the squarespace url and the page title came up automatically! Never seen that before.

Andrew

Look down below, in "Miscellaneous Options". The third one is "Automatically retrieve titles from external links". vBulletin feature, looks like. Never seen another board use it. Gotta say it's one of the niftier, understated perks.