Every week, I speak with people with impressive expertise, who don’t have websites, but who want a site to promote their services, skills or causes.
They say essentially the same thing: “I really need a website.”
It’s an odd statement, since the internetz took over our lives 24 years ago, and it's not going away. And many of these people have been working as professionals for more than 20 years.
I – who have been employed for 34 years – said the same thing about launching a site until about three months ago, when I decided to start my own writing, editing, marketing and media relations business. In fairness, when I dabbled in web design 20 years ago, easy templates for sites didn't exist. But easy web-templates are now available for the taking. The time for excuses is over.
The intention of this post is to demystify the process of setting up a website – from securing a domain name, to populating its content, to launching a site.
Of course, I poked around Google and Wirecutter to determine which website builder would be best for me. But it’s been much more involved than that. Starting a business or organization is a lot more than launching a website, but a website is great start.
Here are 6 steps I’ve taken to launch my venture online and in the real world:
1 Find a Template
My first step in identifying the kind of website I wanted was to identify a real-world website that I liked. So, the real-world baseline website I found belongs a former employer of mine, Androvett Legal Media & Marketing. The site is easy to navigate, allows readers to fall into content wormholes, and actually offers helpful advice to its readers. So, based on a recommendation from Wirecutter, I combed the Wix website explorer, and voila, I fell in love with my site's big splash page, its tabs, and the option for a blog (which you’re reading). My website shares many of the properties of the Androvett website. Except for one thing: THEY DON’T HAVE ME.
2 Domain, Domain on the Range
As soon as I found a format I loved, I searched for a domain name. I have to admit that I kind of clenched up when I searched for the availability of DaveMooreMedia.com … and it was available! I ended up buying the domain name and a couple company email addresses (including dave@davemooremedia.com). The site and the email addresses cost a couple hundred bucks, but I figured it was worth it, and cheaper than paying brick-and-mortar rent.
3 Get Legal
It was clenching time again – this time, at the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation website, so I could register my business as a Limited Liability Corporation (LLC). Why register your business as an LLC? Basically, if someone sues your business, they sue the LLC. This way, if something goes horribly wrong … you get to keep your house (which doesn’t belong to your LLC). And was Dave Moore Media available as an LLC in Maryland? It was! (Not sure what I was going to call this operation, otherwise.) If you're not in Maryland, or if you're launching a nonprofit organization, there are different processes for registration. I'm not getting into that right now.
4 Fill That Void
Here’s the scary part – that big website template that’s filled with lorem ipsum text? I had to fill it up with words that mean something. What would I say? What should I say? One thing I learned somewhere along the line is that I need to have my storefront ready for business before announcing what I was up to. (Actually, I tried to launch a similar business seven years ago, and failed, in part because I didn’t have a dedicated business website.) Since my business is words and working with people, and I’ve seen a lot of the best (and worst) practices in content creation, media relations and editing, I’ve got a lot to say. Including tips on how to launch your business. Wix offers a lot of public-domain art for illustrative purposes. ONE MORE THING: Before announcing your website, get someone to read what you’ve written and check it for mistakes. If you do, you’re ahead of 90% of the other organizational leaders/owners who don’t follow that practice. Fairly or not, the public will perceive the quality of your website as a reflection of whatever cause, goods or services you're promoting. I would probably be glad to perform that duty – even build and write a website for you/your company/your cause from the ground up. Just email me. When I launched my website, I posted it on Facebook and had a bunch of my copy-editor friends find typos for me. Talk about (not) fun! But it’s better to be hit with the ugly truth from friends, than to be snickered at by frenemies or strangers.
5 Shout it Out Loud
Did I say filling a website with content would be scary? This part was even scarier for me: Telling the world about my new venture and what it/I can offer. This was hard for me because I didn’t want my friends to judge me if I failed at something (I believe the stats that say half of all new businesses fail). But I figured if I didn’t announce the business, I would never really be committed to it. Of course, I got business cards and have joined a trade group. I even had a potential business opportunity from my announcement to my friends. I started doing work with people I know. Someday, maybe I’ll even get paid. Apologies for that KISS gif above.
6 Enjoy the Journey
Starting a venture is a journey (Steve Perry not included). Now, you and I could end up shipwrecked on Gilligan’s Island, or we could be Billy Ray Valentine and Louis Winthorpe III at the end of “Trading Places.” The point is, we’re starting with nothing but our wits, know-how and a vision (my dead hero, Winston Churchill, would say “we have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat”). Will our sweat, etc., be enough to get us past the finish line? Have we launched a product or a service that no one wants or needs? The marketplace, our network, and the quality of our work, will decide. Did I mention luck? Yes, we’ll need that, too. But "With a Little Luck" is a Paul McCartney song and I don't want to post a McCartney gif.
* Success to be determined. Not available in Alaska or Hawaii. Then again, why not?
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