Bootstrapping Without Boots Blog | The Small Business Survival Guide

Bootstrapping Without Boots 2.0 is Coming Soon

Sun, 01 May 2011 12:05:00 +0000

Rome wasn't built in a day, and rebuilding and redesigning the Bootstrapping Without Boots curriculum to better serve you takes time.

In the meantime, if you want to be notified when the new site is up and running, please sign up for our newsletter below:

Also, you can help us provide the best and most useful information for you if you take a few minutes to fill out our brief survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/B7Y6BFR

By the way, since we’re not spending any money this week, nothing is being subtracted from our remaining balance of $353.34.

Don't forget to check out the YouTube videos that have been uploaded to my Youtube Channel: YouTube.com/BootstrappingWithout

Leave comments on this blog, or send me an email at “podcasts[@]bootstrappingwithoutboots.com”. There’s also a Twitter account where you can reach out to me in 140 characters or less, and that’s withoutboots. Finally, you can give me a call on my Google Voice Line at 615-59-BOOTS (that's 615-592-6687).

Kindra Cotton, Small Business Survival Specialist
Serial Entrepreneur: Jill of All Trades and Master of Two (Information, Technology)

Vote on the New Bootstrapping Without Boots Logo

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 02:45:00 +0000

Using the Best Kept Secret of FiveRR.com, I've had a logo designed for this blog. I'd like your opinion on the new Bootstrapping Without Boots Logo, so please vote (using the Poll on the right) and let me know which logo should be the new one of the "Bootstrapping Without Boots" Brand.

Here are the choices:

By the way, since we’re not spending any money this week, nothing is being subtracted from our remaining balance of $353.34.

Don't forget to check out the YouTube videos that have been uploaded to my Youtube Channel: YouTube.com/BootstrappingWithout

Leave comments on this blog, or send me an email at “podcasts[@]bootstrappingwithoutboots.com”. There’s also a Twitter account where you can reach out to me in 140 characters or less, and that’s withoutboots. Finally, you can give me a call on my Google Voice Line at 615-59-BOOTS (that's 615-592-6687).

Kindra Cotton, Small Business Survival Specialist
Serial Entrepreneur: Jill of All Trades and Master of Two (Information, Technology)

Enhance Your Online Reputation: Write for Examiner.com

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 13:15:00 +0000

A lot of people have contacted me with an urgency about learning how to make money online. As I'm sure many of you have realized, there's no "quick fix" to doing this, but I believe that if you work hard, and keep at it, soon, things will start to work in your favor.

Remember: "Success" only comes before "work" in the dictionary!

With that in mind, today I'd like to share a money generating tip that is definitely good as a long-term strategy. I think you should consider Writing for Examiner.com as a local-based expert in your niche.

Working with Examiner.com provides a great avenue to market yourself online in two ways. The first is through Writing for Examiner.com as a location-based Expert, like the “Nashville Scrapbooking Examiner”. The great thing about Examiner.com, is if they don't have a "Nashville Scrapbooking Examiner", you can submit an application to become one! Or, if they already have one, you can submit an application for your own suggested Examiner column, for instance "Nashville Scrapbooking Home Business Examiner". The site pays about a penny per click for article views, so the real value in writing for Examiner.com is becoming a "subject-matter expert" on your topic, and being found more readily in search engine when someone searches for your name or your topic.

Before I started blogging and podcasting, my Examiner.com results were the most prominent things you could find about me on the internet. I've even had people contact me by finding me through Examiner.com search results to ask me various questions based on the content I've written. This is something to think about if you are looking to get the most out of your online marketing experience and build your online reputation. It's a bit time-intensive, but it can have a great payoff!

Another great thing about Examiner.com is that you can re-publish content that you own. “Re-branding” it for the Examiner.com audience is best to insure that your content stays relevant and keeps readers coming back. And if you are currently blogging, this provides you with another avenue to get more buzz about what you're doing.

The second way that you can market yourself as an online marketer is to Sponsor an Examiner.com Writer because it is a great use of targeted online marketing. Say for example you own a local crafts store and you choose to sponsor the "Nashville Scrapbooking Examiner" (if there is one), well you can pay $29 or $39 (depending on the city), and you'll get one of the sponsored links that appears beside their articles. One of the reasons I'd recommend this as a paid advertising effort is that you'll know that people who are visiting a Nashville-based article are more than likely in the area, and that's a "warm lead" since they're already reading content related to your area, so the ad being positioned right there is capitalizing on their interest.

So, if you're interested in signing up as an Examiner.com writer, you can click this application link, or contact me personally if you’d like to learn more about my experience writing for Examiner.com before filling out an application.

Don't forget to check out the YouTube videos that have been uploaded to my Youtube Channel: YouTube.com/BootstrappingWithout Leave comments on this blog, or send me an email at “podcasts[@]bootstrappingwithoutboots.com”. There’s also a Twitter account where you can reach out to me in 140 characters or less, and that’s withoutboots. Finally, you can give me a call on my Google Voice Line at 615-59-BOOTS (that's 615-592-6687).

Kindra Cotton, Small Business Survival Specialist
Serial Entrepreneur: Jill of All Trades and Master of Two (Information, Technology)

Bootstrapping Without Boots 2.0: The New Direction

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 13:15:00 +0000

Over the past few months, you may have noticed the series of posts, podcasts, and video tutorials that I’ve added to this blog, as well as on my Youtube channel. I’ve had the opportunity to get some great feedback, and I’m glad to now be incorporating a lot of what my listeners and viewers have said. The bottom line for a lot of people is that they want to learn how to make money. I definitely understand that motive, so with that in mind, I’ve decided to make a few revisions to the direction that Bootstrapping Without Boots is headed.

First, realizing that time is a very limited resource, I have to incorporate a way that I can deliver great content to the Bootstrapping Without Boots Blog, and still keep tabs on my revenue-generating gigs, since maintaining this blog is primarily a “labor of love”. To that end, I’ve decided to be more focused in my intent, and hopefully provide for you, a more useful series of blog posts, podcasts, and video tutorials that can help you make money at whatever it is you’re trying to do in your business.

So, over the next few weeks I’m going to be taking you through the “Bootstrapping Without Boots” curriculum I’ve designed. It’s chopped up into multiple sections, but over the course of time, we’ll talk about websites and blogs, I’ll show you how to create a self-hosted WordPress Blog (which will also happen to coincide with the change from this blog from Blogger to WordPress), and I’ll also be delving into lots of other topics on how to make money online, how to save money by spending less and finding as many free and reduced cost resources out there, as well as how you can create and enhance your web presence through search engine optimization (SEO) and/or pay-per-click (PPC) advertising.

I’m really looking forward to the new direction, and I hope that having more structure will help you follow along and hopefully learn and grow as I learn and grow through this blog.

By the way, since we’re not spending any money this week, nothing is being subtracted from our remaining balance of $353.34.

Don't forget to check out the YouTube videos that have been uploaded to my Youtube Channel: YouTube.com/BootstrappingWithout

Leave comments on this blog, or send me an email at “podcasts[@]bootstrappingwithoutboots.com”.

There’s also a Twitter account where you can reach out to me in 140 characters or less, and that’s withoutboots. Finally, you can give me a call on my Google Voice Line at 615-59-BOOTS (that's 615-592-6687).

Kindra Cotton, Small Business Survival Specialist
Serial Entrepreneur: Jill of All Trades and Master of Two (Information, Technology)
Click below to listen to the podcast:

Don't Fret: Bootstrapping Without Boots Will Be Back Soon!

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 10:30:00 +0000

I'm using your feedback to construct a better Bootstrapping Without Boots Blog, and soon I'll be unveiling the new direction that the blog is going in, and how I'll be working hard to deliver the content that can get you afloat while in survival mode, and hopefully deliver you to business prosperity.

In the meantime, I'd like to show you my commitment to Bootstrapping Without Boots by displaying a recent picture from a snowfall that has hit my local area (LOL):

Yes, that's commitment!

By the way, since we’re not spending any money this week, nothing is being subtracted from our remaining balance of $353.34.

Don't forget to check out the YouTube videos that have been uploaded to my Youtube Channel: YouTube.com/BootstrappingWithout

Leave comments on this blog, or send me an email at “podcasts[@]bootstrappingwithoutboots.com”. There’s also a Twitter account where you can reach out to me in 140 characters or less, and that’s withoutboots.

Finally, you can give me a call on my Google Voice Line at 615-59-BOOTS (that's 615-592-6687).

Kindra Cotton, Small Business Survival Specialist
Serial Entrepreneur: Jill of All Trades and Master of Two (Information, Technology)

Cash Parking with GoDaddy: A Review

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 22:25:00 +0000

If you recall, a few weeks ago, I decided to do an experiment with Cash Parking with GoDaddy.

The video above is my review of Cash Parking, and for the most part I found that it wasn't the right product for me because my domain names aren't in high demand, nor are they names that people would commonly search for nor misspell. For this reason, I'd think that Cash Parking could be a great alternative for someone that's looking to capitalize on the misspellings of popular domain names that might be available (e.g. Goggle.com - though that's already taken. LOL).

For the $3.99/month fee that Cash Parking costs at the 60% Revenue Generating level, I'm technically about having earned $4.98 over the past month, but I won't add that balance to our outstanding balance, because the experiment itself is slightly fudged given the mishap that caused me to have to extend it another month.

Overall, I think the success of Cash Parking with GoDaddy will ultimately depend on the domains you have, and your mechanism for leading people to them. It was my experience that the Cash Parking Service merely placed relevant ads based on your domain name and the keywords you select, but the major issue is people actually getting to the site and finding the advertising useful enough to click on it.

By the way, just as a note, don't think you can sign up for GoDaddy Cash Parking then click your own Cash Parking links, because they have mechanisms in place for tracking these things and that could get your account shutdown and you'd forfeit whatever cash you've made.

Since we’re not spending any money this week, nothing is being subtracted from our remaining balance of $353.34. Don't forget to check out the YouTube videos that have been uploaded to my Youtube Channel: YouTube.com/BootstrappingWithout

Leave comments on this blog, or send me an email at “podcasts[@]bootstrappingwithoutboots.com”. There’s also a Twitter account where you can reach out to me in 140 characters or less, and that’s withoutboots. Finally, you can give me a call on my Google Voice Line at 615-59-BOOTS (that's 615-592-6687).

Kindra Cotton, Small Business Survival Specialist
Serial Entrepreneur: Jill of All Trades and Master of Two (Information, Technology)

How to Set up a Youtube Account

Thu, 25 Nov 2010 17:24:00 +0000

Another great FREE web resource out there is YouTube. The following brief tutorial, shows you How to Set Up A YouTube Account, and in a fairly quick amount of time:

By the way, since we’re not spending any money this week, nothing is being subtracted from our remaining balance of $353.34.

Don't forget to check out the YouTube videos that have been uploaded to my Youtube Channel: YouTube.com/BootstrappingWithout Leave comments on this blog, or send me an email at “podcasts[@]bootstrappingwithoutboots.com”.

There’s also a Twitter account where you can reach out to me in 140 characters or less, and that’s withoutboots.

Finally, you can give me a call on my Google Voice Line at 615-59-BOOTS (that's 615-592-6687).

Kindra Cotton, Small Business Survival Specialist
Serial Entrepreneur: Jill of All Trades and Master of Two (Information, Technology)

Extra Value Tip: Personalized M&Ms

Wed, 17 Nov 2010 13:05:00 +0000

A Bootstrapping Without Boots "Extra Value Tip" for small business with locations that have customer traffic. Personalized M&Ms are a great way to promote your company's brand and provide something memorable for your customers.

This video tutorial shows how easy it is to get your own personalized M&Ms for your small business. Also, you can Buy 3 or more Bags Of Custom Printed MY M&M'S® And Get 1 FREE!

By the way, since we’re not spending any money this week, nothing is being subtracted from our remaining balance of $353.34.

Don't forget to check out the other YouTube videos that have been uploaded to my Youtube Channel: YouTube.com/BootstrappingWithout

Leave comments on this blog, or send me an email at “podcasts[@]bootstrappingwithoutboots.com”.

There’s also a Twitter account where you can reach out to me in 140 characters or less, and that’s withoutboots.

Finally, you can give me a call on my Google Voice Line at 615-59-BOOTS (that's 615-592-6687).

Kindra Cotton, Small Business Survival Specialist
Serial Entrepreneur: Jill of All Trades and Master of Two (Information, Technology)

Best Kept Secrets: MorgueFile & Picnik TOGETHER

Fri, 12 Nov 2010 13:05:00 +0000

A Bootstrapping Without Boots "Best Kept Secret" feature about MorgueFile (free photos site) and Picnik (free web-based photo editing site), and how you can use each to enhance the search engine optimization (SEO) potential of your website or blog.

This video tutorial shows you how you can search and find images on MorgueFile.com and how you can edit and resize those images using Picnik.

We still haven't spent any money this week, so nothing is being subtracted from our remaining balance of $353.34.

Don't forget to check out the YouTube videos that have been uploaded to my Youtube Channel: YouTube.com/BootstrappingWithout

Leave comments on this blog, or send me an email at “podcasts[@]bootstrappingwithoutboots.com”.

There’s also a Twitter account where you can reach out to me in 140 characters or less, and that’s withoutboots.

Finally, you can give me a call on my Google Voice Line at 615-59-BOOTS (that's 615-592-6687).

Kindra Cotton, Small Business Survival Specialist
Serial Entrepreneur: Jill of All Trades and Master of Two (Information, Technology)

Using Picnik to Crop Photos

Mon, 08 Nov 2010 13:05:00 +0000

A Brief Bootstrapping Without Boots video tutorial on using the online photo editing website Picnik to crop photos.

By the way, since we’re not spending any money this week, nothing is being subtracted from our remaining balance of $353.34.

Don't forget to check out the YouTube videos that have been uploaded to my Youtube Channel: YouTube.com/BootstrappingWithout

Leave comments on this blog, or send me an email at “podcasts[@]bootstrappingwithoutboots.com”.

There’s also a Twitter account where you can reach out to me in 140 characters or less, and that’s withoutboots.

Finally, you can give me a call on my Google Voice Line at 615-59-BOOTS (that's 615-592-6687).

Kindra Cotton, Small Business Survival Specialist
Serial Entrepreneur: Jill of All Trades and Master of Two (Information, Technology)

Best Kept Secret: Picnik

Tue, 02 Nov 2010 11:35:00 +0000

As I've previously stated, blog posts with pictures fair better in search engines. Plus, it's one of the 7 Tips for Blogging Success.

Another great photo from Michael Connors of MorgueFile.com

Today's Bootstrapping Without Boots "Best Kept Secret" is about Picnik. Picnik is a free photo editing website that lets you edit pictures within your web browser. Here's the Bootstrapping Without Boots Youtube Tutorial about Picnik:

By the way, since we’re not spending any money this week, nothing is being subtracted from our remaining balance of $353.34.

Don't forget to check out the YouTube videos that have been uploaded to my Youtube Channel: YouTube.com/BootstrappingWithout

Leave comments on this blog, or send me an email at “podcasts[@]bootstrappingwithoutboots.com”.

There’s also a Twitter account where you can reach out to me in 140 characters or less, and that’s withoutboots.

Finally, you can give me a call on my Google Voice Line at 615-59-BOOTS (that's 615-592-6687).

Kindra Cotton, Small Business Survival Specialist
Serial Entrepreneur: Jill of All Trades and Master of Two (Information, Technology)

Best Kept Secret: MorgueFile.com

Mon, 01 Nov 2010 11:05:00 +0000

Blog posts with pictures fair better in search engines. Plus, it's one of the 7 Tips for Blogging Success.

Today's "Best Kept Secret" is a great site that I visit several times a day called MorgueFile.com. MorgueFile is a website that offers "Free images for your inspiration, reference and use in your creative work, be it commercial or not!".

Check out the Bootstrapping Without Boots "Best Kept Secret" video tutorial feature about MorgueFile:

By the way, thanks to Michael Connors for the MorgueFile.com website, and for the picture that's included in this very blog post! :)

Since we’re not spending any money today, so nothing is being subtracted from our remaining balance of $353.34.

Don't forget to check out the YouTube videos that have been uploaded to my Youtube Channel: YouTube.com/BootstrappingWithout

Leave comments on this blog, or send me an email at “podcasts[@]bootstrappingwithoutboots.com”.

There’s also a Twitter account where you can reach out to me in 140 characters or less, and that’s withoutboots.

Finally, you can give me a call on my Google Voice Line at 615-59-BOOTS (that's 615-592-6687).

Kindra Cotton, Small Business Survival Specialist
Serial Entrepreneur: Jill of All Trades and Master of Two (Information, Technology)

Best Kept Secret: HootSuite

Sat, 30 Oct 2010 11:10:00 +0000

Nobody has any time for anything any more! Most people would agree that social media can be a real "time-suck", but I've found a great tool that's FREE that can help: HOOTSUITE.

Today's Bootstrapping Without Boots "Best Kept Secret" feature about HootSuite, is a social media dashboard that helps to manage multiple social media profiles like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, FourSquare, and MySpace. This video tutorial shows how to add a Twitter account to a HootSuite account and also how to add a Facebook Fan Page to the dashboard.

By the way, since we’re not spending any money this week, nothing is being subtracted from our remaining balance of $353.34.

Don't forget to check out the YouTube videos that have been uploaded to my Youtube Channel: YouTube.com/BootstrappingWithout

Leave comments on this blog, or send me an email at “podcasts[@]bootstrappingwithoutboots.com”.

There’s also a Twitter account where you can reach out to me in 140 characters or less, and that’s withoutboots.

Finally, you can give me a call on my Google Voice Line at 615-59-BOOTS (that's 615-592-6687).

Kindra Cotton, Small Business Survival Specialist
Serial Entrepreneur: Jill of All Trades and Master of Two (Information, Technology)

Customizing Templates for Cash Parking Domains on GoDaddy

Wed, 27 Oct 2010 12:05:00 +0000

At the beginning of the month, I Experimented with Cash Parking, and it took me a few weeks to realize that I didn't quite set it up right when I started. I called GoDaddy, and went back and tried again by customizing my keywords and making a few tweaks to my Cash Parking setup, including changing my parked domains' template. Hopefully, by the end of next month, I'll know more about whether or not this stuff really works! :)

A Bootstrapping Without Boots Tutorial on more ways to customize the settings of Cash Parking from GoDaddy by changing the default template for your parked domains.

Cash Parking is a service that lets you make money on the domains that you have that you aren't using by placing content-relevant ads on your page, and allowing you to earn revenues as people click those ads.

Don't forget to check out the YouTube videos that have been uploaded to my Youtube Channel: YouTube.com/BootstrappingWithout

Leave comments on this blog, or send me an email at “podcasts[@]bootstrappingwithoutboots.com”.

There’s also a Twitter account where you can reach out to me in 140 characters or less, and that’s withoutboots.

Finally, you can give me a call on my Google Voice Line at 615-59-BOOTS (that's 615-592-6687).

Kindra Cotton, Small Business Survival Specialist
Serial Entrepreneur: Jill of All Trades and Master of Two (Information, Technology)

Customizing Keywords for Cash Parking Domains on GoDaddy: Video Tutorial

Wed, 27 Oct 2010 12:05:00 +0000

At the beginning of the month, I Experimented with Cash Parking, and it took me a few weeks to realize that I didn't quite set it up right when I started. I called GoDaddy, and went back and tried again by customizing my keywords and making a few tweaks to my Cash Parking setup. Hopefully, by the end of next month, I'll know more about whether or not this stuff really works! :)

A Bootstrapping Without Boots Tutorial on customizing the settings of Cash Parking from GoDaddy by setting the keywords for your parked domains. This tutorial is helpful for troubleshooting Cash Parking with GoDaddy if you find that your parked domain doesn't have any ads listed on it after several days.

Cash Parking is a service that lets you make money on the domains that you have that you aren't using by placing content-relevant ads on your page, and allowing you to earn revenues as people click those ads.

How to link a Facebook Fan Page to a Twitter Account: Video Tutorial

Tue, 26 Oct 2010 12:05:00 +0000

A Bootstrapping Without Boots Tutorial on How to Link a Facebook Fan Page to a Twitter Account so that activity on your Fan Page is automatically tweeted via your Twitter Account.

By the way, since we’re not spending any money this week, nothing is being subtracted from our remaining balance of $353.34.

Don't forget to check out the YouTube videos that have been uploaded to my Youtube Channel: YouTube.com/BootstrappingWithout

Leave comments on this blog, or send me an email at “podcasts[@]bootstrappingwithoutboots.com”.

There’s also a Twitter account where you can reach out to me in 140 characters or less, and that’s withoutboots.

Finally, you can give me a call on my Google Voice Line at 615-59-BOOTS (that's 615-592-6687).

Kindra Cotton, Small Business Survival Specialist
Serial Entrepreneur: Jill of All Trades and Master of Two (Information, Technology)

How to Create a Facebook Fan Page: Video Tutorial

Mon, 25 Oct 2010 12:05:00 +0000

A Bootstrapping Without Boots Tutorial on How to Set Up a Facebook Fan Page, and how you can Manage the Permissions on the Page and Change the Settings for How Visitors can interact on your Fan Page.

By the way, since we’re not spending any money this week, nothing is being subtracted from our remaining balance of $353.34.

Don't forget to check out the YouTube videos that have been uploaded to my Youtube Channel: YouTube.com/BootstrappingWithout

Leave comments on this blog, or send me an email at “podcasts[@]bootstrappingwithoutboots.com”.

There’s also a Twitter account where you can reach out to me in 140 characters or less, and that’s withoutboots.

Finally, you can give me a call on my Google Voice Line at 615-59-BOOTS (that's 615-592-6687).

Kindra Cotton, Small Business Survival Specialist
Serial Entrepreneur: Jill of All Trades and Master of Two (Information, Technology)

Super Green Hosting Web Hosting

Sun, 24 Oct 2010 19:30:00 +0000

Today, in this podcast, I want to talk about “Web Hosting Companies”, detailing what some companies have to offer, and I’ll continue moving us forward with this part of the series where I’m discussing "How to Build a Website".
This post is about Super Green Hosting Web Hosting.

My final web hosting recommendation is going to be Super Green Hosting. I’ve made a commitment to make “Greener Choices” that are better for the environment, and as such, Super Green Hosting made it onto my radar because I was scouring the web for a green hosting alternative to recommend to clients.

There are a few companies sprouting up here and there that offer “green hosting”, but Super Green Hosting is more reputable in my opinion, as one of the few environmentally-friendly web hosting companies in the industry. Super Green Hosting is normally $6.95 per month, but they’re running a limited time offer now for $3.95 per month, where you get a free domain name and site builder program, in addition to unlimited hosting space, file transfer, and an “Anytime Money Back” Guarantee. They use Energy Efficient Servers and are 100% Carbon Neutral Friendly, which are major pluses for the “Green crowd”. Try Super Green Hosting.

Don't forget to check out the YouTube videos that have been uploaded to my Youtube Channel: YouTube.com/BootstrappingWithout

Leave comments on this blog, or send me an email at “podcasts[@]bootstrappingwithoutboots.com”.

There’s also a Twitter account where you can reach out to me in 140 characters or less, and that’s withoutboots.

Finally, you can give me a call on my Google Voice Line at 615-59-BOOTS (that's 615-592-6687).

Kindra Cotton, Small Business Survival Specialist
Serial Entrepreneur: Jill of All Trades and Master of Two (Information, Technology)

Click below to listen to the podcast:

iPage Web Hosting

Sat, 23 Oct 2010 12:30:00 +0000

I recommend iPage, even though I haven’t used their service personally because it seems like an awesome company with great features and benefits. For $3.50 a month, they offer Unlimited Disk Space, Bandwidth & Email, along with a FREE Site-Building Tools, FREE Online Store, FREE Google, Yahoo! & Facebook Marketing Credits, and it’s Green Powered by 100% wind energy. All with a money-back guarantee.

The Green Hosting alone, was really enough to get me on board, but all the other stuff they offer for their already low price makes iPage and unbeatable deal! Though I don’t quite have a need for additional web hosting services at this time, the next time I purchase it, it may very well be with iPage, because I have made a commitment to make “Greener Choices” that are better for the environment. Try iPage Affordable Web Hosting only $3.50/mo Unlimited Disk Space Unlimited Bandwidth Unlimited Mailboxes Only $3.50/month

Don't forget to check out the YouTube videos that have been uploaded to my Youtube Channel: YouTube.com/BootstrappingWithout

Leave comments on this blog, or send me an email at “podcasts[@]bootstrappingwithoutboots.com”.

There’s also a Twitter account where you can reach out to me in 140 characters or less, and that’s withoutboots.

Finally, you can give me a call on my Google Voice Line at 615-59-BOOTS (that's 615-592-6687).

Kindra Cotton, Small Business Survival Specialist
Serial Entrepreneur: Jill of All Trades and Master of Two (Information, Technology)

Click below to listen to the podcast:

Web.com Web Hosting

Fri, 22 Oct 2010 12:05:00 +0000

Web.com is actually one of the first companies I ever heard of that offered online web hosting and site building services to the public (Save 20% on Web.com web creation/web hosting products using code TWC287 until 12/31/10).

They specialize in Solutions for Small Business, especially their Shopping Carts and eCommerce solutions (Shopping Cart powered by Web.com). Their web creation and web hosting products are what they’re mostly known for, as they’re big with their “Three Step” process for getting you online in minutes! Their site building program offers over 25,000 templates to choose from, and that’s a lot more than what I see available at other companies, plus the Web.com name is another one of those instances where a company’s reputation mostly speaks for itself. Get unlimited storage and transfer, host unlimited websites, free domain registration, up to $125 in ad credits available, and more. All for as low as $7.95 per month.

Don't forget to check out the YouTube videos that have been uploaded to my Youtube Channel: YouTube.com/BootstrappingWithout

Leave comments on this blog, or send me an email at “podcasts[@]bootstrappingwithoutboots.com”.

There’s also a Twitter account where you can reach out to me in 140 characters or less, and that’s withoutboots.

Finally, you can give me a call on my Google Voice Line at 615-59-BOOTS (that's 615-592-6687).

Kindra Cotton, Small Business Survival Specialist
Serial Entrepreneur: Jill of All Trades and Master of Two (Information, Technology)

Click below to listen to the podcast:

HostGater Web Hosting

Thu, 21 Oct 2010 12:05:00 +0000

I had to include Host Gator in a discussion about Web Hosting because, I don’t know if you’ve noticed this, but their advertising is all over the place. I’ve also known some friends that have used Host Gator who highly recommend it.

One of the things that seems to pull people over to Host Gator is their price. Their web hosting plans start at $4.95 per month, and they offer unlimited disk space and bandwidth on all of their hosting plans.

They market themselves as being EASY and AFFORDABLE, and they have a great Control Panel and offer free Site Building software with over 4000 templates.

By clicking this link you’ll probably be able to take advantage of the $100 Google AdWords Credit that they’re offering (only applicable to new AdWords customers). If you’re planning on building a website and using Google AdWords, this makes going with Host Gator pay for itself! Try Host Gator

Don't forget to check out the YouTube videos that have been uploaded to my Youtube Channel: YouTube.com/BootstrappingWithout

Leave comments on this blog, or send me an email at “podcasts[@]bootstrappingwithoutboots.com”.

There’s also a Twitter account where you can reach out to me in 140 characters or less, and that’s withoutboots.

Finally, you can give me a call on my Google Voice Line at 615-59-BOOTS (that's 615-592-6687).

Kindra Cotton, Small Business Survival Specialist
Serial Entrepreneur: Jill of All Trades and Master of Two (Information, Technology)

Click below to listen to the podcast:

Bluehost Web Hosting

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 12:05:00 +0000

Bluehost is a company that I’ve often had come as a highly recommended web hosting solution from colleagues. I recently endeavored upon a web hosting company hunt, for a client, and Bluehost made it to the top of the list.

One thing I learned is that there are a good number of people out there that have philosophical issues with the marketing campaign employed by GoDaddy with its increasingly racy ads, and one such colleague told me that’s how he found the company, as he was looking for a GoDaddy alternative, not because of the service, but because of those other issues outstanding.

One of the reasons I’ve also chosen to recommend Bluehost Web Hosting is because it’s a flat $6.95 per month fee (for 24 months or more); For 12 months, it’s $7.95 per month, and it’s all due up front when you start the service. At those prices, you get Unlimited Hosting Space, File Transfer, and E-mail Accounts, along with free domains (while you have their hosting service) and they include their free Site Builder program with Templates. They also offer a $50 Free Google Credit, and they state that they have 99.9% Network Uptime Guarantee. Their Anytime Money Back Guarantee, in my opinion, makes Bluehost Web Hosting a formidable choice among the other Heavyweight Web Hosting Companies out there! Try Bluehost Web Hosting

Don't forget to check out the YouTube videos that have been uploaded to my Youtube Channel: YouTube.com/BootstrappingWithout

Leave comments on this blog, or send me an email at “podcasts[@]bootstrappingwithoutboots.com”.

There’s also a Twitter account where you can reach out to me in 140 characters or less, and that’s withoutboots.

Finally, you can give me a call on my Google Voice Line at 615-59-BOOTS (that's 615-592-6687).

Kindra Cotton, Small Business Survival Specialist
Serial Entrepreneur: Jill of All Trades and Master of Two (Information, Technology)

Click below to listen to the podcast:

Review: Yahoo Web Hosting

Tue, 19 Oct 2010 16:05:00 +0000

Next up is Yahoo Web Hosting, and once again, in an effort of full disclosure, I am a former Yahoo Web Hosting Customer, as I used to be a part of their Small Business Merchant Solutions Program when I first started working on the web years ago. Essentially, I went with Yahoo because I kept getting those ads in my Yahoo email account, so I just made the natural extension into paying for other services. I’m no longer with them, because I now know that there are other companies that offer what they have at a much cheaper price, thus I still have my free yahoo email accounts, but I’m no longer paying them for any services.

With that said, I would still recommend Yahoo Web Hosting Service, because once again, like GoDaddy, they do have a good sector of the market, and they also offer other services, especially in the arena of Search Engine Marketing. If your company’s online strategy is going to focus heavily on Search Engine Marketing and Pay-Per-Click Advertising, you may find it worth your while to consider Yahoo Web Hosting and their business solutions packages.

I can tell you that Yahoo’s prices aren’t all bad, but they hook you in with low prices, and it sucks once the special price or deal that you had wears if (if in fact it does wear off). They’re always offering special deals and sales, in fact, right now, you can get 25% off of web hosting services. Again, if you have the money, this deal might be well worth your while. Yahoo’s prices are about $12.95 per month (if you renew on a monthly basis), and they offer discounts if you purchase multiple months at a time. For example, it’s $8.96 a month for the first 3 months if you sign up for three months, then $11.95 per month thereafter, or it can be $7.46 per month for the first three months (at $9.95 per month thereafter) if you sign up for 12 months.

I find, and this is even true in my own experience, that Yahoo does a great job at converting novices over to web hosting, so most people are paying $10 or more for simple web hosting just because they don’t know there are $2, $3 and $4 per month options out there. Now that I know better, I know that Yahoo isn’t the place for me, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be right for you. Save 25% when you start a website with Yahoo Web Hosting Now!

Don't forget to check out the YouTube videos that have been uploaded to my Youtube Channel which can be found at YouTube.com/BootstrappingWithout

Leave comments on this blog, or send me an email at “podcasts[@]bootstrappingwithoutboots.com”.

There’s also a Twitter account where you can reach out to me in 140 characters or less, and that’s withoutboots.

Finally, you can give me a call on my Google Voice Line at 615-59-BOOTS (that's 615-592-6687).

Kindra Cotton, Small Business Survival Specialist
Serial Entrepreneur: Jill of All Trades and Master of Two (Information, Technology)

Click below to listen to the podcast:

Review: GoDaddy Web Hosting

Tue, 19 Oct 2010 12:05:00 +0000

In a previous post I talked about Web Hosting and what you need to know about it, so now I’m going to talk about some specific companies.

Just like you have 1000s of options for choosing how to build your website, or even how to learn about building your website, you similarly have many options for where you can get your web hosting from. I’m going to mention a few services that I know of, either because I’ve used them, or because I know they’re very popular, and I’m going to end my giving my personal opinion on which one I choose.

As a refresher, web hosting is a type of internet service that gives you space where you can upload the files of your website (and that’s called “hosting” them), meaning that when someone types in your URL (or your domain name) that they can see your actual website, which has been created by those files sitting on a web hosting server.

Of the hundreds of web hosting services out there, I’m only going to talk about SEVEN (7), starting with GoDaddy.

First, in an effort of full disclosure, allow me to say that I am a GoDaddy customer. I wasn’t always, but since I switched over to them, I’m happy. I don’t like the fact that they don’t have a toll-free 800 number support line, but with cell phones, that’s not really even an issue anymore anyway. It’s just something I don’t care for. Aside from that, it’s a company that I wholeheartedly endorse, and a company that I continue to do business with and will probably have a long-standing relationship with; Assuming that they keep up their great service and continue to work to keep me satisfied as a customer.

Alright, so GoDaddy Hosting. GoDaddy offers three different web hosting plans, the Economy, the Deluxe, and the Ultimate Plans. The Economy Plan is the basic plan, geared towards a person who will have one website that mostly just needs to host 10 GB of space or less. It’s definitely economical in terms of price, as its currently on sale for as low as $1.99 a month, but with the Economy Plan, you have to buy it in 3, 12, 24, or 36 month increments.

When I first came to GoDaddy, I started with the Economy Plan, just because of the price. I quickly learned that the Economy Plan is not just limited in terms of size and space, but also additional functionality, which, in my opinion, automatically makes the Deluxe or Ultimate Hosting Plans ideal if you’re going to go with GoDaddy. And let me explain why. The Deluxe Hosting Plan gives me the opportunity to host multiple websites over 150 GB of space with unlimited bandwidth, where I run more than 5 podcast series (hosting my podcast audio files there), and there are still tons of other services that I haven’t even tapped into yet.

If I were to compare the prices on the Economy versus Deluxe Hosting Plans at GoDaddy, I’d find that the Economy Plan is $36 dollars cheaper, or what works out to being $3 a month. I get way more value in the Deluxe Hosting Plan, and it’s worth far more than the $3 a month that I pay over the Economy Hosting Plan. Try GoDaddy.com Hosting Plans from $1.99 per month! Now with Unlimited Bandwidth!

Be sure to check out the two recently added resources on this blog. One of which is the “Build a Website” page, and the other is the “Build a GREAT Website” page. The first one outlines the ways that you can get a website created, and it details the process of getting a website up and running. The second one is about a great service called “Site Build It” or SBI (for short), and it’s a somewhat more expensive service, but I highly recommend it, and at some point, I’ll probably do a blog post specifically talking about this later.

Don't forget to check out the other YouTube videos that have already been uploaded to my Youtube Channel which can be found at YouTube.com/BootstrappingWithout

Leave comments on this blog, or send me an email at “podcasts[@]bootstrappingwithoutboots.com”.

There’s also a Twitter account where you can reach out to me in 140 characters or less, and that’s withoutboots.

Finally, you can give me a call on my Google Voice Line at 615-59-BOOTS (that's 615-592-6687).

Kindra Cotton, Small Business Survival Specialist
Serial Entrepreneur: Jill of All Trades and Master of Two (Information, Technology)

Click below to listen to the podcast:

What You Need to Know About Web Hosting

Mon, 18 Oct 2010 12:05:00 +0000

In today's podcast, I will talk about “Web Hosting”, as a part the "How to Build a Website" discussion.

There are literally 1000s of resources both on and off the web to help you learn more about building websites, but I’m providing a “quick and dirty” overview about websites, and in this case web hosting, so that you can learn more about the process behind getting your website up and running, and so you can make an informed decision.

I've recently added two great resources to this blog, one of which is the “Build a Website” page, and the other is the “Build a GREAT Website” page. The first one outlines the ways that you can get a website created, and it details the process of getting a website up and running. The second one is about a great service called “Site Build It” or SBI (for short), and it’s a somewhat more expensive service, but I highly recommend it, and at some point, I’ll probably do a blog post specifically talking about this later.

Right now, I want to get into Web Hosting, and what you need to know about it. Just like you have 1000s of options for choosing how to build your website, or even how to learn about building your website, you similarly have many options for where you can get your web hosting from.

Just to give you a little background about this, web hosting is a type of internet service that gives you space where you can upload the files of your website (and that’s called “hosting” them), meaning that when someone types in your URL (or your domain name) that they can see your actual website, which has been created by those files sitting on a web hosting server.

There are hundreds of web hosting services out there, but for now, I’m only going to talk about SEVEN (7) of them, for brevity's sake.

Here's What You Need To Know About Web Hosting (and you can hear more about each of these in detail in this week's podcast):

Deal with a company that has a good reputation. This is part of the reason why I’m specifying which companies or products and services I’d recommend, because I’ve either used them, know of someone that has used them, or I would or plan to use them in the future. We live in a world now where no advertising campaign is better than the “word of mouth” ads that are taking place in social media and among friends, so when you ask someone about their web hosting company and who they like and dislike, listen closely, you may be able to save yourself a headache.
The company must have a good Control Panel: The second thing to look for in your Web Hosting company is a control panel that’s easy to access, navigate, and use. I recently had a terrible experience with a client’s web hosting server’s control panel. It was shoddy, cheap, and not even secure in terms of keeping the customer’s computer files safe from hackers or just about anyone who’s savvy enough to figure out the IP address of site. Before encountering this company’s control panel, I would have thought that all web hosting company’s panels were the same. I’ve learned this isn’t the case! As such, I share it with you so that you can be informed about this, moving forward.
Insist on Great Tech Support: I can’t deal with a company that doesn’t have 24-hour technical support assistance. Essentially since we live in a global economy and MOST maintenance to websites occurs during the non-standard hours of the day. Even if a company can’t offer their full array of tech support services 24/7, I think there should always been someone available to answer questions, for that off-occasion where something goes majorly wrong with your website at the wrong time of night.
Before making your final web hosting decision - Google the company and see what people are saying: It seems to me that just about every web hosting company has something bad out there about them, and knowing what I know about Search Engine Optimization, I know that you have to take everything that you find with a grain of salt, and consider who’s making the review. Some people pay a lot of money to get the worst of their company’s news buried deep past lots of positive reviews, and some companies actually purposefully bad-mouth other companies so that they will appear in searches when people are looking for customer reviews. Whenever possible, find out what you can about a company, and if you can get a personal recommendation from someone you know, that’s always going to be better than just about anything you can find via a search engine.
Price: The final consideration for web hosting plans, in my opinion, is price. As you search for web hosting plans, you’re going to find that the features and services offered with each are going to pretty much be standard across the board, with some companies offering more or less extras than the other. But what can (and probably will be) the deciding factor for you, as the savvy entrepreneur is price. My experience has told me that it’s not always a good idea to go with the cheapest of anything, just because it’s probably ridiculously cheap for a reason, either because the services are limited, or because there just isn’t a lot of emphasis placed on quality. As with anything, consider what you’ll need the hosting for, and what you think might be the possibilities for what can happen with your site.

Moving forward, I’ll be taking about each of these companies and the web hosting packages they offer in more detail shortly:

Go Daddy
Yahoo Web Hosting
Blue Host
Host Gator
Web.com
iPage
Super Green Hosting

So, stay tuned to the Bootstrapping Without Boots Blog, to learn more about the specific web hosting plans that are out there.

By the way, since we’re not spending any money this week, nothing is being subtracted from our remaining balance of $353.34.

Don't forget to check out the other YouTube videos that have already been uploaded to my Youtube Channel which can be found at YouTube.com/BootstrappingWithout

Leave comments on this blog, or send me an email at “podcasts[@]bootstrappingwithoutboots.com”.

There’s also a Twitter account where you can reach out to me in 140 characters or less, and that’s withoutboots.

Finally, you can give me a call on my Google Voice Line at 615-59-BOOTS (that's 615-592-6687).

Kindra Cotton, Small Business Survival Specialist
Serial Entrepreneur: Jill of All Trades and Master of Two (Information, Technology)

Click below to listen to the podcast: