Web video has become quite a popular topic among web marketing gurus. Video and video production have always been among the tools of savvy marketers. But for a long time, the cost of these tools of video production made video marketing on the web out of reach for the average person or small business.

That’s all beginning to change.

The Tools Of Web Video

I have begun experimenting with various low cost video cameras, microphones, video editing software, and techniques. My goal is to find that sweet spot where low cost equipment, easy techniques, and high enough production quality meet.

I believe that effective video and video marketing can be achieved with a few hundred dollars of investment and some simple techniques. I intend to share what I discover and learn right here.

So, my first experiment into video and web video marketing is done with the following tools:

• Kodak Zi8 video camera ($200)
• Audio-Technica ATR3550 microphone ($40)
• Targus TG-42TT tripod ($17)
• iMovie video editing software (Free, Mac)
• MovieMaker video editing software (Free, PC)

I’m calling this Lightweight Video Production because for under $300 (assuming you have access to a computer), web video can be produced.

So, here it is, my first installment of my exploration of video and video marketing on the web:

Web Video Marketing is a post from: Novo Learning

Website Cost, No Easy Answer

I can hear you rolling your eyes. Whenever you ask about the cost of something and someone says “Well, there’s no easy answer,” it’s natural to brace yourself for a load of “bull”. But hear me out.

Website design costs depend on the type and size of the website you want to build. For example, consider the website needs of two small businesses: 1) A Massage Therapist, and 2) A Pottery Artist.

The Massage Therapist wants to build a website that is essentially a fancy online business card. She needs basically 3 pages. She needs a home page that describes her approach to massage, the different types of massages available and the prices, and maybe a few pictures of her and her massage room. She also needs a contact page that has her contact information and hours of business. And then she needs maybe one more page with a map of her location with easy directions.

The Pottery Artist also wants pages similar to the Massage Therapist, but he wants more. He plans to sell his items online. This involves more pages, more photographs with a gallery page, and an e-commerce solution for managing orders and credit card billing. This adds significantly to the expertise and time involved.

In these simple examples, The Massage Therapist may pay between $100 and $300 for her simple website, and the Pottery Artist may pay over $1,000 for his website.

The Cost Of A Small Business Website

Small businesses come in all sizes. The previous examples are one type of small business. But then there is the small business that has an office with several employees, an international presence, a much larger operating budget, and the aspiration to become a big business. The cost for a website for this type of small business can be much more.

Once your website needs go beyond 10 pages or so, the costs move into a second tier. The amount of content and graphic elements increases, and the maintenance and management costs go up. A small business owner can expect to pay in the $1,000 to $5,000 range for this level of website design.

To a small business owner just starting out, $5,000 may seem like a lot of money. But this is a drop in the bucket when compared to the cost of larger, professional websites. If you are looking for a large website with some advanced functionality and broad exposure, the costs jump into the $50,000 range. And, if you are wanting a large, multi-functional, custom-built website with advanced SEO (Search Engine Optimization), then the cost will easily get into the $100,000+ range.

The Real Cost Of A Website

It’s important to remember that the real cost of a website is not just what is cost to build the website. The website must also be managed and maintained, and this costs money and time.

One of the most common mistakes made by new website owners is to underestimate how much time and effort goes into maintaining and managing a business website after it’s been built. If you’ve hired a website designer to build your website, there are a few important questions to keep in mind:

1. Will your website designer maintain the website?
2. Will you pay the website designer for each change or addition to the website?
3. Will the website be designed and built for you to manage on your own?
4. Will the website be designed and built to scale with the growth of your business?

The Cost Of Building Your Own Website

Building your own website can reduce costs significantly. However, you must take into account the amount of time needed to learn to build a website.

One of the major advantages of building your own website with WordPress is it’s ease of use. There are a number of great resources for the do-it-yourself person wanting to build a WordPress website. My ebook The Small Business Guide to Building & Managing a Website: The Power of WordPress is designed for the small business owner who wants to know how to build and manage a business website created on the WordPress platform. This guide is also a great resource for the business owner who hires a web designer to build the WordPress website, and then plans to manage the website without the designer’s involvement.

With the economy currently in a down trend, money is tight and business owners are trying to find ways to do business on a budget. Building and managing your website on WordPress is a very effective way to control costs and maintain a professional-looking web presence.

The cost to build a website is now within the range of most small businesses around the world. And, the importance of having an effective web presence is now more important than ever. I recommend that every small business wanting to build or redesign a website take a close, careful look at the WordPress advantage.

How Much Does A Website Cost To Build? is a post from: Novo Learning

The WordPress Themes

It surprises me because WordPress is so popular that I assume most be people know about it. I often expect to talk to people about the advantage of using WordPress over other options out there. I didn’t occur to me to begin at the beginning by answering: What is WordPress?

What Is WordPress?

The simple answer is that WordPress is content management system (CMS) for websites that have a focus on blogs. And, a blog (short for Web Log) is a website that allows a chronological listing of posts. It a bit like a digital online diary. What you’re reading right now is a blog. Although WordPress was originally created for blogs, it has developed a long way from it’s original intention back in 2003.

WordPress is now a very flexible CMS that is being used for all kinds of websites, with or without blogs.

What Makes WordPress So Good for Building Websites?

Without getting into too much detail about the strengths of WordPress, here are a few of the most important benefits:

The WordPress Post Interface

• WordPress has an easy-to-use interface
• WordPress has a large selection of free and commercial themes
• WordPress is SEO ready out of the box
• WordPress has a large selection of available plugins which greatly increase its functionality
• WordPress has a large developer and support community
• WordPress is free

Who Is WordPress For?

If you are a small to medium-sized business owner, looking for a better way to create or re-design your website, then WordPress is for you. Even if you’re an entrepreneur looking to test the waters with a website to market your latest idea, WordPress will be invaluable for helping you develop and maintain a website.

If you are a web designer who has been creating static HTML websites for your clients and want to find a better, easier way to create and maintain your client’s sites, then WordPress is for you too.

And lastly, if you are a dabbler in website design and have been hearing about WordPress and want to know more, then it’s time to jump in and discover the benefits of a WordPress website.

What Is WordPress? is a post from: Novo Learning