You have looked at the books on Kindle or on the shelves of a book store and think ” I should be able to write a book about that.” Well you probably can and should. If you are a halfpreneur there are three good reasons to consider writing that book.
1) A book can generate income for you. New clients will come from those who read your book and decide that they want to work with you. Your e-book can contain an offer for free additional information; at the cost, of course, of their having to give you a valid email address. Your book becomes a way of list building. Ever wonder why there are so many low priced and even free e-books out there? The book is not what will make money; it is the list or the potential source of clients/customers that is of value.
2) A book can launch your business or a new business. Once you publish your book, digitally or traditionally, your readership may want more information from you, or the opportunity to talk to you. A book is a powerful statement of your authority in your niche.
3) A book is a source of passive income. If you are working hard in your full-time job and as a halfpreneur, but income is not as regular or as consistent as you would like, a book is means of passive income.
If you are in business, even in a small part-time business, you need a website.
There are three pages that your website must have: The Home Page/Welcome Page, About Me/Contact Page, Products and Services Page.
The Home Page – The purpose of this page is to let your customer know that they have come to the right place and you can help them. On this page you will want to include:
– Who you help
– The problem(s) you solve
– The benefits you provide
– Why they should choose you!
The About Me /Contact Page – Some key points to mention on this page are:
– Your relevant experience
– Passion for your topic
– What you have achieved in your own life or have helped clients achieve
– Anything else that adds to your credibility
– One or two testimonials
– Your email and/or phone number
Services and Products Page – This page should display the goods and services you offer. Tell them the process you use so they will know what to expect if they work with you. One or two short paragraphs on each product or service is sufficient. Your aim is to get them to contact you. Supply phone number and email address again.
Some basic rules for a professional looking website:
-Keep your site basic, clean, and uncluttered.
-Start off with a strong headline that offers a benefit (sorry but “ welcome to my site!” is NOT a good headline.)
-Stress benefits of your product or service not features.
-Include an address and working phone number. This builds trust with your customers.
-Make it easy to use your site. Use consistent, clearly labeled navigation links
-Don’t make customers work to find your links. They should be in blue text and underlined.
-The text should be easy to read. Black text and white background.
-Keep fonts and sizes consistent. A large blue headline followed by a red paragraph, followed by black text with randomly placed blue words causes eyestrain. Your potential customers will leave before they even know what you offer.
-Keep the design consistent throughout the entire site. Your graphic elements are part of your brand. If your graphics are jumbled and confusing, your potential customers may assume that you products are poorly conceived and not worth purchasing.
-Don’t use a flash intro. Just take them to your home page.
-Keep graphics small. The larger they are, the longer it takes to download your page. Do use some graphics; people like breaks in the text.
-If you decide to include advertising on your site, limit the number of flashing banners or animated graphics. They annoy customers and detract from your message.
-Have a method to get each visitor’s email address, which you will use to follow up later. This is the foundation for an online business Two or the most common ways to capture email addresses and send out freebies and newsletters are : www.aweber.com and www.constantcontact.com
Do you need to hire a designer to create your website or should you do It yourself with a template? Many hosting companies offer easy to use templates. WordPress and Weebly Drag and Drop can be readily mastered by someone with basic word processing skills. Both offer ways to customize your site and make it feel more like you. If you have a tendency to write and think at the same time and get new ideas while you are in the act of writing, you may want to create your own site. An experienced web designer will be able to get your website up more quickly and be able to create an unique site. Ideally though you should learn how to update and maintain your site. If you are looking for a reasonably priced free lance web designed try Craig’s List, elance.com and fiverr.com.
Either you or your designer has to come up with the color scheme for your site. Do colors matter?
Why are financial reports often colored green? Why do fast food restaurants use bright orange and yellow? Colors express various feelings and influence our emotions. Not all experts agree about the exact feelings and emotions that each color triggers, but there is some minimum agreement that each color can evoke positive or negative emotions.
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Red —strength or aggression
Orange — warmth or frustration
Yellow — optimism or anxiety
Green — peace or boredom
Blue — calm or coldness
Purple — quality or decadence
