Day 5

Subject:  More about establishing your online presence, [firstname]

Hello [firstname],

In yesterday's e-mail I explained about the importance of a relevant domain name and reliable hosting to your IM business.  Today I want to give you some pointers on getting a website established.

Obviously, I don't know what type of IM business model you've decided on, so I have to be fairly generic here.  In the early days of the Internet, most websites were written in a language called HTML (hypertext markup language).  Today, though, it's better to go with a content management system written in PHP.   Of the many available, the most versatile is WordPress.

WordPress started out as a rather clunky blogging platform, but it has evolved over the years.  Now there are all sorts of plug-ins you can use to adapt WordPress to suit your business model – in addition to using it as a blog, you can turn it into an online store, a membership site, a forum, a salesletter site and more.  You can also integrate your Twitter feeds, and Facebook postings.  Like I said it's highly versatile.

If you've got your hosting with Hostgator, they have a plan that caters specifically for WordPress sites, and you can install the software with just a few clicks [YOUR HOSTGATOR AFFILIATE LINK HERE]. 
Of course, you'll want your website to stand out from all the rest, and the best way to do that is to have a custom-designed WordPress website template (known as a “theme”).

You can always customize the themes that come with WordPress (or which can be installed for free from within the WordPress dashboard), but to really stand out you need one that looks unique.

If you're a creative sort of person you can design your own theme online for free using Lubith (http://lubith.com).  This is an online WYSIWYG designer that enables you to create your own, custom-designed theme in minutes.

Alternatively, you can hire a designer to create theme for you.  Have a look on sites like http://upwork.com or http://freelancer.com to find qualified professionals.  If money's tight, you can also look on http://fiverr.com where people do things for $5 USD.

More tomorrow,

[Your Name]

PS. There's still time to get your copy of my fact-filled guide to choosing the right IM business model.  Here's the link [LINK TO SALES PAGE]