ave to bring in more than you put out. What is that magic number for you? It doesn’t have to be exact now but you need to get an idea. If it is going to cost you $1000 a month you might want to think about scaling back a bit initially, unless you are independently wealthy in which case I know someone who would love to design your site for you. For a charge of course.

How soon do you want to reach your goals? Another really tough one. Think about this before you write your answer. Do you want to be self sufficient in 30 days? It is possible but not probable. Can you wait six months? Better, much better. Think about it and write it down.

Ok did you get everything answered? Are you happy with the answers? If not redo them, even if you are take a few minutes and read back over them, you might want to change something. Once you are done take a break. Go job around the block. Play a game with your kid. It doesn’t matter what just make sure it has nothing to do with making a website. Do not pick up this list again for at least a few hours (I know it is hard but try); better yet leave it until tomorrow.

When your mind is anywhere but on making a website, get that second piece of paper with the blank questions and answer

In order to succeed at Building a Better Mousetrap the first thing we have to do is go back to beginning. Forget about what you wanted your site to be, all the plans you made, everything you have done. Well don’t forget about it totally just don’t make it your focus. Instead start with a clean slate.

Take out a piece of paper and pen, fire up your favorite word processor, get a slate and some chalk, it doesn’t matter. The tools are not the important thing here, the process is what is important, that and the final outcome of course. The process we are going to do is build a business from the ground up.

It doesn’t matter if you are building a business to sell widgets (not sure why that is such a popular example), promote a rock band, or build a website it all starts the same. With an idea. Spend some time writing down all the great ideas you have for a site. All the things you would love to do if you could do anything in the world. All the plans you would make. All the networking you would do. Take a few minutes and write down everything. Then when you are done come back here.

Done? Great. Now take that long list of everything and put it away. Yep put away all those great ideas, all that wonderful planning. You can look at it later but right now we have something much more important to do than work on all those plans you have for taking the world of commerce over. What could be more important? Simple. Preplanning.

Before you can build a better anything you have some serious questions to ask yourself. The building is often the fun part, but if you don’t know why you are doing it or what you really want to accomplish then you are wasting your time. Time is money and we don’t want to waste either so we are going to preplan. Since everyone here is mainly interested in building a better website, this will be geared towards that end.

Write down the following questions on two separate sheets of paper. Once you have two copies, put one away and fill the other one in.

The questions:

1. What do you hope to accomplish? Tough one right from the start but very important. Don’t just write “Make Money” unless that is really your only goal.
2. Who will use it? If you are making a site for your own enjoyment than you can skip this one, but for the rest of us we want to have an audience. Question is who will that be?
3. Who will do the marketing? Are you going to do your own marketing or will you hire a professional firm? My suggestion is do it yourself!
4. Will you monetize your site? Monetizing is not all bad and it is not all good. If making money is your goal or one of them than you need to have a way to make money even if it is just through donations.
5. Where will the graphics come from? Are you going to do your own graphics, buy them, use free graphics some combination? Regardless of the method you need to think of it now, it might impact your overall cost and you need to give credit where credit is due.
6. Where will the copy come from? Are you going to write all your own articles or posts or will you hire someone to do it for you? Even if you use Guest Bloggers you are still “paying” then something whether it is in links or exposure. Think about it. Write it down.
7. How often will the site get updated? Once a day, once a month? You need to decide on a frequency that works for you and your readers. Once a day might be enough, a hundred times a day might be too much. Balance.
8. Who will update the site? Things change. Who will do the updates on your blogging software? Who will update the graphics when you get tired of seeing them? Who will add new stuff to your site? If you don’t own your own host and domain you might have to pay someone to do it for you. This is a cost. Write it down.
9. Who will design the site? Are you going to use a readymade template or make something from scratch? Designing a site takes time, you will need to plan for this and adjust your startup time. If someone else is going to do it that will cost and you have to adjust for their schedule.
10. What form will your site take? Will it be a single page site? A blog? A total CMS?
11. What is the cost to host your site? Even if you own your own server there are costs associated with hosting your site. The cost of the server for one and the cost of the Internet connection. If you are buying space on a hosted server that costs too. This is a business. You need to know these costs. Write them down.
12. What other costs are associated with your site? Everything has a cost (I think I have said that before). The better you are at understanding those costs right now the better you will understand where your money is going later on. If you think there might be a charge for something write it down.
13. How much will you need to make to break even each month? All the warm and fuzzy stuff aside a business is about making money. In order to make money you have to bring in more than you put out. What is that magic number for you? It doesn’t have to be exact now but you need to get an idea. If it is going to cost you $1000 a month you might want to think about scaling back a bit initially, unless you are independently wealthy in which case I know someone who would love to design your site for you. For a charge of course.
14. How soon do you want to reach your goals? Another really tough one. Think about this before you write your answer. Do you want to be self sufficient in 30 days? It is possible but not probable. Can you wait six months? Better, much better. Think about it and write it down.

Ok did you get everything answered? Are you happy with the answers? If not redo them, even if you are take a few minutes and read back over them, you might want to change something. Once you are done take a break. Go job around the block. Play a game with your kid. It doesn’t matter what just make sure it has nothing to do with making a website. Do not pick up this list again for at least a few hours (I know it is hard but try); better yet leave it until tomorrow.

When your mind is anywhere but on making a website, get that second piece of paper with the blank questions and answer

later but right now we have something much more important to do than work on all those plans you have for taking the world of commerce over. What could be more important? Simple. Preplanning.

Before you can build a better anything you have some serious questions to ask yourself. The building is often the fun part, but if you don’t know why you are doing it or what you really want to accomplish then you are wasting your time. Time is money and we don’t want to waste either so we are going to preplan. Since everyone here is mainly interested in building a better website, this will be geared towards that end.

Write down the following questions on two separate sheets of paper. Once you have two copies, put one away and fill the other one in.

The questions:

1. What do you hope to accomplish? Tough one right from the start but very important. Don’t just write “Make Money” unless that is really your only goal.
2. Who will use it? If you are making a site for your own enjoyment than you can skip this one, but for the rest of us we want to have an audience. Question is who will that be?
3. Who will do the marketing? Are you going to do your own marketing or will you hire a professional firm? My suggestion is do it yourself!
4. Will you monetize your site? Monetizing is not all bad and it is not all good. If making money is your goal or one of them than you need to have a way to make money even if it is just through donations.
5. Where will the graphics come from? Are you going to do your own graphics, buy them, use free graphics some combination? Regardless of the method you need to think of it now, it might impact your overall cost and you need to give credit where credit is due.
6. Where will the copy come from? Are you going to write all your own articles or posts or will you hire someone to do it for you? Even if you use Guest Bloggers you are still “paying” then something whether it is in links or exposure. Think about it. Write it down.
7. How often will the site get updated? Once a day, once a month? You need to decide on a frequency that works for you and your readers. Once a day might be enough, a hundred times a day might be too much. Balance.
8. Who will update the site? Things change. Who will do the updates on your blogging software? Who will update the graphics when you get tired of seeing them? Who will add new stuff to your site? If you don’t own your own host and domain you might have to pay someone to do it for you. This is a cost. Write it down.
9. Who will design the site? Are you going to use a readymade template or make something from scratch? Designing a site takes time, you will need to plan for this and adjust your startup time. If someone else is going to do it that will cost and you have to adjust for their schedule.
10. What form will your site take? Will it be a single page site? A blog? A total CMS?
11. What is the cost to host your site? Even if you own your own server there are costs associated with hosting your site. The cost of the server for one and the cost of the Internet connection. If you are buying space on a hosted server that costs too. This is a business. You need to know these costs. Write them down.
12. What other costs are associated with your site? Everything has a cost (I think I have said that before). The better you are at understanding those costs right now the better you will understand where your money is going later on. If you think there might be a charge for something write it down.
13. How much will you need to make to break even each month? All the warm and fuzzy stuff aside a business is about making money. In order to make money you have to bring in more than you put out. What is that magic number for you? It doesn’t have to be exact now but you need to get an idea. If it is going to cost you $1000 a month you might want to think about scaling back a bit initially, unless you are independently wealthy in which case I know someone who would love to design your site for you. For a charge of course.
14. How soon do you want to reach your goals? Another really tough one. Think about this before you write your answer. Do you want to be self sufficient in 30 days? It is possible but not probable. Can you wait six months? Better, much better. Think about it and write it down.

Ok did you get everything answered? Are you happy with the answers? If not redo them, even if you are take a few minutes and read back over them, you might want to change something. Once you are done take a break. Go job around the block. Play a game with your kid. It doesn’t matter what just make sure it has nothing to do with making a website. Do not pick up this list again for at least a few hours (I know it is hard but try); better yet leave it until tomorrow.

When your mind is anywhere but on making a website, get that second piece of paper with the blank questions and answer

n is do it yourself!

Will you monetize your site? Monetizing is not all bad and it is not all good. If making money is your goal or one of them than you need to have a way to make money even if it is just through donations.

Where will the graphics come from? Are you going to do your own graphics, buy them, use free graphics some combination? Regardless of the method you need to think of it now, it might impact your overall cost and you need to give credit where credit is due.

Where will the copy come from? Are you going to write all your own articles or posts or will you hire someone to do it for you? Even if you use Guest Bloggers you are still “paying” then something whether it is in links or exposure. Think about it. Write it down.

How often will the site get updated? Once a day, once a month? You need to decide on a frequency that works for you and your readers. Once a day might be enough, a hundred times a day might be too much. Balance.

Who will update the site? Things change. Who will do the updates on your blogging software? Who will update the graphics when you get tired of seeing them? Who will add new stuff to your site? If you don’t own your own host and domain you might have to pay someone to do it for you. This is a cost. Write it down.

Who will design the site? Are you going to use a readymade template or make something from scratch? Designing a site takes time, you will need to plan for this and adjust your startup time. If someone else is going to do it that will cost and you have to adjust for their schedule.

What form will your site take? Will it be a single page site? A blog? A total CMS?

What is the cost to host your site? Even if you own your own server there are costs associated with hosting your site. The cost of the server for one and the cost of the Internet connection. If you are buying space on a hosted server that costs too. This is a business. You need to know these costs. Write them down.

What other costs are associated with your site? Everything has a cost (I think I have said that before). The better you are at understanding those costs right now the better you will understand where your money is going later on. If you think there might be a charge for something write it down.

How much will you need to make to break even each month? All the warm and fuzzy stuff aside a business is about making money. In order to make money you have to bring in more than you put out. What is that magic number for you? It doesn’t have to be exact now but you need to get an idea. If it is going to cost you $1000 a month you might want to think about scaling back a bit initially, unless you are independently wealthy in which case I know someone who would love to design your site for you. For a charge of course.

How soon do you want to reach your goals? Another really tough one. Think about this before you write your answer. Do you want to be self sufficient in 30 days? It is possible but not probable. Can you wait six months? Better, much better. Think about it and write it down.

Ok did you get everything answered? Are you happy with the answers? If not redo them, even if you are take a few minutes and read back over them, you might want to change something. Once you are done take a break. Go job around the block. Play a game with your kid. It doesn’t matter what just make sure it has nothing to do with making a website. Do not pick up this list again for at least a few hours (I know it is hard but try); better yet leave it until tomorrow.

When your mind is anywhere but on making a website, get that second piece of paper with the blank questions and answer

have to pay someone to do it for you. This is a cost. Write it down.

Who will design the site? Are you going to use a readymade template or make something from scratch? Designing a site takes time, you will need to plan for this and adjust your startup time. If someone else is going to do it that will cost and you have to adjust for their schedule.

What form will your site take? Will it be a single page site? A blog? A total CMS?

What is the cost to host your site? Even if you own your own server there are costs associated with hosting your site. The cost of the server for one and the cost of the Internet connection. If you are buying space on a hosted server that costs too. This is a business. You need to know these costs. Write them down.

What other costs are associated with your site? Everything has a cost (I think I have said that before). The better you are at understanding those costs right now the better you will understand where your money is going later on. If you think there might be a charge for something write it down.

How much will you need to make to break even each month? All the warm and fuzzy stuff aside a business is about making money. In order to make money you have to bring in more than you put out. What is that magic number for you? It doesn’t have to be exact now but you need to get an idea. If it is going to cost you $1000 a month you might want to think about scaling back a bit initially, unless you are independently wealthy in which case I know someone who would love to design your site for you. For a charge of course.

How soon do you want to reach your goals? Another really tough one. Think about this before you write your answer. Do you want to be self sufficient in 30 days? It is possible but not probable. Can you wait six months? Better, much better. Think about it and write it down.

Ok did you get everything answered? Are you happy with the answers? If not redo them, even if you are take a few minutes and read back over them, you might want to change something. Once you are done take a break. Go job around the block. Play a game with your kid. It doesn’t matter what just make sure it has nothing to do with making a website. Do not pick up this list again for at least a few hours (I know it is hard but try); better yet leave it until tomorrow.

When your mind is anywhere but on making a website, get that second piece of paper with the blank questions and answer

ave to bring in more than you put out. What is that magic number for you? It doesn’t have to be exact now but you need to get an idea. If it is going to cost you $1000 a month you might want to think about scaling back a bit initially, unless you are independently wealthy in which case I know someone who would love to design your site for you. For a charge of course.

How soon do you want to reach your goals? Another really tough one. Think about this before you write your answer. Do you want to be self sufficient in 30 days? It is possible but not probable. Can you wait six months? Better, much better. Think about it and write it down.

Ok did you get everything answered? Are you happy with the answers? If not redo them, even if you are take a few minutes and read back over them, you might want to change something. Once you are done take a break. Go job around the block. Play a game with your kid. It doesn’t matter what just make sure it has nothing to do with making a website. Do not pick up this list again for at least a few hours (I know it is hard but try); better yet leave it until tomorrow.

When your mind is anywhere but on making a website, get that second piece of paper with the blank questions and answer them all again. Do not look at the first sheet just forget it is there. Then after you are satisfied with your new answers compare the two. Any surprises? Combine them together to make a single copy of the questions and answers. Read them again make any changes you think need to be made then put the list away (yes again).

Your kid, dog, significant other, or what have you is calling. Go spend some time doing something else again. Get away from that list for a while then come back when you are ready. We will be here.