Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Dear All,

 Couple of days back, I posted a topic on designing a website but after looking into the options, resources, my plan and discussion with couple of web entrepreneurs-- I realized and was suggested tht I explore the option of BLOG along withWEBSITE. Ofcourse it heavily depends on what I want to deliver with the medium.

Just a brief, on what I am doing --I am building a online resource which would work as a career/ life consultant and a space for all the resources needed for it. I have researched both the options but the information is overwhelming and I am kind of biased towards blog option (may be first I should go with a blog and then later launch a website?) but YOUR insight will be highly appreciated. Also, I have couple of questions--

Q1. For the type of service I want to provide, do you think blog is a better option?

Q2. Has anyone had a similar situation--debate between blog and website? What did you do?

Q3. How can I make a blog interactive rather than just the owner blogging all the time? Also, how can I make a blog which includes USER GENERATED CONTENT ?

Q4. Is wordpress the best blog publishing platform? If not, which one is the best?

Q5. How can I monetize a blog? I know of Google adsense and affiliate mktg but is there any other good source?

Q6. Any more suggestions ???

As always, thanks alot for your time, and insight :))

Priya

 

I`d go with a Wordpress.org site.  It is the best of both worlds, blog and static Web site.  You can easily create pages instead of posts, even the home page can be static if you wish.  This also addresses your Q4.

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Powerful, Free Marketing Tips to Help Grow Your Business!
Free-Marketing-Tips-Blog.com Follow me on Twitter @FreeMarkTips

Eric and David,

Thanks alot for the quick response and insight-- It helps. Also, david-- I read ur article, it answered most of my other unasked questions as well (i couldnt leave a comment though?). Thanks for posting such articles.

thanks,
Priya

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Powerful, Free Marketing Tips to Help Grow Your Business!
Free-Marketing-Tips-Blog.com Follow me on Twitter @FreeMarkTips

Priya,

If you do a custom installation of Wordpress you can actually make some changes inside the control panel that will allow static pages to appear on the URL (http://www.somethingrandom.com).  You can then set blog content, which I recommend you write or record for, on another page.  Leverage interactivity with your website visitors.  Finally I would recommend seeking out a premium wordpress theme.  Normally these will cost anywhere from $25-150/ theme.  Not a trivial investment but one worth making.  If you have the desire you can also find a contract wordpress designer to create a completely custom theme for you but that can get quite costly.

Good luck,

Kade




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Kade Dworkin
Schwom Marketing
Specializing in market research for entrepreneurs

Hey Kade,

Thanks for ur insight. Do you mean I can make my blog interactive (features like UGC) if I use custom wordpress installation?
I will definitely explore the option.

Thanks again,
Priya

Priya.

If you`re looking for UGC in the form of comments and reactions, that`s built into WordPress.  As for additional features, check the plugin listings at wordpress.org and you`ll find many of the features that you would want for UGC.  If they`re missing something you critically need, say a wiki, those installations aren`t much harder than the custom WordPress installation.

Kade



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Kade Dworkin
Schwom Marketing
Specializing in market research for entrepreneurs