<p>I live in one of the oldest houses on the block. It has door frames that aren't square anymore and the cold air seeps right through the cracks. A month ago, we bought some weather lining from Fred Meyers. It was some sort of foam that stuck to the doorway. We put it on and it was so tight we could barely close the door, but it fixed are draft problem. Unfortunately, it fell off a day and a half later. I went back to Fred Meyers and got some more, and this time I kept the plastic backing on one side and nailed it to the door frame with little finish nails. It worked great for the past month, but now some of it is ripping and falling off. I've already spent $30 on weather stripping, filled my door frame with finish nails, and only now am I going to look for quality weather stripping.<br /><br />Stupid, huh?<br /><br />There are small businesses that approach getting a site built in a similar fashion. They decide that in order to be competitive they need some form of web presence, but then decide that the best way to get their site online is to look for the cheapest solution.<br /><br />Here are four routes to avoid when trying to get your site on the cheap:<br /><br />1. <strong>Hiring your sister-in-law's son's best friend.</strong> If you go this route, you give the kid $70 and a week later their ready for you to view your new website. Your first impression is that it is ugly as sin, but then you hear drums and a bagpipe, and you realize that it's ugly AND loud. Your young web designer looks up at you, smiling, and says, "AC/DC. Pretty cool, huh?" (I was this kid.)<br /><br />2.<strong> Buying Frontpage or Dreamweaver.</strong> These programs give a graphical interface that you can manipulate to build sites. If you go this route, you probably have done a little research and figure, "I'm pretty smart. I can figure it out." You might even be really smart and buy Dreamweaver, which is a better program. Your first $200 goes into that, and then two weeks later, you spend another $80 hiring someone off Craigslist to help you figure out how to use it. Unfortunately, these programs may make things easier, but if you don't understand what they're doing and why, you're up a certain creek minus a paddle.<br /><br />3.<strong> Hiring the lowest bidder off Craigslist.</strong> You're pretty sure that they can give you what you want and they have a really good portfolio. You give them half up front, $100, which seems like a reasonable condition. Then you wait a week and no work is being done. After you think about their portfolio a little, you wonder, "Why is someone who claims to have made all these great sites working for $200 on Craigslist?" Concerned, you call them. They don't answer. Several days and unanswered phone calls later, you're extremely upset, but your sister-in-law consoles you, "Don't worry, my kid has a friend that's really good with computers." &nbsp;<br /><br />4. <strong>Using an online, "Website Builder."</strong> You Google, "get a website," and all of a sudden you discover that for you can have a website by the end of the evening for only $4.50 a month(1 year sign up). Three nights and one very awkward website later you realize that you just paid someone $50 to waste three of your evenings.<br /><br />I'm bootstrapping a business and understand that budgets are tight, especially these days. When purchasing any skilled service however, you have to pay for those skills. If you had a horrific diarrhea(everyones' favorite), would you pay someone who has a Scientific American subscription $20 to cure you? Would you spend $30 on a herbal supplement that is supposed to ease your symptoms? Or would you pay a doctor's fee for a doctor to prescribe you medicine?<br /><br />If you're a smart alec, you might say, "I'd borrow a copy of Scientific American and head to the can to wait it out." Well pat yourself on the back, because I suggest the same approach for your business. If you can't afford a web development firm or a competent freelancer, wait until you can. In the meantime, learn more about the web professionals in your area, define what you need from your website, and educate yourself on what to ask for and what to expect. It's cheaper than trying to beat the odds with the above approaches. &nbsp;<br /><br />So what can you do beyond preparation and planning? You might consider blogging, which you can do for free, or social media marketing(e.g. Biznik, Linked In, Facebook, and etc.) Another savvy approach is to hire a competent web designer and have them do a one or two page site for you with only information essential to your business. The building of websites doesn't scale according to pages, so don't expect to get these pages super cheap, but it will be much more affordable than a full on site.<br /></p> 2008-12-12T16:49:43Z -14.2826 198 2489 true 14 22270 four-bad-routes-to-getting-your-business-online 2 2008-12-14T17:08:12Z 2008-12-14T17:08:12Z

Money is tight along with time, but if you go these routes, you may find yourself out of both and with nothing but a crappy website to show for it.

0 2009-02-24T09:47:52Z