I’ve been doing a series of blog posts across several of my blogs on the basics of internet marketing.  There are two key tools you need to really be in business online. The first is an autoresponder.  I shared my opinions on them on a blog post on my Micro Business specialist blog: http://microbusinessspecialist.com/blog/autoresponder/internet-marketing-the-basics-where-to-start/

In addition I posted my recommendation as to which web hosting service to use on my Minneapolis Internet Marketing Consultant blog on the following post: http://minneapolisinternetmarketingconsultant.com/web-hosting-2/my-favorite-low-cost-web-hosts/

Today, I am going to revisit one of my favorite themes and one of my criteria for web hosting, the use of and presence of a c-panel to manage your web hosting.

I like cpanel for a lot of reasons, the most important one being that it is relatively easy to use and you can find a lot of help using it.  The majority of Web hosting firms use the cpanel, which means that a lot of people use it and it is thus easy to find people who can help you when you have an issue.

While my first sites and web hosting were on a proprietary system, I was locked in to them for life, and needed to learn their specific system and its quirks to manage my web site.  I did. It took a while and was hard at first to figure out and despite their best efforts to have a peer supported help desk and forum, I found it difficult to get answers to my questions just when I needed them.  Maybe an hour or two later, when I had already gone on to something else.  It was frustrating and limiting.

Once I learned the need and discovered Host Gator which I moved to for cost and support reasons, I was still faced with learning their system. In this case the cpanel.  It has a ton of icons on it, and while I tout it as easy to use, it can be daunting at first.

The advantage of Cpanel is that a lot of people have written about cpanel and you can find a lot of resources online to support you when you have an issue.

I like it, because I have help my clients as well much easier when I know how the guts of their system works.  Its probably this second factor that accounts for the success cpanel has had. Because it is popular, it has support and is easier to help others. Because of this, it gets recommended more.  That’s the good type of viral working for them. The good news is the the cpanel comes with the hosting package at no extra cost.  You just need a web host like Host Gator that uses it as their control panel.

But you do need to learn it. So where. Their are lots of free videos on You Tube and elsewhere on the web.  I learned from Bob the Teacher on his Discover Cpanel video series.  It was a major break through for me.

Since then, I have been recommending that set of videos to all my newbie marketers. It’s inexpensive and a critical bit of essential knowledge for those who have a cpanel on their hosting.

If you don’t have cpanel, you don’t need this. If you do, you really do owe it to yourself to learn at least the basics.  Then you can farm it all out to your computer person if you want. The advantage is you will realize how trully simple some tasks can be, and avoid being overcharged for five seconds of work.

Now again, I like Cpanel, because I can do the five seconds of work and not have to wait two or three days to get it done. Which is what I hate about letting someone else manage my sites.

Anyway, my goal here today is to introduce you to my favorite cpanel training course.  It’s called, Discover Cpanel.

This course was a critical help to me, and could be the same for you.  Now that I have this training, I am able to set up new sites and blogs easily, I can add new domains. I can control my own website email and much more easily.

Now I recognize that most home stagers are more interested in doing home staging than they are at learning the mechanics of their web site. Still for those of you who do want to take charge of your online life, I highly recommend that you get this course if you have cpanel on your web site.

How do you tell. Just type your url with a /cpanel on the end.  If your host uses cpanel you will see a log in.  If you don’t know your log in info you should be able to get it from your computer guy or the help desk at your web hosting site. IE www.abc.com/cpanel

Technorati Tags: cpanel, discover cpanel, web hosting, host gator, control panel, cpanel howto, cpanel web host manager, web host with cpanel

The simplest and easiest way to get prospective customers to call you, beyond word of mouth, is a properly completed Google Place's Page. They are free, powerful and easy to maintain, once you have them set up properly. I share tips on this blog from time to time on this blog about how best to do so. I also have been known to hire myself out on occasion to help others get it done for them. If you would like to get your Google Places Page properly set up send me an email at enetwal@gmail.com and put "Free Initial Evaluation" or something similar in the subject line. Be sure to include your current web site and contact info.

Technorati Tags: control panel, Cpanel, cpanel howto, cpanel web host manager, discover cpanel, host gator, web host with cpanel, web hosting

Most homestagers I have come to know over the past couple of years are way too busy running their business to spend a lot of time learning how to take charge of their business web sites.  It’s a shame, but I have come to understand and accept the reality of this fact.

Most use a third party computer person to make changes to their site, or worse yet let it sit there “as is” pretty much as it was on day one.

The net result is that these people are far less likely to have their web sites appear at the top of the search engines and thereby get an occasional client as a result of their site.

Many conclude that the internet doesn’t work for home staging and I for one don’t buy that.

If you can take the time to spend a few hours learning how to access and make changes to your web site, you will discover that it’s not all that difficult.  In fact it can be a lot of fun.

I could teach you how to use the C-panel that is used by most web hosting companies, but that would require my trying to do a better job than is done by Chris Morris and Bob Jenkins whose course on C-panel is top notch.  It was a key part of my education, and remains the premier how to do C-panel course out there.

One caveat, not every web hosting company uses C-panel.  In my book, that’s a good reason to switch to another web host. (If that’s your case – email me and I will give you my top two recommendations for an alternate service(s) that does.)

To determine if your web host does use C-panel – type in your url and add /cpanel at the end. A log in will appear if you do have cpanel.  You will need to have your Log in name and password.  If you don’t know it ask your computer guy. It’s your site and your service so they should give it to you gladly. (If not – it’s a sign that you really do need to make a change.)

Example. http:// homestagingBusinessTips.com/blog/cpanel

Below is a video offering a free lesson on Cpanel as a promo for the course. I encourage you to watch the free lesson and then make a decision to take charge of your web site, or at least learn how to do it, even if you decide it wiser to leave the day to day operations in the hands of your computer people.

PS: Allegra Dioguardi tells me she has room for one or two more students for her HomeStaging Training By Design course that starts on the 13th and the 14th. She offers both a day and evening sessions to accommodate more peoples schedules.

Check it out.

Technorati Tags: Cpanel, c-panel, staging training by design, allegra dioguardi, bob jenkins, chris morris, internet marketing

The simplest and easiest way to get prospective customers to call you, beyond word of mouth, is a properly completed Google Place's Page. They are free, powerful and easy to maintain, once you have them set up properly. I share tips on this blog from time to time on this blog about how best to do so. I also have been known to hire myself out on occasion to help others get it done for them. If you would like to get your Google Places Page properly set up send me an email at enetwal@gmail.com and put "Free Initial Evaluation" or something similar in the subject line. Be sure to include your current web site and contact info.

Technorati Tags: Allegra Dioguardi, bob jenkins, C Panel, chris morris, Cpanel, Internet marketing, staging training by design