Awhile back I introduced you to Justin Parr, creator of the Doglirious site (shown below)

Justin built his site on a WordPress blog platforms using the StudioPress themes for WordPress. Doglirious is based on the Lifestyle theme, (as does NPT) and MyEnergyPal uses the StudioPress Church theme. Here is how they appear ‘out of the box’.

As you can see, each theme was modified to the webmaster’s specifications with changes to overall color scheme, the header graphic, bullet list icons, pictures included in the ‘Featured Section’ near the top of the page and other design elements.

Doglirious belongs to Justin and Michelle, and and Justin did all the design work for that one as well as a number of other blogs – all equally as gorgeous. I did the theme customization for MyEnergyPal, and the logo was sourced out to 99Designs by my partner in the project.

Can a Newbie Get Similar Results?

Absolutely! Installing a WordPress blog takes only a minute when you use SimpleScripts (offered by BlueHost hosting) and every StudioPress theme ‘out of the box’ is beautiful.

While it is possible for a new webmaster to to modify these themes by availing themselves of help from the StudioPress forums and/or other online design and blogging support communities, there is a somewhat steep learning curve to the process which can take considerable time to absorb and master.

And you’ll need a few things to make the site your own, including:

1. A Logo (Header Graphic)
2. Featured Content Gallery plugin
3. Pictures/Graphics to put in the Featured Content Gallery
4. Color scheme customization to match your logo

And although I always encourage new webmasters to learn and do as much as they can with their own blogs, learning how to design graphic elements isn’t a compulsory part of that mix — especially not if your mission is to get your site up and making money as fast as possible.

But Paying $5K for a Custom Site is Ludicrous!

Unfortunately, I’ve spoken with WAY too many people who have literally spent a fortune having a site designed for them – often to the tune of $5,000 for 3 – 10 page sites – and then they still don’t even know how to change a link.

It drives me nuts to hear these stories, because it is completely unecessary to spend that kind of money, especially on a site that you can’t operate. Learning how to post content to a blog is easy as pie to do, and with continual improvements to WordPress, the process just keeps getting easier.

The WordPress interface is super intuitive, but just in case you want to go deeper into the functionality, there are plenty of blogging instruction videos available that will teach you how to work your blog. So, there’s absolutely NO reason why you should be held hostage by a webmaster on whom you must depend to make all your site changes.

The StudioPress themes are beautifully designed and they’re only $59.95 per template – so why in the world would anyone pay $5000 for a website — not to mention KEEP paying that webmaster to insert content and/or links?

The thought strikes me as preposterous.

There IS a happy medium, however. One that won’t cost you an arm and a leg — and nowhere close to 5,000, or $3,000 or even $1,000.

Justin’s Design Tutorials

Justin Parr has just finished a series of video tutorials that show you EXACTLY how he created Doglirious using the Studio Press lifestyle theme. As our guest blogger DinerDave is quoted saying about Justin’s help..

“I love that I can do this on my own. I’ve learned more working with you than I have in the last 4 years working with my last web developer.”

Debora Humphries, another happy user of Justin’s system, just left the following comment on this blog:

“I do have Justin’s package and I absolutely love it. Best money I have ever invested for training. The man is really talented at clearly explaining and demonstrating a step-by-step method on how to customize the “Lifestyle StudioPress Theme.”

And now you can learn how to create a beautiful blog with Justin’s video tutorials at  WordPress in a Day.

With all my affiliate site posts queued up for the next 2 months and some time on my hands this weekend, I decided to get to work making the Super Affiliate Handbook available as an online tutorial, through a membership site.

My primary concern was how to set up a membership site easily.

Gail and I use Amember on PrivateLabelCentral.com. The setup is relatively simple for someone who has worked through installation directions more than a few times, but I did manage to mess things up with some bad file permissions that required another intervention by my favorite geek and host master extraordinaire, Steve Hetrick. The temporary downtime aside, I am quite happy with Amember.

However, I recalled reading that there might be a plugin available that could turn a WordPress blog into a membership site.

What could be more perfect, especially since the main focus of the tutorials is affiliate blogging.

My search brought Wishlist Member to the top of the results.

Per the sales page, the list of features include:

• Unlimited Membership Levels
• Simple Installation With New or Existing WordPress Blog
• Flexible Membership Options
• Sequential Content Delivery
• Control Viewed Content
• Shopping Cart Integration
• Easy Member Management
• Multi-Level Access
• Total Content Protection
• Secure RSS Feeds
• Subscription Length Control
• Login Redirection
• Create Your Membership Site Using WordPress & WL Member
• “Sneak Peak” Content Display
• Custom Error Pages
• Partial Content Display

On confirming that Wishlist Member could be integrated with my shopping cart of choice (Clickbank) and my Aweber autoresponder, I decided that it was worth a try. Note: Wishlist Member also integrates with 1ShoppingCart, PayPal, Cydec, Autoresponseplus and GetResponse and generic systems.

The single licence version of Wishlist Member is $97 and the multiple licence version is $297. With a 30-day refund policy, I opted to buy the multiple licence version – realizing that if the plugin worked as well as promised, I would definitely want to use it on other blogs.

My experience with Wishlist Member

After buying Wishlist Member, I purchased a new domain, set up hosting, did a 1-minute WordPress installation, uploaded the plugin, installed the theme that came with the plugin… and was off to the races.

Within 30 minutes, I’d watched a few of the tutorial videos, set up 8 modules using Pages (you can restrict member access by post, page, categories and comments) , a sequential upgrade that drips content over time and input some articles. By the way, the video tutorials are accessible without having to purchase the product.

The video below shows the results of those 30-minutes, as well as how membership content is protected, even when someone is smart enough to figure out the URL of a higher-level module.

If you’d like to view a larger sized video, it’s available on YouTube.

The only thing that would make Wishlist Member absolutely perfect, is if it could be integrated with the more popular forum software, such as phpBB or vBulletin. I haven’t heard that this is planned, but with all the other features that were integrated after user suggestions were submitted, I wouldn’t be surprised to see that option turn up at some point — or at least, I’m fervently hoping it will — Are ya listening, Stu?

Other than that,  Wishlist Member is a GREAT choice for bloggers who want to set up their own membership sites, especially in terms of ease of set up and price.

Wishlist Member gets a 2 big thumbs up from me and my HIGHEST recommendation.

Watch this video to see how easy it is to install a WordPress blog on your BlueHost account using SimpleScripts. Click, click, done!

If you would like to see a larger version of this video, please visit YouTube.

Get just TWO items and you can be in business online.

One thing I love best about Internet marketing is that the financial barrier to entry is low. In other words, it doesn’t cost much at all, meaning that anyone with a little bit of money can start a business.

Assuming that you already have a computer that is connected to the Internet, here are the TWO basic services that you’ll need along with their estimated costs:

1. A domain name

   You can register your domain name at GoDaddy for as little as $9.99 for a .com name, or get it included when you set up your web hosting service (see next item).

2. A web hosting service

   My favorite web hosting service to recommend to new webmasters is BlueHost which is as little as 6.95 per month (when you buy a 2-year hosting package) and includes your domain name registration. I also list a number of other recommended web hosts here.

Of course, in time you’ll probably want to add other services such as an autoresponder and maybe buy some content for your site if you don’t like to write.

But just getting a web site started doesn’t require anything beyond having a domain name and web hosting.

Total cost?

About $7.00 a month – or $27.00 per month with the autoresponder.

Quick recap: I now have the domain name DinerDave.com, uploaded the basic wordpress template from my bluehost account, and I’ve done the market research to determine what my target readers would be searching for online.

So what’s next?

After speaking with Ros and posting a few questions in the NPT forum, I was advised to write at least 7 posts and publish them to DinerDave.com BEFORE enhancing my site with the StudioPress Lifestyles Theme. Ros says that by having 7 posts to populate the Lifestyles template it fills out the page, post, and category hierarchies more efficiently.

So now it’s time for the meat and potatoes of DinerDave! I need to write some content based on the most popular restaurant and dining related keywords (see last post DinerDave Does Market Research to see what those keywords are)!

Step 1 – Finding Content

I have a head start when it comes to FINDING content to write about in that I read the “National Restaurant Association Smart Briefs” at least twice a week to help me in my day job as a restaurant wine sales rep. This email newsletter is jam-packed with tons of great articles on dining out and restaurant events and specials.

I also regularly check my Google Alerts that I set up with the following words: restaurant coupons, restaurant discounts, restaurant specials, restaurant gift certificates, restaurant reviews, restaurant reservations. In fact, I used one of the USA Today articles titled “Full Service Chains Entice Diners with Deals” that was featured in the restaurant specials Google Alert. I paraphrased some of the information contained in the article and added more restaurants with recession specials to create the DinerDave.com post “Restaurant Recession Specials Mean Big Savings for Diners!“

And last, but certainly not least, I use my own experience with products and services offered by merchants such as Restaurant.com, Zagat.com, and OpenTable.com to write review posts. I have found that the easiest posts to write are the ones where I am simply talking about the products or services that I use frequently to enhance my dining out experience. See How I Saved $303/Week Dining Out with Restaurant.com” for an example of this type of post.

Step 2 – Determine if Content is “Post Worthy”

Now that I have gathered all these articles with ideas and information that I can pass along to my readers, I need to determine which ones will make the best posts. Here is the criteria I use to decide which posts to publish to DinerDave:

1. Is there an merchant affiliate program in place for the subject matter I’m writing about? I realize I cannot monetize EVERY post with an merchant offer, BUT I can at least populate the post with the right keywords to drive traffic to my site. Then maybe I can tack on some google ads to monetize that traffic or at least entice the site visitor to sign up for my e-newsletter.
2. Will the post have compelling content for “diehard diners” or at least be interesting to someone who would like to “dine more & pay less”? In other words, would a foodie like myself SEARCH for the content contained in this post?
3. Am I writing about product or service that I have personally used or experienced? If I have not used the product or service, then I will not write about it….period!

Step 3 – Writing Content

Writing content can actually be a bit of a daunting task for me since I have never considered myself to be a very eloquent, grammatically correct, or prolific writer. One piece of advice Ros gives that always helps me out when writing content is something I read in her article 6 Ways to Build Site Content:

“If you think that your writing lacks luster or you find that it’s a real grind, here’s a tip…writing well really isn’t that difficult. Can you talk? Can you tell a friend about a product or service that you like? If you can, then all you need to do is pretend that you’re talking to a friend and and type what you would say to them.”

This is actually what I’m doing right now…with you.

Using the advice and criteria listed above I’ve recently finished 7 posts and now I am ready to upload my cool new Studio Press Lifestyles Template to DinerDave.com (with a little help from my new friend Justin).

Stay tuned for my next Diner Dave Diary Post – “Designing the Look and Feel of DinerDave.com“!

Note from Ros: I first noticed DinerDave.com when the domain name registration and hosting order showed up in my Inbox from Bluehost. “Cool domain name“, I thought. A few days later, Patrick Bayne (AKA Diner Dave) got in touch to ask me about Justin’s design service. He also told me his internet business story and why he decided to go from a static website to an interactive blog. “BRAVO!“, thought I, and Patrick agreed to document the transition.

So, in the coming months, you will be able to watch the evolution of DinerDave.com – starting with his rational for making the change, to market research, design changes and monetization. Enjoy!

First Things First…Who is Diner Dave?

I am a die-hard diner that uses the internet for anything related to dining out – from searching for restaurant coupons and gift certificates to making reservations at my favorite eateries. Because of my day job as a wine salesman in Houston, Texas I spend at least 2-3 days a week in restaurants persuading wine sommeliers and chefs to purchase wines from my portfolio. The BEST perk of my job is dining in different restaurants almost every day!
I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit, but how do I turn this passion for dining out into a profitable business?

In the Beginning there was LunchDiscounts.com

When I was a wine sales rep in Austin, Texas in 2003 I had several restauranteur friends tell me that they wanted to bring in more new customers, but could not afford to spend thousands of dollars on newspaper or radio advertising. So I thought “why not start a business that would email coupons to nearby office workers and residents that are interested in receiving specials from restaurants in their area?” This service would be free to the subscribers and would cost the restauranteurs a FRACTION of what they would pay for newspaper or radio advertising.

Knowing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about starting an internet business I hired a local web designer to help me create a website called LunchDiscounts.com. I acquired most of my subscribers by going from one office building to another and persuading employees to login to the website to join my lunch coupon email newsletter (surprisingly, nobody else was offering this service). After 18 months I expanded the email coupon service to include Lunch AND Dinner discounts and changed the name to DinerDeals.com.

DinerDeals.com: Version 1.0

DinerDeals.com took in $25,000 in email advertising revenue from local restaurants in its first year and received a very favorable write up in the Austin Business Journal. The problem was that every penny went back into the business to pay my sales reps and web designers. The sales reps that I hired earned 50% commission on every dollar generated and my web designer charged $75/hour! For all my hard work that year I made absolutely NO money on DinerDeals.com and I wanted to change that!

Enter Rosalind Gardner…

DinerDeals.com: Version 2.0

After reading Rosalind’s Super Affiliate Handbook I realized that I was spending too much time, effort, and MONEY on my static website for almost NO return! Why give away all my advertising sales revenue to keep sales reps on staff and pay a web designer to make minor changes to my website? Once I learned that I could “make money promoting other people’s stuff online” for less than what I was paying to do it the old-fashioned way I was convinced this was the way to go!

I decided I would change the business model of DinerDeals.com from a local email coupon service to a National AFFILIATE site promoting restaurant oriented services like coupons from Entertainment.com and discounted restaurant gift certificates from Restaurant.com. I signed up for both of these affiliate programs on CJ.com. My first success under this new direction occurred when I made a whopping $400/month just by sending out emails with coupon codes to buy $25 Restaurant.com gift certificates for only $5! Now I know that doesn’t sound like much money to make in one month, but you have to consider that I NEVER used PPC campaigns and ALL the affiliate commissions were coming from my 15,000 subscribers that I gathered over the last couple of years (yet another reason to gather email addresses on your blog)!

Even though I made some money sending out affiliate links in my emails to current subscribers, I’m still not getting much traffic on the new site AND I’m still relying on a web designer to make all the changes to DinerDeals.com. So the question becomes “how do I create an interactive, SEO friendly site at a low cost without having to pay a web designer every time I need to make a change?” I found the answer in the Super Affiliate Handbook: create a wordpress blog and populate it with compelling content that will keep your subscribers coming back again and again!

The Birth of DinerDave.com!

So I bid a fond farewell to DinerDeals.com to put everything I have learned in motion with DinerDave.com. I came up with the name DinerDave.com because it just sounds like a trusted friend that you could rely on to help you “Dine More & Pay Less!” (nice tagline don’t you think?). Plus, as you can see, I’m a big fan of alliteration. I searched GoDaddy.com and the name is available! I snatch it up and, based on Ros’ recommendation, I decide to host the site with BlueHost.com.

Now I just need to create some helpful content related to dining out. This of course means that it’s time for a little market research to ensure that what I’m writing about is what foodies are searching for on the internet.

Stay tuned to see how I researched which keywords to include in my DinerDave.com posts to optimize the site for search engines…

Here are the very few web hosts that I recommend…

You don’t have to filter through 100 different features and benefits lists here. I only recommend 3 different web hosting services, and my favorite, is listed right at the top of the page! They include:

1. BlueHost.com
2. HostGator
3. SiteBuildit!

And if you don’t need a web host, but want to register a domain name, I’ve included GoDaddy.

1. BlueHost.com

Please check the BlueHost site to confirm pricing details.

2. HostGator

Unlimited Web Hosting
Web Hosting made EASY and AFFORDABLE!

* Unlimited Disk Space
* Unlimited Bandwidth
* Free SiteBuilder (Try Demo)
* Easy Control Panel (Try Demo)
* 1-Click Script Installs

* 4,500 Free Website Templates
* 99.9% Uptime Guarantee
* 45 Day Money Back Guarantee
* 24/7/365 Technical Support
* $100 Google AdWords Credit

HostGator

3. Site Build iT!

Ken Evoy’s Site Build iT! is much MORE than just a web hosting service.

It’s an all-in-one web site solution for those who want to be able to access all their site-building tools in one place, i.e. site building, market research, content building, ad-selling, ppc buying etc.

Among its many benefits and features you’ll find domain registration, search engine optimization, autoresponder, forms, templates, and just too many more features to list here. Learn more:

Read my Site Build iT! Review or visit the SiteBuildit! Site.

Register a Domain Name with Godaddy.com

I personally recommend that you use one of the other hosting services suggested above before you choose GoDaddy. However if you just want to register a domain name, or aren’t interested in using the cPanel interface, then Godaddy.com offers domain registration services and hosting plans for as little as $3.95/month, and dedicated servers from $109.00/month. Features include:

• Up to 4 GB disk space
• Up to 200 GB bandwidth
• Includes database(s) and FREE scripts
• FREE 24×7 rapid account setup Custom Support also available
• FREE 24×7 monitoring Our World-class Data Centers
• Best-of-breed routers, firewalls & servers
• 24×7 onsite physical security

.com .us .net .org .biz .info .ws .com .us .biz .info .net .org .ws .name .tv .cc .de .jp .be .at .uk .nz .cn .tw

Do you have specific questions about doing business online? Here’s your opportunity to ask!

Here are examples of questions I’ve been asked of late…

• How do I find a profitable niche?
• How do I put an email capture form on my blog?
• What’s the difference between WordPress and Bluehost?
• WHY should I use WordPress?
• Is this the right time to start a new business?
• Is PLR safe to use?
• Where do I find a good ghostwriter?

Ask your question via the comment section below and I’ll do my best to answer it as quickly as possible.

Note: Please post a separate comment for individual topics, i.e. “What are the 3 best traffic generation methods and how do I build my list faster?” should be posted as individual questions.

This may come as a shock to some, but if you really want to get rich, the first thing you need to learn is how to spend money – or NOT spend it – as the case may be.

And what with national consumer debt and bankruptcy numbers reaching all time highs in the U.S. in 2008, it’s apparent that there’s more than just a little foolish spending going on.

Although some responsibility for the current mayhem can be placed squarely on government officials and lack of regulation, this article is about taking personal responsibility for our financial well-being… and taking it seriously.

In the years that I’ve been helping aspiring netpreneurs build their online businesses, I’ve been shocked over and over again to witness how people waste money – and worse, manage to throw good money after bad.

There was the woman who spent more than 100K (the bulk of her and her husband’s retirement savings) trying to market her book. She bought every course, attended every conference, paid tens of thousands for mentoring and after years of persuing her dream, she still had nothing to show in return. The sad truth of her story was that she spent her money on instruction that she didn’t put to use and would have been better off hiring a publicist.

I’ve had to talk many people out of buying some of the products I recommend. For example, it simply doesn’t make sense to buy a PLR content package for your non-existent website, especially when you’re living in your car and can’t do business using the library’s Internet connection. (Yes, I really did have that conversation.)

Then there are those who spend money frivolously either through blithe disregard to, or lack of awareness for, their precarious financial situation. For example, does it make sense to spend hundreds of dollars to have your windows washed when you can do it yourself and you’re already hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt and only one job loss away from financial ruin?

Likewise, if you’re in that situation, wouldn’t it make more sense to spend time, rather than money, learning how to install your own blog?

If you’ve had issues with over-spending, eg. can’t pay your credit card bills on a monthly basis, here are a few essential questions to ask yourself before you buy anything.

1. Can I afford this product? If it’s a toss-up between paying the rent and buying the product, the answer to this question should definitely be ‘no’. However, if all your essentials are covered, and spending that money won’t cause even the tiniest bit of regret later, proceed to the next question.
2. Do I really need this product? Obviously, if you want to start your own .com website, you need a domain name and hosting. On the other hand, you probably don’t really need to spend 5 grand on the domain name aftermarket to get that ‘perfect’ domain name. Take time to ask yourself whether you are acting on the basis of wants or real need.
3. Will I use this product? Doing market research is essential to ascertain profit potential in a specific niche and Wordtracker is a fantastic research tool. But if you’re only planning to start one site in the next 6 months, you’re not going to get a lot of benefit by purchasing a year-long subscription.
4. Can I buy it (or achieve the same results) cheaper or for free? To get traffic to your website, you’ll have to learn how to market it online. However, buying an $800 a month subscription to learn SEO techniques may not be the most effective use of your money. Evaluate and compare a number of different marketing courses. Spend time (not money) researching free sites (like this one) for marketing tips and strategies. Put them to use and make some money. When you’ve made enough to pay for a course to enhance your skills, buy the one that gives you the most bang for your buck.
5. Can I wait to buy this product? While you’re picking up a Arthritis PLR pack for your site, you see the scrapbooking PLR pack and think that’ll be perfect for the next site you have planned. Resist the urge. Unless you know for sure that you’re going to start that site and can get a discount for buying in quantity, buy only what you need when you need it.
6. Will this product save me time or money? If you’ve mastered the art of creating successful PPC campaigns and are well on your way to becoming the next big PPC affiliate, a tool like SpeedPPC is an excellent time-saving tool. However, if you’re just starting out and have never manually tweaked an Adwords campaign to produce real income; that high-end tool could cost you time, money and hair.
7. Will this product help me financially? If you’re already doing business online, this question might well be answered by the PPC campaign tool example above, because time is money — and saving time and money means making money. However, if you’re just starting out, you need products that help you build your knowledge, one step at a time and in an appropriate order. For example, you probably don’t need The Super Affiliate Handbook if you’re planning to become a virtual assistant — unless you want to be MY virtual assistant.

Ask yourself those questions whenever you plan to make a purchase (online business related or not) and I guarantee that you won’t regret wasting money on products you don’t need or want… ever again.

If you’ve been looking for a way to cut down on the amount of money you spend and make your savings account grow, then Slash Your Spending is one ebook you must read!

Even if your paycheck is small and your expenses are high, this in-depth eBook will teach you how to save thousands of dollars per year. Get it now!

Awhile ago I wrote the article, Can I Start an Affiliate Business with a Bad Credit Rating? and yet many of you still think you can’t do business online if you don’t have a credit card.

Granted, it’s difficult, but did you know that in addition to accepting all major Credit Cards (Visa, MasterCard, AmericanExpress, Discover), BlueHost.Com also accepts PayPal and money orders?

They also accept checks from U.S. residents.

So, if not having a credit card has stopped you from starting a website, check out BlueHost.

When sending checks and money orders be sure to include the following information:

1. First & Last Name
2. Company Name (optional)
3. Billing Address
4. Phone Number
5. Valid Email Address
6. Domain Name [new or if transferring your current domain]
7. Domain Privacy [state yes or no]
8. Terms of Service [state you read & agree]
9. Package Type [24, 12, 6, or 3 month account]
10. Password [for administrative control panel]

Important: 3 and 6 month accounts do NOT qualify for the FREE domain name. If you need a new domain the cost is $10 per domain per year.