For a small business or first time online entrepreneur looking for the perfect opportunity to make a living from the internet, the failure rate is high, and in my opinion one in a million succeed online.

The most money made on the internet is still information products like e-books and software, and the 80/20 rule applies. Millions of wannabe internet marketing startups are individuals who try to succeed in the info product arena, but lack the business skills of veteran entrepreneurs. Personally, I don't have the time or interest for it, yet those 20% are doing very well once they get rolling, and most make money telling people (that 80% who fail) how to make money online. The 80% keep buying every new idea that comes along, then realize it's hard work, and quit that effort just to buy the next best offer hoping it's get rich quick without any work.

A person can follow 1000 dead ends in search of that 1 real opportunity for selling info products online. One in a million succeed online, and those that do set up joint ventures and cross promote, so the top feeders continue to dominate. The secret to success for new online ventures is finding a narrow niche that will still attract a reasonable following with 1000's of prospects instead of millions, and then working on providing value to that niche with an interesting website and quality products.

Tags: advice online marketing info products small business

Labels: advice, websites

                     

A newly released document from WAI provides an opportunity for developers to comment as well as design test sites to the recommended standards for accessibility.

The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) group of the W3C released WCAG2.0 Candidate Recommendation on April 30, and web developers and designers are invited to review the guidelines for newly recommended standards for web accessibility.

The purpose is to allow designers to comment on the developing standard aimed at improving website usability for disabled persons and elders, and volunteer to create test websites to fully meet A, AA, and AAA levels for accessibility.

One aspect will be particularly challenging for full AAA compliance, and that is optional content media for audio and video productions. For example, for a podcaster that would mean a text version of the program for hearing impaired, and videos would require alternate presentations of content for blind persons.

Podcasters using a script would find creating a text or readable PDF fairly simple.Alternate content for videos would be more challenging, yet for small business website owners, meeting the needs of disabled persons visiting your site is worth investigating.

In this early stage, designers are welcome to provide feedback on implementation obstacles or solutions, as well.

TAGS: advice accessibility wai web design

Labels: advice, design, podcast, websites

                     

For small business owners, the key to do-it-yourself website promotion involves three types of web design optimization. Your search engine optimization goes beyond what visitors view displayed on your website, so our advice is looking at these seo optimization techniques:

• Code optimization accessed by search engines only
• On-page content optimized for seo and visitors
• Off-site promotional services for seo and backlinks

Within your design code in html or xhtml you may improve your small business site popularity and ranking by including key code features. Search engines only access the code, so be sure to use title tags with keywords and a proper meta description in a complete sentence. Each will improve your seo if you avoid using your company name and focus on what you do.

On-page content includes H tags for headings (h1) and subheadings (h2-h6), and then keywords within the text content, especially at the beginning of each opening sentence of each paragraph, and again in the last paragraph of your site. People are more likely to search on your product or service rather than your company name, so my advice is placing your company name in the second paragraph or last sentence of the first paragraph rather than at the very beginning of each page.

Off-site promotional services include web directories, blog directories, and web 2.0 social sites for establishing natural backlinks that act as votes for your site when found by search engines.

Do well on these three types of web design optimization techniques, and your small business website will be a step ahead of the competition.

Tags: advice search engine optimization small business website design

Labels: advice, design, seo, websites

                     

Of the approximate 6 million small business enterprises in the USA, those with 20 or fewer employees are still the vast majority. 5.23 million have fewer than 20 employees, and only 760,000 have 20 or more. These are the latest published statistics from the US Census Bureau, and the breakdown is rounded off as follows:

Total Number of Small Businesses in USA by Size

20,000 with 500+ employees
110,000 with 100+ employees
630,000 with 20+ employees
5,230,000 with 20 or less

5,990,000 Total Number

Micro small business website ownership of at least one home page is more than 70%. Of those, only 5% have added a small business blog to their site according to a NY Times piece reported in December 2007, and entitled Blogging’s a Low-Cost, High Return Marketing Tool.

Based on this 5% which may be slightly higher according to others tracking data, there are only 299,500 small business websites with blogs. If you are one of the 30% of small business owners without a website, or one of the 95% without a blog, my advice is starting now with this low cost marketing tool to promote your small business. Let us know how we can help with your strategy of keeping up with or staying ahead of the competition.

TAGS: advice blog news promotion reviews small business websites website design

Labels: advice, blog, news, promotion, reviews, websites

                     

A series of new pages were added to the Code Repair main site with tools for website design for established web developers, or do-it-yourself site owners interested in custom small business website design. Four new sections provide reviews on a variety of great tools for website design.

Visit these links to learn about Website Design Tools, Web Browser Add Ons, HTML Coding Software, and PDF Creation Software.

The majority of the resources reviewed at the links above are free. Questions? Please email us about any of the tools that we use and recommend for custom website design.

TAGS: advice design news reviews small business websites website design

Labels: advice, design, news, reviews, websites

                     

The advice theme for www.CodeRepair.com has been revised under new ownership to commercial services for custom website design, custom blog design, and standard package website design, plus web graphics.

This site was previously managed by my father, and I am the new owner, Roger Degerstrom. The format was changed from a Joomla cms based system to custom XHTML 1.1 and CSS2, and topics on this blog include design advice, custom blogs, website design, related news, podcasts, site promotion, various reviews, and search engine optimization.

I apologize for the sudden change or any inconvenience. The time required managing several sites can be difficult, and he continues working full time and long hours in his custom web design business, blog, and podcast, and he will continue as a mentor to Code Repair as this site is now strictly design related.

I welcome small business owners interested in low cost standard or fully custom websites designed in XHTML 1.1 with CSS2, or custom Blogger blogs. With the change of ownership, yet all in the family, my slogan relates to that plus the advantages of using the latest XHTML code with "The Next Generation in Custom Website Design".

TAGS: advice blog design domains hosting news podcast promotion reviews seo small business websites website design

Labels: advice, blog, design, news, podcast, promotion, reviews, seo, websites