I went freelance a couple of years ago and the biggest challenge was to establish credibility. I tried to use my contact network and list myself in yellow pages, but that hardly got me any business. After all, my friends who recommended me were obviously my well wishers and Yellow pages would list anybody who paid!
I needed something more to let my prospective customers trust me. And then it struck me! A Website! What better than having a ready reference for the people to know about me, my work, my credentials and offerings all without the risk of having to reject my services in person?
I had heard the best ideas are often the simplest, but somehow this brilliant idea seemed too difficult (or at any rate too expensive) for me to execute. I used all my negotiating skills to get best prices from Website designers, but even the lowest one gave me shivers. And I had no interest or inclination to get into the nitty gritty of HTML or the technical programming involved to create a website.
Because I did not have enough money and no business I searched and searched and searched and searched. As luck had it, this great idea too turned out to be a simple one.
I found not just one but three techniques to design my own website for as little at $0 to $70 per year! All these options required absolutely no technical knowledge on my part. Even at $70/year I could save at least 75% of the money I would have spent on the cheapest website designer!
Here are the three techniques (from least to more professional looking) for you to design a business website on your own:
$0 – Use free blogging platforms like WordPress.com or Blogger.com.
Approx. $12 – Buy a domain name and host it on free hosting services like Webs or Weebly.
Approx. $70 – Buy a Domain name and hosting and use free WordPress tool to create a professional looking website. I personally did not opt for a free website because the brand image of my company was at stake. But I did try the $12 option, only to realize just a week later that the third option gave me a lot more flexibility and control over my website.
I could add lots of functionalities like contact forms, videos, translation etc. to my website and the $70 spend every year were worth it. These techniques are fairly easy to understand but require a fair amount of trial and error.
