How to make money off your website

This is an often asked question and this article focuses on small businesses and what is in it for them to invest in a website.

Small WordPress websites involve an initial investment of between can cost between $2,000 and $20,000, as well as ongoing costs.  So it is good to do a Cost Benefit Analysis of whether it is a good thing for you.

The focus of this article is about why a small NZ business should invest in a website.

What are the Financial benefits of a website for your business?

• Direct income generation: simply speaking – your website generates direct income for your business.
• A Decrease in expenditure: having a website saves you money in other ways, or instance in wages or advertising
• Increased opportunity costs: having a website can give you more time to concentrate on other things. Working smarter rather than working harder – a challenge for all small business owners.

Making your website pay through:
Direct income generation

• Sales/Shop If you have a product to sell, selling directly on line will almost certainly increase your sales, and these days some people ONLY sell on line.  With WordPress based sites, we can set you up an easy to run on line shop for about $500 + gst.  All you need to do is take the orders and send them out.

You can even have a donations button for your favourite charity

• Subscriptions: Will people pay to have access to your website. This is a tricky one. For many people one of the benefits of the internet is that information is free, and there is a resistance to people paying for information.  However if the information has high value to me, I would be prepared to pay to subscribe to information.

For example I have friends who run Pink Prophets - and a 79 pound pa subscription gives you access to their financial research and investment information

• Multi Level Website – some people will pay to list their business on your website.  This can work well with a small business who has a generic website in which they advertise their own business, but have built the site in a way that it also advertises other similar businesses.  For many very small businesses, it is not economic to have their own website, but they can have an internet presence through being on your website.

I have several websites for which this is a major income earner

- Women Travel New Zealand where people pay $175/year to list on the website

- Bream Bay Community Website - I set up a mini website within this site for small businesses who do not have a website.  Its a cheap way for them to get internet visibility.  I charge $100 set up + $100/year for this + $60 for the cost of their domain name if they want their own unique domain name.  I offer this free for community groups.

For the following to work as income generation, you need to get a lot of people visiting your website.

• Google Advertising – you can have Google Sponsored Advertisments on your website – I am sure you have seen them all.  I find them annoying, but every time someone clicks on a sponsored link you earn some money and it can mount up.

Make sure the benefit of the amount you will get outweighs the potential negative impact on visitors to your site.  Not recommended for small website Google Adsense

• Affiliate Advertising- You form a relationship with a third party  and advertise their business or products.  You get paid when people purchase a product after clicking from a coded link on your website.  I have affiliates with Amazon Books, Nomads Travel Insurance, Hostel Bookers.

Recommended if there is a strong relationship between the products the affiliate offers and the visitors to your website.  Whenever you recommend a book – get  an Amazon affiliate link to it. On my travel sites, I sell Nomads Travel Insurance.

• Banner advertising on your Website – Similar to above, but you are paid up front for a banner, instead of by the click.

Recommended if you have strong links with particular companies and they are willing to pay for such a link.

Making your website pay through:
A Decrease in expenditure

• Do you or your staff spend a lot of time telling people about your products and answering questions about the product? This information should be available on your website.  When I opened my B&B 7 years ago, I was for ever being asked about what was involved in running it, where I advertised, where I got my linen, booking systems and more.  So I set up a page on one of my Websites that had all this information on it, and I was thereafter able to point people to it for more information. Read it here. An added benefit was that as it was a subject many people searched on the internet for information about, I got more hits on that page and therefore more to my Women Travel website as a result.  I also add at the end of the page, that I am available for mentoring or website assistance at $NZ60/hour in person or on the phone
• Advertising your business/product – A well designed website is the first and most cost-effective place to advertise. When people search for you on the internet they will find you, and the products you offer.  Many of their initial questions will be answered on the website, and you can deal with an informed and ready to buy customer – saving you time and money.  Your business cards only need the basic contact information and your web address, and they have access to everything they need to know about you.
• Some products don’t need an expensive shop front - they can be sold much more economically on the internet.
• Your budgetted spending on a website might have to be added to your budget, but you can often save money on staff, rent, advertising and marketting.

If you do not already have a WordPress based website, you are probably spending too much unproductive time managing your websites. For as little as $1800+gst you can have a WordPress website that makes it:

• simple to manage an automated mailing list of your customers
• easier to write about the latest that is happening at your business and to spread the news of about this
• easier to integrate social networking such as twitter, facebook, Utube and more
• CONTACT ME about how you can benefit from a WordPress website  read more here

Making your website pay through:
Increased opportunity costs – Working Smarter rather than harder

When I paid attention to the issues I have raised here,  my business became more manageable, more focused, and I had more time to walk on the beach without worry,  to walk the dog or to enjoy reading the paper over a coffee at my local café.  Spending a little more time thinking about my business, rather than always being overwhelmed with working in the business, means that I could do some strategic thinking about how to grow my business, and how to have a better lifestyle along the way.

What Web2Blog offers:

We help you to get a great WordPress based website to promote your business.

Web2Blog is a unique partnership between

Business Mentor and networker extraordinaire – Rosemary Neave: helping you define your business needs in relation to the opportunities a WordPress Website can offer you  AND to train you to use the website after it is set up

Creative Web Designer Jo Couchman: Jo takes her knowledge of what WordPress can offer your business, adds artistic and graphic flair to your concepts to designing a website that can be a true launching platform for your business.

CONTACT Rosemary about how you can benefit from a WordPress website  read more here