Unbeatable Facebook Biz Page Offer!

This is just an amazing offer, especially for those who find Facebook's inner-workings to be less than user-friendly.

We'll get you up and running with a professional Business Page on Facebook within 24 hours of placing your order.

And, if you are interested, we'll get your page enhanced with custom images/ads/promotions/announcements/invitations, etc., that very few others have. In fact, they don't even KNOW about the enhanced HTML content that we have become skilled at presenting!

Here's how to do it:

1) Email Jimmy, your personal Facebook Biz Page guy, at info@safehouseweb.com.
2) Get ready to announce and promote your business in a brand new way!
3) Reap the benefits of the new leads and networking your page can generate.

The time you will save, and the outreach you will accomplish, will make this the best $195 spent on your business' online presence.

Nobel? Obama?? Really???

Unbelievable. Unworthy. Cheapens the whole prestige of the Prize.

...just a few of my infrequent political thoughts.


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A WordPress Help Plugin

If you are new to WordPress and you’re worried about where to start, you’ve come to the right place! Here is a very simple step you can take to help get started with WordPress.

After installing WordPress, consider making your first plugin installation the Codex and Forum searcher Plugin. It allows you to search both the WordPress Codex and Word Press Support Forum from your WordPress Administration Panels. Click on one of the search results and the page will open in a new window or tab so you can have the article or discussion open while working on WordPress. This will make your transition to WordPress a much gentler one with information right at your finger tips.

Keep on Pressing!

WordPress Installation Service - Quick on the Draw!

Quick and easy, painless and cheap. Two phrases that describe the truth about SafeHouse Web's new WordPress installation services.

If this sounds like you, "This Wordpress stuff looks great, but how do I find the time and know-how to install it and customize it?", then it may be worth your while to look into how promptly this can be taken care of for you. After all, you've already browsed the ins and outs of the WordPress Content Management System (CMS), the dashboard, probably read a little bit about how the theme options work and about the scores and scores of plug-in and widget options you've got! You're ready to dive straight into controlling your new WordPress site but you find the installation part too time consuming or overwhelming.

Not to worry! You are not alone and I used to be you! It's true, the installation of the WordPress platform is a piece of cake. What you're paying for here is the time savings you'll realize by having somebody else do all the techy stuff, uploading and configuring the site.


BASIC DEAL
Includes a new installation of WordPress on your hosting with some basic configuration. You'll also get a basic theme installed so you can get started right away.

* WordPress installation
* Theme Installation
* Basic WordPress Configuration

Price: $49


COOL DEAL
This package includes a new installation of WordPress on your hosting. In addition to basic WordPress configuration, one advanced theme that you own or want to buy will be installed. Also included is installation of a group of plug-ins that will improve your site's SEO.

* Advanced WordPress installation & Configuration
* Theme Installation
* Installation of a selective list of plug-ins

Price: $189


BIG DEAL
This package includes everything in the COOL DEAL installation above, plus customization services for your theme such as changing logo & changing color scheme modification.

* Advanced WordPress installation & Configuration
* Theme Installation
* Theme Customization
* Logo added
* Color scheme modifications
* Installation of a selective list of plug-ins

Price: $389


Each one of these deals has the assumption that you have your own domain name and hosting already set up. If you don't have that yet, please ask us to recommend some solutions to you! And we are also more than happy to take care of that whole task for you, too. Contact us for current pricing on domain names and hosting packages - we always get you the best value in reliability and cost. info[at]safehouseweb[dot]com

The Emergence of Green Web Hosting

Is being Green a strong enough sales point to incorporate it into the business plan, and is it that important to me to put forth the extra effort to be environmentally conscious? This is the question that I've taken an interest in answering for myself, and for the direction in which I'd like to take my business.

The popularity, the hype and the political correctness of going Green all make for a smart business decision to just do it. After all, in this venue - website works for small businesses - it is painless enough to save paper, recycle equipment and media, or the score of other tiny things that can be done to reuse, recycle and remain. The personal side of it is also a no-brainer for me; I've always disliked the guy who throws his burger wrappers onto the ground, leaves the TV on for unwatched hours at a time... hec, I'm the guy who recycles enough aluminum cans to pay for the next round of beverage purchases. I like to do my part to help "save the planet" without being classified as one of those pesky tree-huggers.

To that end, I found the following article had some good information about what a web hosting company can do to shade their business a little bit greener. And to me, in my endeavors in building & managing the sites that those guys host, those efforts are reflections of what I can do to contribute and to be able to promote my business as a Green one.

Source: CommunicateBetter in "About Web Hosting"

Few ever believed the Internet would explode into its current state of popularity. Everyone from young to old is signing online to surf the web – communicating, shopping and seeking out entertainment. At the same time, millions of people are creating websites in attempt to meet the needs of visitors across the globe. A webmaster can’t reach their niche market without servers and the associated hardware found in today’s data centers. In order to keep the web thriving, providers must use tons of electricity, contributing to the environmental concerns plaguing the earth today. Data centers are located throughout the world, most of them allowing CO2 among other harmful emissions to pollute the atmosphere. To reduce data center emissions and help preserve the earth, a number of web hosing companies have opted to go green.

The Power Behind Green Hosting

Green web hosting was scarce a few years ago, however, recently this type of web hosting has come into the limelight. There are a handful of companies who started off 100% green while others have gradually converted. Even some of the most widely known providers have made the switch to offer a more eco-friendly web hosting product. Many begin in the office by recycling waste paper and utilizing bio-fuel for heating purposes. This leads to the data centers where servers thrive off alternative sources such as wind, solar and geothermal energy. Some have went out and purchased RECs (Renewable Energy Credits), a certification which assures the company is using alternatives forms of power.

Slowly but surely, the web hosting industry is making the transition to more efficient operations. There are a few companies that go far and beyond to make sure they deliver green hosting. For example, Green Web Hosting is one host that encourages its employees to telecommute in attempt to reduce pollutants caused by everyday transportation. Some run an entirely paperless service to cut back on the unnecessary usage of trees. Others will actually plant a new tree for each new customer they sign up. Many of them will also offer discounts to customers who aid in environmental causes with their websites. Green web hosting emerged from nowhere to become the preferred choice for an increasing amount of people.

Reliability and Performance

There are some who question the performance and overall reliability you receive with a green web hosting platform. In actuality, renewable energy is proven to be just as reliable and effective as conventional electricity. Green hosts are successfully running their businesses just as everyone else is. Like the traditional provider is equipped with electrical backup sources, these companies are prepared to produce renewable energy to keep the operation flourishing.

Is Green Web Hosting for You?

Green hosting is great for obvious reasons but not everyone is ready to convert. Some are turned off because the price varies and can be more than traditional hosting. Cost aside, you want to find a company that is reliable and provides a quality service most importantly. With the backing of a respectable green web host, you can feel good about your role in saving the earth.

Pressing Information

Rupert, a good friend of mine posed a website/CMS question to me last week... he's looking at managing and archiving articles and educational pieces he posts on his site's home page, and asked me for some opinion. I happened to have some to offer, centering around my to-date WordPress experience.

Here's how it went:

MY FRIEND: "...I'm looking at a couple of open source content management systems, and it occurred to me that you have more experience with this than I do..."

AND THEN ME (it's a long one!): Thanks for the click-thru test (I'd asked him to check my new AdSense deployment). I think you may be responsible for the 90 cents I earned today, and now I know adsense is somehow working.

On CMS, you're right, it is veRy much like blogspotting. I'm not sure I could tell myself or anybody else what the substantial difference is. To answer your question, yes, WordPress will accomplish what you want but you have to commit to the whole platform (themes, plug-ins, widgets), unless you know how to convert your already existing html site (or just your desired parts of it) into being WordPress-able for the backend management. Talking about your Read More and Categorizing and Archiving.

This means looking for a WordPress theme that 1)pretty much already does the functions the way you want and 2) has enough customizable stuff to make it look the way you want. Header, footer, images, colors, fonts, etc.

It really is a different environment to that of the from-scratch jewel that you have (i'm being serious). Once you jump into the backend and see all the crazy cool stuff you can do and manipulate, I think you will be sold as I am. My friend is a great, driven explorer of the code :) and did a fantastic job building his own html/css site, CartoonThunder.com.

Especially when you start putting stuff together for clients! You can offer SO many cool and valuable features that are impressive and, I have recently found, expected by clients. It goes way beyond what you and I are capable of programming at our current knowledge base(s).

To me, it's kind of like those aluminum pipes you were talking about; although you didn't make them, shape them, etc., you do polish them and install them they way you like and to what suits your needs - they become your product...

Also look at Joomla with the same eye as WordPress. I got my left little toe wet with that platform a while ago. In my opinion, has the same mission as WordPress but with some different flavors & attitudes.

You already know about the platforms being free -- there are t-o-n-s of equally free themes and plug-ins available. I have a little experience with a couple of the not-free themes, too, and well, I liiiiike it. Also have had fairly good experiences with support from forums and theme authors.

Here's a suggestion: create a subdomain, upload & install WordPress 2.8 (downloaded from wordpress.org). Find a couple of themes that look interesting, download them and then put them into the WP 'themes' folder in your subdomain and start playing around. Probably take you less than 30 minutes to do those installations.

Have a monkeytastic afternoon.

As it turns out, my friend dove into some css & java juice that lead him to an alternative solution - one that allowed for some custom content management without switching his entire operation over to a CMS platform. Perhaps there will be more to come on this.

WordPress Advocate

So far I am on the proverbial band-wagon with WordPress, and have no indication of needing to jump off. Almost two years ago I started messing around with WordPress, in the sense that I thought their "look" was very polished and had the smell of professionalism that I was looking for. Yes, it's true, I can smell 'em. I started where most people do, at wordpress.com for the free hosting, lots of free themes and lots of forum-based support to go alongside the extensive knowledge base. Today, I'm into customizing the free and not-so-free premium themes using the self-hosted platform. Version 2.8 today - zero cost downloadable at wordpress.org.

I was already self-teaching my way into the world of HTML and had learned a bit about manipulating templates; it was new to me and the free-dom (yep, free/no cost/take as many as you want) of WordPress allowed me to delve in a little deeper. Using the analogy of a caveman scrawling on the rock, progressing to the use of crayons, then moving up to a pencil (ouch, sharp end), to today's use of the more permanent Sharpie marker, I can say WordPress lets me do things with websites that are just plain cool.

These days, I use WordPress to provide products to clients, and I also spend a lot of time exploring the hundreds of things that can be done with themes, plug-ins, widgets and all the other geeky-nerd stuff that keeps me up way past bedtime. A big "plus" to learning about this stuff is the opportunity to make some money.

Look at what most businesses want and need - a basic, professional online presence coupled with the ability to sell their product directly and/or educate visitors about why their products and services are the best. That premise allows me to build that basic, professional website at an affordable price for the small business owner.

There are business people out there don't have the time or the desire to know about how any of this works, they just want it working for them! Here is where the knock of opportunity can be heard. I do not advocate being opportunistic in the negative sense, rather taking positive action to use aquired skills and knowledge to help a business owner take ethical advantage of their online opportunities.

I do advocate using WordPress to accomplish that goal.

Off Topic, I Know, But This... 12 Step Recovery For Democrats

A 12 Step Recovery Program for Democrats

1 - Open your eyes

2 - Smell the Socialists

3 - Admit there is a power greater than the Democrat Party - the Republican Party

4 - Ask the spirit of Ronald Reagan to forgive your mistakes and guide you to truth

5 - Make a conscious effort to turn away from the Dark Side by disassociating from further contact with the Democrat Party: e.g. stop watching mainstream TV news, reading liberal newspapers, and listening to rock-and/or-roll

6 - Listen to more conservative talk radio, surf the Internet, and pay attention to Country-and-Western music

7 - Make an inventory of personal, social, and economic freedom; check it twice

8 - Divest yourself from the stifling grasp of victimhood and learn to play golf

9 - Admit the wrongs you have done by voting Democrat: raising taxes, increasing laws, and denigrating traditional social mores and the crucial role of the family

10 - Step forward to make amends by helping Republican candidates

11 - Smoke a cigar, shoot a rifle, drive an SUV, and support the Boy Scouts

12 - Use this spiritual awakening to spread the word to those unfortunates still trapped in the Democrat Party web and quietly pray that their salvation comes before they’re taxed out of their homes

Picking Domain Names, Not Boogers

Choosing And Registering Your Domain Name

What is a Domain Name?
A domain name is essentially a unique, easy to remember name used to identify your web server (computer your site is stored on). Your domain name (virtual URL) is assigned a number associated with the computer your site is stored on but rather than trying to remember a string of numbers, it's much easier to use a name you recognize! . So used along with "http://www.(yournamehere)", this now becomes your URL (Uniform Resource Locator) or web site address. The domain name for Odd Todd is oddtodd.com. The complete URL for this site is http://www.oddtodd.com. Putting it in the location line of your web browser brought you here! All domain names are registered with ICANN (The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers-see below). Think of ICANN as the DMV of domain names!

Do I have to have a domain name to have a web site?
Not necessarily. There are hosts that can provide you with a non-virtual account (or subdomain hosting) which means the URL of your site would be http://www.yourhostingcompany/yourbusinessname. Your hosting company will give you a subdirectory on their servers to store your site's files. If you decide to move your site, you cannot take this name with you. Your URL will be different as well as any e-mail addresses that you may have signed up for with the hosting company.

The advantage to having a domain name is that you will have your own URL and you can take it wherever you want. If you decide to switch to a different hosting company, a virtual URL and any associated e-mail addresses, can go with you and will always remain the same (provided you renew your registration each year).

What should my domain name be?
Choosing your domain name can be a simple as the name of your business. For example, if the name of your business is XYZ Auto Repair, you may want http://www.xyzautorepair.com to be your web site address. That means, xyzautorepair.com is your domain name. Use only letters, numbers and/or hyphens. (Although the name cannot begin or end with a hyphen). There is a 67 character limit on the length of your name and domain names are not case sensitive. XYZAutoRepair.com is the same as xyzautorepair.com .

But, what if someone already has my name?
It is possible that the name you choose is already taken. In that case the registrar (companies that process domain name registrations) you use may suggest others. Try using xyz-autorepair.com or xyzauto-repair.com or x-y-zautorepair.com. Chances are that one of the variations you come up with will work.

How do I register my name?
There are two ways you can register your domain name. One is through an accredited registrar. Domain name registration services are well-known at the bigger companies like GoDaddy, 1&1 Internet, Yahoo, etc.

If you are not sure where your site will be hosted, it may be a good idea to "reserve" your name before someone else gets it! For more information about registering your domain name, check our Domain Name Registration Information.

The other way is to have your hosting company (see below) do it for you. When you sign up to put your web site on-line with a hosting company, many offer to take care of the registration process for you. If your site is not ready, you can park your domain with your host. In other words, reserving your name and space before your site is ready to go live.

What is ICANN?
A new non-profit corporation called ICANN-The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ( http://www.icann.org ), is now assuming the responsibility from the U.S. Government of managing the Internet domain name system (DNS) from InterNIC ( http://www.internic.net ). They keep a record of all registered domain names on the Internet and the associated computer you choose, or your host computer (see about hosting below).

How much does it cost to register a domain name?
The cost of a domain name can run anywhere from free with a hosting account to $35.00 per year, depending on with whom you register. Many registrars offer sales and promotions and some hosting companies will include your domain name registration in with their hosting packages.

How long does the process take?
Depending on how you register, 24-48 hours.

If you end up having any difficulties, contact our pals at SafeHouse Web or Cartoon Thunder and they will help you do it, or just get it done for you!

Choosing A Designer/Developer - Who Ya Gonna Call?

Once you have determined the goal of your site and have some idea of what you want it to look like, if you haven't already found a designer/developer, now is the time. Be sure whomever you choose can provide exactly what you need. Do you want custom graphics or a pre-made template? Do you need an on-line store with a secure order form? How will your site be marketed (search engine submission)? Are there hidden fees? How much does maintenance cost? Will anyone from the company be available to answer questions?

Just because we think they are effective, professional, driven and gifted people, we like to offer SafeHouse Web and Cartoon Thunder as two great contact points to start your website development journey. The guys at these two outfits are cool joes. Your own research, asking around, etc., will also allow you to identify a number of different design and development companies out there.

Searching the web by region, and the type of your business & site, can be a good start to finding a suitable resource in your area.

How To Get Started

Oftentimes, the most difficult thing for a small business owner may be finding out how to get this web site "thing" started.

Turns out, this website "thing" is really a friendly little joe.

First you need to take a look at your business and decide what purpose your web site will serve. Take a look at other sites in the same industry. How are they using their web space? What services do you offer that they do not? What kind of information do they have? What is your target audience? Do you want to sell things from your site?

Gather information you already have for your business like brochures, yellowpage ads, newspaper ads, price and product lists, photos of your building, you and your staff, logos, trade certification information etc...

You and your web designer (you will probably end up always referring to this person as, "my website guy" even if it's a girl) will look at sites in your industry right along with you. It's a very good idea to jot down a list of sites you like and their their URL so you can recommend sites for review by/with your website guy.

Get a notepad and start jotting down ideas. Eventually you can start organizing your ideas into what you visualize your web site to be. This is essential to a successful experience with your website guy for getting the look and layout you desire.

Why Do I Need A Website?

The analogy: Being without a website for your business is like being in the position of Mr. Matador, pictured here; taking it hard and sharp from behind - and not even the courtesy of a reach around!


You don't have to take it like that. In fact, your answer to the question, "Why?", will start to put you at ease right away.

A web site is a cost effective way to make your business accessible to your customers 24 hours a day, seven days a week! A visit to your site can give all of the information you want your customers to have, whenever they want it! A very convenient way to advertise...your information is always available and can be updated in an instant. Customers will know they are getting exactly what they want by doing business with you just by visiting your site. You can free up some of your employees' time by including frequently asked questions about your business.