My First Web Business

These last couple of weeks have been some of the most intense of my life. I have been working over time and doing some important projects, the most important one being my web based business.

I had a steep learning curve with Drupal, but now I'm so glad that I chose it not only for the satisfaction of achieving something challenging but also because now that I have installed and customized all the modules that I need and built the ''back bone'' for my website, adding new content will be really easy; I will just have to type it, give it format and Drupal will publish it right where I need it automatically. 

This has been a great experience so far, and next week will be even better as I launch my Adwords campaign and see the website actually working. 

I have found very nice Affiliate Networks and I have applied to them as well as to Adsense. I also got a lot of insight from Affiliate Marketing and Adsense forums with people who have more experience. Now I'm just waiting for my application for several of those programs to be completed and start placing my ads or links in an intelligent way. 

I am also excited about creating new content. I hadn't realized that I like photography! I am looking forward to going out with my wife, visiting places and writing articles about it using my own pictures and experiences. 

So, here it is! This is my very first website: www.saliradentro.com

It is written in Spanish.

Work in Progress

Working on my website

So, I decided to start building my website using Drupal. When I first started doing it I was overwhelmed at how difficult and complicated Drupal looked. But everything is going well. 

I've also been trying to apply what I learned about web design from this great article: https://www.webwiz.co.uk/kb/website-design/ and translating that into the website model that I have in my mind. 

I have also been looking for affiliate networks to use with my web-business and I have found some very interesting options; I'm just concerned about the logistics with the payments, but it doesn't seem too complicated. 

Getting actually started

In the last few weeks I have learned about the different types of online business, how I can use Google's Keyword Planner to analyze different business ideas and decide which one is my best option at the moment. I also learned about the different tools that I have at my disposal. Now I am about to get actually started and build my first online business. 

I have decided to merge some business ideas, adapt it to my current situation and availability of resources and focus on creating content to attract visitors and refer them to other websites who offer compensation to affiliates. I have requested my wife's help because of her field of study in college. As I talked to my dad he brought up the fact that he already has hosting space available as a benefit from our internet supplier and that I could borrow it for a few months as I start the business and then move to a different hosting service when he needs it back and I have already kick-started the business; so, right now I'm looking at the hosting service he is offering me for free and the web building tools that are available with it.

Some tools that I want to share:

This is a top 10 list for hosting companies : http://www.top10hostinglist.com/

This is a course development course I purchased a couple months ago in Udemy and I'm trying to complete during my spare time: https://www.udemy.com/complete-web-developer-course/#/

When ideas are hard to come by

I am the kind of person who finds it very difficult to get started with things. Whenever I have to write an essay I struggle for days just thinking, looking at the paper and wondering how I could start. I have discovered that the best way to start is... starting. I start writing the first thoughts that come to my mind about the subject, my mind starts working and the rest of the essay is smooth and easy. However, the ''blank page phobia'' is still there every time I have to start a new assignment. 

I discovered in the last couple weeks that the same happens when I try other things, like starting a business in this case! However, this is the solution that I found:

I started keeping notes about problems that I found around me; everything! From the difficulty of keeping my desk clean to how to improve public parking lots.

Then I started with more specific business ideas. Even if the business sounds impossible or if it doesn't make sense at the beginning. I found that if I don't let those ideas develop I will never get to the good ideas.

Then, I realized that everything is possible with determination, knowledge, perseverance, and making your idea unique, like Seth Godin's purple cow on the side of the road.

For whoever finds this entrepreneurial journal:

I would like to share some resources that are helping me refine the business ideas I have chosen. The first one is about Affiliate marketing, or how you can earn money online by referring traffic to sites like Amazon.org or even Oakley sunglasses and earn money by the sales you generate. 

The second one is a presentation about lessons learned from the success of Dropbox and Xobni

http://adamsmith.cc/from-zero-to-a-million-users-dropbox-and-xobni-les

After watching this I really felt that I was able to do anything I wanted to accomplish!