R/E/P Community

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  

Pages: [1]   Go Down

Author Topic: Creating A Website.  (Read 2594 times)

Aka Nameless

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 29
Creating A Website.
« on: June 27, 2006, 06:28:39 PM »

 Hello fellow engineers. I've been practicing mastering for a few years now, and i'm ready to start up an online mastering buisiness. Problem is, this will be the first web site i've ever built/bought so i'm pretty confused as to what I need, or where to go to buy my site. I will be doing unattended online mastering for the time being, and well, i'm not really sure where to start...

Do I need to go to city hall to register my company name and buy a tax license before I start? I think FTP transferring will be nice to use instead of mail, so I want a site with FTP. What web site builder is most user friendly? Where should I buy the domain name from if I want to pay by the month? Are there any things that are commonly overlooked when starting an internet buisiness?

Sorry if these sound like stupid questions, just not sure were to start. Another dumb question.. how do you pay sales tax, etc. with an online buisiness?

Thanks,
Colin.
Logged

MASSIVE Mastering

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 604
Re: Creating A Website.
« Reply #1 on: June 27, 2006, 06:42:27 PM »

The web stuff is generally easy -

The business stuff is another story - You should visit with a business advisor or a *local* CPA along with whatever regs you can find from your local municiplaity concerning home-based businesses (assuming this will be home-based - You don't want to piss off the mayor).

Quote:

Are there any things that are commonly overlooked when starting an internet buisiness?

YES!!!
Logged
John Scrip
Massive Mastering - Chicago (Schaumburg / Hoffman Est.), IL - USA

Aka Nameless

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 29
Re: Creating A Website.
« Reply #2 on: June 27, 2006, 07:07:35 PM »

 Found a website that explains the laws of being self-employed in my city "San Diego"..

http://www.danielgreene.com/lawresep.html

Looks like I only need the Buisiness Tax Certificate (BTC).

My main problem is starting the website and getting paypal and the FTP hooked up and working so I can start my work. Anyone have any links to a website that explains how to set up paypal and or FTP for your website?

Or if no links, could anyone with the knowledge explain it to me?

Thanks for the info John. You answered "YES!!" to my last question.. What are some commonly overlooked things?

I guess i'm just looking for recommendations on where to buy my domain name from "need monthly fee, not yearly" and a good website builder program.

Been reading this forum and all other mastering forums for quite a while now, and i'de like to thank you, John, for all the knowledge that you contribute to the communities. Same goes to Brad and Mr. Katz. Lots of others give good info, and you know who you are, but i'm not trying to search through every post to find the names..  Very Happy

Thanks in advance.
Colin.

Logged

bblackwood

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 7036
Re: Creating A Website.
« Reply #3 on: June 27, 2006, 08:49:32 PM »

If you have been operating without a biz license up to this point, you're likely operating illegally as the biz license exists to collect biz tax. It varies from place to place, but most likely you need to get a license and you likely owe back taxes...
Logged
Brad Blackwood
euphonic masters

Aka Nameless

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 29
Re: Creating A Website.
« Reply #4 on: June 27, 2006, 09:26:02 PM »

 Nah, I haven't been charging for mastering. My buddy at work "Guitar Center" does mastering and he gives me all of the albums, demos, etc. that he is finished with, so I can practice. Been doing that for a few years and I feel i'm ready to start charging, as does he. So i'm now trying to get website taken care of...

Not sure if I should use FTP for clients to upload their Albums or just use the Mail so they can send the CD and payment in same package. Or should I use paypal for payment? Sigh...

Kinda confused as you can see...
Logged

Aka Nameless

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 29
Re: Creating A Website.
« Reply #5 on: June 30, 2006, 04:21:16 AM »

 Well, I registered my Fictitious Business name, and got a Business Tax Certificate "Business License". Just need to get the Website thing sorted out.

Was recommended www.site5.com for web hosting, The cheapest package seems like it would be fine, but i'm not sure if 10 gb webspace and 200gb bandwidth will be enough.. ? The bigger packages just offer more domain names which I don't need, and more webspace/bandwidth, which i'm not really sure about.

Price is not an issue, really seeing how dirt cheap hosting seems to be. Should I buy the biggest package just to be safe? 27gb Webspace, 750gb Bandwidth, 5 full websites.  Confused  Or will the cheap one be more than enough?

Thanks in advance.
Logged

Tom C

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 377
Re: Creating A Website.
« Reply #6 on: June 30, 2006, 08:06:28 AM »

Aka Nameless wrote on Fri, 30 June 2006 10:21

 Well, I registered my Fictitious Business name, and got a Business Tax Certificate "Business License". Just need to get the Website thing sorted out.

Was recommended www.site5.com for web hosting, The cheapest package seems like it would be fine, but i'm not sure if 10 gb webspace and 200gb bandwidth will be enough.. ? The bigger packages just offer more domain names which I don't need, and more webspace/bandwidth, which i'm not really sure about.



You can't have enough web space and bandwidth.
As things will start slow this won't be an issue, but check
the upgrade policy of your provider so you'll can switch easily
when you business grows.

If you'd like to use PayPal there's a detailed description
on how to set up your PayPal shop on their site.

And for your sites design, I recommend to have a closer look at
existing mastering sites and to use a professional web designer
for the initial version, it'll pay off in the long run.


Logged
Tom

.signature failure

Aka Nameless

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 29
Re: Creating A Website.
« Reply #7 on: June 30, 2006, 05:24:04 PM »

 Ya, i've been checking out everyone's websites. I know exactly how I want the website set up or template to look like, in my head. Just can't seem to find a good web site design program that I can apply what's in my head, to paper, or, the intranet.

Maybe paying for a professional to make the site would be my best bet. Gonna search the net for some good website designers, if you guys have any recommendations, i'm all ears.

Thanks.
Logged

Lee Tyler

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 148
Re: Creating A Website.
« Reply #8 on: June 30, 2006, 10:30:01 PM »

Timely discussion, indeed. Network Solutions has...well.....many solutions for your first website. Spend some time at their site. I am diving in myself for my new medical imaging business. Seems reasonable, fair and staffed 24/7. Good luck.

Leeeeee
Logged
Nurse to doctor: "Doctor, there is a man in the waiting room who thinks he's invisible".

Doctor to nurse: "Nurse, tell him I can't see him"

ronin

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 35
Re: Creating A Website.
« Reply #9 on: July 01, 2006, 01:30:34 AM »

Domain names are sold from 1 to 10 years, can't do month-to-month with that. I would advise buying your domain name separately from any hosting or design packages so that you and you alone will control it. I would advise against Network Solutions as they are overpriced, like to nickel & dime and have not so great service.

Hosting without FTP capability is very rare. Go with a Linux host and have your website done LAMP based and you will save money, lessen headaches and increase security.

Paying someone to design your website and code a CMS for you will be a better RoI than going cheap and trying to throw one together yourself. Prices and quality vary wildly from firm to firm. Just make sure your website is standards compliant as there is a concern about the upcoming release of IE7 breaking all the current IE CSS hacks.
Logged
You don't hear me not complaining

carlsaff

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 773
Re: Creating A Website.
« Reply #10 on: July 01, 2006, 11:42:52 AM »

FWIW, I have separate providers for data storage (online approval and delivery, FTP, etc.) and my main site. It might be more affordable for you to go that route than finding one package that meets all your needs. That certainly was the case for me. My data server provider offers 20GB at an incredible price. My site server only has about 1GB of total storage, but I only use a tiny fraction of that ammount for my site.

I like that a lot of traffic on the data server that hosts my large files doesn't impact my main site server in any way.

Just a thought.

Thomas W. Bethel

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1811
Re: Creating A Website.
« Reply #11 on: July 02, 2006, 09:50:26 AM »

Pick your website designer carefully.

I have had a couple of go arounds with web designers. Sometimes they are more interested in making your site "impressive" than just doing what you want. My original web site was done by a student assistant for a class project and he did a nice job on it. It is looking a bit long in the tooth and I need to get it updated but the guy I hired to do the updating just got himself in trouble with the law and it is looking like he will be doing some time so I have to find someone else. (I won't go into the gory details but it is not nice) One guy I contacted wanted so much money to design the website I would have had to work months just to pay him.

Oh well!

Best of luck finding someone!
Logged
-TOM-

Thomas W. Bethel
Managing Director
Acoustik Musik, Ltd.
Room With a View Productions
http://www.acoustikmusik.com/

Doing what you love is freedom.
Loving what you do is happiness.
Pages: [1]   Go Up
 

Site Hosted By Ashdown Technologies, Inc.

Page created in 0.088 seconds with 22 queries.