- So you bought a domain,
and you're probably thinking, what's next?
We're gonna talk about that today on The Journey.
All right, cool, so I have this business venture,
Coffee and Kickflips, I do have a domain,
but I'm also overwhelmed,
because I don't know what to do next.
- Getting a domain name, that's like our first idea.
I know I've had many late nights
where I just have a random idea
and have to go buy a domain name,
and I'm like "All right, what's next?"
The next part is really figuring out
what you want that domain name to be.
Is it for personal use, is it for business use,
is it just to have and potentially sell later on?
So what do you think the first step is
after buying a domain?
- Social media links, my menu,
and then how do I go about that?
I was listening to a webinar the other day
and they were recommending don't do a pdf for your menu.
So how do I go about putting my menu on there,
what information, what photos, how much text?
- You got the first step right, that's the domain name.
That's the street address for your website.
Second place to really get all those ideas together,
the menu, the information, the pictures, all that stuff,
you need a website.
If you you're not super techy,
you need something just quick, a website builder
from many popular providers is probably the first step.
If you are a little bit technical,
or you have a little bit more time on your hands
to truly make it exactly what you want,
something like WordPress might be a really great option,
and you can literally put almost whatever you want.
You can have a blog on there,
you can have your photo galleries, your menu, don't use pdf,
put it right on the site, make it easy for your visitors.
- Got it, all right.
So another thing I was thinking about
with Coffee and Kickflips, and this is awesome,
we actually just had some merch made, like hats, t-shirts,
'cause our logo is super rad, my buddy designed it.
Anyways, I was like, "Oh my gosh,"
'cause we were talking about my website,
"I should definitely have the merch on there."
'Cause, yeah, I want to make money off the coffee,
and the kids coming in to rent the ramp in the back,
but how can I make more money?
(laughing)
The merch.
But how do I go about that?
Also, do I need to worry about security?
'Cause now I'm thinking about money and spending,
and I know that there are hackers out there,
which terrifies me, they're going at it.
- It's super scary out there.
There's a lot of things you can do
to really protect yourself and protect your investment.
Now, there's a couple things you can do.
If you go with a website builder from a company,
typically they'll handle a lot of the security
on the back end for you,
but if you go with something like WordPress
or something a little bit more technical or custom,
there are some things you want to do too.
But the very first thing you want to add to your website
is what's called and SSL.
- What's SSL?
- An SSL, it basically is that https
in the top of the address bar.
- Oh, okay.
- It secures your site.
So if you have any log-in information, any form information,
instead of sending that text information over the internet
for literally anyone to see, like a credit card,
super scary, the SSL encrypts it,
so if anyone were to capture it in the middle,
it's just googley glump, like it doesn't make sense.
- (laughing) Googley glump, that sounds bad.
- Yeah, that's a technical term for ya.
So, the second thing you can do
to really beef up the security of your website,
is to add a firewall and malware removal.
Again, if you're using a website builder with a company,
they usually do that for you,
but those open source applications or custom coded sites,
you gotta add that firewall.
And basically what that is, is like if I have a house,
it basically creates a moat around the house,
so it keeps out the riff-raff, the in-laws,
so no one's getting in.
And then the malware removal, that's just like
if someone were to break into your house,
it goes in and fixes it for you, cleans up everything,
just in case something did happen.
Because every 39 seconds, a website gets hacked,
and that's super scary.
And 64% of businesses say they've had
some sort of malware attack on their site.
Super scary!
We also want to think about backups on your website
because life happens, right?
Sometimes, I know with my own sites,
and people that I help out with,
they'll go and make changes on their site, and like,
"Oh, wait, I messed up, I need to go back!"
And if you don't have a backup,
there's nothing to go back to.
So it's always good to have just that fail safe.
The same way you'd have a backup for your computer,
and your pictures, if something were to ever happen,
you want to have the same thing with your website.
So, at the end of the day, you're protected.
'Cause again, this is your investment.
- Now, I'm getting a lot of emails,
am I okay with just Gmail, or...
- Well, it depends.
With Gmail, is it like CoffeeAndKickFlips@gmail.com?
- CoffeeAndKickFlips@gmail.com.
- Gotcha, so the next step with your business
is to get a domain-based email.
And there's a lot of really great, important factors
that go into that.
Not only is it more secure to have a domain-based email
versus just a free email, because those companies
add those extra layers of security,
it's just more professional.
- So I should have,
maybe like contact@coffeeandkickflips.com?
- Yeah.
Shred@coffeeandkickflips.com.
(laughter)
Whatever you want to do.
- Info...
- It should be yours.
And then you can set up your employees
to have their own email, like Emma@, and then I have Nealy@,
it's just gonna look more professional
and make sure that you look legitimate to your customers.
- What about a like click-to-call?
I know I like that when I'm looking at my competition,
other coffee shops and restaurants.
- Yes, click-to-call is important
only if you want people to call you.
Don't put a click-to-call if you're not in a position
where you want random phone calls at the end of the night.
- Makes sense.
- Which reminds me, do you want to carry two phones?
(phones ringing)
- Well, I already do, so now that would be three.
- Right, many of us use, when we start a business,
we end up just using our cell phone, right.
Then we get random calls, and we answer,
like, "Hey, what's up?"
And it's a potential client, and then it looks just--
- Not professional.
- Not professional. So what a lot of people are doing
is getting a second number for their phone.
There are lots of apps out there,
like Google has a second phone,
GoDaddy has a second phone option.
There's plenty of others out there.
- That's a really good point.
- To where, you don't have to go buy a new phone,
which is super expensive, and then buy another plan,
which is super expensive.
- Super expensive.
I only have so many pockets.
- Right, and just have that right there,
and then now you'll know, "Cool, this is for business."
"Hey, this is Coffee and Kick Flips, how can we help you?"
Versus a friend, like, "Hey, what's up?
"How's it going?"
- Although, that is kind of our vibe
at Coffee and Kick Flips, keep it chill.
- It's all about what your business is.
- I don't know how different it's gonna be
than when my friends call me.
But maybe I should also reconsider that (laughing).
I gotta be honest, this sounds like a lot!
Sounds like a lot of work.
Is there a way to outsource this,
and if so, what do you recommend?
I trust your opinion.
(laughing)
- I'll build it.
No.
So, there are, if you don't want to do it yourself,
you can hire a professional.
There are plenty of web designers and web developers
and people out there that this is their full-time gig.
Whether you hire a design agency, and what I would say
when you're really looking to see who you're gonna hire,
check out their portfolio, see if it matches your vision.
'Cause every designer, every company, every agency,
has their own feel and flow.
So you want to make sure it matches your business,
your vision, and most importantly,
you want to make sure you can contact them.
Because if they go and build your site,
and now they're gone MIA, and you need help,
you're kind of stuck, there's not much you can do.
- Okay, so one other thing, I have extra domains.
- Okay.
- And I don't really need them.
So what can I do with them?
- What you could do is, you can sell it.
- Oh!
- So there is actually an after market
just for domain names.
You're literally selling online real estate,
but it's a domain.
And things go for thousands of dollars,
some as high as millions of dollars, it's crazy.
But places you can sell your domain name,
there's Afternic, there's Sedo, there's GoDaddy Auctions,
there's a lot of places you can list your domain,
and the more places you list it,
the more visibility and exposure you get,
to potentially sell your domain.
All right, so that's all we have for you.
I really hope this helps you with your domain name
and really building that strong foundation
for your business.
- Be sure to comment below.
We'd love to know your domain name.
Also, click Like.
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This is The Journey, see ya next time.