Free is good! Free is your friend!

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Lily Chambers, The Virtual Office Goddess, LLC
Author "How to Do Your Own Small Business Bookkeeping"

I think the thing to bear in mind is how easy or difficult it is would be to transition from FREE to paid hosting and also the ability to integrate other elements into ones website e.g blogs, podcasting, etc. The last thing anyone wants is to put so much effort and time into a gift that can't continue giving .

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Creative & Strategic Web Design Services
www.aivirtualsolutions.com

Agnes, good point - for someone who isn't familiar with website files and working via an FTP client it could be a difficult process moving a website (did you find it difficult to move your site when you switched to the Virtual Assistant Forums hosting plan?) - in fact, I'll write up a little tutorial on that very subject next week!

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Originally Posted by Tess

Agnes, good point - for someone who isn't familiar with website files and working via an FTP client it could be a difficult process moving a website (did you find it difficult to move your site when you switched to the Virtual Assistant Forums hosting plan?) - in fact, I'll write up a little tutorial on that very subject next week!

I had decided not to host on Microsoft OL when your great deal came along, I had not began the actual design .

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Creative & Strategic Web Design Services
www.aivirtualsolutions.com

Understood
I've gone ahead and written up that tutorial, How to move your website to a new host for those who may need it.

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Another option is finding a webhost with Fantastico Scripts which includes blogging (WordPress) and content management scripts. You can actually create a non-blog looking site with something like WordPress using one of the many MANY free theme/templates available.

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Jeanne
NowAssistingYou.com
Virtual Assistant :: Web/Blog Design & Hosting :: Writer

I hope in time I can get half as good as Tess is on a site!! I use Homestead, hate it by the way, but for now.. It will do.. I continue to learn, especially HTML... although it is brutal at times.. learning codes and stuff!!!

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Winslow Girl Virtual Assistant
www.winslowgirlva.com
Taking Virtual Assistance to the Next Level

Jackie, I think it's great that you're taking the time to learn - like I keep saying, it's one of the most powerful skills you can arm yourself with as a business owner. It gives you so much more control over the look and feel of your site. But I know, it can be overwhelming and frustrating at times. (I can't tell you how many times I've yelled at my computer )
Teach yourself a little bit at a time - master and perfect one aspect at a time and then when you're ready move on to the next.

One thing you can do to help with the process is set up a blank page and open up a good HTML tutorial (check the directory for some good options) and play around with it - practice adding pictures, backgrounds, color blocks, font styles, link classes, etc. The basics...you'll be amazed at what you can end up creating with a little practice and lots of patience. (And then you're not quite as tied to programs like Homestead - an exercise in personal liberation )

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