Essential Services

Besides the software and tools which I have mentioned in my previous posts, there are a number of services which will greatly enhance your online business and bring you greater profitability. You can subscribe to these services when you are ready to move forward to the next level of your online business.

While most of these services are not a necessity for a beginner, web hosting is a must for those of you who are really serious about making money online. If you are short of funds in the beginning, make it your priority to get your own hosting once you have the funds for it.

Here’s a list of services which you will definitely find useful.

Autoresponders
If you want to build your own list, an autoresponder is a must. There are a number of free autorepsonder software and scripts around which you can probably try out in the beginning. One word of caution though, most of these software and scripts are very problematic. A paid autoresponder service is a must for those who are serious about building their list. You can check out my reviews on Aweber, GetResponse and iContact autorepsonder services.

Premium Templates & Themes Services
To stand out from the crowd, you need to give your website a high quality theme or template. Although there are many free high quality themes and templates available, they are already used by a large number of websites. It will be hard for visitors to differentiate your website from the hundreds if not thousands of websites out there using the same themes or templates. Premium themes and templates offer you the chance to get a high quality template or theme for a fraction of the cost involve in hiring a web designer. However, one setback is that these premium themes and templates are not restricted to you only. In other words, other people can buy them and use them on their websites too.

Web Design Services
If you can afford to engage a web designer to design and code your website for you, then by all means go ahead. Web design services do not come cheap and a simple website makeover can set you back at least few hundreds. Otherwise, going for premium themes and templates are the next best choice.

Web Hosting Services
As mentioned, you should get your own web hosting as soon as you can afford it. I have previous written a post on “Choosing A Suitable Web Host” and you can refer to that post when it is time to get your own hosting. Alternatively, you can check out my “Web Hosting Reviews” section for a list of suitable web hosts.

Outsourcing Services
Outsourcing is the key to growing and expanding your online business and generating more profits. Outsourcing will free up more time for you to focus your efforts into other more urgent and important parts of your business like marketing, etc. Stuff that you can outsource includes, web design, programming, content creation, graphic design and more. If you need to outsource, you can look for freelancers at Elance, Rentacoder and Scriptlance.

Keyword & Market Research Services
When it comes to keyword and market research, there are many free and paid keyword and market research services around. However, Wordtracker is probably the best of the lot offering both free and paid version of their keyword and market research service. For newbies, the free trial version is good enough to begin with.