Once we have a domain name for our blog we need to set it up.

If you are not technically inclined this does not need to be a problem, there are plenty of smart techies who you can get to do the work for you. But there are some important points you need to consider.

First, we need to sign up with a Web Hosting company. You may be tempted to go for a free blog site or free hosting, but remember we want to build a business, our sites should look professional.

Commercial web hosting is essential, it gives us more control over our blog, and gives us the option to add other business sites that we want to build later.

If you already use a web hosting company, and you are happy with the service they provide, that is OK.

I decided to use DreamHost.com which has excellent technical support, when I need it. They also have several useful features that I want to use, including “one-click” installation of Wordpress, the blog software that we will use.

When we set up hosting for our domain at Dreamhost,  we have the option to use Google Mail ( Gmail ) for our email client. GMail is probably the best option for our purposes. We get an email address @OurDomainName.com .  It is easy to organise and keep track of specific emails, and better still Google take care of all the technical stuff, allowing us to get on with business!

Dave Christie