Thought I’d make a ‘nuts and bolts’ post today for people who are just getting started in online marketing.  These tools are pretty useful for starting any website, and a few that are particularly useful for the adult webmaster.

WebDesign:

Basically, if you want to build a static site – something that is not a blog or some other “cms” site, you need to learn html.

• The best site I’ve found that walks you through everything is w3schools.com
• The best free software html editor is http://net2.com/nvu/ (for making pages in html)
• The best free graphic editor is http://www.gimp.org/ (for making graphics like headers, backgrounds, etc)
• The best free image editor is http://www.irfanview.com/ (for cropping, resizing, editing photos)
• The best free clipart site is http://pdclipart.org
• Handy tool for matching colors http://www.colorschemer.com/online.html
• Handy color picker tool http://colorcop.net/

I use ifranview and pdclipart almost daily.  ColorCopy and Colorschemer is very useful for making colors match together.

I don’t use nvu or gimp, since I have dreamweaver and fireworks.  However, they are free and provide much of the functionality of their very expensive counterparts.

Hosting:

Right now I use webair and hostgator.  As your business grows, you will have to upgrade to dedicated hosting.  As soon as I reach that point myself, I’ll do a post about why I picked whoever I go with.

Domain Registration:

I use godaddy.com and namecheap.com.  Never had any issues since I leave all my whois info public.  If you want private registration, there are some serious considerations and I really don’t have any recommendations in that regard.  however, I found that godaddy will charge you $$$ when anyone trys to contact you through their private registration service.  This can add up to hundreds of dollars, so be careful with private registration.

Costs of starting up:

• Domain Name: $10
• Hosting: $10/month (unlimited domains)

Seriously, only $20 to get started!  That doesn’t mean just jump in and give it a try.  This business requires some serious effort and commitment.   My first month I put in like five to six hours per day everyday.  I still spend about 20 hours per week working this business.

Places to get help:

• all the forums in the side bar of this blog: ie. greenguyandjim, ynot, etc…

My Sponsors:

• Totemcash (good solo girl content, unique software)
• Fling.com (good web2.0 adult dating site)
• Nastydollars (good milf and teen content)
• Trafficcashgold (good milf content – unparalleled webmaster tools)

These are the sponsors that I’ve made money with.  More importantly, I’ve received checks and cashed them. I belong to others, but haven’t made any money with them yet.  I chose the above sponsors since they provide plenty of tools for the newbie to get started making galleries.

I’m not saying these are the best sponsors, just ones I really like.  I’m open to recommendations.

Finding Good Sponsors:

Some places that do a good job of reviewing sites for webmasters are:

• http://whopaidme.com
• http://www.webmasterbrotherhood.com/ A relatively new resource but looks very promising
• http://www.greenguyandjim.com/resources/sponsors/index.html

Tutorials specific to adult webmasters:

• Howling-wulf’s blog has the best tutorials I’ve seen for making galleries and free sites.  He also reviews partner accounts, shows his stats, and share his insights.
• Insidewebmastering Tutorials focuses on blogs, but covers all areas of working the business.

That’s pretty much everything I know about this business and where I learned it.  I’m sure I left out a few things, so I’m may come back and add some stuff later.

To your success!

-Rob