Since I just finished my taxes for last year, I thought it might be helpful if I shared where my money went. (Yes, I'll also share soon where it comes in from, too, but I'll save that for another day.)

This is where my money goes in my business… (I'll be updating this if I find more regular payments.)

I'll start with Recurring Payments for Tools that I Use.

Domains.

I'm down to about 90 domains. (I used to be a domain junky, but am streamlining much better now.) Obviously that can get expensive, especially if you're adding any privacy or extras to each domain you register. I get a discount on my domains since I'm considered a high-end user, but still pay around $7/year.

• I use GoDaddy.

Website Hosting.

I have several hosting accounts. I don't like to have all of my eggs in any one basket.

• Mom Webs is where I refer people who are totally new to online business. I've been a customer – and am co-owner of Mom Webs and have been for years. They're used to handling support from scared new online business owners. Highly recommend.
  
• Host Gator is the other company I use. They're solid and I've been a customer of their for years, too. I like that they're a Green Hosting company.
  

You can't go wrong with either choice.

Autoresponder.

Your autoresponder will maintain your lists for you, and help you to actually earn cash when you need it.

• Aweber – The service I’ve used since 2005 to manage most of my newsletters, ecourses, and ezines. (If you get emails from me, they probably come through this list managing service.)

Shopping Cart.

If you want to have affiliates promote your products then you'll need a shopping cart of some sort.

I use a few.

• 1ShoppingCart – this is the cart I use to run EasyPLR.com. It IS 1shoppingcart. Just a reseller name. I’ve had an account with since 2009 and love the flexibility.
• Clickbank – Clickbank’s Publisher Program. (This is the easiest option.)
  Plus: Easy Click Mate – If you use clickbank, this is a really great tool to create an affiliate center. I use both for my YummyPLR.com site and my JustAddSweat.com site.

Project Management.

If you work with service providers, this tool can be very helpful to manage your team.

• Basecamp – Allows me to track projects and who is working on each one.

Computer Backups.

You NEED offsite computer backups if you're running a business. Backing up to CDs or DVDs or an external drive is not enough.

• Mozy – Keeps my computer (and therefore, my income) safe. (Try it free.)

Audio Recording for My Podcast & Storage.

I record all of my podcasts on the telephone. You can record using Skype, but I just prefer using the phone so I can walk around and handle things while I'm doing interviews. (Like letting the dogs out, checking on the kids, etc.

• Record Audio (the simple non-techie way) – Quick and easy way to record audio from your microphone or telephone and put it on your computer. No techie stuff involved. This is what I use to record my podcasts.

Telephone.

I don't have a separate business line yet, but will be soon. However, I did find super-cheap phone service that I've been using for a few months and I like it.

• My Phone Service. It's like Vonage but much (much) cheaper.

Here are the One-Time Payments for Software and Tools.

Password Protection.

I highly recommend you use unique passwords for everything. Don't use the same password for your email as you do for Twitter and your autoresponder. I suggest using different ones for everything – and I personally do that. How? Glad you asked.

• Password Manager Program – Keeps track of all of my logins, usernames and passwords, so I don’t have to. (Try it free.)

Where Else Does My Money Go?

Other Software.

I'll oftentimes find a plugin or new piece of software that I'll grab to test it out. If I like it, you hear about it. If not, you don't. (Most, you don't because it's just not worth the learning curve.)

Partners.

I love to partner with other business owners who have strengths different than mine. In fact, I taught a course on the topic a few years ago. www.EasyPartnerships.com Good stuff.

So, I send money to my partners each month based upon our profits.

Affiliates.

Of course, I pay my affiliates each month. That's a payment I'm thrilled to pay. It means I made more money than I would have alone!

Outsource Expenses.

I hire Virtual Assistants, Graphic Designers, and Writers for my business. And I have an Accountant. So, obviously I pay them each month.

Travel.

I make more money EVERY single time I go to a live event, whether I'm speaking or just going there to hang out. Want to meet up with me? Here's where I'll be next. (Coming soon.)

Advertising.

I've started to advertise more. Obviously the goal of advertising is for it not to end up as an expense, but it does require initial output so I'll leave it in the expenses.

Learning.

I'm always learning. (And, yes, I invest in courses, too.) One of my favorites right now is this Private Newsletter.

I hope that snapshot helps you get an idea of what I consider important in my business.

Warmly,
Nicole

PS. Yes, of course, there are affiliate links in this list.

Thank you so much for sending in your answers to my survey. If you haven't yet answered the questions, here it is again…
http://nicoleonthenet.com/2007/ive-bared-my-guts/

I've received several GREAT questions. Here's one that I wanted to touch on today…

“I'm overwhelmed with everything related to internet marketing – can you point in bulletpoints, 1st thing to do, 2nd thing, etc. with some resources, if applicable? Thank you very much!”

The problem is that there are so many different ways to do business online, successfully, that it DOES get overwhelming.

I do think my favorite is writing and selling small reports, ebooks, infoproducts.

So, here's the step-by-step…

STEP ONE:
Create a product that is IN demand. (How do you know what's in demand? Search www.clickbank.com for their top-selling products and you'll get a big clue.

How do you create the product? Either write it yourself, hire someone to write it for you, or buy private label rights products (PLR).
Here are some places to purchase PLR: http://www.easyplr.com/bestplr.htm

OR, you can record audio (interview someone). I use this tool to do that…
Click here for easy audio tool.

If this sounds overwhelming, then this is the course I recommend on this topic:
http://www.SmallReportsFortune.com

STEP TWO:
Set up your shopping cart. I just finished writing a free report about how to choose a cart for your business…
Free Shopping Cart Report

STEP THREE:
Get a bunch of affiliates to promote your product. Again, this can be kind of overwhelming but it's essential to your success.

Here's a free ecourse on the subject:
http://www.SalesArmySecrets.com
You'll see I contributed to this course, too.

The only #4 that is a MUST is to make sure you're building a list of leads and customers at the same time. If you use the shopping cart I recommend in the report …
http://www.wahmcart.com
You'll have that included with your payment processing.

I realize that's a very quick overview of a long process, but those are the steps that you need to do to have an infoproduct business.

At any time, if you get stuck, then you can ask at forums or get one on one coaching with someone like my friend, Kelly McCausey, at http://kellymccausey.com or you can partner with someone who already has this process in place. Kelly and I are almost done wrapping up our course – www.EasyPartnerships.com so be sure to click over there if you're interested in finding out more about it when it's ready.
Please post questions here if you have them.

Warmly,
Nicole

Nicole, I'd love to know where I should buy ezine ads. My business is very “Lead-oriented” and I need to continue to generate more leads in order to grow my business. Got any ideas for me?

I've created a list of places to purchase Ezine Advertising. I get asked a lot about advertising, and have dabbled with it for my customers (using this service to track results — although this shopping cart comes with tracking, as well).

Here are some places to begin looking. Some are free lists of ezine publishers and some are paid lists.

• http://www.directoryofezines.com/
• http://www.ezine-dir.com/
• http://www.mywizardads.com
• http://www.soloadsonly.com
• http://www.solo-ads.com/
• http://www.ezinead.net/

Here are some ezines.

• http://www.moneymakingmommy.com
• http://www.red-hot-copy.com/ezinead.htm
• http://www.ezinequeen.com/adsales.htm
• http://www.wahmteam.com/advertisingorder.shtml

I have not personally tried all of these, so please research them thoroughly before purchasing.

I hope this helps!

Warmly,
Nicole

That's a pretty loaded question. Yikes.

The first thing you really need to do is figure out how much control you want to have over your website and how technical you are.

Option #1 – Pay someone to create your website.

I create websites for businesses, so this is something I am familiar with. This option is only best if you don't plan to add content to the website after it is created.

OR if you plan to learn how to maintain the site down the road.
Otherwise, you're going to be paying me or whoever your designer is every time you want to make changes. Ouch.

Option #2 – Use a Site Builder.

A lot of moms opt to go with this option. It's easy are pie. The only hard part here is that you pay a higher monthly fee, but it does include hosting so it's your only fee.
Here are the programs I recommend –
http://www.internetbasedfamily.com/?offer=EasySite
Includes a shopping cart. This is as easy as it gets.
and
http://buildit.sitesell.com/startnow9.html
This is the Rolls Royce of site builders. It not only helps you build a website, but it also helps you choose keywords to make it rank well in the Search Engines.

My recommendation? Both companies offer a trial period for free. Sign up for each, log in and play around. You'll quickly discover which is right for you.

Option #3 – Go with a WordPress blog.

It's a simple and easy content management system. If you're not technical, you can pay someone to install it relatively inexpensively, and have a website in the blink of an eye.
I have several Word Press blogs.

HOSTING –

You'll need hosting for each option above except the site builders.

The hosting I use and recommend can be found here –
Web Hosting Reviews
If you are building one or two small sites, the 1.25 per month plan is plenty.
If you plan to build a lot of sites, or store large audio and video files, then I recommend the unlimited plan listed.
I use both.

Whew. Please let me know what additional questions you have about starting a website. I'm happy to get more in depth and cover things like logos, pictures and content in the coming weeks.

Warmly,
Nicole