( first rough draft)

Have you thought about making a website for your upholstery business? Having your own website is extremely rewarding. However, be forewarned, making a decent website takes a lot of work. It doesn't go up by itself.

Many people take the approach of trying to write of their webpages and get it all perfect before they publish their website. This way their website looks nice from the start. (One of the problems is that the website can be delayed for weeks or months until everthing is "perfect") By contrast, I don't wait to get my website perfect. I just publish each page as needed. I don't try to get each page perfect before I put them on the website. My websites are never finished. Each page of the website is never finished, I try to keep improving them. Whenever I get a thought, I add it to one of the pages on the website. I keep working on them month after month, year after year. And the websites keep growing, and growing.

To make your own website, here are some of your choices

1. Pay someone to make your website
2. Buy a ready-made website package that has the structure already build
3. Get a website host that has read-made template OR CMS software that installs on the your website
4. Just buy website space and build/program all of your website from scratch
5. (more about this later)

What Is A Website Used For?

A Repository of Information

For one thing, I use a website to tell clients everything I want them to know. For example, I have told or written out a lot of explanations to a client to explain something that I do. Then, while it is fresh in my mind, I'll finish writing that information and stick in on the website. In the past I've written stuff out only to misplace it (misplace sounds nicer than lose). So nowadays whenever I write something out I put in on my website. I don't worry about "getting it perfect", I just write it out with what time and information I have at the time. Over time I keep improving it and adding more information to it. Besides giving the clients information, it also helps me to find it again. If I don't remember where on the website I put it, I just do a search (by Google or the website search box) and can easily find it.

Writing the Content of Your Website

Get started by gathering together any information that has been written about your business. This could be from other advertising (newspapers, brochures, etc.)

Secondly start writing some content. I usually just keep a notebook handy and jot down ideas as they come to me. I start out by just writing rought thoughts.  

Writing the About Us Page

People are very relational, they like to know something about who they are dealing with. An "About Us" page is a mixture of telling something personal about yourself, your family, your business. And, most importantly, you'd also tell about your training and experience, (this is a large part of selling yourself to the clients- remember, no bragging (I know you wouldn't), but are just stating facts), and also telling about your relationship with the other business associates, etc. You're SUBTLY selling yourself to potential client. Some people like to sound "very professional". On the other hand, I like to be "very homey" and real looking, mistakes and all.
   When writing about myself I find it's often helpful to step out of myself and write as though I'm an uninvolved party. 

Here are some Example "About Us" Pages:

• Friendship Upholstery: About Us
• U of M -Upholstery Shop & Furniture Repair: About Us
• World Upholstery: About Us
• NCA: About Us
• The Miami Corp: About Us

Remember, Anything would be better than you have now. Don't expect to make a perfect page the first time. You first attempt won't be what you want, but it will be a beginning.

Stop Perfectionism Cold!!!
Also, another VERY IMPORTANT point. DON'T try to make it PERFECT. Perfectionism Kills Creativity! Perfectionism will stop you from beginning or developing each page. So, just write what comes to you for each page and leave it. As more thoughts come to you over time, You can keep improving it. But be willing to start each page small and a little less than perfect. With time you will gradually make it a great website!
Here's an example of a "less than perfect web page". Some day, whenever I remember, I'll get around to finishing it. (although none of my pages will ever be truly finished). I have 2 upholstery websites (my business website: Winters Sewing has about 45 web pages and this Upholstery Information website has about 175 web pages), and each of them have lots of unfinished pages. ....... someday .......maybe....

Getting Started

If you are not yet ready to actually to pay out money to put up a website, I'd strongly encourage you to at least go to http://wordpress.com/ and sign up for one of FREE blogs (which is also a website). There blog control panel is very much like a the control panels of a real website, it would be a good intruction into having a website without paying any money. It would get you going without having to commit to any payments of hosting a website. It would also get you used to working with a website.

OR, if you'd rather not delay and just get started, even in a slow way, you can go here http://www.indichosts.net/ and sign up for one of the "Student” hosting plans that only cost about $1.40 per month. This would get you started on actually putting together a website. It is cheap enough that you shouldn’t feel pressured to “get it up quick” but just take your time. For this website you would choose between dozens of CMS packages to automatically install on your website. (more about this later)

Website Software

Desktop Website Software

With Desktop Publishing Software you keep working with everything on your computer (just like when you use a word processing program.) until you have your website the way you want it. Then you have the software publish the content of your website to your website host. (Yes, you still need to rent website space from a website host.)

Netobjects (Website software publisher) makes a very nice WYSIWYG desktop website software. The current version, Fusion 10 , costs about $200

Netobjects also has a great deal on an older version of their "NetObjects Fusion" Sofware. NetObjects Fusion 7 (was sold for $149) is available for free here , you you just pay $10 for shipping. It's a great offer. I used it myself when I first started into making websites.

Content Management Software (CMS)

"A content management system (CMS) is computer software used to create, edit, manage, and publish content in a consistently-organized fashion. ^[1] CMSs are frequently used for storing, controlling, versioning, and publishing industry-specific documentation such as news articles, operators' manuals, technical manuals, sales guides, and marketing brochures. The content managed may include computer files, image media, audio files, electronic documents, and Web content." Wikipedia

This website uses Drupal , an Open Source (free) CMS. You can change the look of Drupal in a lot of ways. Look at the many themes available for Drupal here: Drupal Themes

If you would like try out out some software, you can try out many freely available CMS software at Open Source CMS . When you get to the web page, go to the left side menu under "CMS Demo Menu". find "MosCmenuTree", then click on - "Portals (CMS)". It will give you a whole list of Open Source (free) CMS (website software) to try.