Simpedia

Mark M., New York

There are certainly plenty of ways to get a website. Complexity and cost vary hugely. There are certainly plenty of ways on the simple/inexpensive end, some much better, some much worse. One such solution that I’d recommend that has pretty high quality despite simplicity and low cost is:

http://wordpress.com/

You can get a free account here, and there are very simple ways to put up all the content you want. You end up with a web address like mysite.wordpress.com. But for I think $15/year, you can buy your own domain name and have your WordPress.com site appear to the world at that domain — so it’s really having your own genuine web presence. Given the simplicity and relative high quality of the site, I think it would be hard to beat this solution for a low-cost easy site.

WordPress can also be done on a custom basis — it’s what I use to run all my websites. The software is free, it’s much more flexible/customizable than the version you get to use with a free WordPress.com account, but the customizability comes at the cost of a lot of technical learning and management, and then you have to get and pay for your domain names and web hosting yourself. This is more than a lot of people are willing to do, which makes WordPress.com — especially with the $15 domain name feature — a great option for many people.

WordPress is often/generally consider blogging software, but it has evolved so much that, in either the wordpress.com form or the custom installed form, it is really a full-fledged content management system and not at all “just” for blogging. Not at all. You really can create a whole “real” website with it. Visit my Offhand Band and Potluck Creative Arts sites and you’ll see what I mean, and there are a number of other even better examples created by people with more know-how/budget.

MySpace and similar sites must be seen not as “your website” but an opportunity to market yourself. They are so cluttered with their own agenda, their own ways of supporting themselves, that “your” page is filled substantially with their ads and links that severely distract your customers from whatever it is you want them to know about you. These sites have a role to play, absolutely, but their role is simply not to be your site. Their role is to let people at those communities find out about you and then, having done that, to point those people to your site where you have control over their experience and give them few distractions so that they can truly learn about you, so you can truly market yourself.

With rare exceptions, people who rely on MySpace and such things as “their” website do not find success in web marketing. These things have to be placed in the proper context within your online marketing plans.

Susan C., Australia

I suggest you have a look at http://www.vistaprint.com.au/ as they let you have a month’s free trial (if the terms are still the same). You can set it up yourself using their templates. Even if you don’t go ahead and order the website, any experience helps.

I set up a website through VistaPrint.com.au and had my free month and then another. I then cancelled it and have not been charged which I thought was good. It may have helped that I have bought products from them in the past.

Robin T., Tennessee

I use a site called HOMESTEAD. Just goggle it and you will find it. Very easy, very affordable and it has everything you will need on it. You can build it yourself if you have some basic computer knowledge. It has templates already made, so you just put in your info instead of theirs. I have unlimited pages, a domain (which is the name of your site) and emails. I think mine is $8 / month. There weren’t any setups either and it has a step by step guide as well as customer support lines.

Most websites are copyrighted I know at the bottom of mine, it says Copyrighted by Robin T. However, just like composing…… take what you know or like and mix it up! In terms of my site, you are free to use any of the forms that are on there for your students and the content. I think I just looked at other teachers sites and combined the info that I wanted (which they got from SM). However, out of courtesy (because someone did work hard on it), I usually contact people and ask if they mind me using some specific information. Especially the forms that other teachers have created. Someone in that ENOURMOUS TEACHER GROUP (which I am so jealous of) had a wonderful form to use for the first lessons. It is like a beginning playlist for them to practice them numbering their fingers, finding C’s, FSS up and down, etc. That has been very helpful for me and I think it sent the student home with a sense of accomplishment. If you use the playlist and list the song on the first day, it kind of looks like that is all they learned. When, in actuality, that first lesson is always crammed with info. So, I give them this sheet to get them started and they are always like, “WOW, I have a ton to practice”.

I use MySpace, but not as my primary referral point. The problem with MySpace is that you can’t control your FRIENDS content. You control who becomes your friend (like your students, etc.). But, then, your student becomes friends with someone that may not have some nice content on there. The kids are all about MySpace, so they want you to be their “friend”. But, if you add them and have a prospective student come and look, they will check out who your friends are and could stumble across something not suitable for their age, or something that you as a teacher do not want affiliated with your studio (was that politically correct?). I just didn’t like not having that control over the content that they could see. Again, you control who you become friends with, but once they click on that friend, it is out of your control. I’m a control FREAK, myself.