Okay, let’s take a quick look back at where we are.  On day one you went out and found a private label rights product that you are interested in working with.  You edited it, gave it a new title, and put some affiliate links in.  You also included a license file to pass on master resale rights to your customers.

On day two you got set up at Aweber, and created a mailing list there that you use to manage your subscribers.  You also created the HTML code that you would use on your optin page to gather your subscribers’ data.

Yesterday you made your optin page.  You used my Optin Page Creator software, which hopefully made it easy to create your page in minutes.

Today we’re going to take everything you made and put it all online!

After today’s lesson you will have a hosting account and you will know how to FTP to a server (that’s how you put files onto a website).

I have also created a special coupon to give you $50 off (the most allowed by the company) at one of the most reliable shared hosting companies that I use myself.  With this coupon you could get started with hosting for about $10, or you can sign up for a year’s worth of hosting at only $5.78 per month.  It’s a pretty sweet deal.  It also includes your domain name registration by the way, which would normally cost you about nine dollars.

Okay, let’s get started…

Step 1: Pick Your Domain Name

The domain name registration company that I like to use is namecheap.com.  A few years ago everyone was recommending Godaddy.com, but recently they started to have tighter controls over your domain names.  For example, if someone makes a spam complaint against you (which can happen even if you’re not a spammer), Godaddy may shut down your access to your domain name.

Namecheap does not do that, so I have been in the process of moving all of my domains from Godaddy over to Namecheap.

If you are only registering one domain name right now, you actually do not need to buy it at Namecheap, but let’s head over there anyway to search and see if your name is available.  I just want you to get used to their website, because there will come a time when you need another domain name so you may as well get familiar with a good registrar.

Click here to go to Namecheap

Right on the top left side of the page, you’ll see a field where you can enter a domain name and then click search.  You’re going to keep doing this until you find a domain that you like that is available.

Here are a few things to keep in mind as you search for your domain:

1.    Keep it short and memorable.
2.    Try not to use any dashes.
3.    Use “.com” if at all possible.
4.    Try to use all letters and no numbers.

Once you have found a domain name that is available, don’t bother registering it at Namecheap.  You get one free domain registration at the web host that I’m recommending, so let’s head over there now.

Step 2: Setting Up Your Hosting Account

The web host that I recommend you start off with is Dreamhost.  Dreamhost got a bad rap a couple of years ago because they were having some downtime issues due to denial of service attacks.  A denial of service attack is a malicious action that a hacker can take against any server or hosting company.

I have had an account with Dreamhost since 2001.  Since the denial of service attacks were dealt with, I have found them to be fine and reliable.  The fact is, any shared hosting company is going to have downtime issues.  There is no way around that.

There are two main reasons why I recommend that you use Dreamhost as your first hosting company.

• Reason one: they use a proprietary control panel that is much easier to understand and maneuver through then the normal cPanel, which most hosting companies use.  For example, let’s say you want to install a blog on your website.  At Dreamhost doing this is literally the matter of clicking a single button.  Very easy!

• Reason two: Last year Dreamhost introduced what they call “private servers.”  This is not something you would need right now, but it is a nice feature to have if any of your websites get to a point where they’re getting a lot of use and traffic.  Basically what it allows you to do is take over as much of a server as you choose to in order to make room for all of your traffic.  If you have your site at a shared host that does not offer this service, then when you start getting a lot of traffic you may need to move to a new hosting company entirely.  Moving a website to a new server can be a big headache and a something that you want to try to avoid.

So click here to visit Dreamhost.  Use the discount code “michaelbadger” when you sign up and you will get $50 off any plan you sign up for.

Now, here is where I have to apologize.  You see, since I started my hosting with Dreamhost back in 2001 it has been a long time since I did an initial set up with them.  From what I remember, they take you through it step by step and you will get everything done correctly - but I can’t give you a step-by-step screen shot view like I am doing with everything else.

If you do need help with any of the steps while you are getting your account set up, feel free to leave a comment below and I will do my best to answer it quickly.

While you are going through the setup you will come to a screen where they will ask you if you want to register a new domain name.  On that screen enter in the domain name that you found was available over at Namecheap and they will register it for you for free.

Once you have finished the setup at Dreamhost, they will e-mail you your FTP username and password.  You will need those in order to upload your files under your domain name.

Step 3: Uploading Your Optin Page and Product to Your Server

FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol.  This is what you use to move files from your computer to your server, or from your server back to your computer.

Dreamhost does have a built-in FTP program.  But their program is really not that intuitive, so we are going to use an easier option…

FileZilla is a very easy to use, and better yet free, FTP program.

You can download FileZilla here.

Go ahead and download FileZilla, and install it on your computer.  Open up FileZilla and you’ll see a screen that looks like this:

At the top of the screen where it says ”Host,” enter your domain name.  Leave off the “http://” part of the URL.  Simply enter www.YourDomainName.com.

For username and password, enter the information that Dreamhost e-mailed to you.

Now click “quickconnect.”

You will see a bunch of text scroll through in the top window, and then you will see a folder icon appear in the middle right window.

Now, the way that FileZilla is set up, what you see on the left side of your screen is your local hard drive and what you see on the right side of your screen is your server.  So all we are going to do is copy the files from the left side of your screen to the right side of your screen.
So, on the left side of your screen click on “desktop,” and you will see all the files and folders that are on your desktop appear in the window below.  On the right side of the screen, open up the blank folder that you see there, then click on the folder that matches your domain name.

Back over on the left side of your screen, in the lower portion, find index.html that we saved yesterday.  Double-click the file.  This will automatically move the file from your local hard drive onto your server.

After that is complete, find YourItemName.zip in the left lower screen as well.  Double-click that and it will be uploaded to your server as well.

If all has been done properly, you should now be able to go to http://www.YourDomainName.com and you will see your optin page.

Also if you go to http://YourDomainName.com/YourItemName.zip a download should start.  That is the URL that you will send people to in order to download your item.

See that wasn’t so bad was it?

You are now all set up with your own server, and you have your optin page uploaded, and your product is ready to be delivered to your customer.

We still have one final step to complete before you are ready to enter your item into the Giveaway though…

Step 4: Setting Up Your Autoresponder Series

After your customer has subscribed to your list, you need to send at least one e-mail message telling them how they can download their free product.

Of course you will probably want to set up at least a few autoresponder e-mail messages because this is your opportunity to start building a relationship with a new customer.

Log back into your Aweber account.

Click on messages>> follow up.  Then click the green button that says “add message.”  That will take you to this screen:

For your follow-up message, and for any message that you ever send using Aweber, I recommend that you send a text message not an HTML message.  This is because some people’s e-mail clients are not set up to receive HTML messages properly, and an HTML message may be more likely to get caught in a spam filter.

For this first follow-up message, you will probably want to make it short and sweet.

For the subject you can use something like:

“{!firstname}, here’s your copy of YourProductName”

Using {!firstname} will insert your customer’s first name.  You can see a list of all personalized fields available at Aweber by opening the drop-down menu “personalization fields.”

Then in the message itself, simply make sure to include the URL to your zip file somewhere in the body of your message.  The URL looks something like: http://YourDomainName.com/YourItemName.zip.

This is how we will deliver the product to your customer.

With this and with any Aweber message, when you are finished composing it make sure to click on the link for “check SpamAssassin score.”  Doing this will analyze your message to see how likely it is that it will get caught in your customer’s spam filter.  It will tell you exactly what you need to change in your message to make sure that the e-mail gets through.

Once you save this message, it will be sent to your customer right after they confirm that they want to get mail from you.  I would recommend that you write three to seven more follow-up messages.  Have them sent approximately 3 days apart from one another.  In your follow-up messages, try to give your customer as much knowledge and value as you can.  This is not the time to be trying to push products on your customer.  This is the time to build your reputation and relationship instead.

The only other thing you’re going to need in order to enter your gift into giveaway is an image of the gift itself.

I will address that in my next post.

But if you’re using a PLR product that already came with an image you are allowed to use, then you’re pretty much all set and can enter your item into the giveaway.

As always, please make sure to let me know if you have any questions by posting them in the comments.