Due to the not so recent downturn in the economy my husband has become unemployed. As most of you know, we have lost a multi million dollar business.

On the bright side, he has the opportunity to work at home as there are very few gunsmiths who can do what he does. What we are looking for right now is a way to find a free website and design it to build his business, but I haven't a clue as to how to go about it.

Can anyone help us?

J I'll bet CalDad would know.

There are a bunch of websites that allow you to build and design your own content. Weebly.com and wix.com are really easy and cool. I created 2 weebly sites for free here: http://invictusenterprises.weebly.com, and www.naidra.com.

You can link them to a domain later (like I did the naidra.com site), or just keep the weebly/wix extension.

Both sites are really easy to set up. They're pretty much drag and drop. They give templates and have features like flash, RSS, comment boxes, etc.

I hope that helped!

Hi, J_9!

I'm sorry that this has happened to you and your husband!

What would you like for you and/or people to be able to do on the website, please? Most of my business for the things that I do for a living come from the websites and advertising that I've placed on the Internet. I literally get calls from around the United States for the services that I'm able to provide for people.

I can get on the first page of a Google search within minutes concerning what I do, where I do it, (or, want to be able to provide the type of service that I'm promoting, if it's not just around where I live.) I've been doing that for a number of years now. None of that has ever cost me any money. By the way, not all free advertising sites or free websites get the best exposure when people do searches for things, no matter how well they're worded or the promotional tools used that are available to promote the websites or what is on a free advertising site.

Thanks!

What would you like for you and/or people to be able to do on the website, please? Most of my business for the things that I do for a living come from the websites and advertising that I've placed on the Internet. I literally get calls from around the United States for the services that I'm able to provide for people.


Thanks Clough. Luckily we are positive enough to see that when one door closes another opens up!

Now, we are basically just trying to advertise his services as a master gunsmith. So it would be very much like what you do with your websites.

Also don't forget that if you have a major carrier for your isp they normally provide you with space also. You might want to check that. What exactly is it that he can do that is special? I belong to several private gun boards. That way I can let them know.

You may want to offer other things too and catalouge order items so you don't have to carry inventory. Like through davidsons (provided he didn't give up his FFL) He may want to start a board of his own drawing people in. Like specialty collectables etc. Im sure he can find a niche in all that is out there.
If you need any help don't hesitate to ask.

Also dont forget that if you have a major carrier for your isp they normally provide you with space also.

How do you do that? We have Comcast.


What exactly is it that he can do that is special? I belong to several private gun boards. That way I can let them know.

You may want to offer other things too and catalouge order items so you dont have to carry inventory. Like through davidsons (provided he didnt give up his FFL) He may want to start a board of his own drawing people in. Like specialty collectables etc. Im sure he can find a niche in all that is out there.
If you need any help dont hesitate to ask.

Unfortunately we are not selling guns from the home. He does have his own FFL though and I'm sure he could order and drop ship guns.

His specialty is in trigger jobs... dang ANYTHING that has to do with gun repair. He is a Master Gunsmith after all. ;)

If you have a brokeded gun and want it fixed he can do it. If you want to gussy up your gun, he's the man.

In the end... he can do it all. He's even built one from scratch.

For a website engine, you can't go wrong with WordPress (http://wordpress.org/).

This started as a blogging engine but has exploded into a full-fledged website with user security, a robust content-management system and there's even a plugin to integrate shopping carts with USPS and UPS integration. It's also themeable and extendable and super-easy to user. And all of it's open source.

Installing WordPress is very easy. All you need is a web server with PHP running and access to a MySQL database server.

There are free webhosts out there as well. Just Google for them and you will find one. ByteHost is one that I know off the top of my head. But, if you plan on doing business through this website, bear in mind that all these free hosts have very screwy TOS and usually reserve the right to terminate service without warning. I'd strongly suggest buying webspace so you can avoid this, which can be as cheap as $5.00 a month. You should still read the TOS, but chances are slim they'd arbitrarily blow away your site if you're paying for it.

Installing WordPress is very easy. All you need is a web server with PHP running and access to a MySQL database server.

That's greek to me. :o

That's greek to me. :o
That's no problem. They're just webhost requirements for WordPress.

Okay, I think I'm going to go with Wordpress or what Comcast gives me.

I might need some help though.

Anyone willing to help with my questions along the way?

Okay, if I'm using Wordpress it looks like I have to find a host. Are there any free ones?

Anyone willing to help with my questions along the way?
Gladly.

ByteHost (http://byethost.com/index.php/free-hosting). This is free, and has PHP and MySQL.

How do you do that? We have Comcast.



Unfortunately we are not selling guns from the home. He does have his own FFL though and I'm sure he could order and drop ship guns.

His specialty is in trigger jobs...dang ANYTHING that has to do with gun repair. He is a Master Gunsmith after all. ;)

If you have a brokeded gun and want it fixed he can do it. If you want to gussy up your gun, he's the man.

In the end...he can do it all. He's even built one from scratch.

I understand what your saying. Its just some smiths out there have a speciality like AR's or 1911's. That's why I asked.

I don't see website hosting as part of your package. Just online storage and such.

This is what I have CDad.

PWP - splash (http://publish.comcast.net/splash/)

One of his specialties is Colt custom trigger jobs. He was a warranty service for Browning and Winchester when we had the shop.

I'll have to ask him about his other specialties though.

This is what I have CDad.

PWP - splash (http://publish.comcast.net/splash/)

One of his specialties is Colt custom trigger jobs. He was a warranty service for Browning and Winchester when we had the shop.

I'll have to ask him about his other specialties though.

Great. I guess they wouldn't let me see it since I have a different provider ;)

I'll be around for awhile yet tonight, J_9, just in case you might be available and interested in some help with getting the best exposure and starting a website.

It's very possible for what your husband wants to make money at doing could be found on searches easily within minutes.

Thanks!

This is what I have CDad.

PWP - splash (http://publish.comcast.net/splash/)

One of his specialties is Colt custom trigger jobs. He was a warranty service for Browning and Winchester when we had the shop.

I'll have to ask him about his other specialties though.
You can build a website with this builder from Comcast, but it's all canned. If you want to do anything that it doesn't offer you're SOL.

If this is all you need, go with this 'cause it's going to be the easiest solution.

I'll be around for awhile yet tonight, J_9, just in case you might be available and interested in some help with getting the best exposure and starting a website.

It's very possible for what your husband wants to make money at doing could be found on searches easily within minutes.



That's EXACTLY what I'm looking for Clough. Slapshot has given me the beginnings of designing it... I think (haven't really had the time to go over it), but I need to know how to get it to pop and get it to the tops of the search engines.

I think that we need to plan a time to be on here at the same time if you and I are going to be able to succeed in doing any brain-storming, J_9!

There are numerous places where a person can have a website for free. Some of them will also allow people to use their own templates. Although, most of the ready-made templates that I've seen available have been good and using them can save a lot of time with not having to create your own.

When I have a website, I like it to be really good looking and very functional for what I and/or others might do with it. Planning that out can take time... I'm very picky, and so are some of the best places for having free websites.

I've started many websites. Some for me as well as other people. Some of them concerning my businesses are incomplete. But, at least the most pertinent information is on all of them until I have the time to really develop them

My goal is to get my businesses exposed "out there" as quickly as possible. Putting together a website is something that I consider to be a necessity, but doesn't necessarily mean that I'll get the exposure that I want right away.

I would like to also think that the goal of you and your husband would be, like me, to get the information "out there", exposed the best and available for people to use as quickly as possible. Putting together a website right away doesn't mean that the website will be immediately available in searches, unlike other methods that can be used for getting the information exposed.

I hope that I'm making sense, because it's really late for me right now!

Please let me know when you'll be on here again. I think that we're about an hour apart in time zones and I'm sure that at the moment, my schedule is much more flexible than yours since the only place that I'm really employed is at a church on Sunday mornings to be the musician.

I also plan on starting even another new business soon. I can show you with that how I get it exposed very quickly and beat all or at least a good portion of the competition where I intend to do the particular kind of work that I'm planning to do.

Yes, we do need to be on here at the same time.

I will be on, hopefully, tomorrow night, but not sure of the time. I will be at work and it will depend on how busy we are here.

If you were to get a messenger program like Yahoo or msn or aim. Then you can talk directly and send the files in html format for review to each other or to those helping you. It may be easier for you. Any browser should be able to review them in that format.

If you were to get a messanger program like yahoo or msn or aim. Then you can talk directly and send the files in html format for review to eachother or to those helping you. It may be easier for you. Any browser should be able to review them in that format.


I have both, however most of the time I'm here at work and cannot DL any of those programs. :(

Are you around here now, J_9?

Yup, Clough, I'm here.

For how long?

Don't know. Never know when patient might come up in labor.

How rude. Interrupting you with something trivial like labor. :D

Okay. I'll cut to the chase then.

Are you ready to "rock" at least for a little while with some interruptions. We can get at least a little bit done in a short time to get you really started.

Thanks!

I can try Clough, but when a patient comes up, since I am the ONLY nurse up here, interruptions are not permitted.

So. Let's go!

Your going to get the most exposure the fastest by placing ads on the Internet. A website can come later.

Please join Hoobly Free Classifieds (http://www.hoobly.com/) and let me know when you've done that. Please also select a location that is nearest to where you'll be wanting to do business.

How rude. Interrupting you with something trivial like labor. :D

Agreed! LOL! :D

Okay, I've joined and registered

How rude. Interrupting you with something trivial like labor. :D

Yeah, that's pretty rude of them. Like they think having a baby can't wait! :p

So, I found Hunting Classifieds in my area, now what?

Hey, GREAT that you joined the site!

Now, let's work on an ad. You can always change your ads on that website if you need to. Some sites won't let a person change their ads, and they might not let a person know that. Regardless though, it's important that what anyone puts on the Internet in ads or on a website be as correct as possible the first time because the residual, not as good, or incorrect information can linger for quite some time in searches on the various search engines.

We need to check out the competition around where your husband would like do the work since advertising on the local level is going to be the easiest way to learn how to word anything so that it beats or really competes with the competition.

Please know that anything I write about this is going to be assuming that you don't know some things even though you might know more than I think that you do. That's just in case I might be sounding like we're really on the beginning level of doing this. Additionally, if I have to ask you a lot of questions as to what you do know, then it will take up a lot of time that we really don't need to be spending. You'll find out what I don't know about what you really know, in short order.

If you feel comfortable in doing so, would you please post a tiny url to a search for the competition or the website of a competitor around where your husband would be doing the work, please? If I can see how much competition there is, then I'll know better in how to proceed.

For instance, one of the things that I do is to give piano lessons. I needed to check out all of the competition that I could find locally in order to beat the competition and music stores that offered that service by advertising on the Internet.

Here's a link to a search for that service around where I live, but not in the city where I live. I'm first after the paid advertising and in at least a few other places on the first page.

LINK (http://www.google.com/#hl=en&expIds=17259,17291,22881,25901,26446,26515&sugexp=ldymls&xhr=t&q=Piano%20Lessons%2C%20Bettendorf%2C%20IA&cp=29&pf=p&sclient=psy&safe=off&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=Piano+Lessons%2C+Bettendorf%2C+IA&gs_rfai=&pbx=1&fp=ab5cdb1806fef4aa)

Thanks!

Hey, hun. I have a patient coming up. Don't know if I'll admit them or if they'll be an outpatient so I have to go for now.

Hope to get on again very soon.:(

Thanks for your help so far Clough. If I can't get on again tonight, I'll be here same time same place tomorrow night.

I'll try to be on earlier tomorrow instead of this late. Don't know though, because a friend might be coming over to where I'm house and dog sitting tomorrow night. I should be on here a little while longer though from now...

I'll keep the ideas coming. We really do need to know somehow what the competition is like and what they are using as words and phrases in what they have on the Internet. It's okay to use words and phrases of the competition, as long as the ones used aren't a part of the name of their business or a direct slogan that they use that's directly associated with only their business. The issue of using the name of their business is one thing... However, using the slogans is arguable. But, best to not be infringing so much on others as to cause them to possibly take any kind of action.

Later...

We need to check out the competition around where your husband would like do the work since advertising on the local level is going to be the easiest way to learn how to word anything so that it beats or really competes with the competition.


That's just it Clough. There is NO competition. He is the only Master Gunsmith for 100s and 100s of miles!

Aren't there any places that at least repair guns locally that might not be Master Gunsmiths?

Not really... Well, give me the day to think of the name of one that I just remembered.

If you do a search for those that do gun smithing in your state, what comes up?

Can't do it right now Clough. I have to give report to the oncoming nurse in about 5 minutes. Have to sign off.

Now, go get some sleep. LOL

You're correct about getting some sleep! Can hardly think right now!

If you have the time and are able, would you please help on the following thread sometime?

https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/mental-emotional-health/want-something-bad-happen-me-so-can-prove-myself-506364.html

Later, then...

Thanks!

How about calling his website:

"First on Point"
Slogan: Gun control is hitting the target!

Master Gunsmithing services and accessories.

Also the initials are FOP ;)

Hint hint.

Some sites won't let a person change their ads, and they might not let a person know that.

It's funny that you should say that, because this Hoobly place doesn't let you know anything at all. There is nothing there telling you what the site is, who runs it, how it works, how to use it, etc. It doesn't tell you whether you can or cannot change your ads, so I'm not sure how one can comment about other sites that don't tell you.

The only thing that exists is an archive full of questions people have asked, and the only thing you can do is search through it and see if something you want to know happens to exist in there. At the bottom of the page where it says "about us" it only leads to a page that has a search sort of thing, instead of telling us "about them." Under the "guidelines" at the bottom of the page it leads to the same place instead of to the guidelines.

And the whole search thing is dysfunctional. All you can do is search the archives.

So there's no instructions anywhere, or anything that tells you what you can do or how to do it. Maybe there's something available once you log in, but you shouldn't have to register for a site before you can find out even the most basic of information about the site. And I see questions on the forums about the most basic of stuff, as though there just aren't any instructions anywhere at all. After all, the "guidelines" link only led to this forum thing and not to any actual guidelines.

Not to mention that the privacy policy says about nothing. They want an email to register, but don't say anything in the privacy policy about how it will be used, whether it'll show up in your ads where other people can see it, etc. So they want information from you without even telling you what they'll do with that information. And I see no TOS at all, so I guess you agree without seeing what you're agreeing to.

This site tells you absolutely nothing. The fact that you may know things about it doesn't change the fact that the site itself doesn't tell you anything.

I would never join a place that can't manage to tell me something about themselves or how they're planning to use the email I'm about to give them. I can't say as I have much respect for this. Sorry if you love the place, but really, when you're out there on the dangerous internet, such a lack of info is just not good.

Not to mention that I don't even see a way to register. From one page, it has a box pop up to log in, and says "log in/register" on it, but if you click that it just screams that the email is invalid and won't take you to a register. From another page there's a "sign in" and "sign up" at the top of the page. "Sign up" only brings up a box telling me I can sign in with my Facebook, Twitter, etc. account but doesn't actually go anywhere to "sign up." I've tried in two different browsers, even changing some of my privacy settings. It seems to be broken. (As a matter of fact, there's a question in those archives about troubling registering that never even got answered.)

Bad site and extremely amateurish. Sorry, but it is.

Oh whoa! Just for the heck of it, I decided to put in an email account to see if it would take it to a registration screen - like say "I don't recognize that, would you like to register?" or something like that. It screamed the password was wrong. So for the heck of it, I put in a password, expecting maybe the same sort of thing.

Next thing I know it says I'm now registered and signed in!! Without even telling me that it was going to do that. Without having me agree to any TOS. Without verifying that it was going to do it!

That wasn't a "registration." That was a hijack. So now I'm signed up when I didn't even want to be.

Damn good thing I used one of my junk emails. So tell me, how do you "unregister" for this place?

And now that I'm in, I see there's really nothing more here than when I wasn't registered. There's still no instructions or anything telling you anything.

Bad, bad site. Sorry, but it's just a bad, bad site.

Thank you Morgaine for your insight. I never sign up to a new place with my actual email address. I always start with a throw away and change it later if need be. That's what I did last night.

I'm getting a little flustered with all of this. I'm not a technical person, nor do I actually have the time to sit down with hubby to do this together. I'm awake while he's asleep, etc.

I think I may put this on the back burner for a couple of weeks. Right now we have to finish with the business licenses that we don't have, meet with an accountant, etc.

Well, I did solve one thing. I add an email that was fake, which allowed me to delete the real one. Looks like that's about as close as I'm going to get to disappearing off there.

Not only is the "forum" thing dysfunctional, but there's no contact information. So you can't even try to get a hold of anyone at all.

That just sucks. Now I'm sorry I even bothered to go visit the place to start with, cause this whole thing just sucks.

Don't you get that websites that you sign up for shouldn't be this way??

Oh yes, I always start with a throw-away as well - that's what I call my "junk account." Unless it's some place I fairly well trust and that also has some kind of security.

(Even this site doesn't have my main personal address. Which is a good thing, cause I once discovered that under certain skins, it shows in your profile - and my address was just sitting there for anyone to see and I never even knew it. That's exactly why I don't like registering for places without "full disclosure.")

And you're welcome for the "insight," though I was more just complaining about the place, not trying to give insight. LOL.

You could try Craigslist. They do at least have a real list of FAQs, though they're a little lacking in more detailed info.

I think for the time being that we are just going to wait on this, as I said. Get all of the proper licensure prepared that we don't already have and then have another go at this.

He has many friends in many fields, maybe he could do work for a friend and trade services and that friend will build the website.

Just a thought.

Oh yes, I always start with a throw-away as well - that's what I call my "junk account." Unless it's some place I fairly well trust and that also has some kind of security.

(Even this site doesn't have my main personal address. Which is a good thing, cause I once discovered that under certain skins, it shows in your profile - and my address was just sitting there for anyone to see and I never even knew it. That's exactly why I don't like registering for places without "full disclosure.")

And you're welcome for the "insight," though I was more just complaining about the place, not trying to give insight. LOL.

You could try Craigslist. They do at least have a real list of FAQs, though they're a little lacking in more detailed info.

Hoobly.com provides free classfied advertisment service in US & Canada. (http://www.aboutus.org/Hoobly.com)

Hoobly.com provides free classfied advertisment service in US & Canada. (http://www.aboutus.org/Hoobly.com)

I followed the link Clough gave. This doesn't exist there. And I shouldn't have to go to another website to find out - it should be directly on their site.

Doesn't change a thing I said one iota.

Sorry, califdad, that attitude wasn't really meant to be directed at you. The attitude is towards the site and just came out.

Hi, morgaine300!

I don't know why you've written everything that you have about the site to which I posted the link, especially when I was trying to help someone with something about which I know a great deal. I've been advertising on the web for many years now. I've checked out probably most of the free advertising sites. One of the first thing that I do when I join a new one is to check out their privacy policy. I'm very careful about what I post anywhere on the Internet. I would never intentionally lead someone to something that wasn't okay to use.

Please also know that a lot of the free advertising sites aren't forums, like this site has. They aren't set up the same way as others in many respects. Hoobly.com for instance, isn't a site where having forums is one of the main purposes of the site. It's a place to advertise. For craigslist.org, forums are one of the main purposes of it. The content of some of those forums as well as ads that aren't moderated at all by craigslist.org has gotten craigslist in a lot of trouble in recent years.

I use craigslist.org and will say that most of the spam emails that I get come from using that site. But, since there's a craigslist that's local to my area, I do use it, because using it brings in business for me. The forums on craigslist have no interest for me. Therefore, I don't use them. I can't say that I've never gotten any spam by using hoobly.com, since I don't remember everything about emails I've been receiving for the years that I've been posting things on the Internet. I can say though, that I've never gotten any spam in at least the past couple of years, where it was directly stated in the spam email that they found my ad on hoobly.com I can't say that about craigslist.org

I also use local media sites that are free for people to post ads. When I try to help someone with learning how to get the best exposure on the Internet, I do so in certain steps. Hoobly.com is the best, legitimate advertising site that I've every encountered for a person to be able to post something and have it appear within minutes in searches.

Any site where people can join it is going to have it's foibles and problems. Ask Me Help Desk certainly has many weaknesses where the administration and owners are trying to make improvements. Here's one example: It been repeatedly stated in threads on this site that accounts aren't deleted.

I really see no reason for a rant about a site that I've recommended to someone, unless the person doing the ranting has been using the particular site for awhile and has sufficiently checked out the site enough to form a justifiable opinion.

Thanks!

I followed the link Clough gave. This doesn't exist there. And I shouldn't have to go to another website to find out - it should be directly on their site.

Doesn't change a thing I said one iota.

I know it doesn't exist there and that's why I posted it. So its now part of the thread in case people have questions.

No offense taken.

This is a website I look to all the time and its free classifieds. This one is gun specific. Its both national and regional. Also has pretty cool deals.

ARMLIST - Page Not Found (http://www.armslist.com/error/details/404?aspxerrorpath=/viewlocation.aspx)

This is a website I look to all the time and its free classifieds. This one is gun specific. Its both national and regional. Also has pretty cool deals.

ARMLIST - Page Not Found (http://www.armslist.com/error/details/404?aspxerrorpath=/viewlocation.aspx)

He might be interested in this. When I showed him Hoobly yesterday, he was not interested and asked me not to post anything there.

In the end, it is his decision as it is his business. All I can do is give him a list of opportunities.

He might be interested in this. When I showed him Hoobly yesterday, he was not interested and asked me not to post anything there.

In the end, it is his decision as it is his business. All I can do is give him a list of opportunities.

Here is another place he might like and they have a local section as well he can add himself to.

AR15.Com (http://www.ar15.com)


He can look under "hometown" section and find the state he's in or wants to deal with. Lots of good info here.

Clough, as to the forum issue, I was not at all referring to the fact that they don't have a forum, versus say Craigslist that does. I agree that is not their main function. I was talking about the fact that there's no information available at the site about the site, other than that forum. Which is an inappropriate way to have to get information on a site. While a forum is useful to ask questions about stuff you don't understand, to get extra tips and hints, etc. it's not the appropriate medium to get any information about a site. (Not unless they have a main FAQs as a sticky post or something.)

i.e. When you click "about us" - it should go to a page that has information about the site, not to a forum where you have to ask questions about the site. So there is no "about us" page at all. Just a forum type thing. You click on "guidelines" and there are no guidelines there. It goes to the same forum thing. And I also commented on the fact that the forum is completely defunct. So no info available, and no way to ask for it. It's like a "ghost site."

How well you know the site is irrelevant. Remember that not everyone is going there on your recommendation and the site wasn't set up to be used only by people who got your recommendation. It should be useful and appropriate for anyone who happens to go there. I am judging the site, as it stands.

If you checked the privacy policy so carefully, did you not notice it mentions nothing about your email? It says they won't sell personal info to third parties. It does not say how they will use any personally identifying information. It only talks about using cookies to track non-personally identifying stuff like your browser, ISP and the like. I'm sorry - it's a lame privacy policy.

There is simply no info at this place. While any site can lie, and therefore it can always be a good idea to ask others their experiences with the site, that's not the same thing as just having no information to start with. In fact, when someone comes here wanting to know if some site is legit, having a lack of any kind of information is exactly the kind of thing that would make me suspicious.

Which makes it a bad site. I'm not implying they actually are doing something bad. I trust that you haven't had any problems with it. I'm just saying that's not an appropriate way for a site to be when I'm going to be giving them information and using it as a contact to other people. For a site like that, information should be available before I give them info, not after I've been using it for a while. Since that is the entire point - that I can't find out anything before joining, and from what I can tell even after joining - then yes, it is perfectly justifiable for me to judge that!

And it's not appropriate for them not to tell me that the second I make up some email and password that suddenly I'm now registered. Nearly any site you go to will take you to an actual registration page, let you confirm the info, and check it over, before hitting like a submit button. This thing didn't even really tell me that I was really registering - it just sort of happened. That is not appropriate either and now I'm registered when I don't want to be. Which also makes it justifiable for me to judge it!

You can do anything you want - that's your privilege. But I could never recommend such a site. But it did seem a bit contradictory to make comments about other sites not telling you that you can't change your ads, when this site tells you nothing whatsoever at all.

I found a cool site where you can get five free websites, and lots of free information... I would highly recommend it... you can't go wrong with the free offers... http://freewebsitespage.com