# Myspace site vs regular website



## Fuse Ind (Jul 12, 2007)

Does anyone use myspace instead of a standard web site? what is your thoughts on myspace VS standard web ?


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## vithreads (Aug 5, 2007)

*Re: My space site*

If you are looking for a really good Myspace page design for a pretty good price, PM me. I found this guy who did the myspace pages for some major recording artists and his stuff is awesome.


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## rivercitysports (Aug 8, 2007)

*Re: My space site*

Eventually I will build a real website, but for the time being, have a myspace account. Myspace is easy to setup and use. At least half of the people I know have an account. The advertising implications are endless due to the sheer volume of users. Some music artists have sold out huge venues time after time and only using myspace for advertisement. The system is not specifically designed for retail or services but you can design your-space however you like. Exposure is a good thing.


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## FSP (Aug 9, 2007)

*Re: My space site*

Seems like if lots of people you know already have accounts, it would be easy to build a large online presence on MySpace. Just use its built in tools for networking with people and you should have good success.

Plus You can always start with MySpace, if it doesn't work out as planned it just means you will be doing your real website sooner than later.

Good Luck!


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

I think if you want to be taken seriously for an ecommerce site or a service site like a screen printer, you need an actual website.

To me, this reminds me of the old question that people had years ago on the web as to whether someone should get their own domain name and webhosting account, or run their business off of a free geocities/aol/tripod webpage.

The answer is, you want customers to give you money. You want them to trust your business is sound and stable. 

Using a free webspace provider as your only internet presence doesn't say a lot about your company.

It tells a customer that you don't have enough money to buy your own domain name for $9 and get your own hosting account for $100 a year or $8 per month or however insanely cheap they are these days.

Yet, you want those same customers to fork over their hard earned money when you haven't invested enough to make your business look professional.

I think it starts you off on the wrong foot.

Anybody kid can setup a myspace page for free, but not all kids have credit cards to buy webspace and domain names. It helps to separate yourself from the scammers and fraudsters out there.

Sure, those same scammers can setup a website, but having a website offers a few checks and balances for the end customer. It also gives you one less "red flag" in your customers mind when they are deciding whether or not to do business with you.

Domain names allow customers to look up your company (using a whois search) to see that you are who you say you are. See where you are located in relation to them, even find your contact information if they are having a hard time getting customer service from you.

If you take that away from them, you are asking them to trust you, site unseen, with no way for them to research your legitimacy.

If you're trying to sell a customer on your products (like an ecommerce site), it's also not a good idea to have ads on those pages. Myspace pages are filled with ads (banner, text, flashy, etc).

There's nothing wrong with using myspace as an additional marketing tool for your business. But having it as your only website is not a good idea in my humble opinion


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## charles95405 (Feb 1, 2007)

did you know that the big bad behemoth in Wash...microsoft has a free website program? You have to use Explorer 6 or more but they will"
1) register your domain name free if you dont have one
2) host your website free
3) give you several basic home page designs
4) allow you to upload images...set up prices etc. 
5) will interface with google pay and paypal..can also hook up CC

all of this is totally free.. It will give you an opportunity to have your own website with zero cost until you want to setup to another level...works for me


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

charles95405 said:


> did you know that the big bad behemoth in Wash...microsoft has a free website program? You have to use Explorer 6 or more but they will"
> 1) register your domain name free if you dont have one
> 2) host your website free
> 3) give you several basic home page designs
> ...


Yes, I knew that Microsoft Office had the free hosting program.

I still wouldn't recommend it for businesses


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## Fuse Ind (Jul 12, 2007)

Rodney, how long have you been doing this. I have read a lot of your advice you have given people and its some of the best advise I have heard. And thanks for everyones comments. This site is so helpful.


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

Fuse Ind said:


> Rodney, how long have you been doing this. I have read a lot of your advice you have given people and its some of the best advise I have heard. And thanks for everyones comments. This site is so helpful.


I just like to blab alot 

But to answer your question, I've been selling t-shirts online for about 11 years.

I learned a lot of stuff the hard way, so I like to share what I learned so others don't have to make the same mistakes.


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## FSP (Aug 9, 2007)

Rodney said:


> I think if you want to be taken seriously for an ecommerce site or a service site like a screen printer, you need an actual website.


In general I think this is true, but depending on your target market & product I believe there are some exceptions. Especially selling low cost/easy decision items, like t-shirts. 

Additionally, if you are just starting out and want to test the waters, the social networking scene has proven to be an incredibly fast way to find out if you have a viable product and/or offering.



Rodney said:


> There's nothing wrong with using myspace as an additional marketing tool for your business. But having it as your only website is not a good idea in my humble opinion


Couldn't agree more. The more places you can be found, the more likely you are to find a customer.


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## paulo (Dec 13, 2006)

Fuse Ind said:


> Does anyone use myspace instead of a standard web site? what is your thoughts on myspace VS standard web ?


I think its best to have your own website to establish brand or company recognition. Having a myspace page would be an additonal benefit since it is free marketing and advertising. 

I do both.


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## 1stimpressions (Aug 22, 2007)

That was some great information! Answered quite a few questions I had. I will probably do both-getting the word out there about your business is always a good thing But showing professional service is a must!


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## Titere (Sep 14, 2006)

Check out Weebly for free hosting. My friend Rejoice told me about that place and it is really easy to use. You need no html skills, they have nice templates and will work fine. "So easy a Caveman can do it".. haha
You can get a domain for $5 @ Netfirms and you even get 2 email accounts when you buy the domain name (or more if you ad reatures for some extra $$).

In your weebly page you can have your domain name and wont have a yourname.weebly.com, but yourname.com (unless you dont own a domain name).
It is really simple.
Add paypal and you got yourself a webpage for $5 a year!
Good Luck
Joe


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## shersher (Jul 25, 2007)

I would definitely have my own site and use Myspace as the vehicle to draw them into your own website.


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

Titere Wear said:


> Check out Weebly for free hosting. My friend Rejoice told me about that place and it is really easy to use. You need no html skills, they have nice templates and will work fine. "So easy a Caveman can do it".. haha
> You can get a domain for $5 @ Netfirms and you even get 2 email accounts when you buy the domain name (or more if you ad reatures for some extra $$).
> 
> In your weebly page you can have your domain name and wont have a yourname.weebly.com, but yourname.com (unless you dont own a domain name).
> ...


It looks like weebly requires that you put a an ad for weebly.com (or other sites) on your webpage. That doesn't give off a professional appearance for an online store: Weebly - Create a free website and a free blog

Web hosting is pretty cheap these days. It's best to just buy hosting for less than $100 a year and be fully autonomous.

Also to clarify, the netfirms domain names are $4.95 for the first year, but $9.95 per year after that.


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## Titere (Sep 14, 2006)

Rodney said:


> It looks like weebly requires that you put a an ad for weebly.com (or other sites) on your webpage. That doesn't give off a professional appearance for an online store: Weebly - Create a free website and a free blog
> 
> Web hosting is pretty cheap these days. It's best to just buy hosting for less than $100 a year and be fully autonomous.
> 
> Also to clarify, the netfirms domain names are $4.95 for the first year, but $9.95 per year after that.


You are not required to put any add for weebly. Actually, the only thing there is is a small _Website created with Weebly_ line with a link @ the bottom of the page. It is really small and it has no image. Check out Rejoice's (forum member) page @ share-peace.com. I think people can live with that.
Joe


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

Titere Wear said:


> You are not required to put any add for weebly. Actually, the only thing there is is a small _Website created with Weebly_ line with a link @ the bottom of the page. It is really small and it has no image. Check out Rejoice's (forum member) page @ share-peace.com. I think people can live with that.
> Joe


According to the terms of service on their website, it says that you are required to run ads on your site.

They may just have the one "weebly" ad now, but they can put more ads on your site later (that's how they will pay for the service).

I would still suggest people get a regular web host instead of opting for a free host. Those type of "powered by" do make an impression on customers, especially if they associate it with free web hosting.


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## Chani (Jun 18, 2007)

I completely agree.

Just to let you know, users on DreamHost.com 's forum have coupon codes in their signatures for $97 off your first payment (yearly or biyearly) and they give an unconditional 97 day money back guarantee. Well, I guess there's one condition. If you cancel a hosting with them, you'll never be able to take advantage of getting a coupon and hosting that same domain with them ever again, tho you can pay full-price to host that domain again.

But the short answer is that you can get a year's worth of hosting for about $25 for your first year.


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## paulo (Dec 13, 2006)

If you shop around you will definitely find webhosting at different prices. I would shop for a dependable and reliable company. Whats the use of having a site...if its down. 

Its definitely worth having your site hosted by a company you pay rather than free hosting.


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## cpix (Aug 25, 2007)

I agree 100%. Myspace is an excellent tool to draw potential clients into your actual website. It's worked for me!


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## skulltshirts (Mar 30, 2006)

Every body seems to be forgetting that it against MySpace's TOS to advertise a business an your personal myspace profile. And they are in the process of de-linking your links that go to a webstore. So your best bet is to forget myspace and get out there with a website and do some real marketing and seo work!
Just so you know, I have had my domain and hosting for 8 months thru godaddy and my site has never be down. I pay 3.99 per month for my hosting and around 8 bucks a year for name. It cost me about 15 dolars I think to set it up and get started.


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## Chani (Jun 18, 2007)

skulltshirts said:


> Every body seems to be forgetting that it against MySpace's TOS to advertise a business an your personal myspace profile. And they are in the process of de-linking your links that go to a webstore.


Thanks! That's really good to know. I was considering creating a MySpace account just for that reason, but now I won't bother. Well, prolly won't bother.


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## Gunslinger (Aug 3, 2007)

Chani said:


> Thanks! That's really good to know. I was considering creating a MySpace account just for that reason, but now I won't bother. Well, prolly won't bother.


Wow, if that is true, what a mess ... really good to know ...

Thankfully, we use Yahoo and Paypal, and Yahoo 360 is actually encouraged for merchant accounts. I really didn't want a myspace account, anyway ... spam hell.


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## paulo (Dec 13, 2006)

skulltshirts said:


> Every body seems to be forgetting that it against MySpace's TOS to advertise a business an your personal myspace profile.



If this is the case MySpace would lose alot of accounts since Bands, Apparel Brands, and other companies have MySpace pages. And considering that most of these accounts have thousands of MySpace friends, I doubt that MySpace would consider deleting these types of accounts.


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

paulo said:


> If this is the case MySpace would lose alot of accounts since Bands, Apparel Brands, and other companies have MySpace pages. And considering that most of these accounts have thousands of MySpace friends, I doubt that MySpace would consider deleting these types of accounts.


Actually, I think they would consider deleting them. The band sites are allowed to link outside I believe, since they are on a different "program" than the personal myspace sites. But I think they would delete the linking from apparel type sites. 

Another speculation is that they may create a new business account structure for apparel sites. Maybe to help combat the potential fraud.


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## silpada (Jun 27, 2007)

How do you find or get started in this microsoft "free" website process.....Pam


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

silpada said:


> How do you find or get started in this microsoft "free" website process.....Pam


Read here: http://www.t-shirtforums.com/general-t-shirt-selling-discussion/t8135.html


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## Gunslinger (Aug 3, 2007)

Rodney said:


> Actually, I think they would consider deleting them. The band sites are allowed to link outside I believe, since they are on a different "program" than the personal myspace sites. But I think they would delete the linking from apparel type sites.
> 
> Another speculation is that they may create a new business account structure for apparel sites. Maybe to help combat the potential fraud.


Well, if they do that, I might return and I sure wouldn't mind paying for it. More exposure, more cash.


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## Shaliza (Jun 12, 2007)

That's true about myspace, BUT I also recall someone who works at myspace saying that there are exceptions. And I'm talking about non-artist business. They'll look at some & decide if they should keep them or not.


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## skypilot97 (Oct 16, 2007)

I have a free service that has a little add at the bottom bar, I can upgrade(just starting it, not even done yet). If you already have a domain they will host it for you. It's worth checking out anyway. It's COMPANY SERVICES | XM.COM .


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## bbode (Aug 22, 2007)

I think the most important thing to have is a great website first and foremost. Myspace in my impression is a place to give your fans and friends a place to call there own. It's another free way to market yourself, but probably not the end all for your branding.

bryan


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## 2STRONG (Oct 17, 2007)

OH! My god remember that survey program i was talking about i got my check yesterday and      sorry for that dont know if you get that joke. anyways i think everyone here has some good points . i think my space will be a good place to test out products and to get your name out there and direct them to your webpage, there are many other ways but myspace a good source for free advertising. IMO


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## skypilot97 (Oct 16, 2007)

Man, I just used that microsoft office free website deal, myspace is a good promoter but thank you mr gates! For me that site is the best thing since sliced bread!  Well, on second though reeses peanut butter cups came after sliced bread, so it's the best thing since reeses!


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## karlking85 (Sep 26, 2007)

Wether or not Myspace as a marketing tool is successful is one thing, but between myspace and having a real website, it isn't even a question. You have got to establish yourself, and webspace is getting so cheap these days, why wouldn't you want to set up your own site...


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## imadork (Aug 7, 2007)

Why not use both. Go ahead and add in Hi5 and Facebook and Stumble Upon, etc. The more you have your name on something the better.


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## karlking85 (Sep 26, 2007)

Absolutely, but you also want to make sure you are putting your name in the RIGHT places, too. For some-ok most-businesses, it isn't really an advantage to put your name on every site or community you can think of. It does work for some, but generally, it doesn't make a difference if a million people see your name every day, if they are not even close to the market you should be targeting. 

It just depends on your product.


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## TGL23 (Oct 19, 2007)

If you are going to sell off of myspace... how do you set that up to be credit card compatible


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

TGL23 said:


> If you are going to sell off of myspace... how do you set that up to be credit card compatible


You would need to use PayPal to allow payments.


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