Howdy

[rlugo29]

Howdy,
My name is Robert. I am pretty new to this affiliate marketing stuff, but have made a few extra $$$ so far. So, I know it works. I just need to turn it up a bit. I'm hoping that by joining this forum, I will be able to do just that.

This is where I stand:
I really enjoy keeping saltwater reef aquariums as my hobby. So, it was natural for me to choose that as a niche. After some research, I found that LinkShare offers affiliate programs with two major, very well known (in my hobby) online stores. So, I joined and have been making a little money posting product links on some of the forums I belong to.

I have also chosen, purchased, and registered my domain name aquakeepers.com I have it hosted with a company and have started building a website using Joomla. You can go to aquakeepers.com to see what I have so far. I am finding that building this website is a very daunting task and could use some help. I have never built a website before. If anyone is willing to help let me know. I am willing to pay, but have little $$$.

 

[djbaxter]

Welcome to 5 Star, Robert.

Why did you decide to use Joomla?

 

[rlugo29]

It was recomended to me by some members of an other forum that is now closed. They said it was easy to manage. I'm finding it to be very complicated.

 

[rlugo29]

Ok, before I left work there was a reply with some suggestions for me but now it's gone. What's up with that?

 

[djbaxter]

Chances are it was either removed for self-promotion or is being reviewed for that reason.

 

[Linda Buquet]

Yes, it was someone recommending their own product and we don't allow self promotion, so the post was removed.

 

[djbaxter]

It was recomended to me by some members of an other forum that is now closed. They said it was easy to manage. I'm finding it to be very complicated.

Joomla is rather complicated and you may find it a whole lot more than you actually need.

You might find it a lot easier to use Wordpress instead.

 

[rlugo29]

It's definitely enough to make a noob give up. I'll look into Wordpress, and thanks for blocking the spam.

 

[rlugo29]

I should probably ask this over at WordPress, but I have a question about registaring for WordPress. On the registration page it asks if I want them to give me a blog (Like username.wordpress.com) or Just a username. Can I use the domain I purchase so that if people want to see my site they have to go to aquakeepers.com

 

[djbaxter]

I should probably ask this over at WordPress, but I have a question about registaring for WordPress. On the registration page it asks if I want them to give me a blog (Like username.wordpress.com) or Just a username. Can I use the domain I purchase so that if people want to see my site they have to go to aquakeepers.com

rlugo, when you mentioned Joomla I assumed you already had hosting set up for your domain.

If you want to use your WordPress blog commercially, it's not a good idea to let WordPress host it. They have a number of rules and restrictions, one of which is, if I'm not mistaken, that they don't allow affiliate links and such.

If you do have hosting set up, and it's really not very expensive for shared hosting - often in the range of $5 - $10 a month depending on your needs, then you can go ahead and set up an account at WordPress but don't use their hosting. Download the software from Wordpress.org and install it on your own site.

 

[rlugo29]

Yes, I already have my domain hosted with a company and I have started building the website. I am just getting overwhelmed by Joomla.

I'm a bit confused as to why WordPress is being recommended to me on an affiliate marketing forum. Yet, I'm being told that WordPress is not to fond of affiliate marketing. I'm obviously missing something...

 

[djbaxter]

WordPress is blogging software which many affiliates use to promote their products.

If you host it yourself, you can do that.

In addition to offering the software, WordPress also offers free hosting for blogs. However, just like Blogger (owned by Google and also free), they don't allow commercialization of the blogs they host, probably primarily for traffic/bandwidth reasons.

You can download Wordpress from the link in my last post above and install it instead of Joomla on your own site. As I said, I think you'll find it a lot easier to work with than Joomla, but it's up to you of course.

 

[rlugo29]

Gotch'ya!!! Can I just replace what I have started on Joomla with WordPress?

 

[djbaxter]

Gotch'ya!!! Can I just replace what I have started on Joomla with WordPress?

Yes. That's what I'm suggesting. Given that you're (understandably) finding Joomla difficult to work with, I think you'll find WordPress much more intuitive. And once it's on your own domain, you can use it for whatever you wish, as opposed to having to operate under the restrictions of free hosting.

 

[rlugo29]

Has anyone told you lately that U DA MAN!!!

 

[djbaxter]

No, not recently. Thank you.