Website Creation

I know by now you are super motivated armed with the information to get started and be successful. Feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns you may have up to this point. We will be covering some great points today:

• Website Creation
• Social Media
• Licensing 

Website

1. Choose a domain name. There are various tools you can use to pick a name if that gets difficult for you. Check out Nameboy.com, makewords.com, and eBay also has some. You can determine if the domain name is available by using sites like http://www.instantdomainsearch.com/, which can also help you find out if a similar site name has not been registered. 

2. Determine what kind of hosting package you will need. Many web-hosting companies offer different packages, some of which are free, which will usually fit almost any web hosting needs. Some popular web hosting companies with low-cost starting packages are:

* GoDaddy.com http://www.godaddy.com/

* 1&1 Internet Hosting http://www.1and1.com

* HostGator.com

* Hostmonster.com

* BlueHost.com

* DreamHost.com

* and countless other. 

3. Website navigation/ Website content - Make sure your idea for your website is clear. Get a notebook and sketch out what you want the pages to look like and write out as much of the content as you can. If you need more ideas and content check out other home care companies websites. 

4. You might also want to use a web template to make it easier for you as well if you don't have time to do it yourself. Some of these are really good and very cheap. Freewebtemplates.com and templatesbox.com.

Social Media Presence

There is no mystery, at this point, the power of social media. Everyone is using it and you must be there. You don't just want to create a page and forget about it. You want to regularly post valuable and relevant content on a daily or weekly basis. You also want to interact with follows. Answer questions, thank them for following and build an actual community with them. You also want to use some of the tools that are available for small business on sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter to help you grow your fan base and following across these platforms. We will cover this in detail in the marketing section.

Once you start caring for clients you want then to visit these sites and give you reviews of your services.

Top Sites to Create Profiles:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• YouTube
• LinkedIn
• Google Plus

Twitterfeed.com: is a great tool for sharing content from other relevant sites like AARP.com or Seniorsforliving.com across all of your social sites automatically as they add content.

Hootsuite: Is another great tool for managing your social sites. This allows you to post to each site all at once. They also have a feature that allows you to schedule you updates. So you can literally schedule your post for the entire year.

Fiverr.com: Your social media profiles should all be consistent with what your posting and how they look. Visit Fiverr.com to get profile headers that resemble your website and logo for all of your social profiles. 

Licensing

This was one of the most intimidating parts for us early on. We thought it would take all kinds of money, special information and expertise to get licensed but that just wasn't the case. We contacted our local state licensing office got an application and took it one step at a time. It's important that you check with your state licensing body.

Laws differ from state to state. Try to obtain the legal requirements to starting a home care business in your area. It's best to get this information in writing, so you can keep it documented. You'll find it beneficial to call the Department of Health and request guidelines in operating and starting a home care business. 

Starting a business entails obtaining the necessary permits and licenses. It's very important that you check with your state's Department of Labor for the license and permit requirements of operating a home care business.