How to Manage A Bad Boss

Bad supervisors come in a variety of models. For example, there’s the Micromanager who nitpicks about the font size in your e-mails, there’s the Royal Pain who treats you like a personal assistant, there’s the Office Politician who takes credit for all your hard work, and there’s the Lead Grunt who was only promoted because of seniority and shoots down any attempt at change. When you manage a bad boss, it pays to know which model stands before you. No matter what the specific flaws are, bad bosses all have one thing in common: they can’t be ignored. Complying with your supervisor’s abusive behavior or working around incompetent decisions is tantamount to saying that these poor management techniques work on you, and it’s only a matter of time before this affects your health and self-esteem. Here are five tips to help you when you manage a bad boss.
Always keep your cool
No matter how frustrated you get when you have to manage a bad boss, it’s important that you remain calm and composed at all times. Getting angry in front of your employer or your colleagues makes you look like the bad guy, and it may affect your professional reputation. Keep in mind that people usually don’t realize that they’re being bad bosses; a simple, non-confrontational observation is often all that’s needed to make them reconsider their approach. If your supervisor is of the Royal Pain variety, try casually repeating his or her unreasonable request as if to confirm it: “You’d like me to find your daughter a camel for her birthday before six o’clock tonight?”
Dress your issues as business concerns
When you manage a bad boss and express your misgivings, treat the conversation like any other business meeting. In other words, keep the tone neutral and be solution-minded. Instead of complaining about what your supervisor is doing wrong, discuss management changes that can improve the department as a whole. Micromanagers are particularly receptive to this strategy because it allows them to feel like they’re still in control of everything. You should also avoid bringing up personal issues. Bad bosses, especially Lead Grunts, often have trouble with the notion that maintaining employee morale is part of their responsibilities. As a result, your complaints may be perceived as petulant.
Communicate in writing
When you manage a bad boss you'll be required you to always follow up any verbal agreement with an e-mail confirmation, and make sure to CC at least one other person in the company. In fact, if you have an important request or proposal to make, it’s best to do it entirely in writing, especially if your boss is an Office Politician. Since written communication is considered official record, your supervisor is more likely to pay attention to your comments. You’re also covering your ass in case anything goes wrong and your boss tries to blame you. Similarly, you should keep a private journal to record the date of every conflict or incident and detail the respective actions you and your supervisor have taken. This will come in handy if you need to make a formal complaint.
Keep the matter private
Discretion is paramount when you manage a bad boss. You absolutely do not want to confront your supervisor in public, as they will (Micromanagers in particular) go out of their way to put you back in your place if they feel that you’re trying to challenge their authority in front of coworkers. You should also avoid venting to your colleagues -- even if they seem to agree with you. The last thing you want is for your boss to find out what you really think of him through office gossip, which will turn a professional conflict into a personal one. By the same token, you should never denounce your boss to his supervisor. Remember that upper management is under no obligation to keep your complaint anonymous.
Don’t compromise your job performance
Don’t botch your work just to get back at your boss; it’s your professional reputation that you’d be throwing away. Ask yourself: If the conflict were to come to a head, would upper management be more likely to believe the person they trusted enough to make supervisor or an employee who has been slacking off these last few months? If you’re dealing with an Office Politician, it’s crucial you maintain a spotless record. Depending on how tense the situation has become, your boss may be looking for an excuse to get rid of you. If you’re having trouble staying motivated, get a more experienced employee to mentor you and expose you to new challenges. This person might even be in a position to shield you from some office politics.
Get up, stand up... for your rights
If all else fails, be prepared to discuss the issue with human resources (HR), though you may have to wait a while before you see results. Also, note that this should only be done as a last resort. Employees who keep coming back to HR are often branded as troublemakers. Of course, that doesn’t mean you should suffer in silence for the rest of your days. What people often forget is that staying in a toxic environment too long can be as damaging to your career as quitting on a whim, and it’s only a matter of time before your stressful office situation starts affecting your personal life. There’s nothing wrong with fighting for a better work environment as long as you do it with tact and forethought.

How To Promote and Advertise Your Web Site

There are literally thousands of things you can do to promote and advertise your Web site, here are just a few I have found to work for me.
1. Tell your audience what kind of support they'll get after they buy. It could be free consulting, tech support, free servicing, etc. This may also answer some of their buying questions ahead of time. People don't want to buy products without knowing you will be there to help if they have problems.
2. Ask people at the end of your copy why they decided not to buy. This will give you new ideas on how to produce ad copy that's more profitable. Have a web form or e-mail link in place so they can answer you. You may find out they don't like your guarantee or graphics. It could be anything.
3. Think of ways to get your site or business in the the news. You could sponsor a fundraiser, break a world record, hold a major event, etc. Simply write a press release about what you've accomplished, then send it to media outlets that cater to your target audience.
4. Hold a contest on your Web site. Give other web sites the option of offering it to their visitors. This'll multiply your advertising all over the Internet. It would become a viral contest. Of course the contest must either be ongoing or held regularly so you could allow other online publishers to offer it to their visitors or subscribers.
5. Tell your potential customers that your ordering system is highly secure. Also reassure them that you take every effort to protect them. People want to feel they are safe online. They want to know that you care about their well-being. Tell them all about what you currently do for them to make them feel more secure.
6. Carry business cards with you wherever you go. Have your Web address printed on them. You can hand them out to anyone you meet. Just think of all the people you meet on a regular basis: grocery clerks, post office workers, bag boys, family members, friends, salesmen/women, etc.
7. Contact national radio stations to ask them if they are looking for guest speakers. Tell them your area of expertise; maybe they'll book you for a show. Of course you would want to contact targeted stations and shows which would want to know more about you and your area of expertise.
8. Join clubs related to your area of business. You could trade leads with other businesses. Learn new ways to run your business and sell your products. You could also create your own online business club. You could provide private chat rooms, message boards, articles, etc.
9. Think of a domain name for your Web site that's easy to remember. It should be related to what your business does, sells or provides. If there aren't any business names available, use your actual birth name. You could at least brand yourself. Your own name will give you credibility.
10. Position your Web site at the top of pay-per-click search engines. You will only pay your set amount for each click-through you get to your web site. Just make sure your profits will pay for your advertising cost. If they won't, maybe you could share a web site with another related business and split the costs.
11. Allow your visitors or customers to increase your traffic or sales. Ask them how you can improve your business, Web site or product. You can ask them at your Web site, in your e-zine, on your message board, in your chat room, in your guest book, in your product packages, etc.
12. Team up with other e-zines that have the same target audience. Combine subscriber bases and then publish one e-zine together to increase subscribers. You could all include your ads and announcements in the e-zine. You could also take turns for the top advertising space.
13. Swap endorsement advertisements with other Web sites. Endorsement ads usually pull more sales and traffic than regular advertisements. People have taught themselves to ignore advertisements because they see hundreds of them every day. Endorsements usually don't look or sound like normal ads.
14. Outsource part of your workload to save time and money. You can spend more of your time and money promoting your business. You'll save money on employee costs, space costs, training costs, etc. Keep the work you enjoy doing to keep you motivated and ship out the work you don't like.
15. Include a signature file on all the e-mails you send out. Provide your business name, phone number, e-mail and web address, etc. Also include a brief blurb for your business or the product you're selling. For example, you could say, “How To Wash Your Car In Two Minutes or Less!”
16. Use pictures or graphics on your Web site that support the product you're selling. They could give your visitors a clearer vision of your product, the benefits of the product, people's emotion when they own the product, etc. You could also use “before” and “after” pictures.
17. Create a friendly, long-term relationship with all your customers. Practice good customer service and follow-up with them on a regular basis. You could follow-up with gifts, greeting cards, free things, coupons, special offers, reminders, your e-zine, helpful advice, etc.
18. Create strategic alliances with other Web sites. You could exchange banner ads, sell each other's products as back-end products, cross-promote, etc. You could also create a web site together and promote it on your separate web sites. You would both just split the costs and profits.
19. Increase the perceived value of your product to skyrocket your sales. Add on free bonuses, after- sale services or an affiliate program. Other factors that would help are: your own domain name, a professional web design, a good-looking product graphic and persuasive ad copy.
20. Give customers a discount on their total order to increase sales. You could give them a discount for ordering over a set dollar or product amount. For example, you could say, “Buy over $39 worth of products and get a 20% discount on your order!” Another example, “Get a 15% discount if you order 3 or more products!”
21. Allow your visitors to reprint the content on your Web site. Just ask them to include your resource box and a link to your site in exchange. This will turn your content into a traffic machine and the external links will help increase your ranking in some search engines.
22. Provide a free contest or sweepstake at your Web site. It's a fact, people like to win things. If you can fulfill that need, people will visit. You can also attract them to revisit by holding one every week or month. You could also start an opt-in list for people who enter your contest or sweepstake so you can follow-up with them regularly.
23. Save time and money by using ad submitters. You will reach a larger part of your target audience far more quickly than by manually submitting your ad. You should manually submit your ad to the most popular web sites so you have a better chance of being listed or placed in a good position.
24. Create a good first impression. You will not be able to sell very many products if your visitors think your web site looks unprofessional. Use crisp graphics, attractive color combinations, a readable text size, even spacing, even margins, bold headlines, indent benefits, etc.
25. Stop procrastinating and start finishing all your business tasks. Do one at a time. Don't get caught up thinking that you can never get them all done. Make a list. Do the easiest or most crucial one first and move down the list. Cross off each task as you complete it.
26. Develop a relationship with all your visitors and customers. Tell them how much you appreciate them visiting your web site or buying your product. Invite them to online and offline events like free chat room classes, parties, dinner gatherings, business events, etc.
27. Hire a business coach to help improve you and your business. That could help increase your sales, motivate you, balance your workload, etc. It would be like renting an extra brain. You would have double the thinking power.
28. Stay away from being too comfortable with your income or life. You should always be making new goals for yourself and developing new sales ideas. The world keeps changing and if you pause too long, you might miss out. You only live once.
29. Make sure you don't become a workaholic. Your mind needs time away from your business life. This will help your brain think clearly while working. The best time to get profitable ideas is when you're not thinking about them. They just pop into your brain.
30. Create and follow short/long-term goals for your business. The short-term goals can create early success and the long-term goals can create future success. Design each goal so they all add up to your ultimate goal. Don't make your goals too unrealistic otherwise depression and frustration could move you farther away from them.

Good Luck and get busy promoting!

How to Play Guitar In 14 Days

With the proper guidance and focus you can learn to play guitar in only 14 days. Do one step a day for 2 weeks and after 14 days you will know how to play guitar. Some of these steps will require that you do a little search engine research or visit a “free guitar lessons” site like my own. Do one step each day.

Step 1
Learn the names of all your guitar strings. Starting with the lowest or thickest string and moving across your guitar strings are E –A –D –G –B – E . Play each string and say its name while you play it. I find it helpful if you “sing” the name along with the guitar string.
Step 2
Learn how to hold a guitar pick. Either Google “how to hold a guitar pick” or visit my website to learn. Today, practice holding your pick correctly and randomly playing each string on your guitar while “singing” its name.
Step 3
Learn how to fret a guitar string. Your finger needs to be just behind the fret to maybe halfway between the fret you want to play and the next fret towards the tuning pegs. When you pick the guitar string there should be no buzzing of the string anywhere. Practice playing and fretting your strings at random places all over your guitar neck. Work on it until you get a nice clear tone.
Step 4
Learn how to tune a guitar. Using either an electronic tuner or by tuning a guitar to itself, today learn how to tune your guitar properly. Find as many ways as possible to tune it by searching the Internet. Learn which frets on the lower strings are the same notes as the open string above it. For example: the 5th fret on the E string is the same note as the open A string.
Step 5
Learn how to play an open G Chord. The open G chord uses all six strings and is one of the easiest chords to form. There are two acceptable ways of forming this chord: one that use your pinky and one that does not. Find and practice playing this chord both ways. The practicing point here is to fret the strings that need fretted while allowing the open strings to ring out. This requires a nice arch in your fingers.
Step 6
Learn all the notes on your low and high E strings. Starting with the low E string open, play each fret and say the name of the note. Working your way up the guitar neck the fretted notes are these: F – F#(sharp) or Gb( flat)- G – G# or Ab - A –A# or Bb -B – C – C# or Db - D - D# or Eb – E and repeat. Do the same for the high E, the thinnest string, the notes are the same.
Step 7
Learn how to do alternate picking on your guitar. Alternate picking is when you pick a guitar string going down and then the next note or string you pick you pick going up. This is the best way to learn guitar picking as it requires the least amount of effort and is also the fastest way to pick a guitar. Practice alternate picking on open strings starting with just one string then randomly moving from one string to the next picking down one string and then up on the next.
Step 8
Learn how to play the open C Chord. The open C chord usually uses all 6 strings although some guitar players don’t play the lowest string. There are 2 generally accepted methods of playing this chord, find them both and practice strumming this chord today again making sure that your open strings ring clearly.
Step 9
Learn all the notes on your A string and D string. Like you did with your two E strings, start with the open strings and then say each note or sing it, as you work your way up the guitar neck on both your A and D strings. Note that the 6th fret on your E string is the same note as the 1st fret on your A string. Same is true for your A and D strings.
Step 10
Learn how to play an open D chord. The open D chord requires a little more finger dexterity than the open G and C chords. You will only need to strum the top 5 or 4 strings to play this chord. Practice playing this chord without hitting your low E string.
Step 11
Learn how to switch from your open G chord to your open C chord. Today you will practice switching between your open G chord and your open C chord. Since there is more than one way to play each chord, practice the various combinations until you find the one that works best for you. Practice going back and forth between the two chords, randomly selecting how many times you play each chord. Go as slow as you have to.
Step 12
Learn all the notes on your G and B strings. Just like we did before, however notice that even though the 6th fret on your D string matches the first fret on your G string that it’s the 5th fret on the G string that matches the 1st fret on your B string.
Step 13
Learn to switch from your open G chord and your D chord. Today you need to practice switching between your open G chord and your open D chord, like we did with the G and C chords.
Step 14
Play a song. Ok now we’re going to tie it all together by playing a little guitar song. Nothing fancy, but we need to finish the day knowing how to play guitar. Strum the chords we learned previously in the following pattern, starting with simple light strumming. Once you have the pattern down, try and fancy up the strumming a bit. Play the G chord 16 times (tap your foot along to count), then the C chord 8 times, the G chord 8 times, the D chord 8 times, and the G chord 8 times again. This is the entire pattern. When you finish start it over from the beginning. This should sound like a familiar song to you. And guess what? You’re playing the guitar.

How to Make Friends

There's a certain beauty in being a lone wolf. You have more time to do things you want to do, like take introspective walks, read books, write [[Create Instant Romantic Poetry], and other solitary endeavors. If you want to diversify your options, though, there are literally billions of potential friends in the world. What's more, many of these people want to make friends just as much as you do. So consider these suggestions to meet people and form strong, lasting friendships.
Spend more time around people. If you want to make friends, you first need to put yourself out there somehow. Friends seldom come knocking on your door while you sit at home watching TV. Join a club with people who have common interests. You don't necessarily have to have a lot of common interests with people in order to make friends with them. In fact, some of the most rewarding friendships are between two people who don't have much in common at all, but if you have something in common with people, it can make it a lot easier to start a conversation and plan activities together.
Use the web but get out! You can join any group or just start your own. If you don't know of a specific topic, try searching for just a location. It's a great way to meet new local people!
Join a sports team. A common misconception about this is that you have to be really good at playing a particular sport in order to make friends with others on the team, but not all teams are so competitive. As long as you enjoy the sport and support your teammates, joining a local team with a laid-back attitude could be a great way to make new friends.
Volunteer. Volunteering is a great way for people of all ages to meet others. By working together you build bonds with people, and you might meet others who have a passion for changing things the way you do—a common cause.
Talk to people. You can join a club, go to school, or go to church, and you still won't make friends if you don't actually talk to people. By the same token, you don't have to be involved with an organization to talk to people, and any time you talk to someone, you have a chance at making a lasting friend. You can talk to anybody: the clerk at the video store, the person sitting next to you on the bus, or the person in front of you on the lunch line. Don't be too picky. Most conversations will be a dead-end of sorts--when you may never talk to that person again, or you just remain acquaintances--but once in a while you'll actually make a friend.
Make eye contact and smile. If you have an unfriendly countenance, people are less likely to be receptive to your friendship. Look approachable by not squinting (get some glasses), frowning or appearing blankly deadpan, such expressions may look troubled or disinterested.
Start a conversation. There are many ways to do this; a comment about your immediate environment (The weather is a classic: "At least it's not raining like last week!"), a request for help ("Can you help me carry a few boxes, if you have a minute?" or "Can you help me decide which one of these is a better gift for my mom?") or a compliment ("That's a nice car." or "I love your shoes."). Follow up immediately with a related question: Do you like this warm weather? What kinds of gifts do you normally buy for your mom? Where did you get shoes like that?
Make small talk. Keep the conversation light and cheery. Even if you're complaining about something, make sure it's something you're both dissatisfied with, and emphasize the positive—how such a situation can be avoided in the future, or alternatives. Bounce a few words back and forth for a little bit.
Introduce yourself towards the end of the conversation. It can be as simple as saying "Oh, by the way, my name is...". Once you introduce yourself, the other person will typically do the same. Remember his or her name.
Initiate a get-together. You can chat your heart out but it won't get you a friend if you don't open up the opportunity for another conversation or meeting. This is especially important if you meet someone who you aren't otherwise likely to meet again. Seize the day!
If you've discovered that the person you're talking to has a common interest, ask him or her more about it and, if appropriate, whether they get together with others (in a club, for example) to pursue this interest. If so, this is a perfect opportunity to ask about joining them. If you clearly express interest (when? where? can anyone come?) they'll probably invite you. If you have a club, band, church, etc. that you think they might enjoy, take the opportunity to give them your number or email address and invite them to join you.
Ask them out for lunch or coffee. That will give you a better opportunity to talk and get to know each other a little bit better. A good way to extend yourself is to say: "Hey, well, I've got to go, but if you ever want to talk over lunch or coffee or anything like that, let me give you my number/e-mail address." This gives the person the opportunity to contact you; they may or may not give you their information in return, but that's fine. Maybe they don't have time for new friends—don't take it personally! Just offer your contact info to whoever seems to be potentially a good friend, and eventually somebody will get in touch.
Don't do anything to pressure someone into being friends with you. Never chide acquaintances for failing to invite you to a party, for example; don't call someone repeatedly or stop by uninvited (unless you have established that stopping by unannounced is o.k.); and refrain from overstaying your welcome anywhere. In general, take friendship slowly, and don't try to force intimacy to grow quickly; the move from acquaintance to friend can take a long time. It's understandable to want more of a good thing, but try to err on the side of less. If you are not sure about the pace of your new friendship, check in with your friend and ask directly. Too much, too fast can be scary or intimidating, and not everybody is able to say "Slow down..." - instead, they may run the other way!
Be a good friend. Once you've started spending time with potential friends, remember to do your part (i.e. initiating some of the activities, remembering birthdays, asking how the other person is feeling) or else the friendship will become unbalanced and an uneasiness or distance is likely to arise.
Be reliable. If you and your friend agree to meet somewhere, don't be late, and do not stand them up. If you're not going to make it on time or make it at all, call them as soon as you realize it. Apologize and ask to reschedule. Don't make them wait for you unexpectedly; it's rude, and it is certainly not a good way to launch a potential friendship. When you say you'll do something, do it. Be someone that people know that they can count on.
Be a good listener. Many people think that in order to be seen as "friend material" they have to appear very interesting. Far more important than this, however, is the ability to show that you're interested in others. Listen carefully to what people say, remember important details about them (their names, their likes and dislikes), ask questions about their interests, and just take the time to learn more about them. You don't want to be the guy or girl that always has a better story than anyone else or that changes the subject abruptly instead of continuing the flow of conversation. These people appear too wrapped up in themselves to be good friends--"one-ups-man-ship" is a put down.
Be trustworthy. One of the best things about having a friend is that you have someone to whom you can talk about anything, even secrets that you hide from the rest of the world. The key to being a good confidante is the ability to keep secrets, so it's no secret that you shouldn't tell other people things that were told to you in confidence. Before people even feel comfortable opening up to you, however, you need to build trust. Be honest about yourself and your beliefs, and don't gossip about others or spread rumors or they will think you like stories better than friends.
Be there. You've probably heard of fair-weather friends. They're the ones who are happy to be around you when things are going well, but are nowhere to be found when you really need them. Part of being a friend is being prepared to make sacrifices of your time and energy in order to help out your friends. If a friend needs help with an unpleasant chore, or if he or she just needs a shoulder to cry on, be there.
Choose your friends wisely. As you befriend more people, you may find that some are easier to get along with than others. While you always give people the benefit of the doubt, sometimes you realize that certain friendships are unhealthy, such as if a person is obsessively needy or controlling towards you, constantly critical, or introducing dangers or threats into your life. If this is the case, ease your way out of the friendship as gracefully as possible. Preoccupy yourself with other things, such as a new voluteer opportunity, so that you can honestly say that you don't have enough time in your schedule to spend time with them (but don't substitute their time for time with other friends; they may notice and become jealous, and more drama will ensue). Cherish those friends you make who are a positive influence in your life, and do your best to be a positive influence in theirs.

How to Make a Website

Having trouble making your own website and don't know where to start? Read on!

Think of idea for your new website. If you already know what you want to make your website about, skip this step. Search other band sites for layout ideas. Brainstorm and write down all of your ideas, no matter how ridiculous they may seem. There's no better place than the Internet to turn an idea into gold. You can also get help by searching the web with "website ideas".
Identify your market. What kinds of people would each of your website ideas serve? Some websites, like Yahoo or Google, are as general as it gets, while other sites, like Weebles, serve a very specific bunch. Write down the target market next to each of the ideas on your list. Conduct market research--Who is your audience? What do they do? How old are they? What are their other interests? All of this information can help you make your website more useful to you.
Do keyword research to determine if other people are searching for your topics and learn more about your potential clients. There are many free keyword tools to help you get more information about your topic. You will need to find keywords that are in demand (people are looking for it) yet have some chance of finding your site. Like a site on web hosting is too broad of a topic. Forum webhosting is a little better (narrower) topic.
Figure out your commitment. How much time and money are you willing to put into your website? You can start and run a website for free, but the more money you want to make from your site, the more time and money you'll have to invest. If you do not care too much about making money (like if you're just interested in showing off your dried bug collection) you can get away with free web hosting and sporadic maintenance.
Content sites will require less investment, but you will also face more competition, since anyone can start a content site. To make money from this kind of site, you provide information and generate income from the traffic you receive through advertising. The trick also will be to 'spin' your content and use specific keywords to narrow down your topic and write high quality content directed to specific people searching for those specific keywords.
E-commerce sites, which sell products, will need more maintenance and attention. You will also need to think about shipping, sales, order form security, inventory updates, and everything that a person with an offline storefront would have to manage.
You can also sell other people's products which will let you make money without investing in any products or worrying about shipping.
Narrow down your list. Which ideas stand to make the most profits? Which ideas require the most commitment? Which ideas look like they'd be fun to pursue? You will be spending time working on your website, so choose the idea you are most passionate about (that is also profitable and practical for you).
Register a domain name (one that's easy to remember and spell) and choose a web host. The best domain name also includes your main keywords and some variation of what solution you provide. You can use a domain availability tool to find an available domain name. For more complicated websites, be willing to shell out the extra bucks; or, you can opt for a free web hosting, which will probably mean having a URL like www.yourdomain.webhostname.com and have ads all over your website. Read the fine print.
Research online website building services - you may wish to learn HTML or CSS code, but there are other ways to make a site for people more familiar with desktop publishing software.
Build your website. Here you have a few different options.
Get a website-building program and do it yourself. While this might work for your dried bug page, if you are unsure of your design eye and ability, then it's probably not the best choice if you're trying to make a sharp, professional impression (especially if you're trying to get people to part with their money).
Learn a programming language (or two, or three) and build a website from scratch.
HTML is incredibly easy to learn, and if you are up to it, you will be able to tweak your web design any way you want, and you would not have to pay anybody else to update or change your site.
XHTML is the new web language set by W3C's standards. Almost identical to HTML, it follows a stricter set of rules for marking up information - what this means, for the most part, is minor changes to the way you write code.
CSS, which stands for "Cascading Style Sheets", gives more flexibility for styling the HTML.
A browser sided scripting language, such as JavaScript, allows you to make your page interactive.
A server sided scripting language (PHP, ASP with JavaScript or VB Script or Python) can be used to make things on your site move and edit or create forums.
Wordpress is another great option for building website. Wordpress is a free application that can be installed on your web server and make updating and organizing content very easy.
AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) is a technique of using a browser sided language and a server sided language to make the page get new information from the server without refreshing the page, often greatly reducing user wait time and vastly improving the user's experience but increasing bandwidth usage. Think of the possibilities: you could probably make a web based instant messaging service!
Hire a professional. This is the best option for more advanced sites, especially e-commerce sites.
Use keywords that your target audience would search for to get a better search engine ranking. There are several tools available from Google, Overture, and third party software developers that can make the keyword research process easier. Sprinkle the keywords you've chosen throughout your text, but not to the extent that it hurts the quality of your content. Creating pages that are optimized for the search engines will help you get your site found which is really more important than design. What good is a site that no one sees?
Upload your website. Your web host may have an FTP feature, or you can download your own FTP program like FileZilla. If you hired a professional to design the website, he or she may take care of this for you.
Test drive your website. When you finish your website, do usability testing. You can do this by simply asking a few friends or family members to use your website. Give them a specific task like "edit your profile" or "buy an alpaca sweater from the bargains page." Sit behind them and watch them navigate. Do not help them. You will likely find areas where you need to improve navigation or clarify some instructions.
Advertise. Submit your site to major search engines. Tell your friends. Use an e-mail address with your domain. Visit other websites that complement (not compete with) yours, and offer to exchange links. Post constructively on blogs and forums, and put your URL in your signature.
Use article marketing to get back links to your website which will also help your website get found by the search engines.
Provide quality content and service. Take constructive feedback seriously. Other band members, fans, and friends may all have easier navigation ideas. Think about your target market: their needs, their frustrations, their circumstances, and seek to make their lives easier. Strive for a win-win situation for you and your visitors.