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How Do I Start? Anyone trying to make money or start a home-based business on the Internet faces a bewildering array of contradictary information. On the one hand, you see advertisements promising you ridiculous sums of money for doing practically no work. On the other hand, you hear of big name dot-coms dropping like flies. They have millions of dollars, talented programmers, graphic designers and marketers, and yet.... But occassionally, you do read of small online ventures that makes it big, or earns good income. My opinion is that you just have to decide for yourself what's right for you. Keep in mind that there are many reasons for failure or success. The following are the usual steps taken to build a successful online business. It is by no means the only way, or the best way, but quite typical of what is needed to be done.
Getting Familiar If you are an absolute newbie to the internet, or if most of your time on the net has been spent emailing, chatting or gaming, it may be better for you to spend just a bit of time moving around the Internet and exploring the nooks and cranies. Of course, I am not asking that you become an expert on the Internet. If you can be as good as your 10-year-old, I think that should be good enough. :)
Theme and Revenue Model You have to decide on the theme of your site. Try to pick something that you are interested in and know something about. It is so much easier to work hard if the site is about something you are truly passionate about. If possible, try to go for a low maintenance site. At the same time, you must also consider your revenue model, or how you are going to make money from the site.
Domain Name You just have to register a domain name. A site without its own domain name looks unprofessional. It looks like you are a here-today-gone-tomorrow type of site. I would really think twice before buying or trusting such a site. Besides, if your web host goes out of business, a lot of your promotion efforts will be wasted.
Web Hosting You could get a domain name and link it to a free web host. But if you are serious about your business, I highly advise that you pay for your web hosting. You will get better service, guaranteed uptime and other features. You can probably even resell your web space.
Design your site A simple website can be programmed in pure html, although you can have a little java or javascript for that little "ommph". There may also be some server side interfaces like ssi and form cgi. You can probably handle a site like that without too much trouble. Besides, practically all the code that you require is available for free on the net. The trick is just to customise it for your use and to make sure that it is troublefree. A more complicated website, on the other hand, with shopping carts, web-based email, message boards, chat rooms and other special features is a whole programming project in itself. Unless you have programming experience, be prepared to spend a few thousand dollars to purchase or develop the software needed. On top of the functionality of the site, you will still have to be concerned about navigation - you want your user to be able to easily move around your site - and asethetics.
Search Engine Submissions Learn about optimizing your pages for the search engines and submit them. You can also use those services that will submit to thousands or more search engines, directories and ffa pages at one go. Just make sure you get a throwaway email address and that you do not submit to the major engines in this way.
Promotion This is where the real work begins. Too many good sites are languishing in cyber limbo because of poor or wrong promotion techniques. This is where a lot of people go wrong. With the wealth of resources on the net promising one click submission to thousands or even millions of sites, promotion on the net must be a breeze. Imagine being able to "blast" your ad out to millions of pages on the web for free, or for a nominal fee. And it only takes a few minutes of your time! In fact, if you were to just spend 15 minutes each day using such services, you'd be raking in big fat profits in no time at all. Maybe in a month or two, you may even make enough to retire! If you have spent any time at all promoting on the Internet, you'd know that the actual reality is very, very different. Internet promotion resources vary vastly in their effectiveness. General rule of thumb is that if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Retire in the Bahamas Once you have done all that you can probably retire in the Bahamas, right? If you are lucky, maybe. But you probably will not earn enough from your first site to retire. However, if the site is well done, you probably will be earning a good income from the site, compared to the amount of time spent in maintaining the site. You can then move on to your second site. Believe me, it gets easier. And after a few sites, you may actually be able to retire in the Bahamas! See you there! PS I'll be the one in the Hawaiian shirt, with a bubbly brunnette by my side. I have already bought my Hawaiian shirt but still working on the brunnette part. ;) I hope I have given you an idea of what an online business is all about. Browse the "Articles" section for a more in depth understanding of online businesses. The "Tools" section is a good selection of marketing resources. I have also compiled an excellent selection of links under the "Resources" section for everything you will need in starting an online business. An "expanded" version of this site is available for free here. I would highly recommend that you get yourself a copy of the Make Your Site Sell. It is probably one of the best ebooks about selling on the web. You can get a free trial copy here. Take your time and browse through the site. I hope to provide enough information to help you decide if you want to start an online business, give you an idea of what it will be like and help you succeed should you decide to start one.
Introduction
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