Now is the best time in history for small businesses, because of the Internet. You can reach customers anywhere in the world from your living room. All you need is an idea and a Web site. But you don't know how to make a Web site--yet!
Access to the world's marketplace isn't the only big change. Traditional jobs are becoming scarcer. Maybe your job future doesn't look as assured as it once did. This is a good reason to look at income from a small business. In fact, there are entrepreneurs out there who have made a lot of money from the Internet.
There's a hurdle first: you don't know how to make a Web site. You may think a Web site costs a lot. So you haven't done anything.
There are plenty of tools out there on the Internet that will help you. They are template Web sites that do nearly all the work for you. But there is one problem with them: you don't learn the skills you need to know to manage the site! As a Webmaster you will need to some HTML, the formatting language for Web sites. You'll need to add affiliate links, shopping carts, and clickable ads -- three of the big tools you'll need for earning money on your site.
Learning HTML--it sounds a lot harder than it is. Actually you only need to know a bit of HTML, not the whole subject. You can look for a tutorial on it, or a book. If you sign up for a class at the local junior college, you're probably learning more HTML than you need.
You will need special software that makes both the HTML code and the Web site as it looks in a browser. There are three alternatives for you: Macromedia Dreamweaver, the most costly at several hundred dollars; Microsoft Front Page, a simpler piece of software that you can buy for around $100; and Nvu, which costs you nothing. Nvu is open-source software. Open-source software is available for free; those who create and maintain it donate their time, often to provide us with an alternative to Microsoft.
You'll need Web site hosting, too. (That's renting space on someone's server in cyberspace.) You can pay a lot of money for plenty of bells and whistles. But what you really need to get started is a simple hosting solution. You can find these for as little as $25 per year, including domain registration (that's reserving a domain name that is just for you, such as www.myspot.com). The secret is usually this: the hosting company wants you to deal with them for both domain hosting and domain registration. You can put "cheap domain hosting" into a search engine and look for simple, user-friendly solutions.
One of the products that the Internet has generated in the past couple of years is an e-book. That's information that you pay for and download immediately. It's in the form of a document that you can read from your computer or print out on your printer. In our instant-gratification culture, it's catching on. If you're budget-conscious, plan to use Nvu, and look in the search engines for an e-book on how to use it! - 16732
Access to the world's marketplace isn't the only big change. Traditional jobs are becoming scarcer. Maybe your job future doesn't look as assured as it once did. This is a good reason to look at income from a small business. In fact, there are entrepreneurs out there who have made a lot of money from the Internet.
There's a hurdle first: you don't know how to make a Web site. You may think a Web site costs a lot. So you haven't done anything.
There are plenty of tools out there on the Internet that will help you. They are template Web sites that do nearly all the work for you. But there is one problem with them: you don't learn the skills you need to know to manage the site! As a Webmaster you will need to some HTML, the formatting language for Web sites. You'll need to add affiliate links, shopping carts, and clickable ads -- three of the big tools you'll need for earning money on your site.
Learning HTML--it sounds a lot harder than it is. Actually you only need to know a bit of HTML, not the whole subject. You can look for a tutorial on it, or a book. If you sign up for a class at the local junior college, you're probably learning more HTML than you need.
You will need special software that makes both the HTML code and the Web site as it looks in a browser. There are three alternatives for you: Macromedia Dreamweaver, the most costly at several hundred dollars; Microsoft Front Page, a simpler piece of software that you can buy for around $100; and Nvu, which costs you nothing. Nvu is open-source software. Open-source software is available for free; those who create and maintain it donate their time, often to provide us with an alternative to Microsoft.
You'll need Web site hosting, too. (That's renting space on someone's server in cyberspace.) You can pay a lot of money for plenty of bells and whistles. But what you really need to get started is a simple hosting solution. You can find these for as little as $25 per year, including domain registration (that's reserving a domain name that is just for you, such as www.myspot.com). The secret is usually this: the hosting company wants you to deal with them for both domain hosting and domain registration. You can put "cheap domain hosting" into a search engine and look for simple, user-friendly solutions.
One of the products that the Internet has generated in the past couple of years is an e-book. That's information that you pay for and download immediately. It's in the form of a document that you can read from your computer or print out on your printer. In our instant-gratification culture, it's catching on. If you're budget-conscious, plan to use Nvu, and look in the search engines for an e-book on how to use it! - 16732
About the Author:
Make sure you take Phyllis Wheeler's six excellent free Internet business lessons. If you want to make a web site on a shoestring, you can do it using Phyllis Wheeler's e-book Web Site ABC's and free software Nvu.