Business Advice Blog – learn about business online

Starting your first Online Business
PART 1

Are you eager to launch your online business, but you’re not sure how to start? With improving technology, including excellent online tools and lower costs, there has never been an easier time to put your business online.

First:
Knowing the Internet

What is your experience with the Internet? Newbie or pro?

Success online requires spending significant time:
Researching competitors
Understanding how Web tools work (Twitter, netlog, RSS Feeds, etc.)
Becoming familiar with the culture of the Internet
Register Your First Domain

Your domain is your unique address on the Internet. It is your piece of intellectual property, just like a patent or a trademark. There are a lot of companies that register domains online and the prices varry.

Some registrars even offer “free” domains with a hosting package or another purchase. While many of these are legitimate, be sure to confirm that the domain is registered in your name. If the domain is registered in the registrars name it may be difficult, if not impossible, to switch to another hosting company without losing your domain.

Domain registrars:
godaddy.com
domainsite.com
register.com

The next step is to get a hosting for your new site.

A company will “rent” you the space on their servers to host your website. These companies usually offer domain registration and it’s often easier to have both with the same company for practical reasons.

Web host features such as storage capacity, uptime percentage, domain based email and server security should be evaluated. Also, the ability to host a blog, provide response forms, marketing tools and tools for e-commerce are important criteria to consider when choosing your Web host.

Web Hosting Providers:
GoDaddy.com
hostbig.com
Top11Hosting.com

Then the next step is to create your website. You can create the site yourself, or hire a designer to create it for you.
( www.web-grafix.ro my design company)

Other options for creating your website
Many hosting companies offer free site building tools.
WordPress is a popular free tool – both for websites and stand-alone blogs. It is a very simple install, with many hosting companies having install tools just for WordPress. You won’t need years of study and thick manuals to use this software.
If you want to build your own website you need to know HTML (google for some html tutorials)
To edit your site you can use free programs like notepad or high-end programs like Dreamweaver by Adobe which will do everything you need, but has a pretty steep learning curve.

If you are put to make yourself an online shop then you should visit prestashop.com

After you have your website you may look for Online Payment methods

The days of printing and faxing an order form, or mailing a check are long gone. Online payment acceptance is the foundation of an online business. This allows clients to act on an impulse.

Accepting Online Payments:
PayPal
Google Checkout

Shopping Carts:
E-junkie.com
1ShoppingCart.com

Be sure to check for required features and their terms. Minimum monthly fees can affect a start-up business. Its best to choose a capable service provider that allows growth, so you can start with basic services and low cost and upgrade as your volume increases.
Determine Product Delivery Methods

Depending on your product type, your delivery methods can range from very simple (downloadable information product or an online service) to more complex (shipping of goods via courier, using a fulfillment company). For downloadable products consider an electronic fulfillment company like E-junkie.com.

Even the most cutting edge design and amazing new product is worthless if it’s buried under millions of other websites. Consider these basic methods of promoting your new site:
Register with the three major search engines (Google, Bing and Yahoo)
List your blog in the major blog directories
Content marketing, video and audio podcast
Online Advertising: Google and Facebook ads.
Direct mailing (print, not email)
Offline marketing (billboards, company vehicles, stationary, print ads, promotional products)
Publish an Email Newsletter

Collection of client and prospect email (and other contact information) is critical to the growth of every online business. However, a large and growing list is only valuable when useful and relevant information is sent on a regular basis to these individuals. The goal of an email list is to turn prospects into clients and clients into ambassadors for your company/product.

Easy (and free) tools are available that allow you to see who clicked where and when. Many Web hosting companies offer traffic analyzing tools.

Google Analytics is a free tool – which tracks, among other things:
Popular pages
Traffic sources
Popular keywords
Location of clicks

These reports can be customized with a plethora of variables including date range, page views, and length of time on site.

While visitor traffic provides an interesting gauge, what you are really looking for is transactions. Whether you are selling a product or a service, success is measured in sales.
Other Business Considerations

In addition to the specific online considerations, you’ll need to consider:
Taxation
Banking
Licensing and trademarks
Legal business structure
Business location
Product warehousing
Product creation
Accounting
Legal matters, among other things

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