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.
Novices can get plenty of help creating a Web site. Many people are in business to help novices set up a Web site using a template. There's a problem with the result, though--you don't know enough HTML to add affiliate links, shopping carts, or clickable ads, the items that will earn your Web site money. What you really need to learn is a bit of HTML, just enough to get the job done.
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 to use Web site creation software. There are basically three alternatives for you: Macromedia Dreamweaver, which is several hundred dollars; Microsoft Front Page, which costs around $100; and Nvu, which is free. Nvu is open source software, originally part of Netscape-that browser that was a competitor to Internet Explorer in what seems like the distant past now. Open-source software is publicly available software that is maintained by programmers on their own time, usually because they want to provide us with an alternative to Microsoft.
Another expense for you is Web hosting. When you buy Web hosting, you are actually renting space on a server. There are plenty of hosting companies out there, many offering fancy solutions that you as a novice don't need. There are hosting companies offering inexpensive solutions, too. For example, you can find a Web hosting company that will give you both hosting and domain registration for about $25 per year. Domain registration is something else you need--reserving your domain name, such as www.mywebsite.com. Usually it costs under $10 by itself. Try this: put "cheap domain hosting" into a search engine and look for user-friendly and simple 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!
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.
Novices can get plenty of help creating a Web site. Many people are in business to help novices set up a Web site using a template. There's a problem with the result, though--you don't know enough HTML to add affiliate links, shopping carts, or clickable ads, the items that will earn your Web site money. What you really need to learn is a bit of HTML, just enough to get the job done.
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 to use Web site creation software. There are basically three alternatives for you: Macromedia Dreamweaver, which is several hundred dollars; Microsoft Front Page, which costs around $100; and Nvu, which is free. Nvu is open source software, originally part of Netscape-that browser that was a competitor to Internet Explorer in what seems like the distant past now. Open-source software is publicly available software that is maintained by programmers on their own time, usually because they want to provide us with an alternative to Microsoft.
Another expense for you is Web hosting. When you buy Web hosting, you are actually renting space on a server. There are plenty of hosting companies out there, many offering fancy solutions that you as a novice don't need. There are hosting companies offering inexpensive solutions, too. For example, you can find a Web hosting company that will give you both hosting and domain registration for about $25 per year. Domain registration is something else you need--reserving your domain name, such as www.mywebsite.com. Usually it costs under $10 by itself. Try this: put "cheap domain hosting" into a search engine and look for user-friendly and simple 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!
About the Author:
Be sure you sign up for Phyllis Wheeler's six wise free e-business lessons. If you want to make a web site on a budget, you can do it using Phyllis Wheeler's e-book Web Site ABC's and free software Nvu.
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