Writen by Alyson Mead
It was Andy Warhol who said that, "In the future, everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes," spawning countless imitation quotes, and secret wishes that certain people's fifteen minutes would be shortened to, say, seven and a half.
At last count, there were around 36 million web sites on the Internet, and one of them could be yours, without too much work.
If you have a product or service and you don't have a web site, you're leaving a lot of potential money on the table. Consumers spent more than $2 billion on Internet shopping in 2005, and are poised to do even more than that this year.
If you want to build a web site for fun or profit, the first step is to register a domain name, and look for a place that will "host"' your site. That means that the "hosting" company will allow your site to remain on their servers for a certain fee paid monthly or yearly. Interland Hosting Solutions offers one of the best deals around. Domain names run about $7.95 per year, and come with a free web site when you register. If you already have a domain name registered somewhere else, small business sites run from $9.99 per month to 49.99 per month, depending on the level of support you require.
If you're not HTML-savvy, and don't trust your ability to build your own web site, Net Objects makes a great software called Fusion. For not too much money, you can get started with a simple download using the button below. With tons of templates, and the ability to import Flash animations with the touch of a button, it's not going to get any easier than this!
If your product is a little higher-end, and you want the utmost in professional web sites, try Atomic Shops. They can create an online store for you, and with over 1,150 templates to choose from, you're sure to find a design that perfectly complements what you're selling. Add a shopping cart function for just a little more each year, which will pay for itself once you're up and selling! And check out their testimonial page, if you need some further convincing.
Once you've got your business up and running, you'll need a way to stay in contact with people who buy your products and services. Since the CAN-SPAM law can get pretty restrictive about who you can and can't email before being considered a spammer, it's best to go with Aweber Autoreponders. These guys are the go-to source when you want to stay in touch with your customers. If that doesn't sound important, you don't understand the nuances of Internet marketing. Once you have developed a web site, you'll need to include a box where people can sign up for email updates from you. You can include specials, coupons, or a newsletter of interesting information related to what you do. There's a 30-day risk free trial, and all kinds of additional ways to ensure more sales for your business, and more traffic to your web site. And isn't that why you're in the game to begin with?
Copyright 2006 Find Your Prosperity.com
For more stories like this, visit http://www.FindYourProsperity.com
Alyson Mead is founder of http://www.FindYourProsperity.com In her 18-year career as an award-winning writer, she has published hundreds of articles in over 25 outlets, including Salon, AOL, MSN-NBC, BUST, New York Daily News, Bitch, The Sun, In These Times and more. She has received the Columbine Award for Screenwriting, the Roy W. Dean Filmmaking Grant, and a Writer's Digest Award.
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