pages for your store. FrontPage allows you to simply create your pages by clicking buttons. It's very user friendly. What it's actually doing behind the scenes is turning your point-and-click page designs into HTML. HTML is Hyper Text Markup Language. It's the code that your Internet Browser actually reads from the Internet, to display, for example, the page you're looking at right now.
No matter which way you go, you'll find that when you work with a legitimate company, there will be plenty of tech support to help you along the way. It's NOT all that hard, and YOU will be in the driver's seat, instead of wondering what happened to your hard-earned money. :o)
Ever been lost in the woods? I have. I didn't like it.I grew up in Western New York. I know that most people who've never been to New York think that it's one big city. Trust me; there's a lot more woods than there is city. There are millions of acres of wilderness in New York State.
We used to spend 10 days every summer camping off a series of old logging trails in the Adirondack Mountains. If you wander off the beaten path, you had better have a compass, a canteen and some food. Every couple of years, someone wanders into those deep woods and never comes back.
Sounds kind of like the Internet, doesn't it? It's a thing so vast and complicated that it's hard to wrap your mind around it. The easiest thing to do is just give it a cool-sounding name, and hope you never have to try to explain it to anyone!Well, I used to be one of those systems-engineer guys who actually understands much of what goes on there. I wouldn't recommend systems engineering to the squeamish. The courses you have to take can give you the strangest nightmares! It's a lonely profession, too. I can't talk to my friends about what I used to do; it just makes their eyes glaze over.
Anyway, I'm going to talk about some of the basics of how the Internet works. I'm not going to prattle to you about Class-C IP Addressing, Virtual Webs, or redirecting an MX record on a DNS Server. That's one of those things that systems guys do to impress other people at staff meetings. I'd just be listening to myself talk, and you wouldn't gain anything useful.
The best way I can think of to visualize the Internet in basic terms, is to think about it as a worldwide telephone network.There's a huge network of wiring that connects all the telephones in the world, in one way or another. That network is broken up into many parts, and owned by many different companies. If you live in Orlando, you make your phone calls through the telephone wires installed and maintained by Sprint, for example. If you live somewhere else, AT&T might maintain your phone line. If you live on the Island of Wheredaheckawee, your island might have many phone lines, but they are all connected to the outside world through a single underwater phone cable from the Mainland. However it interconnects, it's all part of the same giant network.
All that wiring throughout the world has one simple purpose. It connects to your phone, so you can make phone calls. At your home, you probably have a single phone line. Without getting into the pricey add-ons like call waiting, etc., the purpose of your phone line is simple. You can make or take one phone call at a time. You can call one person, or one person can call you.
A big company headquarters, like Kodak, for example, might have thousands of phone lines connected to a big switchboard, so that their company can make or take thousands of calls at the same time. Kodak also has those fancy phones that can connect to several lines at once, or call many people on different phone lines, and connect to them all at the same time. A conference call, for example.
Pretty simple, right?Now, let's relate that to the Internet. The Internet is just another big 'phone network', only instead of being connected to phones, the lines are connected to computers.
Those computers fall into two basic categories: Workstations, and Servers.
The computer in your home is a Workstation. When you're connected to the Internet, you use your Workstation to make 'phone calls' to other computers. Instead of paying telephone service charges to the phone company for a phone call, you pay 'Internet Access fees' to your Internet provider (such as AOL, Earthlink, etc.), to connect your Workstation to other computers.
There are places out there with computers that are like the big fancy switchboard that Kodak uses. They reside in buildings with thousands of 'phone lines' connected to them. These computers can connect with many other computers at the same time, and handle the computer equivalent of 'conference calls.' They are called Servers.
Servers can connect to many Workstations at once. Thousands of people who connect to AOL, for example, can be connected to the same Server at the same time. When that Server reaches it's 'maximum load' (like a switchboard that can only connect a certain number of calls at once), another Server will take the overflow, and so on.
Every Server on the Internet is connected to all the other Servers as well.Basically, the Internet is one big gigantic computer conference call , with people joining in and dropping out all the time. The Workstations (your computer) are the participants, and the Servers are the Company management team, moderating the discussion.
Ok, so what about all that information that you can look up on the Internet all the time? You can go to a Search Engine and find the current price of wheat in Russia, or get a list of suggested names for your new puppy. Where does it all come from?Web Sites. Everything you ever wanted to know, and many things you never wanted to know can be found on the millions of Web Sites around the world. Where do the Web Sites actually reside? Where do those actual bits of information live?
On Servers.
When you create a Web Site, you are actually renting a small amount of computer hard drive space on a Server somewhere. Whether you use that hard drive space for a Web Site that lists all of your Aunt Matilda's favorite recipes, or you use it to set up an Internet Store, it's all the same thing. Just a sliver of rented space on some Server computer's hard drives. The money you pay for that space is paid to whatever company owns that particular Server, and has connected it to the giant conference call that is the Internet.
Now, how do the Search Engines find your Web Site, which could be sitting on a flashing and beeping Server rack the size of a phone booth, anywhere in the world?Let's go back to the conference call. Remember when I said that all the Servers on the Internet are connected to all the other Servers? Remember that each Web Site sits on the hard drive of some Server, somewhere? Well, the Search Engines are the same way. A Search Engine is just a computer program sitting on some Server, somewhere.
A Search Engine program is constantly talking with all the Servers on the Internet, asking those other Servers what kinds of goodies they have stashed in the Web Sites that have been created on their hard drives. The Search Engine gathers all that information and keeps a record of it.
When you go to the Google Search Engine, for example, and type in a search for 'Ankle Bracelets', the Google Search Engine program looks in its records. It finds all the references it discovered concerning Ankle Bracelets on all the Servers around the world, and returns a list of those records to you. These are called "Links". When you click on one of them, your Workstation connects to the Server that contains that information. The information opens on your computer screen in the form of a Web Page.
Please remember that this is a simplified version of what goes on out there; I'm not soliciting picky corrections from my fellow computer geeks. :o)Hopefully, though, this will provide a basic understanding of what the Internet really is: one giant never-ending computer conference call!
We've been through the fact that scam artists will cheat you into a losing business. We've talked about the basics you should have for your computer to start an Internet business. We've delved into the confusing world of the Internet, and simplified that concept a bit.
Now, let's talk about your Internet Store Hosting.A "Hosting" company is the company you choose to actually lease that sliver of Server hard drive space from. That's where the computer files that make up your Internet Store will reside, and that's how your site actually gets out there on the Internet where people can find it. Different Hosts provide different services, and it's important to know something about them.
There are two LEGITIMATE methods you can use to start an Internet Store. Neither one of them involves sending money to any company with a name remotely like "Ace Complete Internet Stores And Products, Inc.", so let's rule the scam artists out entirely and concentrate on reality.
In Reality, there are LEGITIMATE Internet Store Solutions, and there are LEGITIMATE ECommerce Hosting Providers. I personally use them both, and find that there are different advantages to each one.Method One: Using an Internet Store Solution
Let me explain this concept like this:
My teenage boys love to go to the Mall. They'll spend an entire Saturday there, along with a week's allowance. When asked what they've been doing all day, they'll just say, "Um, chillin', that's all."
When I was a kid, it was called "hangin' out", but it's the same thing.
Why do they like it there so much? Well, according to them, the Mall has "EVERYTHING!" They're right. People to see, places to go, things to do; everything they're looking for, right there in front of them, within walking distance.
Your Internet Store can do the same thing. It can "chill" at the Mall. In this case, that happens to be an Internet Mall. When your Internet Store is at the Mall, it's not laying around the house grumbling, it's having fun, and it's probably not getting into TOO much trouble. Just like my kids.
Why let your site go to the Mall? Because it's right in the middle of things.There are two main things you should be thinking about when starting out on the Internet.
Money and Traffic ("Traffic" is the Internet term for Customers).
There's never enough of either at first. To earn the Money, you need the Traffic. To get the Traffic, you need to spend Money. I spent years telling all my kids never to play in Traffic, and when my Grandson gets a little older, I'll be telling him the same thing. My sites? I booted them right out there on the freeway from day one.
Here's what I do when I build an Internet Store Solution site:I go to my Internet Store Solution provider, and open a new Store. This typically costs about $50 a month or less.
I create the Store itself through my Internet Browser, Microsoft's "Internet Explorer". (For those who don't know, this comes free with virtually every home computer sold today).
My Store provider has a "store builder" that can be used to create a store. Using just my Internet Browser, I can tell the store what color and style it's text and background should be. I can tell it to put my "Buttons" (links to other pages within the store) across the top or down the side of the page. I can upload (send) images of my logo and my products directly to the store from my computer, and put them in the right places. I can create product pages with pictures and descriptions of the products I want to sell, and activate the "Sale" button on each page, so that my store can collect money from my customers.
I play around with it until I have things the way I want them, then I tell the Store Solution provider to open it (make it viewable to the Internet Surfing public). I can access and edit my store from anywhere I can get an Internet connection. There have been plenty of times I've run my business while traveling, using a laptop computer plugged into a hotel room phone jack.
The Store Manager (the area provided with your store where you manage it's functions) is loaded with all kinds of easy to use tools, from spreadsheet exports to email forwarding to charts of my hits and sales.Almost immediately after I place a product in my Internet Store, it shows up online. The last site my partners and I opened with our Internet Store Solution provider paid that fifty bucks back in it's first couple of DAYS, and has gone on to make very good money.
The biggest advantage to a good Store Solution provider is ease of use. You can create one store, several stores, easily navigate through them and change your products and pricing, and it's all done "point and click". There is virtually no programming to learn. The Store Templates look very professional, which definitely helps our sales. The Sales and Customer Tracking tools are tremendously helpful.
The disadvantage to an Internet Store Solution is that the stores CAN all pretty much look the same if you're not careful. With some providers, you can change background and text colors, and arrange the pages a bit differently, but they all end up being very similar to each other. The better Store Solution providers allow you to choose from varying templates, so that your store doesn't look virtually the same as the stores built by all their other customers.
You'll find detailed information on the Internet Mall Provider(s) we recommend in our online Resource Center.Method Two: Using an ECommerce Hosting Provider
The main advantage is that you have much more control over the way your site looks and functions. You can create your own unique presence on the Internet, without being limited by a choice of just a few "templates", such as you would be in an Internet Mall.
The disadvantage to simply renting server space from an ECommerce Hosting Provider and building your own storefront is the time and knowledge it takes. If you're not already a pretty good programmer, you may not want to do this.ECommerce Hosting Providers will all set you up with the your basic needs at a good price. Internet hosting (rented space on a Server hard drive, remember?). They should include a Shopping Cart (the software program that holds your products and prices), and may include some kind of Merchant Account (the "gateway" software that collects money from your customers' credit cards, and puts it in your bank account).
All these things are well and good if you're comfortable creating your own HTML pages. SOME of these companies DO offer some basic templates that can be modified, but for the most part, you're on your own.The main reason people use these providers to day is to create REALLY super-customized sites and stores. Mainstream ECommerce Sellers, for the most part, don't need to go this route when first getting started.
If you do decide to try this, I recommend Microsoft FrontPage to create the pages that you build on an ECommerce Hosting Provider platform. The software is easy to learn and use (although it WILL take some time if you're new to it), and you can create an Internet Store with an extremely unique "personality" that my be missing from an Internet Store Solution provider.
You'll find detailed information on the ECommerce Hosting Provider(s) we recommend in our online Resource Center.No matter which way you go:
Have you ever seen a Wal-Mart on a dirt road in the middle of a forest? I haven't. There's a reason for that. There's NO TRAFFIC. The same principle applies to the Internet. In the ECommerce world, "Traffic" means "Customers".
When you open a store, you need customers. Imagine that your store is a real, physical building. It's going to be called Toasty Buns, and you're going to sell all kinds of Toasters. Where would you want to set it up? At the corner of Logging Camp Trail and Boggy Swamp Road, forty miles outside of town? NO! There's nobody there to stop in and buy anything!
When you build a store on the Internet, your number one concern is this: "How am I going to draw people to my store? How, among the millions of internet sites out there today, are potential customers going to find my one little site and buy from me?"You will need to promote your Internet Store, no matter which method you use to build it. How do you do this?
Here are the most common methods:
People who shop online use Search Engines to find Internet Stores. They type in the product they're looking for, and they get back a bunch of results that lead to different Internet Stores like yours. Google is by far the most popular Search Engine; the others all rank behind Google with varying degrees of success. By far, the most common method of advertising your Internet Store is through Search Engine Optimization.
"On-page Optimization" means that you place the words that you think people will use to find your store, ON your pages in prominent places. At it's most basic level, here's the idea: If you sell shoes, use the word "shoes" often on your Store pages.Of course, the reality is much more than that. Meta tags, keywords, jockeying for position with thousands of other webmasters who are trying for those same top listings that you are...it's not all that easy, and it takes time. When you're using On-page Optimization, you're trying to get what are known as "Natural Listings" in the Search Engines. That means that your pages just "naturally" rank well in the Search Engines because you did a good job "optimizing" them. However, here's a rule of thumb: If your store is not found in the first THREE PAGES (the Top 30 listings) of Internet search results on any given search engine, forget it.
It takes a very long time and hundreds of dollars worth of software to learn how to do this properly by yourself. You can wait for weeks, or even MONTHS to see how your most recent On-page Optimization attempt panned out, only to find yourself ranked number 13,426 in your latest search. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.
The way to rank well very quickly in the Search Engines is to pay for it. That's called PPC, or "Pay Per Click" advertising. You go to Google, for example, and open a PPC Account. Google calls their program "Adwords", and you can find it here: http:// Adwords.Google.com. You create small text ads for your Internet Store, then place a daily or monthly spending limit on how much you want to pay for your ads. When your spending limit is reached, the ads stop showing up until you replenish your funds.
These text ads show up either ABOVE all the "natural" listings on Google, or on the RIGHT SIDE of the Google Search Engine pages. Just search for anything at all on Google; you'll see what I mean.The reason this is called Pay Per Click is that you are only charged for each appearance of your ad IF someone actually CLICKS on it and goes to your store.
In recent years, Pay Per Click has turned into a HUGE business. The search engines have definitely figured out how to make THEMSELVES rich. Does that really help you? Only if you manage your money carefully when you do this. It DOES work well, but you have to stay on top of your advertising budget. There s a lot of good free info about how all this works at Adwords (click the link above).
If you need help, check around for companies that provide Search Engine Optimization at a reasonable price. They will do the work for you, and the good ones guarantee the results.Don't let them fool you with a statement like "We submit your site to 900 Search Engines!" That is misleading, to say the least. There are only 3 or 4 search engines out there that really matter. You know which ones they are, if you've spent any time surfing the 'Net. Google tops the list. All those other hundreds of search engines they mention are mostly little tiny search engines on sites like "Personal ads for the Lovelorn", "How to Adjust Your Dog's Collar to get a Perfect Fit", etc. They're not going to do you any good. So remember to ask if they submit your site to the BIG Search Engines, and if they guarantee your "positioning".
Remember that these days, MANY of the better Internet Store Solution providers INCLUDE help with Search Engine Optimization when you buy into their Solution packages.Email Campaigns:
There are a lot of companies providing Email Campaigns that you can buy into. This is a tried-an-true marketing method that works very well when done right. But be careful. A cheap email campaign will send your hopeful, starry-eyed emails out into the world, only to crash-land in Servers that reject them because the addresses are no longer valid. Or, you'll get in trouble for "Spamming" (sending unsolicited junk mail).
If you buy into an Email Campaign , ask if the Email Campaign sends your advertising Emails to "Opt-in" Members. That means that the people the emails are sent to have requested to receive Emails from the Email Campaign provider. That's the kind of Email Campaign you need. Again, you don't need to get into trouble for "spamming".
Developing an Email Newsletter that's related to the products you sell is a very good idea, too. Try to get your site visitors to sign up for it, then send them a free weekly Newsletter that gives them good information related to the products you sell. For example, if you sell skis, put weekly skiing tips in the Newsletter. Then, "mention" the new products you have in your store each week, or feature a different product on sale each week. If your Newsletter contains interesting tips and information, people will WANT to read it, and that will lead more sales to your web site. You can use a tool called an Email Autoresponder for this. I use www. GetResponse.com.
In conclusion:Always remember that there are lots of scams out there. Again, for info on companies of both kinds that we recommend, you can go to our Resource Center. We'll tell you which ones we've found to be legitimate.
If you’re going to own a Home-based Internet Business, selling Products on the Internet, you have to find products to sell.That’s pretty basic, right? You can’t sell products if you don’t have any.
Now, let’s assume that you’re going to (properly!) ignore all the hucksters and snake-oil salesmen out there who promise you overnight riches on late-night TV Infomercials. Let’s assume that you know better than to fall for the “instant business in a box” web sites that squeal and prance at you from all corners of the Internet.
Nevermind driving around to Garage Sales, picking up knick-knacks for a dollar, and selling them for twenty bucks on eBay. That’s OK, but it takes way more of your time than it’s worth. Only one person in a million really makes a living doing that.
Forget about inventing a better mouse trap, making it in your garage, and earning a fortune selling it on your Internet Store. That only sounds good when the TV Guy from the Acme Invention Patent Company wants to sell you an “Inventor’s Kit” that will make you rich. It sounds good, but again, it’s one in a million.
If you’re going to have yourself a real, live, honest-to-goodness successful Home-based Internet business, whether you sell on an Internet Store or you sell on eBay, you need to learn what Product Sourcing is.This is a very important term, folks, so write it down, tack it up on the fridge, do whatever it takes to remember it. Like the Supply Line of an Army fighting far from home, your Product Sourcing is the lifeblood of your Online Business.
What is Product Sourcing?
Product Sourcing is the act of finding Sources of Products to sell.
If you’re going to sell Products on the Internet, you need a steady, continuous Source of those Products. You need to be sure that you can buy those Products at a genuine Wholesale Price, so that you can make a Profit when you sell them to your customers at your Retail Price.
That means that you have to find legitimate Wholesale Product Suppliers that will work with a Home-based Internet Business.This is not as easy as it sounds.
Most real Wholesale Suppliers will not work with you.
It's unfortunate, but true. Most of the real Wholesale Suppliers out there do not want to sell products to small, Home-based Internet Businesses. Why? Because as small businesses, we don't have the money to order thousands of dollars worth of products at one time.
You see, a Wholesale Supplier's business is based on volume sales. They don't make very much of a profit on the products they Wholesale. That means that they have to sell a lot of product in order to make money. So, a Wholesale Supplier's main business is selling truckloads of products to large retail chains, like Sears, Target, KMart, etc. They simply won't sell to anyone who can't afford to place a minimum order ranging from $5,000 to $25,000 or so. They don't consider it to be worth their effort!
That’s why most Internet Lists of Wholesalers are useless.Well, some of those lists actually do contain thousands of names of wholesalers from those places.
So, what's the problem? Well, there are actually several problems.
q Those printed lists and "trade directories" are so rarely updated that huge numbers of those companies listed aren't even in business anymore.
q Those so-called 'wholesalers' in those printed lists and "trade directories" are not properly researched and verified! They are jam-packed with Middlemen who will charge you too much for your products.
q Most of the suppliers listed in those printed lists and "trade directories" who are still in business will not work with small, Homebased Internet Business Owners. Why? Because as small business owners, we can't afford to spend thousands of dollars each time we order! They require high minimum orders that make it impossible to deal with them on a small scale.
Now, here’s another little roadblock for you (aren’t you lucky!):Most