Thinking of starting an online business?

Where do you start when you've been thinking of creating an online business? There's an abundance of informative information on the web. You could spend hours and hours researching every aspect of an online bussiness and what it takes to be successful. The truth is there isn't a short cut to quick success. Anyone or any company offering this sort of advice is usually looking for some sort of financial gain somewhere along the way. Ignore all the get rich quick schemes! Once you have decided to ignore dubious schemes then it's time to get down to business. You may be tempted to pay a web design company to design a fancy website for you or maybe you have a friend who say's, "I can design websites, I'll make one for you and it will be ready for the week-end". This could be tempting for you. Just think you'll be up and running in no time, receiving online payments for your products and taking the Internet by storm. Stop right there! The only way to have a successful online small business is to do everything yourself. This may sound quite frightening. You need to have complete control over your website. But I don't know how to even start with a website. That's for professionals isn't it? Anyone with a great deal of commitment can succeed with an online website selling products online. So what should you do first? Number 1. Decide what you are going to sell. Think about this hard as this could contribute to the difference between success and failure. Number 2. Find a number of reliable suppliers for your chosen product. Don't just rely on one supplier. Number 3. Choose and download a free website editor such as Firstpage 2000, not to be confused with Microsoft Frontpage. Use the editor to practice learning HTML, it's not hard to learn but it's a very important part of control over your website and overall online business. Number 4. Learn everything you can about Search Engine Optimisation until you feel comfortable about publishing your website. Search Engine Optimisation is the key to generating traffic to your website. Number 5. Find a good quality web hosting company which also provide stats. This is important as you need to know who's visiting your website, how they found you and where they have originated from. Number 6. Your website must take secure online payments. This is essential otherwise around 80% of your customers will leave your site once they realise that you don't provide this facility. WorldPay or a 'free to set up' payment company such as Paypal provide this service. Number 7. An easy to install and easy to use shopping basket programme is recommended. This is a basic guide to getting started with your online business. It's widely thought that 95% of online businesses don't make any money. By hard work and commitment you'll be in the niche 5% who do.