How to Set up your own Online Business: 11 FREE or LOW Cost

Merle Whoever said you need thousands of dollars to start your
own web based business didn't know what they were talking
about. If you know where to look your business can be
on the web for very little money, and in some cases free.

1) Free Domain Names: If you want your own domain name
like http://www.sallysshop.com, you may expect to pay
anywhere from $10.00 to $30.00 a year to own it.
Back when Network Solutions was the only game in town,
they charged $70.00 for the first two year period. Now that
others are allowed to sell domain names, pricing has
become quite competitive. Some of the cheaper ones
are:

http://www.onestop.net $11.00 per year
http://www.joker.com $12.00 per year
http://www.dotster.com $15.00 per year

But what if I told you that you get your
domain absolutely FREE? That's right! Free.
I have found a few sites that will register
your domain at no charge. The catch with most of
them is that they set themselves up as the administrator,
but will transfer ownership of the domain to you after
a set period of time or for a very small fee. Check:

http://www.namezero.com
http://www.domainzero.com
http://www.namedemo.com

2) Free Web Hosting: If you've been thinking of launching a website
but don't want to pay the $20 to $40.00 a month typically charged
for hosting it, you don't have to. With a little research,
you'll find plenty of places that will host your site free.

Before you get too excited let me tell you the drawback:
Most free hosts place a banner at the top of your pages for
giving you this courtesy. But believe it or not, I have
found web hosts that won't charge you a dime and won't
force you to display those pesky banners. Some of them
also will take the banners away for a small yearly fee
which is nothing compared to paying a host monthly.

Some of the best ones are:

http://www.netfirms.com Requires banners, but you can
remove them for $60.00 a year.

http://www.crosswinds.net Free hosting, no banners required
http://www.doteasy.com/ Free Domain Hosting, no banners

If you sell product and need a shopping cart,
check some of these:

http://www.gta-tech.com
http://www.freemerchant.com
http://www.bigstep.com

3) Product or Service to Sell: Let's face it -- if you don't
have something to sell on your website, it won't earn you
any money. The best-selling items online seem to be
information products and software,
because they can be paid for and downloaded immediately.
If you sell a product, you need to factor in
shipping expenses -- both local and international.

If you don't have your own product to sell, no problem.
Many Internet companies will be happy to
have you sign up and start selling their products
for them. They get increased sales and you get a
commission on everything you sell. Online these are
called "affiliate" or "associate programs." While most
are free to join, you should resist the temptation to
sign up with too many. Stick with one common theme when
deciding on what to sell. In other words, don't resell
software and dog biscuits on the same website (unless
your site is targeted to veterinarians and the software
deals with patient records). You
need consistency, so pick a theme and stick with it.

To find associate programs to join check out:

http://www.associateprogams.com Over 2,000 to pick from
http://www.associate-it.com Huge directory of programs
http://www.referit.com Many to choose from

4) Fax Number: Don't buy a fax machine; now you can get
your own virtual fax number totally free. These online
companies will give you your own fax number that will
send your faxes directly to your email inbox ("e-faxing").
If you travel a lot and need to receive
faxes from the office this service is a godsend.
Easy to sign up.....and use.

http://www.efax.com
http://www.onebox.com
http://www.faxwave.com/

5) Logo: If you're going to have an online business, you
really should come up with a logo. A logo will help to
brand your company online. After awhile, folks will come
to associate your logo with your products and services.
At least, that's the main idea. So what if you can't even draw a
stick figure? There are plenty of online sites
where you can design your logo or absolutely free:

http://www.freelogos.com
http://www.cooltext.com
http://www.thelogocreator.com Software to purchase to
make your own logo from templates

6) Refer a Friend: People love recommending
good things to their friends and family. So why not give them the
chance to tell someone about your website? This is an
easy feature to add to your site. Once you sign up
with your chosen service, you paste a few lines of
HTML code they give you onto your page and you're done.
This is a form of viral marketing, and it works great.

http://www.recommend-it.com

7) Newsletter/Ezine: If you're going to have a website
you must publish an ezine. Yep, sorry, hate to break it
to you, but if you want to bring people back to your
site and remind them of your existence you need to offer
an ezine. Luckily, you don't need to set up a tricky list
server; use one
of the free services below.

http://www.egroups.com (my personal favorite)
http://www.topcia.com
http://www.listbot.com

To learn more about ezine publishing go to

http://www.ezineuniversity.com
http://www.absoluteezines.com
http://www.ezine-z.com

8) Autoresponders: Remember fax-on-demand?
Well, autoresponders work like that but come directly to
your email box instead of your fax machine. You'll find
many uses for them: from listing your products or services
with current pricing, to offering back issues of your ezine.
You can even use them to set up a scheduled training course
on any topic you choose.

You'll find plenty of free autoresponders if you take a look,
like:

http://www.sendfree.com
http://www.getresponse.com

9) Promotional Items: Once your website is built you'll need
a few items on hand to help promote it.

a) Press Release- Keep it short & newsworthy, 4 paragraphs tops
b) Descriptions of your Site- Long and short for search engines
and directories
c) Banners- animated & static, 468X60 and maybe a button banner
d) Classified Ads- Write a few short ads, 4 or 5 lines, 60 to 65
characters wide to use for online advertising in ezines.
e) Signature Lines: write a few good signature lines and use
them on every piece of email that you send out. Try to
include something free in it.

If you'd like all of these things made for you in one neat
package see:

http://www.mcpromotions.com/getreadytomarket.htm

Business cards can be made for just the cost of shipping at
http://www.vistaprint.com

10) Toll Free Number: If you don't want to add another phone
line in your house for your new business, don't! There
are many companies online who are just waiting to give you
your own toll free phone number. Many of them can
be configured to ring on your land line, or transferred to
your cell phone if you prefer. You can even set the hours
and times you want the calls to transfer to your other
phone number, all done seamlessly. Many of these types
of services will also notify you by email when you
have a message waiting in your box.

http://www.ureach.com The best one online in my opinion

11) Ability to Accept Credit Cards; No merchant account,
no problem! Let's face it, if you want people to order
from your site you need to make it easy for them to pay
you and that means accepting online payments.
Merchant accounts can be costly to set up, especially
for a new Internet business. Good thing there are plenty of
third party processors you can use who will take a small
percentage of each sale in exchange for giving you this
service:

http://www.ibill.com Takes a higher percentage of sales
http://www.ccnow.com Must be a tangible product not a service
http://www.propay.com Low rates, and your email address appears
on the customer's cc statement not the processor.
http://www.clickbank.com Rates aren't bad and allows you to
take out of country payments.

Another easy way to accept online payment is PayPal
http://www.paypal.com Free to register and cheap; an
easy way to send or receive money.

So there you have it in a nutshell. Don't put off starting
your online business one more day because you think
you can't afford it. You can. By implementing these 11
suggestions into
your new business, you'll have a site that not only makes
the sale, but doesn't cost you an arm and a leg to own.

About the Author

Merle
http://www.ezineadauction.com
"Where the Best Deals in Ezine Advertising are Made"
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