| A good business choice is Ecommerce. Ecommerce | | | | changes to their appearance, you'll have to use a PHP |
| continues to grow regardless of the state of the | | | | programmer. In addition, some pretty sophisticated |
| economy. It's an excellent way to make extra cash, | | | | Ecommerce programs are available but they will |
| and possibly even a career if you're good at it. | | | | usually require an expert for installation. They are |
| What will you sell for products? Select a product that | | | | quite expensive and generally won't operate on |
| you're knowledgeable about. You might want to sell | | | | shared hosting services since they require so much |
| craft materials online if you are knowledgeable about | | | | bandwidth, etc. You should make plans to spend an |
| arts and crafts for example. | | | | additional amount for hosting services for fancier |
| Getting it set up. | | | | shopping carts. |
| 1. A good domain name is essential. | | | | 4. Accepting payment online: You will need a payment |
| (a) Don't use hyphenated domain names (people will | | | | gateway and a "merchant" account. It is really not |
| easily forget the hyphen and end up on the wrong | | | | feasible to operate an Ecommerce site unless you will |
| site). | | | | accept credit cards. In the event that you obtain (or |
| (b) Opt for a .com "TLD" whenever that is a | | | | already have) a merchant account, you need to be |
| possibility. In case the .com is already in use, if you | | | | sure your bank accepts web-based credit card |
| select the .net or .biz form, users may habitually | | | | payments. While the majority will, there are those |
| enter the .com and end up at a competitor's website. | | | | that won't. |
| 2. You have to have hosting. The server that your | | | | Would you like to avoid the hassle of a merchant |
| website is published to is called a "host" or "Web | | | | account and payment gateway? It is possible to |
| host". Don't be careless about the hosting company | | | | solve all these issues. PayPal really simplifies this. They |
| you select. There are a lot of discount services | | | | furnish the payment gateway and merchant account |
| available. But as with anything in life, there is no free | | | | all in one, take care of all the security. 2Checkout is a |
| lunch. Also, if you want people to be able pay on | | | | combined gateway that takes care of transactions at |
| your site, directly, your host must let you have a | | | | their own secure website. Regardless of the option |
| dedicated IP address and you will need to buy an | | | | you select -- DIY with merchant account and |
| SSL certificate. | | | | gateway, or the PayPal route -- it will be necessary |
| 3. One more prerequisite (with few exceptions) is | | | | to pay out a fraction of your sales price. Generally |
| Ecommerce software. When it comes to shopping | | | | speaking, PayPal costs a bit more. In case your |
| carts, OSCommerce is a reliable, quality tool. It costs | | | | market can't permit anything over a minimal markup, |
| nothing and is fairly simple to figure out. If you want | | | | then it will be up to you to take care of the legwork. |
| to change the look, you can find templates (also | | | | Authorize.net makes a fine gateway. Every shopping |
| referred to as "skins" or "themes"). Another no-cost | | | | cart I've come across, includes plug-ins for their |
| option is Zen Cart, which is pretty simple to figure | | | | gateway - but in this case, the checkout is |
| out. If you opt to use Zen Cart, different themes | | | | performed directly on your site, so SSL will be |
| are available too. If you want to make any dramatic | | | | required. |