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FIRST -- Register a domain name to put your business online
SecureNetShop.com -- One-stop for opening a merchant account, a gateway credit card processing service and a shopping cart. Offers a ready-made shopping cart with inventory control capabilities and business report downloading.
iTransact -- Providing merchant gateway services for credit card processing.
Authorizenet.com -- Another option for obtaining credit card processing through their gateway.
Mals Cart -- Another option for a full-service shopping cart, but will require a good bit of programming knowledge; and you need to purchase gateway services from another source.
PayPal -- If you cannot afford to apply for a merchant account of your own just yet, but want to accept credit cards on your web site, this is a good place to start. A free account tied in to your business checking account and secured with a personal credit card. You can also use their free shopping cart.
CCNow -- Very similar to PayPal, this site allows you to accept credit cards for purchases without having to apply for your own merchant account.
DMOZ -- Once your web site is completed, you will need to begin promoting that site in order for the search engines to index it. Dmoz.org is the first step to that web site promotion. If people can't find you through searches, they'll have a difficult time finding your site at all. DMOZ is a human-edited directory, and the single most important place to get your business web listed online. You absolutely MUST submit your web site's URL under the correct category and sub-categories, as it's VERY picky about how you submit your web site for indexing. If you don't do it correctly, they may not accept your submission. Make sure that the 25-30 words they allow you to describe your site are well-used. Do NOT describe your site as "the best place" "the only place" "the most unique" "the best prices anywhere", etc., etc. If you do, your submission will not be accepted. Stick to very focused and specific key words that people may search for, i.e.: "cotton baby blankets" "wooden toy cars" "women's petite fashions" "hard-to-find books", etc.
Search Engine Optimization Training -- It's not enough to just build a web site. You need to build it to appeal to your site visitors, but even more importantly for purposes of being "found" online, you need to build it to appeal to search engines, too! Like everything about owning a business, there's a way to optimize your chances for success, and a way to fail. Before you build your own business web site (or if you've already built it, but want to improve your rank in the search engines), take this free course on Search Engine Optimization to give yourself a good beginning as an online entrepreneur.
Free EmailMe Forms for your web site
Copyrighting Original Web Site Content -- If you write original articles, have your own images and logos, etc., on your web site and want to avoid other people using that material as their own, you need to understand how to copyright your work. This information from the U.S. Copyright Office explains what you can and cannot copyright, and how to do it.
5 Easy Steps to Create A Marketing Plan -- Offered by Microsoft
Marketing your business web site on Facebook -- If you’re already a Facebook fan “for fun,” now learn how to use it for your business advantage
Internet Marketing Strategies -- If you work online, you need to learn how marketing online differs from marketing in your local neighborhood, and get to work implementing a solid marketing strategy.
Legal Issues for International Sales:
How to Begin Selling Internationally -- If you have a retail or wholesale business that operates online, you will sooner or later have to decide whether or not you wish to sell internationally. That decision cannot be made lightly. There are numerous legal issues, shipping challenges, and federal legal requirements to be considered. This link is on the web site for the midwest office of the U.S. Department of Commerce, and is quite comprehensive in its information offerings. However, once you have familiarized yourself with the information, you will want to contact the U.S. Department of Commerce at the SC Trade Coalition in Columbia or if you live in North Carolina, the U.S. Export Assistance Office of NC in Charlotte to arrange to speak with a counselor who can get you headed in the right direction.
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