Top Five Tools To Take Your Business To The Web

Can you imagine building a house with a plain old hammer and nails
in this day and age of high power tools? That is what life is
like when you try to build an internet business with an outdated
computer and dial up.

It's a picture of frustration and delays.

When the numbers tell us that half of American internet users are
using some form of high speed connection we are called to remember
that that leaves half of them on some level of dial up. An old
computer and slow internet isn't the least of their worries.
They may be able to log onto the net and find some great resources,
but they're still limited in the type of resources that they
can consume.

If you desire to get started with an internet business you're
going to need a bare minimum of tools.

A. A good computer.

Please don't take your circa 1998 system to cousin Bobby for an
upgrade. Sure, Bobby's gonna have fun showing off his computer
skills but you're going to be disappointed in the end. There is
only so much that can be done to upgrade a system and if Bobby
cares more about you than his ego - he'll tell you so.

If you're system is more than four years old, I would look at
an upgrade.

B. High Speed Internet Access.

The number one excuse I hear from those who do not have High
Speed is that it's expensive. Sure it is. I pay four times
what someone on dial up pays in my community but without it I
wouldn't be earning a tenth of what I earn now.

C. A Professional Website.

Resist every urge to sign up for a free website host 'just to
get started'. The freebie website will represent you poorly.
It's like wearing sweats to a job interview. You would never
do it! When you can register a domain for less than $8 and buy
feature rich hosting for around $9 a month, there's no excuse
for cheaping out. I recommend the resources at MomWebs.com.

You can purchase a simple template for as low as $5 and adapt
it for your own use if you're comfortable with it or hire a
designer to put up a few pages for you. What matters is that
what you put up represents you well.

D. A professional and reliable mailing list system.

From the moment that you set up your website you are working to
build a following of one kind or another. When someone visits
your site and has an interest in you they must have a way to
invite you to stay in touch. With your mailing list invite on
every page, they'll be able to do that. Whether you will be
sending out a regular newsletter, a free e-course or occasional
product specials - your list of interested contacts is golden.

E. Business Mentoring.

No matter what kind of business background you have off line,
internet marketing is a whole different playing field. There
are tried and true principles to learn and apply and some that
change constantly. It's important to know who you can trust.

If you're serious about taking your business to the web you can
use this as a preliminary check list. With the right tools in
place your internet business will be on a solid foundation.

Article by:

Kelly McCausey hosts the popular internet radio show and podcast, Work at Home Moms Talk Radio. She also mentors Moms who want to build a successful internet based business. www.wahmtalkradio.com

This article is available for reprint with author's resource box intact and all links live and clickable. Copyright is reserved by author.

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