New Web Business Resources
If you are reading this, you are probably just in the early planning stages of starting your web business or you’re considering revamping or expanding an existing business. I have suggestions that are equally applicable to you regardless of which of those applies to you.
While it doesn’t really matter what order you obtain these, here are the three that I consider absolutely necessary to all beginning e-entrepreneurs:
You should try to locate a free course on Internet business. Stay away from any that promise some secret or magic formula to instant riches. There is no such magic bullet. You need to learn how to put together a real business, built on sound principles.
Get a Google account by going to the Google home page (google.com). You will see a few blue links. Select the link that says, “Business Solutions.” I suggest taking a few hours, or however long it takes you, to nose around the various options. Many are free. Here are the particular solutions that I use on an almost weekly basis, although you may find others that are equally applicable to your new business.
- Analytics, which provides statistics for all of your major website traffic variables–free
- Checkout (a system for processing payments that you receive)
- Website Optimizer (tests your content on your website)–free
- Google Site Search (allows your users to find relevant content on your websites)–free
- AdWords (the advertising platform for Google’s pay-per-click program)
There are other Google services that I also use. I particularly enjoy the Google Reader (for RSS feeds) and Google Docs, which allow me to access my documents from any computer that I use–as long as I have Internet access. Your Google account is valid for all of these.
I use a free hyperlinked resource guide. I got mine from a website that provides one in a pdf document. It lists a number of useful free resources as well as recommended software and memberships that are not free.
These three things will get your new online business off to a good start.
