Market Your Product Online
by Kimberly Danger
You have a great idea, you have a great product, people like what you have to sell. You've even had some success selling locally. But how do you reach the masses? The internet is a great outlet for women who have a product or service to sell. It lets you reach a larger audience, and is working for you 24 hours a day. Getting started is easier than you might think. Here is the basic information you'll need to get your website off and running!
Simple, no-cost web pages
Want to start with a basic, no-strings-attached web page? You don't need to register a domain name to have a web page. Yahoo! GeoCities is a
publishing community where you can set up your own web site for free. GeoCities provides you the tools you need to create and maintain a simple web page or site.
Master of your domain
For the more serious businesswoman, a domain name may be more for you. A domain name, or URL, can give your site more credibility, and may be easier
for your customer to remember. Want to find out if the domain name you want has been registered, or do you want to register a domain name before someone
else takes it? Register Discount Domain Names at RegistryWeb. The cost of a domain is about $10-$35 per year. Once you've registered your domain name, you'll need to find an internet service provider to host your site. Your local internet provider will most likely have a business package available for you. Before you sign up, make sure you inquire about technical support and statistical information about your site that will be available to you.
Creating the pages
Now you're registered, and set to go. Now what? You'll need the tools to create the site that you really want. Microsoft FrontPage 2002 is the best-selling web authoring software package in the industry. It is very user-friendly and allows you to design web pages without knowledge of HTML programming language. Mommysavers.com is created using Microsoft FrontPage!
Photoshop Elements allows you to create beautiful graphics for your site. The 'lite' version of the professional standard, it has everything you need to
desing and edit images for your site. It also lets you clean up photos and design images for business communications.
Photoshop Elements is an excellent alternative to higher-priced image-editing applications.
Collecting money
What about collecting payments for your service or product? You no longer need to deal with credit card companies, or request payments by mail.
PayPal, a free service from X.com, is the world's first email payments network. PayPal allows you to send or receive money instantly and securely to anyone
with an email address. PayPal makes sending and collecting money as easy as email. Plus, you get $5 just for signing up! Click here
If you build it they will come... not!
Now that your site is up and running, you will want to make sure people can find it. Make sure you submit your site to the search engines. While some of
them will eventually use their spiders to find you, the process goes much faster if you submit your site yourself. Make sure to submit to these search
engines:
Yahoo Excite
Google Lycos Nbci
Add Me! is a service that will submit your site for FREE to 25 search engines. Click here to enter:
Be patient while trying to get your site on the search engines. Some are very quick (I've found Nbci to be the fastest), yet others can take weeks or even months. If you don't see your site within 4-6 weeks, try submitting again.
Advertise your site!
A good idea is to have business cards made up with your URL and e-mail address. Hand these out to everyone who is interested, include with orders you ship,
etc. Right now Vista Print of offering free sets of business cards. Click here: Vistaprint.com
Earn Revenue
Affiliate advertising is a great way for you to earn extra money on your website. Choose from advertisers that fit your target market, and start earning
right away! Linkshare lets you choose from over 500 merchants to help bring revenue to your site, and its FREE to join.
Click here to become a LinkShare Affiliate!
Having a web site can bring you more profits, but it can also be fun. A lot of the tools mentioned above will take the frustration out of your web design process, and allow you to enjoy the experience.
About the Author: Kimberly Danger is the owner/publisher of Mommysavers.com, and online resource for parents interested in saving time and money.
She is the author of 1000 Best Baby Bargains. Ms. Danger lives in Southern Minnesota with her husband and two kids.
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