Easy Steps for How to Start a New Business Online
Starting an online business, such as an online craft store or an affiliate program earning commissions on the sales of other people's products, is much simpler than beginning most offline ventures. You can start an online business for free in less than a day and start earning money almost immediately.
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Instructions
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Sign up for a free email address from a provider such as Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo. Choose a professional sounding name that is easy to spell.
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Sign up for a free account to receive credit card payments, such as Paypal, Amazon or Google Checkout. Connect it to your bank account in order to transfer funds that you earn online.
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Create a free website using a service such as Google Sites, Blogger or Wordpress. List contact information and pertinent business policies such as return and refund information. Add additional pages highlighting the products and services that you offer. Add a shopping cart for your products; most payment providers, such as PayPal, provide free shopping cart applications.
Purchase a domain name, which cost less than $10 per year, and connect it with your free site so you have a shorter Web address that's easier to remember.
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Sign up for a free website analytics account such as Google Analytics or Clicky to track how visitors find your site, including what keywords they used to find your site using a search engine, and what pages they visit. Analytics services also tell you how long a person spent on your site and what browser they used, among other information.
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File the necessary paperwork to start a business in your state and municipality. Even if you choose to do business as a sole proprietorship, which doesn't require filing for a business entity, you may need to apply for a city business license and/or file "doing business as" paperwork to accept payments in your business's name instead of your own name.
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Create a free email list using a service such as Mad Mimi or Aweber. Insert the code they provide into your website so visitors can sign up for your list automatically. Send periodical emails to your list with informational articles and new product announcements.
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Create an account on a marketplace website like Etsy or Ebay for an additional online avenue to sell your products.
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References
- Photo Credit business colleagues preparing for business meeting image by Vladimir Melnik from Fotolia.com
