Home Based Internet Business: Step 2 - Strating Your Home Based Internet Business

Okay, now that you've done the fundamentals, that is your basic research, written an initial business plan and have decided you will go ahead and get the ball rolling, it's time to start thinking INTERNET.

So how do you start a home based internet business?

Pardon me for stating the obvious, but you will need a computer with access to the internet. Yes, I thought you knew that, but if at all possible, this comuter should be dedicated to your business and your business only. Don't use the family computer, because there are many things you will have to set up and maintain so that your business will work properly and efficiently. The family computer is just too risky.

One of the fist things you'll need is a website. This is also the most important tool that your internet business will have, so we are going to spend a little time on this.

The Basics.

Get a Google Account

Get yourself a Google Account. Just go to https://www.google.com/accounts/ManageAccount and sign up. It's free and you will be using this account for many, many things - but more on that later; for now just sign up for an account and keep all the communications they send you, as you will need this information later.

For the time being, use this account and the associated email account for all your business communications to do with your internet business. More on this later.

Small Business Web Site

The next thing is you will need to make a decision on whether you are going to make the website yourself or get a professional website design consultant to do it for you.
This is important, because planning, designing and writing a website is not quite as easy as it might appear at first. There are many, many things that you'll need to learn fast, if you don't already know them, in order to get it more or less right the first time. If the following terms are unfamiliar to you then it may be a good idea to enlist some help: SEO/SEM, html, xhtml, Java, XML, SERP, PR, CSS, and others.

If you know what these are and how to implement them than your decision will be much easier and you may well decide that you have the time to do it yourself. If on the other hand you have little or no idea what these terms stand for or what to do with them, you will either need to revisit your business plan and look seriously at the time frames you've set, because learning all the necessary information to get your website up and running will take you much longer then you've first thought.

This is possibly more important than you might thing, because if you decide to start doing this yourself, without having at least a basic knowledge of how to do it, and later you decide to hand the mess you've created over to a web site design company, it is highly likely that it will end up costing you more and take longer than you've anticipated. So, think about this carefully and do some research before you make your final decision to go it on your own.

Naming Your Business's Website

This is another somewhat curly one, because at the end of the day you want to maximise your chance of being found high on the fist or second page of a google search for your particular offer.

Let me try to explain.
When you type a question or phrase into the search field in Google, it provides you with thousands, even millions of results which are ranked from 1 - X-Million, but you don't want your site to rank lower than in the top 20 (at first, that's not possible, but after a few months of launching your web site you should start to see your page in the top 1000, then top 100 and hopefully, if everything has been done right it will end up on the fist page of the results.

One factor that Google uses in its rather complex algorythem to rank pages is the domain name. This is the name or URL that you see associated with any web site. The domain name has to be chosen carefully and should use your primary keyphrase that describes your business.

Let's stick with the wooden toys idea for a moment.

You are making wooden toys and your business plan is to make these toys and sell them on your web site. So a URL such as http://www.woodentoys.com would be an ideal name - or wood it?

As it happens, this url is already owned by someone else and so it is not available. Here lies the rub. Many of the obvious URLs are already owned by someone and now you need to find a term that describes your business and is still available.

You can use Melbourne IT's free 'search domain name' service to find a URL (domain name) that has the potential to work for you - Try this site to test some of your ideas: http://www.melbourneit.com.au/cc/domainname/index

Here are their results for a search using the term handmade wooden toys:

This shows that if we use the term 'handmadewoodentoys' the available domains are ...com.au, ....net.au, ....info, ....biz, ....mobi, and ....asia. Let's say you are in Australia, you would do well to choose www.HandmadeWoodenToys.com.au - this is because a) to some extent you are protected by government legislation and b) you can only register a .au name if you have a registered business name here in Australia. That's good news and gets you a quality domain name.

Use the search box below to see if your preferred domain name is available

Or use this one if you are not in Australia:

A word on picking a good name

Peteswoodentoys.com.au may not necessarily be better, because the word Petes is introduced and not related to wooden toys. HandmadeWoodenToys, HandcraftedWoodenToys, CreativeWoodenToys, etc., would likely be better as they describe your business more precisely then PetesWoodenToys.

This is one thing you need to seriously think about when it comes to choosing your domain name and hosting company.

We've used Melbourne IT for over 5 years now and we wouldn't think of changing. Yes, they are a little on the expensive side, but the service and quality of their service is well worth it.

Hosting your Web Site

Let us say you have chosen HandMadeWoodenToys.com.au - now you need to decide who will be the company (ISP - Internet Service Provider) that will host this web site for you. This can be a bit of a minefield, so stick to companies in your country and look for a 24/7 support phone number that actually works - that is someone does eventually answer your call.

Finding hosing companies - Google to the rescue - simply type Australian Web Hosting Company into Google and hit return. You'll get lots of options to choose from. DON'T GO BY PRICE.
This will be your business so cheap and nasty is not what you want. This is a time where you definitely pay for quality and service.

Selecting the right hosing company to host your home based internet business web site sounds simpler than it is. Firstly just like oils aren't oils, there are hosting companies and hosting companies. That is, some hosting companies are definitely better than others.

Here are some consideration and questions you should keep in mind and ask the service provider before making your final decision on whom you'll select to host your web site:

• Do they have a 24/7 support telephone number. More often than not you'll be working on something and it won't be 9-5 when it all goes sour. That's when you'll want support and not the next day sometime.
• Does your ISP have a website that provides a support forum. This is also important because you can find out what others did to solve problems they've had and it is a place where you too can pose questions to others with possibly more experience and expertise.
• What do their various plans offer you - email accounts, data bases, security certificates, lots of data transfer space and storage space, the list goes on. Compare a few of the top 10 search results and you'll soon get to know what's a reasonable level and what's not. Alternatively, sign up with Melbourne IT (if your in Australia, NZ, the US or UK), get your domain name and hosting all-in-one, saving you potential hassles and keeps things nice and neat. We do recommend this company.

Once you've followed the steps outlined and explained above, you will now have your own domain name and a hosting company for your home based internet business. You will also have made a decision on whether or not you are going to design the web site yourself or get a professional web site design company to do it with you.

GO TO STEP 3 -> Promoting Your Home Based Online Business.