As we discussed on the previous page, there are basically three steps to starting your own home based e-Commerce business. Here we will discuss step two, setting up the website.

You can lay out your basic site ideas on paper in a few hours. Then once you have everything in place, start designing the site with a WYSIWYG (stands for what you see is what you get) design tool. If you don't want to take on the task of designing your own website, hire someone else to do it for you! I'd be delighted to recommend a designer who has HER OWN home based business! ... designing websites!

At this point, it would be a good idea to reread chapter five of the "Make A Living Online!" book. If you haven't bought it yet.....you should. It is a program I would recommend to anyone starting out. It explains in detail how to set up your site and gives ideas on what it should contain. Pay particular attention to what your home page should contain. (Page 56.)

Okay, let's get going on the list of things to keep in mind when setting up your site.

If you will be offering even one product or service that is your own, from the start, then you need to be able to offer secure credit card ordering right away. Nearly 95% of orders generated at my sites come via credit card. Not offering this is certain death for your business. There are lots of ways to do this and the cheapest long-term solution is to acquire a merchant account. You'll find a good offer on merchant account services here. If you are not happy with the rates quoted, go to your local BJ's or Costco. Most offer low-cost merchant accounts to their members.

If you are not able to afford a merchant account, fear not. You can still accept credit cards at your site. There are many companies that will handle everything for you and take a percentage from each sale. While this solution is cheaper initially, than getting a merchant account, the ongoing fees are costly over time. But it is a way to get started accepting credit cards until you can get your own merchant account.

If you will not be promoting your own products or services in the very beginning, this step can wait a while. Nearly all affiliate programs already have credit card ordering in place and any customers you refer will order using their credit card facilities.

• Opt-in list signup form

In order to grow your business online you will need to grow at least one opt-in list. You can offer a free email newsletter, a free email course or anything else you want, but you do need to grow some form of opt-in list. You will do thisby offering a signup form at your website so that every visitor is encouraged to leave their email address with you.

I've found that automating things completely is the easiest way to handle an opt-in list and recommend this tool for beginners. It will allow you to add a signup form to your site by simply pasting code into your web page. It then captures names and email addresses, follows up by email regularly (with personal and helpful messages that you write!) and allows you to broadcast messages (such as newsletters) to your growing list anytime you want. read the article...

P.S. You can get two months for free at the Private Site at  Make a Living Online!!!

• Decide on a domain name, upload your site to the web host of your choice and test every aspect of your new site.

Before you can put your site on the web for the world to see, you'll need to come up with a domain name. Here is some information on choosing and registering a domain name.

Once you have chosen a domain name and registered it, you will need to select a web host. There are thousands of companies on the web that can host your site. Here are a few recommendations that are ideal for beginners.

The next step is to upload your site to your new host. This is not as difficult as many beginners fear. An FTP tool such as the one I use, called ipswitch allows you to drag and drop your web pages from your computer to your web host.