Laying the Groundwork

So now that you've decided that you want to start making money online, and have at least a start on a plan of attack, what next? Well, now it's time to secure some of the tools and resources you'll need to build your online empire.

EMail

Email? But I already have an email account! I'm sure you do. You probably have several. But the question becomes, are they well suited for your online business? For many people the answer is no, and unfortunately they find that out after they've either lost sales or missed out on opportunities because of the inadequacy of the email they are using.

What do I mean? Well, let's take Yahoo as an example. It's popular, it's got lots of features, and best of all the price is right. I use Yahoo email myself, but not for my business. While Yahoo is very handy, it has some aspects that can be problematic for the online marketer:

1. Overly-aggressive spam filtering.Nobody likes spam, but Yahoo has turned spam paranoia into an art form. I regularly get innocuous messages from friends and family dumped by Yahoo straight into my Spam folder. And if your customers, or worse, potential customers, use the wrong word in an email to you, their message will likely be flagged as spam. What words? Free. Money. Income. Any dollar values. etc., etc. It's just not worth the risk.

2. Bandwidth limitations.While the average person likely stays within the limits that Yahoo places on bandwidth usage for email accounts, it is possible that your business efforts, in terms of email traffic, will exceed these limitations. And if you do, you won't be able to access your email for a certain period of time. You'll receive Yahoo's famous (and ambiguous) 999 error. Again, not worth the risk.

3. ProfessionalismFirst impressions make a difference, especially in business. And communicating with an @yahoo.com email may give a potential customer the impression that you're not a "real" business. As a matter of fact, some people will think you are a scammer because of the Yahoo address. Think about it... I'm sure you've gotten those emails claiming you've won the UK lottery or some Coca-Cola promotion. Then when you open up the email, you see it was sent from mailto:imascammer@yahoo.com.hk". Many people have been conditioned to believe that if a message or an offer is from a public, free email domain, it's probably a scam.

Bottom line, if you're serious about your online business, get a serious email address (actually, several). I recommend your own domain's email (I'll get into domains & hosting next). If you're set on having free email, I'd recommend Google's GMail. It's robust, reliable, and has far fewer of the limitations that Yahoo has.


Web Hosting

One of the things you've probably thought of when planning your online business, is what your business name is going to be. What do you want your business' public "identity" to be? Since you're pursuing and online business, this goes hand-in-hand with having a domain name. Do you have to have a domain & hosting service to work online? No, you don't. But it certainly helps, and speaks again to the issue of first impressions and credibility.

If you do decide that you want to set up your own domain, and get a hosting service, make sure you do your homework. There are many choices out there, and not all web hosting services were created equal. I recommend getting hosting from a provider who offers unlimited storage, unlimited bandwidth, unlimited email addresses, free domain with hosting account, unlimited "add-on" domains, eCommerce capabilities, MySQL & PHP support, and a decent control panel (cPanel) interface to manage your hosting.

Two that I highly recommend (I use them both myself) that have all these features are:

1. HostMonster
Hostmonster is affordable ($5.95/mo), reliable, and has the best control panel I've come across. Their tech support is superb, and they have some nice perks with their hosting plans (free PPC ads, a great library of PHP scripts, a good FTP interface, etc.) This would be my number 1 choice.

2. StartLogic
StartLogic comes a close second to HostMonster. They have pretty much all the same features, the price for the ProLogic hosting is the same, and they as well are very reliable and have great tech support. However, they limit the number of MySQL databases to 25, vs. 100 for HostMonster. Also, I don't feel their control panel interface is quite as good.
Another option, if you don't need all the bells & whistles, or would like a good residual income source:

Global Domains International
Global Domains International, or GDI offers basic domain registration and web hosting for $10/mo. Now you're asking yourself, "why would I pay $10 a month for web hosting when I can get it for 6 bucks?" And I would agree with you, except for the fact that just by having web hosting with GDI, you have the potential to make thousands per month. No joke. You can literally build a serious residual income with this company. Which means it's extremely easy to get that $10 to pay for itself in short order. If you are interested in the program that I have successfully used to build my GDI business, click on the link below or contact me:

Proven Automated Income System - Includes FREE Yahoo PPC ads!


Autoresponders

Did you know that on average, it takes 7 exposures to your "pitch" before a shopper turns into a buyer? Thats a lot of communication to the same people just to get one sale. It sure would be great if you could automate all that repeat contact. Well you can. All you have to do is get yourself an email Autoresponder.

Autoresponders all you to follow up with your customers, and potential customers, resulting in higher conversion rates and repeat business. Every internet guru & heavy-hitter that you run into will tell you that the absolute must-have tool for online success is an autoresponder, and they're right.

You'll hear people talking about building their "list" in this business. "The money is in the list... you have to build your list" etc. They are talking about their potential & existing customer list, but often will refer to it as their opt-in list. This is a reference to the people opting in to receive info from them, mainly via an autoresponder.

One of the main reasons that marketers use autoresponders, over and above the automated salesman aspect, is to avoid spam complaints. You see, the CAN-SPAM act of 2003 doesn't allow you to just email someone your pitch, or even just generic info about your product or service. Individuals have to "opt-in" to receive information from you. A good Autoresponder makes it easy for you to set up web pages for people to opt-in to your list. Most even offer the option of having them host your opt-in pages. A good Autoresponder also allows you to import leads into your account, so the autoresponder can send invites for people to opt-in. Note, I said "invite". This is within the guidelines of CAN-SPAM '03.

If you'd like more information on the benefits of Autoresponders, you can get my report, "How Autoresponders Can Make You More Money" by clicking here.

You guessed it, it's an autoresponder opt-in page. The cool thing is you can unsubscribe any time you like.

Here are the three top Autoresponders in the business. All are very full-featured, and capable of handling just about any business requirements you might have.

1. TrafficWave
This is the autoresponder I use. Great features, easy to use, low cost ($17.95/mo), and good support. Offers a 30 day free trial. Unlimited campaigns, unlimited subscribers, WYSIWYG email editor. Just all around a great tool.

2. Getresponse
Getresponse is a very capable product, and offers all the functionality that a good autoresponder should. Of the 3 major players, they are the only one to offer a free version (not just trial). The free version does have limitations though, including no ability to import leads.

3. Aweber
Aweber has been a very popular autoresponder service for a number of years. It's a good product, well supported, and will meet any marketer's needs. They are a bit pricier than the other two options, and charge based upon the number of subscribers. If you have less than 500 subscribers, it's not a bad route to go.


Those are the basic tools you need to hit the ground running in your online business. Invest in these basic tools, and follow your plan closely, and you're to succeed online.