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You want to have your own online business but do not know where to begin, what to market or what it entails.

Well, the following is a pretty good template to follow that has proved to be successful for many an online entrepreneur and will provide everything you need to get started.

A. The Groundwork

* Research a memorable Domain Name

Finding an appropriate domain name that is available is not always that easy.

It is recommended that is simple, not spammy and not of the free variety - your actual business name is always a good choice.

* Choosing a Web Host

With all the thousands of hosting choices available, choose the one that is affordable, accommodates your requirements in terms of space, data transfer, software and service.

A quick way to check for bad reports on a particular hosting company is to do a search on Google for that host's name.

* Legal Issues

Depending on what industry you are in, ensure you are covered on the legal front as well as ensuring that your website content etc is protected.

B. Your Website

* Design

Bearing in mind that first impressions are everything, you will need to decide whether you are equipped to design the site yourself or whether you will need the services of a professional web design organization

* Receive Payments

Your site should be geared to receive payments and this can be achieved in a number of ways ie. By using Pay Pal, Storm Pay or by setting it up to use credit cards which will be the most costly.

* Stickyness

It is vital that your site has the type of content that will have your visitors come back for me.

C. Website Marketing

* Search Engine Optimization

Getting ranked high in the search engines for your site's popular keywords will only happen if your site is properly optimized for search engines - even then it may not rank highly as search engines place a high value on incoming links and other factors

* Offline Site Promotion

Advertise your site in the print media, business cards, signage, flyers, etc.

* Viral Marketing

A viral marketing campaign will help drive traffic to your site

* Pay Per Click Advertising

A surefire way of driving mega traffic to your site immediately is to set up a proper Google Adwords campaign

C. E-Mail Marketing

* Creating an Opt In List

In a prominent position on your website you should be inviting visitors to sign up for a free e-mail newsletter or suchlike.

From the requests you will build your opt in list to whom you can send out your e-mail promotional literature

* No Spamming

Make sure that you only target those who have signed up for your newsletter and never send (spam) to those who have not requested it

If you follow the above guidelines to setting up your online business you will have a solid foundation from which to grow your business into a highly profitable and viable organization

About the author:

The author, Mark Bellinger is a successful businessman and creator of the following websites: http://www.income.za.net http://www.internetbusiness.co.za http://www.onlinesynergy.za.net