Starting an Online Business All-in-One For Dummies (For Dummies (Business & Personal Finance))

Start a successful online business—and be your own boss! Being an online entrepreneur means more than just building a website—and this book breaks down everything you need to know to be successful. Inside, you'll get plain-English explanations and easy-to-follow instruction on online business basics, legal and accounting issues, website design, Internet security, boosting sales, e-commerce, and so much more. While the ideas and concepts behind starting an online business are tried and true, the tools available to entrepreneurs change and evolve quickly—and often. Starting an Online Business All-in-One For Dummies gets you up to speed on the best new tools, resources, and communities, and shows you how to best leverage them to up your chances of success. Discover your niche and create a business plan Design your website and storefront Increase your reach and market with social media Choose the best web host for your needs If you're a budding entrepreneur with dreams of running your own online business, this book has everything you need to get started and grow your company to extraordinary heights! Finding an affiliate program -- Signing Up for an Affiliate Network -- Avoiding Scams and Questionable Content -- Illegal affiliations -- Questionable affiliations -- Chapter 3 Turning Information into Profit: From E-Books to Webinars -- Creating Your Own Information Product -- Finding hot topics -- Researching the information -- Organizing your thoughts -- Providing E-Books -- Creating the document -- Distributing your e-book on e-shelves -- Creating Informational Videos for Profit -- Putting Together a Webinar -- Your recording session -- Finding your audience -- Chapter 4 Paying with the Right Payment Options -- Accepting Credit Card Payments -- Securing a merchant account -- Choosing a payment gateway -- Reading the fine print: Fees -- Offering Alternative Payment Options -- Managing the Payment Process to Protect Your Income -- Chapter 5 Putting the (Shopping) Cart before the Horse -- Not All Carts Are Created Equal -- Back-end management -- Customer-centric elements -- Integration and maintenance -- Promotion and marketing -- Shopping Around for the Best Hosted Solution -- 1ShoppingCart -- FoxyCart -- Shopify -- Finding Stand-Alone Shopping Cart Software -- Designing a Custom Cart -- Chapter 6 Taking Inventory -- Finding Out What's Popular -- Putting Together All Your Research -- Pricing Your Products -- Building Your Inventory -- Stocking up as a low-price leader -- Becoming all things to all people with trial-and-error inventory -- Specializing with limited inventory -- Chapter 7 Fulfilling Expectations and Orders -- Figuring Out the Logistics of Shipping -- Developing an In-House Fulfillment Model -- Deciding to Outsource Fulfillment -- Finding an outsourcing partner -- Establishing your outsourcing relationship -- Operating with an outsourced fulfillment house -- Assessing the quality of the fulfillment work -- Shaping Up and Shipping Out Keeping an eye on your business interests -- Chapter 4 Finding the Host with the Most -- Differentiating between an ISP and a Host -- Determining What Makes the Difference for High-Performance Hosting -- Sorting Out Your Website Host Options -- Putting the Long-Term Contract in the Past -- Serving Yourself: Don't Overlook Other Server Options -- Chapter 5 Developing Content That Satisfies Visitors and Search Engines -- Words Are Words - Right? Wrong! -- Words that are "key" to search -- Beyond keywords -- Getting Ready to Write for the Web -- Understanding who and why -- Understanding that packaging is everything -- Getting organized -- Making a list and checking it twice -- Moved to Purchase: Turning Words into Action -- Chapter 6 Going Beyond Beta and Launching Your Site -- Some Things to Know Before You Start Uploading -- Taking the Compatibility Test: Testing Screen Resolutions, Browsers, and Platforms -- Checking it out -- Testing on Mac, Windows, or whatever -- Keeping people in mind -- Taking a Trial Run -- Three, Two, One - Take Off! -- Book 4 Online and Operating -- Chapter 1 Determining Your Revenue Model -- Selling Tangible Products -- Projecting how you'll make a profit -- Manufacturing and selling your own goods -- Buying tangible goods and selling them online -- Selling Your Professional Services -- Understanding the pros and cons -- Building credibility -- Selling Information -- Placing Ads for Profit -- Looking at sites that sell -- Analyzing traffic patterns -- Choosing ad formats -- Estimating your revenue potential -- Managing ad space inventory -- Selling the space -- Establishing an Affiliate Advertising Program -- Putting It All Together: Multiple Revenue Streams -- Chapter 2 Making Money with Affiliate Programs -- Looking at How Affiliate Programs Work -- Understanding some affiliate terms -- Types of affiliate payments User agreement or terms and conditions -- Shipping policy -- Return policy -- Safety for young users -- Other online policies -- Delivering On Your Promises -- Chapter 6 Setting Up Shop: What You Need for Online Efficiency -- A Floor Plan for Success -- Must-Have Equipment -- Make form follow function -- Revving up with a powerful computer -- Tools for Your Desktop -- Searching for a web browser -- Sending and receiving messages with e-mail -- Using document-viewing software and other useful applications -- Your Essential Software Toolkit -- Connectivity: Today's Internet Options and More -- Book 2 Legal and Accounting -- Chapter 1 Minding the Law -- Keeping Your Business Legal -- Federal tax identification number -- Resale certificate -- Business bank account -- Employee forms -- Zoning for Business (at Home) -- Obtaining Business Licenses -- Chapter 2 Choosing the Right Foundation: From Partnerships to Corporations -- Strategizing for the Best Organization -- Operating Alone as a Sole Proprietor -- Fictitious name registration -- Husband and wife sole proprietorship -- Sharing the Load with a Partnership -- Limited Liability Company -- Making It Official with Incorporation -- Different flavors of corporations -- The choice to incorporate -- Changing Your Organization as It Grows -- Chapter 3 The Trademark-and- Copyright Two-Step -- Understanding Why Trademarks and Copyrights Matter -- Making Your (Trade)Mark -- Protecting Your Investment with Copyrights -- Establishing Registration Yourself -- Getting your trademark -- Filing for copyright -- Retaining Professional Assistance -- Chapter 4 Accounting for Taxes (and Then Some) -- The Tax Man Cometh - Again and Again -- Income tax -- Employment tax -- Sales tax -- By the Numbers: Accounting Basics -- Determining periods and methods -- And now, your balance sheet -- A quick glimpse: The P & L Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- Introduction -- About This Book -- Foolish Assumptions -- Icons Used in This Book -- Beyond the Book -- Where to Go from Here -- Book 1 Start-Up Essentials -- Chapter 1 Starting from Scratch -- What Are You Waiting For? Start Your Business Now! -- Choosing Just the Right Business -- Creating online businesses for today and tomorrow -- Finding a business that's your type -- Getting Started -- Chapter 2 Turning Ideas into a Viable Internet Business -- Thinking Like an Online Entrepreneur -- Putting Your Business Idea Under the Microscope -- Using informal research to verify your idea -- Applying a SWOT analysis to your idea -- Creating a feasibility study to validate an idea -- Identifying Your Market and Target Customer -- Classifying your customer -- Going to the source -- Competing to Win: Analyzing Your Competition -- Chapter 3 Getting Real: Creating a Usable Business Plan -- Understanding the Value of a Plan -- Recognizing That the Parts of the Plan Make a Whole -- Getting Help to Write the Plan -- Determining when to hire a professional -- Knowing what to expect from a business plan consultant -- Using a Business Plan Today, Tomorrow, and Always -- Chapter 4 Funding Your Online Business -- Bootstrapping the Low-Cost, No-Cost Site -- Making the leap to the bootstrapping lifestyle -- Saving money to make money -- Getting resourceful -- Looking at the pros and cons of bootstrapping -- Finding the Perfect Investor -- Turning to your friends and family -- Finding angels -- Venturing into the world of venture capital -- Checking Out Alternative Financing -- Taking a Shortcut: Purchasing an Existing Site -- Chapter 5 Creating Policies to Protect Your Website and Customers -- Taking Care of Customers -- I pledge to you -- Put it in writing -- Putting Policies in Place -- Privacy policy Choosing Software to Make Your Tasks Easy -- Going online? -- What size are you? -- How much do you want to pay? -- Do you need support? -- Hiring a Professional -- Recognizing that it takes all types -- Knowing what to expect from your tax professional -- Finding likely candidates -- Choosing the best person for you -- Following the Rules of Recordkeeping -- Dealing with all the paper -- Storing records: How long is long enough? -- Book 3 Website Functionality and Aesthetics -- Chapter 1 What's in a (Domain) Name? -- Choosing Your Online Identity -- Approaching your domain name carefully -- Determining the best domain name for you -- Registering the Perfect Name -- Who you gonna call? -- Let's make it official -- Finding Out What to Do When Somebody Gets There First -- Exploring your domain name options -- Getting what you want - at a price -- All the Good Ones Are (Not) Taken -- Varying the extension -- Getting creative -- Chapter 2 Designing for User Experience -- Understanding the Customer Experience -- Basic functionality -- Interactive functionality -- Enhanced functionality -- Maximizing Performance for Profitability -- Guiding Website Traffic Flow -- Looking Your Best -- Following basic design principles -- Making design choices -- Choosing Substance Over Style -- Chapter 3 Building a Site Without Spending a Fortune -- Mapping Your Route to a Successful Site -- Setting reasonable expectations -- Avoiding common holdups in developing a site -- You Can Do It! Making a Build-It-Yourself Site -- Using HTML: The old-fashioned way to build a page -- Going modern with WordPress, Adobe Dreamweaver, and more -- The pros and cons of using automated site builders -- Creating Your Site with the Pros -- Seeking experience: Choosing the right website designer -- Comparing apples to apples -- Speeding up the process The all-in-one guide to everything you need to know to start an online business Starting an online business can be a tricky undertaking. Luckily, Starting an Online Business All-in-One For Dummies, 4th Edition gives you the business savvy needed to make your online business boom. Cutting through technical jargon and hype, this plain-English guide arms you with everything you need to succeed, from developing a business plan and designing your website to making the most of marketing through social media-and everything in between. Plus, you'll get ideas for funding your online start-up, tips for moving your brick-and-mortar customers online, ways to breathe new life into a tired business, the latest on trademarks and copyrights, and much more.-Includes updated information on web page design with HTML 5 and CSS, new analysis tools, and search engine optimization -Gives you trusted information on Internet security -Covers niche and advanced e-commerce topics If you're in the exciting position of planning, launching, or maintaining a successful online business, this all-encompassing guide will make you an online entrepreneur in no time 11 Books In 1! Startup Essentials; Legal And Accounting; Web Site Functionality And Aesthetics; Online And Operating; Managing Security Risks; Online Marketing Basics; Retail To E-tail; E-commerce Fundamentals; E-business For The Nonprofit; E-commerce Trends And Market Opportunities; E-commerce Advanced. --cover. By Shannon Belew And Joel Elad. Includes Index.