Internet Business..Just set up the store and wait?
by Meredith Gossland

Some people are spreading harmful rumors about how easy an internet business is. Set up a site, and the people will come in droves. Youll get hundreds,thousands, millions of hits a day!

Nothing can be further from the truth. Think carefully, then go slowly into cyber space and most of all have realistic expectations.

Like any other business, marketing is 90% of sales. Without marketing you have nothing. Hundreds of millions of web sites exist on the internet. You are truly just a speck in the virtual universe. Here are a few facts for you to think about.

1. Most people will not search past the first 3 pages of a search engine. If each page lists 25 sites that is a total of 75 places.
2. Most of the top 75 sites are pay per click sites. This means two things if you are #1 or #2. First,you will get the most clicks and second, not everybody who clicks shops. If 1,000 people visit your site everyday and you are paying $0.11 per click figure it out......that is about $3,000 a month rent for the # one slot on a search engine.
3. Most people find out about a website through friends and paper advertising. That means in addition to
the cost of search engine placement you need to budget for old fashioned print advertising, until you establish your clientel.
4. The cheaper your web site, the cheaper it looks, the less likely people are to do business with you.
You dont need flashy but you do need good design that is easy to navigate. This still costs money.
5. If you plan to sell on the internet you need to accept credit cards etc. This service costs money.
6. If you plan to get people to come back to your website to buy it must be constantly updated. This costs money and takes time a lot of time. Unless you are a talented writer you will probably spend a lot of time editing your updates.
7. If you want to do it... go for it!
Just keep your feet on the ground and figure out a budget. What is the actual cost of marketing a web site?

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