Starting an Online Business For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech))

Is there a fortune in your future? Start your own online business and see what happens. Whether you're adding an online component to your current bricks-and-mortar or hoping to strike it rich with your own online startup, the sixth edition of this popular and practical guide can help.

Find out how to identify a market need, handle promotion, choose Web hosting services, set up strong security, pop up prominently in search engine rankings, and more. The book explores the hottest business phenomenon today—social media marketing—with full coverage of Twitter, Facebook, blogs, and other technologies that are now firmly part of the online business landscape.

• Dives into all aspects of starting and establishing an online business, including the very latest big trends
• Highlights business issues that are of particular concern to online businesses
• Reveals how to identify a market need, handle promotion, choose Web hosting services, set up strong security, pop up prominently in search engine rankings, and more
• Covers the hottest social media marketing opportunities, including Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and blogs
• Shows you specific types and examples of successful online businesses
• Provides the latest on B2B Web site suppliers, such as AliBaba.com

Build a better online business from the ground up, starting with Starting an Online Business For Dummies, 6th Edition!

Website design considerations featured in the book includes developing content, establishing a graphic identity, offering features like guestbooks and discussion groups, setting up sites to handle secure sales, providing various payment and shipping options, providing customer service, and becoming a resource for customers. Greg Holden points out that business people can attract prospective customers to their sites by offering important information, products, services, and features free of charge that will not only enhance the appearance and functionality of a Website but may also end up enhancing one's bottomline!

When it comes to marketing, Holden provides realistic and easy to use marketing strategies and advice developed to draw attention. Readers will learn about starting their own newsletters, using newsgroups and mailing lists, holding contests, establishing business partnerships, exchanging links, placing banner ads, and using meta tags to attract the attention of search engines!

Other important online business considerations covered in the book includes Website security, legal matters, trademarks, copyrighting, taxes, and record keeping. Holden offers instruction and advice on these and other matters and directs his readers to Websites where they can find further information. A 32-page "yellow pages" Internet directory is included in the book to give readers a jump-start on finding good online resources!

The CD that accompanies the book is loaded with the latest trialware editions of popular programs such as Paint Shop Pro, HotDog Pro, Norton Utilities 2000, Internet Explorer, Netscape Communicator, and the Adobe Acrobat Reader. A bunch of business programs are included as well to help businesses get up and running quickly!

Starting an Online Business for Dummies offers readers an excellent introduction to the art and science of setting up an online business. Every major aspect of starting a business is covered in adequate detail to help someone get started. Get a copy of this book and experience the thrill of operating your own online business - it can be very rewarding for you!


Great Book For the New Startup   June 5, 2005
John Matlock (Winnemucca, NV)
43 out of 45 found this review helpful

This guy knows what he is talking about. I did exactly what he said when I was setting up my on-line business. The only thing was that this book didn't exist then and I had to learn it all one step at a time. Well, I guess that's the only way any of us learn anything.

One thing he emphasises strongly and with which I cannot agree more, be a good e-mailer. If you get a question, a complaint, or anything else, respond quickly and in a friendly manner. Remember the old saying, "The customer is always right, even when he's wrong he's still right."

If you ship someone a bad CD (if that's what you're selling) and he comes bad and says it's bad, send him a new one immediately, before you even tell him to send you the old one back. Send it by first class mail, or even overnight. The rating he is likely to give you on e-Bay or Amazon or just with his friends is worth far more than the cost.

One point I would emphasize stronger. Pick a niche in which to market. Amazon sells everything, but not REALLY everything. Specialty hobby products from rock climbing to clock making, specialty books like maybe I-10 from one end to the other (and if you publish this, Amazon might sell it for you). You must specialize in something, something you cna define in a short sentence, or may two.

If you start an on-line business, remember that the web is only a communications medium. You're really just using the web to do what we used to call mail-order. This book emphasizes the on-line part of the business, just like the title says, you'll learn all this sooner or later, in this little book you'll have everything at your fingertips.


I found this book to be an excellent source of information.   July 24, 1999
16 out of 16 found this review helpful

I instruct E-Commerce classes at a local junior college, and I will recommend my students buy this book. After reading several books on starting an online business, I found this one pretty much covered the major points that I discuss in my classes. Since starting up my own web design business, I find I use this book for ideas for my own company. It's a book you can constantly reference. Accompanied by a Web page design book like "Web Pages that Suck" (It really is good!), most of the bases are covered. Also, the cd had a lot of useful information on small business links and sample software.


Worth it's weight in gold if you're going online!   August 18, 2007
Deb Maubach (Middle Tennessee)
12 out of 12 found this review helpful

I just got this book last week and I'm not even done with it and have gotten so many 'nuggets' that it has more than paid for itself already! It's well written, easy to understand, organized extremely well for easy reference and full of helpful resources.

The section on 'Keeping it legal' saved me great error already (I was going to buy a domain name that could've infringed on a copyright) and I have found several free web builders online that are 10x's better than what I had been using. There's so much practical information in this book that I no longer feel guilty for buying it new.

This book is zero fluff, tons of examples and free or very reasonable resources, and lots of food for thought. The table of contents is so detailed that it makes for a quick reference (does anyone read a book like this cover to cover?) Greg Holden's writing style is personable and to the point and very easy to understand.

I truly don't understand all the reviews that say this book is no good, not sure what they have been reading, but I have no less than a dozen books of this nature, and this is one of the few that isn't 75% fluff. I'm somewhat of a website newbie, starting about a year ago trying to do my own website. It's alot harder (for me)than I originally thought and have tried no less than 6 different hosting accounts, 4 different online web builders, and 6 different web editing software trials (Expressions, dreamweaver, publisher, coffee cup, page spinner and frontpage). One of the best discoveries in this book was that Firefox offered a FREE...quality...web editor!

This is the 2007 edition, maybe people were referring to the earlier version of the same title. I have gotten way more out of this book than I thought I would. I guess I must be a true "Dummie". It's definitely worth your time checking it out if you are new to the online business world, you can always resell it on Amazon and recover your moola.




Starting An Online Business For Dummies   June 12, 2000
Paula S. Duhn (SANTA ANA, CA United States)
34 out of 42 found this review helpful

This book is truly incredible. I cannot even absorb all of the information in it! This is a MUST HAVE for ANYONE even thinking about starting an on line business. This is such an easy read and you can go on line and check out all the different web sites he has listed in the book. There is more information in this book than I ever thought possible. It is EXTREMELY helpful and written very well. It is the kind of book that you keep on your desk to constantly look up things. This is the best investment I have made in a long time. = )