E-trepreneur! : a radically simple and inexpensive plan for a profitable Internet store in 7 days / Sherry Szydlik and Lamont Wood

Includes index

Introduction: Is This Book For You?.-- Section One: THE PROMISE AND REALITY OF ELECTRONIC COMMERCE.-- Chapter 1. The E-Commerce Opportunity.--Chapter 2. Out-Source It!-- Chapter 3. Reasons You Can Do This.-- Chapter 4 First Things First.-- Section Two: CREATING AN E-COMMERCE SITE, DAY AT A TIME.--Chapter 5. Sunday; Drawing Up the Blueprints.--Chapter 6. Monday; Signing Up. Chapter 7. Tuesday; Pre-Production, First Steps.--Chapter 8. Wednesday; Pre-Production, Final Steps. --Chapter 9. Thursday; Site Creation.--Chapter 10. Friday; Test Drive. --Section Three: OPEN FOR E-BUSINESS: HOW TO PROSPER AS AN ONLINE STORE OWNER.--Chapter 11. Finished.Com
Now Comes the Marketing. --Chapter 12. Won't You Stay For a While?.-- Chapter 13. Love Thy Customer: Customer Service Aspects.--Chapter 14. Auxiliary E-Commerce.-- Chapter 15. The Dark Side. -- Chapter 16. Charting Your Results.-- Chapter 17. Summing Things.

Research your competition. Develop your idea and business plan. Find customers and expand your base. Build your home page. Setting up shop on the Internet is easier than you think. Are you ready to grab your piece of the trillion-dollar online marketplace? One week from now, you could be counting the click-throughs and collecting the orders on your own online storefront! In your hands is a complete, start-to-finish, seven-day plan for taking your existing business online or opening up a successful new virtual store on the World Wide Web. Top Internet consultant Sherry Szydlik and high-tech writer Lamont Wood draw on more than a decade of online experience to spell out what works and what doesn't on the Web to help you succeed where others have crashed and burned. Taking you day by day through the steps of building a Web-based business, Szydlik and Wood help you plan your online store-analyzing the market for your services or products, sizing up the competition, and drafting a practical business plan. You'll see how to:* Outsource the technical functions-how to cheaply get your ECP (Electronic Commerce Provider) to handle everything from online credit card processing to electronic shopping carts* Anticipate and handle the special demands of 24/7 service* Understand taxes and the laws applying to online, interstate, and international sales* Avoid common scams, credit card fraud, and deadly foul-ups* Bring in customers-using online and offline advertising, banners, postings on search engines, e-mail promotions, affiliate programs, and other resources for building your customer base* Retain customers-how to use 'click trails' and other information to give better service and build long-term relationships with your customers Packed with clear information, expert pointers, and real-life examples from e-trepreneurs who've been there and done it successfully, E-trepreneur's 'radically simple' seven-step plan gets your business on the Web and in the black . . . quickly, easily, and, best of all, sensibly.