For Those Who'd Like to Make a Web Site and Think They Can't
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by: PhyllisWheeler
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Now is the best time in history for small businesses, because of the Internet. You can reach customers anywhere in the world from your living room. All you need is an idea and a Web site. But you don't know how to make a Web site--yet!
There are other big changes happening as well. For example, job security isn't what it once was. Fewer companies are offering benefits, and the ones that do are charging for them. With all this considered, perhaps you'd like to start a Web site to earn some money. Perhaps you'd even like it to become your mainstay.
But you're not taking the first step. You don't know how! And you think you can't afford it.
Novices can get plenty of help creating a Web site. Many people are in business to help novices set up a Web site using a template. There's a problem with the result, though--you don't know enough HTML to add affiliate links, shopping carts, or clickable ads, the items that will earn your Web site money. What you really need to learn is a bit of HTML, just enough to get the job done.
Learn HTML? Isn't that like learning a programming language? Isn't it hard? The answer is, no it isn't really a programming language. It's a formatting language. And it's really not hard at all. The basic principles are very simple. Here's another bonus for you: you don't need to know very much HTML at all to do what you need to for a simple Web site.
You will need special software that makes both the HTML code and the Web site as it looks in a browser. There are three alternatives for you: Macromedia Dreamweaver, the most costly at several hundred dollars; Microsoft Front Page, a simpler piece of software that you can buy for around $100; and Nvu, which costs you nothing. Nvu is open-source software. Open-source software is available for free; those who create and maintain it donate their time, often to provide us with an alternative to Microsoft.
You'll need Web site hosting, too. (That's renting space on someone's server in cyberspace.) You can pay a lot of money for plenty of bells and whistles. But what you really need to get started is a simple hosting solution. You can find these for as little as $25 per year, including domain registration (that's reserving a domain name that is just for you, such as www.myspot.com). The secret is usually this: the hosting company wants you to deal with them for both domain hosting and domain registration. You can put "cheap domain hosting" into a search engine and look for simple, user-friendly solutions.
E-books are becoming more and more common. When you buy an ebook, you are paying for the information in it, pure and simple. In fact, that's all it is, information. You have to provide the printer if you want a hard copy. E-books are popular because they provide information instantly--something that folks in our culture are happy to pay for. In fact, you may be able to find an e-book on how to use Nvu.
About the Author
Be sure you sign up for Phyllis Wheeler's six excellent open-source, no-cost e-business lessons. If you want to make a web site on a budget, you can do it using Phyllis Wheeler's e-book Web Site ABC's and open-source, no-cost software Nvu.
HTML For Publishers
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