The latest Shoestring Entrepreneur guidebook takes readers through what is and isn't working in the world of Internet ventures. Each chapter offers clear, easy-to-understand advice on selected the right niche market and securing start-up funding, plus guidelines for creating Web sites and affiliating with larger companies . Spiegel provides an insider's understanding of how to drive traffic to a particular site and turn visitors into repeat customers. He reveals tactics used by top Web sites for developing lasting customer relationships, and explains how to best utliize e-marketplace. An excellent addition to the Shoestring series and a must-have for all up-and-coming entrepreneuers, this book is a road map to a profitable Internet buidness models as well as a guide to avoiding models that have led companies into financial disaster.

The inside scoop... for when you want more than the official line! If you have an entrepreneurial spirit and want to capitalize on the fastest growing marketplace ever, the Web, this is the book for you. From choosing the product or service you offer to designing your website to marketing and managing your online venture, this guide gives you step-by-step guidance and helps you avoid common pitfalls. You don't have to be a computer guru or programmer, and you don't have to invest big bucks, thanks to the unbiased recommendations, practical guidance, and insider savvy this book puts at your fingertips. Updated with advice from experts, current statistics, new tips and strategies, and information about hundreds of resources, this guide gets you in business online with: Vital Information on choosing a unique product or service and targeting a specific niche market Insider Secrets from entrepreneurs who have launched successful online businesses Money-Saving Techniques, including using services from Yahoo!, Microsoft, eBay, and others to create a small-business website Time-Saving Tips for obtaining prominent listing placement on search engines and in Web directories and information portals The Latest Trends in online advertising, marketing, and branding, plus the online auction phenomenon Handy Checklists to help you create and operate your online business

Most businesses that close their doors have one thing in common: They ran out of money. Don’t let this happen to you. This indispensable book, part of Allworth’s popular Pocket Small Business Owner’s Guide series, will help you to save money on every aspect of your business, from advertising to overhead. With invaluable cost-cutting tips for all types of businesses, from e-commerce and home-based operations to services and retail, this guide will help you create a blueprint that will allow your business to survive and thrive. You’ll save on: Advertising Marketing Purchasing Transportation and shipping Labor Financing Facilities Operations Taxes And more! In today’s economy, small business owners must seize every opportunity to keep costs down, and every penny saved goes to your bottom line. Follow this street-smart advice to lay the foundation for a business that will be profitable for years to come.

Many people choose to start an online business because they desire a more flexible schedule, hate commuting, and want the ability to work from anywhere. This book will provide you with a road map to success by detailing how other Internet businesses have found success. In addition, you will learn how to evaluate your risk level, promote your business, and find a target market. You will learn how to select a Web-hosting service, attract and keep customers, and how to take advantage of tools like Amazon.com, Yahoo!, CafePress, and PayPal.

A Complete Guide to Starting and Growing Your Own Business On A Shoestring Budget The Cheat Sheet for Business. For the millions who start a new business every year on the barest of resources, Shoestring Venture: The Startup Bible is like hiring a high-level consultant to deal with the bewildering maze of issues from finance to marketing to technology that all entrepreneurs face. Every business is nothing but a series of decisions which can make or break the business. You could say that, if there's a science of business, it's the science of making good decisions. And every bootstrap entrepreneur faces the daunting task of making ALL the business decisions, any one of which could either doom the enterprise or catapult it to stratospheric success. That meas that every entrepreneur has to quickly get up to speed on every issue their business faces. Shoestring Venture: The Startup Bible is the most exhaustive set of practical resources collected to empower entrepreneurs to make the right decisions on a limited budget, from business concept to product development to Web marketing. We call a "consultant in a book," there to give considered and experienced answers to the infinite questions that come up. Shoestring Venture-The Start-up Bible All entrepreneurs - even the smallest operating on the tightest of budgets - have the opportunity to build powerful start-up organizations without ever really having to walk out the front door. Using global communications and data networks, even bootstrap entrepreneurs can staff an entire organization with every human resource and skill they need at rock-bottom prices. In short, anyone can run a virtual organization using only a desktop or laptop computer. Shoestring Venture: The Startup Bible gives bootstrap entrepreneurs all the resources they need to build truly effective startups using the magic of outsourcing and offshoring. This is the century for small business . . . You have the tools to build a powerful start-up organization, from financing to product development to marketing, without ever really having to walk out your front door. Using global communications and data networks, you can staff an entire organization with every human resource and skill you need at rock-bottom prices. You are, in short, running a virtual organization using only a desktop or laptop computer. It's the magic of outsourcing. It means that you can be a pretty formidable player in the business world. Why? Because it permits you to focus your energies on what brings real value to your business-what you do best. That's what this book is all about. Shoestring Venture gives you the tools you need to start your new venture or take your current business several levels higher by exploiting the resources our interconnected world offers you. Chapters: Startup, Finance, Taxes, & Banking, Hardware and Software, Bringing Your Products to Market, Outsourcing Your Back Office, Information Technology, Web and Ecommerce, and Promoting Your Product: Marketing & Sales

This is the book you will need if you are considering setting up your own business. It is aimed at the new business owner who has a lot of questions to ask. It has been written by a successful business owner and provides advice on what, and what not, to do. While it is not intended to be a global reference book it does provide the reader with practical answers to the issues they will come across everyday, and includes examples of successes and failures from both the US and U.K. perspectives.

Can I be a stay-at-home mom and still earn extra income? Which home business is best for me? Where can I find expert advice on launching my own business? How much will it cost to get started? For nearly two decades, bestselling author and home-based business guru Priscilla Y. Huff has run a successful writing business out of her home while balancing her family life. In fact, this book, now in its third edition, is proof of her success. Her valuable advice on what works—and what doesn't—is available to you. From start-up costs to potential income, this book shows you how to: ·Choose the perfect home-based business from 101 of the best: customer service, arts and crafts, entertainment, computer and high tech, mail order, home-based distributorships and franchises, and many others ·Take the first steps to starting any business ·Find and use valuable resources, including local, state, and federal government sources; business and professional associations; books, Web sites, and other publications ·And much, much more! You'll also find inspiring stories from businesswomen who have achieved success and financial reward. If you've ever dreamed of owning your own business, this book should be your first investment.