Is a website really needed to start an online business?

Today, I just want to talk about whether it is necessary to have a website in order to start an on-line business.

When people think of on-line business, websites come to mind. They imagine an e-commerce site with all the bells and whistles attached. True, once upon a time business was done only through websites. Today, with advanced technology, things are different - fortunately.

This is not to say that website is not essential. Having a website means better income, faster growth, wider market and long-term benefits. But owning a website also means recurring expenses in terms of hosting, content management, daily time to maintain, and ability to deal with website programming problems and the like.

It is better total beginners start business without a website at first just to grasp the fundamentals of the game and then graduate to advanced things. This way you can avoid the frustration that may follow when you plunge wholesale into on-line business without knowing the whole thing.

Even people who don't have the seed investment to start an on-line business with an e-commerce website, can really sell things and make money. How?

There are many proven ways to sell things without owning products, without handling the products and without dispatching the products! And you pocket the commissions. The commission could range anywhere between 20 - 70 percent and sometimes even 100 percent!

Let me list some of them:

1. you can sell other peoples' products as an affiliate (an associate or partner of a company)
   
2. you can promote the products of your choice by sending e-mails with your affiliate link (your affiliate ID tracking code embeded in it)
3. you can place paid advertisements in ezines with your affilate ID link in it
4. you can place free ads in some selected advertising websites
   
5. you can write articles about the product and submit it to a reputed ezine, again with your link
6. you can participate in Forum discussions and display your link to your product owner website
7. Finally, you can place PPC ads in search engines (like google) to promote your product owner's website with your link

If you are wondering how you are going to do all these, don't worry. Stay with me. I shall reveal every method in detail. All that is required of you is a willing, disciplined and enterprising mind. You can start part-time or full time depending on your time resources. You only need a computer with an Internet connection to the world.

Standby for my next post.