The reason that I am sharing this story with you is to illustrate point that although it may seem like whole World wants to run an Internet business, truth is that most people have no clue that such a thing is even possible. They certainly don't realize that it is possible to earn serious money online and this fact gives you a major advantage.

I know it can seem as though Internet consists of nothing more than eBooks about Internet marketing and websites telling you how to get traffic to your own site etc but it only appears like that to you and I because we are tuned into Internet marketing industry and these things stand out. Try and remember first time you ever used Internet and I bet you didn't know what an eBook was. I had been working part-time on Internet for three years before I discovered eBooks!!

The average person thinks of Internet as a tool from which to gain information, not a money-earner. It will be a very long time before you can tell someone that you are an Internet marketer and expect them to understand what this means and as I have already said, this puts you in a unique and highly advantageous position. By understanding that it is possible to generate a worthwhile income online, you are one step ahead of 99% of population.

I read a quote a few months ago which went something like this:

'The vast majority of people that will eventually become Internet millionaires do not even have a website yet'

This is a great quote and perfectly true - Internet has already made many, many people rich (not just in monetary terms but in terms of lifestyle and freedom) but I am sure that there are far more people that will achieve same if not better results in years to come.

Given this fact, anyone that is one step ahead of everyone else has a much higher chance of becoming one of these success stories.

If you don't know where to start, head over to my forum for lots of helpful, free advice and friendly members that will be sure to guide you in right direction... :-) http://www.traderonlineforum.com

You need to have an attractive website. Some can do well with an ugly site, but, in that case, you need to really understand what you're doing and why it might work. The ugly site tactic is not for inexperienced and very few individuals truly have grasp of marketing and customer psychology that can lead to a successful "ugly" site.

To provide a pleasant experience, you need to be careful in what you use - colors, text-size, graphics, animation and white space can add value to your site or turn it into a user nightmare. Test your site with people who will tell you truth. Just because you love it doesn't mean anyone else will. In general, aiming for a professional appearing site is your best option.

Wherever you can, provide incentives for customers to buy and to return. The return factor is a critical piece of a long-term strategy for success. Anyone who buys is your best possible future customer. Keep them, track them, make them special offers. Use coupons, discounts, special deals, customer-only offers and back end sales. Your customer base is your gold mine. They have at least some faith in you, enough to have purchased. Do your utmost to never damage that faith and treat them with care they deserve.

The next article in series will discuss factors such as personalization, security and assisting your staff in dealing consistently with customers customer support.

Contracting the computer bug in the early 80's (yes, pre-www) and never cured, Richard, a PhD Clinical Paychologist, now writes on eCommerce, RSS and Niche marketing at http://www.Building-eCommerce-Websites.com