Will new policy of Yahoo help? I think so. A lot of "garbage" will disappear, and you will find instead ads from folks who are serious about doing business. Will other search engines follow Yahoo's lead? I would imagine so. So what will this mean?

If you combine this thought, with that of many of major companies abandoning their web presence, it will mean that more people will find your site. This is indeed, a golden opportunity to establish your business on web. But you can't expect to "throw up" a web site and have world beat a path to your door.

You must first establish a business plan. What will you market? What will it cost - who is your competition - what is pricing for comparable products? These are all questions that should be answered before you take step one.

If your answers to above questions are positive, get your own domain and build your web site. If you can't do it yourself, hire a qualified firm to do it. Unless you are a "dabbler", expect to spend a few thousand to get your web site up and running, register it with search engines, get a merchant account to accept credit cards online, and begin advertising.

When you think about it, if you are serious, this is really a small expenditure to start a business. If you're not serious forget about it, and consider a different part time enterprise. You will probably make more money "flipping burgers" at your local fast food establishment, than you will for time you spend trying to develop a "zero cost" web presence. The old adage - "you have to spend a dollar, to make a dollar", is true more than ever.

Will it take some time? Absolutely - how long depends on what you do. A couple of months might be a conservative estimate. But you can't lose heart, and like "dabbler", try some other cockamamie scheme when you don't make your first million in 90 days.

Next on agenda is an easy way for your prospects to purchase your product. If you don't accept credit cards you are missing impulse sales. If someone is ready to buy, and you make them jump through hoops to purchase, odds are they won't. If you give them time to "cool off" they will likely look elsewhere.

It is not that difficult to obtain a merchant account. Anyone who is selling a product or a service who doesn't have one is simply wasting their time. If someone has to send you a check or money order, by time they get around to doing it, impulse to purchase may very well be gone.

Do you have a personal presence on web? If not, you are losing business. You don't have to give them your life history, but your picture and way to contact you goes a long way.

Do you need a toll free number. I always felt this was important, but have lately changed my thinking. A toll free number will generate a lot "tire kickers" but not too many sales. If someone won't "drop a dime" to find out about your offer, they are most likely not serious. We took out our toll free number and two things happened - number of calls we received went down. But, number of sales we made went up - go figure.

These are just a few of stepping stones needed to reach your goal. While there are many others, if you provide these steps for your prospects, you will most likely meet your goals. If you don't, you will quickly lose heart and wonder why you are not getting any business.