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.

Ad budgeting is one measure of commitment. No banker knowingly backs a new venture without resources to succeed. A business with a limited budget to sell its product or services, must survive on word of mouth, slowest and least reliable of all media available.

Those who advertise for a living ask for enough money to get job done. Remember, QUALITY of advertising is not affected by budget, only QUANTITY purchased at a particular time.

The Internet is extremely impersonal, and people look for clues when considering a purchase. A "zero cost" type of operation raises a huge "red flag" and will seldom succeed. Would you send off your hard earned money to someone with a Post Office Box and a free email account? I know I wouldn't.

The minimum you should have is your own domain with your own email address. You can forward that address to your ISP address, or better yet, use an email client such as Eudora or Pegasus which allows you to maintain a professional email address.

If you can't afford these minimum costs, and some consistent advertising, you don't have "ante" and don't belong in game. Someone may survive on word of mouth with a low overhead business in "brick and mortar" world, but person with "zero cost" online business is simply wasting their time.