TIPS FOR YOUR WEB SITE If you are a "real" company with "real" products and "real" people, please put your address and phone number on your site (usually on a contact page is best). Afterall, you put your address and phone number in your city's phone book don't you? You put this information on your business card too, don't you? Think of your cyber presence same way you do with your earth presence. Most people will be more comfortable ordering from a company that doesn't appear to be hiding behind anonymity of internet. An address may not be as important as a phone number as some businesses are home businesses and safety concerns may be an issue.

Please let your visitors know right up front - before they fill out forms - that your offer is good only in USA (or wherever). As well, let your visitors know what currency your prices are in. This is especially important to Canadian visitors who are burdened with "dollar that isn't worth a dollar". And speaking of forms.... please check them to make sure they work properly. Make sure you have enough characters allotted to all fields so that user can correctly input a postal code or zip code, province or state etc. - And, if I spend a lot of time filling out your form, I expect SUBMIT button to work! If you are using java for your forms, please check that it is compatible for both Netscape and Explorer.

The truth is you DON'T need a web designer to develop a site for your small business. If you have some computer skills and a little bit of time to devote to your web site, you can make it yourself and spend as little as $6.00 a month on it!

Here is a list of facts that you should be aware of before you pay your hard earned money to a web designer:

1. "Build it and they will come" theory is just a myth when it comes to online business. Nobody will come to your web site unless they are already familiar with your company or their friend has told them about your site.

2. "Pay a lot of money to your web designer to create a fancy web site with all bells and whistles and your sales will skyrocket overnight". This is another myth that many web design agencies are using to impress you with their skills and get you to buy their services. The fact is, most small businesses who are making money on Web have a simple web site with a good sales letter. No need to pay top dollars for technical gadgets.

3. "Get a web site for your business and make $5,000 within a month". Nothing can be further from truth. In fact, many businesses don't see any profit for 4-6 months! It takes time and a good marketing strategy to start getting sales.

4. "Sell just one product on your web site and make a lot of money on it" is not how successful business owners make profit online. They first attract their visitors with a free or very low-price item, generate a customer list of e-mail addresses and contact them over and over again with special offers and sales letters about a high-end product.