Do you realise there`s only about 14 weeks between mid-September and mid-December? When you think of it that way, it`s understandable that everybody`s really starting to promote their stuff hard. Especially on web, because things tend to happen so fast online compared to in real life.

If you don`t get going there in time, you risk missing out. So whatever it is you`re marketing: Go for gold, pull out all stops, get best copy you possibly can, and promote, promote, promote!

We all want to make sales at this time of year, so that we`ve got money in our own pockets for Christmas. So how do you go about getting as many sales as possible?

First of all, take a good, long hard look at yourself. What IS it that makes you want to buy something? What makes you say "I`ve just got to have that!" Why do you want it? Is it price? Is it because it`s simple and easy to use? Does it solve a problem for you? Maybe it`s just because it`s outright fun?

Guess what you`ve just done? You`ve looked at yourself as your own prospective customer! You KNOW what draws you, and you KNOW you can`t possibly be only person on earth that get`s drawn by those things, so you now KNOW what buyers want.

There are a few proven methods to getting your customers to buy more from you once they`ve made that first purchase, such as offering a freebie with it. Giving them that little bit more than what they bought can really work wonders. Of course, something worthwhile, and preferrably related to what they ordered from you usually works best.

After-sales follow-up is also extremely important. Write them an email asking if they`re happy with their purchase, or ask if there`s anything they need explaining about product etc. Make sure you`re available to answer any questions they might have about products they`ve bought.

The need for your website to be easily navigated is enormous. Messy, disruptive and confusing sites are a huge turn off to potential customers. In other words: if you`re looking to make sales, make sure your website is easy to navigate so as not to chase off visitors at first sight.

Navigation (links for moving around site) is extremely important if you want your visitors to look at more than just your main page. If navigation choices are unclear, most visitors will just hit "Close" button, never to be seen again.

As a rule of thumb, main navigation is usually placed in top 1/3 of web page or on left hand column, and secondary navigation tends to be placed within bottom 2/3 of page, or on right hand column. Of course, this is entirely your choice, because, as with all rules, there ARE exceptions ;~)

If you want to build your website on your own from scratch, I highly recommend getting some free webspace to practice on, especially if you`re new to site-building. Try a few different ones and see which one is best for you, but keep in mind that to be taken seriously, you really will need to get your own domain and proper hosting for your site at some point in time.

Some free webspace hosts: http://www.freeservers.com http://www.50megs.com http://www.20m.com http://www.tripod.lycos.com

Of course, not everybody is an expert in hmtl, perl, php and things like that, so I`ve listed a few resources that you may find helpful in designing your first website.

Free website templates: http://freesitetemplates.com http://www.freewebtemplates.com http://www.templatesbox.com http://www.freelayouts.com