TechTV's Starting an Online Business - Softcover

Fiore, Frank

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0789725649 ISBN 13: 9780789725646

Publisher: Peachpit Press, 2001

Synopsis

Author Frank Fiore gives the reader a foundation for starting an online business. The book is divided into 5 parts. It starts with an explanation of e-commerce, what to sell, how to sell it, how to plan it and where to find the money to fund it. Then it gives the reader the basics of setting up shop on the Web, where to host it, some e-commerce Dos and Don'ts, and how to take orders and ship them. Finally, it will cover the essentials of marketing and promoting their new business. The book is organized in such a way that the reader can quickly find a topic and get the information they need to set up their own online business.

About this title

Review:

The title of Starting an Online Business may be better proof of a post-Internet-bubble economic recovery than anything else. In the book itself, readers who are thinking about doing business online--particularly by means of a Web site--are informed of the sorts of challenges they'll face as they work toward that goal. The style and nature of coverage seem particularly well suited to wholesale and retail companies that are already doing business offline and want to add online catalogs and order-taking capabilities to their offerings.

Don't expect to find many technical details in these pages. Though you will, for example, find information about software for creating Web pages, there's no detailed coverage of how to use such tools. The author likes to refer his readers to Web resources, and most readers probably will learn about previously unknown services (like fulfillment contractors and trust authorities) from his research. Fie on Frank Fiore for furthering the flawed fantasies that fueled countless failed Internet start-ups. A whole chapter deals with funding sources, including angel investors and the initial public offering (IPO) of shares. True enough, these are potential sources of money, but the kinds of businesses that run their sites on free hosting services--one of the subjects Fiore covers nicely--are just not going to be doing that sort of thing anytime soon. Mentioning them here has greater potential to distract business owners than to serve any useful purpose. Better to devote the entirety of this book to further coverage of the practical issues of online commerce. --David Wall

Topics covered: How to bring your existing business to the Internet--or start a new one there--by setting up a Web site that promotes and sells the company's products. Writing a business plan, finding a hosting service, establishing an order-taking mechanism, and promoting your offerings are all covered.

About the Author:

Frank Fiore is an e-business expert and consultant, and author of e-business books entitled The Complete IdiotÕs Guide to Starting an Online Business, e-Marketing Strategies, and Successful Affiliate Marketing for Merchants, all published by Macmillan/Que, and Dr. LivingstonÕs Online Shopping Safari Guidebook, published by Maximum Press. He has been involved with e-business from its inception on the Net and with his experience as an e-business expert and direct marketer of products, he knows e-business from both sides of the transaction. He is currently the Official Online Shopping Guide for About and has been interviewed for numerous TV and radio talk shows and print media on the subject of e-Business and online shopping.

About this edition

• Publisher: Peachpit Press
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0789725649
• ISBN 13: 9780789725646
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 360