Have I scared you enough? Let's talk about the first steps:

First off, if you are 100% serious about starting a business, specifically an online one, I congratulate you. You have already laid down the foundation. The things you must remember about running ANY business, just starting out, or being a seasoned pro are these:

1. Never lose your determination
   
2. Set goals
   
3. Be realistic
   
4. NEVER QUIT

It's simple in the sense of saying, but almost impossible to stick by in the beginning.

It's a proven fact that most businesses close their doors within the first year. A lot of it has to do with poor financing, unrealistic goals, or a lack of interest. Keep this in mind when you are struggling through the first year.

Since you are utilizing an online business, there are a number of positives and negatives in terms of the first steps in making you're business a successful one.

Positive

1. Know you're business. Is it retail based, service, etc?
   
2. Know you're product. What are you selling or offering?
   
3. Know you're customer. Who are you selling to? What age group, Gender, nationality?

Negatives

1. Don't be biased. Never market to one particular group of people
2. Don't pay outrageous hosting fees for you're website
3. Make site readable and easy to follow

The last one sounds easy, however, it's not. This one takes a while to tweak, and since you are just starting out, you may want to add an e-mail ability that allows users to write comments about the site itself. What do they want changed, added? Remember, the site is for the customer, you may think it looks horrible, but the overall site construction should be a representation of what you're customers want. Start out with a site template, work from there.

I hope these steps can help you understand the process you are going to be getting into. I have complete respect for people who are wishing to break the chains of traditional workmanship and forge their own path. I did it.

Mostcool Media, Inc. an Atlanta Internet Services company conducted an independent survey of 500 small business owners who also were website owners. This survey revealed that as much as 80% of small business owners who had paid contractors to build their company website in the past year knew little if anything about their site or even how to track traffic statistics.

“I had my site built by a web company - it has been online for 3 months and I still don't know if anyone has seen it or not”, stated one respondent of the survey, “I sure can't find it in any search engines”.

“This phenomenon is common among small business owners,” stated Jeff Glaze, President of Mostcool Media, Inc. and the author of “The Ultimate Guide For Website Owners”, “ Unless a company owner knows how to track results or can afford a marketing consultant, chances are they may never know if their website is getting results for their company”.

While a slowdown in the economy might otherwise cause a company to put marketing projects on hold, a working website is crucial to the success of today's small business. “Without a website for a prospect to reference, a small business risks a credibility gap that can cost them thousands of dollars in new business.” “More importantly having a website and not knowing how to organize the content for usability, prospect conversion, and search engines is the downfall of many a small business site.” Said Glaze.

With literally hundreds of millions of websites on the Internet, it is more important than ever for small business owners to have the basic knowledge needed to successfully leverage their presence on the Internet. Without this knowledge, an investment in a company website is nothing more than another business expense.

The pay for a web developer is relatively high. Most employers offer great benefits around averaging around $30,000 annually also. One thing that may be difficult about being a web developer would be the long hours. Web developers are expected to work long hours, since they are able to work a variety of small jobs along with their development of websites in general.

A web developer today would be expected to have a good grasp of several programming languages, to diversify their techniques, and how they are applied to the web sites and projects they work on. There are two main categories or lines of work in which web developers are divided into. There are front end, and back end developers. The front-end developers work mainly with the coding and input systems of websites, and web based programs or applications. User interface and the appearance in general of the created website falls into their category of work. The back end web developers manage server side frameworks, and databases, some back end web developers focus maily on using servers directly for a website database, while at other times a database administrator or external system is preferred.

Any web developer is expected to follow the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) guidelines for websites they created. These guidelines are based on what the programmers are creating though, so they can be flexible. Generally more novice web developers follow the rules looser and can look less experienced in this field by doing this. On the World Wide Web these days though, there are many credible tutorials and learning site on how to abide by these rules, which makes entering this field of work much easier than having to learn on the spot, even though a great deal is still learned this way. The tutorials usually just give a basic grasp of the subject, but employers are looking for a complete knowledge of the rules usually.

I would enjoy the job of being a web developer. With the good pay, somewhat interesting job, and on today's job market it is seen as a successful career path in which one can succeed relatively easy. If you can put up with the memorizing of code languages and guidelines then this job would be for you. I would like to know of some major companies who have web developers and how many are generally hired for a company on an average sized project team.

Large Companies

Most companies maintain a website to educate the public about what and who they are. This is a way to market themselves to an extremely large number of potential buyers. For example, a company needs hoppers that have to function and be built according to their specifics. They can not just go out in their local area and find someone who sells this type of product. They may have seen an ad somewhere that drives them to a web site that produces the type of products they need, or just by doing an internet search.

Small Businesses

Small businesses can compete with larger businesses by using the internet as a marketing tool. They can promote the sale of their product and who they are by having a web site that draws customers to their store front. This can be especially useful if the small business has limited marketing dollars.

Cost

Large companies can have a web site that is easy to build, maintain or upgrade. Using someone with in the company to build the site, and finding the right web hosting company with a web site building function can be done by large or small businesses. Another method for large companies as well as smaller businesses is to contract out this project. This can be a very cost effective means for web site construction and maintenance.

In today's market all businesses benefit by having a web site. Their site can be considered e-commerce because it is used to increase the sell of services or products. Don't be left behind in today's market by not having an e-commerce site.

However, questions have been raised concerning the potential of the emerging industry since the country does not appear to have adequate infrastructure already in place; it is also likely to face strong competition from already established centres such as Antwerp and London.

Botswana is the source of about 25 percent of the $13.1 billion worth of rough diamonds produced in the world each year, diamonds account for about 70 percent of the country's export earnings.

Marking the celebrations of the 25th anniversary of the Jwaneng mine which is the world's richest diamond mine, President Festus Mogae revealed that his country wants to become a diamond trading centre, comparable to the likes of Antwerp.

President Festus Mogae

Kago Moshashane

He noted that "out of the 16 cutting and polishing diamond companies which have been issued with licenses, only six of them are operational. He said companies have cutting and polishing facilities in places such as India and Israel, there is a need to include Botswana as one of the viable centers". He added that "while the country cared about its own diamond industry, it also cared about the international diamond industry".

Speaking on his return from the Antwerp Diamond Conference held in Belgium recently, the Deputy Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources "Kago Moshashane" supported the view that Botswana has the potential to become the next diamond cutting and polishing centre.

He said that "the country is going to trade at least US$500 million of its aggregated supply and that the balance will continue to be channeled to established markets such as Antwerp".

He expressed confidence saying that "as for our ability and capacity, the massive infrastructure that we are putting in place and the training of personnel that the country is carrying out speaks for itself. Other centres have their own well established markets for jewelery, it is unreasonable for any of them to feel threatened by the emergence of Botswana as an additional diamond trading hub".

It is now commonplace to find items made from cane in a wealthy persons home and also in restaurants, hotels and places of attraction.

Cane is derived from a type of palm plant, the stem of the plant is solid, strong and flexible, this makes it ideal for use in the manufacture of furniture, baskets and other woven products. It is easy to work with, requiring only simple tools and low-cost machines. Eighteen species of the plant can be found in Cameroon, however only three species have the required diameter, fibre wall thickness and density of fibrous tissue that make them most suitable for commercial use.

The increased demand for cane based products is proving to be a boon, many jobless Cameroonians are turning to the trade as a means of earning a living.

In Douala, those who design such products are clustered in different parts of the town, their goods are clearly displayed to attract customers.

24 year old Nwanawasa Paul has been involved in the trade for the past 7 years, he was previously jobless and got involved as a means of trying to earn a living, he soon discovered he had a natural ability with cane. We caught up with him to find out a bit more.

AG: What do you manufacture and what are the materials and processes you use?

NP: I produce chairs (sets), tables, baskets, cupboards and other general items, I use cane/ rattan to construct them. Larger sections of cane are used to create the frame and for strength while smaller pieces are interwoven to provide definition and beauty.

I use steam to bend the cane rather than a blowgun as it reduces discoloration and tarnishing through scorch marks. I then bleach the finished products to obtain uniformity of colour, this is especially important when cane from different species are used to make a product. I sometimes dip the cane in kerosene; this provides protection against insect attack. When I use varnish I apply it in two coats, I usually sand lightly before adding the second coat, this ensures an even and long-lasting finish.

AG: What is the profile of your customers?

NP: It varies, I have customers from all walks of life, both private and trade e.g. wholesalers and exporters, although exporters are the most difficult to come by.

AG: Why are exporters difficult to reach?

NP: The truth is I am not very well connected so I find it difficult to reach them.

AG: What other difficulties do you face?

NP: Rain, during the rainy season my activities are greatly interrupted. I can come up against material scarcity due to the fact that suppliers are also hindered by the rains.

AG: Do you work in collaboration with others?

NP: Yes, I need the expertise of a tailor who sews cushions, I also engage with carpenters who supply me with wooden components that I incorporate into some of my designs.

AG: Is business very good?

NP: The products I produce sell at between 2.5 - 500 pounds. I only know if I have made a profit at the end of the year when I prepare my yearly accounts.

AG: What is your goal?

NP: There are many. I dream of having a big factory that supplies wholesalers and exporters. In order to expand my business, I plan to seek the financial assistance of government and other organisations that promote small and medium size enterprises.

AG: Thank you for sharing your experiences with us.

In Cameroon, cane is considered an "open-access" resource that can be collected from forests, there are very few laws regulating its harvest and state control often does not adequately monitor its exploitation. Increasing urban growth has led to developments that are encroaching on forests and high demand for cane products has led to the threat of over-harvesting of the resource; this can lead to poor quality cane stems being used and thus inconsistent quality of products.

Cane is important at many levels in local communities, its exploitation through the cutting and trading of raw cane for transformation into goods, can occupy up to about 35 per cent of a households time. As it can be harvested all year round, it provides valuable cash income for much needed school fees and medical expenses

Cane is one of the most important non-timber forest products (NTFPs) in Cameroon. The gathering, selling and processing of it has many advantages and can help forest dependent people lift themselves from the margines of poverty.

Content creation must not be aimed at attracting search engines. You should create enough content pages to tell your visitors that yours is a professional website and you have taken the time and effort to teach them what they must know about the product or service that you sell. There is no need to talk specifically about ecommerce website, as there will be hundreds or thousands of product display pages, which adds to content depth.

There is no really no need to post articles that are not in a way related to the business purpose of your website. Each content page must also be well "page-optimized" for a keyword or two. Achieve that page optimization with titles, headers and keyword anchor text links from at least a few pages of the website. This way, when a visitor choose to make a "site-search", he/she can quickly find what he/she wants.

These content pages need not be long articles. The content can also be a one-paragraph description of the product, service or some writeup about the industry you are in. If you choose to use long articles, you can use variations of the same keyword/key phrase within the article. But make sure, optimize the page for a single keyword/phrase only. These single paragraph descriptions or articles can have one specific advantage.

People searching for a specific phrase or sentence have better chances finding your site - because a description paragraph or an article can have the exact phrase that searchers might use.

By looking for optimizing your website with in-depth content, your website will automatically become bigger. A big website sends out positive signals to your visitors/customers.

Making sites bigger will be the single most important online marketing techniques by the end of 2007.