un-intelligent

[Maricius]

I have been trying for the past month to start a small business for myself, just as a on the side kind of thing. As of right now, I have my website on geocities, and I activated my paypal to accept payments, the only problem is in order for me to use the paypal shopping cart, I must first have a shopping cart on my site to send the total to paypal. I tried downloading a comersus shopping cart, because it was free and it's one of the carts paypal supports, but i don't know how to use it. I followed thier instructions and thier troubleshooting instructions, but i couldn't figure it out. it also says that I need a "c:\InetPub" but I don't know what that is, and they don't explaine it. :confused: I don't have the money to hire someone to build me a site (thats why i'm building my site on geocities) or the money to invest into a huge business (the money is the reason I'm starting this thing) and the bank wont give me a loan, mostly becuase I'm selling body jewelry and the such. Can anyone help me with this, or does anyone know an easier way to set this up. I'm not all that intelligent when it comes to html coding and that sort of thing, so it's all of this is kind of looking at an alien language to me. If anyone has any suggestions for me, I would be very gratefull. :o

[NetNerd85]

You definitely need better hosting for starters, it can still be free but geocities are not at all good enough for ecommerce. Surely you have some webspace with your ISP? Even that would be better!

You also need to find someone nice enough to help you out for free... Perhaps you can tell us more about your project / business and where you are in the world?

[Maricius]

Well, like I said, I'm not really all that computer literat, so I'll have to ask, what is 'ISP'?
What I'm doing for my business is I'm buying body jewelry (piercing stuff) from a whole saler, then they ship me what I ordered, and I put it back up for resale. I tried to go on eBay, but that was a huge flop, and I really didn't want to do an auction, I wanted more to be on a flat price basis. The way the paypal thing was supposed to work out was that the person would make a purchase on my page, and my shopping cart would direct them to a paypal shopping cart, that's where they would be putting in there credit card information, after the purchase is made, their information is destroyed from the paypal data base, and I never see the information, paypal just credits my account for that much money. Thats where the problem started, with trying to put a cart on my site. I'm basing my business out of my home in the US, NY state.
I don't mind putting a little money into this project, like if I would have to purchase a domain name or anything like that, the only problem is, I don't have alot of money to put into it. Thats why I was trying the "cheap but safe" rout.

[meinsla]

Stop using geocities man. I think that's even against their terms of service policy using the free service. And their pay service is garbage. I think it'll be hard for you to prosper unless you do that. I know you said you don't have the money, but you're starting a business. Starting a business costs a lot of time and money. Really, you have to spend money to make money. Although, there are also a lot of government programs that pay you start a business.

[NetNerd85]

ISP stands for Internet Service Provider. You definitely need to buy some sort of book on business and computers. You should also think about taking computer classes. You could search for things online but it can be difficult to know what to search for. If you think that everyone makes it rich or big on the internet, that's not the right frame of mind to have because the truth is a lot of people fail via online business ventures. The internet is no perfect solution to starting a business but good luck to you :)

[wh666-666]

http://www.50webs.com

Very good free hoster, better than geocities as its add free.

Look at all these threads on webdev to get you started, you dont need to spend a penny initially, only if you ever decide you want to do php or other forms or scripting or get a shorter "address", even then only spend $5/£3 a month or so. Anyway take a look at each thread as it will really help you out:

Webhosting recommendations etc:
http://www.webdeveloper.com/forum/showthread.php?t=66702

Favorite web resources for us all:
http://www.webdeveloper.com/forum/showthread.php?t=113990

Thread I was asking in a similar way about cart programs for paypal integration:
http://www.webdeveloper.com/forum/showthread.php?t=98853


Another recommendation is when using WYSIWYG page building (like geocities or software on your pc) open the html with notepad and have a look, and a fiddle and get used to html, easiest way to learn.

[meinsla]

If you think that everyone makes it rich or big on the internet, that's not the right frame of mind to have because the truth is a lot of people fail via online business ventures.

I have to refute this statement. If websites like this: http://www.pageweavermedia.com/ can prosper I can only conclude anyone with an idea and an internet connection can succeed with an online business. :D

[wh666-666]

Actually to be honest id have to agree with netnerd.

Although that webdesign company may be popular ive seen alot of webdesign companies without validated pages and horrible designs like that, but its a service thats needed and the market is overwhelmed with designers/coders but not a totally filled market as there are still customers out there.

But with alot of ideas there already tends to be a market for them, for some that market is filled and its true that not 100% of people get rich through the internet, its not a magic portal that money floods in from anyone creating a website.

What you have to consider when starting a venture is:
1: Is it an orginal idea or an exsisting concept?
If its an exsisting concept what elevates you above competition or persuades people to spend money with you?
If its an original idea do you have the revenue to advertise the ideas potential?

2: time ratio V money, is it worth your time?

3: Is the internet the best media for you to broadcast on or is their somewhere else you can advertise?
(There are some businesses that do better on word of mouth/local knowledge rather than a flashy website)

[wh666-666]

PS: Also some people are just lucky like the webmaster of that poor site

[JPnyc]

I have to refute this statement. If websites like this: http://www.pageweavermedia.com/ can prosper I can only conclude anyone with an idea and an internet connection can succeed with an online business. :D
Well be that as it may, the statement is accurate. Many people DO fail with online biz.

[meinsla]

Thanks guys--I was obviously kidding. I need to use more emoticons next time. :cool: :rolleyes: ;)

[wh666-666]

Lol its hard to tell at times meinsla :p but it is quite amusing web design companies that actually expect people to fork out money when they have such a poor design! Maybe a suggestion of quality for maricius NOT to aspire to!

[Reli4nt]

They say most businesses fail in the first 2 years, I'd bet that most web businesses fail in the for 6 - 12.
*Actually, from what I have seen most failed before they began.

Learn from the mistakes of others. You don't have to master anything to succeed but it helps to understand the basics of anything important to the success fo your business.