Hosting With An ISP

Sooner or later you'll want to consider running your own eCommerce Web Site. The free sites are fine to start with if you have limited funds. But to become a business you need more than what the personal Web page providers can offer.

As a business you have a number of eCommerce needs that a person with a personal home page does not. And selling other merchants products has its limitations. Free hosting is fine but generally a poor choice if you're going to generate your own transactions and sell your own products on your site. In addition, eBusiness services like customer wish lists, gift certificates, advanced search capabilities, gift reminder services, personal shopping agents, and one-click ordering are not normally available at the free hosting sites.

If you have dreams of becoming the next Amazon, the All-In-One hosting services will not get you there. You're still constrained by the necessities of these types of hosting services. Sure, you can offer the products you want, take and process a credit card order, have an email account, and use your own domain name. But you need to take charge of your own destiny and build your own online store.

That kind of flexibility and credibility comes only with the control and design of your own site.

Your first task in selecting an appropriate ISP for your online business is to learn about ISP's. You'll find ISPs all over the map. To start locating an ISP check out Yahoo's list of regional ISPs at www.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Companies/Internet_Services/Access_Providers/National__U_S__/