With today's tough times it seems that it's difficult to get a business into and onto the Internet effectively.  10 Internet years leap past by many businesses and now from every corner there is talk of blogs (web logs) and 'tweets'. Something called social media is developing it's own wings with millions of people breezing past one another anonymously on the Internet. The key is social interaction, not necessarily social media.

Social media is about touching and feeling given the current restrictions of the Internet in tactile sense.  Much as you might interact with your customer in your store social media tools provide a means of communicating in a wide bandwidth.  It is important to understand that social media tools are marketing tools and not sales tools. An eCommerce "store" itself has its own requirements of organizing your products and services. Categorization helps define in a broad sense your grouped products based on some common attribute.  Attributes can add up to different groupings of the same products with a unique relationship to the searcher.  The notion that everything is about optimizing for a search engine is silly.  One is trying to optimize for the human visitor and our unique way of thinking.  Search engines are attempting to mimic that capacity.

Starting an Internet business is much more than a shopping cart.  One has to have a product that can be bought low and sold high, or at least more then credit card charges.  Offering professional services, hanging ones shingle, or a variation of eCommerce,  a parts store or classified ads can be a great model for a on line business.  There is no doubt that some expertise and technical help will be required.   The more one plans ahead with a well thought out plan the better and less expensive the web design process will be. Inventory tracking, payment processing and shipping charges are just a few of the additional considerations that influence the success of an eCommerce business.  Building a solid foundation will allow the business to rapidly expand without as many bumps in the road.

There is no one perfect solutions for all businesses as each one has specific requirements that make them stand out or have the potential of being the guiding light of the endeavor. Cost considerations play a role, although with proper planning and most importantly, a business plan, this should not be any kind of barrier. Under-financing a project on the other hand spells certain death.  In that case it's better to have not loved, then to have loved and lost that love.

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