Start-up Advice please: Gateway or Portal page & hosting?

> I know it's not realistic to
> start a biz with no capital,

That's true.

> What is the best affordable way
> to start? Are there any of the free hosts
> that are OK?

Spend the money for a good domain name and good hosting. IMHO there aren't any good free hosting accounts, and there are many paid for hosting accounts that are not any good either.

> I know I need to start my list. Am I on the
> right track with the intro page idea?

No, your visitors need to have a reason to come back. If your intro letter doesn't draw them in the first time, what other reason would they have to come back?

> The next would be for my organic farm &
> garden consulting biz which will develop
> into a free and paid newsletters and/or
> private site later.

Study Mike McGroarty at http://www.freeplants.com/

> The third is my wife's health site with
> vegetarian/vegan recipies, cooking seminars,
> and natural health through healthy lifestyle
> info and seminars.

I understand Willie Crawford does very well with his Soul-food site http://chitterlings.com/

> Two things are roadblocking us here: lack of
> experiance online marketing (I have been
> soaking up all I could since Nov) and lack
> of capital.

Can't help with the capital other then to suggest the bank, friends and family. I bet your local library has tons of books on marketing, that you can learn from without having to spend a fortune.

> I have and will put things on ebay, but
> selling our antique odds-n-ends for 5 cents
> on the dollar of "book value" is
> kind of a depressing way to raise money.

Again, don't take a loss. Go the library and find clubs of antique collectors and send them a letter to let them know what you have available. People who collect antiques have expendable income. You don't need to be taking a loss on that stuff.

> Good catagories, good photos, good copy. I
> guess it's a buyer's market with the economy
> the way it is.

It isn't anything that can't be learned if you apply yourself.

> Dave Horn

Good luck to you Dave.

Best Regards,
Steve MacLellan


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