We’ve talked about whether you’re the right kind of person for an online business, and whether it’s the right kind of business for you. So today let’s talk about what resources you need to have if you want to start an internet business.
Is it as simple as having an internet connection and a desire to succeed?
(Watch this video…)
Main points:
(Note: for your convenience, there are links within the list below for things I recommend, some of which are my affiliate links)
What you need…
1) A computer
-Doesn’t need to be the latest and greatest
-Can’t be a total dinosaur
-Recommend Windows XP or newer
-Consider a laptop
-spend $200-$1000 for a desktop, $400-$1500 for a laptop
A few places to shop for a computer:
HP Shopping (where I bought my computer and my laptop)
Buy.com (I’ve bought a lot of stuff there including backup hard drives)
Amazon (A good place to compare prices and look for specials)
2) Internet connection (Broadband recommended). I used Qwest DSL (Now CenturyLink) for many years, and they were been good. I then used Comcast broadband for a few years, and loved it, as the speeds were much faster. Now I live out in the foothills, with no DSL or cable available, so I use Skybeam, which is a wireless Internet service. The speeds are not blazing, but it’s good enough for my business, and fast enough to stream Netflix too. If you live in an area not serviced by a major provider, you might want to look into something like Skybeam, or satellite broadband.
3) Antivirus program. I use AVG; their website is www.avg.co.uk.
UPDATE: I believe AVG is still good, however I think there are some better ones. On my main PC, I’ve switched over to Avast, which is also free:
http://www.avast.com/free-antivirus-download
And on my laptop I’ve switched to Microsoft’s free progam:
http://www.microsoft.com/Security_Essentials/
4) Email (free options available). For example: http://mail.google.com/mail/signup
5) Zip program (free options available). This is a good freeware: www.7-zip.org
6) Productivity software (free option available). Here’s a good free option: www.openoffice.org
7) Startup capital (highly recommended). I recommend having at least $200 available.
8] Credit card (highly recommended). If you’re afraid you’ll abuse it, you might want to consider a prepaid visa card.
9) Paypal account (highly recommended). You can get a free account at PayPal. If you live in a country that PayPal doesn’t allow, read this article for inspiration.
10) Business checking account (highly recommended).
11) Business registration (requirements vary – might be optional).
12) Business Entity such as an LLC (Optional). In general, you can probably start as a sole proprietor, and decide later if you want to form an LLC.
An LLC may help save you from paying self employment taxes. It also can protect your personal assets. Consult with an attorney or tax accountant.
If you want to avoid paying an attorney to help with the paperwork, you can often do it the cheapest directly through your state department. I’ve also found LegalZoom to be a helpful shortcut. I’ve used them to form three LLC’s, one non-profit, and two wills.
13) Accountant (Optional).
14) Lawyer (Optional).
15) Telephone (Optional). If you have broadband, you might want to consider Skype for your phone service.
16) Insurance (Optional).
17) Backup drive (Highly recommended). I added this one after making the video. A decent external hard drive can be purchased for $100 – $400. It’s not so important what kind of drive you get; what’s important is that you use it to backup all the files on your computer on a regular basis. I’ve bought several hard drives (including Maxtor, Lacie, and Western Digital) from Buy.com with good results.
There are a few other things that you’ll need which will be specifically covered in upcoming lessons, so don’t worry about them for now.
Action steps:
1) Go through the list, and make sure you have everything that is required. For the highly recommended ones, do as best you can to get them. For the optional ones, do some research and decide whether it’s something you need.
As I mentioned back in lesson 3, you don’t need to be a computer expert, but there are some things you’ll need to know. I’ll go through those basic computer skills in the next lesson.
As always, you are welcome to post your questions and comments below.
Have a great day!
Thanks Eric…
Another Great lesson as usual…lots of good information you loaded into this one!
Get 120 Individual Turnkey Websites with your Paypal Payment ID on each!
http://www.Instant-Paysites.com
Hi Eric great video again, I enjoy your insights will apply your techniques, until next time. Thanks.
http://squidoo.com/successfulwithforextrading
Well done Eric. And I finally agree with you about the importance of a laptop. I’ve been out of my office for three weeks. I’m keeping up with work intermittently from my parent’s vacation house…And now I see clearly how much easier it would’ve been had I only invested in a laptop from the beginning. (Hindsight is so 20-20)
So, for anybody who is reading this comment, Eric was right, (as usual.)
But by my next extended vacation, I fully intend to have a laptop I use for work. Let me tell you, asking my Mom and Dad for “computer time” at my age (pushing 40 now) has been humbling, and slightly ridiculous…
In His Service,
Sabrina
Hi Eric,
Thank you for another great lesson. Would like to have watched the video but with my hearing mostly gone I get maybe 10% of the dialog so I stick to your text.
Just wanted to add a spot to your list of resources for purchasing a computer. I have had excellent service from the following link.
http://www.discountpc.net/
They buy used office machines, refurbish and sell. I have purchase two now, both Dells as I am partial to them. The first one had a hard drive failure after about two years. I replaced the hard drive and the machine still cost me under $400. I purchased my present machine ($235 + $30 shipping-Pentium 4 Optiplex) around March of this year and have had no problems.
Thanks again
Ken
3) Antivirus program — I monitor and do tech support for 2 ISPs.
We recommend using http://www.Avast.com (Free)
you just renew it every 14 months.
9) Paypal account Make sure you get the ‘business’ account or you will be limited.
12) LLC Many states now have available online forms you can download, (Some are just fill in the blanks online and file…. you will need a credit card to pay for the state fees.)
13)14) Accountant and Lawyer “MAKE SURE”!!! They both understand what an internet business is and how it works!! (Or it will cost you THOUSANDS!) Been there Done that!!
16) Insurance (Make sure you talk to your agent about an add-on rider to “FULLY” cover all your business equipment, i.e.: Computers/computer programs (CD’s)/printers/scanners/etc.)
Take ‘good’ pictures of every thing and write the make/model/serial number on each picture.
Give him/her a copy and put a copy in a safety deposit box.
“KEEP IT UP TO DATE!”
(Side note: Make copies of all your cd’s and use them ‘in house’ and put the originals into your safety deposit box.)
Hi Eric, nice having you explain all the stuffs
and especially the open source software. I use many of those! They are great and doesn’t cost you money at all! I think many of you will love that.
Proson
Quit Your Day Job And Still Make Money? Find out more at:
http://www.workfromhometips.info/squeeze.html
Hi Eric, good to hear on your ongoing lessons. We owe you alots, there will be no such lessons thats been created like this before. Always be blessing by people you served & thats willn’t be forgotten.
# We need to ensure that we aren’t being cheated & we will get paid.
Ths, regards.
Eric, by seeing your great lessons, everybody will be success doing Online business. Don’t be surprised, we will find you anywhere in this World as to celebrate our success with all your people.
Ths, regards
Mohd
Eric, your keep it simple,step by step format is great!!! I especially like how you included the “ACTION STEP” into each lesson. Though they’ve been easy up to this point, it’s good for people to get their feet wet and get into the Action Habit. I know this is Business 101 or Napolean Hill type stuff, but to have the benefit of your experience AND have my “to do list” already written down for me is very encouraging. As things get more complex down the road, this same step by step “to do list” will not only connect the dots for a lot of us but will hopefully keep myself and others organized and on track enough to actually start making some money. A business plan and goals is just a bunch of daydreaming without the action steps, so keep up the great lessons and “to do list” action steps coming.
P.S. Have a safe and blessed trip.
A comprehensive list of tools and I like to add FREE Autoresponder
Jaunesk
Get A FREE Autoresponder Here. Strickly No Sponsor Ads. http://tinyurl.com/5ex5os
Hi, Eric
Thanks for being so honest and understanding towards those of us who would like to harness the power of the internet to achieve our goals of financial independence, but need step-by-step guidance aimed at helping us instead of ripping us off! You are a godsend!
Question: what is your opinion of Ewen Chia’s offerings as well as the man HIMSELF in terms of whether or not you would recommend him as having the interest of his prospective customers at heart as opposed to merely trying to sell pproducts, as well as how USEFUL do you feel his offerings are to prospective customers – whether newbies or somewhat experienced online entrepreneurs?
Thanks!
Eric, remember when you assigned “Cash Quadrant” by Robert Kiyosaki, for a reading assignment I looked online and I dont think its the book but it does have an excellent audio by him its a 2 part audio
thanks eric , your information very useful for me
Haha, yeah you should get one. And they’re really cheap now. If you look for the best sales, you can find a decent laptop for like $400. E
Good tips… I forgot to mention that about PayPal. You should upgrade to either business or premier (preferably business). And then be sure to complete their “recommended steps for merchants”. This will help ensure that they don’t place a hold on your account when all the orders srart flowing in.
Thank you very much 🙂
To answer your question, I think Ewen is a good guy and most of his stuff is good. Similar to me, he’s released some hyped up infoproducts to make money for himself, so some of his products are better than others. I think some of them are probably not very “useful” as you say, but overall I think Ewen is a great marketer who wants to help people. I have not reviewed any of his products in awhile, so I’m not sure which ones you’re looking at, or whether they would be a good investment for newbies, but I will say that if you ever had the chance to personally learn from Ewen, he is one of the top affiliate marketers in the business and would be a good person to learn from.
Eric,
Being following your great tips for awhile. Always look forward to getting them. No fluff, all good reading and help.
Thanks
Eric,
Here’s the link to the offering which i was referring to. If you get a chance to critique it, I would look forward to your comments! Thanks for your response already; for, it has been am assurance of my sense about his being someone who KNOWS affiliate mktg from successful experiemce. I’d be curious to know what you think of his monthly-subscribed ‘Super-affiliate membership club’?
http://www.superaffiliates.com/?hop=zipofftest
Eric;
Kieth Wellman convinced me to get another domain and his staff would publish a complete niche website for me with frequent updates.
I got nothing and he is impossible to reach, I’ve been burned!!!
Warn your list!
Hi Eric, hope your mission trip to Belize is fruitful!
Great ‘All-in-One’ tips to start an online business for beginners & amateurs alike, really appreciate that!
Best,
sidnee.
Hi Eric,
I like that you have started from the very beginning. A business plan is essential, however, having basic business and technology tools is a must. It’s great to get resources from you so I can compare with those I am already using. I look forward to the next lesson.
Thanks,
Ron
http://www.GemStarGifts.com
Do I need to get a “business checking account”, or a “personal checking account” used only for business?
I’m asking because banks offer business accounts with features (and fees) that personal accounts do not have.
Thanks for the good Info. Also if anyone lives in the California area, a couple good places to buy desktops and laptops are PC Mall and Frys Electronics. They usually have the best prices year round with excellent Sales around all the Holidays. Hint Hint…4th of July sale just around the corner!
😉
Thank you, Eric, for this great “start here, then do this” approach!
I use OpenOffice exclusively and LOVE it. One of my favorite things is the push-button create pdf feature. Links and images and formatting stay where they’re supposed to.
I registered as an LLC with our state a few months ago, and the psychological lift was amazing. Puff up chest and say “I’m a business owner!” ($50 online for Oregon.)
Also applied for an employer identification number with the IRS (free) to use for affiliate programs instead of using my personal social security number. Again, a more professional, I’m in business lift.
Hey Eric.Love your honesty.I just joined a business.I need more guidence on how to promote my site.I don’t have a lot of money to invest in advertising.Please help!BTW.My website domain is http://shopnowforless.com
Thanks.
Just one bit of advice, don’t run out and get your paypal account,or for that matter, anything else that charges a monthly fee until you’re ready to actually start using it. I’ve been paying for my paypal account for about 3 months now and I’m not ready for it (it’s the business upgrade so it isn’t free). You don’t want to pay those monthly fees now if you don’t need to. Do you agree Eric? You’re the expert.
Mary
http://www.yourlegacyteam.com/careermaker
Great info everyone, your lessons are the best Eric, Grandpa awesome points, but you know the more you know the more you need to know lol
happy learning everyone…have a great day
Liz
we are all members right did you find the minisite info in the downloads they are very good
Eric, you are doing a wonderful job. From all the lists you recommended, if we do a rough estimate, the cost will not be less than $2,000. Is there a way out for the less priviledge person, who cannot afford the cost?
Hey Eric,
Here I am going thru my normal routines and it hits me — we both forgot about one very important step…. “BACKUPS”!!
Now days hard drives are cheap, (You can even find 500 GB’s for under a $100) and so are USB external cases.
Get in the habit of manually backing up all your files/records on a daily or weekly schedule.. OR search the net and find a program that will do it automatically. (YES there are plenty of free ones out there.)
There are also several programs that will make images of your drives and you can save them to the USB drive or burn them to cd’s/dvd’s.
If you use CD-RW’s or DVD-RW’s and make a set of 6 (One for each month), then just erase the oldest and reburn the newest month; that way You will always have your last 6 months ready to restore your computer to any point.
Grandpa Bill
What if I do not have but say two of the 16 of the list? The computer and the time. Am I wasting your time? Do I have time to make or save up for the business? Or can I work for you by training to become a business on line?
Eric,
It is so difficult to find people who really really sharing every tips on how to starts an online business. I really glad to be one of your tips’ reader.
For anybody who want to start your own easy and simple arts and crafts business online, find out at : http://www.easyartscraftstips.com.
Thanks.
Thanks Eric,
Great stuff!
What is LLC is?
Dear Eric,
Thanks a lot for your course. It is really the best one. Believe me, I have already tries many of them, without any success. But your course is very clear to understand and to follow even for people, like me in our age(50) with a great desire to improve our life and to help our children.
I am so sooooo grateful to you.
God bless you,
Halina
Hi Eric,
Unfortunately I am confortable with the 16 items less #7 and #9.I haven’t at least $200 as startup capital.What will happens if I won’t be able to pay this sum at that time?
Also my paypal account has “Unverified’ as status.I already payd twice 1.5 Euro to get ny 4-digit number but I never got Paypal statement to see my number.Have you any tips here?
Respectfully,
Petre Tudor
Your Tips are very helpful, but now there is a situation that I don’t understand. Until #7, I could watch these videos as many times as I wanted,but now when I click on it a window pops up that “created w/Camtasia”. I have tried to downloan it, but cannot. Have you any helpful suggestions? Thank you.
Hi Eric, Great, awesome video lessons!! I am enjoying them very much!! Great list of things to need in this lesson!
Question about the computer aspect of it?
I have an older laptop, bought maybe 5 or 6 years ago, with Windows XP running on it. It has 512 MB RAM and only a 60 GB HD in it. It’s okay I think for now because I am still in the process of starting a business. I will try to follow your wonderful lessons!
If and when I go to buy a new computer, should I try to go for another more powerful laptop or should I try to purchase a newer Quad 4 desktop pc’s? As of yet, I haven’t really used the laptop for mobility. I’ve noticed a lot of Internet Marketers have both a desktop and a laptop. Should someone wanting to run a small home business on the internet consider having both??
Thank you very much!
Umberto
I assume Symantec is as good as Grisoft?
Thanks for the lessons. I find them very good.
Glenn Wilkes
http://www.wealthinfoplus.com
Thank you Eric. This is really critical info and should reach as many newbie marketers as possible. Enabling their success through articles such as this one will be beneficial to everyone.
Jerome D
=========
http://www.WriteBetterAds.com
Another good website for Anti Virus and computer optimization is http://www.pcpitstop.com They have first rate software for about $29 a year.
🙂
Hi there,
Just tried to look at your link from work but it wqs websensed out and stated ilegal or questionable content. I’ll try looking at it again once I’m home.
🙂
Thanks for the heads up…at least you found a great place now to further your education. Sorry to hear it happened to you but it seems to happen to all of us one time or another.Best of luck to you!
😉
I guess I’m going to have to take another look at OpenOffice. I wasn’t to impressed with it at first and uninstalled it. Your enthusiasim has got me curious now..lol
😉
Hi Mary,
Opening a Paypal account is free and shouldn’t matter which updrade you have (basic,business or premier)Fees are only charged when you make payments,receive payments or transfer money.
😉
Thanks Liz if you were talking about my minisite download. Best of luck to you and your business!
😉
Hi There,
All of the 16 things listed above are pretty easy to obtain(some are even optional)Just hang in there and do your best!
😉
A limited liability company (abbreviated L.L.C. or LLC) in the law of the vast majority of the states of the United States is a legal form of business company offering limited liability to its owners. Often incorrectly called a “limited liability corporation” (instead of company), it is a hybrid business entity having characteristics of both a corporation and a partnership. It is often more flexible, the owners have limited liability for the actions and debts of the company, and it is suitable for smaller companies with a single owner. The primary corporate characteristic is limited liability while the primary partnership characteristic is the availability of pass-through income taxation.
😉
A limited liability company (abbreviated L.L.C. or LLC) in the law of the vast majority of the states of the United States is a legal form of business company offering limited liability to its owners. Often incorrectly called a “limited liability corporation” (instead of company), it is a hybrid business entity having characteristics of both a corporation and a partnership. It is often more flexible, the owners have limited liability for the actions and debts of the company, and it is suitable for smaller companies with a single owner. The primary corporate characteristic is limited liability while the primary partnership characteristic is the availability of pass-through income taxation.
Hi Eric,
Great series…
I have a question of where to form my LLC? Where is an internet company legally based if I am strictly selling down loadable info products. I use Hostgator to host my domains and they are in Texas… I live in California. People keep suggesting Nevada as the best place to incorporate. Is there a standard industry practice? I’m not asking for legal or CPA advice… just confused 🙂
Thanks for any light you can shine,
Kent
Great inspirational story about Ladan…i am now truly inspired, coming from zimbabwe a country with most of the obstacle she faces i am galvanized to take action and not make up endless excuses not to start my own internet marketing business. Have been reading a lot of valuable free stuff from other “Gurus” for years and now is the time.your lessons are just what the doctors ordered.
Thanx
Inspired
Michael Chimalizeni
Petre, I had that problem with paypal when I first started and had to work with my bank to get the accounts verified. But it may be different in EU than here in US. 🙂