The software you really NEED to have for online business are just 2:

- Email software to communicate with potential and current customers,
and
- A Web Browser for obvious reasons.

There are many different types of each, all with similar functions. Choose the one that suits your experience level. We use the programs to the left.


It's possible to to have an online business without an email address, but why would you? It's recommended that you have one as the vast majority of your visitors and customers will prefer to communicate with you through email and a toll-free number normally will not be enough to get them to make contact with you. One thing people like about the internet is the anonymity it creates for them, as well as the ability to keep the contact on the level they choose. Again, for the vast majority the preferred method of contact would be through email.


Free Web-Based Email accounts (like Yahoo, Hotmail, and others) are convenient and do serve a real purpose, however we don't feel they give an image of a 'Real Business'. Think about this:

You visit a website looking for a product and the email address is from Yahoo. A 2nd wesite with the same product has an email address from the site. Who would you feel more comfortable dealing with?
A free email address (in our opinion) gives an impression of 'Fly By Night'.

Most ISP's offer web-based email with their hosting plans. Get a 'real' address and remove any doubt that your business is real..

Did you know that:

On a website, 75+% of all 1st contact is though email.

Even though Outlook Express is the most popular email client, it is also the most vulnerable to viruses

Unsolicited Bulk Email (UBE-SPAM) accounts for more than 80% of all email on the internet.