If you really want to reach out and touch someone, online is the way to go. Peggy McCracken is an Enterprise write and webmaster whose column appears each Tuesday. Home is the office in the online business world. With a computer and modem, anyone can start up a business and link it to the world through the Internet. He describes how to do business on the Internet, outlines the basics of the online world, tells you how to connect, how to design your site and how to promote it.
Internet businesses range from a parenting center for young children to a virtual cemetery.
You might be a candle manufacturer, herb grower, writer, cook, mortgage loan broker, rubber stamp manufacturer - or just about anything you can imagine. Some sites act only as links to other sites with similar information. If you want to sell directly over the Internet, choose something small and easy to ship. Give the customer a choice of paying directly online with a credit card, by telephone or by mail. Gielgun tells you how much you will likely have to invest, how many employees you may need, what competition to expect and whether the site has international potential.