The most basic of skills you will need for an online web presence is understanding HyperText Markup Language (HTML). This is the standard code used to create static web pages (those that don't have content that changes on the fly). Fortunately, HTML is very easy to learn and many community colleges have quick courses on it that can get you started. Or you can go to http://www.pagetutor.com/ where you'll find a lot of free, step by step tutorials written in non-techie terms.



If you are the least bit technically savvy, you won't have much problem picking up HTML programming, particularly because most of today's packages don't require you to know the ins and outs of programming.

Software packages like Frontpage and Dreamweaver can be learned by anyone who is familiar with Windows and other computer applications. Much of the programming is done behind the scenes while the user is only required to work on documents similar to a word processor for formatting web page articles.

If you are looking to create an online store on your website, then you will need to learn how to either program links to products on other sites that have the inventory (affiliate marketing) or links to products you are shipping. You will need to use some sort of commercial online cart program, like Paypal online cart options or an off-the-shelf software package that can be added to your website, if you are selling your own inventory.

NECESSARY TECHNICAL SKILLS

The skills and packages you need will be determined by the types of sales you are trying to achieve. If you are seeking affiliate sales, you don't need any technical training other HTML.

If you are seeking to sell your own products, you will have to learn how to create a shopping cart for your products or find a third-party venue who will allow you the use of their system for receiving orders online and collecting payments.

Of course if you are marketing just one product to start with, www.PayPal.com can be a good way to take payment without have to go to the expense of getting a merchant bank account set up or an Internet gateway to authorize credit cards.

Once you know what it is you want to sell, you can check to see what technical skills might be needed to create your online store.

DIRECT INTERNET SALES

There are a number of people who have hobbies or create crafts who want to sell them online. Or maybe, you are a collector who wants to put your business online. The biggest obstacle for these people is that they often don't have the technical skills to make their own website. They have two choices: 1. Use someone else's site and give them a cut or 2. Learn how to set up their own site.

If they choose to use someone else's site, like eBay or a craft consortium, no doubt they will pay to list their items. Those items may or may not sell. While there was no expense for learning how to program, there is time spent understanding how to market on eBay successfully. There are no online opportunities that don't require some degree of technical know-how. The question is: How much do you want to learn?

If you decide you want your own site, you will need to either hire a web developer or you will have to learn how to program your own. Learning to program your own site can be very time consuming, if you are not technically savvy.

Even understanding the mechanics of how to program a website, there is a body of knowledge you will not have access to in terms of understanding how to make it search engine friendly.

There is a great deal to setting up an effective online store, not the least of which is attracting customers and being able to take orders, receive payment, and fulfill them quickly. In addition to this, without visitors to the site you have no sales, so if your pages are not programmed to be search engine friendly, odds are you will have difficulty attracting people to your site.

When you are considering doing your own site, think about hiring knowledgeable people to create it for you. This can leave more time for you to refine your marketing plan and develop your product and your market base better.

If, however, you choose to use a third-party to market your wares, like eBay, Amazon, or Cafepress then you don't have to worry about building a checkout cart, setting up credit payments, or establishing a full e-commerce site. You can simply use their interface and list your products with them. This takes less initial programming efforts, but you will be charged listing and commission fees.

You will have to have some expertise in digital photography, to help capture the inventory you are listing for visitors to the third-party site. You will need to have a camera with at least 3 megapixels or more and the ability to upload and download pictures to your computer, which should be Internet-enabled.

A final option for listing your own products on your own site is Paypal. They offer a very simple to learn system for sellers using their checkout cart program and "Buy" buttons that are easily programmed into web pages using HTML code. The code is generated by their system based on values you set for your item and it can then be cut and pasted into your existing web pages. This makes it very easy to set up your pages to collect Paypal payments for orders on your site with only knowledge of HTML coding.

So don't let the technical issues of starting an Internet Marketing business make you shy away from what can turn into a very lucrative business venture.