- Automate, Automate, Automate! The effort involved in web design can be very boring. Prior to getting caught up in some lengthy promotion, submission or design process, consider whether you could get a software or a freelancer to do it for you. Or whether it should be done that way at all.



- Have More Than One Web Host. Have more than one net hosting account if you have a lot of web sites. Spread the web sites out over different accounts. That way, if one net host goes 'splat', it will be a small irritant instead of a twelve-hour slog putting twenty web sites back online. You can install the resource-intensive stuff on the good, expensive host, and the less important web sites on the $5 p.m. hosts. You can then, using SSH and FTP, backup one site on-server and FTP it to another account directly. This can save a lot of time. It's also much quicker than downloading a backup to your PC and re-uploading it elsewhere. Have you got a 2MB broadband connection? The 2MB is the theoretical _download_ speed. Ever try _uploading_ a fat file? A lot tardier, isn't it?

- Use Freelances For Jobs You Lack The Skills For. Is money tight? Try scriptlance.com or rentacoder.com. The key to acquiring the best work is to a) be as specific as possible as to what you want and b) write your spec in simple, concise terms. Your project will probably be done by someone who's native language is not English. Most clients give a vague spec and receive work they're not happy with. Pick someone who's had a lot of favourable reviews recently. Pay in stages. Use the freelance site's escrow service. Don't expect to get more than you stumped up for, and don't be a cheapskate; if someone does a good job, they deserve a bonus, not quibbling.

- Use A Popular, Inexpensive Web Host. Here are some filtering criteria: Google PageRank of at least 5. Send them an email or two. See how long it takes to receive a reply. They ought to have a discussion board (another indication of popularity and customer support). Oodles of features offered (MySQL databases, Cpanel, Fantastico). Recent positive reviews in webmaster discussion boards. Offers Linux servers (Windows costs more, and offers less). Fee per month can be as low as $10, and still have all the features above.

- Web Host Technical Support. Technical support is as important as the software features a web host offers. Some net hosts charge $10 per month and respond to backup enquiries in twenty minutes. Some charge $40 per month and get back to you next day. As long as the question gets answered, this may may be OK. If the quality of the backup goes down, however, it isn't. One day you will need a speedy answer to a very urgent problem. You'll thank the gods you took pains to find, and pay for, a responsive net host.

- Webhost Features. Most geeks favour Unix. It has a longer history, and is more stable. Web hosts offering Unix variants like Linux have always been cheaper. They also seem to offer a wider range of toys. I need SSI (Server Side Includes), SSH (secure Telnet), 10 MySQL databases, Cpanel, PHPMyAdmin and a UK IP number. And you can get this for $15 a month. Things like MySQL databases, Cpanel and SSH access are real stumbling points for a lot of net hosts. If they're generous with these, you've found a rare jewel.

- Selling Something Direct? Use A Simple Means Of Purchase. A middleman service like PayPal is quite good to begin with. If you have just a few products, their HTML buttons are a good way to test the waters. When you bring in over $1000 a month, get a merchant account of your own.

- Come Up For Air Occasionally. It's very easy to get bogged down in the minutiae of this or that net project. There are folks whose _lives_ revolve around tweaking addons to open-source software. You ought to keep your eyes on the prize; what do you desire and what's the most direct, legal way of acquiring it?

I hope these few simple suggestions will assist you in getting handy web design and marketing done efficiently.