If you are in that nightmare now -- finding yourself suddenly competing with Web-based businesses, for example -- there is good news and bad.

First, the bad: we really are nearing final exam time. Soon, the "e" in e-commerce will be redundant and almost all businesses will conduct at least some of their business over the Internet, just as most conduct at least some of their business over the phone.

But the good news is that, if you already are in business, you know more than you think about e-commerce. E-commerce is just commerce. If you produce or acquire products, or take orders and fill them, you're 80 to 90 percent there.

E-commerce is not as mysterious and unattainable as it is sometimes made out to be by vendors and consultancies trying to justify high fees. What's more, even if you're light on technical expertise or have a low budget, there are products and services that can get your business online.

[an error occurred while processing this directive]

This crash course in the basics of e-commerce will help you pass that nightmare final exam. We'll also help you avoid the most common mistakes. What we won't do, however, is provide general business advice or guarantee that you will succeed. Business on the Web is as risky -- although probably not much more so -- than in the real world. It's still up to you to do your homework.

In the pages that follow, we'll discuss the major building blocks of e-commerce, outline action steps you should take at each stage, and point you to in-depth articles and other resources -- including services -- where you can find out more or dive right in.

Here's the syllabus:

• Is e-commerce for you?
• Devising a strategy
• Getting started: Do it yourself or outsource?
• The basic toolkit:
  

  * Obtain a domain name
  * Internet merchant account
  * Establish your identity
  * Application integration
  

• Site design
• Promotion
• Customer service
• Performance testing and monitoring
• E-commerce: The bottom line

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13	| Next page

[an error occurred while processing this directive]