15 responses so far ↓

• 1 Gebreselassie

  I purchased this book on a recommendation from a friend of mine. She had not read it but had heard of the author and his business. I have had the idea of starting an import company to sell online for a few years so I thought this may be a good book to invest in.

  What I liked most about this book was the way he so clearly told his story from the position of someone who has been there, in every step of the way. There was not a lot of technical information on how to build a Website, but he explained how he started without the technical know-how either, and how he got around it.

  Also in the book there are these sections that are sort of “advice from the trenches” sections. They talk about common mistakes that the author made and the consequences and how to avoid them. Very forthcoming of him to be so honest.

  If you are considering starting a home based business on the Internet with a Website, and especially if you are still uncertain of which direction to proceed, I would really recommend reading this book.

• 2 Milazo

  I am still listening. I got the audio version.
  I consider it really slow and full of self advertising.
  He could easily explain everrything he did in 10 chapter in only one chapter. If you have a lot of time, get this book. If you are looking for a writer to go to the point right away, look elsewhere.
  The writer wrote this book to get people to visit his website.
  The good: I learned a lot. He gives good recommendations as far as who you should hire to do everything to start your business.

• 3 Iribe

  How to Start a Home-Based Online Retail Business is the perfect book to help you do just that. The book is well-written, easy to read, and provides you with the essential information to begin to do business online.

  Jeremy Shepherd got started early in the online world. In 1996 he opened PearlParadise.com, and has become the leading online pearl wholesaler and retailer. His business, which started with the purchase of one pearl necklace during a trip to Beijing, has grown to be a multi-million dollar enterprise.

  Shepherd’s book details how to save money while starting your online business, how to design and create your website, how to market your business, and how to use a merchant account to allow customers to pay you by credit card. He doesn’t even forget to give tips on shipping, which is oh so important to an online purchase, or to tips on avoiding fraud, which is oh so important to you and your business.

  How to Start a Home-Based Online Retail Business gets right to the point, doesn’t talk down to you, doesn’t require a degree in Computer Science to understand, and covers all the necessary details of becoming an online entrepreneur. I love this book.

  –
  Cat Cromar
  http://www.astartuplife.com/category/book-reviews

• 4 Costa

  It’s a great book in the sense it has many live examples. But some of these may not be applicable in your situation.

• 5 Pulido

  A found this to be a general overview and “get your feet wet” book on opening your online retail store. I thought there was a little too much storyline and not enough in-depth information. For example, when filing for a Trademark/Servicemark (so nobody can use your name or symbol) the author only touched on this subject. It really didn’t go into the online process of applying for a Trademark/Servicemark, which is very in-depth and very important information.
  Chapter 7- “What you Need to Know about Creating Your Website” definitely needs to be expanded and the author needs to elaborate. I think he should’ve used more examples on SEO (search engine optimization) a critical area in the survival of your website. More specific tips for increasing traffic to your site is definitely needed.
  The author did a pretty good job on explaining shipping methods and establishing merchant accounts (visa/mc) and what to expect with fees. Chapter 9- “Getting Paid” was helpful.
  Lastly, less fuzz on creating balance in your life, creating personal time, making time for family and friends. I think I needed more meat and potatoes with this book, less cranberry sauce. It’s worth picking up the book, because it’s practically the only book available of its kind, but keep in mind this book will mainly serve as an outline for starting your business, the rest is up to you.

• 6 Blackman

  I recieved the book in a timely fashion and it was in perfect condition. True to its description of being brand new!!!

• 7 Berard

  jill moran’s book ‘how to start a home based event planning business’ was tremendously helpful to me as i navigated the new business start up waters. she has practical suggestions on pricing, record keeping, and marketing. a MUST tool for anyone considering entering the event planning business.

  se cunningham

• 8 Reagan

  This book is excellent for anyone that is starting out and wants the 411 on how to start it off right! I am thoroughly impressed with the publication. The author covers just about every end. I highly recommend this book. I learned quite a bit.

• 9 Lara

  This book has useful information for Website design beginners that have none to little experience working as a freelance Web designer. It contains good information for the absolute beginner that needs some advice and direction as to how to start his/her website design business.

  PROS
  Chapter 4, Starting Your Web Design Business, under Business Contracts, emphasizes the need for a signed contract for every web design project and discusses how you could be Using a Contract as a Selling Tool. It teaches you how to draft a contract and provides you with a sample Contract for a Web Design Business in the Appendix.

  Seems like Smith regularly talks to his attorney and this is reflected in the book as you realize Smith has legal insight about different aspects of a website design shop.

  Chapter 7, Attracting Customers, contains a good list of tips for Establishing a Good Reputation as a Web design business even if you don’t have some sample Websites that illustrate your design skills. The subtitles How to Get That First “Real” Client and How to Turn Skeptical Leads into Happy Customers defines steps for helping your potential clients realize their need for a website.

  CONS
  The author is not an expert at Web Development. In Chapter 2, Deciding What Services to Offer, he admits he considers himself “programming challenged” and that he “prefers to hand off most of my programming work to others”. He also states that “if your strenghts are not in these areas either, you may want to become proficient at being a “copy and paste” programmer and scriptwriter”. Personally, I completely disagree with this advice and I’m sure many experienced Web developers would feel the same about it. If your sole source of income will be your Web Design shop you have to learn as much as possible about your trade. Learning a server-side programming language such as ASP, JSP or PHP is a necessary skill. But well, this book is not about programming, is about how to start your home-based business, and it does conduct you in the right way.

• 10 Katz

  I bought this book hoping it would help me figure how to start my own Web Business. Granted he did talk about what he’s done to get to where he is, but the only information I found out of the book to be useful, is his short in depth explanations between LLC, PartnerShips and other “Types” of businesses. Overall, I did read this entire book, but the entire time I was thinking “It’s gotta get better, I have to learn something from this” =/

• 11 Denny

  This is a good book for someone who may know more about web design than they know about business. Like others have said, the example web designs aren’t very good and look dated. This book is definetly a business book, and a wordy one at that. I found myself skimming some of the paragraphs for just the major points.

  The author relates some of his best practices in his approach to running the business. The sample contract alone is worth the cost of the book and is the reason I gave it 4 stars. The contract seemingly covers all the bases. Because there is no CD, the FAQ in the book gives you the location of the link to download the contract for your own use. The author cautions you to seek an attorney’s help before leveraging the contract for you own use though.

  Overall, it is a good business resource with a few technical pointers as well.

• 12 Lebow

  Great book for beginners . Lot of areas unveiled and inside insight is good .

• 13 Nevarez

  When I was thinking of starting my own freelance web design firm, I looked around for books and courses for furthering my knowledge. This is pretty much the only decent book that I found that addresses this subject comprehensively, there is one more book I recently found, havent read it yet. I read this book from cover to cover and it is well written and covers all aspects of starting your own small web design company. The author has “been there-done that” , so he talks from his practical experience. He could have provided more info for followup reading and resources for further reasearch and also some of the info he has provided is a bit dated though considering the 3rd edition was released on Jan’2007. But the basic information is still relevant and useful. I wish the author would release another updated edition in 2009, that would be nice and useful!

• 14 Mycroft

  This guide is put together in a decent manner but the information is dated and all could be found for free on any of the photography forums. Having a darkroom also seems a dated topic to be covering in today’s digital world. Overall I was looking for insight and information specific to photography and about what pitfalls to avoid but the best I found in this book was to make sure everyone signs a model release form, which I already knew from reading forums. This would be a good book to point you in the direction, if you have absolutely no idea, of actual resources but again I found this information elsewhere.

• 15 Irvin

  This book was the biggest waste of time. It is completely out dated and extremely vague. It offers no specifics about the legal aspects of starting a business or much of anything at all. If you have an ounce of common sense there is no need to purchase this text.

  If you are looking for book that will cover everything you need to know about starting your own photography business I would highly recommend Photography: Focus on Profit by Tom Zimberoff. Zimberoff’s book is the best purchase I’ve ever made.

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