Firing Up Hot New Ways to Become an "Ontrapreneur"

Not so long ago, starting an online business primarily meant creating a Web site and organizing it in a businesslike manner. You would create a catalog, add a shopping cart and payment system, and hope

These days, you don't have to create a full-fledged Web site to sell online. The hottest ways to make money are to sign up with an online service that helps individuals get their content online and market themselves or their products and services before the public. You might have to pay a small monthly hosting fee; you might have to pay a sales commission. But the benefits are huge: You don't have to do all the work of creating a catalog and payment system because your host will do the work for you. It might mean signing up with a company that streamlines the process of setting up an online blog; it might mean creating a store on eBay or Amazon.com.

Starting a blog

Adding the personal touch has always separated the Mom and Pop stores from the soulless warehouses. Nowadays, however, you're likely to be greeted with a cheery hello even when you wander into a discount mall. So the precedent has definitely been set for mixing the family into business.

The advantage of a blog is that you can give customers a window into your soul. That can build trust, which in turn, can build business. You might not want to define yourself with your strong religious preferences or passionate view on the results of the latest election, but it could be a definite asset to post a few photos of your children or pets. You might also include a narrative of your latest family vacation. On a slightly more businesslike side, it would be really great to have a link to the text of a paper you presented at the latest professional conference you attended. Of even more relevance might be a series of photos showing the happy day that the new press was delivered to your printing plant, accompanied by examples of new brochures that feature the results of its bells and whistles. Whatever the subject, the goal is to keep the tone of the text upbeat and breezy, friend to friend.