internet costs

[HR-Student]

im about to start my own internet marketing website soon, but i wonder; what costs and expenses must i expect for running such a website?

[Dave A]

That depends on just what are you planning to do?

What software are you going to use?
How much storage do you need?
Are you going to be sending lots of emails?
Does the server need to be in South Africa or can it be overseas?

[HR-Student]

Well Dave it is a website that puts small businesses online, with the most minimum costs for them as possible. It is much like a virtual 'mall' where on just one website, one can find all businesses operating in their area, view products and services desired, and also if possible make an order or purchase online. The costs to put one's business will depend largely on how many pages one intends on using and how much information they are going to put on those pages. I am no internet wizard or magician but I want it to look the best, able to display many different types of media,flash images etc. I want it to be an eyecatcher and eyekeeper and customer catcher for these small businesses

[Dave A]

I am no internet wizard or magician but I want it to...

I suggest open a shared hosting account somewhere cheap and start tinkering. You've got a lot of learning and refining to do.

[Mark Atkinson]

I'd suggest using a CMS for that purpose. Of course I'm heavily biased towards Joomla! As Dave says, you should probably start playing around with things.

With Joomla you can install it on a virtual server on your PC. This lets you actually design the site on your local machine, instead of having to pay for hosting. Joomla has a bit of a learning curve but once you get the hang of it, it's awesome!

As your business is SA-based, I'd suggest using local servers - which are more expensive - but SO much faster. I use www.gridhost.co.za for all our hosting. They're really well priced and we haven't had a problem with them so far.

Also, it sounds to me like you might need some custom coding to get some of the functionality you described (unless you're a php/javascript guru). This might be an additional cost you need to budget for.

Other costs you should take into account are obviously marketing costs such as Facebook + Adwords campaigns.

Just keep in mind it's probably going to be a long and frustrating process. You gotta stick with it.

[HR-Student]

thanks guys! I got an independent web designer to help me. Stil analyzing his past work. If he is good maybe wel be partners in this venture and he can do most of the work while im concentrating on my schooling.