Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

There are a number of ways to accomplish what you want.

 

You can try to piece various functions together, some 3rd party (like uploading to another web site). However, it may be best in the long term to craft a web site that provides all you need (or may need) under one domain (not using third-party web providers).

 

There are a number of scripts to enable people to upload files to your web site / web host for free or for a price. Also, the ecommerce part (handling payments and customer database) may best be accomplished using a true ecommerce program rather than just a PayPal button application. Because with the PayPal button route you do not capture and maintain a customer database. Design considerations include for example - do you want to allow people to upload file before paying (I wouldn`t think so).

 

I do not recommend the Microsoft route. I`m not sure Microsoft has all the features you desire. But ultimately what you choose depends upon various factors... like how much you want to do yourself, what limitations are you willing to live with, how much control do you want, and your expectations for your web site.

 

~Roland

Thanks for the replies everyone so far...

 

Vwebworld:

 

No, Microsoft Live does not offer all the things that I need to have my website working as it should. And yes, I was hoping to piece together certain utilities in order to get up and running. The Microsoft Live option is something I`m considering for the economics of it, and for the things that they do offer. However, I`m very much open to continuing to search for other options.

 

My hope is to somehow start off as economically as possible, and then maybe going for the better, more complete, self-contained website option later. But I`m wondering how feasible it may be. The last thing I want is a major disruption in business during a significant growth period.

 

And I did look into a true ecommerce option, and so far Paypal seems as if it`s the best way for me to go at the beginning stage. I did a price comparison by using these websites. Maybe somebody else can use this info:

 

http://www.merchant-account-service.com/internet_merchant_account.html

 view this link

Also,I would want to make this site as "turnkey" and "self-functioning" as possible. Because I won`t be available enough to do much to maintain it as it should be. It would appear that what I should be looking for is what Microsoft Live offers, BUT with all the ecommerce and checkout bells and whistles included.

 

I was told to try these two websites: www.nomorewebmasters.com and www.websitesforfunorprofit.com .

 

Anybody have any experience with these? Or have any reviews to share?

 

Thanks.



(edited for formatting only - not content)

VU:

 

You can create a site and use 3rd party hosting for your upload needs. It will take some careful planning and research to find the most appropriate upload/file sharing.

 

Another thought, why not have the customer email the image file to you? I can not imagine the files will be that large. If you go that route, you can have an online submission form on your site, in which people would fill in the information you need. You could still use PayPal "buy me" buttons to handle your payments. 

 

The "trick" is to put this all together in a way that it is (1) user friendly, (2) induces people to buy, (3) functionally works, and (4) does not limit capabilities as your business grows.

 

Of course money is an issue. Using all in one solutions like Microsoft, Yahoo sitebuilder, etc. may seem less expensive, but actually may be more expensive in the long run because of their monthly cost and limitations (you may end up paying for a whole new site to handle your growth, enable functionality, or if you want to move to another web host).

 

As far as pricing for hosting, good web site hosting that meets your needs is available for $60 to $85 per year.

 

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me.

 

~Roland

 

VU, check your "messages" I sent you a PM.

 

~Roland

Hi,

 

The Apple Cart and Apple Cart - Database can do all that you need done. also There is a special version that can do 5 uploads an 5 text fields per order. works with Authorize.net and PayPal.com just to name a few. the site is www.spads.com and the link to both are:

 

http://www.spads.com/applecart.html  <-- this one you add buy buttons to your html page.

 

http://www.spads.com/applecartdb.html <-- this one is database driven using templates.

 

I hope this helps you find what you need.

 

Thanks, Vince..

 

 

Hi, Again

 

I thought this site was for helping people getting started on the web, with good solid advice, reasonable solutions, etc.

 

All I have seen here is bickering, and some questionable advice?

 

In my opinion and everyone has one:

 

1. Find a good hosting company, one that has full service, with Perl and PHP services. A shared SSL certificate would be nice and save you some money at start up. if not Godaddy.com has the best price for a SSL cert.

 

Prices for this should start at about 19.95 up to 24.95 those 9.95 specials just don`t cut it for an e-commerce site.

 

2. Find a shopping cart solution that can work for you  one that integrates with PayPal and Authorize.net at least. I suggest you start with PayPal as your payment processor to begin with as it is free to sign up and start doing business with no costs other than processing fee`s. if things take off then you have an option to go to another processor.

 

3. Find a web designer that does good work ( that is the hard part ).

you can also look at some pre made websites templates on the web if you want to have a go at it yourself or just to get some ideas as to what you might want.

 

And yes designer prices are varied from designer to designer so put on your shopping shoes to track one down that is reputable and has references!

 

I have heard some comments about some of the sites mentioned here like boxerhaus etc. and I would like to remind some people that, if that is what the customer wants that what he wants!

 

Everyones tastes are different, you could make all the suggestions, designs you want and if the paying customer wants it a certain way that is the way they want it period.

 

I must say for a women who new nothing of HTML or the Web, she has come a long way,and yes she make mistakes in her coding once and a while ( we all did when we started ) I don`t think it is very nice to to belittle her efforts!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Perl is not a dying trend, Perl can and does work with mySQL.

 

I program in Perl and PHP and I can do more with Perl with less than a million pages of PHP. PHP was designed for people like you who don`t know how to program, and where you can go in and tweak the pages to look like you did a custom job!

 

I have been programming on the web since 1997 and my Apple Cart has been around since then and is updated atleast 5 times a year with more and more features.

 

And for you information I have a customer that is doing the exact same thing as this man is try to do and is using the Apple Cart to do his uploads and text information.

 

1. http://www.picturestocanvas.com

 

2. http://www.property-graphics.com/orderform.htm

 

3. http://www.propertygraphics-intl.com/orderform.htm

 

4. http://www.multilingual-graphics.com/orderform.htm

 

Just to name a few, I also Have over 35 scripts that do just about everything you can think of doing on the web at all price ranges.

 

Don`t Apple-shmapple Me! if you have not tried it, don`t knock it!