Book Review: How to Get Your Business on the Web

The Internet is changing lives, for good or ill, every day. There's more information available on the net: more news, more gossip, more sex, lies and video, then has ever been available in one place before. The internet is a place to be very careful.

But the internet is also the place where the smart entrepreneur can set up a business and start making money.

A lot of people think it's easy to set up a business on the web - and it is easy to create any old web page. But just as most people get into trouble when they try to construct something without reading the manual, so a businessperson can get into trouble if he or she doesn't know the ins-and-outs of 'E-commerce.' This book solves that problem.

Attorney Fred Steingold takes the reader step by step through the process of putting a business on the web, from choosing and registering a domain name, to the considerations that go into developing a website, and who should host it.

In simple, straightforward English - not legalese and not overly simplistic for people who apparently doubt their intelligence - Steingold explains all about copyright basics - something that's very important these days since a lot of people are violating copyright without either knowing - or worse, caring - about it. He covers business policies a business needs to have - from copyright notices, chat room and posting policies, and terms for purchasing products.

But that's not all. He also covers how to limit your liability - something that's very important in the ever-increasing litigious climate in which we live. He shares insight into attracting customers without getting into spam. He explains how to minimize fraud in accepting credit card orders, and how to handle what can be every businessperson's nightmare - shipping, taxes and refunds.

Steingold closes, appropriately enough, with information on how to find the right lawyer for your business. Every business does need to have one, if only to read documents full of "legalese"that other lawyers delight in.

The forms included are: Affiliate Agreement, Content License Agreement, COPPA Notices, Copyright Assignment, Language for Work for Hire Agreement, Linking Agreement, Nondisclosure Agreement, Notices(s) of Delay, Privacy Policy, Website Development Agreement, and Website Policies.

The only problem I had with the book was its page number system. The book is divided into 14 sections and each section is numbered within that section, so instead of knowing how many actual pages your dealing with, all you know is that the book ends on page 14-10. It makes the index look funny, too. But that's a minor quibble compared to the wealth of information this book contains.

If you only get one book on how to run a business on the web, this is the one to get.