Gary North

My decision to start a website in 1996 was one of the most important decisions in my life. I got there early enough to generate a mailing list of 35,000 people. This website and my "Reality Check" e-letter are the products of that decision.

You need a website if you have a yellow pages ad. You need to run an ad large enough to offer your website's address as well as offer some free reports. For complete information, click here. For a free introduction, Eleven Secrets of Super-Successful Yellow Pages Advertising, send an email to:

You need a website for all direct-mail offers: post cards, letters, mailers. Get the readers to your site.

You need a website to back up your business card. As for what your business card needs, click here.

You need a website to prove that you are an expert. Are you an expert? If you have a website, you are, or else you will be in six months.

How do you get one?

First, pick a domain name: www.thinkofsomething.com. Spend some time here. You want it to convey the idea of what it is. You don't want it too long: typing errors.

Second, find out if someone else owns it. Find out here: www.whois.com.

Third, register it. www.moneyboxdomains.com and www.godaddy.com are cheap: $9/year.

Fourth, hire a web designer. Pay no more than $50 an hour. It may take a few hundred dollars. Maybe the local college has a website design program. Call. Ask.

Or, if you are really creative, learn here: www.typepad.com. This is the best way. Make mistakes. After you have learned the ropes, move your new site to your own domain.

Fifth, pay a hosting service. A good choice is www.1and1.com. Another is www.hazelwebhosting.com.

The point is, get started now. Don't get left behind.

[Just for the record, every week I will either save you money or show you how make more money: in my half-page free report, Tip of the Week. It's basically free money in your mail box every Saturday morning. For a subscription, use the subscription box here: www.garynorth.com.]