Well before you start advertising, accepting orders, shipping your product and raking in the paychecks you'll need an important key element - a web site. But not just any web site; a dynamic Internet experience that captures the readers attention and inspires him or her to take action immediately and either purchase what you're selling, or leave their e-mail address so you can contact them later with more information.

Sounds like becoming a dot-com millionaire isn't as easy as you thought. Here are some steps to make things a lot easier.

1. HIRE A PROFESSIONAL DESIGNER - If you're posting pictures of your family camping trip online then the overall quality of your web site may not be important. But if you're starting an e-commerce business and expect people to purchase a product or service from you, a professional design is essential. An amateurish site (like those created with a WYSIWYG editor) reflects very poorly on you and your business, and customers will quickly leave and spend their money elsewhere.

Besides style and layout, professional web designers will optimize your site and graphics so even slow computers are guaranteed a fast load time. An average surfer waits only EIGHT SECONDS before leaving, so a slow site will cost you customers, which means lost profits. It's also important that your site displays properly on all browsers; many people are still using outdated or buggy versions of web browsers that can create major problems for the 'do-it-yourself' web sites.

So unless you're an expert in HTML, graphic design, meta-tag creation and all the programs needed to design a web site, get someone qualified to do the dirty work for you. The small investment will pay off huge in the future.

2. CHOOSE YOUR DOMAIN CAREFULLY - There are so many new and exciting domains to register: 'dot-tv', 'dot-name', 'dot-biz', 'dot-info', and the list goes on and on. Now that you know about all these fantastic options forget about them and go register a 'dot-com' name. If a customer only remembers your company or web site name but not the domain, 99% of them will type 'dot-com' after it. In fact, many browsers have 'dot-com' set as a default domain if one isn't typed as the address.

And shop around before buying for a domain. You no longer need to pay $70 for the first two years and $35/year thereafter for your virtual domain name. Many hosting solution services will register your name for as little as $14.99 a year.

3. AVOID CLUTTER - When adding content to your site, less is definitely more. Flashing lights, loud color schemes and an assortment of animations will do one of two things: slow the customers load time until they eventually leave, or confuse them about the purpose of your site, in which case they probably won't stick around long enough to figure it out.

Some of the most successful e-commerce sites are no more than 3-5 pages, with the product or service depicted clearly on the entry page. One or two pictures accompanied by a short headline is, in most cases, the most effective strategy for attracting the customers attention. Focus on one thing, and you'll avoid confusion.

4. WRITE CLEAR COPY - An entire article, or even a book for that matter, could be dedicated to the ins and outs of writing for web sites. But in short, the most important thing to remember is KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid). Unless you're an experienced writer the best strategy is to be brief and to the point. State the product, a key feature, and it's benefit to the customer. You only have a few seconds to grab the reader, so hit them with some compelling information right away.

As much as it may fascinate you, customers won't care about every insignificant detail concerning your product or service. They want to know how making a purchase will BENEFIT them, and satisfy their basic needs. People want love, attention, money, success, comfort, convenience, beauty, health, excitement.convince them that you can deliver on one or more of their needs and you've got a guaranteed sale.

And don't be afraid to give people direction. On a subconscious level people want to be TOLD to buy. Tell the reader exactly what to do in order to purchase your product: "Click the button below to order now!" This is known as a 'call to action', and as simple as it seems it will increase your sales.

5. GIVE THE CUSTOMER OPTIONS - You need to make it as easy as possible for the customer to order from you immediately, or to reach you with questions and concerns. A recent poll indicates that 88% of Internet shoppers use a credit card to make their online purchases. In order for you to accept transactions you'll need a merchant service to process them for you.

There are several ways to go about acquiring a merchant service, but the quickest and easiest way is to choose a full service solution that does all the work for you. These services often provide you with a shopping cart logo to insert directly on to your site, which the customer can click and purchase your product instantly. The provider takes a percentage of each sale after processing the credit card, often around 10-15%. You'll then be mailed a check once or twice a month with your profits.

So now that you have some fundamental tools to work with go invest a little time, a little money, and a lot of determination. You'll be amazed at the outcome, and what you are capable of achieving.