Welcome to eBizillion.com!

After searching and scouring the web for months and months to find the products and services I needed to create my web sites and generate traffic, I found I was overwhelmed with information. I decided to create a database just so I could keep it all organized. Sifting through all this, I found some real gems.

Then I thought of you. If I let you in on the gems, I could save you a lot of time. And save you money. Thus, I created my resource directory . . . with the hope that you too can make money online.

I only list products and services which I myself use or have checked out and found useful. Some are fantastic and must have. Others are the best I have found in checking out the competition.

Another criteria is that the product or service offers good quality for the price. There may be better out there, but the price is prohibitive for those starting out on a budget.

I just want you to have the best of the best . . . for less.

If you find a product or service you think I should check out, send me an e-mail at suggestionbox@ebizillion.com. I'll take a look and review each one individually.

Be sure to check out the eBizillion eBookstore where you can find additional resources, eBooks and Software that will give you additional information or help on marketing your business. And I've put together a Glossary of Internet Marketing Terms, so if you, like me, have no idea what FFA means or what an AutoResponder is, you can quickly find out.

Come back often, as I'll be updating the information continually. And be sure to let me know how you are doing in starting your own web site.

Marian Hartsough

Since your domain name is the identity of your business, it is crucial that you select a name that is easy to remember and reflects your business identity.

I love GoDaddy.com. Their price per domain per year is about $8.95, their service is reliable and they offer a lot of add-on services. They also offer private registration for an additional $9 per year per domain. This means that your name, address, and e-mail address will not show up in the Whois directory.

Whois Source is a database is where you want to go to check out if the domain name you want if available, and if not, who owns the name you wanted. The domain name might be about to expire, or you may really want to know who owns the domain name because you want to negotiate for it. Whois also offers services, such as monitoring your registration.

If you plan on having a ton of domain names (I do!), check out Wild West Domains. For $49 per year, you can become your own domain reseller. Sell to yourself or start a domain business. For $99 per year, you can sell a bunch of other web hosting products. Check out my domain registration service, iGoldenDomain.com. As you can see, you can customize the look, and control the pricing. iGoldenDomains through Wild West Domain is affiliated with GoDaddy.com and enjoys all the support and reliability of GoDaddy.

Another great site to check out is Deleted Domains. You can type in a name and they will tell you which names have expired or are on hold. That's how I acquired eBizillion.com. I typed in "zillion," and I was able to choose from about 30 domain names that had just expired. The service used to be fre*e, but now there is a small fee (weekly, monthly, or yearly) for the service beyond the first 20 words per keyword. They have a database of over 25 million names which have expired or been forfeited.

You can usually register your domain name when you sign up for web hosting. Just make sure you'll be the owner of the domain name, not the webhost. Back to Top

The only suggestion I have is to try to hook up to DSL or Cable Modem if you haven't already. Not always easy on older computers, so get someone who knows what they are doing.

A note on email accounts: SP*M filters are the rage these days. Unfortunately, they are filtering out legitimate email. Once you get your web site up and running, use that email address for business, you can always forward the address to your IPS address. Avoid using Yahoo! and Hotmail and AOL address, as these get filtered readily. Back to Top

If you have just one or two sites, the web host I like the best is iPowerWeb. They are very highly rated, their customer service has been great. They offer all the space and scripts you're likely to need. You can add on a couple of additional domains for a low rate.

I now have my sites with a company called Neutral Web. They are a diamond. They are the next best thing to having your own server. For a small monthly fee you get unlimited domains, unlimited mySQL databases, a control panel for every domain, unlimited email, and the list goes on. You set up your own hosting service, and you can use the domains for yourself or become a reseller. The only limitation is the bandwidth, but you can always buy more. You have compete control over the cPanel, and have access to components that some web hosts don't offer, such as Cron Jobs (don't worry if you don't know what that means). Their customer service is top notch, to boot.

I suggest you take a good look at the control panel provided by the web host you are considering. Most have a demo version you can test out. Make sure it has the features you need and are comfortable with the interface. I prefer cPanel. Web stats are essential, and most hosts offer Webilizer which is pretty good, but I like AWStats better. Back to Top

I found a real gem in Webmaster In a Box. In one package, you get two dozen scripts to track links, protect your PayPal downloads, create pop-ups, create buttons, etc. The scripts are pretty easy to use. To start you off, they offer a FREE copy of Affiliate Link Cloaker. This is a great tool that creates alias URLs. Back to Top

If you are taking phone orders or mail orders, or selling in a store in addition to the Internet, you'll probably need a merchant account. You can get a virtual terminal (on the computer) and be able to accept credit card numbers from your customers. Most merchant account provide a gateway to the software, which is commonly provided by Authorize.net. The merchant account that I found with the best rates is Charge.com. 1ShoppingCart offers a merchant account through Practice Pay and the rates are about the best I've seen, but they have a higher setup fee, Back to Top

A great shopping card is 1ShoppingCart. 1ShoppingCart not only has shopping cart but an integrated Mail List Manager, AutoResponders, Opt-In Form, Pop-up Wizard, Ad Tracker, and more. It's fantastic. The online User Manual is a gem. Back to Top

GetResponse is widely used, not expensive for the amount of features and ease of use. 1ShoppingCart also has a great AutoResponder, especially if you want to use it in integrated with a shopping cart. Back to Top

My little secret is ListMail. Dean Wiebe had developed a program that I just love. Instead of a monthly fee, you can buy ListMail for a modest sum. You install it on your own server as a mySQL database. It's easy to use and has all the features I was looking for, such as double-opt in subscriptions, unlimited lists, easy editing with multiple custom fields, unlimited auto-responder series, and more. Check out the demo version. Back to Top

This one is a must have: Market-It. You really need to check this out--a top-notch site for web marketing information and resources. If that were not enough, Market-It offers a Press Release Submitter to send your press release to over 100,000 journalists worldwide, as well as all the major media outlets . . . get your website on TV, radio, newspapers and magazines! Add in website analysis tools, page generators, search engine submission wizards, article blasters, and a host of other promotional tools. Wow! Back to Top

One company that represents many nationally known merchants is LinkShare. If you want to sell flowers or electronics or music or bargain merchandise, you will find a retailer here, and we are talking the major retailers. The percentage you will receive is small and some of the merchants have a minimum per month before you'll receive a check, but if you feel representing a major retailer is a benefit, LinkShare is the best source.

The best source for eBooks and software is ClickBanks. They have around 10,000 products and offer 1 to 75% of the sale, but 50% or more is common. It's a great place for you to market your own products.

AffiliateShowcase has a listing of just about every affiliate program out there, so they might be a place to check out as a resource. Back to Top

Len Thurmond is gold. He has some amazing products that actually work to generate traffic. He had his programmer put together some programs to use himself, and now he's sharing them with the world. First, he has Article Automator, software that find articles by keyword search and create pages for websites from those articles. Traffic on Steroids will take those articles and rotate them on your page to create rotating relevant content. Cool! And then, he came up with Auto-Blogger, which will update your blog continually and ping the search engines. Len back his programs up with unparalleled support. I highly recommend you check out the FR*EE teleseminar with Len Thurmond, hosted by Shawn Casey. I've listened to it about five times, and pick up pointers each run through. A real gem.

Sidetracker is one the most innovative traffic-generating concept I have ever seen!

There are a zillion traffic generators out there, making all sorts of claims. A targeted audience is more important than numbers. It's better to have a mailing list of customers who want to buy from you than thousands who have no interest in your product. Put an ad in an ezine that caters to your customer base, or become the resident expert in a chat group. Make sure you follow the rules about advertising, though. Back to Top

If you want to market your product online, it's great if you have a cover. Armandhas put together a program which will generate 3D box eCover art in just a couple of minutes. (Windows only)

Armand also has a product to create Instant PDF files. As a Mac user, I'm dismayed when products only are available for the PC. Any computer can read a PDF file, and Instant PDF allows you to create a pdf without the expense of a full version of Adobe Acrobat.

Another product you must have is a Headline Creator. This amazing software will create 100 Killer Headlines in 17 Seconds – Guaranteed! It lets you answer 4 simple questions and push 1 button to get 100 top notch headlines in 17 seconds or less. Increase your ad response. Back to Top

If you have need for a photo hosting service, however, the best one I found was PixHost. For a small yearly fee, you can upload photos to be used on the net. Other services restrict how you use the photos, such as only being able to be used for auctions or online viewing by guests who have to sign in. Back to Top