You have used your shoppping cart software to create your shop and you have access to the Internet. But the Internet doesn’t have access to you. If you want to get serious about e-commerce, you will have to change this.

Don’t worry - it’s not difficult. First you must have Internet access. And you need space on the Internet for your shop.

Usually when you get an account from an Internet service provider for Internet access, they give you some Internet space to go with it.

That’s all you need to get started, if you want to do it really cheap. Unfortunately it normally means you can not get a good Internet address which your customers can remember, as the ISP will assign you an address.

For a more professional appearance, you can rent Internet space from your ISP or from web hosting companies such as santu - companies which specialize in renting out Internet space on their computers (check the search engines or ask friends).

They provide you with virtual servers - a term which basically means they give you space on their hard disk in return for a fee. You transfer your shop via the Internet onto their computer - and the world will be able to view it.

Many e-Commerce software solutions such as ShopFactory do the publishing for you - all you have to do is enter your password and username provided to you by your hosting company.