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Feature Article You have to try this, at least, once! Author: Seamus Dolly There is a unique freedom of expression that is available with websites/webpages, comparable to none. Text, images, hyperlinks, forms, specialized scripts, counters, clocks, pop-up's and unders, and thousands of other features, can be easily enough manipulated, to present almost anything that you want, to the on-line world. If you like, access can be limited, to the few people, of your choosing that have/or have access to, your URL( uniform remote location, or web address). Limit it to your family, a membership site, or choose to blast it into cyberspace. The latter requires some techniques or lots of techniques. Add to it, delete it, change or update it, make money from it, reveal your inner-most thoughts, invent your thoughts, invent your graphics, write poetry, suggest cookery tips, suggest tips to avoid cooking, write an article, write an article on not writing articles, write and give away/sell, a book or e-book, publish a publishing site or publish a blank page, seek out subscribers, inform the public, reform the public, write an article on "not being able to reform the public", write an e-book on "being actually able to reform the public"( possible best seller ), publish a picture of your dog, publish your dog's delightful bark( sound, if any ), tell everyone about "that time", tell everyone that you weren't even there, and finally, suggest to people when they should stop "rambling". The latter requires some tact. Anyone with some disposable income, can do any, or all of the above. The first thing to do is to register a "domain". Relatively cheap and usually a one or two year contract. Choose a name for your site. If its not available (already taken, yes!, there are other people with a similar imagination ), you will be told, whereby, you have the choice to "go again". Find a "host". Simply put, it is someone else's computer where your files are stored and are available 24/7. Some are free, and almost all are available ( use a search engine ). It may often seem complicated, but if you can read this, then it is within your grasp. There is some technical jargon but you don't have to take it all in at once. Play around with it instead of "becoming overwhelmed". There is always an e-mail address for support. I suggest trying to figure it out yourself, at least for a while, as this is part of a learning process. You should by now, have a name/domain, and rented cyber accommodation for your files. You are then www.yourselectedname.com or more properly http://www.yourselectedname.com , for example. This will be your main page. DOT COM is in no way essential. Americans can opt for http://www.yourselectedname.us and Australians can opt for http://www.yourselectedname.au Other examples are .net, .org and lots of others. N.B. You select this when registering your domain. A file is anything that you have in a file other than www.yourselectedname.com with the same server. Example; www.yourselectedname.com/yournamedfile A WYSIWYG (WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET ) editor, is helpful and is sometimes supplied by your host. All this means is that you can make a webpage in the same way that I initially typed/created this document in Microsoft Word. That is to say, font, colour, spacing, paragraphs, indents, caps, etc, are as you see them ( without the html tags or other coding ). Anyways, you can get such an editor from other sources, if your host doesn't supply them (search engine, again ). Free html editors are widespread and some knowledge of this is worth the effort. You can buy your own products with re-selling rights, meaning that after the initial cost, all of the profits are yours. Digital products are simplest as they are deliverable via the internet (downloadable to the purchaser, almost instantly ). In some countries, electronically deliverable product are tax exempt. These products include e-books, the main advantage being their deliverability, both from the seller and buyers point of view. These are normally in PDF format due to its cross-platform compatibility ( viewable on Macs and Windows ). The software for creating e-books is widely available, again, some having more security features than others. A virtual book cover to display on your site is easily done and customisable. If you have a topic/report/information of widespread appeal, you are more than half way there. An affiliate program can be set up to sell for you. One particular company will even track your affiliate sales. In my opinion, this is cheaper that POD (printing on demand), but perhaps lacks traditional literature appeal. Indeed, both are relatively new concepts and both concepts are good. Selling any of the above "editors", or indeed creating them, if you have experience in that area is done via a website. An affiliate program will boost any sales if your product is "saleable", and of reasonable value. Imagine it, you might have been through a war, tragedy, illness, abduction by aliens, non abduction by aliens, or just about anything, and people will want to know about it. You are not over the hill, if your memory or imagination is relatively intact. Neither are you below the hill if you are young, assuming you possess one of the aforementioned attributes, let alone, two. You no longer need to belong to an exclusive or traditionally "tight" club to gain exposure. A website is REAL MAGIC. P.S. A platform such as this website is invaluable. Only your imagination can stop you now. About the Author Seamus Dolly is a webmaster and author, with a background in mechanical engineering and analogue electronics. ... Subscribe to our Poetry newsletter! Your email:

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