There has never been a better time to start a business, especially an e-business. The internet has dramatically reduced the cost of setting up, and especially of reaching customers. For about $1,000, you can buy a personal computer. A highspeed internet connection with enough space for a good website will cost around $40 a month. Marketing costs, provided you have something interesting to sell, could amount to bidding a few cents for a search-engine keyword. For a commission, sites such as eBay and Amazon will also list your wares. PayPal will look after credit-card payments, saving you the bother of establishing a merchant account. And firms such as UPS will deliver anywhere, and provide online tracking facilities for checking how far a parcel has got. All over the world, people have begun businesses this way. They might be selling avatars (virtual personas for online gaming) in South Korea; tribal carvings in South Africa; model steam-engine parts in Germany; or classic Corvettes in California. Web publishing too can now more easily be supported by advertising. Some online companies will find and place ads on your website for you, and split the revenue. Google's AdSense service, for instance, uses the search engine's technology automatically to match the content of a website with appropriate text-based ads. The more popular a site becomes, the higher the income.
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