Online Business?

I've toyed with the idea of running a business online for many years, but other than helping Jacqueline Lichtenberg run simegen.com, which we support by domain hosting and selling advertising, I've never done much about it.

I'm a writer, and I want to make my living selling books and screenplays. I want other people to publish my books, make films from my screenplays, and pay me with royalties while I write more books and screenplays.

It actually worked that way with my books for a few years! But then the corporate interests took over the publishing industry, and all the midlist authors (those who did not routinely produce bestsellers) were shown the door.

Naturally, my first thought was ebooks. I've had a very successful ebook (Blood Will Tell ), but the number of copies sold to make a bestselling ebook are not enough to pay expenses. So I have turned to screenwriting, where it may surprise you to learn that there is a huge and expanding market, as opposed to the now small closed market of trade book publishing.

Although I'm making progress, moving up the ranks in contests, and getting many producers to read my scripts, I have yet to sell one. It will come--I broke into trade book publishing and I will do the same with screenwriting. But that's still in the future. I'll write more about my experiences as a screenwriter in other blog entries.

Right now I'm looking for ways to pay for my screenwriting lessons, contest fees, travel to film festivals, and all the other necessities to move to a new career. In the meantime, Jacqueline and I need to keep simegen.com going. So while Jacqueline has been writing non-fiction ebooks we hope to sell online, I've been researching how to promote those ebooks.

That research has brought me back to an old acquaintance, possibly the longest-lasting e-entrepreneur on the WorldWideWeb.

I first signed onto Jim Daniels' mailing list when he began BizWeb2000 in 1996, and I have remained subscribed all this time because his messages are full of good common sense about running an Internet business, and he is clear and low-key. For all these years I've been "going to" try most of his techniques "some day," while using some of his advice to keep simegen.com financially afloat.

One of the great things Jim does is to give away sound advice free of charge. Now he has put the basics of running an Internet business into an ebook that you can get free. Go here to download your free copy.

The secret to getting this ebook free is to scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the gold key.

In Jim's book you will find ten steps to making money online spelled out and explained, from choosing what to sell to how to get other people to do the work for you. If you've ever thought that maybe you should start an Internet business, this little book is a great place to start.

You can't beat the price! Grab your free copy here , and download it to get you started. Or possibly to help you decide whether or not selling online is for you after all.

That's what I'm doing.