Engaging in an online business requires little overhead. Several free tools are out there that will keep your costs to a minimum. Check out the following tools described below to help get the competitive edge.

First of all, let's not forget that this is a real business we are talking about here. You can get up and running for nothing, but you must remember this: YOU WILL NOT REAP THE REWARDS UNLESS YOU PUT IN THE EFFORT. Now that we are perfectly clear, here are some ideas you can use to get started for little or no cost:

* Learn all you can about marketing on the internet. There is a vast amount of information on the internet about internet marketing. Maybe you even found this article by doing a search on Google or Yahoo or msn. Do yourself a favor and use these search engines to investigate internet marketing. Another free way to learn about internet marketing is to hook up with SiteSell and enroll in their risk free trial of their product. Be forewarned - this product is so good, you'll most likely keep it!

* Free or super-cheap web-hosting is fraught with problems due to reliability and support problems. If you must have free hosting, check out FreeServers.com and others. These services are not recommended because they are extremely limited and usually require that you place their ads on your website. The general recommendation is to pony up a few bucks to get reliable and proven service from the respected and established companies such as LunarPages, DreamHost, etc.

* To build your website for free, you will need to learn how become proficient in HTML. This is how the websites were built in the old days (the 1990's). If you are a hard-core programmer, you may still write straight HTML, otherwise you should consider using a tool like SiteBuildIt even though it is not free. Remember - time is money and this tool is a huge time-saver. But if you really want to build your site for zippo, nada, nothing, check out HTMLGoodies.There is lots of great information on how to develop sites in HTML .

* Sign up for free affiliate programs. You can send some emails to your friends and family to point them at the products you are marketing. Does someone you know need a blender? Set up an affiliation with Buy.com through Linkshare and send your blender-buyer your affiliate link. NOTE: Do not SPAM anyone - this will get you kicked out the affiliate programs immediately.

* Get traffic to your site by getting to the top of search engines, marketing on ezines, and establishing link popularity Once again, these methods require hard work - but this is a real business.

People think that it takes money to make money. How much money did the google guys start with? They are doing OK these days. Don't believe the ney-sayers. Use this information to make more money. Prove them wrong!