your website should help in further establishing credibility and rapport with your niche. You can use it as a means to impart information or a certain expertise that your target market would find very valuable.

Remember: a website that shows a glimpse of your personality can stand out from a sea of "Me Too" websites. Today's online surfers are becoming more discerning and tend to appreciate sites which are more unique than the typical cookie-cutter sites found everywhere else.

Third, and this is an important point to consider: your competitors are probably online with their own website!Most likely they're using their online presence

One way of marketing products online is via affiliate programs wherein a website may not be needed.

For a lot of affiliates (or "publishers", as Commission Junction calls them), this has been a successful undertaking and for them has been quite profitable.

Affiliate marketing is a quick, convenient, and painless way of making online income since the internet marketer need not bother with the complexities of building and maintaining a website.

No HTML coding, javascript, autoresponders, pop-ups or web hosting to bother with, set-up, or pay for. All you need is an affiliate link from your merchant and off you go promoting your chosen product to your niche or target audience.

Personally, however, bothering with such "complexities" in building and maintaining a website has its own advantages and intangible benefits I'm not ready to overlook or give up just yet.

Here are some reasons why up until now I still believe that at the end of the day having your own website is still the way to go if you want to make it Big and Be Successful online:

First off, your website becomes the center of your web presence. It gives you the opportunity to show your potential target audience or target niche the unique product or service that you have to offer.

Think of it as a glaring, interactive online business card that online surfers, marketers and searchers can always refer to, hopefully with the intent of buying or availing of the product you're offering or endorsing.

This stacks the odds in your favor as being their top-of-mind choice once they have need of something you're offering and they've become aware of your website at one time or another (hopefully you've incorporated a means for your online visitors to bookmark your website so they can come back to it at a later time).

Since it's your website, you are able to exert a degree of control on what it contains, what it does and how things are presented. You're able to negotiate with potential merchants to either be a reseller of promoter of their products, and allows you the possibility of making more income due to higher margins merchants may give you in return for some exclusivity.

This should allow you to position products or services in a manner that will benefit you most (i.e., products that need to be promoted can be put in a "featured page" of your choosing).

Second, most surfers and potential customers now expect you to have one (a website, that is). If you want to be regarded as a serious internet marketer or professional, this is the way to go.

With the right elements, your website should help in further establishing credibility and rapport with your niche. You can use it as a means to impart information or a certain expertise that your target market would find very valuable.

Remember: a website that shows a glimpse of your personality can stand out from a sea of "Me Too" websites. Today's online surfers are becoming more discerning and tend to appreciate sites which are more unique than the typical cookie-cutter sites found everywhere else.

Third, and this is an important point to consider: your competitors are probably online with their own website!Most likely they're using their online presence a

duct to your niche or target audience.

Personally, however, bothering with such "complexities" in building and maintaining a website has its own advantages and intangible benefits I'm not ready to overlook or give up just yet.

Here are some reasons why up until now I still believe that at the end of the day having your own website is still the way to go if you want to make it Big and Be Successful online:

First off, your website becomes the center of your web presence. It gives you the opportunity to show your potential target audience or target niche the unique product or service that you have to offer.

Think of it as a glaring, interactive online business card that online surfers, marketers and searchers can always refer to, hopefully with the intent of buying or availing of the product you're offering or endorsing.

This stacks the odds in your favor as being their top-of-mind choice once they have need of something you're offering and they've become aware of your website at one time or another (hopefully you've incorporated a means for your online visitors to bookmark your website so they can come back to it at a later time).

Since it's your website, you are able to exert a degree of control on what it contains, what it does and how things are presented. You're able to negotiate with potential merchants to either be a reseller of promoter of their products, and allows you the possibility of making more income due to higher margins merchants may give you in return for some exclusivity.

This should allow you to position products or services in a manner that will benefit you most (i.e., products that need to be promoted can be put in a "featured page" of your choosing).

Second, most surfers and potential customers now expect you to have one (a website, that is). If you want to be regarded as a serious internet marketer or professional, this is the way to go.

With the right elements, your website should help in further establishing credibility and rapport with your niche. You can use it as a means to impart information or a certain expertise that your target market would find very valuable.

Remember: a website that shows a glimpse of your personality can stand out from a sea of "Me Too" websites. Today's online surfers are becoming more discerning and tend to appreciate sites which are more unique than the typical cookie-cutter sites found everywhere else.

Third, and this is an important point to consider: your competitors are probably online with their own website!Most likely they're using their online presence

laring, interactive online business card that online surfers, marketers and searchers can always refer to, hopefully with the intent of buying or availing of the product you're offering or endorsing.

This stacks the odds in your favor as being their top-of-mind choice once they have need of something you're offering and they've become aware of your website at one time or another (hopefully you've incorporated a means for your online visitors to bookmark your website so they can come back to it at a later time).

Since it's your website, you are able to exert a degree of control on what it contains, what it does and how things are presented. You're able to negotiate with potential merchants to either be a reseller of promoter of their products, and allows you the possibility of making more income due to higher margins merchants may give you in return for some exclusivity.

This should allow you to position products or services in a manner that will benefit you most (i.e., products that need to be promoted can be put in a "featured page" of your choosing).

Second, most surfers and potential customers now expect you to have one (a website, that is). If you want to be regarded as a serious internet marketer or professional, this is the way to go.

With the right elements, your website should help in further establishing credibility and rapport with your niche. You can use it as a means to impart information or a certain expertise that your target market would find very valuable.

Remember: a website that shows a glimpse of your personality can stand out from a sea of "Me Too" websites. Today's online surfers are becoming more discerning and tend to appreciate sites which are more unique than the typical cookie-cutter sites found everywhere else.

Third, and this is an important point to consider: your competitors are probably online with their own website!Most likely they're using their online presence

ou're able to negotiate with potential merchants to either be a reseller of promoter of their products, and allows you the possibility of making more income due to higher margins merchants may give you in return for some exclusivity.

This should allow you to position products or services in a manner that will benefit you most (i.e., products that need to be promoted can be put in a "featured page" of your choosing).

Second, most surfers and potential customers now expect you to have one (a website, that is). If you want to be regarded as a serious internet marketer or professional, this is the way to go.

With the right elements, your website should help in further establishing credibility and rapport with your niche. You can use it as a means to impart information or a certain expertise that your target market would find very valuable.

Remember: a website that shows a glimpse of your personality can stand out from a sea of "Me Too" websites. Today's online surfers are becoming more discerning and tend to appreciate sites which are more unique than the typical cookie-cutter sites found everywhere else.

Third, and this is an important point to consider: your competitors are probably online with their own website!Most likely they're using their online presence

your website should help in further establishing credibility and rapport with your niche. You can use it as a means to impart information or a certain expertise that your target market would find very valuable.

Remember: a website that shows a glimpse of your personality can stand out from a sea of "Me Too" websites. Today's online surfers are becoming more discerning and tend to appreciate sites which are more unique than the typical cookie-cutter sites found everywhere else.

Third, and this is an important point to consider: your competitors are probably online with their own website!Most likely they're using their online presence as leverage in offering and benefiting from a product or service you could similarly be promoting and making money from had you had your own site!

With a website you are always "open for business", and this gives your potential customers or niche an opportunity to buy, visit and conduct business with you at a time convenient to them.

Whether it's 10pm or 2am shouldn't matter anymore in cyberspace. With the tools currently available out there, it's quite easy to set up your website to take in inquiries, requests, orders and deliveries automatically.

Not much pain in that, actually, just some initial set up time required. After that things should sail smoothly.

Fourth, a well-designed website always gives you the potential for getting more prospects or customers over time.

Provide "standards" such as a simple sitemap to direct your online visitors to your various product or service offerings; information (technical or not) that they may need; support in terms of after-sales service, documentation, manuals, video tutorials, etc.

Offering updated news and information also makes your site "Sticky", since your visitors will always have a reason to continue viewing your site and will look forward to returning to it looking for fresh material.

Product reviews, ongoing online tips and/or exclusive membership rights and info are just some of the other things you can add to make your site progressive, and interesting.

Don't forget the potential for advertising spots you can sell to advertisers once your website reaches a certain "critical mass" in terms of unique daily visitors, pageviews, or attain a high pagerank with Google (Page rank 6 or higher).

Google itself gives you the opportunity to make good passive income with your website thru its Google Adsense program.

So the bottom line is, there's so much a website offers in terms of validating your online presence that no serious internet marketer worth his salt should be without it.

Done just right, a website will go a long way in helping you achieve your business goals, whatever they may be, in the 'net.

Cheers!