Making ‘Stone Soup’
Maybe you remember the folk tale “Stone Soup,” in which a couple of roving con artists persuaded a whole village they could make delicious soup using nothing but water and a stone.
     When the swindlers suggested that the soup would be “even more delicious” with meat and a few potatoes, carrots and other vegetables and seasonings, the credulous villagers complied, realizing too late that the “free” soup had emptied out their pantries.
     Free Web sites are a little like “stone soup.” Sometimes it’s more cost-effective to hire a pro and go on about your business. On the other hand, if you have the time, you can get pretty handy at creating Web pages, milk the Web for free enhancements, patiently and steadfastly promote your site (both on and off line), and keep your pages up to date and interesting. So you can indeed set up and operate your site without spending a dime.
     This much is certain: If you do your homework and hunt for bargains, you’ll find them. And just when you think you’ve found the perfect software, business or individual to set up your site, someone will come up with something cheaper, better and easier.

Big Gains from Small Outlays
Don’t be intimidated by surveys and statistics. A few years ago, International Data Corp. published its finding that Fortune 500 companies spent from $840,000 to more than $1.5 million just to develop their Web sites, while the price range for small sites was $20,000 to $50,000.
     “I’ve seen numerous companies get up on the Web with low out-of-pocket expense … and experience success,” says Kevin McLaughlin, media relations director at Springboard, a PR firm that specializes in high-tech companies.
     Actinic Software, a Springboard client, helps small businesses get online, and they cite an example of a company that realized big gains from a Web site investment of only $12 per month.

Don’t Leave Out Key Ingredients
“Starting up a Web site on a shoestring is actually how a majority of businesses do it today,” agrees Matt Williams. He should know. Williams and his partner recently sold the online auction company LiveBid.com to Amazon.com. The LiveBid.com founders bootstrapped their startup, although they later spent millions.
     Companies of any size can compete online without breaking the bank. According to Williams, those that fail have left out some key e-commerce ingredients — “strong idea, achievable market share, perseverance, strong management team, timing of market forces and competition, and value proposition to customers.” Niche and service companies, Williams says, are the business types most likely to compete successfully without big outlays.
     Click our interactive guide above to get started on the road towards your own small business Web site. And remember, setting up your free site can be fun and educational. The only price is the time you spend learning the tricks and techniques of technology that won’t wait up for you.

Next week, Part 3: Budget-wise Web solutions

An editor since the age of 6, when she returned a love letter with corrections marked in red, Mary Campbell writes and edits for The University of Arizona College of Business and Public Administration and for dozens of entrepreneurs, publishers, and authors. She is editor of the midsized-business journal The FINOVA Quarterly.