“Starting an Online Business for Dummies” by Greg Holden is one of the latest (published in 2007) additions to the “for Dummies” series that we all know and love. It was written to be an instructional manual for those of us who have aspirations to use the Internet to make money, but do not have the technical background to implement that plan without a little help. In short, the book is about just what it says in the title, how to start an online business. It mainly provides specific technical help and options. It includes numerous website URLs that are relevant to the current topic being addressed so that you can actually find the companies and websites that the author suggests.
This book is broken out into groups of specific topics. These specific sections include nifty numbered lists and bulleted lists. In addition, the book provides icons to let you know when you need to pay special attention. For example, a “warning” icon points out possible pitfalls that can become major problems. This book has a lot of competition out there. The other books in this genre are mostly books that are also trying to teach the novice how to start their own online business and get rich quick doing it.
Greg Holden, the author of this book, has written more than thirty computer books. In addition to his books, he is also a contributor for Computer Currents and PC World. Mr. Holden has his MA in English. I guess he learned his computer skills on his own.
The strongest aspect of this book is the depth and practicality of the information given. This book is so practical it even provides some step by step instructions on how to sign up with different software packages. It also give a clear and honest professional opinion about each company, service, product, everything. Mr. Holden writes with a sense of humor and honesty throughout the book that makes what could be construed as a boring topic by some people very entertaining to read.
The book is lacking in some aspects. While the book does a great job of giving you the specific information you need to start an online business, it leaves out much of the underlying “foundation” of knowledge required to run a successful business. The ever-changing nature of technology assures that this book will be obsolete very soon
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in starting their own small business online that really is a beginner or “dummy”. Anyone who already has a fairly good knowledge of the internet and websites would find this book be very simplistic and not helpful. Overall, I think the book does a good job at what it is trying to do; help out us computer dummies.
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