Did you have a dream as a child to open up your own shop to the public, to find long lines at your registers, to hear the sound of chatter as mothers and fathers kept their little ones near and entertained, while your staff served up some old fashioned service?

Well, the next best thing has arrived with the internet. You can be a web shopkeeper now, with a plethora of advantages over the real world variety. There are a number of solutions available online to become a web shopkeeper now. If you don't mind sharing a cut with the big dogs, you could run with eBay or Amazon and sell your wares. If you don't like the idea of storing things, they now have eBay drop off stores in most major cities.

Of course, if you want to create your own goods for sale and don't want to necessarily go the eBay route, then there's always stores like Etsy or CafePress. These provide the web shopkeeper with a venue to sell their own creations (in the case of the Etsy types of stores) or create your own identity using their tools and materials (in the case of the CafePress model). That is to say, in the latter model, you would use their t-shirts and customize them using their software and art. Either venue will help you become a web shopkeeper now, with a few clicks. These models are pretty unique in that they allow the creative type of web shopkeeper focus on their creativity, while the business end of things is already in place. You will, of course, share some of the profits with the hosting company, but you will become a shopkeeper sooner.

The most profitable option, though maybe not up front, will be to make your own shop from the ground up. Granted, there are open source or free programs for just about every problem you'll face in setting up your shop. The biggest problem will probably be finding the right software for your store. You want your brand, not their brand (the software company's) showing through to your customers. So long as you can do that, it should be a go.

Finally, once all of this is in place, your domain name is purchased, products described and shopping cart hooked up, then it's a matter of driving traffic through your “doors.” This is typically called “search engine optimization.” There are myriad ways to optimize your web shopkeeper site for the major engines, but focusing on Google and Bing will go a long ways in keeping your customers clicking on by.

Visit http://www.ShopkeeperUSA.com for a peak at the new generation of ecommerce web shopkeeper software for your new business.

Shopkeeper is an all-in-one ecommerce solution that provides sellers with a complete website and a store with shopping cart. The entire site can be managed from your browser including uploading pictures, setting prices and managing orders. It's one of the best ecommerce web sites out there. Plus, it is amazingly affordable!

About the Author: Dan Marx provides creative business services for startups on how to start a business on the Internet and make money. Did you find this article helpful? You can find out a lot more by going to http://www.DM-Creative.com where you find ideas, products and services geared toward helping you succeed online.