A Million In One Year

“For mark! no sooner was I fairly found
Pledged to the plain, after a pace or two,
Than, pausing to throw backwards a last view
O’er the safe road, ’twas gone: grey plain all round,
Nothing but plain to the horizon’s bound.” — Robert Browning.

Isn’t it funny how as soon as you pledge yourself to do something, a whole host of unforeseen challenges and complications seem to appear?

So much for simply setting up a bunch of web sites, creating content, advertising, monetizing and Advancing To Go.

Nooooo sir.

Now I was to some extent aware of the legal and logistical issues involved with online business - and had done a little work investigating them. I knew about privacy policies, terms of use, disclaimers and the like.

However, I’m so glad that I decided to do further research. I might just have saved myself from making a noose for my own neck. There is soooo much involved in this - and some of it would appear to be of absolutely supreme importance.

I’ve collected a few of what I believe to be the most important links to share with my readers… (note - I am not qualified to give legal or business advice; this set of links may not include everything you need; also these may or may not apply in your location - please check).

First of all - Business Law:

http://www.business.gov/guides/business_law/
http://www.business.gov/guides/e-commerce/

Next up - FTC regs concerning e-commerce, advertising, consumer privacy, disclosures, etc etc:

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/menus/business/ecommerce.shtm
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/menus/business/data.shtm

Are you aware that if you purchase a domain name, you may risk losing it if it infringes an existing trade mark? I wasn’t:

http://ezinearticles.com/?Small-Business-Trademarks—Who-Needs-Em?&id=1127401
http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Shannon_Moore

So for my www.lucky-lex.com web site, I may not be able to move forward - I’ll have to check and have drafted a letter to Shannon Moore.

I found a series of fantastic books by Stephen Fishman including this one about copyright and public domain. These look like essential reading and I’m going to get a copy.

This one is all about Patents and how to patent your creations:

* http://www.diesel-ebooks.com/cgi-bin/item/1413306691/Patent-It-Yourself-eBook.html

The fascinating, surprising thing about all this is that most people seem to be quite unaware of much of it: The FTC ruling concerning the necessity for affiliates to declare their nature as affiliates with a financial interest in the products they are promoting? This gets confusing - check this post and its comments, plus the FTC PDF it links to.

It seems all of a sudden as though the internet is a kind of Wild West, with so many people making it up as they go along. I can’t afford to do that. No way. I need to construct my business on solid foundations if I am going to stand a chance of great success.

What does all this mean for me?

First, it requires a load of study. It also entails getting some professional consultation. And yup, it’s going to cost. I don’t know how much - but I want to do things right so there will probably be legal fees, possibly trade mark and other expenses. Others who are successfully selling ebooks typically Incorporate their businesses - I will also need to find out if this is the best path for me.

In a word - eek! From the financial point of view, I am probably going to have to do this stuff a little at a time. Hopefully I’ll know more soon about what my options are.

Also - have I missed anything? If you see any glaring omissions, let me know.

Meanwhile, the bet is on and the clock is ticking….

************* U P D A T E May 9th 2008 *************

I received a fantastic letter back from Shannon Moore this morning with a whole host of links to further reading on the subject of business structure and matters related:

Books:
* Ultimate Book of Forming Corps, LLCs, Partnerships & Sole Proprietorships by Michael Spadaccini
* LLC or Corporation?: How To Choose The Right Form For Your Business by Anthony Mancuso
* Legal Guide For Starting & Running A Small Business (8th Edition) by Fred S. Steingold

Sites:
* Nolo’s Ownership Structure Resource Center
* The Different Types of Business Entities
* US Business Law and Taxes

Articles:
* How to Choose the Proper Business Entity by Tom Perkins
* Business Structure – What Should I Be? by Joshua Feinberg
* Which Business Structure is Best for You? by Geoff Ficke

US Patent and Trademark Office:

* http://www.uspto.gov

Consultation on Privacy Policies, Disclaimers, Terms of Service etc:

* http://www.guru.com/index.aspx

Many thanks Shannon! If anyone else has further recommendations, please send them along and I’ll add them to this page… AN

 Subscribe in a reader

Tags: #3 How-To Articles //