What software and hardware would a company need to assist them in running their business on the internet?

Google isn't helping so i have to come to yahoo answers :). What software and hardware would the company need to assist them in running their business on the internet, and using tools such as video conferencing and email.What software and hardware would a company need to assist them in running their business on the internet?Some more info about the kind of business, the size of the business and whether this is an offline business coming online or strictly an online business, would help.



1. The very first thing one needs is the right keywords which means knowing how to research keywords and competition. I highly recommend Market Samurai. Having used most of the research tools out there, I think it is by far the best. A bit of a learning curve but it comes with some great training.



2. For most businesses, Wordpress is the most useful way to do a website. This is because it's easy to optimize for the search engines, there are lots of plugins to add functionality and it's easy for anyone designated by your organization, to update (even you :-) )



3. You should have an email broadcast system so you can build a list and stay in touch regularly. Most internet marketers are recommending Aweber or Infusionsoft. Both have great deliverability rates. The interface at AWeber is old, clunky and it often doesn't work (at least that's been my experience), but they do get the mail through. Infusionsoft is expensive so unless you have a large and very successful online business it's probably prohibitively expensive. Recently I switched from AWeber to MailChimp. It's really too early to recommend them (I don't even have all my lists moved yet) but so far I've been very impressed. The only thing I don't like is that they don't have any phone support but they do have a live chat that works pretty well.



4. If you're selling your own products and services, you will also need a shopping cart/payment processor. The easiest is PayPal and for the most part it works really well. It is more expensive once you're doing $2000+/month but it's easy to use. You can't do coupons or set up affiliate programs with PayPal. If you want those features you'll either need another shopping cart or specific software. I haven't found a shopping cart I really love. I would avoid 1ShoppingCart because they have the worst customer service on the planet. Currently I'm using E-Junkie but find it clunky and confusing at times. Sorry I don't have a better solution on this one.



As for hardware, you probably have it already. Again this depends on the size of your business and the nature of your business, but as long as you have a relatively new computer (no more than 2 years old max) and a high speed internet connection, you should be good to go.



That's the stuff you need. There are plenty of other things that can make it easier and others things you may need because of the business you're in, but I could run my business with exactly what I've listed here.



And remember, the most important piece is to do your market research before you invest in anything else. It will save you a whole lot of time, energy and money.