Ok, it’s not entirely free, you have to pay for hosting and a domain name annually, but besides that, welcome to Magento!
If you’ve been in the ecommerce world for very long, you’re probably aware of names like oscommerce, creloaded oscommerce, x-cart, volusion, litecommerce and a myriad of other opensource and paid ecommerce solutions. If you’re not familiar with those names, then there’s no reason for you to become familiar with them. They’re all crap! Yeah, that’s right. I went there. I’ve been there, done that, got the boxers, and hated every minute of it. Stop your fretting and welcome to the web 2.0 world of open source ecommerce software.
No, this isn’t a paid post, or some sort of lame scam to try to get you to sign up for something you’re going to regret (like creloaded oscommerce turned out to be for me). If you have a business, or are planning on one, there is no reason why you shouldn’t be on the web. And if your lack of know-how of coding, or web development is your last barrier to hopping into the world of online biz, then Magento + Simple Helix hosting solutions leave you with no excuse to not have a website. Not to mention, I’m always available for contact if you need some minor support.
This is the no-nonsense way of getting online with Magento. (Magento is essentially the store (software), for all you noobs out there. It’s all you need to get on the web and sell things.)
#1 – Sign up for Simple Helix or another Magento Certified Hosting Provider.
#2 – Purchase your domain and hosting plan (this is easily done through Simple Helix).
#3 – Email Simple Helix and have them install your Magento store for you or if you’re real crazy, install it yourself.
#4 – Theme your store with one of Magento’s free themes and start enjoying the flexibility of Magento.
#5 – Oh yeah, I forget. You’ll need paypal (or google checkout, or some other free payment processor) to accept payments on your store. Not a big deal at all – and this step is free too.
I usually charge people anywhere from $500 to 1k and higher to install their stores for them using that exact method. Super simple. There’s my secret! Now Sign Up for Simple Helix and get on the freaking web! You no longer have an excuse!
