Dear Readers,

Taxes are coming, and the internet will never be the same. Whether you're an online vendor or just like to stay up on the latest eCommerce news, you should read our top story.

In other news, Google just bought blog software maker Pyra. I'd love to hear your speculations on the motives for the purchase. I think it's advertising sales...

I hope you find this issue useful, and let me know if you have any questions.

Best Wishes, Garrett

Top eCommerce News

Online Sales Tax Begins
In early November of last year, a meeting in Chicago, by lawmakers and tax officials from 32 states endorsed a proposal to simplify their tax laws and enter into a voluntary pact to collect online sales taxes. This meeting was the result of what had been called the Streamlined Sales Tax Project...
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Google Buys Blogger Maker Pyra Labs
Blogging may have just slipped into the mainstream, and who better to take it there than Google. Why the buy? Because Google knows that blogs (web logs) are a valuable web media. Watch for a Google blog network with highly targeted advertising. Yet another smooth Google move.
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Microsoft Lands T-Mobile Deal
That's two now for Microsoft in their bid for the takeover of the mobile phone industry. Orange, their first conquest, sold 40,000 Microsoft enabled phones last year. Watch Windows take over the world!
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Charge for Subscription

Why This is the Perfect Time to Start Charging for Website Subscriptions
Smart website owners are now realizing just how valuable their hard-earned knowledge is to others. Much of the information that used to be available for free to anyone and everyone on the World Wide Web is moving behind closed doors, accessible only to paying subscribers.
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Web Hosting + Internet Marketing

Unbiased Step-by-step Guide on Web-Hosting
If you think your brand domain name and stable hosting with a number of features and absence of ads are not worth, at least, $50-$150 per year, then you probably want to play games, rather than build online business.
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Are Internet Marketing Seminars, Conferences And Workshops Worth The Money?
I just came back from the Internet Marketing Power Workshop and wanted to share the experience with you. Part of the reason I wanted to do this is because I am sure many of you wonder about the real value of all of the workshops, seminars, and conferences you see advertised. I attended as a speaker/instructor, but also because I knew I could, and did, learn a lot from all of the other instructors.
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