I started my first website in June 1999. At that time I new nothing about websites and got it built by a friend of a friend who owed me a favour.

In the following months, as I needed to update the site, I taught myself a little about html and went on from there. Throughout the last 11 years I have had a number of websites online and spent a fair proportion of that time earning enough from them to pay the bills.

I've never hit upon the idea that is going to make me a million, and I've put in lots of effort for fairly average rewards, but I live in hope every time I launch a new website!

Anyone can start a new business online. You don't necessarily need your own website, for instance there are many ebay traders who use the ebay platform exclusively.

If you do need your own website the domain name and hosting do not cost much and even if you need to get it built by a web designer there are plenty of freelance designers offering good deals.

Starting a business online is easy, making money online is much tougher. A website without visitors isn't going to generate much of an income.

Many people I know have come to me over the years with internet business ideas and wanted to launch new websites but have not thought about where they are going to get visitors from. This is the fundamental problem with most new websites.

So as well as a good idea you need to think about how to get that idea across to as many people as possible. This will usually involve promoting your business offline as well as online.

Does your new business have geographical limitations? If you are only offering your service in your local area promotion by way of leaflet drops and local advertising is the obvious first step.

It is also easier to achieve good positions in the organic search results quickly if you have a geographical limited keyphrase. eg. "plumber in Nottingham" rather than just "plumber".

A quick way to start a new business online is to buy a ready built website. We offer just such a service at Improve Your Future and along with the website comes a host of promotional ideas, help and advice.

For a very limited outlay you can be up and running with your new online business within 48 hours. To find out more follow this link - start a new online business - make money online.

After a good start to my new year's diet I'm finding myself going down the slippery slope again. Although I'm not due to weigh myself again until tomorrow morning I have a fair idea that I'm likely to be back where I started at the beginning of the month.

I haven't had any major problems, like a chocolate binge, but I'm just not stringing together enough good days to keep my weight going down.

What I'm finding is that in any given week one bad day can easily undo the other six good days, and I'm having enough trouble managing six good days.

This week has been spoilt by a buffet at work which my boss insisted I ate and a meal out on Friday with huge portions. It's the portion control I really struggle with - I just cannot leave anything on the plate going to waste.

This is OK at home where I can cook less, but when going out I am at the mercy of the restaurant. By the way, the pub/restaurant concerned, The Old Spot in Arnold, Nottingham, is highly recommended, although not perhaps for dieters unless they have a lot more willpower than me!

The staff there were all extremely friendly, helpful and professional. The restaurant was spotlessly clean and big enough to spread out a bit and the food was not only excellent tasting but incredible value (we had some vouchers from the internet). It's the first time we've been there but it won't be the last.

Anyway, back to the weight loss (or lack of it). It looks like I'm going to have to start again tomorrow. Maybe it's time for something drastic to really get things going.

Whilst sensible weight loss of a couple of pounds a week is the best way to go, if you have a bad week it's too easy to undo all of the good work. I need to crash through the 90kg barrier to give myself some impetus to get down to the 75kg I really should be.

It's exercise that's really let me down. I'm finding it so hard to motivate myself to do any sort of exercise which I need to burn off the calories. I'm going on Ebay now to look for some cheap exercise equipment.

2010 hasn't been a particularly good year so far. No competition wins for a start - a bit disappointing considering how many I've entered recently.

Plus the weather is playing havoc with travel plans and getting to work. Can't wait for the snow to go and things to get back to normal.

I've added a little free download to the free stuff page. This is an analysis tool for your computer. It tells you, amongst other things, the make and model of the motherboard and chipset. This is useful info for anyone looking to upgrade their computer.

I'm also working on a new project in conjunction with Britcover Home Insurance. They offer really good savings on home insurance, buildings insurance and contents insurance. If you are currently paying £20 or £30 each month you could be paying £10 or £15 instead. It adds up to a big money saving over the course of a year.

I will be posting more info on this and putting up a dedicated home insurance page on the site in the coming weeks.

Another site I've been promoting is The Online Business Directory. This lists businesses across the UK in a variety of categories. If your business has a website you can list for free and drive targeted traffic to your site.

Finally I have a number of items posted on Ebay for sale currently. If you are looking for a 42" rear projection TV, 6MP Olympus digital camera, King Keg half full of beer, Reddyvac vacuum cleaner, old computer bits or a DVD recorder visit my ebay page and get bidding!