Consumers spent an estimated $108.7 billion in e-commerce in 2006, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and while this number may seem large, there is plenty of room for growth. In 2006, e-commerce sales accounted for only 2.8 percent of total retail sales, up from 1.1 percent in 2000.

With such strong growth and even stronger potential, Internet businesses are an attractive option. But guidelines shift when you enter the Web.

Content and product Web sites are the two main types of online businesses. A content Web site provides information about a topic, and its profits come from advertising. A product Web site earns revenue through the sale of goods.

Southwest Florida businesswoman Cindy Brown launched content site www.i-gocity.com, an online guide to cities and towns, last November. She got the idea from working on Web sites dedicated to individual neighborhoods, such as Three Oaks in Estero and Golden Gate Estates in Collier County.

"It basically started as a little bit of a joke: ‘Why stop here? We should do this for the city. Why stop with the city? We should do this nationally.’ And the next thing, the words actually turned into a plan," Brown says.

I-Go City’s revenues come solely from the advertisements on the Web site, which currently has about 45 local and national ads. Brown would like to see the number more than quadruple.

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