In 1997 I built my first website. I used Windows Notepad and manually wrote all the code for each and every page. It was tedious but satisfying. I look back and am amazed at how primitive that manual coding is today. Now I can download an "open source" content management system, install it on a website hosting computer, and a new website is born. With content management, any layperson can simply sign-in and edit the website. This is a far cry from the 1990's when one needed to know how to code with HTML to do anything with a website. Now, a 5 year old could edit!

So, I found a new love in this specific open source content management system (http://joomla.org/) that I stuck with after years of struggling with other website builders. Open source is good because there is a huge community of volunteer developers improving upon it. Joomla also has a fabulous "plug-in" called Virtuemart. Virtuemart provides shopping cart capabilities to the website and it's well-worth adding.

No need for a "brick+mortor" physical store in this day and age. Selling your stuff online is the way to go, and technology is constantly improving in this area. What a journey it is.

I have compiled the links below so you may explore the most popular options for FREE open source ecommerce website solutions.