DURHAM, N.H. - The New Hampshire Small Business Development Center (N.H. SBDC), an outreach program of the University of New Hampshire Whittemore School of Business and Economics, has launched a new free online course, "Sites that Sell: Building Your e-Commerce Business."

Sponsored by Fairpoint Communications, "Sites that Sell: Building Your e-Commerce Business" provides information on how small businesses can increase their profitability by using the Internet to create new sales opportunities, giving them an edge in lifting their businesses to the next level. The e-course explores how to develop a website, create a domain name, choose a payment method, fulfill customer orders, and go mobile with a website.

"We are delighted to be associated with the N.H. SBDC and its e-learning program. We believe that by sponsoring the e-commerce course, we will help small businesses connect with the NH SBDC and build their businesses using Internet capabilities," said Patrick McHugh, interim New Hampshire president of FairPoint Communications.

"This is truly a win/win for all parties," said Mary Collins, state director of the N.H. SBDC. "The goal of the N.H. SBDC e-Learning program is to reach as many entrepreneurs as possible with topics and information needed to help them grow. Through collaboration with FairPoint, e-commerce tools are now readily available 24/7 to the New Hampshire business community."

"Sites that Sell: Building Your e-Commerce Business" is one of 26 online courses offered for free as part of the N.H. SBDC's e-Learning for Entrepreneurs program to help New Hampshire business owners improve various management aspects of their business. New Hampshire entrepreneurs can explore all of the N.H. SBDC's e-learning courses at http://www.nhsbdc.org/e-Learning-entrepreneurs . More than 4,000 e-Learning for Entrepreneurs classes have been taken since the inception of the program.

Now offering an array of online courses ranging from basic marketing strategies to management issues, the e-Learning program provides New Hampshire business owners with tools aimed at helping their businesses move forward and grow.

Sponsors of N.H. SBDC's e-Learning program are the U.S. Small Business Administration, the NH Division of Economic Development, and the University of New Hampshire.

The NH Small Business Development Center provides confidential business management consulting and educational programs to New Hampshire's small businesses. The N.H. SBDC is the only New Hampshire agency that has full-time certified business advisors providing one-on-one, long-term, management consulting to small businesses. N.H. SBDC is a cooperative venture with the U.S. Small Business Administration, the State of New Hampshire (DRED), the University System of New Hampshire, and the private sector. For more info on N.H. SBDC, visit www.nhsbdc.org.

The University of New Hampshire, founded in 1866, is a world-class public research university with the feel of a New England liberal arts college. A land, sea, and space-grant university, UNH is the state's flagship public institution, enrolling 12,200 undergraduate and 2,300 graduate students.

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From left to right: Patrick McHugh, interim New Hampshire president of FairPoint Communications, Inc. attends the e-course launch with Greta Johansson, N.H. District director of the U.S. Small Business Administration, Mary Collins, state director of the N.H. SBDC, and the N.H. SBDC advisory board and staff.