Most ISPs (Internet Service Providers) have such space available, or even include some such space in their monthly fee. But, typically, the space provided is rather limited (more available for an increased monthly fee, of course), and the site's URL, or address, is often something like--

     "Http://www.(ISP Name).com/~YourSiteName."

You can hardly remember it yourself, others certainly can't, and the search engines (Hotbot, Yahoo, Lycos, Excite, and the others) don't find it. And most of the search engines won't accept such an address, even if you attempt to add the URL to their database.

With the millions of URLs (and rapidly growing) already out there, there's not much point in having a site that no one can find! Not from a business viewpoint, anyway, though it's probably OK if the site is just for one's own amusement.

By contrast, the sites of our participants can be found in two ways. The site is listed as a "Cottage" on our "Cottages" page, and can be visited by anyone checking out the overall site. Also, the URL of the individual cottage looks more like--

      "CottageIndustries.com/WEBSITENAME"

This is much simpler, and the search engines can find this type of address.

Incidentally, each site can have its' own email address at the site, with any responses being automatically forwarded to the individual participant.

If a participant desires or needs Web Page Design or consulting services, or would prefer to have someone function as a webmaster for him, we are in a position to give individual and personal attention to whatever needs to be done. Part of the idea is that we benefit one another by attracting diverse interests to our overall site, thus increasing our individual exposure. Therefore, we want everyone to be as successful as possible in attracting traffic- all of us benefit in the process.