You are on the right track.
You need three things to make the whole thing work:
- an ide / compiler: you can download gcc-avr/code::blocks, or avrstudio (5.0/6.0 or even earlier ones), or commercial ones (iar-avr for example). This allows you to write code to get your chip to do whatever you want it to do.
- have a program: your avrisp then can burn your code into the chip.
- a circuit in which your chip functions: this can be done on a protoboard or a real board.
You have the programmer and the circuit / chip (or can make them presummably). The ide/compiler is just a few clicks away. So you are 99% there in terms having the right software / hardware to start writing code.