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Spend your time and money wisely. I recommend you take a little time to decide what programs you join, whether you are an existing merchant or you are just starting out. Don't do everything on the cheap because it will soak up your time and effort and lose business.
Find quality companies and never regret it.
The first thing you need is an education. Ken Evoy's Masters courses are a great start. You should also look around the web to check out some of the traffic generating systems. Don't get carried away with them because they can soak up your time and deflect your focus from the real reason you are looking around.
There are three types of website you can set up.
- A free site, provided by an affiliate program.
- A free site that you build yourself.
- A paid site that you build yourself.
A slow, free website can cost you sales and it takes time to build and get right. If you pay for your site, it is more likely to be faster, but there is still the learning curve. Many Affiliate programs set you up with a single or multiple page site built from a template that you can sometimes select.
Choose wisely because these are not always well organized. If the site doesn't make sense to you, its not because you are a dummy - its because the site doesn't make sense!
Buying things on the Web
Credit Cards. - see the next section for PayPal.
From time to time, you are almost certainly going to buy things online. It makes a lot of sense to have a separate online card. If someone steals your card, its the only one you have to cancel. You will never have to look at your other cards and try to separate the online purchases from offline purchases. If your online buying is for your business, everything is together. As with any Credit Card, you should treat it well, Make sure that any page where you enter the card number is secure - look for https:// in the browser URL and look for the yellow closed lock symbol at the bottom of the browser. Remember to pay off your card each month - don't ever carry a balance unless you absolutely have to.
If you can't get a Credit Card, another good option is PayPal. I review PayPal in the next section because it can be used to accept money as well as spend it.
Top 10 Online Shopping Tips
Accepting Money on the Web
Reviews PayPal, ClickBank, goEmerchant.
If you join a good Affiliate Program and you aren't selling any of your own products, you don't need a Merchant Account. If you sell your own products, there are several ways to accept money.
It is important to have a reliable payment acceptance system that is easy to use (for your customers) and reasonably priced (for you).
PayPal is a good low-end system. It is secure, fast and has many registered users. The only downside is that your customers must be registered with PayPal. If they are not already, they must register. - So just when you thought you would make a sale, you send them to PayPal. If your customer decides they don't want a PayPal account, you can lose the sale.
Even if they join, PayPal takes time to set up, so its another obstacle in the path to your sale.
PayPal's $5 signing bonus gives you and your customer an incentive to go through the process. If your customers sign up from your link, you both get a bonus.
It makes sense to use PayPal as one of your payment methods because of the number of users they have. It means you can accept payment from customers who may not have their own credit card.
ClickBank is a good system that lets low-volume merchants accept credit cards. There are two types of account - one for digital goods and services and the other for physical goods. The account for digital goods has an activation fee of $49.95, but mo monthly fees. The per-transaction fees are currently $1.00 plus 7.5% of the sales prices. This is a lot higher than a standard merchant account, but it is offset by the fact there are no monthly fees. You really need a spreadsheet to determine whether to use this type of Merchant service.
If you ship physical goods, the ClickBank Merchant Account is handled by Total Merchant Services. It has a $99.95 activation fee, and a $49.95 monthly fee. The per-transaction fees are $0.25 plus 0% for up to $1,000 per month and $0.25 plus 2.25% over $1,000.
ClickBank also has an affiliate program that pays you to refer other affiliates and Merchants.
A very good merchant system is available from goEmerchant. This is best when you have more than about $350 in receipts per month. I helped a friend set it up and be is really happy with it.
You can even email product details and include "Buy-Me" buttons. Your customers can buy from their email! Many merchants attribute increased sales to use of the button.
You get quality service and great support. There are many unsolicited testimonials from existing merchants. The package includes a Merchant Account, Web Site, shopping cart and even products. My friend got it running in just a few hours.
An online report tells you What Sells Online - it isn't a sales letter or a stunning report, but it has useful info.
Increase your site traffic. Getting your message out and forming relationships to expand your business.
How to keep your site fresh. Where to find current content that changes in real-time.
Banner Analysis. What works and what doesn't.
Sally.
sally@netwox.com
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