How To Accept Credit Card Sales

No matter how long you’ve been in business, you may not be sure about how to accept credit card sales from your clients. Perhaps you long to start processing credit payments so you can increase the amount of your sales revenue or offer your clients more payment transactions. Maybe you’re just tired of chasing bad checks or waiting for monthly payments on client accounts. If you’re ready to add credit card processing to your line of customer services, a merchant services account may be just what you need.

A merchant account associate can show you how to accept credit card sales by using the right type of processing equipment. By signing up for a merchant account, you will soon find out if you’re approved, and upon approval, you can start using your account to implement a credit processing system for just about any type of business you’re in. A simple credit card terminal equipped with a printer can be plugged into an outlet at your store or shop to let your customers quickly swipe credit cards for easy payments on the purchases they make. Your merchant account underwriter will charge a certain amount for each transaction, or you might be able to opt for a low percentage rate on your monthly credit payment volume. If you’re in a window washing or another service business, or if you deliver items like baked goodies, you can lease or buy a wireless credit card processor to take with you in your travels for point-of-sale credit card payments.

How soon can a merchant account let you know how to accept credit card sales? The first thing to do is find a bank or another financial backer who will provide this type of account for your business. Then apply for your company account by filling out an online application or by completing and mailing a printed form. Some banks may charge an application fee of $100 or more, so find out ahead of time if you will need to pay this fee, and if so, you might want to consider shopping for another account provider. Also check into the costs associated with a particular merchant account so you can find the best deal, as these can carry several types of fees, some of which may at first appear to be hidden. When your account is approved, you can immediately get set up with the right equipment to handle credit card payments, e-checks, and debit payments as well. You may even want to consider setting up a digital processing system so your customers can dial a toll-free number, browse products online or from a print catalogue they have already received, and punch in their orders as well as a credit card number and expiration date for payment. You don’t even have to hire someone to staff the phone line, although it is probably a good idea to have someone available for a few hours during a typical business day.

Ask your bank or another financial lender to tell you more about the ways in which a merchant account can show you how to accept credit card sales

Apply For A Free Merchant Account Online

Get a free merchant account online when you locate interested lenders who want to work with your company. Although many potential lenders charge $100 or more for an online merchant account application, others will forego this fee and some other related expenses in order to attract your business. You can get approved quickly and set up within a few days afterward to start accepting online credit payments. But first you have to make a suitable match with a merchant account services provider who is willing to help enhance your company’s e-commerce capabilities.

You can start your search by checking the larger name banks and lending institutions to find those that offer a free merchant account online. Many offer different types of merchant accounts, but you will have to carefully compare prices and terms to make sure you get a good deal. Even top-name banks are capable of botching a merchant account offer, so don’t choose a bank based solely on its name or past performance. Instead, the terms and conditions of its merchant account application. Make sure to ask about costs that are not included on the price list, and get a reply in writing that you can keep on file for future reference if needed. Click through each page of the Website where merchant accounts are featured to be sure you understand all the details of this important privilege. Look for a company that offers the best payment method for your business interests. For example, some require a fee-per-transaction payment, while others bill your account at a low monthly percentage rate. You can always discuss either or both options with the lender’s customer service representative if you aren’t sure which one will work best with your clients.

After selecting the best free merchant account online offer for your business, process your application online, if possible, or print and complete it before mailing. Within a few days you should receive an email or postage reply to confirm or reject your application. If accepted, you can immediately begin to set up credit processing services for your customers. Discuss your equipment needs with the lender to decide the best direction for your company. For example, you will probably want to establish a Web presence unless you already have done so. When your Website is up and running, you can add credit processing options to it so that shoppers can browse anytime, shop at their leisure, and pay by credit card. You won’t have to hire customer support to be available 24/7 at your Website, although it is a good idea to have someone on call from time to time or as needed to answer shoppers’ questions or to address unexpected glitches. Your Website credit processing link will let customers enjoy the ease of ordering and paying from their homes, their jobs, or anywhere else they can find a computer a few minutes of browsing time.

Ecommerce Website Owners : Are You Leaving Money on the Counter?

Own an ecommerce website? Do you have a mailing list?

If not, you’re potentially leaving a lot of money on the counter.

Keeping in touch with your past customers and visitors, is one of the easiest and cost effective methods of increasing your website sales. You simply must have a mechanism to collect the email addresses of both buyers and browsers alike.

Collecting buyers email addresses is a ”no brainer” – after all you need to send them confirmation details, receipts etc. Just make sure you ask their permission to keep them up to date on future special offers.

Collecting visitor details is a bit trickier, and you must offer some kind of incentive in return for them handing over their valuable email address. Here are several ways:

· A discount voucher off their first order

The amount you are prepared to offer will depend on the profit margin in your business, and the drawback is you may only get the email addresses of people who were going to purchase anyway.

· A competition to win one of your products

Do make sure you are honest and pick a winner – put past winner details on your site to emphasise this

· An insiders buyers guide

If you offer technical products that can be tricky to understand – such as electronics, audio-visual etc, then write a short guide

· Special reports or tips guides

If you sell golf equipment, search for articles on golf tips online, obtain the authors permission and compile them into a PDF report.

Managing your list

Depending on what ecommerce system your website is based on, you may already have the ability to manage email lists. If not, use a list management service such as Aweber (www.aweber.com), which allows you to set up autoresponder sequences, multiple lists and send HTML emails.

Which brings me nicely to the next *must* . . . send HTML emails!

HTML emails are the ones full of images and graphics, rather like webpages as opposed to plain text emails.

Why? They are far more eyecatching, which is essential given the increasing amounts of email we get every day. You stand a better chance if you include images of your products – after all a picture is worth a thousand words, right

LISTEN to and LEARN from your Customer's Needs

For every article I find interesting and useful, I never fail to share them with you. I firmly believe that quality articles deserve to be retold. One particular article I would be sharing with you today is about an author’s experience as an entrepreneur.

You read many success stories from the Internet, but the genuine ones are always about helping you become successful without asking anything in return. And this is exactly what Willie Crawford’s success story is about.

Mr. Crawford shares how he has carved a niche for himself as an entrepreneur by being observant of his customers’ needs and wants. I agree with him when he pointed out that it is much better to do what your customers ask or request than asking them what they want. As Crawford said, hearing the needs directly from your customers is far better and more accurate than the “usual tip” of asking what they want.

From this point, Crawford’s further business plans ultimately are based on listening to his customers. However, his success story is not that simply achieved. Of course, his business also took time to develop and become a successful one.

What I mostly observe on successful entrepreneurs is that they all have the patience to wait for their business to grow. Whether you are establishing an offline or an online business, you should remember that hard work and patience should be included.

With as much as people’s needs are very basic, the techniques of nurturing these needs are no more than the basic things, too. And this is another point Crawford shared in his article. Sometimes, we think big things---- on how we should market our business--- that too often, we neglect to see that in business, all that is needed is to listen. When people are pleased with what you do and what you sell, do not just stop by being flattered. These intances actually tell you something. Something that is very important to your customers and is crucial to your success. By being observant with these "instances", you will be able to focus more on your niche.

Here is an excerpt from Crawford’s article:

Over the years, I tried to sell those site visitors, and list members, a variety of different backend products, but nothing sold as well as my cookbook. For the last six years,list members have regularly told me what my next few products should be, but I wasn't really listening. List members regularly emailed me saying that they loved my recipes, but that they were on restricted diets. They often asked if I had diabetic, low-fat or low-carb recipes. They also often wrote to tell me that they'd been diagnosed with high blood pressure, and asked if I had any recipes for people with hypertension.

So the lesson for the day: “Do not play dumb when it comes to your customers’ needs.” Be willing to take all their suggestions. If you are going to ignore them, then you are missing the whole essence of your business. Your success does not only depend on what you think is best for your business, but it also depends on your target market. Your customers have all the potential to see your business’s productivity. Thus, be able to lend your ears to them and you would likely become successful.

Offshore Ecommerce Merchant Accounts

Offshore, in its literal sense, means “in the sea away from the shore.” In the financial respect, it is a relative term generally applied to low-tax jurisdictions by citizens of high-tax nations. Some islands are offshore to encourage inward investments.

The term also denotes engaging outside the United States, as it one of the high-tax countries. Investments in the low-tax nations are registered outside the U.S., hence not subject to its laws. They can’t be sold or dispensed there, or by its citizens, since in the U.S., taxes are imposed based on citizenship not on residency. Thus, all U.S. citizens are subject to tax no matter where in the world they reside.

While in other countries, a citizen is taxed where he resides. The tax depends on total income regardless of whether he earns it there or not. This includes foreign investments, or, the place where income is acquired, no matter where residency is. But most countries impose tax based on the source of income, not on residency alone. This is why most businesses are established on low-tax locations, or some are moved there from high-tax ones.

Luxembourg, Ireland, and Bermuda are the primary low-tax places. Being tax and investor-friendly, they are the largest and most secure financial sectors in the world. Other low-tax jurisdictions include Bahamas, British Virgin Islands, Cyprus, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, Jersey, Netherlands Antilles, Panama, Singapore and United Kingdom.

Today, applying for merchant accounts in both Europe and Netherlands Antilles will account for a single corporate structure. In addition, you are privileged to choose your settlement jurisdictions within the Caribbean and/or Europe, thus creating a dual acquiring presence. Thus, you’ll be able to implement comprehensive, multi-jurisdictional and multi-currency acquiring services.

You can at the same time benefit from the opportunity of presenting your customers secure payment alternatives, currency solutions offers, plus the advantage of offshore and e-zone tax structures and channeled marketing. This greatly minimizes the currency and location costs and simplifies the complex implementation of cross-border processing.

Internet Merchant Accounts

A merchant account enables one to accept credit card payments. There are different kinds of merchant accounts, and Internet merchant accounts are one of them.

Such accounts can be used only for online transactions. To process credit card payments one has to use a payment service gateway. These kinds of gateways are now part of most business webhosting packages. They can be customized to cater to the requirements of merchants. The transaction fee charged by Internet accounts is higher than the retail and Mail Order-Telephone Order (MOTO) accounts.

While operating an Internet merchant account, security is an important issue. The nature and volume of business determines whether you need an Internet merchant account or not. One should read and understand the terms and conditions for operating this account carefully, before accepting them.

If you have $100, you can easily open an Internet merchant account; if you are paying more than this amount then you are being overcharged. Internet merchant accounts provide an account holder the ability to process transactions anywhere in the world. You can do it while traveling.

An Internet merchant account can be opened in a few minutes by filling out a form which is available online. It gets activated within seconds. Earlier, when online merchant accounts were not available, it used to take at least a few days and a few hundred dollars to open a merchant account. But the advent of the Internet merchant account has revolutionized the concept of merchant accounts. Even small businesses can afford to open such accounts. If you have a problem in operating your Internet merchant account, you can use the technical support made available by your banker.

But before you go for an online merchant account, you must find out whether you actually need it. Businesses dependent on online transactions generally find it beneficial. It is better to have a website before one opens an Internet merchant account.

Is a Data Entry Job, Working From Home Right For You?

While working at a Data Entry Job sounds like the perfect job, working from home isn’t for everyone. Having said that, it could be just the thing for many people, you just have to assess if you are ready and committed to take on a data entry job and make it a success. The attraction is that it is an amazing alternative to the daily chore of going out to work for someone else.

What is important is that you take a long hard look at your circumstances, your lifestyle, your commitment and your ability to motivate yourself. Don't just go out and resign your job before you have even tried starting a data entry job. Take a while to ask yourself some basic questions:-

- What are my strengths?
- What are my weaknesses?
- Do I enjoy flexibility?
- Can I plan the family activities so they do not interfere?
- Will my family support my new career?
- Do I have self-discipline?

Decide what your strengths are. There is not one type of person that is just right for this type of work. Everyone has strengths and you need to decide if yours are the ones you need for this kind of work. Some strengths that might help in this kind of work could be:-

- You like attention to detail
- You enjoy working on the computer
- You like to work on different projects
- You are dependable

These are just a few to give you an idea. There are so many things that you could consider a strength that would benefit you working from home.

Now take a serious look at your weaknesses. Decide if they will cause a problem or if you can work around them. For instance, you might say that your weakness is that you can't get up in the mornings. This could be a problem if you schedule your only work time at 8 a.m. but if you schedule your work for the afternoon or the evening then this would not be a problem. This is part of the benefit of working from home - you can decide for yourself how and when you want to work.

How flexible are you? If you are a person that thrives on flexibility then you will especially enjoy taking on different data entry jobs and allowing yourself to work at various times and for varying lengths of time. If you are not a very flexible person (be honest!) then you can still make a great job of this by being more diligent about scheduling your time and also by planning your jobs ahead.

If you are planning to work at a data entry job from home you will have to consider your family. While it is important to set aside time without interruption, it is not realistic to think that the family will never interrupt. There will always be times when you will have to change your priorities. A good discussion with your family outlining what everyone’s expectations are would be a great idea.

Some people just know that they have great self-discipline while others are not sure. If you think you do then you won't have any problems. If you are not sure, don't despair. It is amazing where self-discipline comes from when you are interested in what you are doing. Many people find that the mere fact that they are working for themselves is a huge motivating factor. It is a very different feeling from grinding out the work for some one else. You may not have a boss breathing down your neck, but many people are surprised to discover that they will push themselves harder than any boss would have.

It is definitely a good idea to learn about how to prioritize and organize your work. As with any job or home business, there will be jobs that you will really enjoy and jobs that you will want to put off. Take some time to learn some simple routines for organizing such as making lists of things to do that day. Your lists could be split up into priority A and B so that you keep on track each day and stick to the most important tasks.

Organization is important, especially when you work at home. Make sure you have an area where you can sit at your computer and carry out the data entry jobs with everything you need close by. Try to separate your business things from your personal things.

In conclusion I would say that most people could be suited to working from home at data entry jobs if they just take the time to think things through and prepare themselves mentally and physically. The benefits of this kind of work are worth the effort it could take to adapt to this way of life.

The Genericide of Google

Lawyers at Google are probably not jumping for joy over news this week that the term "google" has been added to the latest edition of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary.

Certainly, the word was added to the dictionary in recognition of the ubiquity of the Internet search giant and the adoption of the term as a verb by the consuming public. It is now commonplace to hear one’s acquaintances, and characters in television shows and movies, to describe "googling" a person or thing.

Unfortunately, the public’s adoption of the term "google" as a verb may destroy the value of "Google" as a trademark. Trademarks serve as a designator of the source or sponsorship of goods or services. The greatest protection is afforded to trademarks which are highly distinctive and, therefore, highly effective at serving that purpose.

Though "Google" may have begun as a highly distinctive trademark, having been registered as a result of a misspelling of the word "googol" by the company’s founders, it may be losing its distinctiveness. As the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit said in America Online, Inc. v. AT&T Corp., 243 F.3d 812 (2001):

"[E]ven when created words for new products have become strong marks, the public’s pervasive use of these marks sometimes creates a real risk that their distinctiveness will disappear, a process Professor [J. Thomas] McCarthy terms ‘genericide’ . . . ."

Earlier trademarks "Thermos," "Aspirin," "Cellophane," "Escalator," "FedEx," and "Xerox" have all succumbed to genericide and, if the new dictionary entry is any indication, "Google" may be following suit.

It appears that Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary has attempted to provide the "Google" trademark some protection by making the entry for "google" lowercase and defining the term as "to use the Google search engine" to find information on the Internet. If the public’s adoption of the term is truly limited to usage in the context of searches through the Google site, it may not represent the genericide of the trademark. The "Google" trademark would be most at risk where the term "google" was adopted as a generic verb for the act of searching using any Internet search engine (i.e. "I googled him at yahoo.com.").

We’ll only know for certain if a court is asked to opine as to the "Google" trademark but, as some commentators have suggested, it certainly must be of some concern to Google.

Readers are reminded that all of the information in this article is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for legal counsel. No one should act or refrain from acting on the basis of any content included on this site but should instead seek the appropriate legal advice on the particular facts and circumstances at issue from a properly licensed attorney.

So Why Has Internet Banking Taken Off in Such a Big Way?

Internet banking is becoming more popular with each passing day. Fewer and fewer people are ever going to their banks, preferring instead to use the Internet to manage their money, check how much they have and pay bills. You can even pay in cheques by post, removing the reason most people go to banks. More and more banks are being established as ‘Internet banks’, working entirely online with no physical branches and customer service by email and telephone only, and many people report good experiences with these banks.

So why has Internet banking taken off in such a big way? Most of the answer is to do with the adoption of broadband. Back in the days of dial-up, few people wanted to their banking on the Internet, feeling that if they had to dial then it was easier to just call the bank and not have to go through so many security checks. Since broadband came on the scene, though, more and more people have been able to check their bank account any time, both at home and at work, and have started to find the Internet to be the most convenient way of dealing with their bank account.

As Internet banking saves the banks money on branches and staff, they have been keen to get as many people signed up for it as possible, sending out regular letters and trying to get people to sign up for it in the branch. They see it as a win-win situation: they make more profits, and the customers are happier at having quicker access to their accounts. Internet banks, even if they have few customers, are very profitable indeed, which allows them to offer higher interest rates to their customers than high street banks, enticing gradually more people to move away from ‘real world’ banking altogether.

6 Essential Components Of An Ecommerce Website

Standard websites exist to promote products and services and to capture leads. They do not take orders from customers and they do not fulfil a customer service role. E-commerce sites have this additional functionality and this makes them more complex to develop and to manage.

Faced with the choice, how do you decide whether to trade online or not? Well, in some markets, the decision almost makes itself. For example if you sell books, CDs or software, a high percentage of sales are conducted online. If you do not have a sales presence on the web, you severely limit your market reach. The internet can increase the number and types of customers that you can target in any market, and sales on the web are growing. In the UK this year, internet sales are forecast to be £32 billion (GfK) and they are growing at the rate of 50% per annum. The investment in an e-commerce site is higher than a traditional site and so needs to be made with care.

The components for and E-commerce site are:

1 E-commerce software.

In simple terms, this software will present your products to your customers and it will process their orders. There are many commercially available packages, and prices have come down a lot in the past few years. If you are new to e-commerce, it can be useful to find a software that will do all of the business functions. As well as taking orders, it will do inventory management, order tracking, and provide you with reports to help you manage your business.

2 A Merchant Account

This is an account with a financial institution, such as a bank, that will allow you take credit card orders. This can be costly and difficult to set up, particularly if you are a new business. There are set-up costs, monthly costs and you also pay a percentage of your sales to the account provider. You should research the market well to keep costs as low as possible.

There are specific rules about how to process orders when the cardholder is not present, and you should pay attention to the procedure that you are asked to follow. This will limit any losses that you might incur from fraud.

Some websites begin trading with Paypal, which offers a simple way to accept credit card payments from your customers.

3 Web Traffic

E-commerce sites cost more to build and run, so they need good volumes of visitors quickly. There are a number of ways to grow your visitor numbers, including:

- Good search engine positioning. A specialist can help you to optimise your

site. Most buyers will use a search engine to find suppliers, so this is a

good source of visitors.

- Email. You can buy a list of potential customers and email them some

special offers. If you don't target buyers well, you risk alienating them

with spam. Also, you have legal obligations that you should research

before starting any campaign.

- PPC advertising. You can pay to advertise your site on search engines on

those pages that are relevant to the products that you sell. you only pay

when someone clicks on a link and visits your site.

- Listing on shopping comparison sites. There are many sites that take data

from many e-commerce sites and they display the prices for shoppers to

compare. Some are part of a search engine, like Froogle. Others are

independent web business like Pricegrabber.

4 Web Analytics Software

When you begin to operate you find that a significant number of people leave your site without buying anything. This is inevitable, but your success depends on converting as many visitors as possible into customers. A web analytics package will allow you to see where your visitors have come from, and it will track what they do on the site. You can see what paths they follow from your home page and you can study where they were when they decided to leave your site. This is invaluable information for you to look for elements of you website that turn visitors off and to eliminate anything which is blocking people from buying. You cannot run a good ecommerce site without a good analytics package.

5 Security And Backup

As in any other part of business, there are people on the internet always looking for illegal opportunities to make money. You need to protect your site with a good security package. There are many commercially available.

You will also need to backup your site data. It is easier that you think to loose a lot of work, and for no good reason. Make sure to backup both your web pages and the database behind them.

A good place to start on both issues is to talk to your hosting service. They may already offer services that you could use. You should make yourself familiar with how they operate and you should schedule regular backups.

6 Fulfilment Systems

When you have put all these elements of your ecommerce site together, you will need some method of physically picking, packing and delivering your orders. When order volumes are low, this is not much of a problem, but at higher volumes, fulfilment requires great discipline and automation. If business does take off, you will damage your business if you cannot fulfil orders rapidly. Expectations in B2B are now that 48 hour delivery is just acceptable and 24 hours is standard in many sectors. You need to plan how you will fulfil higher volumes of orders. You can invest in systems and processes yourself, or you can outsource fulfilment to a specialist company. They will usually charge a setup fee and then a cost per order processed and item stocked. This may seem like a far away issue right now, but I have seen too many businesses rushing to put something in place after things have gone wrong.

Successful e-commerce sites depend on an unusual combination of technical knowledge, direct or catalogue marketing expertise and commercial instinct. For this reason, there are very few really good sources of expert help. You can go it alone, but if you are looking for an advisor, choose one with care

Deja Vu - A Dot Com Era Business Emerges Again

If you don't recall a service called Keen allow me to refresh you memories. Keen was originally launched in 1999 as a sort of online 1-900 number. The basic idea being that you pay to call an expert. Since anyone could set themselves up as an expert with no real credentials of any kind the site eventually devolved into an online way to reach psychics, and well lonely ladies looking for someone to chat to. So what's the difference between Keen and a new service called Ether?

Nothing. That's right both Keen and Ether are owned by the same company Ingenio. So will the service have any better luck the second time around?

There is actually one difference between Ether and it's predecessor Keen. Keen has an E-bay like directory set up so you can browse through the services whereas Ether has no way of searching its listings at all. One member has started a directory through the forums and from what I can tell there are already a few psychics on board as well as several "experts" who are charging $25/hr or less which is fairly cheap for expert advice. Your average psychiatrist, or lawyer can charge upwards of $100/hr for their services.

The truth is when most people want expert advice they don't want an anonymous Internet expert. The want someone they've heard of, who friends have recommended, and who perhaps they can consult with in person if need be.

The other problem is that since E-bay has bought Skype you could essentially arrange the same thing through E-bay which allows you to use PayPal unlike Ether. While E-bay has more of a low end feel (it's basically an online flea market)they could create a spin-off site should there be a demand for this sort of thing.

Four months ago I signed up for Ether just to give a shot and see if it was worthwhile. I started my advice rate at $100/hr, but having received no calls lowered it to $75/hr last month. It doesn't cost anything to sign up, and in fact you only pay %15 commission on your calls. So Ether doesn't make money unless you do.

The only way to make money on Ether currently is to bring your own customer base, because there's no way to search the site for listings. The problem is that the same old idea has been relaunched without addressing the real issue. Are people willing to pay for advice online, and if so how much? Besides there is still the problem that the experts are still essentially self-proclaimed, and there's no way to search the listings and it doesn't take a psychic to tell you that this doesn't bode well.