Web Hosting Ecommerce Merchant Accounts

Ecommerce is doing business online, the buying and selling of services and products over the web. It allows you to promote your goods or services, advertise promos, and tap into your sales targets in an easier way. Your clients will make their orders by browsing on your web site and send their payments through your merchant account, which in turn, transfers these payments to your bank account.

Thus, a permanent connection of your web site to the Internet is a basic requirement. This is what web hosting merchant accounts offer. They provide this complete and continuous link by allowing your site to occupy a space on their own web server, where all the information about your site is stored. Being connected to this server will enable you to acquire the all-time web accessibility, for it stays on for 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.

These web hosting merchant accounts will save you the cost of owning and maintaining the needed server. You just have to pay for their service. In looking for a web host, you need to consider their reliability and reputation history, the disk or storage space of their web server, and its capability of accommodating simultaneous access to your web site. Make sure there is a database server and scripting software, operating and web content management systems, and web interface.

And most significantly, make sure your web host offers payment processing capabilities such as SSL or Secure Sockets Layer, a communications protocol that provides security. This is very important since there are sensitive information, such as credit card numbers, that need to be encrypted to ensure that the information passes securely between you and your client, so as to prevent opportunity for fraud.

A web hosting ecommerce merchant account offers you the ability to accept all modes of payment in a faster, safer and more accessible means. It ensures you that all your payment transactions can be continuously processed anytime, may it be day or night, and that no piece of information in the communication and payment transaction process will be missed since your web site is online all the time

Offshore Credit Card Processing

Doing business online is like treading a razor sharp road. There is very little difference between a good and bad business situation. However, a secured, cost-effective and reliable method of payment collection through offshore credit card processing can make all the difference to the way you do business online. It can help you hold all information privacy, avail zero taxation and have protection from currency fluctuations

Offshore credit card processing enables you to effectively accept payments for the goods and services you sell online. You can accept payments in multiple currencies. Offshore credit card processing service can process various types of credit cards, be they Visa, MasterCard, Amex, JCB, Diners or Discover.

The order and payments processing procedure gets streamlined with an offshore credit card processing account. Your customers can make easy and quick purchases online through a secured server. Your card processing system is directly linked to your offshore merchant account. Therefore, you get excellent tax-reduction benefits.

Your business remains up 24/7. The transactions are authorized within a few seconds. Automated receipts are sent to you (the merchant) and the customers, instantly. The credit reserve is as low as 10%. Most of the offshore credit card processing services involve no hidden costs.

An offshore credit card processing service can reduce your charge back with active customer fraud screening and address verification systems (AVS). The transaction processing rates are 5% and upwards depending on the type and volume of your business. Add to it a small 0.75% transaction fee and 10% rolling reserve. However, with most of the offshore credit card processing accounts you do not have to pay gateway fees. There are no card processing dollar limits.

Offshore credit card processing provides comprehensive online credit card processing, rapid order processing, online merchant center, fraud and risk management and 24 hour dedicated support. Offshore credit card processing gives a turnkey payment processing solution. Such an account provides instantaneous online credit card processing. This helps in maximizing sales opportunities and customer satisfaction

Offshore Merchant Accounts

Does your business have anything to do with adult gaming, telemarketing, travel, online pharmacy, subscription/membership services, tickets, multilevel marketing or telecom? Then it may lie in the high-risk classification of the banks. Moreover, if your business involves online credit card payments then it is almost vital to have a merchant account. A merchant account will allow you to carry out credit card transactions. However, if for any reason you do not want to conduct your banking or credit card processing or want to get some taxation benefits, then an offshore merchant account can be the best option for you. It also proves beneficial if you are starting with a new business.

An offshore merchant account can prove to be a financial lifesaver if the US banks and processors find you unsuitable. An offshore merchant account works in a similar fashion as a merchant account would in the US. It has the same method of processing credit card transactions as done by your domestic bank. The only difference is of certain internal bank policies.

Offshore accounts normally have higher processing costs or longer hold back periods but this is in lieu of a deposit requirement. This higher than normal processing charge is a by-product of the fact that the offshore bank assumes higher risk with your offshore merchant account.

Under the usual circumstances you would not have problems getting an offshore merchant account unless you deviate from having ethical sales or business practices. The offshore banks do not really care about your type of business or products. This is unlike the US banks that may at times go much farther than simple due diligence or looking at potential client banks.

Having an offshore merchant account can prove quite beneficial if you have a small business and the cash flow is low, since the account would not require a large up front security deposit. However, you must take into account the fact that the bank may hold back some of the proceeds as a reserve against possible charge backs.

Internet Marketing for Online Business – How to Judge Your Online Success

Internet marketing for online business can be confusing, especially if you are not familiar with all of the aspects of website marketing. As a result, you may be wondering how to best judge the success of your online campaign. Here’s the answer: follow-up.

A website marketing campaign is just like any other marketing campaign. Once it is over, the results need to be analyzed and measured. Follow-up is especially important when it comes to Internet marketing for online business. By tracking your results, you can determine which methods of website marketing were effective and which methods were not. You can then adjust your methods accordingly.

To begin, view your website’s logs. These logs can help you determine where the traffic on your website came from. Most web hosting companies provide this service to their customers. If your web host does not allow you access to these logs, you may want to consider switching hosts. If that is not an option, you can purchase one of many software programs that are specifically designed to help you track and analyze your website marketing efforts. Results’ tracking is an essential part of Internet marketing for online business. Without it, you will have a very hard time figuring out exactly how effective your website marketing campaign is.

Comprehensive Internet marketing for online business is more than just launching a campaign. You must also take an active role in market research, strategy development, and campaign design. By carefully monitoring and measuring the results of your website marketing efforts, you can ensure that all of your hard work is not in vain. Effective Internet marketing for online business brings traffic to your website and then converts that traffic into paying customers. When you can accomplish this conversion on a regular basis, you will know that your website marketing strategy is truly a success.

How Relevant is your Ecommerce Web Site Design?

Ecommerce web site design can spell either success or doom for any business. In this internet age it is imperative to have an online site for advertising, selling or buying a product or service. There are numerous ecommerce websites doing business on the World Wide Web. Your website’s ecommerce design must be relevant to all the different elements needed for designing a good website.

If you want to add a personal touch to your site, you can design your own site. However you can also get professional help from the numerous website designing companies to get your online business site designed. Select a good web design company which has high credibility to design your ecommerce web site.

The purpose of any ecommerce site is to generate business for a product or to promote a service. Ecommerce web site designing is not an easy task and is not done overnight. There are some basic simple rules which you need to follow to make a good website. First of all ensure that your website is compatible to different types of browser and operating systems.

The purpose of an ecommerce site is to generate business leads, and if online surfers using different browsers and operating systems cannot even view your site properly, you will lose out on a significant number of prospective clients. Think about this aspect before you actually go about designing a website.

It is said that pictures have the ability to communicate messages which sometimes even words fail to say. Pictures have a very strong ability to portray strong emotions. Silence they say is sometimes stronger than words. Put up relevant pictures on your site to put forward an idea. Take care that you do not put up any irrelevant and outdated pictures on your website.

Color combination of a website is very important. Choose the color to be used in your ecommerce web site design only after a very careful consideration. Colors in an ecommerce site must not be garish and at the same time must not be too dull, so that it does not even invoke any response from visitors to your site. Choose a color pattern which is appealing to the eye, but at the same time refrain from going over the top.

The navigability and the functionality of ecommerce web site design are of big importance. Your site may be the best visually looking site ever made, but if it does not have proper functionality and navigability, no one is even going to give your site a second glance. No visitor is going to wait and search for information in your site if it is not properly navigable and functional.

Take care of the contents in your ecommerce web site design. Good and relevant content is a great means of bringing visitors to your site. Check out for yourself and see if the content in your site is relevant of not. Also see if all the links are properly placed or not and whether visitors are immediately transferred to the page that has the relevant information for their query.

Ebay Prostores Review

Thinking about buying a new content management system for your E-commerce site? Is a customized solution too much or too complicated for you? Don't even know what a content management system is? Well, look no further because I'm going to tell you all you need to know.

Content Management Systems Content Management Systems are web based software that allows web developers to publish and sell goods and services on the internet. There are literally thousands of websites that profit from selling goods and services online, they range in size from small mom and pop hobby stores looking to make extra cash on auction sites like Ebay to the well known titans of E-commerce like Amazon. As a result, a whole new industry has sprung up to cater to their wants and needs.

Review There are 4 different levels to choose from, "ProStores Express", "ProStores Business", "ProStores Advanced", and "ProStores Enterprise". At time of publishing this article they cost $6.95, $29.95, $74.95, and $249.95 respectively.

The best thing about a ProStore is the instant boost your profit margins will receive if you're using a 3rd party payment gateway because it only charges a .5% transaction fee. Chances are, your merchant account is taking anywhere from 5% - 10% of the purchase price on every sale you make! If you're doing a $1000 a month in sales or more, the money you save in transaction charages alone would more than pay for the cost of a Pro Store. Better yet, all transactions are SSL encrypted and billed in real time which means customer information is safe, secure and charged instantly.

ProStores is also an Ebay Company, which means your E-business will be backed by one of the top internet companies in the world, with offices worldwide from Japan to Germany. You'll have many resources at your disposal, including access to its extremely popular Ebay auction site. ProStores also provides a consulting service that pairs you with an E-commerce veteran who will review your goals and needs and set up a customized E-commerce solution that fits your business model and budget.

Domain name comes standard with every ProStore subscription (Except ProStores Express) allowing you to create a domain that includes your business name. They also have professional design services that have created numerous successful site designs including the popular ZStore.

Disadvantages Unfortunately, ProStores isn't the easiest content management system to work with. While the ability to upload mass product feeds gives gives the user a huge advantage over other competitors, it lacks a simple and intuitive interface to add a manage products.

Advantages ProStores's order processing really stands out. Real time credit card processing, inventory management, and customer processing still make it a great choice for any current or potential E-merchant

Use your own domain name Quickbooks integration Different subscription levels to suit your needs and budget

Final Analysis Would I buy a ProStores system? Yes! Despite its drawbacks ProStores is a great choice because of its price. A custom system that includes all the features of the ProStores Express would cost at at least $1500 dollars! ProStores are also backed by Ebay, one of the most powerful companies on the internet today. It's a great solution for everyone from E-Commerce veterans to somebody who just started competing in the E-marketplace.

The Magic of Flower Delivery

A few tips to make the miracle a little easier
A hundred years ago, it was a feat to get the simplest message across country. But today, with the widespread use of the Internet and the telephone, it is easy to express the appropriate sentiment to almost anyone in the world by sending a thoughtful gift of carefully selected flowers. You can order flowers by phone, online, by fax, or at your favorite local florist, with flower delivery available around the world. And just as technology has made the process easier, so will these quick tips.

Same day delivery
Most leading florists provide same day delivery nationwide, as long as you order by mid-day. This is especially useful for sudden emergencies or forgotten occasions. But whenever possible, it's a good idea to order flowers one or two days in advance, particularly at Valentine's and Mother's Day, or similar gift-giving occasions. In addition, you may want to consider having your flowers delivered the afternoon before a particular event, both to ensure they are are enjoyed throughout the big day and to provide a cushion for redelivery just in case the recipient is not home when your flowers first arrive. Being a day early never hurts, but being a day late can! Otherwise, for same day delivery across most of the U.S. and Canada, simply order in the morning. In most cases, your flowers can arrive that afternoon.

Work with your florist
If you order flowers by phone, tell your florist the sentiment you want to communicate. Remember, your florist is the expert, so don't feel that you have to know the name of every particular flower. Just mention the occasion, your relationship to the recipient, and if you have any favorite flowers or colors in mind. Allowing the florist to assist you with the selection of flowers and to design a bouquet just for you will often result in the best overall gift for your budget. So, you'll be more pleased with your flower delivery.

Before you order...
Have the spelling of the recipient's name and his or her complete delivery address ready, including any apartment number, company name, suite, or floor number. Delivery to "Susie" at "Rockafellar Center" probably won't cut it. The recipient's phone number is also very helpful to ensure delivery, and may sometimes be required. After all, you want your flowers to arrive at the right place on the right day. So, make sure you've got your facts straight.

Express yourself
As important as the flowers are, if you don't take a few moments to think about the card message, your sentiment could be lost. Florists will include a small enclosure card free of charge, and larger gift cards are also available. Have a short message ready when you call, or ask for your florist's advice. If you order flowers online, most sites will have suggestions for you. The important thing is to express yourself simply and personally. It makes your flower delivery gift all that more special. Also remember to include the sender(s) name(s) on the card, so the recipient knows who to thank.

If you are ordering flowers online...
Remember that web sites can't show every flower arrangement. There is an infinite number of combinations possible, so don't be afraid to call if you don't see what you are looking for. Florists excel at creating beautiful one-of-a-kind designs for almost every taste and budget to help you send just the right message with every flower delivery.

The magical result
Sending flowers is a wonderful way to say, "thanks", "cheer up", "feel better soon", "congratulations", or "I love you". You can send flowers almost anywhere on almost any day, and there is something magical about how they make people feel. Floral gifts show how much you care, and at the same time they say a lot about you, the sender. Look to your local florist for help or visit your favorite online flower shop. You'll find that the age-old tradition of giving flowers is very much alive, and easier than you may think.

Submit your Products to Froogle

It costs nothing to reach thousands or possibly millions of online shoppers by listing your items with Froogle, Google's free shopping search engine. You can link each one of your products in the Froogle search directly with your website.

For example, if you sell coffee mugs and someone does a search in Froogle for mugs then your products will be listed in the search results.

Click to see an example of a Froogle product listing

What is Froogle?

Froogle, Google's shopping search engine, applies the power of Google's search technology to one very specific task: locating sellers that offer the item a buyer wants to find and pointing them directly to the website where they can buy it.

The search results also provide multiple sites where the product can be purchased, with the ability see and compare the various prices of each vendor.

How do I get my products listed in Froogle?

In order to list your products, a product feed (or bulk upload file) must be submitted directly to Google by uploading either a tab delimited or xml file. The file is then processed by Google and within 24 hours your products will be listed.

There is however, one catch. Unlike the Google search engine, the products listed in Froogle are only listed for a few weeks. Google does this to maintain accurate and up-to-date product information. Therefore it is suggested that you re-submit your product file once a week.

How can Froogle Help My Business?

Froogle provides you with the opportunity to have your company’s products indexed and accessible to thousands of buyers looking for products like yours. The Internet is a numbers game; the more content you have indexed, the greater chance you have to be discovered.

If you are an online product company then listing your products in Froogle should be one of the first priorities to help increase the exposure of your products on the Internet and offer the opportunity to be discovered by your consumers.

At Hudson Horizons, we provide automated product submission to Froogle for only $15 / month. We submit your products once a week to Froogle to ensure that they are always included in the search results. If you, or a client you know, has products and would like to increase company sales then contact us today and have Hudson Horizons submit them to Froogle once a week.

Hudson Horizons is an e-business product, solution and marketing company specializing in creating highly sophisticated customized websites, web-based software applications and providing e-marketing services for small and mid-sized businesses.

Our vision and ultimate ambition as a company is to always strive to be "The New Light for e-Business."

10 Steps to E-Commerce Success

What makes one e-commerce web site a raging success, while another similar one barely gets a visitor much less sells anything? Ask any small business owner and you're likely to get a range of answers from "Cool technology" to "A really sexy web site", and more likely than not: "Being Number One on the Search Engines".

Important some of these things may be, they're not actually the core elements for success! And it's for this reason that most people go wrong when they go online. In fact, the main factors, or decisions, that make a web site successful or not, take place long before a line of code is written, or a graphic designed or anyone puts finger to keyboard to write any copy. We list below, in order of importance, the ten things you should concentrate on if you want your e-commerce web site to be a rip-roaring success:

1. Do Your Research The first thing that you must remember (and this is the bit that everyone seemed to forget in Internet "Gold Rush" of 1999) is that the same business principles apply to your internet business as any other. You must: a) Have a product/service with a solid perceived need; b) you must be able to sell it at a price that is profitable and provides good value to the purchaser and; c) you must be able to reach a sufficient number of potential purchasers (and convince them to buy) to generate enough revenue to make your business viable. And to find out that, you need to research your market. Thoroughly.

The first and most obvious thing you need to find out is the "need" factor. Note I said "perceived" need, perhaps better described as a "want". We buy lots of things we don't need, because mainly we think we need them. So, will people benefit from your product or service? Do you genuinely believe you can convince people they need it? To find that out, you have to ask them! But we're not there yet: it's one thing having a product that people do actually need, but if there are already lots of people supplying it, then you might have a problem with part b. You are only going to be able to sell your product/service at a profit AND and a price people think represents good value if 1) Not many other people provide it or 2) yours is better (and/or cheaper - but for reasons explained later, this is not usually a good route to take). Again, you must do your research and find out before you do anything else. And finally, can you reach this market cost-efficiently and find enough people to buy from you? This is the one great strength of the Internet and e-commerce: it's much cheaper, it's faster and has a much wider reach that any other communications channel so far invented! But it still costs time and money, and you have to be realistic, so you need to research your market and work out if you have the time and money to reach it.

2. Work on your Strategy OK, so now you know, hopefully, that there is a need for your product or service, that not many people offer it at the price/profit/value level that you can, and you know that thousands of people who use the internet a lot and who you know from your research can and do buy online, will want to buy it from you. So now you work on your strategy. This is key. You cannot simply say "Hey, we've got a great product and a big market, let's slap up a web site and we'll get rich!" You need to sit down and carefully work on how you're going to do all of this. You need to know what your goals are. If your goal is to "sell lots" you'll sell nothing! I Guarantee it. You need to work out where your want to be in 1, 3 and 5 years time at a minimum and then work back from there. If you start with that and work back, then a lot of the pieces will fall into place. Your strategy should apply to all your business, and your web site or Internet bits will only be a part of it (a big part, perhaps...). For example, if you have a product with a big ticket price, and you only sell 5 a year, then you don't want to start planning in a shopping basket system and credit card payments! Selling on that scale will need lots of relationship building and face-to-face interaction, so you need to work out how your Internet/e-commerce strategy will enhance and benefit that. A good web site to that will impress people who pay £50,000 for your product? A newsletter system to help keep in touch during the long sales cycle? It's a completely different approach to selling £20 watches....

3. Concentrate on Existing Customers If your business is already up-and-running and you're simply adding an Internet presence or improving on it, then your existing customers should be treated like Gold. They can actually help you bring your business online. Test the waters with them, ask them what they think at each stage, build the system around them and their needs and you'll end up with a template that will help you expand online in the sure knowledge that it will attract and help keep new customers. And, of course, if you do it right, you can start making extra money online right away, without a single new customer, by using your web presence to save money and improve relationships with your existing customers so they buy more from you.

4. Make Service a Priority While the Internet can help you cut costs and make your business run more slickly, you've got to remember that it can also be very impersonal. One of the most valuable things I've ever learnt is that people buy from people they like. And they don't like to be let down. The media is littered with stories of people who managed to click and pay for something online only to wait weeks for it never to turn up. Emails don't get replied to, phones don't get answered (if the web site even publishes the number!), and they get constantly fobbed off. Yet the Internet is an ideal tool for delivering better customer communication! But many businesses use a flash web site to hide behind... That's another quirk of the Internet - it's possible to gain customers more quickly than traditional methods, but you can lose them like lightening if you provide a poor service. News travels fast on the internet - even faster if it's bad news...

5. Work out your Communication and and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) policies and procedures As I mentioned before, the Internet provides excellent tools and opportunities to build relationships with customers and clients. By this stage of your planning, you're chomping at the bit to "get something up and start selling" but winning a customer is a bit like wooing a woman (please forgive the sexist nature of this analogy!). You don't run up to a woman you like a scream in her face "I want to have babies with you, NOW!" So why do people do this online? You need to build into your plan ways and means of starting and growing relationships with your customers and clients. You need work out ways of opening a dialogue, finding out about them, and helping them find out about you. Did you know that research shows that people generally visit a web site seven times before they feel confortable enough to buy anything? So what are you going to do that makes your web site interesting enough for people to visit seven times just to look at it? And when they do, what then? Is it like a one night stand? Or do you send them emails asking if they are happy with the product/service? Can you send them a regular newsletter that they find interesting? And do you have a system in place to manage all of this - for example, can you track how many times a customer has been contacted, by what method, and what was said? You can and should build up a valuable database of detailed customer information, their buying habits, what they like/don't like and a system for contacting them on a regular basis.

6. Offline/ Online Marketing, Search Engines & Pay Per Click Ah, search engines. The magic bullet of marketing... or so the Search Engine promotions "experts" would have you think. The holy grail for many is "being number one on the search engines", and great though that is, your success or failure actually hangs on what happens when all that traffic gets to your web site - it's got nothing at all to do with being No1. In fact you can actually bankrupt your business by being No1. A sudden flood of traffic can burst your bandwidth budget, have you running to Dell or HP or whoever for more servers, bring your web site to it's knees, and, if all those visitors turn up and don't find what they're looking for, you make virtual enemies of thousands - even millions - of potential customers. Once again, before you even think about Search Engines, you must go back to your research and your strategy and start again from there. Ask yourself: What is my ideal customer? What search engines do they use? What key words do they use to find services/products like mine? What's my USP? What magazines do they read? Are there cheaper/better ways of reaching them than via search engines? There are, of course, certain low-cost/no-cost golden rules that everyone should follow. Your web address and email address should be printed on all your stationery. If you send out catalogues, promote your web site in it. Add a promotional message (including a link to your web site) at the bottom of all your emails (this is sometimes called a signature file or sig file). The key is to think about your promotion from your customer's perspective. If you do that, then, at least as far as Search Engines are concerned, you can focus on relevance. Make sure that people who find your site via search engines are actually looking for what you have to offer and are ready to buy. You are relevant to them and they are relevant to you. If my sales target in my strategy is to sell 100 units a week, then all I really need is 100 buying customers from Search Engines. If I use all the tricks in the book and haul a million visitors in who aren't even vaguely interested in my widgets, I'm wasting their time and my money. To sum up, you should:

Your Fast Merchant Account Is Waiting!

A Fast Merchant Account is waiting to usher your business into the technology age! All you need to do is choose a lender that will work with your company and then enjoy the benefits of a fast merchant account. Here are some of the ways in which your company can advance with the help of a merchant services account:

1. A Fast Merchant Account will link you to a stable lender with the authority to help your company get set up to accept credit card payments. You will enjoy the prestige and security of working with a top-notch banker or a dependable financial institution that can provide the know-how and a safety net for your credit processing transactions. Take time to find one with a solid financial reputation that offers equitable terms at affordable rates. Enjoying the reputation of providing credit card processing options will secure your position in the local business community.

2. A Fast Merchant Account could bring in more customers. Many consumers dislike the hassles of paying by cash. Some don’t like to carry along a checkbook when they go shopping. When they visit your Website or shop and learn that you do not accept credit cards, you may have lost your chance forever to court their favor and curry their patronage. But offering credit card processing can move the checkout line quickly along and help paying customers avoid problems associated with cash-only transactions. Post a sign on your Website or at your door to let shoppers know that credit will be accepted.

3. A Fast Merchant Account may prompt your clients to shop often and spend more. Some studies suggest that customers who pay with credit cards buy more than those who pay with cash. While you don’t want to encourage reckless spending in your customers, you want to provide them with the freedom to choose the most convenient payment method rather than restricting the way they can do business with your company. They may get in the habit of shopping with your enterprise, and they could even bring along family members and friends. Many company owners who open merchant accounts claim that their client bases grow along with their profits.

4. A Fast Merchant Account might increase your sales volume and profit margin. When customers feel comfortable in shopping at a company where they can use credit payments, they may be inclined to buy more and to return often. They could let others know as well, and before you know it, your client base could double. But if you continue doing business the old fashioned way, you may never see these benefits materialize. Before you know it, your local and international competitors will be doing business light years ahead of you if you do not open a merchant account and provide credit processing options like credit card swiping and Website credit payments to your clientele.

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.

A Step-by-Step Visual Ecommerce Site Builder

When choosing an ecommerce site builder, you want an ecommerce service that will save you time and money while insuring a professional appearance for your ecommerce store front. You want a reliable service that provides everything you need to build and manage a web site. Anyone starting an ecommerce business will benefit hugely.

First, let's define ecommerce. Ecommerce (electronic commerce) is buying and selling of goods and services and the transferring of funds through digital communications. It is simply doing business over the internet.

If you don't have any knowledge of how an ecommerce business operates, starting an ecommerce store could be difficult and confusing. So you would want an ecommerce site builder that will not only build your site but help in building and managing your business.

Entrepreneurs start ecommerce businesses for a number of good reasons. The most important reason is the potential income earnings. It is estimated that 136 million people shop online. People that are looking for a variety of information, products and services has made it very possible for entrepreneurs working from home to earn more than better incomes.

The second reason is it costs very little to set up and run an online business. To start an offline business it could cost between $15,000 - $20,000 and that's not including advertising and marketing. But if you want to invest in franchises, we're talking around $50,000 to $100,000. But with an ecommerce business (web site, hosting, advertising), it could average around $200 - $ 500 a year. Do you see the big difference?

Another very good reason is to get more free time. Many people are overworked on their regular jobs. Their regular job is now an enemy in their lives keeping them from reaching their desired goals in life. You have to work everything around your job. You sleep to get rest for your job. You budget so that you have money to pay for high gas prices to commute back and forth to your job. You miss your childrens school events, games, family time for your job. Right now, I'm getting tired and sick of just talking about your job.

Now doesn't starting an online business sound tempting.

However, if you have no experience with the internet, you can unknowingly and foolishly spend money on learning materials and additional software that you don't needand invest in the wrong ecommerce site builder. Starting an online business is simple, fun and rewarding with the right information.

When searching for an ecommerce site builder, you want a service with a name everybody knows and every shopper trust. I'm talking about a Yahoo Store Builder. It comes with a 4 hours visual instruction system with a 200 page manual that will take you by the hand and show you how to choose and research a product and guides your every step to build your store.

You want your first start online to be a successful one. Even if you don't know anything about web design, html, merchant accounts, or drop shipping, you can build a profitable home based ecommerce business with an ecommerce site builder like Yahoo Store Builder.

How E-Commerce Can Increase You Revenue

Small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) 10 years back found it hard & highly costing to work Globally. But nowadays Internet has made things much easier, from Small shops to large enterprises are now doing online business internationally and available 24/7 for anyone in the world.

E-commerce Websites are cost effective and its staff reducing, Where online strategies that can deliver much greater returns on a limited budget with affordable and efficient website solutions.

While it is impossible to know how many people actually see print advertising, online advertisers can track precisely how many see each and every ad and how many website visits it generates, enabling businesses to attract the highest volume of targeted traffic, at the lowest possible cost. Whatever the visitor action – making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, downloading a report, conversions are the key to measuring Return On Investment.

With e-commerce you will get the opportunity to build your All-Time-Open-Shop and offer all services & products online which can be purchased with a click of a mouse.

Professional web site design is critical for success in the modern Internet Business World. Offering an attractive, intuitive interface with a logical and easy to use navigation layout will make the difference between a happy visitor (and potential client) and a frustrated web surfer at your website.

Your website is an integral part of your image, identification and communication strategy. Successful web communication comes from grabbing your visitors' attention and providing a website that is comfortable to use. your web site should do both-innovative design captures the eye and is followed by a familiar and easy to navigate path.

A well-designed website is a mission-critical investment in

• enhancing brand image
• building consumer confidence
• increasing willingness to buy

From overall Website design and architecture, the simple things like clear contact information and telephone numbers, testimonials and case studies. Customers want to find what they’re looking for.

Setting up all requirements to accept payments online and automating all the processes, its all depends on reliable Web Development & Web Hosting solutions to ensure the best performance of your e-business.

Your E-commerce business can have its own online customer service solutions to meet your customers satisfaction like:

• Complaints Management System
• Live Chat Support System
• Trouble ticket System
• Online Billing System

The Ecommerce Buying Process From Start to Finish

Many people take for granted the amount of work that goes into putting an online store together. They see a website, products, and a shopping cart and think that it must be easy to pull together. Building your own online store can be a difficult process. And getting online purchases to work can be complicated. Have you ever wondered what the buying process looks like from start to finish? Let's take a look at that process.

When someone comes to an online store, there are a host of technologies working together. Once that person puts things in their cart, they are starting a cueing process. This places all of those database objects, which are products in the store, in line to proceed to the checkout process. And it's that process that I want to highlight. The start of the checkout process will launch you to a secure portion of the store's website. This allows for secure transmission of the information that you will input. This is usually indicated with a small lock symbol on the lower right hand corner of your browser.

The customer fills in contact and payment information and submits it. The submit button initiates a transfer of that information to the payment gateway. The payment gateway then analyzes the information to accept or deny the payment. If it is denied, the customer is sent back to the online store to correct the payment and contact information. If it is accepted, the information is sent to the merchant account. The merchant account then processing the transaction. The customer is billed for the purchase and the online store is credited for the sale.

The online store, payment gateway, and merchant account all work together to make the transaction work. The online store offer products to a prospective customer. The payment gateway acts as a broker and a bouncer. They broker the transaction, making sure that all necessary information is present and accurate. If it isn't, the gateway bounces the transaction and it is started all over again. The merchant account receives a confirmed transaction and handles the money exchange.

Paul McGillivary has been a technologist for 15 years. In that time, Paul has experienced thousands of technology problems, challenges, and products. He brings this experience to bear in the articles that he presents.

Merchant Accounts - Understanding the Ecommerce Puzzle

If you are new to merchant accounts and the whole ecommerce scene, you are probably confused. I know I was when I started. You start hearing terms like merchant accounts, payment gateways, discount rates, miscellaneous fees, etc. Once I saw the whole puzzle, however, I started to make sense of the pieces. Let's take a very broad look together.

There are three main pieces to an ecommerce site: the website and shopping cart, a payment gateway, and a merchant account. The website and shopping cart allows people to shop and place things in their virtual cart. It gives them the information they need to make a purchase. That's the easy part to understand. The hard part comes when we start thinking about the things we don't see. This is especially true when it comes to the payment gateway and merchant account.

The payment gateway can be thought of as a broker and a bouncer. They broker the deal between the customer, who is purchasing on your web site, and the merchant account. The payment gateway makes sure the transaction goes as planned. It makes sure all the necessary information is being obtained. If it isn't, then the payment gateway puts its bouncer clothes on and sends you packing. The payment gateway handles the transaction.

The merchant account can be thought of as the banker. They are the one who interfaces with the credit card being presented and the billing that needs to happen. They make sure that the buy gets billed and you get paid. I like the banker. Now, because the merchant account makes this transaction happen, they will want to be compensated for their service. The payment gateway is no different.

This is where the waters start to muddy even more. The fees that these services charge can be different from place to place. This can make comparison shopping very difficult. The various fees include: installation fees, discount rates, fixed transaction fees, miscellaneous fees, etc. It's enough to make your head spin. And getting all the pieces to work together can be a real pain. Sometimes getting an all-in-one service is the best way to go. But that all depends on what your requirement are. Now that you know the big picture, I think the pieces will be easier to understand.

Paul McGillivary has been a technologist for 15 years. In that time, Paul has experienced thousands of technology problems, challenges, and products. He brings this experience to bear in the articles that he presents.

Shopping For Discount Merchandise

Discount shopping is now big business. In every shopping mall and out of town stores big business is fighting for your dollars. This is nowhere more apparent than in the women’s clothing industry. Women everywhere want to be up to date in what they are wearing-they also want to know how to achieve the designer look without the designer price tag. But, as with everything else; when it comes to shopping for discount merchandise it pays to shop around. You should also remember that just because something is cheap, or has been discounted, that you are not always getting value for money. Discount jewelry may look like you’re getting something for nothing but a lot of people have bought what they thought was gold or silver, only to find their fingers turning green within a few weeks. So the first rule of shopping for discount merchandise is be wary, if something looks too good to be true then it probably is.

J. C. Penney, Target and Walmart have all climbed on the discount clothing bandwagon. They have updated their women’s wear sections with better fitting and designer inspired clothing-however, you have to do a lot of sorting through the racks in order to come up with something that might be considered suitable. With the designer craze happening all around the country, and infiltrating every shopping mall; if you’re not careful you could end up looking as though you have raided a celebrity’s bin. The Learning Channel is good for advice on what not to where, and how to succeed in buying decent discount clothing.

The big stores have fallen for the designer craze so hard that they are even hiring their own designers to produce the clothes. The problem with this is that shoppers can often be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of merchandise that confronts them-this can result in a tiring and fruitless shopping experience.

When it comes to buying discount food then shoppers really do need to have their wits about them. Always plan before you go ahead and buy only what you want-just because an item is discounted it doesn’t mean you have to buy it. If you do decide to buy an item that is not on your list then knock something else off. Superstores and warehouse clubs are good if you are bulk buying non-perishables. You really can save on grocery shopping this way. Best advice when it comes to food is do your homework, don’t shop on an empty stomach, and limit your impulse buying.

Shopping Cart Comparison: How To Convert Reports Into Money

When making shopping cart comparisons, take note of how extensive the reporting features are. Reports can save you money and make you money.

Here are three examples:

Filter Sales By Customer

If your shopping cart software allows you to filter the database according to client, you will be able to see where most of your sales are coming from.

The report should give you the volume of sales from each client to enable you to target or give special attention to the top clients on the list, perhaps offering special discounts for bulk orders.

Filter Sales By Date

Use this feature to see if there are specific times in the year when sales volume dramatically increases. You may have a general idea and know which month(s) are the peak sales months.

However, by using a Sales By Date feature you can pinpoint specific times in the year you may not be aware of where sales volume is higher than normal, especially if those times are spread over just one or two weeks. Increase advertising dollars and promotions accordingly at those times and bring in even more sales.

Filter Sales By Credit Card

Do you know which credit cards most of your customers are using? Probably Visa or Mastercard. What about other cards such as Diner’s Club, Discover, Delta, American Express? What are your merchant account charges for those other cards? By checking on Sales By Credit Card you will see whether it is economically viable to continue offering those cards as an option relative to the number of sales you get. If it’s not, drop the uneconomical ones and save money.

This brief exercise has shown the importance of making sure shopping cart software has a comprehensive reports feature when you are making a shopping cart comparison

Is Merchandise Cheaper At Online Sites Such As Ebay

Bidding for goods on sites such as Ebay has become a favorite pastime for many people. Thousands of Americans surf the net each day in search of a bargain. They know that if they search long enough, and are precise enough in the terms that they use, then they will find cheap merchandise. Whether that merchandise is cheaper online than elsewhere is dependent on a number of factors.

So you’ve had a good look round and it looks workable to you-it’s time to wet your feet and start bidding on Ebay or some other online sites. First of all there are a number of factors you should consider. It is up to you to estimate how much you can afford to bid on a particular item-this can be problematic when you are starting out because you have no idea on how high your bidding should actually go. The way round this problem is to have a look at past auction results to see how high you may have to bid in order to obtain the item. What may look incredibly cheap and reasonable at the outset could prove an expensive move-so check it out before you decide to place your bid.

Can you get items cheaper on Ebay than anywhere else? Well, that depends. As with any kind of shopping that you do; you have to research your market first if you want to get the best price. Search online stores and other auction sites; have this information ready at your fingertips before searching Ebay and making your bid. When dealing with online auction sites make yourself as aware of the item as you possibly can before making a bid. Read the product description, examine the photo if there is one and consider any issues noted about the condition before you make your bid. If you’re not sure whether any damage is repairable then it might be worthwhile contacting the seller and asking before placing a bid. Email the seller if you think there might be something amiss with the article, or if you feel that the description and photograph are not very clear. There maybe something that the seller has overlooked and it never hurts to ask before risking your dollars. Sellers may not always know the true value of an item they are selling, this is where you have a chance to act the detective. You never know this could net you a really excellent bargain-at the very least it might prevent you bidding on an item that is not worth the money.

Finally, and most importantly check out the seller’s profile and reputation. A seller may be offering something that looks like an incredible bargain-but if there is no information on who they are, or their reputation is less than credible you could end up losing a lot of money. See if there is any feedback on this seller, and whether they are making some outlandish demands even before the bids go up. Bottom line is, if you’re really careful, do your homework well, and bid wisely-then you could find that buying merchandise at online auction sites is worthwhile

Ecommerce: I Second That Emotional Connection

“We are much more emotionally attached to products for which we feel some involvement. So true personalization and customization makes a real difference.” – Donald Norman (author)

There is a psychology to the products we use most. In truth, there may likely be a product that is less expensive and equal in many primary ways. However, the use of a product has certain emotional ties that link the product with a particular response. We may not be able to articulate why the product is superior; we simply know it is the only product we want to use.

As a netrepreneur involved in ecommerce it may be important to work toward finding ways to assist your customers in developing an emotional link to the products you carry.

“Creating an emotional attachment is to go beyond designing Web sites simply for usefulness and focus on meeting desires as well as user's needs. When this occurred, people would start integrating those products into their lives and start to incorporate it into daily rituals.” Kelly Goto (Gotomedia – Australia)

When your customers begin to use the product and gain an emotional attachment to it you will likely discover a highly motivated client who willingly tells others about your product.

Some of the best advertising has allowed consumers to develop an emotional attachment to a product they may have never used. For instance just mentioning products like Hallmark, Smuckers, Coke or Nike often causes consumers to think about connections that bridge their emotional response to the product in question.

The emotional response may have to do with a successfully emotive marketing campaign; word of mouth advertising from emotionally connected consumers or a special moment when the product was used. That connection should not be minimized or misunderstood.

Ultimately the uniqueness of the product you are marketing will subside. If you wish to continue the sale of the product long-term you need to work to establish an emotional connection to your ecommerce product.

"Over time, competitors will imitate, patents will run out, buyers no longer can tell the difference among similar products. When the product effect dissipates, what's left is people's attachment to the brand. Strong brands recognize this." – William Dillon

One of the ways to add the potential of an emotional connection to your product may include a forum where members can talk about the effects of your product. You might also include emotive testimonials from those who already have an emotional connection to your product. Finally, include articles that place the product in a light where an emotional connection can take place. If you begin to see emotional connections to your products be very grateful.

Ecommerce: Profit in Data Feeds?

You’ve been to a shopping engine online. You know the kind, a place where you can do comparison-shopping online before you actually make a buying decision.

If you are a netrepreneur you may wonder if it is even possible to have your product considered for price comparison sites like, Yahoo Shopping, Shopzilla NexTag, Shopping.com, Froogle and PriceGrabber.

It is possible, but your inclusion into the world of online price comparisons relies on significant work from you in the area of data entry. Product information must be supplied to each of these sites in the form of a data feed. These feeds may vary from one location to the next, but primarily require model number, StockKeeping Unit (SKU) and price.

Tamara Mendelsohn, a principal analyst at a Forrest research analyst said the following in an interview with E-Commerce Times. "Almost three quarters of U.S. households are connected to the Internet, and the majority use it for researching products online. Retailers can't afford to ignore their multichannel consumers anymore,"

Engines that thrive on comparison-shopping care less about your site and more about your product. If your product is sought and you have a credible data feed for the product your site will likely be included in the price comparison.

Some ecommerce professionals believe this is the next wave of site optimization. Instead of dealing in keywords or phrases the customer is directed to your site specifically because you have a product for sale that they are motivated to purchase.

Forecasts predict a significant amount of growth potential through the use of data feeds for product comparison search engines.

The primary caveat with the ‘possibilities’ of shopping engines is that the ongoing work in data feeds can be exhaustive while the benefits come with a price tag. The principle is very similar to Pay Per Click (PPC). When a customer clicks your link to check out your prices you will pay an advertising fee to the search engine.

If you provide a price that is competitive and have a reputation that is strong, the use of a shopping engine may make sense. If you are tentative about the use of a shopping engine you should investigate the finer details and see if this labor-intensive service can provide enough customers to offset the costs in labor and advertising.

Ecommerce is as ever-expanding and sometimes complex device that can be simplified in certain situations. It can also be highly complex, but useful if you have the time, resources, knowledge and drive to learn and apply ecommerce skills.

Customized Oscommerce Site, To Meet Your Business Needs

The days of having to maintain and build a web site with little or no knowledge are gone and this is especially true when it comes to the fact that more and more people are logging on in hopes of making money. The reason behind this is the new customized oscommerce site that is now available. Oscommerce, or open source commerce is a valuable tool in the hunt for money from the internet. All you really need to do is have a good business plan in place and the site will do the rest. A customized oscommerce site is a great improvement over the old days of online stores and so on. There is nothing that one cannot do when it comes to this very simple, yet useful design. A customized oscommerce site is a uniquely designed web site and online store all rolled into one. There is standard inventory control, as well as visitor counts, database programs and so much more.

A customized oscommerce site is one of those things that people are looking at when it comes to building a new online business. The competition is stiff is just about every area of web sales and service and a person needs to make an impression on the visitors, with something that is above par and very functional. With standard web design you have the issue that you need to figure out how to start making money from it. Well that is not the case when it comes to a customized oscommerce site. The idea is already there, all you need to do is plug in the right products and produce the right people who will visit the site and you have all that you need. In comparison, you will have a lot more success if you are using a customized oscommerce site then you would with the standard web site when you are selling physical goods. This is due to the fact that the customized oscommerce site is designed to specifically sell goods, and will help you to keep control of the inventory and so on without having to build complicated databases and so on.

More often than not a customized oscommerce site is the right tool for the job when you are selling products online. There is nothing to say that you cannot make it happen in the right way without one of these sites, but there is the matter of wanting to make as much money as you possibly can in the shortest amount of time.

Shopping Cart Program Guide: How To Do Customer Profiling

Your shopping cart program should come with filtering tools. These can be invaluable for defining segments of your customer base with special interests or needs.

Rather than taking the buck shot approach, just spraying everyone and everything with the same advertising message, you can use the rifle shot approach, precision targeting for maximum results.

Here are two suggestions for building your own customer profiles:

1. Define customer segments by email address

How many of your customers have AOL email addresses? Why not do a check. In your shopping cart program search interface you should be able to search your client base by email address and also email domain. Just putting “aol.com” in the search field will show up all your AOL clients.

How is this helpful? Because AOL is largely a consumer based ISP. If you are selling business-to-business you may need to change your approach somewhat when you broadcast or email this section of your client base as their outlook and needs will be different.

2. Define customer segments by State or Country

Your shopping cart program should be able to search for customers by state or country.

Getting to know the demographics of various states can help you in developing your promotions. Government web sites often provide much statistical information which can help you identify a need and fill it.

This information is worth its weight in gold. By educating yourself on customer profile information and then using the filtering mechanisms in your shopping cart program, your advertising results will be taken to a new level.

Selling More of Your Product Online in 2006

One of the most important things to consider when selling your product is, who are you selling your product to?

There are many opportunities online to sell your product online. You can spend money on advertising using products offered by companies such as Google, you can submit your business to several directories, or you can develop relationships with others with content driven information relating to offering consumers information that is beneficial to their future.

An example of selling products by targeting your market would be to use Google services that can market your product to a selected territory. Perhaps through research you have identified possible locations by city or country that would benefit from your product or service. You have uncovered market information that this could be a possible successful area for sales generation.

Targeting your clients is also important in understanding the future of your business. There are certain reasons why consumers may choose your product over others. What makes your product stand out, is it past success in solving a problem or does it provide something new for innovation. A good way to create such a plan is to design a benefits analysis.

Cross marketing situations can be beneficial for businesses in related industries. One such example could be the financial industry. People need bank accounts, loans, insurance, mortgages and a wide variety of financial services. If you are a provider in this industry and you have an online service or software solutions then perhaps linking with others that target may be beneficial to your business.

A final opportunity area would be direct advertising with sites. You can check into various sites you can put your ad on whether they are major search sites or content driven sites that provide information.

A final option would be liinking with other content driven providers, you will have to take the time to search and choose who you would like to deal with in search of future business relationships.

In summary, this is a realistic way you can get started in developing your online business for success in 2006. All the best.

Mr. Des Marais has operated small businesses for over 20 years. He has been a consultant and held positions in some of the fastest growing franchisees in Canada.

He has increased sales by 200% in 2 months for an herbal doctor; increased sales by 30% in 4 months for a major Canadian Big Box Retailer; 200% sales increase 3 times in a row for a service-based small business and helped several entrepreneurs develop and sell their business. His expertise is in the area of growth and business development. He has also been involved in developing business chapters.

Should You Invest In Dedicated Server?

There are millions of websites out there, and most of these websites are hosted on shared servers. The owners of these websites know that they are to getting too much traffic, so it's smarter to outsource their hosting and have them hosted on someone else's server. Outsourced hosting costs $10-$100 a month, and it is a great solution for webmasters who are just starting out, and have a small site or sites. But what about dedicated server? At what point does it become worthwhile to use one? Dedicated server is, simply put, a server that is owned by someone else, but you have exclusive use of it.

Dedicated server may cost $500-$1000 a month to use. You can alternatively buy your own server for a one time cost, but this requires having a technical person who will be able to address any problems, so if you don't have a technician at hand, dedicated server is your best option. What will you gain from using a dedicated hosing server?

1. A more reliable host - you don't share your bandwidth with outer webmasters, as you do in the shared hosting situation. This promises a more reliable connection that will not be interfered with what other webmasters are doing.

2. Faster load time - you're not sharing resources with other sites, so your site will upload much faster

3. You can consolidate all your websites into one server - this will lower the over all costs, if you have more than one website.

4. Better security - your own dedicated server is much more private that shared servers, where others can prey into your business. This in itself is a prime motive for many businesses to use dedicated hosting.

To conclude, dedicated hosting is recommended if you take your website seriously and conduct some real activity on the web. This can be even more true if you conduct any kind of ecommerce or password based activity, that require greater security. Just make sure you use a professional company that will take good care of your website.