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Archive for the ‘E-commerce’

Create Your Own Cash Via e-Products!

January 21, 2007 By: solarbluseth Category: E-commerce No Comments →

Create Your Own Cash Via e-Products!

by: Anthony Jewell

You may be wondering how you can sell products online that will be profitable but also how you can cut the middle man out of your profits. Then you are looking at e-products. Now you may be wondering what they are and how you can get your hands on them? It is very easy. E-products are products that are created from your own mind with information that you have gained or found out one way or another. Such as an ebook on “how to make the worlds best tuna fish sandwich” or “how to set up your own server”. This information is created by you and put down so that it is useful to others who are in need of this information(for those who don’t know how to make a tuna fish sandwich). It gives them valuable information based on your own experiences and helps them with the problems they are facing. The best thing about it is that you own any copyright on products you create and they only take a few minutes of your time to come up with.

The important part about e-products is that they must fill a void of information people are searching for. Usually common knowledge doesn’t sell as well, such as an ebook on “how to slice bread” might now sell as good as another ebook on “how to make your own homemade bread”. People have to feel that they need the product and that they can’t find this information anywhere else. So presenting your e-product is a user friendly professional way is also key.

Once you figure out what to create your e-product on and what it will be(whether it will be an article, ebook, how to guide or something else). You then need to figure out two things: 1. where you will sell it(such as on your website, others websites or on ebay) and 2. How much it will cost. These are two important steps as they will determine your market for your product and also the price. Remember when pricing that if it is too high no one will buy. Also remember that any profit you will make will be 100% yours so keeping prices a bit lower will still give you the same return rate if you were to sell someone else products(probably a better return rate actually).

Whenever you go to create an e-product just make sure to take your time with it. Try as hard as possible to make it the best it can be and also do some research to see what is already out there as well what people are needing. This will allow you to create a nice income while being in full control.
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Anthony Jewell has over 6 Years experience in the Web & Graphics World. You can visit my business and join in conversation at Logo2D.com - Logo2D.com Forum

Setting up Ecommerce solutions

August 22, 2006 By: solarbluseth Category: E-commerce No Comments →

Handling the Money

How to set up the ecommerce shopping cart software tools on your web site to handle the purchases of your customers and how to do set them up in a way that is smart, efficient and cost effective.

Utilizing a ecommerce shopping cart software solution frees you of the burden of setting up and managing your shopping cart, credit card processing and sales management functions so you can concentrate on what you do best, providing products and services for your customers.

The cost of using professional financial management providers who can set up your ecommerce shopping cart software pay you back 10 times over by eliminating the worry if your cash flow is being managed correctly, if your software is working properly and if your ecommerce income is secure and under responsible management.

By utilizing ecommerce shopping cart software solution, the quality of service is significantly higher than a conventional solution such as PayPal and the worry of having your account frozen or service in some other way disrupted is completely eliminated.

Creating a profitable web site is the dream of many of us. As you begin to explore the technicalities of getting your web site up and running, there are a lot of decisions to be made. Perhaps one of the most daunting areas of research is how to handle payments online. But getting paid is the bottom line of any business. You need a reliable and trustworthy tool for collecting payments for your goods or services and one that will grow and change with your business and as your web site grows. In the beginning, the questions outnumber the answers.

Of these many questions and the many more you may have, none are more perplexing than how to set up that “ecommerce shopping cart software” on your web site so you can accept credit cards.

Do I have to Apply to the Credit Card Companies to Accept Credit or to set up my Ecommerce Shopping Cart Software?

The good news is that there are services that are already in business on the web that can provide you with ecommerce shopping cart software services and handle all of that overhead for a small fee. These services have gone through meticulous scrutiny and have been validated as trustworthy to handle your accounts. As you start to research these accounts, you will learn how to look for the proper authentication so you know you are working with a reputable service.

But here is where a bit of caution is in order. Do your homework and be a savvy web shopper. Merchant account handlers can be very costly. Shop around for the right deal. You want an ecommerce shopping cart software partner who has set up your business relationship so your level of cost is directly related to how profitable you are.

Another internet concept that is good to know well is the idea of having your ecommerce shopping cart software “hosted”. “Hosted” means that a third party is handling the transactions, the credit card management (and fees) and the payment authorization as we described earlier.

One alternative to having your ecommerce shopping cart software transactions hosted of course is to set it all up yourself which itself is a daunting challenge. A second alternative is to download a free ecommerce shopping cart software module that can handle that part of our business for us at no cost. Therefore, before you go into partnership with a third party hosting vendor, you need to have peace of mind that it is the right decision for you.

Are There Some Tangible Reasons to Have My Ecommerce Shopping Cart Software Hosted Rather Than Use Free Software or Do It Myself?

What are the reasons for using a hosting solution for our ecommerce shopping cart software that will be reflected in our bottom line?

Your focus is on what you do best. Your internet business, the services and products you offer there represent what you are really good at supporting. Let’s face it, that is your real passion, not the nuts and bolts of the infrastructure, the bookkeeping and the financial details.

Compare the cost to the investment of your time. In general, the cost of a hosted ecommerce shopping cart software is under $100 a month. Compare that to the effort and risk, you will take by using unreliable software or doing it yourself and it becomes painfully clear that this is the kind of service you need to outsource.

What do you do if something goes wrong? By subscribing to a reputable business that does this kind of thing for a living, you have that assurance that they will be there when you need them.

You need this job done right the first time! By using a hosted ecommerce shopping cart software service, the installation and maintenance of your shopping cart is handled by skilled experts who are installing well tested systems on your web site. That alone is worth the monthly cost of the service.

One word - Security. Financial transactions must be guarded at the highest level of security, particularly in the online world. A reputable hosting service not only has put in place rock solid security measures, they are bonded and responsible to see to it your accounts are managed in a secure fashion.

Should I Rely on PayPal for My Ecommerce Shopping Cart Software Solutions?

PayPal is probably the most well known service for handling online transactions. However, there may be good reasons to think again about using PayPal as your primary ecommerce shopping cart software service and to do some comparison shopping when that time comes.

At the very least, consider keeping more than one ecommerce shopping cart software option at your disposal. If for any reason your account becomes unavailable, “frozen” or locked out because the service has problems, that can have a dynamic impact on your business and on your customer retention as we will discuss I a moment.

What Are the Best Ways to Enhance My Ecommerce Shopping Cart Software Presence to Improve My Web Visitors Experience and Encourage More Business?

In addition to choosing the right ecommerce shopping cart software vendor and keeping backup alternatives as we have discussed, putting some thought into how your site will manage the purchase processing will pay off in completed sales and repeat sales.

Use a secure sign authority (SSL certificate) such as Verisign or Scanalert. Once you have set your site up with these services, you can prominently display your authorization which will give your business credibility as a legitimate member of the internet business community.

Put into place a site search function early in your web visitors experience. Web shoppers love to use search engines and it also gives you a point of contact to collect interest information from them which can be used later for marketing purposes.

Be subtle in guiding your customers to the point of purchase. So many sites put a “buy now” button on every page which is pushy and tends to drive customers away. Instead, draw your customer in and then when you know they are looking at what they want, then guide them to the purchase process where your ecommerce shopping cart software is located.

Review your purchase process to assure that it is easy, enjoyable and fast so the customer frustration is kept very low or eliminated. Have your site reviewed by friends and associates so they can give you an impartial review of how your purchase flow works for the average web customer.

Retain input. If you harvest their information early in their visit, use that again later when they are signing up for a purchase. Display on the screen the information you have gathered.

Give your customers a point of review before they confirm the final purchase. Once they have made their product, shipping and other related choices, display a summary page of their purchase which represents their invoice.

Make sure the customer is sure where they are in the purchase process and how much is left. If there is a five step process to the purchase, tell your customer what that is as they begin and let them know where they are as they go so they know they are on the right track and will be done soon.

Communicate often with your customers about the purchase as it is processed. Send a confirmation email with the invoice to supplement the place online where they can purchase. As the purchase is processed, send frequent emails letting them know what is happening.

There are many ways you can customize the purchase experience for your customers so their interaction with your ecommerce shopping cart software is enjoyable and rewarding to them. They will never know they are working with a third party service but by combining the professionalism of your ecommerce shopping cart software provider with your own high priority on customer service, you are building a web site sure to be a on the book mark list for your valuable customers.

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Since 1998 Sandro has been helping ordinary people achieve “extra-ordinary” results in business and in life. He lives in Vancouver, BC - Canada, he’s one of the late Corey Rudl’s protégés and he teaches internet marketing at the IMC. Learn to supplement your income, get free weekly tips and how-to advice by visiting the following link: Ecommerce Shopping Cart Software

Shopping Carts 101

May 14, 2006 By: solarbluseth Category: E-commerce No Comments →

You can use traditional methods to sell products such as direct mail, catalogs and advertising. However, if you have a great online presence, the entire world is your marketplace at a fraction of the cost of most traditional methods. To easily sell to this worldwide marketplace, you need a great shopping cart system.

Choosing a shopping cart system is perhaps the most important single decision you’ll make in your online marketing career. This is because: You’re stuck with the decision for a long time. If you buy into a system that isn’t adequate, it can cost you money–big money–because it won’t maximize the amount of money spent by each visitor.

There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of off-the-shelf, free and alternative products out there vying for your money, time or both. And most of them are junk. Don’t suffer like I did. I learned the hard way. When I started on the Internet I couldn’t find a decent shopping cart program, so I took one that was highly recommended by my ISP (I now know the only reason they suggested it was because it made them the most money. They didn’t care if it was the best one for me or not). What a headache! The system wouldn’t do anything but take the order, but you had to have a PhD in computer science to work on it.

If you have a poor shopping cart, get rid of it. I know that hurts, because you may have spent lots of time and money getting it going, but a bad one will cost you many thousands of dollars by waiting to replace it later rather than sooner.

Oh, and one more thing: if you hear the shopping cart programmer answer one of the questions below by saying, “Well, we could make it do that,” run away even faster, because you’re going to get stuck with a big custom programming bill with no guarantees that the cart is going to work the way you expected.

Here are 22 questions you absolutely, unfailingly must ask anyone trying to sell you a shopping cart. If you don’t hear positive answers to the majority of these questions, put your wallet back into your pocket and evaluate the next option. Don’t get stuck with a crappy shopping cart, even if they give it to you free.

Every question below is very important when it comes to having a quality shopping cart system that gets more money out of the same number of visitors.

1. Will it calculate shipping and tax?

2. Does it handle specialized shipping like FedEx and UPS?

3. Will it automatically deliver hard goods and soft goods (e- books and other digital products) in the same transaction?

4. Does it offer customizable “Return to Shopping” pages without needing custom programming? This is important so you can send your customers to the most likely product they will buy next. Standard carts just send customers back to the main catalog, which forces them to search for related products. This is both irritating and time-consuming. Any delays in finding what they want could mean a lost sale, when they finally throw their hands up in disgust and move on to your competitor’s site.

5. Does it offer customizable “Thank You” pages based on what the customer just bought? These are pages where savvy marketers put affiliate links and other offers specifically related to the customer’s interests. When a customer clicks on one of these links and buys something from someone else, you get a commission.

6. Does it deliver receipt and confirmation e-mails automatically? The customer wants to know immediately that the order went through. If he or she is unsure, you are going to have to field many wasted e-mails and phone calls letting the customer know everything is OK.

7. Does it allow multiple order and dropship e-mails? In many cases, several different people in your organization and/or outside your organization need notice of an order. Again, you don’t want to have to do this manually.

8. Does it have a Web-based administration page so you can work on your cart from any computer that has Internet access?

9. Does it include encryption technology and a secure server? Many companies make a fortune by sucking you in with a cheap or free cart and then make money on selling you an overpriced secure server.

10. Does it deliver easy output to your accounting software? You want to be able to import and export data easily between the cart and whatever programs you have that need to share the customer and sales information.

11. Does it have its own associate/affiliate program or is it easily compatible with other major brands of associate software? An affiliate program lets other people promote and sell your products on their Web sites. You don’t pay them unless they sell something. When I tried to get an associate/affiliate program to work with my old cart, it cost me six months of down time and untold amounts of money lost because it wouldn’t work. The associate program people blamed the shopping cart people and vice versa. But ultimately I was left holding the bag.

13. Does it have an integrated sales and prospect database? In the old days I would have to print out orders and then retype them into ACT or some other database program. A good shopping cart system eliminates all this hassle and potential for error and gives you instant access to your sales reports and clients.

14. Does it have broadcast e-mail capability? Good shopping cart systems are able to manipulate your customer database instantly and send e-mails to any segment or sub-segment of your clients and handle unlimited e-mail magazines. Again, in the old days I would have to be genius enough to pick out segments of the database, export them to a file, import them into a mail program and then an hour later send the darn e-mail. Now this is all done in a few seconds.

15. Does it have mail merge capability? The e-mails sent are personalized to the recipients in any number of ways. Their names can be popped in to the subject line and in various portions of the body of the e-mail. You can merge “what they bought,” “when they bought,” “where they live” or just about anything that will make them feel the e-mail was just for them. Virtually all studies show that mail merge gets a much higher response than plain broadcast e-mail.

16. Can it handle coupons and other discounts? You can make a deal with Joe Blow that everyone coming from his Web site gets an automatic discount — either a percentage or dollar amount. This makes Joe look great to his visitors and makes more sales for you. Here’s a secret: Joe is your affiliate and makes money on the sale too, so he’s got a great incentive to keep your discounts and coupons in front of his visitors. Good shopping cart systems can automate all of this and also handle any quantity discounts you offer.

17. Can it work for multiple Web sites with no extra fees? When I first started I had to get a separate (and expensive) license for each site and a separate merchant account too. Not only was this a great deal of expense, the hassle with installation every time you wanted a new site to go up was enormous. Modern carts can sell bras on one site and bibles on another, and no one knows the difference. The carts run on their own servers so there is no expensive installation and set-up is immediate.

18. Does it have unlimited and fully integrated “sequential” autoresponders? This is one of the most powerful features when it comes to Internet marketing. This feature follows up automatically over and over again to your clients and prospects to provide them customer care and to sell them more products and services. You can even provide free or paid e-mail courses, and each part of the course is delivered automatically.

19. Does it have ad tracking tied into actual sales? Simple ad tracking can be had all over the ‘Net, but it is pretty much worthless unless it is tied to actual sales. This is called the “conversion ratio.” Your cart system should be able to tell you how many people clicked on a particular promotion and how many people bought. This is the only way you can determine if an ad paid off. Good carts will also automatically split test one of your sales pages against another and tell you which page sells more. You keep the page that sells more and get rid of the page that sells less.

20. Does it have a pop-up box builder? Even though many people hate popup boxes, they work. I use them judiciously to make all kinds of offers, and I have the sales figures to prove they get more money out of the same number of people. If you know how to use them properly, no one gets upset.

21. Does it have a printable off-line order form? Believe it or not, many people are still afraid to put their credit card numbers into a Web site. I still get lots of fax orders and phone orders. If you want to maximize your sales, your cart must take these kinds of orders easily.

22. Does it provide free training? You’ll need training in both the basic set up of using your shopping cart and determining your online sales strategy, so that you maximize the amount of money spent by each customer.

You may not understand what all the above questions mean right now, but I can assure you they are important in putting more money into your bank account. If you want to know even more about this subject, you can download a free e-book, How to Pick a Shopping Cart System That Makes You Money at ECommerce with Shopping Carts.

Credit card fraud

April 11, 2006 By: solarbluseth Category: E-commerce No Comments →

Credit card fraud is usually preventable

By Jakob Jelling
http://www.cashbazar.com

One of the worst things that can happen to you is credit card fraud. This is even worse if you don’t pay very much attention to your credit reports, since you may not find out about the fraud until there are very serious problems to deal with. Even if it’s possible to get out of paying for most of the fraudulent purchases that are made on your card, you will often have to pay for some of them - and you will have to go through the hassle of dealing with a stolen credit card if you’re not careful.

One of the major places where credit card fraud happens now is online. Therefore, you should be very careful about the companies that you give your credit card number to. Ideally, you should figure out a way to avoid giving out your credit card number at all. There are several payment services online that will help you make your online payments without giving out your credit card number to unauthorized parties.

You should also make sure that if you are entering your credit card number that it is being entered into the right field on the right page, and that it is being sent over a secure connection. If the connection is not secure, then anybody online might be able to find the information that you sent.

Another place where credit card fraud is common is over the phone. For this reason, you should avoid giving your credit card number to people or companies over the phone if at all possible. You should also listen to your instincts regarding the phone and internet. If you have any doubts about the safety of giving your credit card number, then you should probably not do so. After all, when it comes to things like fraud, you’re much better off safe than sorry.

If you do find that there are charges on your credit card that you don’t remember making, then you might be a victim of credit card fraud. Luckily, there are a lot of options to people who think that their credit card might be stolen. The first thing you should do if you think that your card or card number has been stolen is to call up your credit card company and immediately cancel the card. This will keep the person who has stolen your card from using it anymore. While you’ll still have to deal with what has already been done with your card, you will at least have limited the damage.

To keep yourself from being a victim of credit card fraud, however, the most important thing to do is just to use common sense. If something seems shady, then it probably is, and you shouldn’t risk your credit card number if you are unsure of the situation.

Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.cashbazar.com. Visit his website for the latest on personal finance, debt elimination, budgeting, credit cards and real estate.

How much for ECommerce?

April 10, 2006 By: solarbluseth Category: E-commerce No Comments →

eCommerce, How much does it cost?
By Dennis Dadey (c) 2004

Making profits with your existing website design or creating a new online store can be exciting, affordable and most of all; rewarding. Mmmm . . . that’s what the last sales guy told me.

What is eCommerce (or selling via the Internet)? It is similar to selling through a physical building’s business storefront, with one big difference: the costs for eCommerce are lower. The lower costs alone make it a lot more affordable for someone to start up a business or expand their storefront business onto the Internet.

So, the cost to do online business depends on how much time and effort you are able to put in and the eCommerce developer you choose to work with. Generally, developers should try to enable their clients to be as independent as possible in areas such as daily site updates, processing online orders, customer feedback and low or no cost (except time) online marketing.

Hosting costs are determined by: the amount of 1) server space you require for product photos, e-mail accounts, and 2) bandwidth - the more customers that visit your store, the more bandwidth you will require. Typically an online store setup may cost $15 to $90 per month for hosting.

Other costs include online store program and designing the storefront. There are many programs to choose from with some being free to some costing thousands. As with anything you buy, you do get what you pay for. Clients like to use online store setups that are easy for them to use when they need to do product updates and simple design changes. That way the initial higher cost for the client’s online store will be offset by ease of use and low maintenance costs to operate over the long term.

Next we have graphical design costs, that can range from $70 for a pre-designed store template to a built from scratch setup that can cost $500 and up. If you have only a few products I would suggest starting with the pre-designed store template as the cost is low and the look is quite professional, with only a small amount of time required to input text and make some minor modifications to suit your requirements. If you have quite a few products and they are quite different from each other, you may incur more cost to develop the graphic design as each product category will have a look designed just for that category.

Finally, we need to open up the store for business: market the store and bring in some customers to buy the products. As mentioned earlier, there is no-cost marketing that can be done. For example, the site can be submitted to the primary search engines, adding the store listing to online directories that are relevant to the product or service, and exchanging store links with other sites that are similar but not direct competition.

What are we selling? When your starting out with a new product, try to stay with a unique product that is light in weight, as shipping costs are often overlooked in starting up an online business. If you already have existing products to sell, revisit shipping costs and see where you can find savings.

I find most business owners sell what they are most passionate about. Some of your present hobbies or interests could sell as the end product, as items purchased by other people. Some of the most successful online stores are a result of one’s passion and desire to share their dream with others and if done logically and thoughtfully with a good web developer, can result in financial rewards at a low investment cost through an online store.

- About the Author -

Since 1997, Dennis Dadey, Chief Designer at IR Design, has been helping people with e-commerce applications. Find out more about IR Design at http://www.irdesign.com.

E-Commerce Basics

January 11, 2006 By: solarbluseth Category: E-commerce No Comments →

E-Commerce Basics

What is Ecommerce?

E-Commerce allows you to sell your goods on the internet. First
you get website hosting with a
domain name. Then you build a website with a shopping cart to take payments
through a Paypal or a Merchant account for your goods or
services. You then ship the goods, or provide the service to your customer.

How do I get a shopping Cart?

If you get a hosting provider who has Fantastico included in their hosting
packages you can easily install and use OSCommerce as your shopping cart. It’s an easy to use shopping cart for beginners and easy
to install with a few clicks with Fantastico no need to upload files or install
the database. You should remember to write down the admin username and password
that you use when you install the cart as your hosting provider will not be
able to retrieve this later for you if you lose it.

Credit Cards or Paypal?

If you want to take Paypal you can go to paypal.com and
setup an account there and add this to your E-commerce store settings. If you
would like to process credit cards then you would get an SSL, static IP and
Merchant account. For new stores it may be cheaper to try Paypal for 6 months
and as your sales increase switch over to a Merchant account. You can get a
Merchant account for any type of content if you are located in the US at www.processingpoint.com you can get a merchant
account outside the US through www.CCBill.com . Paypal is more convenient for most users starting an E-Commerce business.

How do I get an SSL?

An SSL (secure socket layer) encrypts the data and pages
being used to process orders on your site. In order to use an SSL you need a
static IP from your hosting Provider. To use an SSL for your store located at
123.com in the folder store you would use https://www.123.com/store for all your other pages that you don’t need security you would use http://www.123.com only use the https when you
need data encrypted. Data encryption can slow down your pages. When you order
the SSL the provider will ask you to specify whether you want the www.domainname.com or just domainname.com so be sure to order the right one, because your links
have to reflect which SSL you purchased.

Which SSL is right for me?

Self Signed SSL

A Self Signed SSL is a free SSL that your hosting company
can generate for you. This is not as secure and some customers may not want to
process orders on your site using this as anyone can generate one. This will
have a pop-up warning your customer that it is self signed and does not provide
a lock in the browser.

Starter SSL

A Starter SSL you pay for and it comes in many forms
depending on the vendor. Your hosting provider can usually provide you one for
a lower cost since they buy them in bulk. An example of such an SSLl is a GeoTrust
QuickSSL. This SSL does not produce a pop-up to the consumer and has a lock
in the browser bar. Most consumers are use to seeing this type of SSL.

There are other SSLs that provide higher encryption and also
fraud protection and security. Geotrust.com provides the most SSL’s to websites
today.

Timothy Rhoads Solarblu.net