Team Ezine
Weekly Encouragement for your Work at Home Success!
Volume 3 Issue 15
October 26, 2006
TeamEzine is a weekly business building
resource published by
Cecilia Frederick of Wahm Team - http://www.wahmteam.com
and http://www.wahmteam.net- a Maryland
based Wahm, Research Scientist, and soccer/baseball mom to two
wonderful boys. Any email you receive as a result of subscribing to Team Ezine
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YOU!
In This Issue
By: James Eastman
By: Kay Green
From
The Publishers Desk
Welcome Back, Team Ezine Subscriber!
Hello Everyone;
It sure feels like winter already here in Maryland! This morning it was 39 F and it doesn't seem to be getting any warmer. In today's ezine we have Part 8 in our series from Jim Eastman on the essential steps you need to sell successfully on the Internet. This is a great series full of great advice, so be sure to check back every two weeks for the next edition. In today's ezine we also have a timely article from Kay Green on the Holiday Season Selling and how to make the most of it.
Until
next time.....
Enjoy the ezine,
Ceci
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Team
Business
7 Things you MUST Do to Successfully Sell on the Internet
Part 8
By: James Eastman
Welcome back to "7 Things You MUST DO to Successfully Sell on the
Internet"
In part 7 we discussed ways to drive traffic to your web site. Today we'll
discuss how to go about setting up an ordering system and accepting payments.
To start with, you HAVE to set up a system that will accept credit cards. If
you don't, you simply have no chance of success ... period! Without credit
card acceptance you'll lose over 85%
of your sales.
---------------------------
Getting A Merchant Account
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In order to accept credit cards, you'll have to get a merchant account. You
can get your own, or use PayPal. Let's discuss PayPal first.
PayPal
--------
If you sign up to use a merchant account through PayPal, there'll be no need
for order forms on your web site. When your customer places an order, he'll be
directed through PayPal which accepts
his payment and credits it to your account. Another advantage to using PayPal
is you can signup for free.
But using PayPal to process credit cards has its downside too. You have to use
the PayPal ordering system that may not "mesh" well with the look of
your web site. This can make your site appear "unprofessional".
But an even bigger disadvantage is that your customer has to perform several
extra steps to complete his order. As I mentioned in the last issue, online
buyers tend to be impatient. Put them through too much hassle, and they'll
just get it from somebody else.
Still, PayPal is simple to set up and can be a viable option if you're just
getting started. You can sign up for a free account at https://www.paypal.com/us/mrb/pal=7AZQNZ5L63YLL
Get Your Own Merchant account
----------------------------
Having your own merchant account allows you far more flexibility and control
over your business ... the look of your business, control of purchases and
refunds, and the ability to integrate
with order forms & affiliate tracking software.
The drawback is that it's a great deal more hassle to set up. you'll have to
create your own ordering form (using an HTML editor) or find one online.
you'll also need to get a "payment gateway" account like
www.authorize.net. (Check it out here https://www.e-onlinedata.com/makemybizfly)
Finally, you'll have to configure them all to work together.
You can apply for a merchant account through your local bank, but you'll
likely be charged very high "discount rates" (i.e. a percentage of
every transaction) and an exceedingly large security deposit.
A better option is to find an Internet based broker. you'll still be charged
setup fees in the range of $200 to $400. Do a search, or get a copy of
"Direct Mail" magazine and look for advertisements in the back. (but
don't misspell "Ma ail" - I did this here to get your letter through
spam filters)
If you do go this route, make certain your web hosting company has a secure
server. Your potential customer may be reluctant to do business with you if
he's afraid his confidential information
could be "hijacked" over the Internet.
Another Option - A Third Party "Merchant Service"
-------------------------------------------------
As an alternative, you can use a service like ClickBank. When you use
one of these services, setup is quick and easy, and you don't need your own
merchant account or order forms. They set
up the order form, process the orders, and accept payments.
The downside is that you'll pay exceptionally high fees, and have no
flexibility or control over the process. Plus, using one of these won't give
your site the professional look it could have if
you were using your own merchant account. That's the trade-off.
You can check out ClickBank at http://clickbank.com/
In Part 9 we'll be talking about yet another (and in my opinion,
much better) option.
See you then.
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Jim Eastman is support contact for MakeMyBizFly, a complete e-commerce solution for the Internet marketer. For more information visit: http://makemybizfly.com/q.php?adminid=3&tid=679
Classified Ads:
http://www.123greetings.com/newsletter/
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Team
Business
HOLIDAY SEASON
By: Kay Green
The busy holiday season is upon us. It can be your busiest season if you plan for it now. What will you do to set your business up for success? It is really up to you how your season shapes up. Do not fail to plan now. Be sure to have samples to show of all your GIFT giving products. You want them to see and feel these products. They need to see them as a gift for the special people in their life.
There are several ways to sell: web, parties, vendor fairs. I found the best success when doing all three. Now after 5 years I sell only online but I had to have those other events and classes in the beginning to build my web site traffic enough.
How will you sell this season
1. Your web site
2. Parties/classes
3. Vendor Fairs
1. WEB SITES - If you are planning to do most of your sales online this year you should have already set up your holiday advertising and online events. These usually plan months ahead of time. Line up holiday online events now - start searching and asking around. You will probably need to do weekly online events to keep the momentum going. Continue to get incoming links, products reviews, and your articles posted on other web sites. Set up a blog on another site and right weekly blog entries. Join more yahoo groups to network. Be careful to follow all their advertising rules. Post a different ad each week - not the same thing week after week. Tell them why they should buy from you. Mail out holiday post cards to all your past customers from last year - or contacts you want to buy. Give them an incentive to buy early. Make a HOLIDAY buying guide page on your site. Make a holiday gift giving flyer to print and swap with others.
2. PARTIES/CLASSES - This is still a great season to hold parties and classes. Now that kids are back in school moms are ready again. Set up your customer calling log. Make 5-10 calls each day asking them to buy or date a party. Call your hostesses in advance to help her plan well. Get her invitation list and send invite postcards to them all. At each party ask each person to date their own class. Tell them why they benefit from holding a class. Give am incentive for dating right then. At the classes show your GIFT items in this season. Remind them of all the people they have to buy for this year. Give them a reason to buy from you. Hold one class or party a month in your home to invite others too.
3. VENDOR FAIRS - These fairs are every where. It is easy to find one each weekend once you get started. At the current fair you hear about upcoming fairs. Keep your schedule full. Keep looking for new ones. Ask where they will advertise. Ask how much traffic they had last year. When I had a big fair coming I would buy $500 in inventory on my card. Then I would heavily date in parties for the two weeks after the event so I knew I could sell at parties what I did not sell at the event.
4. INVENTORY - Plan ahead for inventory. Order wisely a bit at a time. I got a separate credit card to use just for this. Then I could order inventory and have 30 days to sell it. Set a budget for what you can afford to order first. Buy the best sellers. Then as it sells put half back into inventory again. When you place an order for a party you held order a few extra items to put back into your inventory supply. Get in the habit of ordering every 1-2 week. Let your customers know when you order so they can plan too. When I was doing weekly classes I would order every Monday. Then we could all plan. If you have inventory that you have not sold at the end of a season use it as cash/carry special deal. Like a free item when you buy $50. Or get any item in this bin at 20% when you buy $50.
5. SHIPPING - Be sure you are adding shipping to orders at your events. It can be a percentage or a flat rate - your choice. They expect it these days at classes.
This is a wonderful selling/buying season. People are looking for what you have to offer. How will you plan to make it a successful season. Plan now for your holiday selling success.
******************************************************************************************************************
Kay Green lives in Oregon with her family and is the owner of MyPreciousKid.com
kay@mypreciouskid.com http://www.mypreciouskid.com http://www.123homebusinessguide.com http://www.shoppingwithmoms.com?r=58667
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All content copyright © 2006 by Cecilia Frederick unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved worldwide. Cecilia Frederick Owner and Publisher for http://www.wahmteam.com http://www.wahmteam.net and Team Ezine http://www.teamezine.com Ceci@wahmteam.com
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