Online Payment System

What Is The Perfect System?
And Payment Types NOT To Use!

I will explain exactly how most of my operations are set up. Every user has three options for ordering as mentioned above (online, 800 number, and snail mail/fax). I want them to order directly online with our secure server if possible because:

1. You will get more orders from people buying on impulse. If they wait to call your 800 number or mail a check, they might have second thoughts or simply forget to do it.
2. Everything is automated with the secure server ordering process, so it is completely hands free.
3. The most profit is made from online orders because I am not paying fees for live operators with the 800 number or wasting my time processing manual order-forms.

To encourage customers to order using my secure server, (which is fully automated unlike the manual order form where we have to manually process the credit card and fax the fulfillment company the order), we offer the added benefit of receiving the email version of Car Secrets Revealed within ten minutes of the order being approved. If they order by any other method, they would not get the email for 72 hours.

When an order is placed on the secure server, the secure server calls the bank and authorizes the credit card while the customer waits on line for a few moments. While they are waiting, a screen is displayed, explaining everything that is going on (that their credit card is being approved and to wait for a moment). Once their order is approved, a screen comes up explaining this, tells them when their product will be shipped and what email address to contact if there are any problems.

The money then gets deposited into my bank account, the one MB software version of Car Secrets Revealed gets sent to the client’s email address, my fulfillment house automatically receives the shipping instructions and I receive an email with the ordering information as confirmation. In other words, I have not physically touched a single thing and the entire order has been processed automatically.

If you want to see a copy of the online order form, there is a link to it at the beginning of this webpage. Or go to http://www.carsecrets.com/jumporder.cgi and see it right on your monitor (notice there is an “s” after “http” which stands for “secure”).

For reasons I cannot understand, most people think that to get a secure server they have to move their entire site to an Internet Service Provider (ISP) that offers a secure server. This is not true. You can stay with your current ISP and simply link to your order form webpage through a different ISP with a secure server. I do that with all my products.

Note: So you may be asking, “who can do this secure real-time transactions for me?”. Well, I highly recommend a company called Interlink Advertising for your secure server connection (this is who we use). They will customize almost anything to meet your needs and their customer service is not only outstanding but lightening fast as well. They also support real time transactions so credit cards are processed automatically within seconds. Visit http://www.marketingtips.com/mailloop/t.x/915921 to fill out a submission form and give them your name and phone number, your website address if you have one (so they can take a look to see what you need) and what services you need (ie. Website hosting, secure services, automated credit card processing, etc.). Your filled out submission form will be automatically forwarded to the “expert” programmer at Interlink Advertising. He will look at it and get back to you within 48 hours. I should mention that you must already have merchant accounts for them to be able to help you. If you need credit card merchant accounts – I will show you how to easily get these a little later in this newsletter. The second way to order on-line is through a non-secure server, which is, basically, just a regular order form, exchanged online. I recommend offering a non-secure form as an alternative for two reasons:

1. The browser or local host the customer is using may not support secure servers and they might not have access to the secure order form.
2. The client may feel uncomfortable leaving their credit card number on the Internet with the secure or non-secure order form, but wants to place the order online anyway so they use the non-secure order form and pick the option for you to call them for their credit card number.

When customers use the non-secure order form, they have the option to enter their credit card number directly, fax the order form to us, or fill it out with the credit card field blank so we can call them for the missing information. Although this is more of a hassle than the secure server, it will still cut down on the cost of paying live operators through your 800 number. It also offers the advantage of facilitating impulse buyers since they can order your product or service right on the screen instead of having to log-off to call your order desk at the 800 number (most people only have one phone line in their house and use that to connect to the Internet).

The following is what a copy of our non-secure order form looks like (you can also view it by going to http://www.marketingtips.com/t.cgi/915921 ):
 

Online Order Form

We are a bonded company, so feel comfortable ordering with your credit card. I feel comfortable sending the necessary information online I will fax my credit card information to you at (604) 730-2480 Call me for my credit card information. (within North America) Name: Email: Company: (optional) Address: City:     State:   Country:     Zip:   Phone Credit Card: VISA MasterCard American Express Discover Credit Card # Exp. Date      All orders will be shipped within 24 hours. Your credit card will be charged $217 ($197 plus $20 Federal Express S&H — the course weighs almost 10 lbs. so it is expensive to ship). It will be shipped via Federal Express and is guaranteed to arrive within 3 business days. Note: All overseas orders will be charged an additional $25.00 for shipping by 1st Class Mail. Delivery time is approximately 7-14 days for overseas orders.

 

Some people will call the 800 number no matter what you offer them online, because they feel uncomfortable not talking to a real, live person or entering their credit card number online. This 800 number is assigned to me by my fulfillment house. They answer the phone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,, and take orders for the products that I offer. For this they charge fees, the most significant being $1.20 per minute while taking orders. The average order takes 3 to 4 minutes, so it costs me approximately $5.00 for every order placed through the 800 number (plus a few small fees that are “tacked on” my monthly account). This fee represents extra profit I could have made if they ordered directly online, and that is why I encourage online ordering as much as possible.

Once an order is placed through the 800 number, the client is told they will receive the software version of the book within 72 hours. The next day all the orders for the previous day are printed off at the fulfillment house. My representative at the fulfillment house charges the credit card from her location, packages and ships the order, and emails me a copy of all the orders. Within 48 hours of receiving the order via fax I must manually email the software to the clients that have requested it (this again is a hassle that can be avoided by encouraging customers to order online with the secure server).

I have used a few different fulfillment houses and the company I most highly recommend is Mountain West Communications. Their number is 1-800-642-9378 (ask for their sales department, and tell them Corey sent you – she will get a kick out of that).

Mountain West Communications also has merchant accounts you can use if you are just getting started. In other words, you do not have to host your own merchant accounts. They pay you once a month for the sales you have charged less their fees. Note that if you use their merchant credit card accounts, you will not be able to charge online orders to that account. That is because all orders must go through their 800 number as required by their bank. Also note that the discount rate (the rate that the credit card company charges you) is about 5%, whereas you can get it at 2.5% or lower if you use your own merchant accounts.

The customer can also write a check or send a money order via snail mail for fulfillment. You could either give the address of your home/business, or give them the address of your fulfillment house and they can take care of it all. The fulfillment house will just send you the original envelopes and checks received, once a week (or whenever you ask them to). Again this makes it “hands free” for you. If you are consistently home, you could have the orders come to you and then fax (or email) them to your fulfillment house for shipping.

Here is a copy of the order options and how they are worded on my Car Secrets webpage (underlined words are links to the order pages):

Act now, the second edition sold out quickly and the third is expected to move just as fast. There are three easy ways to order:

The first and fastest way to order is directly online with our SECURE SERVER or if your web browser will not support secure servers… use our other order form. Keep in mind that when you use our order form on our Secure Server, we can email you the software version of the book within 10 minutes so you can start putting cash back in your pocket tonight (the printed soft-cover book will still follow in the US Postal Mail). If you order with our “other order form”, the software will be emailed to you within 72 hours.

Or, you can use your credit card and order by phone. When you order through the 800 # your software can still be emailed to you; but within 72 hours, not 10 minutes like ordering online via our secure server. Or if you don’t want the software emailed to you, you can have the software on diskette sent with the book via US Priority Mail. You can call anytime, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and the number to call is: 1-800-241-5934. To get this special price when you call, please tell the operator the “publication number” is #7999. Remember to give the operator your email address if you want the software emailed to you.

The last way to order is through “snail” mail. All you have to do is write your name and address and the words “Car Secrets Package” on a piece of paper, and send it, along with your payment of $27.00 plus $2.95 shipping and handling to: Car Secrets, 1123 Fir Ave. Suite #7999, Blaine, WA 98230

Here is a copy of the order options and how they are worded on my Internet Marketing Center® webpage (underlined words are links to the order pages):

There are three easy ways to order.

1. The fastest way to order is directly online. Click here to order with our Secure Server, or if your web browser doesn’t support secure servers, use our other order form.
2. The fastest way to order is directly online. Click here to order with our Secure Server, or if your web browser doesn’t support secure servers, use our other order form.
3. Call toll-free at 1-800-241-5934 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week) and mention “publication number 7999″ to get the discounted price with the free bonuses mentioned above.
4. Click here to print out an order form to mail or fax.

The course is shipped via Federal Express. You will receive the course in 3 days and can get started the same day you receive it. You can be doubling or even tripling your profits by NEXT WEEK!!

Here is what the order form looks like if they want to mail or fax in their order:

Mail or Fax in your order Print out the following order form and either: Fax it to (604) 730-2480 or, Snail mail it to: The Internet Marketing Center®, 1123 Fir Ave. Suite #7999, Blaine, WA 98230

Yes, rush me The Insider Secrets to Marketing Your Business on the Internet course. I understand that if after using all the techniques and strategies in the course and I do not triple my current profits within 90 days, I can return it for an immediate refund… and The Internet Marketing Center® will send me an extra $197.00 just for giving it a try. No questions asked. The course will be sent Federal Express within 24 hours of receiving your order and is guaranteed to arrive within 3 business days. Name: _________________________ Email: _________________________ Company (optional): ______________ Address: ______________________ City: __________________________ State: __________ Country: ____________ Zip: _________ Phone: (___) ____- ______ (  ) I am enclosing a check or money order for $217 ($197 plus $20 Federal Express S&H — the course weighs almost 10 lbs. so it is expensive to ship). Please note that we do not accept checks by fax, so if you are paying by check you must mail it in. (  ) I want to charge this purchase to my Credit Card Credit Card (check one): VISA MasterCard American Express Discover Card Number: _________________________Expiry Date: _______ Signature: _____________________________ I authorize The Internet Marketing Center® to charge $217.00 ($197 plus $20 Federal Express S&H — the course weighs almost 10 lbs. so it is expensive to ship) to my credit card for the purchase (and shipment) of the business training course The Insider Secrets to Marketing Your Business on the Internet. Note: All overseas orders will be charged an additional $25.00 for shipping by 1st Class Mail. Delivery time is approximately 7-14 days for overseas orders.

Payment Types To Avoid

There are other ways to collect money other than using credit cards, or mail and a check or money order.

You can collect money directly online through companies such as Cybercash (http://www.cybercash.com) or First Virtual (http://www.firstvirtual.com). These companies are very similar to fulfillment houses in the sense that they charge the customer’s credit card account and then pay you (less the discount rate).

This is how most of them work:

1. A customer has to sign up with a “transaction company” (like First Virtual or Cybercash). They will give their name, address and credit card information in exchange for an account number and password.
2. You have a prearranged agreement with the transaction company (First Virtual or Cybercash) to use their account numbers on your order page (this requires you to sign up and follow their regulations).
3. If customers come to your site and you offer Cybercash or First Virtual, your customer can enter their account number and password for the transaction. The transaction-company (i.e. First Virtual or Cybercash) will then charge a customer’s credit card the amount specified for your product or service.
4. The transaction company would then issue you a check once every month (or 60 days depending on the transaction company you use) for the value of the sales processed through their company for that period.

There are a couple of major drawbacks with these kinds of transaction companies however:

1. Many of them do not pay you until 21 days after the sale (some up to 90 days after the sale).
2. Your customer must have an account number and password set up with the transaction company already (if they don’t, it is a hassle for them and you take the chance of losing the sale).
3. Some of the transaction companies require special software on the customer’s end to be able to use this service (sometimes called an “electronic wallet”). This is software that the customer must have on their computer.

In ending this section, let me say that using a transaction company is generally a waste of time. Getting credit-card merchant accounts are, in my opinion, the only way to handle sales efficiently. You will find that most people online have credit cards.

Receiving checks by phone/fax sounds great in theory but in practice it is not so great. It is generally very time consuming and can be a big hassle. For those that do not know how this works, you basically take the bank and account information from customers via phone or fax. You then produce a check on your computer printer from check writing software that is “supposed” to be valid at a bank. This is a very similar technique to a “debit card”, where customers authorize you to take a certain amount of money directly from their bank account.

There are two ways to take checks by fax. You can get your own software that prints checks, or you can have a service bureau take the information from the customer and produce the checks for you.

Sometimes you end up waiting months to get paid for faxed checks because they are not considered a legal form of tender by some banks. There is also a big problem with illegibility, incomplete info, etc.

If you still want to collect your money using the method above, I strongly recommend getting your own check writing software. That is one way of avoiding the service problems (you are in control instead of depending on another company to handle your transactions), and to get prompt turn-around at the banks. Do be aware that some banks are not very fond of this scheme, and some will not honor the check unless the customer verbally approves the transactions (again, another hassle as it is unlikely you will get a hold of the customer when you want to).

Keep in mind that this method is usually more trouble than what it is worth. Most people have credit cards and will use them. Those that don’t will be confused by the process in which they have to go through to effectively use checks with the phone/fax method of ordering. I have used a couple of different systems in the past (with two of them I had to pay a $495 “set-up” fee just to become a user) and as I said before, in my opinion, it is a waste of time and effort.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Internet marketing expert Derek Gehl specializes in teaching real people how to successfully start, build, and grow their own profitable online businesses on small budgets. To get instant access to the step-by-step strategies, tools, and resources he’s used to grow just $25 into over $60 Million in online sales, visit: The Internet Marketing Center

Click Here to Send This Page to a Friend

Happy Investing,

Kendall E. Matthews, CRMC
Phoenix, Arizona Investment Real Estate

P.S. Get my new e-book “101 Legit Tips To Boost Your Credit Score” Click Here to learn more. P.S.S. You can click here to learn about our investment strategies.

The Investment Real Estate Corner: A Double Investment

If you’ve got kids and are planning to move, you’ve got your hands full! Before you start looking at homes and packing up boxes of toys, you want to be sure that your new home offers the amenities you are seeking for your school-aged children. Sounds simple enough, but there’s really a lot to consider.

You might start your research on the Internet, but you’ll also want to speak directly with a real estate agent, school systems, and maybe even the local law enforcement agencies. Like the purchase of your home, your child’s education and recreation are investments for the future, and should be based on careful investigation of the facts.

You want a quality school system with low student-teacher ratios and high test scores. You might also want close proximity between your home and the school(s). It’s highly recommended to take a “test drive” to determine your commute times between work, school and home – and be sure to do it during rush hour! Commute length can be extremely important when you place a high value on your family time together!

School is obviously paramount, but don’t forget places like playgrounds, community recreation centers, libraries, houses of worship, and public transportation to all these destinations. Once you’ve found a neighborhood that suits you, talk to some of the residents, if possible. Neighbors know best!

Online Ordering

How Online Ordering Automation Can
Directly Affect Your Bottom Line

I have been getting a lot questions about online ordering and it is surprising how many people do not understand the importance of the payment types, the ordering options available, how you ask for the order, etc.

You can have the most attractive webpage in the world, or tens of thousands of visitors a month, but if your order system is not easy to understand, convenient and flawless to use, you will be watching people come to your site and then leave (without buying anything). So many people get caught up in salescopy and promoting their site, that they forget about the small details such as their ordering systems and options. The ordering process is a critical link to the success or failure of a business. Your order process can make you or break you.I have seen very slick order systems as well as some really “mickey-mouse” ones. Remember, on the Internet you don’t have a store front like in a retail store, or a showroom for people to walk into where they can touch and feel things. The only thing they have contact with is your website. You are just a URL in the crowd and this is why (as mentioned in my internet marketing course – http://www.marketingtips.com/t.cgi/915921 ) making the customer feel comfortable at your site, building a rapport, and then asking for the sale is so important. These are just the basics but if you have a poor ordering process which is confusing, complicated, or simply out-dated, you are losing a boatload of sales.

If you still only offer the option to mail in a check (and that is the only ordering option), you might as well call your ISP and tell him to pull the site down, because you will never earn a dime from it. Or if you have a site that accepts credit cards, but they have to call you to place the order (in other words, no way to order online), you are throwing away a huge percentage of your sales (we will explain why a little later)! Even if you have an online order form, but it is not automated and in “real-time” you are still in the Stone Ages. Our goal here is to go over the EXACT order process, the options and payment types needed to get the sale and why these are so important.

The entire idea of an Internet business is that your “store” (or webpage) is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week receiving orders, and collecting your money (all automatically while you sleep). Let the computers and software do the work for you. Ok, lets get into the specifics…

Complete Automation is the Key

Remember the net is an international medium and is open 24 hours a day. My strong belief when selling in cyberspace is to be “completely automated” so you can work on your own time and at your own hours. I can travel anywhere in the country, any time and run my entire business from my laptop and my voice mail. If you’re not going to be fully automated and decide to process everything manually, you must:

1. Be prepared to check your email every day of the week, including weekends and holidays.
2. Be prepared to confirm and process every order within 24 hours.
3. Be willing to give up valuable time to fulfill orders and do paperwork when you could be marketing your business and increasing sales.

If you do become fully automated, be prepared to spend a little more time and money in the beginning setting up your business and website (to get the automated system fully operational).

Don’t wait until the orders start rolling in to figure these things out. All repeat sales depend on your professionalism and ability to handle the first sale quickly and smoothly. As I will show you later, in a newsletter, repeat sales will be a big part of your net profit, even if you presently don’t have anything else to sell. I will show you how to recommend other products/services for a portion of their profits in a later newsletter.

The ordering process and payment types you offer are key to your success. If the customer is confused on how to order, or you don’t offer a payment type that is convenient, you will lose the sale. I cannot stress how important this is! I have seen too many people have a great product or service, and sales letter, only to miss the sale because the order process was too complicated and the payment options were not convenient enough for the customer.

Because there is so much to discuss about ordering and payment, I have broken the information into a few categories to make it easier to read.

The All Important Basics

Ordering goods and services online is a relatively new thing. Many people have never ordered anything online and can be nervous or uncomfortable doing it for the first time. It is important to explain every aspect of the ordering process to build customer confidence. Tell them how to fill out the form, how the product is shipped, any special features, etc. Even explain to the customer that the order form isn’t processed until they click the “send” button at the bottom of the screen as well as anything else you can think of that a “first time” electronic buyer might not know. The following is a copy of the secure order form I use for Car Secrets Revealed:

WELCOME TO OUR ONLINE SECURE ORDER FORM This is a “secure” server so your credit card number is protected. If you are using Netscape, the thin blue line at the top of this window indicates that any information you send is protected from unauthorized viewing by world-class encryption techniques. With Internet Explorer, there will be a graphic of an unbroken key on your browser window. This page takes a moment to load completely, so please be patient. Name: Email: Company (optional): Address:

The Investment Real Estate Corner: Up And Down The Mountain!

Have you ever been mountain climbing? If you plan to sell your home without representation, that kind of experience could come in handy. Extensive preparation is needed if you expect to reach your goal. You might feel like you’ve reached the peak when you get an offer, but you’ve only made half the journey. To come back down, you have to successfully bring the transaction and post-contract activities to a close.

On the way up, you must be sure to properly disclose the condition of your home, take care of needed repairs and cosmetic considerations, appropriately price your home, and develop a marketing plan that will attract qualified buyers well suited to your offering. If you do receive an offer, there could be as many as twenty additional steps to a satisfactory conclusion.

According to a 2005 report from the National Association of REALTORS®, only 13% of home sellers sold their property without representation. Even more informative is the fact that only half of those said they would try it again.

After all, selling homes is a full-time job. The average homeowner might sell three or four homes in a lifetime, while real estate agents sell hundreds, even thousands during their careers. It makes sense to take advantage of that experience, and you can expect a much higher final sale price as a result.

Online Marketing Plan

What Marketing Promotions Do I Start First,
For The Biggest Profit?

So many people say to me… “where do I start? I want to make the big impact fast!”. That is not an easy question to answer without talking to you directly about your product to see where the most potential is. But here are some general basics on where to start. There are a few different ways to attack the market, all with their own appropriate time and place so you will need to strategize and develop a marketing plan.

It can take up to a couple of months to begin getting substantial amounts of reciprocal links from other related sites and to get good placement on search engines, make these your first priorities (I talk about this very extensively in the course as it is a very large topic, and “doing it right” is really tricky). I am telling you now how important this will be so you can get an idea of what order things are best done in.

Once you have submitted your site to the search engines and started to communicate with other sites to get reciprocal links, you want to focus your time on email discussion lists, ezines, newsgroups, Bulletin Board / Classified ads, mailing lists and commercial online services to get immediate cash flow.

These are “instant” marketing tools that will literally generate income in a matter of days allowing you to test ads, slogans, salesletters, and your website design to get a winning combination before you really start to get traffic from reciprocal links and search engine listings.These “instant” marketing tools, will bring you a lot of contacts who want to do joint ventures with your product (or your company). While we are talking about joint ventures, you should always be thinking about who you could contact to do joint ventures with (this can be critically important and will be discussed in great detail in another issue – it can really skyrocket your profits). But you have to have a proven winning sales strategy before you do this or you are wasting your time. Be patient. It will not happen overnight, but when it does happen, it happens very, very fast!

You will find that as time goes on, other sites in your industry will put links to yours without you even knowing (assuming they find something valuable worth linking to). As you grow, you will get email from people wanting to exchange links with you, and others who might want to distribute your product in mass quantities. You will be surprised who contacts you once you are well known, but realize that this takes time and nothing but time… there is no way to make this part of your campaign go faster than what I am telling you here. You will soon find out that when your online business starts to take off you may not be able to keep up with the pace. That’s why you must plan from the beginning.

Let me just touch on the potential here. If you have a good “front-end” (your main product), as your business starts to grow, you can be implementing your “back-end product” (products you sell after the client has bought the first product from you) as this is where the real money is!

Don’t believe me? What if I told you I generate over $24,000 in net profit EVERY month in backends from my four businesses (yes, that was $24,000 every month, not every year!). This is not “gross sales”, this is $24,000 net profit that you put in your pocket and take home every month! And that figure does not include the money I make from the front-end products I sell. Are you starting to see the power of this? We will talk a lot about back-end products in another issue as I want to devote an entire issue to it.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Internet marketing expert Derek Gehl specializes in teaching real people how to successfully start, build, and grow their own profitable online businesses on small budgets. To get instant access to the step-by-step strategies, tools, and resources he’s used to grow just $25 into over $60 Million in online sales, visit: The Internet Marketing Center

Click Here to Send This Page to a Friend Happy Investing, Kendall E. Matthews, CRMC
Phoenix, Arizona Investment Real Estate

P.S. Get my new e-book “101 Legit Tips To Boost Your Credit Score” Click Here to learn more.

P.S.S. You can click here to learn about our investment strategies.

Pay Online

Make It Super Simple For The Customer To Pay

If you don’t accept credit cards because you don’t have merchant accounts, forget it!

You MUST be able to accept credit cards online if you plan to do business over the net. If you can’t, you will lose over 60% of your business. Customers on the net are impulsive and want everything NOW. If they have to get off the net to phone you (most families only have one phone line in their house) OR, if they have to write a check, fill out an order form, address an envelope and put it in the mail you can forget about doing any kind of volume. You have to make it easy for them to order! Would you believe that 80% of the orders I am currently receiving for my products are placed with credit cards?Credit cards will also give you a measure of credibility because your business will not seem like a “basement operation”. They will not only quadruple your business because credit cards offer convenience, but they make your job a lot easier as well:

1. Not as many trips to the bank (everything is deposited electronically).
2. Easier and “cleaner” paper-trails for sales records.
3. No bounced checks (credit cards are almost like getting cash).
4. Easier to trace orders for customer service.
5. …and many other benefits.

I will show you how to get your own credit card merchant accounts for only $40 a month a little further down this page. The broker we deal with has a 98% approval rate and can almost guarantee to get you merchant accounts at extremely low rates (plus they will bend over backwards to make sure you are satisfied not to mention that they include all the software and tech help you need to make your order system fully automated).

Automation Is Crucial For Your Success

There are three ways people should be able to order, all of which have to be automated if you truly want to be successful. As I mentioned before, if you don’t do this, you will be a slave to your business every day (including weekends and holidays) just processing orders. That leaves little time for marketing your business, as most of your time will be spent doing administrative work.

In brief, customers should be able to order:

1. Directly Online.
2. With an 800 number (24 hours a day, seven days a week with live operators).
3. Postal mail (“snail mail”) or fax.

Lets go over each of these in detail:

Online: My orders are accepted and processed on a secure server while the customer waits online. Then, software charges the credit card company which deposits the money directly into my bank account. The order is automatically emailed to my fulfillment company who ships the order the next day and also sends me a copy of the order by email for my records. I also allow the customer to order with a non-secure form, which will be explained further on.

Note: A secure server is a computer server that can accept and transmit confidential information (like credit card numbers) without the risk of someone intercepting the transmission and “stealing” the information. It is all done through encryption techniques. Almost all browsers (unless they are very old) support secure server transactions.

800 number: I deal with a company that accepts phone orders 24 hours a day on a 1-800 line with live operators (this is the same company that processes my email orders), and then, pack, and ship them out. I send them a few hundred items every couple of weeks so they can maintain their stock, and I get a fax every night telling me what 800 number orders came in the previous day, what was shipped, and how much was deposited in my bank account. You will find it will cost you between $5.00 to $7.00 per order to fill using the 800 number (they charge about a buck a minute to take the order over the phone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week). Please note that when you are starting, you may just want to get an 800 number attached to your regular business phone numbers and take orders 9-5 when you are in the office (your local long distance carrier can arrange this easily). Then as you get more orders, transfer this responsibility to a company like the one mentioned above.

Snail Mail or Fax: My customers can also send a check or money order by mail, or fax the order form with their credit card number to me. Most people will order online, and if they feel uncomfortable giving out their credit card number they will call the 1-800 line ( it is rare to receive many orders via snail mail or fax). The fulfillment-company receives a copy of the order, ships the product and then mails me the order forms and checks they receive, once a week.

I do nothing except get a report of what was sold through any of the ordering techniques, and everything is done automatically. I can go away on a vacation for a week or two and the whole system runs as though I were there, doing all the work myself. I can’t emphasize enough, how important this is. All I need to do is simply look at my accounts at the end of the week (or end of the day) to see what sales I have just made.

Why is this so important…?

You want to concentrate all of your time on marketing your product or service, not on paperwork, processing and shipping orders… especially when you have a successful product or service!

With my four successful online businesses, I would have a full-time job just processing orders if I had to do them everyday. There would be no time to market my products and increase my sales, let alone time to try new marketing possibilities.

Let me repeat what happens: The orders are placed by your customers, the money is deposited in your bank and the product is packaged and shipped without you touching anything. The only thing you have to do is drop by the bank once a week in order to deposit the checks sent by the fulfillment company, for incoming orders. You don’t have to answer the phone or even log on to the net every day to check orders. Everything is done automatically.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Internet marketing expert Derek Gehl specializes in teaching real people how to successfully start, build, and grow their own profitable online businesses on small budgets. To get instant access to the step-by-step strategies, tools, and resources he’s used to grow just $25 into over $60 Million in online sales, visit: The Internet Marketing Center

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Happy Investing,

Kendall E. Matthews, CRMC
Phoenix, Arizona Investment Real Estate

P.S. Get my new e-book “101 Legit Tips To Boost Your Credit Score” Click Here to learn more.

P.S.S. You can click here to learn about our investment strategies.

The Investment Real Estate Corner: Make It Your Own!

If you are willing to purchase a reasonably priced home in need of updates or renovation, you should also be willing to seriously consider exactly how much time and money those renovations will require.  Save yourself emotional and financial distress by following some simple words of advice. 

First, no matter how much you budget for renovation, prepare to spend ten percent or more above that.  Any time you remodel, you have to expect the unexpected.  Allow your budget some wiggle room to cover those surprises that turn up under flooring, behind walls, or in the pipes. 

Second, prepare for the upheaval that these projects often entail.  If you have just one bathroom, full of workers pulling out pipes, you obviously need alternatives.  Kitchen renovations can upset your home’s very heart of operations, so budget in time and money for meals out, or plan to buy food that’s really simple to prepare.  Just make sure before your project starts that you and your contractor have clearly established just how long the work will take. 

Last, just as you don’t want to underestimate the cost of renovation, you certainly don’t want to overestimate its payback.  While not all projects recoup their value, kitchen and bathroom remodeling generally perform best in that area.  Proper planning and budgeting will turn your recent purchase into the home of your dreams!

The Investment Real Estate Corner: Reality Check

A review of the 2006 economy and a forecast for 2007 reveal some interesting trends in real estate.  While most markets anticipate a cooling down period, it’s important to understand that the hottest markets accelerated real estate to the point where an adjustment is desperately needed. 

It’s hard to believe that in 2005, the national average for home appreciation was over twelve percent!  The market simply cannot continue to bear that figure, but appreciation will continue in the five to six percent range, and early reports indicate that this year will be among the four best ever in real estate. 

It makes sense that the very hottest markets with the very highest prices will see a fall in sales.  On the other hand, strong but reasonable markets should actually begin selling faster.  Basically, there’s no need for concern if listing periods remain at six months or less. 

Of course, unknown factors can affect these trends, such as oil prices, inflation and interest rates.  However, business spending remains robust in 2006, and a strong economy is anticipated to be a positive influence on real estate.   

While interest rates may rise a couple times in the coming year, they should still remain at or below seven percent.  Considering rates were about double that twenty years ago, you can see that we’re still very optimistic about home ownership! 

How to Market Your Online Business

Side-Step The Big Business Branding Techniques That’ll Leave You Broke And Disappointed And Discover Cost-Effective Branding Strategies That Small And Home-Based Businesses Can Start Using Today

1. Directly offer a product/service for sale at your website. You can offer a product or service on your webpage or you can offer free information to lure people to another where you then have a product or service available. This is the most popular way of making money on the net because it’s easy to set up and you can get the initial profits rolling almost overnight.

Or,

1. Get as many visitors to your site as possible by enticing them to come with something special you offer (Such as valuable information, help, files, free stuff, etc.). Then, once the visitor counts are high enough, you can sell advertising space on your site or sponsorships or banner advertising.

The above aspect of online marketing, with the intent to sell advertising space, is not talked about as much because it doesn’t generate instant cash and requires an investment of time and money of at least six months. Once these sites are successful however, they pay off big and the time commitment and maintenance from that point on is minimal. A good example can be found at http://www.theautochannel.com.

The autochannel site has been a success because it offers daily news on the automotive industry and free information on all things automotive (including new and used car prices and dealer invoice costs). To the best of my knowledge, the AutoChannel generates over three hundred thousand visitors a week (that’s millions of hits a month) and can sell premium advertising space. They generate over $100,000 each month in advertising fees from corporations like Pennzoil and Allstate, regardless of what else they are able to sell.

Another extraordinary example of this is the Netscape site which gets over five million visitors a week and is now selling banner links for a whopping $35,000 per month. Just think; if you have just 30 pages, each displaying a banner that companies are paying you $35,000 per link per page … that’s over a million dollars each month in advertising revenue alone! Of course, the chances of you or me getting as big as Netscape are slim to none… but this example does show you the potential I am talking about.

For another example, I have a friend who has a website that entices a great number of people to come because of a free service he offers. He devotes about one hour every couple of days or so managing the site, and sells banner advertising to various corporations. He is making in excess of $90,000 in advertising revenue… and still working his regular full-time job which pays him another $37,000. And to boot, the potential of this site (and its advertising revenues) growing three times the size is very, very possible in the next few months! If you are willing to invest the time and effort with the realization that you could do this for six months and get nowhere then this approach may be for you. The chances of making a success of this type of site are much smaller than simply selling a product or service online.

But if you have a successful site, the initial time commitments are well worth it since the site can pay off in big profits with a minimal maintenance commitment afterwards. Let’s discuss method #2 above (attracting volume to sell advertising space). Assume for example’s sake that you have 10,000 visitors to your site per month. If you had multiple sub-pages on that website, you could be generating hundreds of thousands of hits every month (the sub-pages could be separated sections of material or information, chapters or whatever). Now, it is not unreasonable to charge $250.00 to place a banner on each of the sub-pages in a scenario like this, so assuming I have 15 sub-pages and am keeping my price list at a measly $250 per banner (one at the top of each sub-page).

That’s $250 times 15 which is… hmmm… about $3,750 per month – just for letting a few people have the privilege of placing their ads! I no longer have to take orders, ship anything or provide any customer service… we just collect advertising fees, every month.Note: Smaller sites charge a flat fee, but the larger sites charge $20-$40 per 1000 impressions of your banner, and the more targeted the market, the higher the price.The following are examples of organizations that will broker space on your site if you have high enough visitor counts to justify banner ads:

• Burst Media – based in NY; steep commission (50%) unless you do an exclusive. Burst Media sells banner space based on demographic, category, etc. but will not represent your site individually. http://www.burstmedia.com
• Real Media – based in NYC (another banner rep firm). Same as above but better rates (30 % commission) and has the option of signing a non-exclusive deal. http://www.realmedia.com
• Doubleclick – The Poppe Tyson subsidiary that was overwhelmed by responses to their print ads and alienated their customers by not returning calls or answering email. Rumor has it they are very exclusive. http://www.doubleclick.net

Because of the time commitment required to set up a website with the intention of selling advertising space as the primary source of income, just about everyone decides to start selling their products or services first so they may begin to see the sales roll in virtually overnight. It is not until later that they go after the advertising income. There are other significant advantages to setting up your business for basic product or service promotion online, such as:

• It can be completely automated to demand very little of your time.
• It can be worked on at your own pace and whenever you choose.
• Lowered lead costs – the expense of getting new customers is a fraction of what it costs using traditional media.
• Low staffing costs – your products and services are available 24 hours a day without having a retail location.
• Access to more customers – you can attract a broad customer base from around the world that is normally not available via traditional advertising vehicles.
• Testing – it is easy to find out what your customers want by tracking what they do at your Website. This allows you to be more profitable by adjusting your business to offer what your clients really want and are willing to pay for rather than what you think they want.
• Low risk – you can invest very little money testing new ideas and if they don’t work, you really haven’t lost a thing.

There are so many great things about Internet marketing I could fill an entire book just with comments like these. The above however, are some of the highlights that have brought you and me together in this newsletter.In my opinion, the best aspects of marketing a product or service online are that start-up and operational costs are minimal and it is possible to access potential buyers at an unprecedented speed. What I mean by “speed” is that you can actually start earning income 24 hours after you launch your online business. And you can also test your advertising in a matter of days, whereas conventional media advertising takes months to conduct a single test. Internet marketing and running an Internet business is a fantastic way of life if you do it right. The net simply works better than traditional media, but it is new, so you will have to use some imagination to envision your role and character online. There are two basic attitudes towards online marketing:

1. The Silent Marketer – gets sales directly from websites, newsgroups, BBS’s, and email without any direct interaction with the customer. You get the customers coming to you.
2. The Mouth Piece – gets sales from active participation in newsgroups, mailing lists, etc. (i.e. stating your opinion and helping others with advice in forums, thereby building a relationship with each potential customer individually).

I prefer the silent method, but have done both, and of course you can do a combination of both if you so choose. I prefer the silent method because it requires no major time commitment. If you plan on giving advice or participating in discussions, you have to invest a lot of time to consistently read and post appropriately every couple of days. With the silent method, salesletters and websites are fully automated so you can concentrate on bringing people to the site and let the automated order system take over. There is no direct contact with the customer (as in email or phone correspondence/questions) in closing the sale – the computer does it all! 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Internet marketing expert Derek Gehl specializes in teaching real people how to successfully start, build, and grow their own profitable online businesses on small budgets. To get instant access to the step-by-step strategies, tools, and resources he’s used to grow just $25 into over $60 Million in online sales, visit: The Internet Marketing Center

Click Here to Send This Page to a Friend

Happy Investing,

Kendall E. Matthews, CRMC
Phoenix, Arizona Investment Real Estate P.S. Get my new e-book “101 Legit Tips To Boost Your Credit Score” Click Here to learn more.

P.S.S. You can click here to learn about our investment strategies.