Online Exposure

Internet Marketing
Made Simple

This Book Is Brought To You By Bonnie Holscher

www.365DaysOfSuccessesJournal.com

Online Exposure Internet Marketing Made Simple

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................4

SECTION 1 UNDERSTANDING HOW TO MAKE MONEY ONLINE 1.1 The Benefits and Costs of Online Marketing ................................................ 6 1.2 Online Products and Services ......................................................................9 1.3 Product Ideas .............................................................................................. 10 1.4 Drop Shipping Arrangements Can Make You Money Online .................... 13 1.5 Types of Websites ......................................................................................... 17

SECTION 2 CREATING A SUCCESSFUL PRESENCE ONLINE 2.1 Web Hosting ................................................................................................ 20 2.2 Domain Names................................................................................................ 21 2.3 HTML ................................................................................................................ 26 2.4 Design Strategies for Your Website.............................................................. 31 2.5 Headlines......................................................................................................... 33 2.6 Sales Copy ....................................................................................................... 34 2.7 Pricing............................................................................................................... 43 2.8 Ordering and Payment Options ..................................................................... 45 2.9 Fraud Protection and Security ...................................................................... 48 2.10 Protection from Thieves............................................................................... 51

SECTION 3 AUTOMATING YOUR SITE 3.1 Email Automation or Auto-responders......................................................... 52 3.2 Credit Cards and Merchant Services............................................................ 58 3.3 Order Fulfillment .............................................................................................. 60 3.4 Shopping Cart Features ................................................................................. 61

SECTION 4 DRIVING TRAFFIC YOUR WEBSITE PART A 4.1 Up-selling and Backend Selling Your Products .......................................... 69 4.2 Email Marketing that Really Works ............................................................... 73 4.3 Hyperlink Techniques ..................................................................................... 84 4.4 Viral Marketing ................................................................................................. 88 SECTION 5 DRIVING TRAFFIC YOUR WEBSITE PART B 5.1 Search Engine Success ............................................................................92 5.2 Banner Marketing.......................................................................................100

5.3 Online Auctions ..........................................................................................106 5.4 Creating Residual Income .........................................................................109 5.5 Classified Advertising ................................................................................117 5.6 Newsgroup Marketing ................................................................................118

SECTION 6 MULTIPLYING YOUR EFFORTS 6.1 Joint Ventures ............................................................................................120 6.2 Affiliate Programs .........................................................................................123 6.3 Starting Your Own Affiliate Program.........................................................126

CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................134

Introduction
Yourself, Do I have all the money I feel that I deserve? Do I Have enough money saved to retire? Do I have enough money for my children's education? Am I doing the things I want to be doing? If the answer to these questions is no, then read on. This manual is designed to help take ordinary people to new heights using the money-making machine that is the Internet.

Ask

You may have a business or product already. This manual is designed to create demand for that product or service. You may simply want to find a way to "break in" to the lucrative world of the online marketplace. I will tell you how you can be successful at accomplishing all of these things!. If you are thinking to yourself, "But I don't know anything about computers! How am I going to create a successful business online?" Don't worry. I will walk you step by step through the techniques that will be introduced. You don't need to be a rocket scientist or have a degree in Information Technology to make these techniques work for you. If you can turn on your computer and click your mouse, you are ready to start changing your life. It is helpful to remember that there are literally hundreds of thousands of people that have made millions of dollars using the Internet. In fact, the Internet has created more millionaires than any other medium out there including Real Estate. Individuals who have never even run a smal business, are succeeding online because of how easy it is to run an e-commerce business. Why should you be one of them? Simple! Take advantage of the "information superhighway" and put yourself in front of the explosive growth of the World Wide Web. As you read through this manual, keep a pen and paper handy. Think about your situation. Do you have your own Internet-based business already and just want to drive more traffic your way? Do you have a product that you want to market but don't know how? Are you looking for a product or service or even information that you could sell online? Keep your particular situation in mind as you read through the ideas presented, and jot down ideas and notes that pertain to you. Write down any thoughts you have that apply to your situation. If you do this as you go along, you will be much further along at the end of the process. You will have the beginnings of a business plan already in place. You may also want to write notes in the manual itself, and note the page numbers in your "business plan," so you can refer back to the information as you work through your planning stages. Remember, this will take effort at first, but this manual will show you how to automate your business, so that eventually it will become a residual income "generator" that makes you money whether you are there or not! You can be on vacation, at the pool with your family, or on the golf course, and the money will still roll in 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year! This manual will show you how to create your site so that orders will come pouring in. All of the techniques that are discussed have been tried and proven successful. They are not new or untried ideas. Every one has been proven to be a sure money maker. Each of these ideas can increase your income in a small way, creating another step on the "ladder" to financial independence As you implement each idea, you will start to see the ability to increase your income. You have the potential of increasing or even replacing your income with the ideas outlined in this manual. Each time you put one in place, you have added an additional stream of income to your total. Patience and hard work up front will pay off in the long run!

You are probably saying, "Ok, this sounds good, but how much is it going to cost me?" Surprisingly, very little. We will discuss the costs of getting started, and you can do it for anywhere from as low as $100, if you want to do everything yourself, to up to $1,500 by paying someone else to do it for you and get everything up and running right away. You can see that even the tightest budgets can handle these costs.

The bottom line is this: if you have a business and you do not already have an online presence, get online now! USA Today ran an article stating that 70% of small
businesses are not online and are limiting their potential by not investing in a website. Every type of business can be taken online, whether they sell products or services. Even a service provider like a hair salon can utilize email marketing to bring repeat business into the salon. Knowing your customers and keeping in touch with them through email, or other means, creates loyalty and a sense of community with them. So, get your pen and paper, turn the page, and let's get started. The longest journey begins with a single step. Commit to taking that step, and making the journey one step at a time, and soon you'll be creating your own agenda for your life and the lives of your family!

SECTION 1

Understanding How to Make Money Online

Section 1.1 The Benefits and Costs of Online Marketing BENEFITS To begin this manual, I want to share the benefits of taking your business online.
Online businesses can be automated, freeing up your time. Your online business

requires little or no staff and is open 24 hours/day.

You set your own pace. No one is looking over your shoulder or giving you deadlines. Access to new customers costs a fraction of advertising in traditional media sources. You have access to millions of potential customers from all around the world without

spending tens of thousands on advertising.

Trying out new ideas, products, or sales promotions is easy to implement and cheap to

change if it does not work out.

You can use your website to track the wants and needs of your customers, by determining

the things they are accessing on your site. Then you can change your site to better meet the demand. So those are all nice advantages of taking a business online. However, here are the most important three:
Start up costs are very low compared to that of a traditional business You have

instant access to the world wide web (a "global" marketplace). Time required to run the business is minimal once you've automated.

COSTS Advertising in a traditional magazine can cost $30,000 or more for a full page Ad! You have to get the ad to the magazine in advance, and you won't start to see leads until the month after publication. That is a lot of money up front and a long time to wait to see results. If you want to really get going, hard and fast, you could spend more to purchase advertising, software for automation, and people to help you with the details. This would be an initial outlay of perhaps $1,500. This would be the fastest Online, you can run the ad; see how the public responded and start taking orders immediately, which translates into money in your pocket. You can test as many variations of the advertisement as you like to determine which one is the most successful. So how much does it really cost to take a business online? This is what most people really want to know. As I said before, you can start your business for even as low as $100, but you will have to do

everything yourself, and it will be slow. For around $500, you can get your site up in two weeks, and begin your online advertising campaign. This would include email promotions, web sites, co-op linking, etc. If you want to really get going, hard and fast, you could spend more to purchase advertising, software for automation, and people to help you with the details. This would be an initial outlay of perhaps $1,500. This would be the fastest and most effective way to jump-start your online business, to start taking orders immediately, and begin seeing profits from your hard work. Do not fall into the trap of scam artists out there that charge thousands of dollars to create a web site. They take advantage of people who are not web-savvy. As I said before, you can have everything for around $1,500, and that includes a terrific web site. So shop around and compare. Getting started on the Internet may not take a lot of money, but it will take a lot of hard work, at first. Eventually, you will be able to sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labors, but in the beginning you will have to work to get the business going.

REMEMBER You want to set up your business to run automatically eventually, so that you will have the time to work on many marketing issues, not on order fulfillment. Once you have that business going by itself, you can start another online business. By diversifying your businesses, you can assure yourself multiple incomes and protection from shifts in demand. You should go after a narrow "slice" of the market. You can't be Ford or GE and market to everyone, so it is far better for you to target the group of consumers that are most likely to purchase your product or service. It is extremely important that your target market can be identified and is an online audience. There are five steps to success:

1 TARGET YOUR MARKET 2 3 4 5 MAKE CONTACT ESTABLISH DIALOG BUILD A DATABASE MAKE MONEY

So the basically, following these steps, it boils down to this: Find a niche market, provide what they want, offer it to them online, and automate the business. By doing this and then creating new businesses to expand and diversify, you really CAN make millions online.

Section 1.2 Online Products and Services

You may already have your own business providing a product or service to the market. You may be like many others and be searching for the right thing to offer the market right now. Products and services are two totally different animals, and both have their pros and cons.

PROS Selling Products Income is not dictated by the time needed to "perform" the service. The more products you sell, the more money you make. Once you automate the business, this is more so the case. Providing Services Profits are easier to come by because the payment for the service is paid to you. Providing Services Repeat business is likely with services because your customers, if they are happy with you, will return again and again.

CONS Selling Products Fulfillment issues. You have to stock and ship a product (or pay someone else to). The cost of fulfilling orders on a product will take money from your profits. Selling Products Unless your product has a very large profit margin, you may have to sell a LOT of items in order to make the profit you want. Providing Services Your income can be limited to the amount of time you are reasonably able to spend providing the service each day. Hiring employees can increase the services you can offer, but also cost money to employ.

If you don't already provide a service, I would recommend selling a product or offering information as a product. It is the best way to earn really big profits over the long term. However, if you do provide a service, try to find a way to transform it into a product. For example, instead of providing a service directly, create reports or newsletters that give key information to people so they can do it themselves. By doing this, you have translated your service knowledge into a saleable item, thus creating an added stream of income for yourself. Another excellent way that companies use the Internet for their service-oriented business is, that they will give you coupons as an incentive for you to visit their site and then save money by simply printing out the coupon. By offering the coupons, they get you to their site. Don't forget that most people use the Internet to gain information. It may be as simple as looking up a phone number or checking the weather forecast, but they are still looking for instant information. Information is the top commodity online. it is in your best interest to market information products such as books, reports, videotapes, how-to manuals, etc.

Information products are easy to sell, generate quick profits, and have a huge profit margin. Typically, books cost anywhere from one to four dollars to print. But how many books have you seen that cost less than $9.99 or so? Some even retail for $30 or $40. On a book that only costs a couple of bucks to produce, that's some profit margin! You also have to remember that if these items can be printed in hard cover, they can also be downloaded over the Internet directly to your customer, therefore eliminating the wait time for the information or book to reach your customer's doorstep. If people are researching the Internet for information, and you are provider of information, then your clientele is already searching for you! Let's use a perfect example, Stephen King is a renowned author of hundreds of books. Chances are that you have probably read one. You can pick up any one of his books at a store such as Barnes and Noble. Yet, if you are interested in his newest book or want to see some of the books you haven't read without getting in the car and driving to the book store, you can simply log onto the Internet. You can visit his website where you can satisfy your craving for his literature, or perhaps even have the opportunity to read a portion of the book before you purchase. If you don't have specialized knowledge already, you can summarize industry experts. Find out what the best-selling books are. Find books that all have the same hot topic that people are trying to find out about. Buy these books, read them, and then summarize the information you've digested. Believe me, people will pay to get a large amount of information from different sources in a more concise format. Most people don't take the time to read an entire book, but an "executive summary" version of several best selling books is a desirable commodity. Ok, so what if you don't have a product or information to sell? Read on for some ideas for YOU to put into place on the Internet with your own online business.

Section 1.3 Product Ideas

I will cover each and every idea that relates to a product. But first take a minute to take stock in your hobbies, interests, and personal knowledge. Most people don't realize the potential that lies at their feet. Take at look within yourself, and see what it is that you enjoy most. What are the things you enjoy doing or how do you enjoy spending your time? These things can translate into a product or service for you to sell. Ask yourself these 4 questions:

1 WHAT AM I PASSIONATE ABOUT? 2 WHAT THINGS AM I INTERESTED IN? 3 WHA T DO I KN OW A LOT ABOU T? 4 WHAT DO PEOPLE ASK ME ADVICE FOR?

Remember, you can take one of these ideas and be very successful with it. But if you take something you love and find a way to translate that into your product, you will be that much further ahead, love what you're doing, and feel comfortable in an area you already know. Have you ever said to yourself -I wish I could get paid doing what I love? Perhaps finally here is your chance. Don't worry if you think your area of interest is very obscure or specialized; the Internet is where people are looking for the obscure! In fact, many successful entrepreneurs start businesses by finding a narrow or specialized market and then developing a product that market needs. Voila! Instant Market! One way to target a specific market is to find products that already exist and find a way to improve them. You can look on consumer review websites for your competition's products and find out what people do and don't like about them. Some good sites for this are: www.consumerreview.com www.epinions.com www.consumersearch.com

Another way is to surf news groups, discussion boards and chat rooms for your target market. This specific location on the Internet is referred to as the UseNet. I will discuss this more later on in the manual. You will find that discussions of these types can lead you to develop something that the market is hungry for. A place to look for discussion groups of these types is http://groups.google.com or just search any major search engine by typing in the words "newsgroup" or "chatrooms" and your specific search. So you may be saying, "Great, that gives me the perfect idea to start!" or you may be saying, "None of that is going to work for me". If you saying that later, then read on. I'd like to give you some ideas.

CREATE AN E-BOOK Compile interviews or articles written by others in a particular industry. Make sure you get written permission to republish their work before you do this. Taking others' knowledge and compiling it is a great way to make money online. CREATE A SOLUTION IN YOUR OWN INDUSTRY

Whether you are a software programmer, a secretary, or a construction worker, you have knowledge of problems in your industry. What do you hate about something you have to deal with every day? What issues do others in your field always complain about? If you can find a solution to this problem, you have a certain best-seller in your particular field! CREATE A TUTORIAL FOR SOMETHING Do you know how to do something really well? A piece of software? A hobby or skill? A video game? Create a tutorial to show others how to do it too. For software, you can use a product called Lotus Screen Cam to create video tutorials to demonstrate what you want to teach. Go to www.lotus.com/products/ screencam.nsf to use a 15-day trial version. You can use this product to "record" what you are doing on your computer screen while recording your speaking voice to go along with it. For demonstrating a hobby or video game, you can either digitally record a tutorial with a video camera, or simply create a written instruction booklet. People are always looking for ways to do things better or faster! CREATE A WEB GRAPHICS CD With the Internet explosion, people everywhere are publishing their own websites for everything from family reunions to online businesses. However, the average "layperson" can't create their own graphics. You can take advantage of demand by learning how to create graphics to sell on CD or downloadable zip-file. Learning to create graphics is easier than you might think, and you could take the time to put together a library of 100 or so graphics to sell. These types of graphics libraries can sell for up to $75 each, making it a very worthwhile endeavor! If you target your images to a certain market, you are even better off. Find a market that has a need for specialized graphics and target your CD to that industry. It makes marketing easier, as well as creates repeat sales for future CD's with additional graphics. CREATE A TIP OF THE DAY NEWSLETTER This idea goes back to selling what you know. Set up a newsletter that will email a hint, trick or tip for your industry each day to subscribers. It doesn't matter what industry you are in, you can make this work for you. The trick is to keep the subscription cost low and aim for a high subscriber base. Think about it. If you charge $5 per YEAR for your tip of the day email newsletter and get 10,000 people to subscribe, that's $50,000 per year! For a lot of people, its enough to quit the job they currently have! Think about the guy who came up with the "Joke a Day" website. Good ideas can put you right at the top very quickly. It takes some time and effort, but you can spend one day a week coming up with your ideas or maybe a few days a month, and leave the rest up to email automation to send them out at the right times. Talk about "hands off". CREATE AN ONLINE COMMUNITY If you know of a topic that will appeal to a large group, you can set up a private online community and sell membership and advertising space. The community can have

resources and articles, chat rooms or forums, links, tools, and news relevant to the members. You can even have an online store to sell specialized items to your members. This idea can take a lot of time and energy, but can also be a huge money maker for you. CREATE SOFTWARE TO SOLVE A MINOR PROBLEM There are tons of irritating little problems in software out there, that the big software makers don't bother to fix. Find a way to fix the "everyday nuisances" and you will have a top selling item. You don't even have to be a programmer. You can find programmers at local universities or technical schools who are looking for extra money or experience. You can either pay them upfront or offer them a cut of the profits. Just remember to have them sign a non-disclosure agreement before you describe your idea, so it doesn't get stolen! Better safe than sorry. CREATE A FANTASTIC ONLINE BUSINESS FOR SOMEONE ELSE Find someone who has a great product or service and run THEIR online business for them. There are plenty of people who know nothing about computers or the Internet. You can use all the techniques in this manual to make millions using someone else's product, and then take a cut of the profits for doing the work. A small percentage of a million dollars is still a lot of money!

Section 1.4 Drop Shipping Arrangements Can Make You Money Online
Now that we've given you some ideas for your own product or service, you may still be saying, "But that's not for me. What else is there?" Another money-making idea for utilizing the Internet for your online business, is to enter into a drop shipping arrangement with a manufacturer or wholesale distributor. The beauty of this concept is that you don't have to worry about stocking inventory, maintaining warehouse space, shipping and receiving products, etc. A drop shipping arrangement allows you to sell quality products on your web site and the drop shipper handles all of the shipping details for you. They ship the product directly to your customer for you and also handle returns. This can be extremely lucrative in getting started, simply because you do not have to purchase the products up front. Once the client buys the product from your site, you can set it up so that an instant email goes out to the drop shipper, and they fulfill the product for you. Great isn't it?

EXAMPLE I set up an online website to sell porcelain figurines. My website is set up to accept credit card orders through e-commerce. A customer visits my website and orders a figurine. My website automatically processes his credit card for the retail price of $200 plus shipping of $20. Once the order is placed, and the credit card is approved, an email with the order goes out directly to my drop shipper (either the manufacturer or a distributor) who will then fulfill the order and ship it. The drop shipper will send the figurine with my company's name and the drop shipper's address. Now you may be asking yourself why they would put my name and their address. Simple -- they handle all returns that may come back damaged or in need of replacement. They then email me the tracking number and shipment information. The drop shipper will charge me the wholesale price of $120 and shipping of $20. I have already collected this money from the sale, and it has been deposited from the buyer's credit card into my account.

Because I passed the shipping costs directly to the end consumer, I just made a profit of $80 for doing nothing more than simply taking the time to put the item on my website and then drive people to visit the website. You can see how you can turn this kind of business arrangement into a huge money maker for yourself! Drop shipping arrangements can save you the cost of building and maintaining inventory on your own. You won't have to use start-up money to buy inventory to sell online. Another advantage to drop shipping, is that because you do not have inventory to maintain, you also don't have extra product that won't sell, should the item lose popularity or never get off the ground in the first place. Because your product line is entirely online, you can add and delete products almost instantly! By simply changing your website, you can change the mix of products you offer; thereby, taking off the ones that aren't selling and adding newer, better, more popular products to replace them. Shipping headaches are also eliminated through this method. You won't have to worry about packaging supplies, carrier accounts and pickups from companies like Fed Ex or UPS, or dealing with sending your products through the postal service. So, what kind of products work well in a drop shipping arrangement? If you look online, there are

tons of online companies selling cheap, imported stuff hundreds and thousands of items for a very low price. Do NOT try to compete with giants like ABC Distributing or Oriental Trading Company. In fact, a smaller product base can be a huge advantage to you because it will not give your customers too many options to choose from, but the only the ones you want them to choose from. As we mentioned earlier, a narrow market targeted to a specific group of people is the better way to go. Once you have determined the market you want to target, do some research to determine what your competition in that market is selling and for how much. By doing a bit of homework up front, you should be able to see what the "going price" for the products you want to sell, and thus you can figure your profit margin. You may find that you can't make enough profit to make it worth your while, and you can then find a different product or market that will net you a better profit. One thing to remember is that if you want to put your own product out there on the world wide web. you may not be able to fulfill the shipping of your own product. You may end up needing to set up a drop ship relationship and even a manufacturing relationship just to fulfill the demand for your own product. Also, if you are still in the idea stage of your own product, do not hold back your success while waiting for the finished product. Go ahead and start selling an already existing product from a distributor in the mean time to help satisfy your investment costs for developing your own product. CHOOSING A DROP SHIPPER When looking for a good drop shipper to enter an agreement with, your best bet is to do some research up front. You should try to work directly with the manufacturer when possible, because this will net you the largest profit margin if you don't have to go through a middleman or distributor. Search the Internet for the product you would like to sell. Look for manufacturers of that product and contact them directly. Ask if they will drop ship their products to your customers. Some will be willing to enter into a drop shipping arrangement with you, others may not offer that service and direct you to one of their distributors. This still can be very profitable for you because these distributors, on many occasions, have to purchase in bulk from the manufacturer, so they will be able to give you good prices and mark up percentages, but you will still be able to purchase just the number you need at any one time. Still others may not be familiar with drop shipping arrangements, and you may need to convince them to work with you in selling their products. Just remember, they are going to want to sell to you in bulk. Keep that in mind. You do not want to become the drop shipper yourself and end up warehousing product in your home. If a company does not drop ship directly, you can ask to recommend one of their distributors. You can also find lists of distributors in trade magazines for the industry or product you want to sell. A little homework can go a long way here. Search the Internet for wholesalers or distributors of product. You'll be surprised at how much will turn up. Once you've made a list of the manufacturers or distributors whom you'd like to contact, keep the following few things in mind before you contact them. You will need an official business name You will need a tax ID or resale number You may need a credit reference if the company will be billing you once a month for the products you sell. You can give them the name and number of your bank.

 When you call, ask to speak with someone about becoming a vendor for their products. Once you are speaking to the right person, you need to ask some questions to determine how the company will handle your business, as well as to get a "feel" for the how the business relationship would proceed should you decide to go with them. Some questions to ask are: Price? What is the wholesale price of their products to you? Is it low enough that you can have a reasonable profit without pricing your product out of the market? Shipping and Handling? How do they ship their products? Most companies use a nationwide carrier like UPS or FedEx. Will they include ALL of the shipping and tracking information in a confirmation email to you? Is there a handling fee or simply the straight shipping cost? You want to know this upfront so you can build it into your shipping costs to your customers. MONTHLY MINIMUM OR MAXIMUM? Will you have to sell a certain dollar amount per month? Is there a maximum amount of product they will ship for you? These are important things to keep in mind. If a manufacturer cannot ship as much as you sell each month, you may have to move to one of its distributors for fulfilling your orders instead. Billing? How will you be billed? Will they charge a credit card for each order or bill you once a month for all the orders for that month? Returns? How will they deal with product returns? Make sure they have some sort of warrantee or guarantee on their products and will be willing to handle returns for you. If there is a problem with the product, you can direct your customers to deal directly with the manufacturer. Product Information? How will you get the graphics and product information for your website? Many companies will simply direct you to use the information and graphics from their company site. Others may send a CD ROM with their product images and descriptions. Find out how this will work up front so it will be easy to set up your site. Make sure that you ask these questions, and any others you can think of, to get an idea of how the company will conduct this business arrangement. If they don't answer your questions or you just don't feel "right" about the conversation, you may want to think about trying a different drop shipping partner. If your drop shipping arrangement isn't a solid one, you may end up with unhappy customers and no business. There are a few things to look out for in the drop shipping arena. Do not pay money for lists of drop shippers. With a little research and hard work, you will be able to find your own companies to contact. People who are charging you for a list are probably giving you an out-dated, and useless list that will be 75% worthless anyway. One of the easiest ways for you to find a great list of potential drop shippers is to go to a major search engine online such as Google or Yahoo and type in the search "Wholesale Drop Shipper" or "Manufacturer". Do not enter a drop shipping arrangement with a drop shipper who charges you a monthly fee. You are selling their products for THEM. They should not be charging you to do so. If they are, there is a

serious problem with their business model, product, or both. Do not buy a "turn-key" solution from a online source. These companies usually charge a one-time or monthly fee, and claim to provide you with a website, products, and a merchant account. This is basically a scam to get you to pay to advertise and sell their products. You will not make a good profit margin with this type of business and could even lose money in the process. Other problems can also occur even when you are working with a reputable drop shipper. They are common occurrences and easily solved if you prepare in advance for them. Shipping delays Sometimes a drop shipper can be sold out or be backordered on the products that your customers are purchasing. This can cause shipping delays that could lead to unhappy customers. To solve this problem, make sure that your drop shipper responds via email to all orders with the status and shipping information. Once you have received the notification of backorder and shipping delay, you can easily inform your customer. Lost Shipment What happens when your customer contacts you to ask where their product is? You have not shipped the product, so can you give them an informed answer? Yes. To handle this issue, simply require your drop shipper to include shipment tracking information, including carrier such as FedEx, UPS, etc, in the confirmation email that is sent to you at shipping time. With the tracking number, you can easily track the package online and give the customer the exact shipment details. Problem solved. Shipping Costs If you have a variety of products on your website from multiple different manufacturers/distributors, your customers could end up with multiple shipping charges on one order. If the customer has to pay half again as much as their order, they won't order through you! To counter this problem, try to keep all of your products through one manufacturer or distributor. This way, there will only be one shipping charge per order, and you can keep costs down for your customers. L os s of A rra ng e me nt Wha t i f your drop shipper decides they no longer wish to maintain a business relationship with your company? This can be a little harder to solve. I t u s u a l l y i s c a u s e d b y t h e d r o p shipper deciding that it is not cost effective to handle all the packaging and shipping for you. If this happens, first contact the company to see if there is a large distributor with which you could establish a drop shipping arrangement. In this case, you would simply need to change the company you are doing business with. If you can no longer carry the products, don't despair. Simply go out and find another manufacturer or product and start over. It was easy enough the first time, wasn't it?

If this is the route you want to go, make sure to take the time to do your homework.

In closing the discussion on drop shipping arrangements, remember this - if this is the route you want to go, make sure to take the time to do your homework. Research the market, product, and companies. Find out what is out there in the way of competition, pricing, etc. If you can find a great product in a narrow market, you have what it takes to make a lot of money using drop shipping, and you can spend your money marketing your business online rather than maintaining a space-consuming inventory.

Section 1.5 Types of Websites

The last thing I want to discuss in this section, is websites. There are three main types of websites available to you for using in an online business. The first is a billboard website or more commonly called a FREE website. These can be found with any major web provider. Basically, you just use their software to build your own insecure site on their server space. I don't suggest using one of these unless it is only used as a way to market and advertise business, driving potential customers to your main site. (Hence the name "billboard" site.) The second type of website on the Internet, and one of the most popular, is called an ecommerce sales website. This is the type of website you see all the time when you visit a company's online site. This website is designed to offer the company's product or service online, tell the customers about it, and make it easy for them to purchase that product or service directly from the site as opposed to having to call in or order from a magazine or other source. An excellent example of this is the popular company called Omaha Steaks. Omaha Steaks has been around for a long time, and yet, they only sold their steaks through a mail order business. At the beginning of 1999, they set up their own e-commerce website and instantly, that same year, doubled their sales. Why? Because they opened their business up to a huge potential customer base on the Internet -- millions of steak lovers across the world. You can do this as well. You can put up a site to give your customers the option to buy from you, or you can offer free information that will draw them to another site where they can then find out about your core products or services. This is the most straight forward type of website, and one that most people are familiar with. The third type of site you can utilize online is a portal web site. This type of site is an online "community" of sorts. Think about Yahoo and Alta Vista. These sites are designed to draw people to the site and keep them there for all their online needs such as weather, stocks, maps, traffic, shopping, etc. A portal offers information to its "citizens". A broad "horizontal" portal offers a large range of topics and information catering to "everyone". A narrow "vertical" portal caters to a narrow segment of the market, with specialized information that would be of interest to a smaller range of the population. As you read on about portal sites, remember that this is not a quick cash generating business. It can take a lot of investment in time and money to get one up and running. However, the potential payoff down the road can be huge. So if a portal site is of interest to you, keep reading. If you are more interested in putting up your sales website and getting cash flowing in the door, move on the next section where I will discuss creating your successful online presence. WHERE DOES THE MONEY COME FROM IN A PORTAL SITE? A portal website can be a money maker for you, even if you don't necessarily have a product to sell. The reason for this is that once you have sufficient traffic visiting your site, advertisers to your narrow market segment will pay you to advertise at your portal. A portal site can also help you become recognized as an industry expert, increasing sales to an already established business venture. For example, suppose you are an online business selling scrap-booking supplies. You have a reasonable amount of traffic to your site, but let's face it; there are a lot of scrapbook suppliers out there. You decide that you would like to create a scrap booking portal site. You can become THE online resource for all the crafters out there that are into scrap booking. You can create forums to

allow people to share their ideas and even images of their finished pages. You can add links to other websites and suppliers, you can include daily, weekly or monthly articles and ideas. You can allow your "citizens" to provide the information for articles and tips. Think about it. Once you have established your portal site as an industry standard, people will be willing to visit YOUR online store to purchase their products since you are so helpful and knowledgeable about the industry. And here's the best part, once you have a lot of traffic to your site, advertisers will pay you to advertise to those crafters that are visiting your site every day! By constantly adding information and ideas, you will encourage repeat visitors and establish an "online community" where people who scrapbook can visit often. So we've talked about how a portal can drive potential customers to your core sales site to increase product sales. What if you don't have a product? Use your portal site to refer your visitors to the products or services of others. And get a referral fee for doing it! You don't have to take credit cards, ship products, or maintain inventory simply tell the customers who see you as an expert what is the best "widget" to buy and send them to that site. Then collect the referral fee from the company you just referred them to. sections you have, the more money you are collecting in advertising revenues each month! So how do you go about developing a portal site? You have the knowledge and want to move forward to establishing yourself as an industry expert, so what now? The first thing I would recommend is move NOW. Don't wait. There are people out there that know as much as you do about your industry. You want to move in quickly and establish yourself before someone else does. A n o t h e r im p o r t a n t e le me n t is t h a t t o b e a n i n d u s t r y expert, you can't just r e l y o n t h e s t u f f yo u a l r e a d y k n o w . Do research! Read and increase your knowledge. Communicate with people in your industry. Continue to learn as you enrich your site for others. Along the same lines of your continuing education about your industry, make sure that your site grows along with your knowledge. Keep your visitors coming back by maintaining a well-designed site with compelling and informative content. This is very important. Your main purpose on the Internet is running your business. So make sure to automate it, and make it as "hands off' as possible. This creates and maintains a strong residual income for you. You can do this in some very easy ways, but you must put the time in now to make this so. Keep your site looking "fresh". Change it often, daily if possible, to keep them returning to learn more. Stay focused and keep your target market in mind when you publish content. Communicate with your visitors through email campaigns or online surveys to find out what they would like to see added or changed, then do it and make sure to let them know it has been done. If you don't tell them that you made the changes they wanted, they won't come back and take a look. Customers need a little friendly reminder on occasion. Diversify your income on the portal site by developing products or services that will appeal to the huge base of potential customers that are visiting your site all the time. By doing so, you will have a "built-in" client base for your product or service, AND you will already be seen by them as the industry expert.

So, whether you are building a billboard site, an e-commerce sales site, or a portal catering to a niche in the market, you still have to do one thing. Build the site! You've heard that clich statement from the movie "Field of Dreams" "If you build it, they will come." Get started with something! Remember your business plan can change monthly if needed, but taking action is what will start the flow of success. Now move on to the next section, where I will discuss the basics of creating that successful online presence through your website.

SECTION 2 Creating a Successful Presence Online

In creating a website, there a several things you need to address in getting the best, and most secure site you can get. The 7 items I want to discuss in this section are: 1 WEB HOSTING 2 DOMAIN NAMES 3 HTML 4 DESIGN STRATEGIES 5 SITE TEXT 6 ORDERING & PAYMENT ISSUES 7 AUTO-RESPONDERS

All of these things have the potential of helping or hurting your website. This section will identify for you how important it is to take proper steps and make correct choices in relation to your Internet presence. So by taking the time to do this right the first time, you will be much further ahead down the road. You will also feel much better about your business because you did it right the first time as opposed to having to make unnecessary changes later on in your business that may cost additional income. Remember there are two ways in starting your business in today's world; the first being "Trial and Error." With this way, you can expect to pay more. The second is "follow in someone's successful footsteps;" it savings you a substantial amount of time and money. I will identify for you what is called the "10 second rule" in regards to your website, and how to keep the potential customers within your site. If your customers won't stay on your site because its slow, or to difficult to read or understand, you've just lost money! First impressions are everything. So make it count!

Section 2.1 Web Hosting

Choosing the company to host your website, you are making one of the most important decisions you can make regarding your online business. Would you just point to a name in the phone book and call someone up and offer them a chance to be your business partner? Of course not. But many people use much the same technique when selecting a web host. It's a mistake. Your web host is vital to the success of your site. It is the "engine" that is running your money making machine, and if the engine breaks down, your money maker grinds to a stop. If your web host is not reliable, your website will not be either! If your web host is slow, your website will be slow too. And no one will wait forever for your page to load, even if your product is the best in the world. You can't afford to do business with a web host that is down 20% of the time, is slow, or has no security. Do your research up front, and find a hosting company with a proven track record. It is worth the time and money to find a reliable partner. Don't try to save a few cents on a less reliable provider. What is saving a few cents going to mean to you when you are losing thousands of dollars each month to downtime? Are you going to care about a few extra dollars if the host's hardware crashes, losing all of your data including your website? Take the time to do your homework first. Will you be building and designing your own website? There are lots of companies out there who will build it for you. In this scenario, you must remember that the cost will be high to have them do it entirely for you. Can you do it yourself? Yes, YOU CAN! Take the time to research companies that allow you to build the website yourself using their web-building software or have them give you a password that will allow you to access their online builder. Whatever route you decide to take, Get to know the ins and outs of how your host operates, when they are available for technical support, etc. Find a reliable company to host your site, or it will cost you in money and headaches later on.

Section 2.2 Domain Names

Why should you purchase your own domain name? Two reasons. NUMBER ONE You want your name to reflect what you are selling. People would rather visit a descriptive website name that sounds "legitimate" than a site with a name like www.xyzhost.com/joespages. Wouldn't you? This second example is commonly referred to as a Sub-Domain name. It is the provider's name and then your business name after it. Think about how you want to represent yourself out there in the world, out there to your potential customers. You want them to remember your name the first time they see it. NUMBER TWO If you have your own domain name, your web host cannot hold you hostage and after you move, your customers can still find you because you haven't changed your website URL. So you need a domain name and you need one quickly. Domain names are going fast and people are buying them up so that they can resell them to someone who REALLY wants them later on. But don't panic if all of the ones you can think of are taken. You can register a domain name up to 67 characters in length, so you still can put together groups of words or phrases that will still generate traffic to your site. When deciding on and registering a name, make sure you that register all iterations of your business name and product. You may just leave them empty or you can direct each of them to your one sales site, but the point is that others won't be able to use them if you have already registered them. Another thing to remember is to try to get a .com domain name if possible. People don't remember .net or .org names as well, and you can lose visitors to your site which equates to money out of your pocket. So be creative if you need to be, and register a .com domain name. Use a memorable name, even if it is long, because it will provide a description of what you are trying to sell. If you just can't find a domain name ending in .com, then move to the second most popular suffix which is .net. A different way to go with domain names is to use a catchy phrase even if it doesn't describe your business or product. Names like www.dont-count-yourchickens.com or something like that can draw people to your site, just because it is memorable and catchy. Names like these can also boost your search engine ratings! Speaking of search engines, you can use other domain names that are loaded with keywords that describe your product to submit to search engines. Search engines love domains that have a lot of keywords in them and you can use these "alternate" domain names to direct people to your "real" domain/website. You can register domains with lots of keywords with and without hyphens, and I suggest you do so. Why? Search engines prefer hyphenated URLs and visitors prefer them without. So satisfy both by registering your keyword domain both ways. (I'll talk more about search engines in Section 5.)

Here are some ideas for keyword-rich domain names. www.crafts-dolls-art-supplies.com www.craftsdolisartsupplies.com www.dogs-cats-birds-pets-reptiles.com www.dogscatsbirdspetsreptiles.com As you can see, it won't take you long to figure out a keyword-type URL to submit to search engines for your business. You can also register your name as a URL. Not only can you use this for online businesses, but personal and family websites as well. And a great benefit of having a website with your name as the URL, is that anyone you ever give your URL to can find your site forever! Remember that registering a domain name only costs between $6.95 on up to $25 per year. It depends on entirely where you register the domain name at online, and there are lots of options out there. You are not required to actually put up a website on every name you reserve. You are merely holding the name for future use, or security purposes so someone else can't take it. In fact, you may want to register other names which have to do with other ideas you may wish to pursue in the future as well, just to ensure that you will have them when the time comes. Another very important reason to get your own domain name, is that it will allow you to have a permanent email address. If you plan to do business on the Internet, you must invest in a permanent email address that you can use for the rest of your life. You can get a permanent email address through an Internet Service Provider (ISP) for a small annual charge. This will forward all of your email, no matter where you are or what new address you are using. However, if you try to go through your ISP, you may waste time and money. If they close business or just decide to shut you down, you lose your email address and domain name forever. Here are some companies that can help you to obtain a permanent email address: POBox.com, Net Forward, Net Identity, A.K.A.Mail

However, like I said before, I highly recommend that you have your own domain so that you can use IT as your permanent email address. It sounds much more professional to have your email address as: yourname@yourdomain.com Another very important tip, is to register your own personal or family names. If you do not, other people could do business under your name. You want to protect your name, your reputation, and your place on the Internet. When you activate your domain name, people will ALWAYS know where to find you. You may move to another state or change your phone number, but friends, family, and customers will ALWAYS know how to contact you. You may even do the same thing for members of your family and give them as gifts. How about that for an enduring gift? You are securing their place on the Internet for the rest of their lives. Internet is here to stay!! You won't have to worry about forwarding your new email address to anyone, and your name won't be lost somewhere in cyberspace. This is a very valuable asset. There are now domain names being sold for over five million dollars. TRUE!! Don't believe that you are the only one with your name. Even if you are only thinking of doing business on the Internet, you should still register your domain name. There are over three million domain names being registered every month. Chances are someone else with the same name may register before you, and you're out of luck. One client from Australia took this advice, and a month later, was offered $50,000 for it. A nice profit on a $60 investment. Hurry - it may be here now, and gone tomorrow. If you have a good idea for a name, register it now, even if you don't want to set up a web site yet. You can "park it for free," which means registering your domain name so that you own it, but then storing it so you don't have to pay a fee to host your web site. Here are some providers that can help you register your domain names. These were found simply by searching on "domain name registration" in a common search engine. You can do the same if you don't like what these have to offer.

www.web.com www.simplehost.com www.godaddy.com www.registersite.com www.aplus.net

$6.95 $7.50 $8.95 $10.00 $7.95

DOMAIN EXTENSIONS Extensions are categories of Internet domain names. There are several to choose from: com represents the word "commercial," and is the most widely used extension in the world. Most businesses prefer a .com domain name because it is a highly recognized symbol for having a business presence on the Internet. net represents the word "network," and is most commonly used by Internet service providers, Webhosting companies or other businesses that are directly involved in the infrastructure of the Internet. Additionally, some businesses choose domain names with a .net extension for their intranet Websites. org represents the word "organization," and is primarily used by non-profits groups or trade associations. biz is used for small business Web sites. Info is for credible resource Web sites and signifies a "resource" web site. It's the most popular extension beyond .com, .net and .org. US is for American Web sites and is the newest extension. It has the largest amount of available names in inventory. CC was originally the country code for Coco's Keeling Islands. It is unrestricted and may be registered by anyone, from any country. bz was originally designated as the country code for Belize, but is now commonly used by small business who can't get the name they want using the .biz extension. It is unrestricted and may be registered by anyone, from any country. tv is for rich content/multi-media Web sites, commonly used within the entertainment or media industry.

Section 2.3 HTML

HTMLstands for Hyper Text Markup Language and it is the major language in which most websites are written. You will want to learn HTML so that you can make changes to your own site without being at the mercy of others. This is easier than you might think. First of all, there are many tutorial programs out there that will help you learn HTML. Using one of the programs will give the background you need to make changes to your site. A FREE guide to barebones HTML programming is available at http://www.werbach.com/ barebones/ Remember HTML is very easy to learn, it just takes a little effort. The other thing that makes using HTML easy, is that you can use any number of HTML editors to create and edit your website. Using an editor is like using a word processing program. You type in what you want to say, insert your graphics, change colors, etc., and what you see is what you get when you publish it to the web. The back end of the editor inserts all of the HTML tags to create what you have done on the screen. Piece of cake! There are lots of editors out there, but the ones that I would recommend are: Microsoft FrontPage Dreamweaver (www.macromedia.com/software/dreamweaver) HotDog (www.sausagetools.com) Visual Web Tools (www.pacificwebworks.com)

You can download trial versions of the second two and try them out. In fact, just spending some time going through these editors will teach you a great deal about HTML language. If you want to see an example of HTML on a real web page, follow these steps: Open a web page in your browser Click on the View drop down menu.

There should be a View Source Code option or it will just say Source. When you click on this, you can see the HTML code "behind the scenes" of the web page. So now that you know that you should learn HTML, let me give a couple of compelling reasons why.

Waiting for someone else if you don't know how to make changes on your site, you are at the mercy of someone else. You may have to wait until a backlogged programmer has time to make a tiny correction or change for you. Do you want to wait several days to have a typo changed? Number of Changes at the beginning, as you work to get your site "just right", you may have a large number of changes, perhaps every day. If you are using someone else to make those changes, they may not have the time to make all the adjustments you want done, or it may be cost

prohibitive for you. By doing the HTML changes yourself, you save time and money and get just what you want. Losing it in the translation when you describe what you want to the programmer working on your site, can you be sure he is picturing what you are picturing? Will the site turn out the way YOU want, or the way HE is imagining it? You have total control on making your ideas turn out the way you want if you are the one programming it. Even if you desire a really complex site and want to go with a web designer for the initial site programming, I would still recommend that you learn basic HTML so that you can do the tweaking on the site once it is up. This will save you time and money as you go along, for the same reasons I mentioned above. You won't be at the mercy of your programmer's schedule and you won't be charged for every little change that you want to make. Make sure that you do a little research and find a quality web designer that won't charge you too much. You shouldn't have to pay a fortune to get a quality website put up. Ask for references, and take the time to check them. Your website is an extremely important part of your business, and you want it to be fantastic. Since we are on the subject of web design, let's move on to the "look" of your site the design and text that will make the first impression on your visitors. Later, I will discuss some of the "guts" of the site when I talk about how to set up ordering and payment, as well as auto-responders that will reply to those who order.

Section 2.4 Design Strategies for Your Website

If you want to be successful online, you need to make your website a quick and easy place for people to order. If your site is slow, or sloppy, or confusing, your potential buyers will go elsewhere. You only have a very short time frame to get someone online, and online buyers are impatient. I have outlined some good rules of thumb to keep in mind when designing your site. Read through them once, and then when your page is done, go through them again to make sure that you haven't "broken" any of them. MAKE YOUR SITE FAST! If your website is slow to load, your potential customers may not wait and will click elsewhere. If something is not up within around 10 seconds, they won't stick around. There are a lot of elements that contribute to the speed of your pages loading. The speed of your customers' computer is one of them. Not everyone is using high speed internet; there are still plenty of people out there with slow modems and dial-up connections. You have to remember that these slow modems with cause your page to load slower. Another thing that will bog down your page is a lot of graphics or really large graphics. Other than simply using fewer graphics, there are a few different ways to handle this. Compress the file size of your images WebGraphics Optimizer is a good program for optimizing and compressing images for the Web. Compressed images will load considerably faster and take up less space as well. Create a "space" for the graphics on the page Using HTML, you can specify the dimensions of the graphics that will be loading. By doing this, the browser will "create" the area that the graphic will need before the graphic actually loads. This will allow the rest of the page to display before the graphic shows up, and it allows your viewer to begin reading the information on your site without waiting for everything to load. Keep the "files" to a minimum Let me explain. Most browsers are set to a default maximum of four sockets. Each socket allows one file to be downloaded to the computer. So four sockets means four files simultaneously. A web page consists of the HTML "file" and then each graphic is another "file". By limiting the number of files and graphics to around five (the HTML page and four graphics) then the web page and three of the graphics will load up simultaneously, with only one graphic left to load once a socket becomes free. This may not be possible, but it is a good trick to remember when trying to increase loading speeds.
Size & Resolution On a website, graphics do not need to be large or have a high resolution. This is not print. A resolution of 72 dpi is sufficient and 256 color graphics will be fine. The higher the resolution and color, the larger the graphic file size will be. By lowering the resolution and color, you will save file size and speed.

Replace graphics with something else For example, you can use colored text to set off different sections rather than having a graphic at the start of each new paragraph or page. It will look cleaner and load faster. Text instead of graphics Some visitors turn off the graphics on their browsers, so make sure that you provide a text alternative for each image. This lets those users know what the picture is supposed to be. This also helps in a case where someone presses the stop button to cancel the downloading of a slow site. The page will probably come up, but not the graphics. You can do this easily using HTML code. Inform your viewer if your site is unavoidably slow Sometimes your business or product will necessarily be graphic intensive. When your website is large and perhaps slow-loading, it is wise to put a note at the top of the page that informs your visitors to be patient while the page loads. When you do this, you will get more people who will wait rather than give up. COLLECT EMAIL ADDRESSES OF THOSE WHO VISIT Offer information for free in order to get their email address. This is important because it allows you to compile a list for future marketing campaigns. If they visited your site once, they are more likely to respond favorably to email marketing from you later on. You can offer free reports, newsletter, eBooks, etc, and set up an auto-responder to send out the information automatically once you have the email address. DON'T SEND YOUR VISITORS SOMEWHERE ELSE! Do not include links to other sites on your main page; always put links on a separate page. You don't want to do all the hard work of getting someone to your site, only to have them click over to someone else's. MAKE YOUR SITE EASY TO GET AROUND Lead your customer where you want them to be. Don't give them tons of choices and then hope that they make it to the order form so they can buy your product. Lead them to the purchase decision, and make it easy for them to get there. Give them the information that they need right away. Don't make them sift through irrelevant information before they can get to what they came for. Most people won't wait that long. The easier it is to navigate your site, the longer they will stay and the more likely they are to return later. Provide consistent links on each page that make it easy to move from page to page and back without having to use the "Back" button on the browser. Keep the links simple and easy to understand using text or icons. Keep these "navigation" buttons in the same place on each page (top, bottom, side, etc.) so that they aren't searching for them on each new page. Make sure that EVERY page has a link to your home page. You don't want to lose someone who accidentally landed on a sub-page and has no way of getting back to the main page and order form. Avoid using a large graphic as your navigation tool.

Some sites create an elaborate graphic as their "navigator" and their visitors must click on parts of the picture to surf to the various parts of the website. This will only slow your site, and the novelty of it will not outweigh the slow speed. Above all, make the site consistent. Keep the background color the same for all pages. Choose link and text colors, but don't over do it. You want to keep a feeling of consistency throughout your site, so that your customers will instinctively know that they are still on YOUR site and haven't navigated off to someplace else. DON'T OVERDO THE COLORS! Remember you want your website to look professional and appealing. It is not a contest to see how many colors or fonts you can use on your site. Use color to emphasize key concepts or points. Use a specific color to denote your hyperlinks, and perhaps only one or two other colors as highlighting devices. Don't overdo it! CHOOSE YOUR BACKGROUND WISELY Not all computers "see" color in the same way. What may look great on your computer, may not even be readable on someone else's. Brightly colored backgrounds may drown out the text making it nearly impossible to read. Some people may have the colors on their computer set to a lower setting than you do, so make sure to use simple colors if you are going to use a colored background. This way, you will get the proper results on the greatest number of computers. MAKE SURE YOUR FILE NA MES MA KE SEN SE The file names for your website pages will show up in Search Engines, bookmarks, and browsers. Make sure that the names you choose for your pages are description and make sense. You don't want someone to bookmark your page and then wonder later what www.abc.com/pagel was and why they book marked it in the first place. Use a description that will explain what the page is. Suggest that your visitors bookmark your site. This increases repeat visits. Do this at the beginning of your sales message or site, and then again later on. Making this suggestion, will remind people to visit again. YOU DON'T NEED FRILLS Your sales copy will be what sells your product, not spinning logos or elaborate Java script. Use these "fancy" features wisely. They increase your site's download time and can be distracting to the customer. The information on your site is going to be what will influence the customer, not flashy graphics.

CONTACT INFORMATION Make sure that your site allows visitors to easily find out how to contact you. Make your real email address and phone number, even address, available to those who want to reach you. It establishes credibility for your site when someone can get a "real" person on the other end and can make a big difference on swaying leery buyers. MAKE YOUR WEBSITE EASY TO FIGURE OUT Make it easy for your visitors to get the information they are seeking and then purchase your product or service. You don't want them wandering helplessly through your site, only to lose interest or become frustrated and leave. Your site needs to guide them to buying your product. Clearly give them the benefits of your product, establish your credibility, stoke their excitement to buy the product. Ask for their order, and give them more than one chance to move on to the purchase. Give them the opportunity to order via phone, mail, or fax for those who are uncomfortable ordering online. Be willing to take checks or money orders as payment options. Make this an easy step-by-step process. Make sure your order forms are easy to understand. You want the ordering process to be quick and easy. If your forms are too hard to figure out, people will give up and find someone else to buy from. In order to allow online ordering, you will have to be able to process credit cards. Not doing so, will cost you orders and lost dollars! I recommend a company called Tradeworks as a good merchant service provider. (wvvw.keystoneresources.net/tradeworks) SECURE ORDERING If you are going to offer online credit card processing (and I strongly suggest that you do), you will need a secure order page. Nowadays, people will NOT enter their credit card information online, unless they can be sure it is secure. Remember, your entire site does not need to be secure, only the ordering pages. If you current hosting company does not offer secure hosting, just host the order page(s) with a hosting company that will provide this feature. SHOPPING CART If you have more than one product for sale on your site, you may want to consider providing shopping cart software for your customers. This software will allow them to browse your products and add the things they wish to purchase to their virtual "shopping cart" and then check out once they are finished "shopping". If you go this route, make sure that the shopping cart software you use on your site it easy to use, easy to understand, and allows the customer to add or delete items without difficulty. If your shopping cart is "hard to handle," you will lose customers. I will discuss shopping carts in more detail in the next section. K E E P Y O U R S IT E U P T O D A T E Make sure that the information on your site is always current. Update your articles daily or weekly. You want to make sure that people will come back. If the same information is always up at your site, why would they EVER return? Keep the information new and relevant to your target audience. Keep your statistics current,

add new content or information, offer new recommendations, etc. MAKE YOUR SITE 24/7 Be prepared to automate your site. You want to be able to take orders 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and YOU don't want to have to be at your computer all the time. You want your site to be able to handle your customers at any hour. The Internet can facilitate customers from all over the world, at any time of the day or night. If you don't want to become a fixture at your desk, you will want to automate your business. Your best bet is to plan to do this from the beginning. Why? Because your first customers will become repeat customers if they are treated right. This is where the idea of residual income comes in. It is the ability to bring customers back into your website without you having to be there. If you don't want to have to check your email every single day, confirm and process orders every single day, and spend your time handling orders and doing paperwork, then you must make the effort to automate your business. I'll show you how at the end of this section. PROVID E LINKS TO YOUR SALES MESSAGE You want your website visitors to buy your product. Make it easy for them by providing links to click over to the product sales message. Place these links strategically on your site. When you have finished a piece of information, allow them the option of "learning more about your product" by clicking "here". You don't want your visitors to simply read your interesting content and then surf off to another interesting site. Give them the option of finding out how to fix whatever your product was designed to "fix". If you don't, you are relying heavily that they will get there on their own. Do you want to hope that they do? Now that we have discussed some things to remember and watch out for when designing your site, let's move on to the text that will be featured there. Don't neglect the text on your site! It is easy to get caught up in designing a "cool" site, and totally forget the stuff that really makes a difference the copy.

Section 2.5 Headlines

The first step in writing your product-selling copy is to create headlines that grab your customers' attention. This is the most important text your customers will read. If they don't like your headline and it doesn't entice them, they wont read anything else. In fact, it has been proven that headlines can increase your sales by over 1000%! The same body text and a different headline can make a huge difference in sales. When you write your headlines, focus on communicating the benefits that your product can offer the customer. Create curiosity so that they continue to read. A great headline emphasizes a key benefit or solution and applies it to the customer's situation. Poll your current customers and find out why they bought your product. You may find that there is only one reason they bought from you, and it wasn't what you thought! If you change your headline to reflect this new information, your sales will jump drastically! After you write your headlines, test them, modify them, test them... You get the picture. You will find that some are better than others, and that you can make a huge difference in sales by changing your headlines. It's worth the effort to keep trying to find one that really brings in the sales.

Create headlines That grab your Customers Attention.

Section 2.6 Sales Copy

Now let's move on to the sales text or copy. Your copy should not tell your potential customers about the features of the product. Instead, emphasize how your product will improve the customer's life. EXAMPLE Let's say that your product is a skin care lotion. Your original text reads as follows: "ABC Beauty Cream is made from the finest ingredients, has a lovely floral scent, and feels like silk on your face! We have a commitment against any products tested on animals. The cost is only $19.99 per jar. Buy one today." You can see why no one would really care one way or the other if they bought this skin cream over the stuff their Avon lady is selling. But if you change your copy to emphasize the benefits of using your cream over Avon's, then... "Is your skin dry and tight? Do you feel like all of the smog, and pollution settles onto your face by the end of the day? ABC Beauty Cream can make your face feel like you've just stepped out of a spa! Smooth on ABC Cream at the end of the day, and feel the stress and grime of your day slip away. Your face will feel softer. The floral aromatherapy scent will soothe your senses. And your skin tone and texture will improve as you continue to use ABC Cream. Similar products sell for as much as $30 out of catalogs, but ABC Cream is yours for the low price of $19.99. Buy today and get free shipping!" You can see how a customer would be enticed into buying the product in the second example. A woman would be able to imagine her face feeling clean and fresh after a long day. You answer the question "What's in it for me?" and your customers will buy from you. Don't try to sell your product to a customer, instead help them solve their problem. Focus on the benefits of your product, and how it will help the customer. It is much easier to sell a solution than a product. Focus on a solution instead of a feature. Toothpaste companies focus on a whiter, brighter smile, not the flavor of the toothpaste or the ingredients that help whiten. People are motivated when they are afraid they will miss out on something, or if they can gain something additional when buying from you. Use these two tools in your marketing copy. Make them aware of what they are missing out on, or wasting if they do not buy. Show them what they can gain or save if they do. But always remember people do not want to be sold something. Do not waste your time listing the features of your product, focus on the benefits and what they will get from your product. Benefits are not the cost of the product, the color, of the features. Benefits answer the questions "What's in it for me?" "Why should I keep reading?" or "Why should I buy from you?" Here are some other things to keep in mind when writing your sales copy. GIVE YOUR CUSTOMERS INFORMATION When you take the time to educate your visitors, you are establishing credibility for you and your site. When your potential customers see you as an expert, they are more willing to buy from you. They

want to purchase from someone who knows what they are talking about, so give them the information that proves that person is you. Explain how using your product will enhance their lives. Explain what makes your product better than its competition. And as always, explain "what's in it for them". Emphasize the benefits, but do NOT make offers you can't stand behind. Remember you want them excited to buy, but not disappointed when you don't deliver what you promised! Give real information, quote real statistics, use testimonials from satisfied customers. The more information you give them, the more comfortable they'll feel about buying from you. LET THEM KNOW YOU ARE A REAL PERSON Establish a rapport with your customers by letting them know who you are and how you came to be the expert that you are. Tell stories that explain how you came by your experience. Let them see that you are a real person, like them. Help them to develop trust in you and your product. The more comfortable they are with you and your site, the more willing they will be to buy from you. You don't want them thinking that you are just another internet scam! FOCUS ON YOUR TARGET MARKET Make sure that you keep your target audience in mind. You need to focus on what this audience needs and the benefits that will help them. Keep in mind what they want, how old they are, the education they would have, etc. Do they have any specific needs that you can focus on? Your sales copy will be directed toward this audience, so make sure it is appropriate for them. Don't waste your time selling to the entire world; keep the target in mind when you write your sales copy. KEEP IT SIMPLE! Be clear and to the point when you write your sales copy. Don't use large words or long sentences. Explain everything. You cannot assume that every reader will know what you are talking about. Make sure your copy makes it clear exactly what you are trying to say. Keep your language informal, as if your were talking to someone. Use a casual "tone of voice" and speak to your customers as if they were there with you. You want them to feel like you are giving them your personal attention; like you were thinking of them when you wrote it. Read the copy aloud when you are finished. Does it sound like you are talking to a friend? It should. WHY ARE THEY HERE? Your site should have one all-encompassing focus that is immediately apparent to your visitors. They should know why they are at your site. Even if you are selling lots of products, you need to make it clear what the overall focus of your site is. Are you selling beauty products, communications devices, craft supplies? Make sure that all of your website text agrees with this focus. BOLD, UNDERLINE & BULLETS Make your copy easy to read. You don't want to use a lot of different fonts or colors. Also, don't use all CAPS it's distracting and hard to read. Use bold or italics to emphasize an important point, but don't get carried away. Underlining in text on a website can be mistaken for a hyperlink, so use it sparingly, if at all. Use

bullets to make important points and to set them apart from the body text. Bullets build excitement and interest. PEOPLE WON'T READ EVERY WORD Make sure that your copy is easily scanned. Most people are not going to read every word. Make the benefits easy to note with just a glance. Break your copy up into easy to read sections, so that people can slow down and read more carefully when they see something they are more interested in. Bolding, italics, and bulleted lists will also help to accomplish this. USE YOU AND YOUR Make your sales copy more personal by using the words "you" and "your" in your writing. By saying things like "Your product will arrive in 2-3 days," or "You will be receiving," you are transferring ownership of the product to the potential customer, making it easier for them to envision actual ownership. You should have at least twice as many "you's" and "your's" in your copy as you have words like "me, my, us" etc. USE POWER WORDS Make your copy exciting by using "power" words in the text. Here are some examples of Do's and Don'ts. The Do's motivate people and entice them to purchase from you. The Don'ts are words that turn people off and cause them to want to stop reading. Do's Free Love Safe New Benefits Right You Alternative Security Sate Now Value Money Gain Save Happy Fun Discover How to Advice Introduce Easy Your Proven Healthy Proud Suddenly Penetrate DON'TS Loss Contract Hard Taxes Liability Worry Sell Fait Obligation Cost Deal Bad Decision Death Wrong Buy Difficult Failure

Remember, the word "Free" is a powerful word, but don't abuse it. Only advertise things as "Free" if there is no cost or obligation involved. Even a "free sample" is not really free if the customer has to pay for shipping. LONG IS GOOD Although you might think that you should keep your copy short and to the point, this is not always the case. Long copy can work on a sales website. This is because if people are interested in the information you are presenting, they will keep reading (or at least scanning for important points). Now long copy may not work for all products and services, so be sure to test both long and short text on your site. You will find a fit that is right for you. DON'T MAKE A BIG DEAL ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE SELLING People don't want to hang around a website that is selling something. They don't want to be asked for their hard-earned cash. Make sure that you do not tell your visitors upfront that you are selling a product. When your sales copy gives a lot of information, people will naturally think that you are giving this information away. They read it strictly to learn and gain "free" information. By the time they reach your sales pitch, they have read your information with an open mind and are not turned off by the idea that they have to buy something. And because they have read the information, they are in a state of mind to purchase your product. Then you can lead them to the order page. You want your customers to "sell" themselves on your product by reading the information you are providing. TESTIMONIALS Your website will inspire trust with your customers, if you publish testimonials of past customers who are happy and satisfied with your product and customer service. You need to use the words of others so you don't sound like you are merely "blowing your own horn." Why would a potential customer believe what you are saying about yourself? A testimonial from another "regular person" will go a lot further in establishing the trust you need in an online arena. So how do you go about getting and using testimonials, especially if your product is brand new? You can also use your own testimonial about how the product has changed your life or benefited you. Talk about your experiences with it. Be honest.Once your product is selling, continue to try to gain more testimonials. Ask your customers for their

First of all, do NOT make up testimonials. It will destroy your credibility and it is illegal. To begin to collect testimonials on a new product, simply go to people in your field or target market, and ask them to provide you with testimonials. Offer a free trial in exchange for use of their comments in your national marketing campaign. Most people would be thrilled to have THEIR words used in advertising.

feedback. If you get an email or letter from a customer, respond with your thanks and a request for permission to use their words. As you collect testimonials from your customers, you will have plenty of future material for your marketing efforts. Make sure you get permission from those who are providing testimonials. Get it in writing, and specify that permission is granted for use in all current AND future advertising. So what makes a good testimonial? It is descriptive Use testimonials that are two to three sentences long and use solid facts. Avoid testimonials like "Wow!" These don't offer anything solid to the potential customers. Use testimonials that describe the benefits gained from the product. It lists the real person Make sure that you list the person's name and contact information with the testimonial. People want to be reassured that these are REAL testimonials, and if someone is really interested, they may want to contact one of your testimonials for a reference. It is not "fixed up" Do not edit your testimonials for more than spelling. You want the comments exactly how your customers gave them to you. If you correct sentence structure, word choice, etc., the testimonial will cease to have the customer's voice and will end up sounding like you made it up. I F Y O U W A N T T H E M T O O R D ER , T H EN A S K It seems a simple enough thing, but you can't GET the order, if you don't ASK for the order. You will increase your sales by doing this one easy thing. Ask for the order, back it up with a guarantee, and then guide them through the ordering process. Using the "you" and "your" words is a subtle way of asking for the order. You can even use a P.S. at the end of the information that restates the guarantee and asks for the order. Remind them that they have nothing to lose by ordering. OFFER A GUARANTEE THE LONGER THE BETTER! Giving your customers nothing to lose by ordering, means offering a great guarantee. Everyone has been burned before, and in the world of the Internet, people are even more leery of purchasing if there are no guarantees. So it stands to reason, that you must offer a guarantee or lose sales. Unless your product is a scam, and I'm sure it is not, go ahead and offer a 100%, no questions asked, lifetime, money-back guarantee. The longer time period you can offer for accepting returns, the fewer returns you will actually get. Why? Because people will not be rushed into a 30-day return window. They will take the time to really experience your product, knowing they can return it at any time. Also, if they know they can return it forever, the thought of being unsatisfied and worrying about the amount of time left, leaves their mind. If you offer a lifetime guarantee, the customer automatically thinks "Well, it must be a great product if they can offer a lifetime guarantee!" GIVE BONUSES WHERE YOU CAN When it is feasible, offer bonuses to your customers. It will help you close sales, and it

will boost your customer satisfaction. A bonus increases the customer's perceived value of your product. Let's face it, who doesn't like getting something for free? If you make the bonus available only for a limited time, it will also instill a sense of urgency to buy the product before the deadline. However, do not make the PRODUCT a limited time offer. You will lose credibility as your "limited time offer" product never ends! Just remember, that you are marketing to a targeted audience, so make sure that your bonus is of value to that audience. Also try to relate your bonus to your product. For example, something that "goes along with" the product you are selling. If your product is Beauty Cream, then a free bonus could be bath oil or perhaps a sleep mask. Don't offer coupons good for the next purchase as these are NOT free. And don't make your bonuses something totally unrelated. One thing that is a great bonus item is an eBook that relates to your product. These are make good bonuses for two reasons. The first is that they can be delivered instantly via email to your customers. The second is once you've written and compiled your eBook, it costs you nothing to offer it as a bonus to your buyers! You set up your email system to send it automatically, and there is nothing else for you to do, but sit back and watch the sales come in. You can go to www.ebookpro.com for more information on producing your own eBooks. DON'T GO WITH YOUR FIRST DRAFT I know this sounds obvious, but always test your sales copy, headlines, and price until you've found the best combination. Evaluate and rethink your offering and then test to find out if the changes net you more profits. Only change one thing at a time when you are conducting tests. Only change price, OR a headline OR copy that details benefits, not all three at once. Otherwise, you can't know which of the three changes made the sale for you. And test on a small scale. Once you have found the right combination, THEN you can spend your money taking the "right" marketing campaign on a larger scale. Another way to test your offer, is to contact the people who received your offer and ask for their feedback. Now this can be uncomfortable, because a large number of these people may have decided NOT to buy from you. But if you take the time to try and get honest answers from them, you will be able to fix any problems and improve your sales copy. This feedback will help you to find areas where you may have gone wrong, so that you can stop losing sales. Here are some examples of questions you can ask:
Did you get my letter/offer? Did you read it? If not, why? Did you find it interesting? What kept you from ordering? What would convince you to order? What did you like about the information I sent?

 What did you NOT like about the information I sent? Do you have any questions about what was sent that you feel were not

adequately answered? Another way to test your sales copy is to give it out to strangers in a public place. Try choosing people within your target market segment if you can. Ask them to read through it and then ask them if it was good sales copy. The answer you want to hear is "Where can I get this <product>?" If they tell you that your copy sounds fine, keep reworking it. Once you get people asking how to buy your product, that is the copy you want to use! Learn from every test. Gain insight with every "failure" to help you improve the next time. Take the time to test, rework, and retest so that you can have the best possible website you can. SURVEY YOUR CUSTOMERS The second part of testing your website is surveying your customers. By doing this, you'll find out critically important information that will help you to better your marketing efforts in the future. First, surveys help you to narrow your target audience. They will help you to understand exactly why your customers bought the product. I just read an ad for some skin cream that was created to reduce stretch marks. However, as the company test marketed the product, the container had no instructions and simply read "Skin Cream" or something along those lines. Well, in the process of hundreds and hundreds of personal trials of this product, people got confused and started putting the cream on their faces. The company was amazed when people started asking for more of the amazing wrinkle reducing cream! They had no idea that the product was incredible at firming the facial skin and getting rid of wrinkles. Now they are marketing the stuff as wrinkle reducing cream and stores can't keep it in stock. Now this is an extreme example, and hopefully you know what your product can do. However, you can only guess the real reasons behind a customer's decision to buy your product. Surveys can shed light on these reasons. What you may find, is that instead of the reasons and benefits you were using in your copy, people are buying for an altogether different reason. Once you have identified that reason, then you can shift your marketing to focus on it, and your sales will go up. Surveys will also help you to narrow your target market. You may find that you were trying to sell to everyone who has a dog, for example, but in your survey efforts, you find that only people with large dogs are buying your products. Once you learn this information, you can then change your marketing strategy to focus more on large dog owners. If you narrow your focus, your sales will increase! Like testing your copy, surveys can help you to find the problems in your strategy. Are your prices too high or too low? Is your order page confusing? When you find out these details from your customers, you can fix the problems to make it better for everyone. You can also ask your customers if there is anything else that they would like to see offered. This way, you can find potential product ideas as people tell you what they need. Now not everyone will be willing to take the time to answer your survey. So, to get the most responses you can, consider offering some sort of incentive. It doesn't have to be much perhaps an eBook, or a newsletter, or an article. Something that is of value to them, so they will spend their

valuable time to respond to your survey. PLAY NICE WITH OTHERS Although you may want to, don't attack your competition. It is not good form and leaves a bad taste in a customer's mouth to see you "slinging mud." This will also decrease your credibility in the long run. You can compare your product to those of your competition and fairly describe why your product is better. But don't get nasty! If you product is legitimately better, then show that to your customers in your sales copy, and they will see for themselves. P .S. Use a postscript if you are using a sales letter on your website. People who are scanning your copy, will read the headlines and the post script. Use the P.S. as a place to repeat key benefits and remind the customer of any deadlines for bonuses, etc. Point out what they will miss out on by not ordering, and repeat why your product solves a problem for them. ALL WAYS CHEK YOU'RE SPPELLLING! I hope you got the point! Nothing will turn your potential customers off faster than copy full of spelling and grammatical errors. Always proofread your copy, more than once, to catch the little "gotchas" that the spell checker will always miss. "Form" instead of "from" and "your" instead of "you're" will always get by a spell checker. Once you have finished your writing, always get another person (or two) to read through your work. You are too close to it, and you will miss some errors because you know what it is supposed to say. Another set of eyes will catch those little mistakes. MAKE IT EA SY FOR CU STOM ER S T O DEC ID E T O BU Y You want your copy to remove any objections your customers have to buying your product. You can do this in several ways. The first is by reassuring customer that they are making a wise decision. This is done by establishing your credibility as a legitimate business with a top-notch product. Ease the customers fears by adequately discussing the product so they feel comfortable with what they are purchasing. Provide your contact information in a highly accessible area on your website. The easier you make it to get in contact with you, the easier they will feel about buying from you.

Establish your credibility As a legitimate business With a top-notch product

You can also increase your credibility by offering them high quality information that is of value and interest to your target market. By giving information to the public, you are establishing yourself as an expert. You can also use testimonials to reassure the buyer that other people have dealt with you in the past and were very satisfied with the experience. And lastly, always, always offer a guarantee. The second way to remove a buyer's objections is to let them know they are getting a good deal. Online buyers want to know they are getting a bargain. It is why they are shopping online in the first place. Make sure you increase the value they feel they are getting in ordering from you. Do this by emphasizing a benefit or solution that sets you apart from the rest, and by offering bonuses. We already discussed using bonuses, but I will say that they go a long way to increasing the perceived

value received by the customer. Finally, make it EASY for your customer to buy from you. Offer multiple payment options and multiple delivery options. If someone wants to pay with a credit card and wants overnight delivery, make it available. If another person wants to pay by check and use standard postal delivery, accommodate them as well.

Section 2.7 Pricing

People often ask what is the best way to price my product? I can tell you now that you should not base your price on the cost to produce the product. You should find out the maximum the customer is willing pay and then determine how that compares to the price of comparable or competitive products. If your customers are selling at a lower price than you would like to charge, a good way to list your product at the higher price and still outsell the competition is to add value to the product. If you offer something that the competition does not, then your higher price is justified in the minds of the consumers. Adding value can take several forms. It can be free bonuses, such as eBooks as we've already discussed. If you are an industry leader or expert in the field, this adds value and credibility to your product. You can also provide specialized information that makes your product more useful or efficient. The most important thing is simply to offer something that your competition does not. You must only create a higher perceived value in the mind of your customer. So now you are asking, "Fine, I'll charge more and give more value, but I still don't know where to start." Although I told you not to base it on cost, there are some things you need to remember. Most importantly, you have to COVER your costs! Remember the small things that will need to be factored in. If you are using an 800 number fulfillment service, they will charge you between $5.00 and $7.00 per order. If you are selling your product for $19.95 and it costs $10.00 to produce, you are not leaving yourself much profit margin. Here are some price points to consider when pricing your product: $19.95 will generate more sales than $12.95 $29.95 will generate more sales than $19.95 Other price points - $39.95, $69.95, $97.00, $197.00, $297.00, etc.

If your product has a lot of perceived value, you can charge more. This is because people think that if a product has a higher price then it must be a better value, include better features, have better information, or be of superior quality. You can actually hurt your sales by charging too little because people will think that your product must be poor quality. Once you've determined an approximate range, you can test your pricing. Make sure that you base your decision on profit and NOT on the number of sales you make. Fewer sales at a higher price may still make you more profit than more sales at a lower price.

EXAMPLE

# OF PRICE OF PRODUCT $29.95 $39.95 $69.95 ORDERS/ 1,000 VISITORS 8 10 5 EARNINGS $239.60 $399.50 $349.75 COST ($15 PER ORDER) $120 $150 $75

PROFIT $119.60 $249.50 $274.75

You can see from the example, that even though you made fewer orders at the $69.95 price point, you actually made more profit. Make sure you keep this in mind. It is profit you want, not just sales volume!

Section 2.8 Ordering and Payment Options

This is a really important section in this manual because far too often, people work so hard to get their websites up and get customers visiting their site, and then they neglect the ordering portion of their business. Here are the 2 biggest mistakes that online business owners can make. 1 THEIR ORDER FORM IS CONFUSING, INSECURE, OR IMPOSSIBLETO FIND. 2 THEIR ORDER FORM IS ON THEIR MAIN PAGE OR SALES LETTER. Let's talk about these two mistakes. The first is that people are at your site, they like what they've read, and they want to buy your product. And YOU want them to, so everyone is happy right? Wrong. First of all, they can't figure out which link takes them to your order form, so they wander around your site clicking on everything they can find to try to get somewhere they can order. Then once they finally reach the order form (if they don't give up and leave), the order form is not secure and asks for personal information and their credit card number. Now you lost just about everyone else. For the sake of the example, let's say that one or two people want the product so badly that they don't care about security and entered their information anyway. Unfortunately, the ordering process was so complicated and convoluted, that they couldn't figure it out and gave up in frustration. Now this is obviously an extreme example conjured up to make a point. However, it gives you something to think about. You want your ordering process to be simple, secure, and easy to find. You cannot expect your customers to enter their private information into an insecure order form, so ensure that your order page is located on a secure server. Test your order form on others to see if they can figure it out, and if they have any problems or questions. You want it as simple as you can make it. Let's talk about the second mistake now. Remember that people come online to do research. They are looking for information that will help them solve their problem. They are (usually) not looking to buy something. By putting an order form directly on the main page or at the bottom of your sales letter, you will instantly lose all those people who do NOT want to buy something. Instead, you want your sales letter to read like an article with tips and information. You want your visitors to scan down the page and focus on the highlighted benefits and solutions. You want them to read your terrific sales copy so that when they finish the "article" they already want your product. So you say "If I can't put my order form on the main page, but it needs to be easy to find, then where should I put it?" That is easy. At the bottom of your sales letter, include a subtle link that reads "Click here to receive this special offer." Your customers will find it, and they will click it.

It is the compelling sales copy that is going to sell your product, not huge, flashing links to your order page. Once you've convinced your customers to buy, they will easily find the link that takes them to your order page. Once you've gotten them to the order page, restate your bonus offers and product benefits. Remind them gently of the reasons they wanted to buy in the first place. Don't spend a lot of time on this, but give their conviction to buy a little boost with this reminder. GIVING YOUR CUSTOMERS OPTIONS Once you have people on your order page, you need to give them every reason to stay and give you their money. You need to cater to the way they want to conduct their business. Offer multiple ways of ordering and multiple ways to make payment. ONLINE ORDERING USING A SECURE SERVER The first option for ordering is using your website and a credit card to place the order. Secure servers can accept and transmit confidential information without the risk of the data being intercepted and used illegally. A lot of websites are set up to authorize the customer's credit card while they wait. It asks them to wait a few moments while the transaction is placed. The server connects to the merchant account provider, authorizes the card, places the charge and deposits the funds into your account. Usually this only takes a few seconds to occur. Once the transaction has been approved, the order is confirmed to the customer either directly on the screen or in a confirmation email. Other details you should provide in this confirmation message are the estimated shipping details and, most importantly, the contact information for your company. You can sign up with a fulfillment company that offers toll-free ordering 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Your customers can call the 800 number and place their order through the fulfillment house. The fulfillment company will then ship the orders to your customers for you and send you email confirmations detailing all of the day's orders.

The cost for a service like this is typically between five and seven dollars an order, plus about $1.00 per minute for the phone order, so it can be pricey. At first, you may want to order an 800 number for your regular business line and take your own orders during regular business hours. Your phone company can easily provide the toll free number. Then, once you have reached a sales volume that warrants it, you can move into a fulfillment arrangement later on.

FAX OR MAIL-IN ORDERING A third option to provide for your customers, is an offline method. This means they can print out your order form, and then mail or fax the order to you. Again this method works for people who don't feel comfortable entering their personal

information online. You can even arrange to have these fax and mail orders go directly to a fulfillment company who will handle all the shipping of the orders for you. Even though only a small percentage of orders will even be placed this way, it is still a good idea to offer it. Why would you willingly turn away their money? However, you can offer a bonus to those people who order online (as this is the most cost effective form of ordering). Simply make it very clear as you explain the payment options, that the Bonus gift is only available with online orders. This may be enough to sway many of those who are a bit uncomfortable with ordering online.

Section 2.9 Fraud Protection and Security

In the world of online purchasing and transactions, there exists a whole new arena for fraud and credit card crime. You may know that when someone steals your credit card and makes fraudulent charges with it, you are only liable for $50 of the total. However, in the world of online sales, the seller is the one that ends up getting stuck with the full force of ANY fraudulent charges made on their site. Let me elaborate. Internet credit card transactions are called "Cardholder Not Present" or CNP transactions. Because the seller is not physically taking the credit card from the buyers hand and getting an authorization signature, most merchant account providers hold the seller 100% responsible for any fraudulent credit card purchases made on its site. It gets worse! Many merchant account providers will charge you a fee for any "false" purchases that result in a chargeback to the credit card. This fee can be anywhere from $15-25 dollars PER CHARGEBACK. If you get a lot of chargebacks, your discount rate can be raised to cover the added risk that your business presents the merchant account provider, or they can even terminate your account. Once you've lost your merchant account, it can be extremely difficult to obtain another one. You can probably understand why online credit card fraud is so much more prevalent than of pine. Online transactions are remote you never see your customers and they never see you. It gives the credit card criminal a high degree of anonymity. They don't worry about getting caught, because you will never see them. Other types of online fraud include stealing information. Sites that sell downloadable software or information products or highly susceptible. Entertainment and information sites are also hit more often. The thieves can do their damage before the site owner is even aware that there is a problem. Now that you are sufficiently aware of, and probably nervous about, online security and fraud. Let's discuss ways to prevent thieves from wreaking havoc on your site. KEEP RECORDS Keep records of all phony names and addresses, problem customers, and especially bad credit card numbers. COLLECT INFORMATION The more information you get from a customer, the easier it will be to detect a fraudulent order. Good information to collect is the customer's address and telephone number, the name of the bank that issued the credit card, and the IP address of the computer that placed the order. This information can help you recover your money in the event of fraudulent orders. However, keep in mind that even legitimate customers will be wary of giving you too much of their personal information, so you will have to decide just how much information you need and weigh it against sales that may be lost due to your aggressive security. VERIFY ADDRESSES A thief will not send the order to the stolen credit card holder's home address, so verifying addresses will help to indicate if there is a potential phony order taking place. Credit card software can help you to automatically verify the address as you process the order. You can also contact the credit card company to verify the name and address of cardholders.

You can also utilize a system called AVS (Address Verification System). By requiring that your customers provide their credit card billing address, the AVS can automatically compare the billing address entered with the address on their statement to make sure they match. This allows you another layer of security because a thief would not be able to steal just the credit card number of his victim, he would also need their billing address. You will need to see if your merchant account provider supports AVS. WATCH FOR THE UNUSUAL Fraudulent orders are usually identifiable because they are not "normal." Watch for orders where a large number of all sorts of items of all different sizes and colors are ordered. Keep an eye out for customers who place large orders and then return to buy more. Also beware of large ticket sales where the customer is willing to pay a lot of money to ship the item quickly. FREE EMAIL ACCOUNTS Most thieves will use a "fake" email to a free web-based email service like Yahoo or Hotmail. A way to combat this is to ask for a "real" email address if you suspect fraud. This should scare away most thieves. It may not be a good idea to require a real email for ALL orders however, because many legitimate customers will only have a free email address and no other. However, if you get "stung" too many times, you may want to implement a policy that requires a "real" email address on all orders. Those few people that do not have anything but "freemail" can always call your toll-free number. It always pays to be vigilant. If you aren't sure if the email address host offers free email, just type it into a browser and see what comes up. The host's website will advertise if it offers free email addresses. CHECK OUT SUSPECT ORDERS If you suspect fraud, take the time to verify that they are who they say they are. Check out their email address host. Look for "empty" or under construction sites whose contact information doesn't match the cardholder information. For example, watch for orders whose contact information is in the United States, but the order is to be sent overseas. You can use a tool called Whols Lookup to determine who owns the domain and where they are located. This is another way to compare addresses of credit card holders versus the IP address of ordering PC. You can get the free Whols Lookup tool at www.betterwhois.com. AUTOMATE YOUR CREDIT CARD PROCESSING Make sure that your online site authorizes credit card numbers at the time of order. This will reject any orders where the credit card number is not legitimate. At the very least, have the site check for the credit card number syntax. All credit card numbers have a certain "code" or syntax they must follow, and you can set up your site to see if the credit card number entered follows these "rules". This can be done with a CGI script within your website. SECURITY NUMBERS All of the credit card companies have instituted an additional security feature. The security numbers appear somewhere on the card (back or front) and are usually three or four digits. They are not embossed (raised) like the credit card number, so a thief can't steal the security number by getting a hold of a receipt or carbon. You can use these security numbers to add security to your site by asking the customer to enter them. If the thief does not possess the actual card, he will not have those numbers.

On Visa and MasterCard, the security number is actually the same number as the first four digits of the credit card number so your site can verify. Your site can also check that a Visa card begins with a 4 and a MasterCard begins with a 5. American Express Cards have a security number on the front of the card, but it is not the first four digits of the credit card number. However, a thief not in possession of the card will not have this number and will find another site to steal from. Discover cards have a three-digit number on the back of the card, and you can use the same method with them. RECORD THE CUSTOMER'S IP ADDRESS You can set up your website to run a script to check the IP address of the customer's PC. You can then compare the IP address to the email address and see if they are coming from the same computer. Programs such as WS Ping allow you to check the numerical IP address. When it doesn't match up, you can call the number given to verify the order. GIVE A WARNING By placing anti-fraud notices on your order forms, it will notify your customers (and potential scammers) that you are aggressive in preventing and following up on fraud. State that you log and manually investigate each order. Scare tactics such as these can prevent many thieves from targeting your site, instead moving on to an easier target. CALL THE CUSTOMER TO VERIFY When in doubt, call the customer. Thieves often don't leave complete information for obvious reasons. Take the time to call the customer and verify the order. If the number is no longer in service or a wrong number, you can be sure the order is fake. CALL THE COPS Don't be afraid to contact the proper authorities. Give them the IP address of the phony customer and the exact date and time of the order. The more information you can give the investigating authorities, the more likely that the thief can be caught. Unfortunately, online merchants usually do not receive much support from the local police who do not see it as part of their jurisdiction. This is why you should have a firm policy of preventing fraud before it happens. A good resource for tips and hints to help you combat fraud in your online business is www.antifraud.com. You can either implement their tips yourself or pay for their service to provide fraud prevention for your site. I would recommend looking them over to see if what they offer works for you. Remember the old adage that "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." By stopping online fraud before the order ever processes or is shipped, you will save yourself a lot of time, money, and hassle.

Section 2.10 Protection from Thieves

Many of the netrepreneurs out there are selling information. Information in the form of letters, tips, e-books, etc. One of the greatest things about selling information is the ease at which you can get it to your customers. They order, and within minutes, your system can be emailing the information to them. Unfortunately, this can also be a really big problem! Since you never meet your customers online, scam artists find it easy to rip you off. If the fraud is not detected right as it happens, the scam artist can download your products and disappear before you are even aware of a problem. There is an answer eBookPro. With the eBookPro software, you can actually "turn off' your software or information product remotely, so if someone tries to rip you off, you can simply take back your product with a click. Check out: www.ebookpro.com There are other options, such as password-protected Word documents or PDF files, but you have no control over whether people email them to everyone in their address book and share the password as well. You don't know if a thief is redistributing your information as his own!!! If you want to publish electronically, you must make sure that people can't steal your work or simply forward it on to whomever they wish. Here are some important security issues to consider when thinking about the security of your information product. Can someone share the password with others? Can people just copy and paste the info from one application to another? Can you control the product after the customer has it? eBookPro was designed to overcome the security issues that exist in today's online marketplace. You can remote disable anyone's eBook anywhere in the world. You can "turn off" a customer's copy of your product if they try to copy it, if their check bounces, if they charge back the credit card charge! The way the software does this, is to check with your server every time your customer wants to view the eBook. If you have deactivated the code, it won't "unlock" for them. The good thing is that if you want to reactivate their copy, it's just as easy to do. The software won't allow your customers to use the copy feature on their computers to copy your valuable information. They can't right click to copy or use Control-C. Your information is safe from thieves who would copy it and resell it as their own. You can also determine whether or not you will allow your customers to print your information. You can set this feature on or off!

SECTION 3 Automating Your Site

In this next section, I want to discuss creating a fully automated website. If you begin by doing this right from the start, it will save you a lot of time in the future. I realize this goes contrary to what I have been teaching you as far as allowing your business to make money first, then letting it pay for itself. However, it is very important with your website to start off on the right foot. The answer is very simple. Too many online businesses fail because their owners try to do everything themselves in order to save money. Within a few months, the owner is spending all of his or her time processing orders, shipping, tracking, etc instead of growing their business. There has to be a happy medium, and you must establish this balance in the beginning days of your business. If you don't automate now, and you get even a little behind and orders begin to become backlogged, when are you going to have time to automate your business then? It can become a downward spiral much faster than you would expect, and it can be very difficult to take the time, later on, to automate. So think about it. Do you want to spend your day filling orders, handling paperwork, shipping product? You may even still have your "day job." How will you have the time to do all this "after hours?" Remember, this can and will be a part-time business if you create it that way, but the only way to do that is apply correct principles first. The solution is to automate the whole process and focus your energy on increasing sales and/or developing a new product or business thus multiplying your avenues of income. So how do you begin? There are 4 key issues that I want to discuss in this section, and all of them apply to automating your business. 1 EMAIL AUTOMATION OR AUTO-RESPONDERS 2 CREDIT CARDS AND MERCHANT SERVICES 3 ORDER FULFILLMENT 4 SHOPPING CART FEATURES

SECTION 3.1 EMAIL AUTOMATION OR AUTO-RESPONDERS

One of the best "tricks" you can utilize on your website is to set up an auto-responder to automatically send a confirmation email to your customer after they order. Sending a confirmation email is a really good idea for more than one reason. First, it lets your customer know that you have actually received their order and have begun to process it. It also lets them see exactly what has gone through so they can ensure that the order was taken correctly. It will give them the contents of their order, the charge that will appear on their credit card, and an explanation of how and when their order will be shipped. An email confirmation also assures the customer that your business is legitimate. No one wants to order something online and have it go off into "oblivion" without some sort of assurance that someone, somewhere actually received the order. Even if you are not automating right away, and your system simply emails you with new orders. Send confirmation emails out manually as soon as you can, within 24 hours if possible. You may also be able to set up your email program to auto-respond immediately with at least a confirmation that the order was received if nothing else. Email programs like Microsoft Outlook can be set up to automatically reply to emails if a certain condition is met. This would at the very least, let your customer know that you received their order. Then once you process the order, you can email them again with shipping details and final charges. Here is an example of a confirmation email.

EXAMPLE Thank you for your order. This email will confirm that we have received your order of [date of order]. The charge of $[charge] will appear on your credit card xxxx [last four digits] with the payee of [name of your company as it appears on the credit card of your buyers]. Your product will be shipped via [shipping method]. You can expect to receive the package within [length of shipping]. We hope that you enjoy [state the benefits of your product and thank the customer again for their order]. Sincerely, Your Name & Title

As you can see from this example, you have given your customers a great deal of information. You may not need to include all of this information, but it goes a long way to establishing your credibility as a professional company, and reassuring your customers that they have not made a mistake by ordering online with you. There is always the possibility that someone will get cold feet and want to cancel their order even before they receive it. Sending them this confirmation will help to eliminate a large percentage of returns. Feel free to tweak the text to fit your product and situation. But always confirm your orders with as much information as you can provide. You can also set up your auto-responders to send information to answer your customers' questions. For example, most of the questions you will get about your company or your products will fall into the same general categories. In fact, there are probably only a dozen questions that are asked over and over again. You can create a Frequently Asked Questions Sheet that your auto-responder can email to people who have questions about your products. This way, instead of waiting for you to get back to them with the answer to their question, they instantly receive the FAQ Sheet, which most likely answers their question. Here is an example of an email you can send with an FAQ Sheet. Your customer has a question, so they email faq@yourwebsite.com and your auto-responder automatically returns this email with the FAQ Sheet attached.

EXAMPLE Thank you for your inquiry. Our experience has shown that most questions fall into the following ten categories. We've attached a Frequently Asked Questions sheet for you to look over since we know your time is valuable and we wanted your questions to be answered as quickly as possible. If you find that your question is not answered on our FAQ Sheet, please email us at info@yourwebsite.com and we will be happy to answer any further questions. Sincerely.

By utilizing an auto-responder to send this information, you can impress your potential customers because you have responded instantly, answered their questions, and made it easy for them to get more information if they need it. Another way to use auto-responders on your site is to offer a free article relating your target market or product line. This is an excellent way of creating a database for your business, and I will discuss why you need this later on in the manual: By giving away something for free, it creates a relationship with your customers and allows you to retain their information. Think of it this way-- it's like entering a drawing to win a free car. You know that someone is going to contact you, and yet you still give them your name and phone number or in this case your email address for the chance to win something or get some FREE information. To get the free article, they have to give you their information,. You then collect this information into your database of email addresses, and your auto-responder sends off the free article, instantly. Maybe they look around your site, but do not decide to buy at that time. It doesn't matter to you because you have captured their information. When they receive the free article, they get valuable information that interests them, and it also

reminds them of your site and your product. By doing this, you can establish your expertise and credibility with a potential customer, further develop the relationship with them by giving them information they can use, and direct them back to your site for more information and to close the sale. So now that we've discussed when to use auto-responders, let's go into the benefits of utilizing them. Email information to your customers some people may want to save a copy of your information on their computer rather than read it online. Your auto-responder can be set up to email a copy of your information to them. Improves customer service as I talked about before, answer frequently asked questions and provide order confirmation automatically. It also lets them know that their email was received and that you will get back to them. Don't leave your customers wondering if someone is on the other end. More time for you auto-responders will handle a lot of the emails automatically so you don't have to. Establish credibility as an expert by offering more information, you can establish your site as a credible resource, without answering emails all day long. It increases the perceived value of your site. Develop a database of email addresses people who request information via your autoresponders give you their email address. You can utilize this database of addresses to market your product further, offer promotions, send follow up emails, and backend sell. Track your advertising efforts by using different auto-responders, you can track the response you get from various ads. This way you can see which ads are bringing in more traffic to your site. So you can see that there are a LOT of benefits to using auto-responders on your site. But you don't have to stop with your site alone. You can advertise your auto-responders in other places as well to draw traffic to your site and to gather more potential customers' email addresses. You can put your auto-responders on other web sites. If you have developed a relationship with related sites in your industry, you may already be linking back and forth to these other sites. The owners of these sites may also be willing to offer your free information on their site as well. They would want to do this because it adds value to their site as well if the information you are offering is of interest to their customers. Another area to place your auto-responders are in industry newsletters or e-zines. A simple way to locate these areas on the internet is to go to a major Search Engine, and simply type in e-zine or newsletter and your product info. If you are working with clothing as your product, your search might look like this -"newsletter clothing." What the search engine will do is search through its database for anything that deals with newsletters and clothing. You may get a huge search result, so take some time to go through a few pages and browse what other people are doing in your target market. This is really the perfect place to advertise because it is where your target market is already looking for information. You may even be able to convince the newsletter owner to endorse your advertisement. The owner of this newsletter already has an established database of his own, therefore, you would increase your marketing avenues in a BIG way. You can also advertise your auto-responders on classified ads sites. It's a great place to advertise,

because you are "giving away" information for free. Once you have established a relationship with the customer when they click on your auto-responder for more information, you then can use their email address to familiarize them with your site and products. I will talk a lot more about classified ads in the next section. We've now gone over when and where to use auto-responders, so now let's talk about how. CHOOSING AND IMPLEMENTING AN AUTO-RESPONDER How do you go about choosing an auto-responder? Here are some things to consider, because the lowest price will not always be the best bet.

How much control do you have? You need to make sure that you have the ability to change or upload new auto-responder documents anytime, 24/7. You don't want to have to wait for someone else to do it for you. How easy is it to use? Make sure that the auto-responder is user friendly. If there are very specific requirements in order to trigger the auto-responder, your potential customers may not follow the directions exactly, thus receiving nothing. And you lose out on the sale. Make sure that your auto-responder will reply to the person requesting no matter what is in the subject or body of the email. Some auto-responders require that a specific subject be typed in order to get the information they want. For example, if I want Information A, I would be required to type "Information A" in the subject line of my email. If I wanted Information B, then I would type "Information B". However, if I don't type it correctly, or leave it blank, then I will receive nothing. It is much better to use an auto-responder that uses a separate email address for every piece of information you will return to the customer. This way, the customer does not have to worry about typing anything in their email, it can be blank or not. The autoresponder will always respond no matter what. Using the previous example, if I want Information A, I send a blank email to infoa@site.com. If I wanted Information B, I send the email to infob@site.com. There is not room for error. I get what I want, you get me as a potential customer. How fast will your server set up? You need to know how fast your server can set up additional auto-responders for you. When you are testing new ads or such, you may need to get new auto-responders up in a hurry. It is good to know your time frames for this in advance. Does the auto-responder collect the email addresses to a database? This is probably the most important question to ask. One of the main reasons you are using an autoresponder to offer free information is to build a database of email addresses for further marketing and promotion efforts. If the auto-responder does not do this, do NOT buy it.

Now that you know what to look for in an auto-responder, where do you get one. There are three options that I will talk about. They are: 1) your web host may offer them, 2) free sites, 3) purchase them separately. The third option is the one I will recommend and you'll see why once I talk about the first two.

Web Host You can probably get a limited number of auto-responders from your web host for free. However, one or two auto-responders will most likely not be enough once you start growing. Then you will have to pay for any you need above what they give you for free. A flourishing business with a large product line could have 25 autoresponders or more. You can see how this might start to cost you in the long run. The other reason to stay away from your web host for auto-responders is that if you ever need to leave your host or it goes out of business, your auto-responders go with it. You have now lost the links you have worked so hard to put out on other sites, newsletters, and classified ads.

Free Sites There are sites out there that will provide you with free auto-responders. However, they attach their own advertising to your emails. The problems here are twofold. The first problem is that you do NOT want your customers becoming distracted by the free site's advertising and going off to look into their site instead of yours. The second is that when people see miscellaneous ads online and in emails, they can tell you are using free services. This makes you look unprofessional and cheap.

Purchase Your best bet is to find a company that will provide auto-responders that will meet your needs. There is a product called Channels that I recommend for your email management and auto-responder needs. You can find more information about this product at www.pacificwebworks.com. I will also be talking more about this product in detail in the next section when I discuss Email Marketing.

SECTION 3.2 CREDIT CARDS AND MERCHANT SERVICES

If you are going to do business online, you must accept credit cards. Companies who do not accept credit card orders, are throwing away 85% of their business! This is no joke. If you don't want to take credit card orders online, you might as well quit now. If people are going online to order, they want the convenience of ordering with their credit card. They will not hassle with calling your 800 number or filling out an order form, writing a check, and mailing it all in to you. We live in a microwave society; people want things in 30 seconds or less, and if you are not able to provide that for them, they are going to go somewhere else. They will find someone else who has the ability to take credit cards securely and buy their product and order online from them. In fact, offering credit cards as a payment method not only makes it easy for a customer to order, but it also lends credibility to your company. If you have taken the time to establish a merchant account and set up to authorize credit cards, this assures the customer that you are a serious company that will not close their doors tomorrow. Accepting credit cards also makes your job easier by reducing the amount of paperwork you will have and saving you trips to the bank to make deposits. You will also have less of a concern with bounced checks because you know that the order will not process unless the credit card is approved. Credit cards also make you more profit because there is such a low overhead. You do not have to pay fees for an 800 service to take the order, your system handles it all automatically. If your current web host does not offer you secure credit card processing, you can simply host your order page on a host that does. You don't need to move your entire site. That's the beauty of the internet. Let's take a few minutes to discuss merchant accounts, since this is the first step to accepting credit cards. First of all, I would like to say that you will want to accept all of the major credit cards Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover. There are several different ways to go about getting a merchant account. The first is to get a merchant account through your local bank. If your bank does not charge a security deposit and is willing to work with you to obtain a merchant account with them, this can be the way to go. However, most banks only offer two of the four major credit cards, so you may have to work with two different banks to get a merchant account with all four cards.

Every business should Have the ability to offer Multiple purchases Simultaneously.

The main problem with local banks, is that they are more geared towards working with retail stores and not online businesses. Because of this, they may either require a large security deposit ($5,000-10,000) or charge you a high discount rate. The discount rate is the fee or percentage you pay on each credit card transaction. For example, you may pay 2.5% on each credit card transaction. This means that on a $200 order, your bank would receive $5.00 as their "fee" for processing the transaction. Another option is to get your merchant accounts through a broker. This method is probably the easiest way to go. It is easy to get approved and there are no security deposits. The discount rates are also very competitive.

Because these merchant accounts are Internet based, they specialize in providing accounts for online businesses. You can even apply for your merchant account online. Earlier in this manual, I recommended the service that I personally use, Tradeworks. I am very satisfied with them. While others may charge $400 or more for set up, Tradeworks eliminates the start-up or application fee and allows you to get established for very minimal out-of-pocket expense. You should be able to obtain a discount rate of between 2 and 3%, their average right now is 2.29%, and you can be assured that almost everyone is approved. They can also provide you with a full package for accepting credit cards over the Internet. This package even includes a shopping cart which I highly recommend. Every business should have the ability to offer multiple purchases simultaneously. Using a package such as this will allow you to begin taking orders right away. Tradeworks will have you approved within a couple of weeks and link your merchant account directly to your website. They will give you have the ability to not only process credit cards, but also the security you need in todays online world. If you would like to shop around, there are hundreds of merchant account brokers out there. However, I recommend this one simply because they have proven themselves to be reliable and a long-term good buy. The third option for merchant account services is to utilize a fulfillment house. If you use a fulfillment house to take, process, and ship your orders, you can have them process the credit cards for you. These companies have their own merchant accounts and will charge you their discount rate plus a couple of percent on top as their fees. This may be a good way to go if you have a low monthly volume, but it is really not cost effective once your business really starts to pick up. Another downside to using this method is that they can only process the credit cards that come in on their 800 lines. They cannot process your online orders. This means that, as a practical matter, you will most likely need to get your own merchant accounts for your online orders anyway. A last method, and not one I would recommend, is to use a third-party biller such a iBill or PayPal. These companies process credit cards for you and then send you a check or automatically deposit the funds into your bank account. The processing fee for this type of service is usually 11-15% of the order total (depending on the volume you are doing). The delay on receiving your payments is usually 30-60 days after the order is processed, so you will have a long wait in the beginning until you start receiving your funds. This may not sound like a good option, but it is a good first step for those who are not sure how to begin. They do not require any set up fees, software, or security deposits. A really compelling reason not to accept payments from a third-party biller is this: if you want to sell something over your website, and you only offer one of these options, if the buyer is not also established with the biller you offer, they will have to go to the company and open an account for themselves. This process can take up to five business days to establish. This means five days that your customer has to wait before they can buy from your website. Whichever option you choose to go with, remember to plan ahead. You don't want to have to "upgrade" your merchant services every month because you started too small. If you can manage it, it is best to go ahead and get your own merchant account for all four major credit cards, and spend the money to buy or lease the software to accept credit cards online. If you set up your website to do this from the beginning, you won't be worrying about downtime later if you need to change the way you are handling your merchant account services.

SECTION 3.3 ORDER FULFILLMENT

The best way to automate the processing and shipping of your orders, especially phone orders, is to choose a fulfillment house. A fulfillment house is a company that will take live phone orders 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for those customers who want to talk to a "live" person. They will process the order, approve the credit card, and ship the order. There are hundreds of fulfillment houses to choose from, and it may be a wise decision to find one in your local area.

SECTION 3.4 SHOPPING CARTS

If you offer more than one or two products, it is an important idea to have a shopping cart on your website. Offering this type of service can more than double your sales. If you only sell a couple of products, a simple order form will do. But if you plan to expand in the future or sell different items, consider setting up a shopping cart from the beginning. However, there is a big problem with having a shopping cart on your system if it is too difficult or frustrating to use and your customers give up and go elsewhere. Then, they not only didn't buy multiple products using your shopping cart, they didn't even buy the ONE product they probably came there for in the first place! There are 4 reasons why someone would "give up" on a shopping cart.

1 BROWSING YOUR PRODUCTS IS DIFFICULT 2 FINDING PRODUCT INFORMATION IS NOT EASY 3 FORMS ARE TOO HARD TO UNDERSTAND 4 LOADING SPEED OF YOUR CART IS TOO SLOW

So you can see, that adding a shopping cart to your site can be a profitable move for your business; however, you need to ensure that you choose the right one. Let's discuss the issues involved with shopping carts, including what they are, and how to choose a good one. What is a shopping cart? A shopping cart in an online store is basically the same as one in a retail store. As you shop in the online store, you can select items to put in your "basket" that you want to purchase. Then once you've picked all of the things you want to buy, you can then proceed to checkout. In this way, you can buy multiple items in one order and process your credit card only once. It will prompt your customer with something like this " Would you like to continue shopping or would you like to check out now?" The virtual shopping cart also totals your order, usually as you go, adds shipping costs and tax. Once you are ready to checkout, it will pass all of this information to the merchant account where your credit card is approved and your order is confirmed. The shopping cart can then generate a customer receipt for the order, and notify the seller that the order is approved and ready to ship.

There are basically three different ways to get a shopping cart on your site. They range from simple to complex. The first is an ASP model. This stands for Application Service Provider. The ASP provides the shopping cart, hosts it on their server and gives you all the necessary software and documentation needed to run it. For a fee, they handle the entire process for your company. If you want to have this option and save some money, the provider I use, Tradeworks, enables me all options with the shopping cart and handles all the details for me. They will host both the shopping cart and the merchant account. The second way to get a shopping cart is to purchase a license for shopping cart software. You will pay a fee upfront for the license and the software, and then you are responsible for installing and hosting the software for your own site. This may be more cost effective for you in the long run, as long as you are happy with the software that you buy. Finally, the last way you can get shopping cart software, is to write your own custom shopping cart software (or have someone write it for you). Most sites do NOT need this level of customization and this is an extremely costly way to go. I don't recommend using this option. You should be able to find an existing shopping cart that suits your needs. So if I exclude the custom software option, you have two options to choose from when selecting your shopping cart software. You may be asking, "How do I decide which option is best for me, and after I pick between ASP and Licensed, how do I choose the actual shopping cart?" I know it seems daunting up front, but I will discuss the major issues to consider when selecting between ASP and Licensed, as well as what to look for in the shopping cart itself. AVAILABLE OPTIONS Before you decide on which way to go, you need to determine which options you will absolutely need to have, and which ones you can live without. The options that are available with both ASP and licensed shopping carts are:
Track products selected, calculates total price including tax, shipping Contain maintenance system that allows you to add, change, delete

items, change prices, add special offers, etc.

Store order detail allowing you access to all information necessary for

order fulfillment
Store customer information in a database Track revenue Have the capability to manage inventory Have the capability for advertising Allow permission marketing

The main difference between the two in the options category, is that the ASP shopping cart may already provide a merchant account, where the licensed software will not. Make sure that, if you have your own merchant account, you double -check that your shopping cart software and your merchant account are compatible. This is NOT a given! You can ask your merchant account provider for a list of compatible shopping carts. CUSTOMIZATION CAPABILITIES You want to make sure that you have some control over the way your shopping cart looks and operates. You may want to add graphics, logos, and colors that match your site. You don't want people to suddenly feel like they've dropped into a different website when they enter your shopping cart. You want them to feel like they've seamless merged to another portion of your site. The options available for customization for both ASP and Licensed carts are as follows: Templates fill in the information, pricing, description etc. Modify HTML utilize "copy and paste" HTML pages that already have the code in place. You can modify the code to customize it to match your page. Wizards easy to use "guides" that will take you step by step through the process of setting up your pages. These options will allow you to change your pages in a basic fashion, so if you want to customize your shopping cart more than this will allow, you may need to access the source code for the software. ASP's may not let you have access to their source code or may have restrictions as to how much functionality you can change. They usually maintain the way their shopping cart works and you may be able to request some changes, but any extreme changes probably will not be allowed. A licensed shopping cart will give you full control over any changes you want to make to the software. You or a programmer will have access to make the changes to the source code in order to customize the program to your specifications. EDITING THE CONTENTS OF THE CART When your inventory or prices change, you must have a way of editing your shopping cart to reflect changes in products, pricing, descriptions, etc. There are two basic ways that shopping cart software allows for these edits: browser based and database. In the licensed shopping cart, you will have all the capability to make your changes utilizing the software itself. ASP shopping carts usually utilize the first method for their customers to make changes; however, some do use the database method.

In the browser-based method, you simply log on to the ASP's website. You will be given access to an administration or maintenance page which will allow you to make all of your changes online and then save them. This then updates your online shopping cart. This is the easier method. The other method of maintenance is the database method of maintenance. This way allows you to keep a database of your inventory and prices on your computer. You can make changes when needed and then upload it to the ASP when you are finished. While not difficult, the browser-based method is more convenient if you don't have tons of different products. A USER-FRIENDLY SHOPPING CART While you are concerned with the products, descriptions, and prices of your shopping cart, your customers want an easy shopping experience. So keep your shopping cart simple and easy to use. You don't want to confuse people. You don't want a slowloading page. You don't want people so lost that they give up. Give your customers what they need to know before they reach your cart. They should already know what they want to buy and how much it costs before they ever click on the "Buy" link. Your website should lead them step by step through the process and make it easy for them to purchase the products they want when they get to your shopping cart. Too many graphics or pages within your shopping cart will make it slow and cumbersome. You want to make sure that it is easy for them to move from the website to the shopping cart and back. This allows them to view more products and make decisions. Note: If you only have one or two, or even five products, it may be more cost effective for you, and easier for your customer, for you to have a simple order form for your customers to fill out. This will allow you to take the money you would have spent on a shopping cart and use it to grow your business. Your customers will also be glad that they can easily order the one or two products they want without wading through a shopping cart. Lastly, one of the most important things that will make a shopping cart user friendly, is to offer a variety of payment and shipping options. I know I have talked about this before, but it's worth repeating. You will lose sales if you don't offer your customers options for payment and shipping.

WHAT TO WATC H OUT FOR Here are some issues to watch for when comparing shopping cart options. Check out consumer reviews of the options you are interested in. Make the cart reviews you choose will allow you the level of customization and changeability that you need for your business. Make sure the payment information is entered over a secure connection. Make sure that your cart is compatible with your merchant account and payment gateway. Also ensure that if you intend to use any other thirdparty software in conjunction with your shopping cart, that the cart is compatible with the other software as well. Find out who you are working with. If you choose to use an ASP shopping cart that provides you a payment gateway, merchant account, and cart, make sure that ASP is the provider for all these services. Some ASPs contract out the merchant account and gateway. If you run into technical issues, you may have three different companies playing the blame game while you lose money.

ASP OR LICENSED? Make sure that when you are making the decision between these two solutions, that you keep your business in mind. Do you have a lot of products or only a few? Will your business go through a lot of growth in the future or will it remain fairly stable? Are your technically inclined or would you rather have someone else handle the technical details? With those questions in mind, look at the pros and cons of the ASP and Licensed software options. ASP PROS
Good for those who do not have a lot of technical/computer knowledge Usually package deals that are all inclusive No compatibility issues between shopping cart, merchant account, or gateway

ASP CONS
Allow less control over the end result, functionality, and "look" of the site May limit you to a certain size, limiting growth if your business grows

rapidly May not work with your ASP, or you are limited to the ASPs that are compatible with the merchant account that you own. Charges a monthly fee

LICENCED SOFTWARE PROS

Allows more control over all aspects of the shopping cart, including functionality and

"look"
Allows more flexibility for growth Cheaper in the long run, pay a one time fee for license LICENCED

SOFTWARE CONS
Not a package deal, must handle compatibility issues between

cart, merchant account, and payment gateway

Not as convenient as ASP

PRICING In the world of shopping carts, the prices can vary anywhere from free to $600 or more. You need to remember that you get what you pay for, and stay away from free shopping carts. They are out there; however, they can cost you a lot in the long run. You may have to spend money on programmers to make your "free" cart work the way you need it to, you will most likely not get any upgrades or documentation, and they usually limit the size of your business quite severely. A "free" shopping cart is not worth the time and money that the hassle will cost you. ASP shopping carts usually charge a monthly fee of around $30-$60. Depending on the company, they may also charge you a set up fee, and/or an annual fee as well. You may also need to purchase your merchant account and payment gateway through the ASP which will cost you around $150-$200, but you may be able to get a discount by going through the ASP to purchase these. Licensed software costs around $200-$600 to purchase. It is a one-time cost that you can even spread out over time by leasing. Leasing arrangements usually take your payments to around $40$50 a month for two years. Once the licensing fee is paid, you will own the software and no longer have to pay for it. You will need to pay for your payment gateway ($20-$60 per month), and you will need to purchase your merchant account which can cost up to $300 or more.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SHOPPING CART SOFTWARE There are a lot of different shopping carts out there, and you need to focus on what will best serve your business. Here is a list of several options that I recommend to get you started on your research. Tradew orks As we've mentioned before, this is my number one recommendation for all of your credit card and shopping cart needs. They can handle your merchant account, payment gateway, and an easy-to-use shopping cart. Tradeworks will handle your compatibility issues and get your cart up and running quickly. They also have great customer service. Quikstore This is a licensed software package that is hosted on your server. It is a great product and costs only $199.95. The flexibility is good. The payment gateway costs extra, but Quikstore suggests one that will be compatible with the software. Contact them at www.quikstore.com. Miva Merchant Another licensed software, but it can be hosted either on your own server or remotely. It also offers good flexibility and allows for good growth. The license fee is $595 and they can be found at www.miva.com. GoEmerchant An ASP that is all inclusive. The merchant account is provided, as well as tools that will help you customize the look of your cart. GoEmerchant charges $59.95 per month and a $29.95 annual fee. www.goemerchant.com. Securenetshop This is another ASP that offers flexibility and a "total" package. The cost of this ASP is $229 per year, plus $149 for the merchant account and payment gateway. Whichever shopping cart you decide to go with, remember that the shopping cart is a reflection on your business, and the impression that your "shopping experience" leaves with your customers is going to stick with them. Take the time to find a good shopping cart that will leave your customers wanting to buy from you again! REMEMBER The importance of automating your business is to create residual income for yourself. Taking positive steps at the beginning of your business will save you some huge headaches as your business progresses. Automation will help your business to succeed and grow. When you apply the techniques of success success is guaranteed.

that your site is up and running efficiently, your text is grabbing all the customers it can, l, and system is automated and running smoothly, lets move on to the next phase of this manual. Marketing your online business and your website is an important part of increasing your profits. You may have plenty of customers and because of the things we talked about earlier in the manual, your site is bringing in a lot of money for you. However, are you interested in sitting back and taking what comes in, or would you like some simple and easy ways to bring in more money? Since you made a wise business decision in purchasing this manual in the first place, I'm going to assume you chose the second option. If so, read on. Sections 4 and 5 are going to talk about a lot of different ways to bring more and more people to your site, and how to get them to buy when they didn't intend to, or to buy more than they intended to. Let's go over the topics that will be discussed in these two sections. SECTION 4

Up-selling and backend selling your products Email marketing that really works Hyperlink Techniques Viral Marketing Newsgroup marketing

SECTION 5

Search engine success Banner Marketing Online auctions Creating residual income Classified advertising Website showcasing

Before I go into the first part of Section 4, I want to make sure that you have set up your site to accept credit cards online. If you haven't, you won't be able to capitalize on the tips and techniques that we will discuss in this section. Take the time to get your merchant account and set up your site to take online credit card orders. You are throwing away money if you do not. These two sections are long, but well worth your attention. The techniques discussed will do more to bring and keep people at your site. Alright, enough said. Let's get on with it!

SECTION 4 Driving Traffic to Your Website Part A

Let's begin this section with two definitions. I want you to be clear on these terms because they are different and you can use both of them in your business. Up-sell offering a customer a deluxe, more expensive, or complementary product during the sale. Backend a product sold to the customer AFTER the initial sale; a separate order entirely. UP-SELL Let's begin with talking about up-selling products. Let me give you an example. When you order a "combo meal" at a fast food restaurant, it comes with a hamburger, regular fries, and a regular-sized drink, right? So what is the first thing the cashier asks when you order that combo meal? "Do you want to 'super' size it for just 29 cents more?" This is up-selling. You are already planning on buying food from them. Your money is in your hand. They want you to buy a more expensive product than the one you originally intended. And most of the time we do. You can take this same concept onto your website. 40% of customers will make the decision to buy the up-sell product (or a second, complementary product) when they only intended to buy one. The way to do this easily and quickly for the customer (and for you) is to program your site to offer the second or third or deluxe version product automatically after the customer fills out your order form. The website will pop up a window after the customer fills out the order form and presses submit. The window will offer them the up-sell product(s). But won't they be irritated that I'm pushing more product on them after they are done ordering? you ask. No, because the pop up window also contains their a confirmation of their original order and a thank-you for ordering. They are ready to put in their credit card number they are in a buying state. It's the perfect time to offer them a complementary product or a deluxe version of the product they have already purchased. The biggest obstacle in online sales is getting the customer to trust you enough to make the FIRST order. Once you have gotten past that barrier, selling the second, or third order is an important way to capitalize on repeat customers who now trust you. BACKEND Backend products are products that you sell to your "repeat" customers. They are people that have order from you in the past, and return to buy a similar product or more of the original product. These repeat customers are the most valuable asset your business can have. 20% of your customers will be responsible for 80% of your products! You already have a relationship with these people. They have purchased from you before and trust you. New customers require a much greater output of time and energy to gain a sale than repeat customers, that is why they are so valuable and worth your time to sell backend products to. WAYS TO UP-SELL AND BACKEND SELL Lose money I know it sounds crazy, but in some cases, if you have many other products to

offer, you can offer the initial product for less than cost to get people to buy the first time. Then once you have these initial customers, you can sell them your backend products for a profit. More people will buy the second time because you've already established a relationship. And they will continue to come back for more and more of what you have to offer. Write a book This idea can be used for up-selling and as a backend product. You can take the time to author a book related to the products you are selling. People are already buying the product, why wouldn't they want to know more about the topic? Videos Offer a special video that complements your products. Instructional videos that teach something related to your product work extremely well as both up-sell and backend. Newsletter If it works for your product, you can offer a subscription to a monthly newsletter related to your product. This will bring you not only repeat customers, but also a residual monthly or yearly income. We discuss this in more detail later in this section. More of the same You can offer your repeat customers more of the same product they purchased earlier at a discounted price. This will keep them loyal and coming back again and again. Complementary products You can offer product that "go with" the product they originally ordered. For example, if they ordered golf balls, you can offer tees at a special price. Different versions of your product If possible, you can create different versions of your product. Offer a "basic" version of a book or software at a low price to generate lots of orders, then a month later, offer a deluxe version with all the information and features for the full price to all of the original customers. You can also up-sell your product at the time of purchase. When the customer purchases the basic version, you can offer the deluxe version at the time of sale. Recommend another product A really good, and little known, tip that can help you make more money each month is to backend sell other people's products or services. This may sound totally opposite to what you want to accomplish, but wait. You only send your customers to sites that are related to your product or that will be of interest to the target market to which your customers belong. In this way, they are gaining value, perhaps adding value to the product they have already purchased from you. "So what do I get out of it?" you ask. You get a percentage of every sale that you send to these other business. You set it all up in advance with the sites you would like to recommend. Simply for recommending that your loyal customers visit these other sites, you will get a check every month! Any money that you get from these "referrals" is pure profit. You don't have to do a thing! Another idea is to have your email server automatically send catalogues to your customer after they buy. You will also receive a "commission" for this type of backend selling. Once it is set up, the whole process requires no time commitment from you. A word of warning however. Make sure that the referrals you are making are reputable companies. The last thing you want to do is lose one of YOUR customers because you recommended a site that didn't live up to its reputation. Once you have established your customers, it is much easier and much less costly to sell to these same customers again. Up-selling and backend selling are key tools to really driving up profits in

your online business. Even if your key product is not consumable, and your customers have no need to buy from you again, you can cash in on the relationship you have developed with them to sell them other products even if they are not related to the original product they purchased. Once again, I highly recommend that you set up a "referral" system on your site to recommend other people's products and services for a commission. This gives you the appearance of an unbiased third party, and people will be more like to examine the offer with an open mind. A good place to start looking for "referral" products is actually your competition. I know it sounds strange, but as long as your competition is not selling the exact same products as you are, recommending other products that they provide keeps your customers within the target market and can be a great place to start. Remember backend selling can be utilized in any business, but the perfect "fit" for backend selling is in a product that your customers will buy again and again. In this situation, you can develop lifetime relationships with your customers and they will continue to buy from you forever. EXAMPLE People buy gift baskets for special occasions and then they give them away. There are always special occasions, so the potential for repeat sales is tremendous. Let's say that the gift basket business has each new customer fill out a survey form in exchange for a free gift basket or some percentage off their order. The customer gives information about the quality of the product, customer service, etc. However, the form also collect information on the birthdays, anniversaries, etc of friends and family. Once this information is in the database, the gift basket owner can set up her software to automatically email the customer when there is a special date coming up. She can make special offers to her baskets with links directly to the order form. There is also software available that can send email "wishes" to the customers on their birthday or anniversary. As a birthday "gift," the gift basket business can offer coupons or special offers to your customers. Your customers would come to rely on this company for their gift-giving needs. Many people forget special occasions, and just the fact that they are reminded by email when there is a birthday or anniversary coming up can gain a lot of customer loyalty. You can see how contacting your customers with backend offers can make you a lot of money over the course of time. A good idea when sending emails to your REPEAT customers, is to either have an order form directly on the email or a direct link to the order form. In this one case, you want to make it easy for them to order. They already know your product and service, you don't have to win their trust again. You don't want them to wade through your sales letter and all of the pages you have set up for new customers. Make it easy and efficient for them to order a second, or third, or fourth time. You see what I mean.

CONTACTING REPEAT CUSTOMERS How often should you contact your customer base? It has been proven by marketing experts that you should keep your business in front of them every 21 days. So how do you do this, without becoming so irritating that they put your emails on their "spam" lists? Here is a list of some ideas to help you to find ways to contact your customers, remind them of your products, and keep them feeling "warm and fuzzy" about your company. IDEAS
Send a weekly tip Offer weekly or monthly contests or drawings Have a discussion or chat room on your site Offer discounts to repeat customers Publish a monthly newsletter with information relating to the target market Send email wishes for birthdays, holidays, etc. Remind them to bookmark your site Allow them to opt for you to email them when you add new information to your site Recommend a complementary product a few days after the first purchase Offer another product in your line 3o days after the initial purchase Send reminders for restocking a consumable product (such as shampoo) when they are

getting low
Send holiday greetings via email, especially the Christmas/Hanukkah/ Kwanzaa holidays Send a customer service email 3o days after purchase asking if they have any

questions, concerns, etc.

Offer new or related products after 90 days Contact them after six months with new information or products Send an "anniversary" email celebrating the one year anniversary of their first

purchase, offer a discount on any purchases

You can use auto-responders to contact your customers after a certain amount of time to offer any of the ideas listed here. Next, we will discuss in detail the ways to go about automating your emails and personalizing them for your customers.

Section 4.2 Email Marketing that Really Works

Email has become one of the most utilized forms of communication in use today! Why? Because its free, its instant, and its everywhere. Think about it. Are you not stunned if someone says they don't have email? Here is a joke (received via email) that will show you how prevalent email use (and general technology) is in the information age. Ways to tell that you are living in the Information Age: Your reason for not staying in touch with family is because they don't have email addresses. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of three. You call your son's beeper to let him know it's time to eat. He e-mails you back from his bedroom, "What's for dinner?" Your daughter sells Girl Scout Cookies via her web site. You chat several times a day with a stranger from South Africa, but you haven't spoken with your next door neighbor yet this year. Your grandmother asks you to send her a JPEG file of your newborn so she can create a screen saver. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home. Every commercial on TV has a web address at the bottom of the screen. You buy a computer and 6 months later it is out of date and now sells for half the price you paid. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't have the first 3o years of your life, is now a cause for panic, and you turn around to go get it. Using real money, instead of credit or debit, to make a purchase would be a hassle and takes planning. You just tried to enter your password on the microwave. You consider second day air delivery painfully slow. You hear most of your jokes via email instead of in person. You get an extra phone line so you can get phone calls. You disconnect from the Internet and get this awful feeling, as if you just pulled the plug on a loved one. You get up in morning and go on-line before getting your breakfast. You wake up at 2 AM to go to the bathroom and check your email on your way back to bed. You're reading this (received via email) Even worse; you're going to forward it to someone else.

You can see, even though it was a joke, a lot of it is true. Your customers are using email and their computers more and more and becoming more reliant on them. You can use this to make contact with them again and again! But stop a minute! A poorly designed email campaign is a dangerous thing. You can anger your customer base, you can be bombed or flamed, you can be accused of spamming and lose your ISP account. You must be careful! That is why this section is so important. You need to plan a successful email marketing campaign so that you can get sales and customers instead of threats and curse words! So to begin with, let's talk about some tools to use to send your emails out. EASY TOOLS TO USE

1 www.eudora.com This is an email client. It takes the time-consuming task of daily email management and makes it very easy. They have three versions to choose from: Sponsored Version provides you with the full-featured version of Eudora for free but there are static onscreen ads that don't interfere with your email workspace. Paid Version provides you with a full-featured version without the ads. Cost is $39.95 before the $10 rebate. Lite Version provides a free, reduced feature version with no ads. There really is no difference in the Sponsored and Paid versions, except the ads, and they are easily ignored. It is important to save your email into different mailboxes for later reference. It's simple with Eudora. This helps to keep your email organized so you don't accidentally miss an important message. You may be getting hundreds of email. You can use many different mailboxes. You should use your Inbox for messages you need to answer immediately. Then they can go to the appropriate mailbox. Stationery Files are templates that you use when you send out the same messages again and again. Save it as a stationery file and send it with "New Message With or Reply With commands. It's easier to open a stationery file and edit it as necessary, than to copy and paste text into an email or type it over again. People usually ask the same types of questions. Easy to use a pre-designed stationery file. That's also one reason many web sites have FAQ, frequently asked questions. It saves time. A simple greeting such as Hello, Hi or Greetings is a recommended way to start your message rather than "to whom it may concern".

Pacific WebWorks This is a program called Channels and it is simple to use. It builds and maintains your lists so you can use them online, and continually backs them up. You can download the files to use as a database if you desire, and you can easily personalize all of your emails for follow-up sales. We've already recommended this tool several times. But it is very important that you automate your business right from the very start. You already know how much time is spent in front of your computer. You don't have time to answer 50 emails a day at 2-10 minutes each. You don't want to be chained to your computer all day. You won't really be cutting corners and saving money by doing everything yourself. Success and free time comes with the automation of your email. So what are the benefits of Channels?
Allows you to personalize your mailings, by merging up to loo fields into your email

messages. (Things like first and last names, product purchased, when purchased, etc) This small benefit makes people assume you really know them. Your message is professional and is less likely to be deleted before it is read.
Automatically places each person's own email address in the "To" field. They realize it

is sent directly to them and is not spam. There is less chance of getting filtered out.
Filters out duplicate addresses and duplicate domain names. You really will look like a

spammer if someone gets duplicate emails. This is such an easy way to edit your customer database.
Starts and stops mailings at any point and picks up exactly where you left off. What

would happen if you lost your Internet connection in the middle of your mailing. You'd not know who had been mailed to already, and you would have to start over at the beginning.
Cleans out your email database and removes undeliverables. Subscribes and unsubscribes people to your newsletter and updates. Automatically replies to incoming mail with the right message. Captures and stores contact information in your custom database. Extracts email addresses from any file on your computer and organizes them into a

simple database.
Automates repetitive chores that take so much time. Runs multiple newsletters from anywhereyou don't have to be at your own computer. Gives your leads a second chance to buy from you by sending them an email. The

more times they hear from you, but more leads you convert into customers.
Channels can be set to send both text and HTML formats at the same time, and

automatically detects which format each subscriber's email browser can read.

So now that you have some ideas of which programs to use for your emailing. How do you begin to use email to really bring in business. There are 3 ways to go about marketing your business.

EMAIL YOUR CUSTOMERS DIRECTLY WITH YOUR SALES LETTER AND ORDER FORM

2 EMAIL YOUR CUSTOMERS DIRECTLY WITH I N F O R M A T I O N T H A T W I L L B E O F I N T E R E S T , T H EN D IR EC T T H E M T O Y O U R SAL E S C O P Y VIA HYPERLINK 3 EMAIL OTHER ONLINE BUSINESS THAT DEAL WITH YOUR TARGET CUSTOMERS AND ARRANGE FOR THEM TO PROMOTE OR SELL YOUR PRODUCT ON THEIR SITES

Whatever method you choose, there are key steps that you should follow to ensure success rather than dismal failure. Target your customers Make sure that the list you use for your email campaign is not a random list of "everyone." You want to make sure that you are targeting the people who will be interested in your products. It is a waste of your money to buy lists that have everyone and their dog on them. The people you should be targeting are people that have opted in to your mailing list, customers and leads, and people that have requested information from your auto-responders. Personalize your emails People are more likely to read your email if it is addressed personally to them, and doesn't look like spam! Consider checking out your software options that will allow you to customize your emails using a database of customer information. Again, I recommend Channels (www.pacificwebworks.com). Have a good subject line! Good subject lines, like good headlines, can make all the difference between an email that someone reads and one that gets deleted. The key is to emphasize benefits. Think about how your product benefits your customers. You can probably take notes from your sales copy. How will they benefit or learn from reading this email? Will it save them money or improve their lives? Your subject line should emphasize these benefits. One of the best subject lines is:

"What's in it for me?"

The first paragraph must count! Summarize your entire sales pitch in the first paragraph. It

may be all your potential customers read. Continue to build the excitement of your subject line by explaining how your product will benefit them. Make them curious enough to read on.
Test it first It is very important to test your email on a small sample of the list before

sending it out to everyone. You can test your headline, opening paragraph, offer, or pricing (one at a time of course) and see what kind of response you get. It really comes down to this do you want to waste your whole list on an email that gets so-so response, when you then find out that your second draft increased your response by 400%??? By sending out "trial run" emails, you can test all parts of your marketing campaign cheaply and easily, saving you time and money in the long run
Easy reading Make sure that your email is easy to read or people will click the

delete key. Keep your emails simple and neat with lots of white space. Don't use

technical terms that will confuse your potential customers. Don't use all caps. It's hard to read and considered "yelling" in the world of email and chat. Avoid text art and graphics as some older email programs may not support them. Another good idea is to offer your opt-in customers the option of choosing plain text or HTML. For those whose computers can support it, HTML emails can really increase your sales because you can make them look so nice. But you don't want to send HTML emails to everyone, since some email programs are not set up to handle it, and some people do not want to wait for a larger email to download from their mail server.
Easy to reply Make sure that the email addresses and URL's listed in your

email are easy for the customer to click directly on. Most email programs will automatically pull up a new mail message or a new browser window if your links are set up correctly. Email hyperlinks should include the "mailto:" prefix. This will allow the email program to launch a new email making it easy for customer replies. URLs should include the "http://" so that the program will launch the browser and go directly to the site mentioned. You should also try to keep all of your web addresses in lower case to avoid confusion with upper versus lower case. And be careful not to put a period after a URL. You don't want the computer thinking the period is part of the web address. EXAMPLE http://www.creativecrafts.com

Sign your emails Develop an electronic signature to attach to the bottom of all of your emails. It's also called a "sig file". Include your auto-responder address, your email address, your telephone number, company name, etc. This is free advertising if you use it correctly. Use it to "sign" your name to any posting you make in mailing lists or forums. It is legitimate information that you now have available to anyone who reads your posts. While blatant advertising is frowned upon, your electronic signature is a good way to get your company information out there. Make sure that you include your URL, email address, and a description of what you have to offer (again, emphasize benefits). You may even consider leaving a phone number. Try to limit your signature to 6 lines. More than this is considered bad etiquette and may be cut off on some lists. Use a variety of sig files to target different customers, newsgroups, lists, etc. It makes for very effective advertising. ASCII art or text art or line art may look good to you on your screen, but you have no control over what it looks like on a distant customer's

EXAMPLES

Jane Doe - "Creative Crafts for You" Phone 888-123-4567 jdoe@creativecrafts.com Fax 555-123-7654 http://www.creativecrafts.com Fun and Festive Crafts for Home, Office, School Free Ideas for Fun Crafts for All Ages

A border is an effective way to draw attention so they can contact you.

Sign up for my FREE newsletter and receive monthly tips with fun crafts to do at home! Creative Crafts for You http://www.creativecrafts.com jdoe@creativecrafts.com Phone 888-123-4567 Fax 555-123-7654

Try different signature styles to market to different customers and tailor your email slogans, messages, and signature specifically for these particular customers. OPT-IN EMAIL IS THE OPPOSITE OF SPAM When people voluntarily sign up for your email, they are 'opting-in' they have specifically requested information from you, so your messages are not spam, junk, or unsolicited email. When they have given you permission to contact them, it greatly increases your online sales by creating a steady flow of traffic to your web site. Opt-in email lists fall into these categories:

New Content notification They will be notified when there is something new. People

usually don't sign up for this. They bookmark your site, but don't usually come back to it.
Free Reports & eBooks Capture an email when someone downloads an eBook, or

they want to sign up for free books. You can capture their email address when they download an eBook you've written using eBook Pro (http://www.ebookpro.com). People target themselves and show they're interested in your product or information when they request it or download it.
Your Customer Database You already have a proven track record with these people,

so don't forget them. It's easier to sell a second or more times when they already trust you.

 Contests/Sweepstakes/Surveys You have probably given your name and address

information to enter some contest at least once. People like to enter contests because they want to win something. People will answer surveys because they want to give their opinion about something. These are good ways to get information for your opt-in list.
Free e-zine or newsletters This is a good way to get your name in front of your

customers again. A free subscription to a newsletter that is worthwhile, will bring them back to your website again and again.
Updating Issues or resources Most people don't keep up to date on various issues,

even if they are interested in them. By sending regular updates, it keeps them reminded of you.

HOW TO COLLECT TARGETED EMAIL ADDRESSES First of all, don't just collect e-mail addresses. It's a waste of effort, and you could be accused of spamming. Secondly, you get a much better response from a targeted list of previous customers, newsletter subscribers, and visitors who have opted-in to your email database. You can gather them from your website guestbook, free offers, auto-responder logs (people who have requested information from you in the past), and anyone who has asked for more information. These people will not accuse you of spamming, because they have given you their e-mail addresses. The Channels software is the best way to gather the e-mail addresses you need. With a few clicks you can send follow-up letters to these people. Collecting addresses from other groups and chat areas is a bad idea; they are usually protective of their privacy and don't want ads clogging their email. They have not given you permission to use their addresses and WILL accuse you of spamming. There are many places and websites from which to obtain addresses, but many people now use software that automatically deletes email from unknown users. So its best to use the email addresses of those people who have already dealt with you. RENTING TARGETED OPT-IN EMAIL LISTS There are companies who provide many hundreds or thousands of email addresses of people who have "opted" to receive email on topics that interest them. There is a small charge, but you should definitely find out how the email addresses were obtained first. If they were not ethically and responsibly collected by giving their permission to be opted-in, the same accusation will apply as to spamming. These companies offer targeted opt-in email lists:

http://www.postmasterdirect.com http://www.focalex.com http://www.yesmail.com http://www.e-target.com http://www.list-universe.com

Testing is the only way to know how successful your campaign is going to be. Buying hundreds of names could be very expensive, so be sure your sales process is working well before you send out your ad to an email list of thousands. Develop a relationship with these people with quality information, or free offers or something of value before you try to "hard sell" them. The email address is not what is important, it is the relationship that you develop with the person. It is the sales copy that is the success or failure. You can send out 10,000 promotions, but if your copy doesn't inspire or influence them to do something, you still have zero. Test your sales copy before you mail it to your entire list. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SPAM AND BULK EMAIL Spam is unsolicited commercial email (UCE) sending email out to people indiscriminately. You have no relationship with these people and probably won't get one either. Harassing your potential customers is not a good way to close sales. You may get ads that say you can get 20 million email addresses. "It's a great deal for $200, because even if you get only 1% response, you will still make 200,000 sales and that could be a lot of money for you." They'll give you lots of fancy numbers and it sounds great, but this is all a big lie. You may be lucky if you receive 1 sale for every 100,000 emails you send out. You more than likely will be shut down by your ISP due to complaints, their mail server being clogged or other problems. DON'T DO IT!! These are most likely addresses harvested without permission, and sending to them is spamming. Bulk email involves emailing your previous customers, newsletter subscribers, opt-in lists, people who have willingly given you their addresses. This is an accepted and profitable marketing strategy that can really help your business grow. SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHING A BULK EMAIL CAMPAIGN

Email your targeted opt-in email list Consider offering something FREE Offer the reader a benefit, make it short and to the point Follow the formatting and etiquette ideas we've discussed Make it easy to reply to with: "reply to this email" or call our Boo number

or visit our website at www.xyzcompany.com

Save the selling for your web site, email only get their attention

Your own targeted list of customer is a low risk for problems. Perhaps someone has forgotten that they subscribed to your list and complains. Just email them a polite apology and explanation and remove them from your list. A personalized "Dear Suzy" email is always better than "Dear Everyone." They feel more important and realize that you know them.
Always identify yourself with your full name, address, and your phone number. Provide a valid email address From so people can reply to you.

 Remove anyone who requests to be removed immediately! Provide opportunity to opt-out of your database and keep it up to date.

Emailing to people with whom you have no direct relationship is a medium risk. Probably they will want to hear from you. But these people come from lists that you purchase. You will probably receive some complaints. If you are offering to advertise on their sites, they probably won't mind, but if you try to sell something, they may complain. There are some people who will complain no matter what you do. You can't please everyone. High risk emailing is trouble. This is emailing to lists harvested from newsgroups or forums classified ads, etc. Don't do it.

SPAM LAW There really is a law in the United States that limits the use of unsolicited email, otherwise known as spam. It was passed on July 18, 2000 and states that you cannot send people unsolicited email (spam) unless you include a return email address that the recipients can use to opt-out of your email database. It also includes provisions that allow consumers who continue to receive spam after optingout to take their complaint to the Federal Trade Commission....or to sue the offending company in state or federal court. So you might not only have to deal with angry recipients, being shut down by your ISP, you can also now be SUED. BLIND CARBON COPY This BCC field won't show the entire list of addresses in the "To" or "CC" fields. Many people now assume this to be spam, if their own address isn't in the "To" field and automatically delete it. Don't use this field; people will delete your great sales copy even before they see it. Using a program like Channels that puts each individual email address in the TO field, will greatly increase your chances of your sales copy being read. Another problem with BCC fields and bulk mailing is that it is very slow. If the server is busy, it can take a couple of days before all your messages get out. If you use Channels, you will have very few problems, because of the protection mechanisms in place within the software. Channels is hosted online, so it continues to send your mailing even if you turn off your computer. Even if you follow all the rules and do bulk mailings, you may still receive angry messages from people who think your emails are spam. A Flame is a nasty message saying things like "Go to #$$% and stop sending me spam!!" Or "You %$#@@ I'm billing you $50 for wasting my time." They probably will have misspelled words and poor grammar. DON'T respond to them. It's better to ignore them, remove them from the list and move on. A Bomb is some person's angry attempt at revenge. They may send you a very large file that takes eons to download or more than one large file. The filters within Channels deletes these nasty messages before you even see them, and even removes the address, so they never receive a message from you again. The secret to running a successful

online business is to automate as much of it as you can. Put up a simple CGI script designed to Tcapture names and email addresses on your web site. You can get great CGI scripts for free. The information can be sent to your email address and then added to your database. You can go to http://cgi.resourcesindex.com and look up "Mail list management" to find many free scripts. Software that subscribes and unsubscribes people from your list automatically is a good idea. However, Channels can create a "web form" that will automatically do the same thing. You don't want to have to do this manually. When people opt-in to your mailing list, with an auto-responder you would automatically send them a confirmation to:

Remind them that they signed up and asked to be on your list. Let them know how to unsubscribe. Restate the benefits they will get from being on your list. Let them know how often they may hear from you. Confirm that you will not sell or let anyone else use their email address.

With Channels, it is simple to merge your messages with your list and click "Send." CUSTOMER SERVICE Most of your customer service will be done with well you run your business you will always get a few you handle these complaints will affect your profits. Explain clearly your return policy in your web site. your customers. It's really frustrating to order satisfied, and then not find it easy to get recourse on because you are really dissatisfied. email. No matter how complaints and how

Make it easy for something, not be it, or unsubscribe

Customer complaints are not personal insults. If you make a customer happy in the way you handle their complaints, you have probably created a loyal customer who will continue to purchase from you. You have to gain their trust and respect, so they know that they can depend on you in the future. Refund immediatelydon't put them off. You may actually end up losing money, but I promise you, it will pay off in the future.

There is an idea in sales, that a satisfied customer will tell at least two other people, but a dissatisfied customer will talk to about 20.
It's worth the effort to be prompt and pleasant. The majority of times, they will purchase again from you.

Section 4.3 Hyperlink techniques

In real estate, the clich is "location, location, location." Giants in business have their businesses everywhere. Online should be no different. Amazon.com is a perfect example. Their business is at every major web "intersection." Well thought-out linking techniques attract large amounts of targeted traffic. If you put your site on major web "intersection," you will ensure that your site receives a steady flow of potential customers. When people access their favorite web site and find a link to your site, they believe your business to be credible too. They click to your web page and are open to your offers, because your credibility was established back at their favorite page, long before they got to yours. We discussed linking as a strategy to help you improve your search engine rank as well.
Your linking prospects must be researched Web sites that deal directly with YOUR

target market should have some good information you can use. Their home page (URL), address, name of owner, email address, brief description of what the site is about. Collect detailed information you can use to request a link with them. The more information you include, the more personal it will be and more likely that they will take it seriously. Use a table or database to organize your list You need to stay organized so you know from who youve requested a link, who has requested one from you, and who you need to contact again. Set up a database right from the start.

Divide your prospects into 2 lists and rate them

PRIMARY LIST Those sites you most want a link from an ideal customer. You want them complimentary, not competitive to yours. This is when you want to collect those extra bits of personalized information to use in contacting them. SECONDARY LIST These are still related to your target market, but not as focused or maybe don't have as high traffic. They can still be valuable though.

Write a personalized email to your Primary list Comment on their web site, describe

who you are and why you're emailing them, emphasize the "win-win" potential of your relationship. Give details about how a link to your site will be of benefit to their customers. Give details about how easy it is to link, and be sure to give them your contact information. Make it as personalized as possible. Make a template of this letter where you can quickly fill in the blanks.

EXAMPLE Hi [first name] I visited your web site at [insert URL here] and noticed that your resource page has [insert personal comments] I want to mention that we have a web site that educates customers on [insert stuff] by providing them with really quality articles at [http://www.yoursite.com]. T h i s w o u l d o b v i o u s l y f i t p e r f e c t l y i n t o y o u r resource center, and I'm sure your visitors would appreciate you providing them with such valuable information that will save time and money. They'll view your web site even more favorably and be likely to return again and again. It's clearly a win - win situation for both of us. Linking to my site is extremely easy. All you have to do is... The best part about this is that link could funnel traffic to your website for years to come. So take plenty of time to work on building mutually beneficial relationships with them. Write a personalized email to your secondary list You don't need to spend much time on their web sites, but become familiar with them so you can personalize each letter. You have to organize your table or database so that you CAN personalize and keep track of what you do. Be persistent, keep trying If they don't respond to your first email, up the ante. Offer to exchange links. If you are co-operative business, not competitive, it might work. Give them the exact HTML code to put in their web page. Don't just say "let's exchange links". The easier it is for them to link to you, the higher the probability that they will. If they have to go thru several emails to get the specifics out of you, they may not do it. Be sure you have a contact telephone number in your message, and the hours they can call you. Talking directly to people helps to build the rapport and credibility necessary to get the link. This technique is extremely valuable. It will bring you more visitors every month. Just look at how effective it is when you surf the net, you almost always click on a link and go somewhere else.
Make it simple You really don't want to surf the web and manually record the information

you find. It takes way too much time. The following tools make it extremely quick and easy.

THREE WEBSITES 1 www.linkpopularity.com Type in your URL here at LinkPopularity and find how many sites are currently linked to yours and which ones they are. You can find out who is linking to your competition This helps you know from whom you want to ask for links.

2 www.alexa.com Alexa is a free web navigation service to provide you with information about each web site you visit the companies you consider making a purchase from and all your competitors. It allows you to surf smarter and more efficiently by adding human intelligence to web navigation.

Traffic tells you how much traffic the site you are viewing receives. A very good point, you wouldn't want to guess how much traffic a site gets when Alexa can get it for you. Ranking This software uses a "5 star" ranking system to show how much traffic each web receives. If a site has 2 or more stars, you probably want to establish a link with it. Contact Info Alexa provides contact info on each site that you visit. Site stats Provides you with popularity and speed ratings, third party ratings, and reviews. Related Links Alexa suggest related links relevant to the one you're on, based on the actions of people before you. One Page Report Alexa's data for any given URL is available as a one page report. Everything is right there for you.

Alexa allows you to edit or remove your web site information. As users move from one site to another, Alexa is anonymously tracking their decisions so everyone in the Net community can benefit from them. Finding top linking partners is easy this way. Check it out, you'll love it.

3 www.pacificwebworks.com It's very important that every link request you email is personalized. It makes you look more professional, and the owners will take it seriously, and not think it is just another case of spam. People do business with people they like, so you want a favorable impression of you and your business. Personalize your "link requests" by using Pacific Webworks' Channels program to merge the contact information into a custom email.

AN A FFILIATE PROGRA M OF YOUR OWN I will fully discuss affiliate programs in Section 6, but I just want to make a quick note here. What would it be worth to you to have many, many people linked to your web site, promoting your product and service, and it doesn't cost you anything unless they make a sale? The links generated by a good Affiliate program will significantly increase your link popularity which helps you to secure your top position in the search engines. HERE'S A TIP Don't offer reciprocal links often. Links send your traffic away from you, and you don't want your site to become cluttered. Add links to your site that add value to your own. Inferior site links detract from YOUR credibility. Be prepared to raise the stakes if some site owners expect a cut of each sale. If those customers generated by that link purchase from you, then you can sell to these customers again and again, and keep all the profit. If you had to change your domain name for some reason, be sure to put a redirect page on the old domain name. You may have traffic from the old one that you've never known about. Develop a schedule. Email link requests to new sites every week. You must be consistent. People who forget or delete your initial request may have to be reminded. Do some work on building your database and test and refine your letters, especially to your secondary list. It helps you improve before you start requesting from the Primary list. Don't email your entire secondary list right away. Test your messages on a small number of contacts. If your letter isn't very influential, you'll still have many to try a new letter on. It sometimes takes a month or two to research high traffic targeted sites, and convincing them to link to you. You may have to use phone, email and fax. But they may generate thousands of visitors to your site. Think very strongly about using this technique. It's worth the effort!!

Section 4.4 Viral Marketing

You know how a flu virus can spread from one person to many others? Viral marketing is like that. It allows you to exponentially increase your visibility online by turning your existing network of clients and newsletter subscribers into a giant, word-of-mouth, referral machine. Hotmail is a very good example of viral marketing. Very simply, they added a small Hotmail advertisement to the bottom of every email sent by a user of the Hotmail system.

EXAMPLE

Get Your Private, tree Email from MSN Hotmai

The person receiving an email from the user of Hotmail thinks this must be a good idea, because his friend has an account with them. So he signs up too, by clicking on the link. Hotmail has developed the ultimate referral system. Users advertise and promote it every time they send an email. In 12 months, Hotmail built a multi-million business using this one simple viral marketing technique. Viral marketing is a very good technique to copy. It exponentially increases the visibility of your business. People like to tell about their experiences, especially online, even more so than a good restaurant. With a good quality product or service, consumers are more than willing to tell others. And the power of these referrals lies in the snowball effect they can have on you business. Mirabilis, an Israeli-based company, signed up twelve million instant messaging subscribers to its ICQ (I seek you) service, and then AOL bought them out for about $300 million. The reason it works is, that in order to use ICQ, both you and your friends must download the client software, so everyone persuades family and friends to do the same. Credibility and trust are built when people spread the message about your product or service. They are giving you a personal recommendation, and this is powerful. People are very open to these third-party recommendations, because someone they know has already tried it. People who learn about your business from a friend or relative already trust you. Amazon.com uses this technique all the time. Every time someone buys something from them, they encourage you to send a gift to a friend or family. With every gift you send, Amazon.com includes a flyer that promotes their products. It's a very subtle, but effective endorsement for Amazon.com. Viral marketing actually compels people to DO something about your marketing message rather than just listen to it, or watch it. This helps one to absorb it, remember it, and repeat it. Kind of like telling a joke you've heard. You'll remember it better if you repeat it, soon after hearing it. Keeping advertising costs low is one of your goals, and viral marketing does this well. Your customers do your advertising for you.

Like the old children's game of telephone, repeating what is whispered to you all down the line, messages really can get mixed up. Viral marketing online is easier to keep the same message intact and weeks or months later, it is still the same. If you were to put at the bottom of a newspaper article "Please share this with a friend," more than likely, they would not cut it out and give the actual text to their friend. So they would just tell their friend about it, and then the message has been slightly altered. Online, this is easily solved. At the end of your newsletter online, your suggestion is: "If you know someone who might enjoy this, click here now to email it to them." They can send it to several friends with just an easy click. And your message stays the same. WHY VIRAL MARKETING WORKS SO WELL We've all passed on a joke we've received by email, that has been forwarded several times. Why? It makes us laugh, and we want to share the humor. The benefits of that are that our friends know we have a good sense of humor. Benefits are the driving force of viral marketing. If people are to spread the word about your product or service, they must stand to benefit from it. Hotmail users don't mind the ad at the bottom of their emails, because they have use of a free account.

IMPORTANT POINTS FOR SUCCESSFUL VIRA L MARKETIN G BlueMountain almost invented viral marketing. BlueMountain.com is a huge e-card company. In 10 different languages, you can send anyone a card of literally thousands of choices with voice, photo, animation etc. Your friend receives an email with an announcement that a special card has been prepared for them by you. They click on the URL to go see it. It's delightful, and fun, and at the bottom of the page, they are asked if they would like to send a card to someone as well. Probably they will. The cycle goes on....

THE VIRAL CYCLE

It has to be easy to pass on. If they have to do too many things to get it

accomplished, they probably won't bother.

It shouldn't cost people anything to pass it on. Hallmark.com made the mistake of charging

people for the e-cards at the beginning, and it really affected their growth. Who wants to pay for email? I'm not saying that you should give your service away for free, it's just that the viral aspect of your marketing should be free.
Design it with your niche market's interests in mind. It must have appeal to your direct

target market, if you're into cars and your viral marketing is along the line of something totally different, it won't be of much benefit to you or them.

 It must have a benefit. The email must have a benefit to the people who share your

message, so that they will pass it along.

Get their email. You want a way to contact theses people again, with their permission, of

course, by capturing their email addresses. By contacting them again, with some offer, you will be able to develop a relationship with them, and they are then potential customers.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR MESSAGE VIRAL It is easy to add viral aspects to your marketing message which will increase your sales. Add a message at the bottom. Add a message at the bottom of a free article that you give away, with a "pass-it-on" link in it. In your newsletter or e-zine, put "Do you know someone who would be interested in reading this article?" Click here to email it to them!" You don't even need to have a newsletter, just write a short article that has value to your target market, with the "pass-it-on" link at the bottom. A free demo version of your product works well. You see free trial versions of software all the time. How about a sample chapter of your information? Be sure to add the link that allows them to get the full version of this product right away, by clicking it. Once they've tried it, you want to make it very easy for them to buy. Free trial of your service works the same way. How often have you shopped in a grocery store where there are free samples to taste? You go around and hit every table, don't you? The best part about this one, is that the person must come to your web site to get a real "taste" of your product or service.
Contests bring in traffic. This is a good way to capture contact info. Allow them to

enter their friends also, but there has to be a benefit for them to do so. Tell them, each time they enter a friend, they will be entered again.
Start Your Own Affiliate Program. This allows other people to promote your product

or service. For every sale they make, they get a referral fee. These affiliates send visitors to your web site by way of your banner ads, links, etc and you can track these people with special software, and pay the referral fee to the affiliate. It's really good, because you are only paying for results. It doesn't matter how many affiliates you have, you still only pay them when they make a sale for you. This is a very, very good way of making your marketing "viral" and increasing your exposure on the web. More on affiliate programs in Section 6.

REMEMBER Give the visitor some benefit by sharing, and TELL them to share; they may not think of it themselves.

are you taking notes? Have you said to yourself, "Hey that would work for my site?" Find ways to tailor these ideas to your particular situation. Each one of these ideas that you put in place will bring in money each month. Find a way to make it work for you! Once you taken some time to think about how the ideas in Section 4 will work in your situation, read on to the exciting ideas presented in Section 5. You will continue to learn the secrets of getting people to visit your website!

SECTION 5 Driving Traffic to Your Website

5.1 SEARCH ENGINE SUCCESS Search engines are programs that use spiders or robots and bots to "crawl" the web and automatically index your web sitecheck it out and record what's there. This is done based on mathematical formulas, and each search engine uses different formulas to achieve their individual results. Every netrepreneur wants lots and lots of traffic, as this is your potential customers. The first place most e-businesses go is to a search engine or two. From the statistics collected, anywhere from 20% to 80% of visitors to your website got there from a search engine. However, most web surfers never go beyond the top 30 results they find. So wouldn't it be very important to be near the top of the list? Top positions are not easily obtained, unless you know the "right" techniques, and especially while this advertising is still free. Search engines are already finding ways to charge for high rankings and bold listings. Again, it's time to hurry without delay. In order to be found, you MUST submit your site to the search engines. They do index sites and pages that haven't been submitted, but you can't leave this to chance. It may take a year or more for them to find you. It still can take from 2 to 6 weeks, AFTER you submit, for your listing to appear. The mathematical formulas that the search engines use are constantly changing, so you need to check on your listing and maintain it, if you want to generate lots of traffic. DIRECTORIES A directory is just like the Yellow Pages. Some person creates and maintains the compilation of web sites, rather than a robot. Editors review submitted sites, and then place them in the proper section. Yahoo is the best known directory, with major and sub-topics. Other directories are: Open Directory Project They use many volunteer editors, so have lots of input. AOL Search, Direct Hit, HotBot, Google, Lycos, Netscape Search, and many others use their input. (www.dmoz.org) Ask Jeeves You can ask questions in plain English and receive links to sites that are relevant to your question. (www.askjeeves.com)

LookSmart This has been compared to Yahoo and inputs to MSN, Excite, Alta Vista, CNN.com, Netscape Netcenter and others. (www.looksmart.com)

META SEARCH ENGINES These are programs that gather search results from multiple search engines simultaneously. They rank a web site based on the combined ranking in all the included search engines. So if you want a top spot, you'll need to ensure that you are well ranked in all the search engines used by the META search engine. MetaCrawler Simultaneously searches Google, AskJeeves, lnktomi, About, Overture, FindWhat and others. (www.metacrawler.com) Dogpile This is the most commonly used META search engine. It searches 3 databases at a time. (www.dogpile.com) You don't have to submit your site to META search engines, because they are already searching other major search engines. Top spots in the major search engines, ensures you a top spot in their results.

SPECIALTY SEARCH ENGINE/DIRECTORIES These offer alternative to the major search engines. They are devoted to a particular subject or niche. Legal Aid For Women Sports Business Music www.findlaw.com www.wwwomen.com www.sportsearch.com www.b2bexcite.com www.ubl.com

MORE IS NOT BETTER There are so many search engines, don't try to submit to too many. Focus on the top eight, and optimize your position. Yahoo! Google Alta Vista AllTheWeb Excite HotBot Northern Light WebCrawler www.yahoo.com www.google.com www.altavista.com www.alltheweb.com www.excite.com www.hotbot.com www.northernlight.com www.webcrawler.com

SEARCH DIRECTORIES When you submit to LookSmart, your web site will be listed in all these search engines.

LookSmart MSN Excite AltaVista About CNN

www.looksmart.com www.msn.com www.excite.com www.altavista.com www.about.com www.cnn.com

When you submit to Inktomi, your web site will be listed in all these and more engines.

Inktomi HotBot MSN Overture Goo LookSmart

www.inktomi.com www.hotbot.com www.msn.com www.overture.com www.goo.ne.jp www.looksmart.com

Focus on the first three search engines, they are the high traffic engines.

Open Directory AOL Lycos HotBot Google

www.dmoz.com www.aol.com www.lycos.com www.hotbot.com www.google.com

Submitting your website to the top eight search engines, as well as to the directories is a good idea. You must give each search engine just what they want for a top ranking. They may share the same databases, but they may still use different mathematical formulas to rank the sites. Optimize your web site for each of the top eight.

RANKING WEB SITES Since each site uses different formulas to arrive at their results, what might put you near the top on some, may rank you very low on another. However, these are the main factors that the search engines consider.

LINK POPULARITY Lycos, Excite and AltaVista and the "web pages search portion" of Yahoo all use a ranking system that measures and ranks the number of links that are directed towards a particular web site. In other words, link popularity as well as the quality of links are a heavy factor.Therefore, the more high traffic links you have pointing to your site, the more traffic your site will generate. Your site will be perceived as being popular, and will be ranked higher.

YOUR DOMAIN NAME Having keywords in your domain name, allows search engines to find you fast. They love URL's with keywords. This is a key factor, now that domain names can be registered with up to 67 characters, it's easy to get a better ranking with key words in your domain name.You may not know that search engines prefer URL's with hyphens, but visitors prefer them without. So register both. KEYWORDS AND KEY PHRASES These are so important. If you choose words that are too general or too highly competitive (like business, internet, software), your target market will never find your web site. It is your keywords that the search engines look for. The look at the keywords in your Title Tags, Meta Tags, and the body of your text when they rank your web site. They will also use your keywords to categorize your web site. Choose keywords that your target market is also using. URL IDEAS Brainstorm. That means writing down every idea you can come up with, no matter how silly it might sound at first. Working with others allows one of you to add to some idea, and come up with a brilliant idea. Ask family, friends and associates what words they would use to search for your products. Be specific as well as general. For instance, if you were selling golden retriever puppies, you would use the following keywords: dogs, dog, puppy, puppies, golden retriever, goldens, golden retriever puppies, pets, etc. How many times have you seen misspelled words? Many people misspell some words, so include them also. It would bring traffic to you that your competitors might miss. Use as many variations of your keywords as you can think of. Include both the long and short form of the words also. Ex: pup, pups, puppies. Search engines are case sensitive, so you would use Pup as well as pup. Include your company name, but don't use trademark names other than your own. If you use trademark names, it could ban you from the internet, as well as bring on a potential lawsuit. Check out what keywords other competitors are using in their web sites, titles and META tags. Check out their strategies by clicking on "View" in your browser when visiting their web site, and choose "Source." Sometimes, the same sites and pages keep popping up when you search

particular keywords. Use their keyword ideas to further expand your own and improve your own website. Their web sites may be using very complex tactics to hide their Source Codes from competitors, and some have even put up "dummy" Source Codes to distract you. So when you find a web site that is consistently a top ranking, but the source code seems a little off, and different from others, this is probably why. WORD TRACKER WordTracker is a free service that track related keywords. It collects the search results from 24 major search engines and compiles them into a database that continually is updated. It is organized into useful reports based on the keyword searches that you do. Simply type in your keyword and it returns a list of related keywords or phrases. It will probably have some you haven't thought of. It tells you how many times that word or phrase was searched in the last 24 hours. It also estimates how much traffic your site could expect to get in 24 hours, if you were ranked in a top position in the search engines under that keyword. It allows you to accurately rank your keywords in the order of their importance, instead of guessing. It even tells you which misspelled words are drawing traffic. It has also been designed to tell you how many web sites are competing under a keyword in a particular search engine. Suppose you found that from your keyword, there are 234,500 other sites competing under that same keyword. It might be difficult to get a top ranking with that many competitors.However, from WordTracker, you might get a related phrase and use another popular term that has only 45 sites. This would be a much better keyword for you to use to optimize your ranking. Words not used by your competitors have a much better chance of directing traffic to you. It is free, if you limit yourself to AltaVista. However, the paid version charges by day or by week, with monthly and yearly subscriptions available. This is the best way to find those overlooked keywords and misspellings your competitor hasn't yet noticed. You may not need it more than a week. Check it out: www.wordtracker.com

Keyword Density This means how many times your keyword "dog" appears

throughout your website as compared to all of the other words. Are you "wordy" with everything else and not mention your keyword very many times? Don't just keep saying your keyword, either. That's called "keyword stuffing."
META tags META tags are messages that are coded into the HTML of your web page, but

never displayed on the web browsers or seen by visitors. Only the search engines can see them. META tags tell any spider that visits, how to catalog your website based on your preferred description and the choice of keywords. Some search engines put a lot of weight on META tags, so this is a good opportunity to use your carefully chosen keywords. Be sure to use words that are not unrelated, and don't use it too many times.
Title tags This is MOST important when it comes to securing a top spot in the

search engines. Title tags display the title of your web site in the top of your visitor's browsers. Place your web site title within the <TITLEx/ TITLE> tags of your source code. If you use ineffective titles such as my home page or nowzoo3, you are not utilizing a very important technique.Your title has to have some meaning. If a visitor bookmarks your web site, he will want to know later on, after he has forgotten it, what it actually is, or you'll never see them again. Use a keyword in your descriptive title. Search engines love them.

When manually submitting your web site to the directories, and you have multiple categories that apply to your site, choose those categories alphabetically. Many directories' search results are sorted alphabetically.

SUBMITTING TO SEARCH ENGINES So what are your options for getting your site submitted to all of these different search engines? You have several different options. Some are worthwhile, some are not.
Use a free submission service. They promise you many submissions for free. But it

isn't a good deal. You never get anything of value for free. You can't get a top ranking position free. Remember, I said that there are different criteria for each search engine. If you submit the exact same info to each one, if won't be of any value at all.
Use a low-cost automated submission service. This is as good as the free one.

Automated means submitting the exact same info to many more search engines, without being optimized for their individual requirements. You'd never get in the top io this way. Do it yourself. Do it yourself by manually submitting your web site information to each individual search engine. This way, you ensure you have met the specific requirements for each of them individually. This is very time consuming and labor intensive, because you have to research and meet each individual requirement. There also are no professionals you can ask to verify that you are using the most up to date techniques, as most search engines change their formulas almost on a daily basis. Use a professional search engine consultant. They don't come cheap, but are very worth it. They will educate you and work with you to maximize your exposure in each search engine. They are up to date on all the latest tricks and will share them with you. The charge is usually from $60o to $900. They evaluate your web site, help you design keywords and content, give tips and pointers and maximize every single field in the search engine submission forms. They provide a written report 90 days later to you, so you know where your sites are ranked. Usually the traffic generated by a top position will more than pay for the cost of the professional consultant. Some web-development companies will offer to submit your web site as a bonus for hiring them. It's about the same as using the free submitting service. They are not professional search engine consultants. They design web sites, not market them. There's a big difference. It's almost impossible to go back and change your listing once you've been accepted by a search engine, so DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME. Using software to submit. This is about the same as the free and low cost submission services. Your site is never optimized, and you never secure the top ranking you need. HELPING YOU MONITOR YOUR RANKING ON SEARCH ENGINES Some will take weeks to include you in their database, others take only a day or two. If you had to spend your time looking at each one to find yourself, you're taking away from time that can be doing something more important. There is software, like Web Position Gold that has a built in scheduler that turns itself on and automatically monitors your position. It generates reports that show you where your web site ranks in each search engine, under keywords, specific phrases and corrects problems. It even monitors where your competitors are ranked in relation to you.

If you offer more than one product or service on your web site, each "page" should get well ranked under the appropriate keywords so that you are getting maximum exposure in the search engines. Develop an individual page for each product under it's own set of keywords. This gives you a better chance of top positions.

EXAMPLE Give You have 6 products you are marketing and want to be in the io top search engines; you are using 15 keywords and phrases. That means 6 products x 15 keywords x 10 search engines = 900 positions You DON"T want to have to monitor these every day or week. Use WebPosition Gold. It automatically does this for you. You would have no idea that one of your web pages has been gradually slipping down the ranks, but with this software, you can correct it. Remember, web surfers generally do not look beyond the top 30 sites. PAY-PER-CLICK SEARCH ENGINES These are much like auctionsthey allow you to bid for top-ranking positions under keywords of your choices. You pay whatever you bid for each visitor who searches under your keyword and clicks onto your website. Prices range from a penny to many dollars per click. You only pay for advertising that worksonly when someone clicks on your web site. pay-Per-Click Search engines list your site within hours or days at the most. You only need to outbid other sites in order to get the #1 ranking position. The trick though, is choosing your maximum bids based on the monetary value of one visitor to your web site. If you bid more than a visitor is actually worth to your site, you lose money on your advertising. You want to know who your customers are and what keywords they're using, as you don't want to waste money on unqualified traffic. The best way to learn is by speaking with them directly. Get on the phone, do a survey, offer free gift for feedback. The more you know about the people who buy from you, the easier it will be to target new customers. Your net profits will drop a bit when you pay for advertising, but your total sales will go up if you purchase targeted traffic. Don't submit a web site to the search engines until it is thoroughly tested and set up properly to their requirements. It's very hard to try and edit it after it has been indexed. Don't type in all upper case letters (it's considered SHOUTING) Avoid using frames, JavaScript, and other non-text HTML tags for menu bars, etc. If the search engine can't access or interpret your information, it doesn't do you any good.Yes there are sites which use frames (they split up your page into sections or "frames" separately without affecting the others.)

5.2 Banner Marketing

A banner is simply a graphic that businesses use to advertise their web sites, basically like a billboard. It puts your advertising directly in front of your target market. When surfers see your banner ad, they consider visiting a site they might not have otherwise looked at. It encourages people to action by "clicking here" to be taken directly to your website. A really good banner has certain criteria that are important to remember.
Clearly define your purpose. Decide what action you want people to

take. Are you just wanting to increase exposure? Directly increase sales? Just click on your banner? Sign up for a free newsletter?
Focus on a benefit. Write your ad with your target customer in mind.

Keep you m e s s a g e b r i e f. U s e k e yw o r d s . B u i l d excitement, make them curious, but don't tell them you're about to sell them your product.

When they click, and go to your web site, you explain you're drawing for free coffee for a year, and to enter, they give you their name, address and email address. Now you have their email address and can begin to develop a relationship.
Call to action. Always tell people to "click here" or "go"it's a call for

action. Many people don't know that just clicking on a banner is a link, you have to tell them to click.
Vibrant colors draw a better response than drab ones. Don't overdo it. Use mock "windows control" buttons like menus and click-boxes. Most

people are familiar with these so it subtly calls them to action.

Use images that alter when you move your mouse pointer over it.

Animation like this allows people to interact with it. Your ultimate goal is to get people to click through your banner, not play games.
Make your banner fast loading. Size isn't everything, but it must be eye-

catching. (GIFWizard reduces by up to 9o% without sacrificing quality)

Automated or not? Automated banners have a large advantage over

static banners because they catch peoples attention with movement. But they tend to be much larger and can take longer to load; and too much animation is distracting
Include an alternative text tag. This way, people who have their graphics

turned off when surfing will still see your slogan and your link. If you don't, they will see nothing.
Your banner should be at the top of a page. It will get a much,

much better response than at the bottom. It's the first thing visitors see. They usually look at the top to see how to navigate a site. If you can't get your advertising banner at the top of a page, advertise elsewhere.- Test and track your results. Design several and test them to see which ones bring in the most traffic. If you don't make money with them, redesign them, or negotiate a better

price for the ad space. Maybe you need to rewrite your sales copy to convince visitors to become customers. Your slogan may need to be better. By testing, you will know what works and what doesn't.

TOOLS TO USE FOR BANNERS If you choose to design your own banners here are some software packages that will help. Adobe Illustrator $399 www.adobe.com Macromedia Fireworks $299 www.macromedia.com Banner Maker Pro $39 www.bannermakerpro.com Four Corners Banner Creation Tool Animated Banner Maker Online Banner, Logo, & Button Creator HIRING A PROFESSIONAL Most banners are designed by graphic artists and not internet marketers. Many people have become immune to graphics and don't even look at them. Banners that appear as part of a web site with radio buttons, check boxes, hyperlinks and drop down menus are much more effective. Look at for examples. COSTS OF BANNER ADVERTISING With Pay-Per Impression Banners, you pay to have your banner displayed, not for click-through's or customers. Some sites will have your banner on each page, and you then have to pay for each one. The visitor sees it several times, but still isn't a customer, and you've had to pay for it all of those times. You're not guaranteed any results. Make sure you are paying for your ad to be displayed one time to one visitor. Locate sites that directly relate to yours. You can find ad space that reaches your target market. You may never have to pay the published rates. Call the web site owner directly and negotiate. With Pay-Per-Visitor Banners, you pay for visitors who click through your banner. This is performancebased advertising, so it may be more expensive. If you are paying per visitor, then the sites with your banners have to continue displaying it no matter how poor the click-through rate is. The HTML code on their web site allows the banner broker to put whatever banner they want on their web sitethe owner has not control over it. This is a major advantage. You want your banner as targeted and precise as possible to ensure that you only attract targeted potential customers with interest in your products. You want qualified people clicking through, so that you maximize your ad dollars. You are paying for "visitors" not "impressions" so the broker may have to post your banner a few thousand times more in order to get your 1000 visitors.

(Free trial) (Free trial)

(Free trial)

(Free) (Free) (Free)

Banner Brokers have contracts with thousands of web sites all over the Net for banner advertising space. Pay-Per-Click Banners are similar to pay-per-visitor, but the web sites that display your banner get to choose which companies' banners they want. If yours doesn't pull high click-through's they may remove it. HOW TO FIND ADVERTISING SPACE Your target markets will give you the best response. Manually surf the Web or use software like LinkPartner Pro to locate sites and record it all for you. You still need to personally visit the sites and decide whether or not advertising on their web site would be profitable. Once you've collected names and email addresses, compose a message. EXAMPLE Subject: sponsoring your site Hi [first name] I am inquiring about your _____ website. I am interested in sponsoring your web page where we would pay you for displaying our banner at the top of one (or a few) of your pages. Let me explain what we do. We have a book ...... It can be seen at www.mycompany.com. What would you recommend for the best exposure at your web site (best value for the dollar) and what would be the cost? I would even consider being linked (or listed) from multiple sections of your web site, or having you sell the books directly. Do you have any other suggestions? I am looking for a long-term advertising relationship, so keep that in mind when making your suggestions. I am ready to start ASAP, so a quick response would be appreciated. A few other questions. How many visitors do you get weekly and how many visits do you get to the individual sections that I am interested in? Do you accept credit cards for sponsorship payment, or is a business check better for you. Thank you for your time and help. I look forward to doing business with you. Your name, Telephone Number/Web Site Your objective is to find 10 to 40 sites that don't currently have advertising, or offer cheap advertising, and negotiate a deal with them. There are sites that you can offer $20 to $40 a month and will generate many hundreds of visitors for you.

Typically you can expect to pay $20 to $30 per 1000 impressions. Some places will charge $100 per 1,000 impressions, others as little as $5. It really depends on the site, how big they are, and whether they are Net savvy or not. Do your homework before you start negotiating. Approximately two weeks after you send the first email to possible advertising sites, use Channels to subtract the addresses of all the people who didn't respond to you and email those people with a follow-up letter. You will get more replies from this email because many of the web site owners will have deleted your first email thinking it was junk mail. Following up lets them know you were serious. EXAMPLE Subject: Follow up Hi [first name] I sent you an email 2 weeks ago, inquiring about advertising on your web site. I was disappointed that you didn't reply because I am interested in doing business with you. I have pasted a copy of the last email at the bottom of this page so you can review it, just in case you don't recall the content. Could you send a quick email to let me know whether or not you are interested? I look forward to hearing from you, and I wish your web site the best of luck. Thanks Your name COPY OF FIRST MESSAGE GOES HERE

Always look at all the options someone offers you. If they don't accept banner advertising, offer to trade links or endorsements or a commission on every customer they refer who purchases from you. There may be other ways to have a mutually beneficial relationship. BANNER EXCHANGES AND NETWORKS This is a third party service provider that acts as a mediator between advertisers and web sites. They bring thousands of web sites together with advertisers who are interested in running a banner ad campaign. You can advertise your banner on thousands of web sites FREE as long as you agree to display their rotating banners on your web site. (The exchange gives you HTML code to insert in your web page and your site will display banners rotated from their inventory.) This means that each time a visitor clicks on a page with the code, the visitor's browser will link to the server of the exchange to pull up a banner and display it on your site. They make money by displaying one of your banners for every 2 banners that are displayed on your site. Then they sell the extra banner space (2 for 1) to advertisers who buy big blocks of inventory. Many exchanges will allow you to target the group of people who will view your banners and you can specify the type of banners that appear on your web site. This is a good alternative if you can't afford to pay for banner advertising. If your web site is receiving low traffic, then your banner doesn't get much exposure in the rotation. For your banner to get the most exposure, you need to display their banners in a high traffic area of your site. However, realize that this is funneling traffic away from your web site. If your site is receiving lots of traffic, then you should be selling advertising, not exchanging. The Exchanges and Networks are best utilized for testing purposes only. Here you can find out which ones pull the greatest amount and which have the best responses to targeted sites that you've personally negotiated ad deals with. Shop around. Prices vary, and avoid Networks that include "exclusivity clauses." You should be free to participate in any that you choose. Link Exchange PennyWeb Free Banners TraderBanners 123Banners BannerSwap www.adnetwork.bcentral.com www.pennyweb.com www.free-banners.com www.resource-marketing.com www.123banners.com www.bannerswap.com

Another option is AdAuction.com (www.adauction.com). It sells discounted banner advertising inventory. If ad space has not been sold yet, some high profile sites will often put their inventory up for auction at below-market rates. W H A T I F YOU H A V E S P A C E O N Y O U R W EB S IT E N O T SO L D Y ET
Trade it to other related web sites that also have unsold ad inventory. Offer to display their

banner io,000 times for free on your site in return for io,000 times of YOUR Banner on their site.
Promote Yourself. Create banners that promote your own products and services, and

run them on your own site to highlight new products or someplace else you want visitors to look. It's an easy way to test some creative ads.
Join a Lead network. If your audience is a perfect match for what is being advertised then

this is profitable. You are paid per actionmeaning when a visitor signs up for a free newsletter, or enters a contest, etc.
Join an Affiliate Program. Use your unsold inventory to promote other business

products and services, and earn a referral fee. (More on this in Section 6)
This Space for Rent. Make sure potential advertisers know you have the space

available. Make it a beneficial ad, not just this space for rent. Give it away Free. No one refuses free banner ads, and if you can prove that advertising with you is profitable, you have a new client. Loyal customers provide the incentive to lose a little money now, if you know that you'll make it back three times over in the next 12 months. Think about long term goals, and not just about how much you make today.

Section 5.3 Online Auctions

Hard to find or unique products do very well on auction web sites like eBay and uBid. You can use auctions to drive visitors to your sales site by auctioning your products online and then directing potential bidders back to your site for "more" of your products. This section will talk a little bit about some hints to making online auctions work for you. However, if you are really interested in utilizing online auctions, go to www.keystoneresources.net where you can purchase a more extensive training guide that will walk you step by step through the process. TEASERS/HOOKS In the description of your item, always include a teaser or hook to get them to visit. EXAMPLE Item for Bid leather coat Visit www.mywebsite.com for a free report on the 5 Things You Should Know before Purchasing Leather Products Use teasers to get people to visit your site, then collect their email address in order to send the free information to them. This will develop a database of email addresses to which you can send advertisements for new items you have for sale on your site. Create residual income by bringing more people to your site all the time. The more time they spend there, the more likely they are to buy there! TITLE IS EVERYTHING The title of your listing is one of the most important factors in getting your items sold. You want to include words that will draw in potential buyers. Use words and phrases like "best buy", "one of a kind", "new", to draw people in to your item listing. If they don't like the title, they'll just browse past it. HAVE A PLAN When you commit to yourself to work this as a business, you need to have a plan and be organized. Create a positive work environment where you will be comfortable. If you can't stand to sit at your computer in the dark, boring closet where it is now, then move it! You need to feel at home and be able to focus on your work. You don't want to be watching the clock. Remember, this is supposed to be fun and easy, not drudgery. Commit to work every day. Decide how much you want to sell and break it down like we did in the first section. Make a commitment to yourself to take the time to list the required number of items each day. It will pay off in the long run. Draw people to your website. Create repeat buyers and residual income. You also need to keep track of all of your auctions. eBay will keep track of what you have currently running as well as items you've listed for the previous thirty days. This may not be quite enough to accurately manage your auctions and provide good customer service. A spreadsheet or database program such as Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Access will be invaluable when it comes to tracking both current and past auctions. A simple search on the Internet will bring up other applications or forms that can be used as well as companies that specialize in that type of thing. Any one of these

utilities will greatly enhance your selling and will allow you to identify changes in your marketplace.

If you don't want to use an electronic application to track your auctions, you can simply create a planner or a notebook in which you can write down the items you have listed and the details that pertain to each one. Here is an example of a good way to keep track of your listings.

EXAMPLE Today's Date _________________ Item Name Starting Final Item Number Price Price Re-list Date Date of Pmt +Type Date Shipped +Trackin

Today's Sales Total ____________ Average Item Price _____

The item name is whatever you want to call it. The item number is the unique listing number that eBay assigns your listing. Write down the starting and final selling price. Re-listing If an item doesn't sell, eBay allows you to re-list the item on the same day as the auction ended. You can do this one time without additional listing fees. If you have selected any optional features, such as gallery pictures, those fees will be charged again. Keep track of the payment information. What type of payment was used? When did you receive it? When did it clear? Keeping track of these kinds of details will keep money from slipping through the cracks. Other fields You may also want to add a space for whether feedback was given, and any questions that were asked during the auction. SHIPPING At the end of every auction, eBay sends out an email to the buyer and the seller with information on how to complete the transaction. It is then appropriate for you to send an e-mail to the buyer verifying your payment information and letting them know that you will ship their merchandise to them as soon as payment is received. This lets the customer know what to expect from you. You should have already told them in your auction listing what method you will use for shipping, the cost involved, and payment methods you accept. Sending a verification email is simply a courtesy to the buyer. It also lets you know your buyer is serious about completing the transaction when they answer you promptly with their address and payment intentions. Once the payment has cleared you should mail the item immediately. Never, ever send anything before payment has cleared. Stating within the auction that shipping

outside of the United States will cost more or that you will not ship outside of the United States will prevent people from taking advantage of you. Remember to be upfront and clear about the costs involved including insurance on the package, how it will be shipped, and what acceptable shipping locations you use and you should be all right. Make sure you write down the delivery confirmation or tracking number of the shipment so that you can ensure the package actually gets there. Ship priority mail or faster when possible. Quicker delivery means a happier customer. ANSWER YOUR EMAILS Most buyers will send emails enquiring about your product between 12-24 hours before the auction ends. Make sure that you check and answer your emails regularly so that you can answer the bidders' questions in time for them to bid on your item. If you list your items each morning, answer your emails each night. Set aside a time to do this so that you do it every day. You want to make sure to give potential buyers time to check their email before the auction ends. Keep your answers short and to the point. As you begin to sell more and more items, especially if they are identical, keep a repository of all e-mails you have received and sent in return. Make a folder dedicated to general answers to customer questions and use these as templates when you receive a similar question. Always sign the e-mail with your name at the bottom, your website address where they can find additional answers and products, and always ask if there are any other questions you can answer. REFUNDS As a seller, resolve questions and problems promptly and professionally. If your buyer is unsatisfied and wants his or her money back, comply with their wishes. In the world of online auctions, an unhappy customer can cost you a lot of goodwill in the form of negative feedback. One way to deal with refunds, is to offer a discount on the price rather than a full refund. If you have a profit margin of $50, then it is worth it to offer the buyer a $20 discount on the product in order to make a $30 profit instead of zero. Send an email to the buyer offering a discounted price. Never refund shipping charges. If you mention that they will have to pay to return the product, most people would rather take the discount and still keep the product, since they obviously wanted the item in the fist place. FREE GIFTS If you can, try to throw in a little something to "sweeten the deal." If it doesn't increase the shipping costs, it is well worth it to build customer loyalty and positive feedback.

Section 5.4 Residual Income Through Your Own Newsletter

In the past, newsletters were printed and mailed every month. NO MORE. An electronic newsletter is so easy no printing costs, no running to the post office, and best of all, what you charge is all pure profit you don't have to pay any employees to do all the work. Perhaps your information could make someone's life easier, more pleasant, or save them some money. You could charge for that information. E-Newsletters on stock market predictions cost upwards of $900 a year. What if the owner of that only had 500 subscribers? He still would make a profit of over $400,000 a year. Pretty nice, huh? What other ideas can you think of for newsletters? Fishermen love to give their tips, golfers do too. Mothers who have raised "special" children have teen-age hints. There are a million ideas for newsletters. Look at your expertise, and see if there isn't something you can write about. People today realize that not everyone is a professional author, but they still have something to say that is very valuable. They would probably like it to sound like you were just talking to them anyway, rather than a bunch of words that sound professional, but nobody understands. "Ghost writers" are people who will write for you. In the back of Writer's Digest (a writers magazine you can find at a newsstand) is a list of hundreds of ghost writers you can hire. DO I GIVE IT FREE OR DO I CHARGE FOR MY NEWSLETTER? Free subscriptions are a very valuable marketing tool. People who subscribe to your newsletter will be come very loyal customers if what you give them is honest information, and you really know what you are talking about. They will buy what you have to offer now, and they will also buy something totally different that you offer in the future, because you have developed trust and credibility with them. If people stumble across your web site, you must get their attention in the first few seconds, or you may never see them again. If you have an offer for a free monthly newsletter about keeping your pets healthier and saving money on vet bills, they may check out your site a little longer and sign up for your newsletter. But then you have their email address, and you have another chance to sell your main product or service to them. Realize that the subscriber base is a targeted list of your best potential customer. They have visited your site, they have voluntarily given you their address, and have given you permission to contact them again. This is potential profit. I recommend that you start your own free newsletter. PAID SUBSCRIPTIONS If what you offer is very valuable and can't be obtained just anywhere, then people will pay for it. It doesn't have to be a large charge for your information. One fellow I know sells his a "tip of the day" email newsletter for only $3 a year. The tips are

only a sentence or two, and his business is automated, with orders taken online with a real-time credit card processing system. He writes 30 of them and then uploads them to his newsletter server which emails out one per day to all his subscribers, automatically. Would you believe he has over 240,000 subscribers? His profit is over $500,000 a year doing a day's work once a month!! Realize that he worked very hard for the first few months, getting it out there, and promoting his "tipof-the-day," but now it is really a piece of cake for him. If you have something of value to offer, people will pay for it. SO WHAT DO I WRITE ABOUT? If you don't give something of value, timely, and relevant to their needs, your subscribers won't be subscribed very long. The newsletter is one of the most powerful ways to develop and maintain a relationship with your customers and subscribers.

WRITE ABOUT Your industry, everything needs updates Special tips New products Questions and answers (forum) Reader feedback section Special bonuses or prices for subscribers only Funny stories, or jokes of the day Reviews of books in your industry

Each newsletter can have a short blurb about your product or service, as you want your subscribers to become customers. Stay focused and always use quality information to build you credibility. You want their trust, so they will buy from you in the future. Right now, write down all the things you're good at, or know about with "insider" information You don't have to be an expert. Remember you are writing for people who probably don't have as much knowledge as you do about your subject. FREE FOR THE TAKING! There are articles all over the web that you can use on your own web site. Some web sites are devoted to collecting articles that you can use. List-Content.com is such a site, ready for you to use in your own newsletter. You only have to include the author's name and link at the bottom of the article. You have to give credit, where credit is due. People want to learn by using the web. They're not there to spend, although they do, because of what they find after they are there. If you provide your subscribers with the kind of information they want and need, you will establish your credibility in that area. You can make your web site "sticky" meaning that people come back again and again to your site, because it is valuable to them. This gives you the opportunity to sell again. When you have their email addresses, you are able to contact them again and again. They see you as an information source, not a salesperson, but they are open to other offers you have for them. So look up some of these sites, and try some of the free articles there. But don't limit yourself. Remember, your newsletters must be relevant to your products. Also try searching "free content" or "free articles."

www.list-resources.com www.web-source.net/web/Free-Content/ www.ezinearticles.com www.ideamarketers.com It doesn't really matter that you don't write these yourself, your subscribers don't really care. It just matters that it is important and of value to them and solves their problems. WARNING Be sure you have the author's permission before posting his work on your site, and always give credit if someone else wrote it. If it is a free article, you don't need permission, just add their name as author. Be honest in your dealings. You don't need to make people think you wrote this or that, if you didn't.

NEWSLETTER FORMAT If your newsletter isn't easy to read, people won't take the time, as they receive so much mail they don't have time for it. If they delete it just because it's hard to read and long, you have lost a potential customer. HEADER/FOOTER With every issue, you should put your contact information, title, issue, date, and, of course, the name of the newsletter. That's a lot, so put your it at the bottom. If the newsletter is long, include a table of contents, so they can scroll to the sections that really interest them. Their time is valuable too. You might want to make it " continued next month" if it is really long. Add previews of what you're doing next month and they'll look forward to receiving it. Use a divider to separate the different sections. "Insert" on your tool bar menu probably has some ideas too.

Dots................................................. Asterisks*************** Underlines __________________ Equal signs =========== Just about anything works ++++++++++++++++ //////////////////////////////// >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Don't forget your advertisement You may have a sponsor, or classified ads, and you don't want them to detract from the content, making your newsletter look like one giant ad. Split up the ads between articles, and let the reader have some quality information, and then a short ad. It gives balance. Give the option to Unsubscribe, and make it easy. It has been very frustrating to be on a mailing list, and its impossible to get off it. People will just delete those emails from then on, without even looking at them. Besides, it's the law. Place that information at the bottom of each newsletter. Your Subject Line should always be the same, or people will think that it's a spam and delete it. If they recognize it, they won't. How about personalizing it, with their first name in the subject line.

"Suzy, your June edition of Pets on Parade is here"

If every month the subject line is the same, they will recognize it. Don't just put "Newsletter," it looks unprofessional, and your subscribers may not have any idea who sent it or even care. Think about your frequency of mailings. How much information do you have and how much time do you have to spend writing it? If you have lots, split it

into a weekly format instead of monthly. But be sure it is quality stuff. They will probably be more willing to read two pages every week rather than 8 pages once a month. SHOULD I SELL ADVERTISING IN MY NEWSLETTER? Advertising brings in money. Some companies sell for a flat rate, others charge a percentage of the profits generated by the ads. You must make the decisions first. Do you want to use your newsletter to develop a relationship with your subscribers so YOU can sell your products and services? Or do you want to focus entirely on selling ads to other companies? If your main source of money comes from your own product sales, then don't advertise other companies. Your subscribers signed up for a newsletter of information, not a sales presentation. One or two promotions a month will sit better with them, than a page full of ads that aren't even relevant to the information they want. They'll begin to ignore them anyway. If you do decide to offer advertising to others, you need at least 10,000 subscribers or more before companies will consider paying you for ad space. However, if you are extremely targeted and have been able to prove sales generation, then you may be able to sell space. Many people start out with a free newsletter just to obtain the database of subscribers, and then they sell advertising. It doesn't happen overnight. It takes work, and time and effort. You just need to actively promote your newsletter. Look back at Section 4.3 for linking techniques. You can't just post a "subscribe" box on your site and forget it. You must ACTIVELY pursue it.

TIPS Offer it on your own web site. Give them one or two chances to subscribe, not only by clicking here, but with a paragraph that explains how it will BENEFIT them. Use a pop up window that tells them to subscribe right when they enter your web site. An electronic signature or "sig file" is a three to six line footer that you attach to the bottom of your email messages, it's a good spot to advertise your newsletter. Everyone accepts the footers or "sig files." Take advantage of them. Swap ads with other newsletters that relate to your target market. Both of you can then increase your readership. But make sure the other newsletter is complimentary and not competitive; you don't want to hurt your business. Post a brief description of your newsletter in a newsgroup that is related to your business. And put in a link to your subscription page. Offer "gift subscriptions" in your newsletters to allow your subscribers to send a subscription to a friend. Automate your site to send a note explaining who invited them to receive the newsletter and what they will be receiving. Offer free subscriptions to members of clubs or organizations that are related to your industry. The chairman of these clubs can mention it in their monthly meetings or newsletters, and this way you can get large numbers of subscribers quickly. Discussion lists and forums are great places to find targeted potential subscribers. You can promote your newsletter with just a few postings. You can rent Opt-in email lists which provide a fast way to get hundreds of names of people who have opted-in to receive email on topics that interest them. You must find out how the addresses have been obtained. You don't just want a list of addresses. You want a targeted list of potential customers, that are interested in your line of work. This is also an expensive way to go about it. It's the person who owns the address you want to cultivate, not just the address. Here are a few to look at: Postmaster Direct YesMail E-Target List-Universe Focalex www.postmasterdirect.com www.yesmail.com www.e-target.com www.list-universe.com www.focalex.com

Do a survey for subscribers in all related newsgroups, forums, discussion groups, etc. When they have come to your web site to fill out a survey, you can get them to sign up for your free newsletter. You can ask a question"Would you like to receive a complimentary copy of our monthly letter ..." They just click "yes" and are subscribed.

When you publish the results of your survey and mail it to the contributors, you can include the part about the free newsletter and its benefits and pickup some more subscribers. CO-REGISTRATION This involves getting your newsletter listed alongside another web site's publication so that when they sign up for one, they can also be included on yours without having to input all their information again. You get this to happen by offering email marketers' newsletter as an opt-in option to all of the visitors to your web site. When someone opts-in, the marketer pays you a "finders fee' which can be anywhere from 25 cents to $1 per subscriber. Once your site is pulling in lots traffic and coregistration, it's money coming into you. Be sure that whomever you put on your co-registration list is able to pay for your services. Sometimes co-registration can bring in hundreds of subscribers, so they need to be able to pay for them. You can co-register on someone else's site. This is the same concept except in reverse. You'll have to pay them the same type of finders' fee, but it's a good way to attract lots of targeted new subscribers. When someone signs up for a newsletter on one site, they say this is what I need, and if there is another related newsletter, YOURS, they think this must be good too. A couple of clicks, and you have a new subscriber. When you send out your newsletter, you may get back some "user unknown" or other indication that the address is no good. Don't be in too big a hurry to delete these addresses. Maybe their host was down temporarily or some other perfectly legitimate reason. With Channels, you can set up a filter that automatically deletes "user unknown" addresses and automatically re-emails other "non-fatal" error messages a few days later. Having all of your emailing functions automated means you don't have to worry about it. HOW DO I GET MY NEWSLETTER OUT TO SO MANY? The Channels software allows you to customize and automate your newsletters with just a few clicks. It automatically subscribes and unsubscribes people to your list and since it is online, you can even turn off your computer, and it will still go on working. You can access it from anywhere with just a dialup connection.

WARNING I don't recommend trying online newsletter software like Listserve or Majordomo. They just don't offer enough features to justify their cost.

A couple more tips:

Proofread all of it. Check for grammar and misspelling. If your work is sloppy, people will assume your information isn't worth reading.
Be careful. Be very careful about the quality of information and how relevant it is. Be critical in your formatting. Don't let justification, bolding and spaces

be in error. Skimming by the reader gives them their first impression.

Test it. Before you send out thousands, test it with friends who use different

browsers and get feedback. It's much better than sending to thousands and finding out the formatting is horrible to some browsers. I've received quite a number of newsletters with the same errors throughout the paper. For example, when there is a word that has quotation marks around it, it looks like this instead, 45>@information45;> Every time quotation marks or an apostrophe are used, there are weird symbols on that word. Be sure you format your letter so several different kinds of browsers can read it. A newsletter is a very powerful tool for building a relationship with your subscribers and will make a dramatic boost in traffic and sales.

Section 5.5 Classified Advertising Online

Many people looking through the classified ads in the newspaper aren't always just looking for something specific. Many look to see if there might be a good deal there. If they are only halfhearted in this, they won't pick up the phone, nor write out a check. This is why online advertising is so great. It is so much easier for people to simply click on the link that you have provided. Here they are at your web site, and looking thru the products you have to selland therefore, impulse buying. With online classified ads, you can promote your products and you'll get some orders, but you can also test your headlines, banner ads, and test links. You'll know which ones really bring in the traffic and which are worthless. You can also test your sales copy this way. Place several identical ads, but have each ad link to a different copy. Track the response from each and you'll know which brings in the most sales. Offer a free book, article, or newsletter in your classified ad with click here now. It's a good way to collect email addresses. There are also classified Ad web sites where you can get free space. Placing an ad on one or two isn't going to make much difference or drive much traffic to you, as there are many other ads on the same site. There may only be a few who actually read your ad. If only 1 out of every 100 people who visit your site actually buy (this is pretty standard), it could take months of posting your ad on one site to finally close a sale. It's not the most productive way of generating traffic. It takes a lot of time to submit, because you have to manually type out everything submit it, (5-10 minutes) and there are 1,000 ad sites. This is three weeks worth of work. Then you have to keep maintaining your site at the top, by resubmitting it again. I wouldn't recommend this path. YOUR AD'S ACTUA L D ESIGN Make your headline compelling. You may not get their attention anytime beyond that.

Don't get too wordy. Keep it short and sweet, give them the benefit and make it easy to

take action. Make it appropriate for the category it is posted in. If it can be in several, then place it in several categories.
Always check out your competition's ads. Utilize them to make yours even better. Don't post your email address in the classified ad. It will be harvested by spammers.

You can always set up a "dummy" email account through a free service like Hotmail.

Section 5.6 Newsgroup Marketing The Usenet

A Newsgroup is an online forum where people who share common interests can gather to exchange ideas. Users post and respond to messages through "Usenet" a worldwide network of discussion groups that are organized into categories and sub-categories using abbreviations like: rec (recreation), soc (society), comp (computers), biz (business), etc. There are hundreds of these groups and millions of people reading and participating in them. You'll be able to find groups related to your business. It's a good place to kick-start your business by getting your name and your URL in front of targeted customers. You can easily develop yourself as an "expert" by making yourself available to answer questions and providing information they find valuable. HOW TO GET STARTED You'll need a newsreader - software that allows you to read and respond to messages that you download from your ISP's news server. If you have Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator, then you already have it on your computer. Otherwise it's free and you can download it free. Forte's Free Agent Newsreader (www.forteinc.com) You also need the name of your ISP's NNTP (news) server your newsreader will require this "address" to connect you to the Usenet groups. You can call your ISP, and ask them for it. Test yourself in groups that won't irritate others or embarrass yourself. After you are proficient in posting and responding, search for the groups that relate to your business, and learn where your potential customers and competitors are located. In newsgroups, it takes a lot of time to develop a good relationship. It's about information, and not tricky sales techniques. The people there don't want to be sold something. Sit back and wait until you can respond with the quality information or solutions that people are wanting. Each group is different, and you want to monitor them for some time to get to know what is acceptable. If you are posting consistently with quality information, then people will begin to trust you, and when you casually mention your product or service as a solution, or refer to your web site, it's a pretty safe bet that people will take you seriously. It is usually acceptable to attach a sig file to your post. Remember, it is a 3 to 6 line footer that you attach to the bottom of your email messages that may offer something free or of value to people. You can post an article that relates directly to your product, and what has been being discussed. You want it full of desirable information so people are excited about getting it. Don't be afraid of educating your customers because you might give away valuable information. They are more willing to purchase from a company that educates and helps them rather than one that just wants to sell to them. You can offer a free article by auto-responder. This is the most profitable way of using articles in newsgroups. You don't post the article, but post an announcement telling them how to get it via auto-responder.

EXAMPLE Subject: Interesting article on getting children to do what you want I just wrote an article called "How to get children to do what you want them to". It has tips on parenting, placating, and motivating and much more. It is about 8 pages long, and didn't want to post it here and make you use "online time" to read it. Instead, I have put a copy in my auto-responder so you can get it emailed to you, and read it at your own convenience. To get a copy emailed to you within io minutes, send a blank email to 1234@xyz.com Thanks, Susy Smith

The nicest thing about this is that they give you their email address, voluntarily. And now you can follow up, asking them for feedback, and they become a potential customer. Always use auto-responders for this, as they are easier for people to use. When you add new information or special offers, you can post that in the appropriate newsgroups. Just invite them to your website. You can post portions of your newsletters. You can mention that it is from your newsletter and invite people to subscribe. Your goal is not to sell anything; you want them to get to know you, and trust you, then eventually they will buy from you. NETIQUETTE Different newsgroups will have different standards of what is and is not acceptable. General rules are no profanity, don't post off topic, and keep sarcastic remarks to yourself. If you get flamed, a nasty message, just ignore it. You can't please all of the people all of the time. Respect others' rights to their own view point. After all, a bicycle wheel wouldn't work if it only had 2 or 3 spokes. It takes all of them to work properly. You don't want to come across as arrogant and a know-it-all. You CAN know it all, but you don't have to come across that way. And for heaven's sake, don't Spam. Don't bombard lots of newsgroups with the same post or ad. You can get in trouble for that. Concentrate on the larger ones, it's a long term commitment, so don't go for lots of smaller ones. Now that we have finished the two big sections of Driving Traffic to you Website. Take some time to review the things that will work well with your business. When you are ready, the last section will discuss more ways to increase your exposure, and bring more people to you site by utilizing affiliate programs.

SECTION 6 Multiplying Your Efforts

In this last section, I will discuss other ways to bring in more money to your business, without a lot of effort. That's what we all want right? More money without effort? Obviously, you've seen from this manual that you CAN get a lot of money without effort, but not without working to get up and running. In this section, I want to talk about increasing your visibility through joint ventures and affiliate programs. Section 6.1 Joint Ventures A joint venture is teaming up with another company and combining products, services and skills to create new ways of bringing in more money. Joint ventures, even in big businesses, allow all partners to win. Look at the movie industry for example. Shooting a movie takes lots of people working together, but after the movie is finished, there are videos to produce, soundtracks of the music, toys, and all kinds of products produced based on the popularity of the movie itself. The set-up and start of your business just means the beginning of a long and exciting adventure in financial success. There are many kinds of partnerships that you can see everywhere. Martha Stewart and K Mart (tm) entered a joint venture. By having her products in all the K Mart(tm) stores, Martha Stewart benefits by having consumers all across the nation, and K Mart(tm) is able to benefit by the use of her name and reputation. The idea is to team up with one or more businesses to create new ways of generating income that might not have been possible by yourself. You don't have to be a big company to make it work. Even if you don't have much of a customer base, you can still joint venture, because it can be a dramatic way of increasing your immediate income without a big expense. Anything that you can offer to your customers that is quality, reflects positively on you. However, you don't want to add just anything, it must be something that makes them think you have gone out of your way to obtain and offer to them. You are adding to the credibility of your own name. If your "personally endorse" this product, then people think you must really prefer this product, and it's not just another gimmick. If someone else has already gone to the trouble of developing a new product, then it saves you the time and money of development. You can offer them the ability to have another resource for distribution of their product.

This will enable you to offer new products to your existing customer base without having to develop new products. When you have a good database and your customers respect your opinion, then you are able to capitalize on it. You have had quite an education of Online Advertising with this book. Capitalize on it. As you surf the web, you can find examples of poor advertising or mistakes that someone else has made. You may easily see that their mistakes are costing them money. For a fee, you can give them the tips, or correct the mistakes for them. Use the tips you've learned in this course to boost their sales income, for a share of the profits. Then tweak their sales copy, add banners and/or links, and get them accepting credit cards etc. Be sure to try and get a lifetime contract with them, because as soon as they find out how easy it was for you to fix their problems, they could be upset. If you found and set up a good deal once a month, you could be raking in the dough. There are so many web sites out there that are set up very poorly. You now have the Internet Marketing expertise to help! Show two other companies, for a fee, how to affiliate and join causes by sharing and promoting each other's products and customers. Talk to your competitors. They may have a great product that will go along with yours. Team up with them, and you both profit. Exchange links or banners or testimonials. Try combining them into a package. HOW TO LOCATE POTENTIAL PARTNERS Surfing the web, looking for ideas may not be the best use of your time. A free web navigation service called Alexa can be downloaded and can help you. Go to www.alexa.com to download your copy. Alexa collects data on each web site that you visit and gives you pertinent information to enable you to make decisions on whether or not you would like to work with that company. Once you have located a company with whom you'd like to enter a joint venture, there are some steps you should follow.
Contact potential partners personally Don't use email. Set up a

phone call or personal meeting. You want this company to know you are serious and mean business.
Explain the benefits You want your potential partners to know what

they will be getting from the relationship. Let them know "what's in it for them." Educate them on backend selling and up-selling.
Offer a sample of your product If its appropriate, let them see the

quality of your product and try it. They will be more likely to sell, if they are sold themselves.
Offer a discount for their customers You'll sell more if you can give their

customers a "special deal." In this way, your partner looks like the "good guy" to his customers for getting them this great offer.

No risk Make sure that there is no risk involved for your potential partner. If they have nothing to lose, it will be a lot easier for them to say yes! They make money Make your offer financially appealing or they will reject it. Get a contract Make sure you have a contract in place before moving forward. Get a Consulting Agreement to protect your ideas, and an Exclusive Independent Representative Agreement in order to protect the deal.

Here are some sites where you can check out legal agreements and forms that both parties must sign. Don't give away the information you have learned here, until all the parties have signed the contracts.

www.lectlaw.com/formb.htm www.uslegalforms.com/corporate.htm www.ilrg.com/forms www.quickforms.com

These offer forms for free. You can change them to fit your situation or use as is.

Section 6.2 Affiliate Programs

GET WITH THE PROGRAM Affiliate programs are a good way to offer more products that your customers might be interested in. You promote or recommend another business' products and earn a commission on each sale that you refer to them. It's an easy way to earn more money with less hassle. Affiliate programs are also called Re-seller Programs, Click-thru Programs, Pay-Per-Click or Pay-per-sale. You are assigned a special "affiliate URL" that tracks all of the visitors you send to their web site and all of the sales you generate. There is a special package of instructions that includes banner ads and text links that they've tested and coded with your special URL, all ready to cut and paste to your web site. They'll also include examples of personal endorsement letters and testimonials, that they've used and found successful. Once you have your affiliate's banners and advertising in place, visitors coming to your site can click on a link that looks interesting to them, and be automatically taken to the website of the affiliate. There they can order the product that interested them, and it is credited as a sale referred by you. The affiliate gives you a user name and password, so that you can check your account with them. Each month you will receive your commission check on the sales your site generated for the affiliate! All this, and it only took about 10 minutes to post the affiliate's link on your web site! If you have a large, targeted list of customers and subscribers and you're willing to spend some time promoting affiliate products, you can make quite a bit of extra money. It's really very easy to post a link, a banner or short recommendation on your own web site, and you don't even have to collect the money or ship the product. You just do the promotion and get the commission. SHOULD I JOIN AN AFFILIATE PROGRAM? If you're just starting and don't have a product yet, you can promote other's products to earn referral fees, but you'll have to really work at it. You can't just put up a web site and expect people to visit it. You have to build your credibility as someone who recommends quality products. If you have your own products to sell, you keep the profit; but when you recommend someone else's, you keep only part of the profit. An affiliate program can be an excellent source of income, but it does take work. If you have an established business and web site, with a good customer base and opt-in e-mail list, then it is a very good idea to begin promoting affiliate products. Your good customers provide a lifetime value to you. Use that leverage. If they are happy with the products you have sold them, they will most likely be willing to buy the ones that you recommend from your affiliates, and you pick up the referral fees. Suppose you already have an affiliate program for products that are selling well. Who says you can't join other affiliate programs? You can join as many programs as you like. Determine which are the best sellers for your customer base those will be the ones that bring in the most commission. Be careful, however, not to clutter up your own site! You want people to buy your products as well, not come to your site and leave immediately for one of your affiliates! HOW IT ALL WORKS

Pay per click you get paid for each person who clicks through your banner, text

link, etc to the affiliate's web site. Fees run from 5 cents to $1 depending on the product and profit margin.

 Pay per lead you are paid for each "lead" that you send them. If you put a banner on

your web site, and a visitor clicks on it, a form pops up for them to fill out. You would be paid for each customer that fills it out.
Pay per impression you get paid every time the affiliate link or banner is displayed to

someone visiting your web site.

Pay per sate you get paid a percentage of the profits on every sale made to someone you

refer.

HOW DO I GET PAID? Some programs credit towards merchandise or just pay with a check mailed to you each month. Some won't pay until you have at least $100 in referral fees. It cuts down on expenses to write one check rather than many small ones. Others will cut a check for you no matter how much it is. Be sure you read the agreement well. WHAT TO LOOK FOR Be sure the affiliate you are recommending has a good quality product or service. Anything you recommend reflects on you. You want your customers to be happy with you. Try it yourself first, be sure it is something you believe in. Do your homework. Something that isn't quality will affect your customers' trust forever after. Be sure they offer good commissions. 20% to 50% of the profits is a very good commission. 5% to 10% is very low. Recognize the life time value of customers. You can always go back and sell them another product later. Be sure their site has a good number of visitors to it. Check it out yourself and see if you would want to buy some of their products. If you're going to be sending them prospective customers, you want them turning them into paying customers.

Be sure that they track online, phone and fax, and mail orders. Find out what kind of tracking software they are using. If they only track online orders, you will never get credit for those sales that are phoned in. Be sure that they are reputable. You don't want all your preliminary work wasted. Telephone them to see if they are rude or you only get an answering machine. E-mail them, and expect to receive an answer within a couple of days. If they don't respond to your initial inquiry about joining them as an affiliate, this is probably indicative of how they'll treat your customers. You also do not want to be restricted to selling only "their" products and none others. If you want to be the affiliate and put their banners on your site, then you must choose products and services that relate to the theme of your site. Don't just be a flea market. You'll look unprofessional. You want to gain the trust of customers by recommending a few products that will genuinely help them. You don't want to put out a banner on pet information, when you are into motorcycles, unless it's about pets riding on motorcycles. More is not always better. It's better to have a few quality recommendations rather than a hodge podge that looks like you're just trying to make a quick buck.

Find out what your target market is interested in, and then look for things that also might interest them. This is how you maximize your affiliate income. HOW DO I FIND AN AFFILIATE PROGRAM? There are Affiliate Directories you can look into. These directories have certain criteria that must be met, before they are accepted. Associate Programs Affiliates Directory Refer-It Cash Pile iBoost www.associateprograms.com www.affiliatesdirectory.com www.refer-it.com www.cashpile.com www.iboost.com

You can also look into Affiliate Networks. These are third-party companies that act as a middle man between you and the Affiliate Program. The make sure you are paid, track your sales, etc. It is a good service, but it's expensive. Commission Junction BeFree LinkShare www.the affiliatejunction.com www.befree.com www.linkshare.com

Section 6.3 Starting your Own Affiliate Program

Recruiting affiliates to promote what you sell is the opposite of joining an affiliate program to promote their products. The principle is exactly the same however. There is a referral fee for the promotion of the product, but you are paying it and getting the sale, instead of the other way around. The advantage to having your own affiliates it that you get the customers, the e-mail addresses, the sales. From then on, they are your customers. You sell again to them, and it's all your profit. This is a win-win situation for your business and your affiliates. You get customers and great exposure, and they get the commissions. You will save on advertising because your affiliates are doing it for you. Other advantages for you are: 1 LOW RISK 2 INCREASED PRODUCT RECOGNITION 3 EA SY TO MA INTA IN 4 INCREASED EXPOSURE AND SALES If you are convinced that starting an affiliate program is something you want to do. Here are a few things to consider before you begin. Not all companies are suited to having their own affiliate program
Do you have enough profit margin on your products to pay a commission to an

affiliate? If your margin is low, you may not be able to pay enough to keep them happy. Will your ordering system be able to handle a huge increase in sales volume? If your system can't handle the increase, your affiliates will be irritated that their valuable customers were not treated right.
Do you already make a lot of sales from your own visitors? If your site doesn't

convert visitors into sales already, your affiliates won't want to work with you. Make sure your site is the best it can be. Use the techniques discussed in this manual to rake in the sales, then go out looking for affiliates to bring you visitors. PAYING AFFILIATES Once you have decided that an affiliate program will work for you, the same information discussed above applies. You still have the same choices for paying affiliates; however, I recommend using the "pay per sale" method in your program. This way you know you are making money from your affiliate's referrals before you pay them. You don't want to end up paying for a lot of leads, but no sales! Additionally, people can "scam" the system with phony information or by using software that clicks your banner without a real person actually going to your site. Another issue to think about before beginning your own affiliate program is whether you want a single level or a two-level program. Let me explain. In a single-level affiliate program, you pay each of your affiliates a commission for the sales they bring in. It is essentially the "pay per sale" part of the model. The second level comes in when you pay your affiliates a commission for any affiliates they bring in who make a sale for you.

EXAMPLE Suppose you pay your first-level affiliates $io for each sale they make, and $2 for each sale that one of their "recruits" brings in. John is one of your affiliates and he has recruited three additional affiliates for your program. John's site makes three sales for you, and each of his affiliates makes 2 sales. This is what you would pay to John and his affiliates: John: 3 sales x $10=$30 6 2nd level sales x $2=$12 $42 for John $60 for Affiliates

Total: Total: Total Payout:

$102

You can see how it creates an incentive for your affiliates to recruit others to your program if they get paid on those additional sales. Their customers and subscribers can continue to promote your product, even after their own market is saturated. Do not think that you can't afford to pay additional money for a second level. Remember that you are still only paying if a sale is made. The more affiliates you are paying, the more sales you are making! If you are selling tons of product, your 2-level affiliate program will be well worth the additional cost. You will see immediate income due to the increased sales. You will have a much larger customer base as more and more affiliates promote your products and your affiliate program to an ever-increasing base of customers. Remember, getting customers in the door the FIRST time is the hardest and most expensive part once they've bought from you the first time, it is much easier to sell to them again. It is worth spending more money up front to pay your affiliates to work to bring in customers for you, so that you can reap the benefits of a satisfied clientele that will continue to buy for the long run. HELPING YOUR AFFILIATES TO PROMOTE YOUR SITE So how does this ever-increasing army of affiliates promote your site and your products? There are several different ways they can do it. Banner advertising is a great way to start. It is easy for them, and well-designed banners will catch the prospective customer's eye and divert them to your site. Remember to use the tips we talked about in Section 5.2 on Banner Marketing. Another way for your affiliates to promote your site is to put your site as a link in their "Main Menu" or on their main page. These can be simple text links that grab the reader's attention. Text links can also be scattered strategically in other places around the affiliate's site, but be sure that the link is descriptive enough that the reader understands what it is offering.

EXAMPLE In a craft site, the menu could read: 1 This months free craft idea 2 Craft Idea Archive 3 Links to other Sites 4 Terrific products for all your crafting needs Your site (#4) would be the recommended site for products for those visiting your affiliate's site. The affiliate could even utilize your products in their craft ideas to further promote your site. Another link could read... "Do not even think of joining a multi-level marketing company, until you read this book!" Another way to promote your site is to have your affiliates offer their visitors one of your articles or ebooks, or an interview or seminar that you have done. Many people are interested in free information, especially if it relates to the affiliate's site. No matter what way the affiliate chooses to promote, the best way for them to increase your sales, and thus their commissions, is to give a personal recommendation or testimonial of your product or service. The customers of your affiliates will value their recommendations, and simply putting their own personal testimonial of your products will carry a lot of weight with their customers. Using words like "I highly recommend..." will dramatically increase the chances of one of their customers buying from you. You can make it easy for them by providing examples that they can use when writing their own. The testimonials can be short or long; just determine what is appropriate for the situation. Your affiliates can even email their longer testimonials to their customer base instead of merely posting it on their site. This technique alone could bring in buyers that would not have purchased otherwise. HOW MUCH COMMISSION TO PAY When deciding on how much commission to pay, remember that once you have made the initial sale, you can back-end sell those customers for years to come. It is worth your while to make less profit on the initial sale in order to get an affiliate to refer the customer to you. You will make much more down the road once that customer is yours! Repeat sales will be your biggest source of income! Your affiliates will not want to promote your business if you don't pay them well, so motivate them by offering exceptional commissions. Remember, you will keep ALL of

The method I recommend for managing your program is to do it yourself. Software to do this can be purchased for less than $1,000, and the best part is, YOU keep total control over your program. You don't have to pay fees or commissions to your outsourcing provider, and you can decide who joins your program, what you pay, what your promotions will be, etc.

the future profits you make on that customer, so don't be greedy. Pay your affiliates to send those customers your way for the first sale. MANAGING YOUR AFFILIATE PROGRAM There are two avenues you can take when managing your program. The first is outsourcing. I only mention it in passing because it can be prohibitively expensive and changing it after your program takes off can be almost impossible. If you are interested in companies that can outsource affiliate programs, here are a few:

Click Trade Commission Junction BeFree

www.clicktrade.com www.the affiliatejunction.com www.befree.com

If you DO decide to outsource, remember to do your homework first. Make sure you understand all the fine print of the potential providers before you make a decision. Take the time to set it up properly, and your "in-house" affiliate program will generate a lot of profit for you. TRACKING YOUR AFFILIATES So now you've decided to manage your own program, so what next? You MUST ensure that your affiliates are receiving credit for the sales they send you, and this means that you must be accurately tracking the referrals. Here are the most common ways to track affiliate referrals: HTML OR MIRROR PAGES Each affiliate has its own unique "mirror image" of your website to which it refers customers. For example, Affiliate 1 would have www.xyz.com/1. Affiliate 2 would have www.xyz.com/2, and so forth. Each page would be identical except for the unique tracking number identifying that affiliate. The tracking number is hard coded into the page so that when the order comes in, the affiliate's unique number prints on the order. While time consuming, this is very cost effective. However, you must manually track the sales for each affiliate. Other potential pitfalls include the fact that if you sell more than one product, you would have to have mirror pages for each affiliate AND each product, and this can spiral out of control quickly if your program takes off. Plus every time you change your website, you will have to change ALL of those mirror pages! You also can't offer your affiliates a way to view their referrals and you cannot give them real time statistics. So, all in all, I would not recommend this method because not only will it become cumbersome and unwieldy, but you will most likely have difficulty attracting affiliates to a program where they have to trust that you are tracking their referrals, since they can't check it themselves. CGI TRACKING Each affiliate is given a unique tracking number and using CGI scripting, the tracking number

becomes part of the URL when the visitor clicks through to your site. For example, www.xyz.com/index.cgi?1975. One of the main problems with this is the long URL. If a person clicks through to your site using the affiliate coded URL and then just remembers that you are www.xyz.com and comes back later to buy, you have lost the referring affiliate's ID and cannot give them credit for the referral. It is also a "messy" way to track your affiliates, and many customers may erase all of the "extra" coding after the domain name to see if there is something different there. COOKIE TRACKING This is the tracking method that I would recommend, so I will spend more time on it. A "cookie" is a piece of information that is stored on the hard drive of a computer that "saves" that information for later use. An example would be the computer saves the user name and password of a certain site that you visit frequently so that you don't have to type it in every time. Cookies are used in the same way to track affiliate ID numbers. When a person clicks through to your site from one of your affiliates, a cookie is placed on their hard drive so that whenever they come back to your site again, the cookie still notifies you of the referring affiliate. This can be whether they come back next week or in two years; the cookie will identify the affiliate who originally referred them. Because of the longevity and "sticking" power of this method, it is the one that is most preferred by affiliates and easiest to sell them on. You can also use this same method in a slightly different manner to track affiliate ID's on mail and phone orders as well. On mail orders, you simply program it so that the affiliate's ID prints on the order form as a suite number, and then you will know when you fill the order, that it was referred by that particular affiliate. The customer will never be the wiser! On phone orders, simply instruct the customer to ask for "Publication Number X" where X is the affiliate's ID. In these two simple ways, you can always give your affiliates credit for the orders they have sent to you. It will win you big points and loyalty with your affiliates. SOFTWARE FORYOUR AFFILIATE PROGRAM If you decide to have an affiliate program for your site, you need to do two things: make it easy and efficient for you to run, and make it easy and efficient for your affiliates to participate. Because of this, you want your program software to be easy to implement and easy to customize. The costs of the programs available can range from hundreds of dollars to tens of thousands of dollars! It can be difficult to compare the different solutions out there, but here are a few things to look for when shopping around. Automated sign up process the entire sign up process for an affiliate should be automatic. Once they fill out an online form, the computer automatically sends them all the information they need to get started. They also should be able to make changes to their account information without bothering you. Your time should NOT be spent on administrative tasks like these. Automated contact system you should easily be able to email your list of affiliates.

 Administration Functions you should easily be able to perform tasks and reporting, such

as changing prices, viewing reports, and making refunds. Automated tracking the software should be able to track visitors no matter when they order or what method of ordering they use.

Variable Pay Schedule you should be able to change the way you pay your affiliates

whether it be a fixed commission, a percentage, etc. You don't want to be limited in this area.
On Demand Statistics you (and your affiliates) should be able to view the sales

statistics at any time. This will allow the affiliates to better see how their marketing promotions are working for them (and you). You don't want to have to respond to each request made by an affiliate for his or her current stats.
Count Capability you want your software to count the number of visitors AND the

number of sales. You need to know if certain affiliates are sending you lots of SALES or just visitors that are not buying anything.
Minimum Commission Requirements you should be able to set a minimum

earnings threshold so that you don't have to send out as many checks. For example, if the minimum is $25, then those that don't earn $25 in one month will simply accumulate commissions until they do, and then they will receive a check. Check Payment Automation make sure that your system has a way to automate the check writing process. If you start getting hundreds of affiliates, this can eat up your time if you are not automated.

BUILDING YOUR PROGRAM As you can see, building an Affiliate Program can be quite an administrative nightmare if you aren't careful. At first, you may want to keep your program small and only have "targeted" affiliates working for you. One way to do this is to screen your applicants to ensure their websites are closely related to yours or are getting a lot of traffic. This can take time doing the screening, so consider that beforehand. Another way to limit the number of affiliates is to charge them to join your program. Affiliates who had to pay something up front will be more dedicated in promoting your product. However, I do not recommend this method because the expectations of "guaranteed" earnings will be high in affiliates that paid to join your program. Obviously, if you don't want to limit your program, and most people do not, you can admit any affiliate who wants to join. In this case, you will try to get as many affiliates as possible. That way, you have more and more and more people promoting your site and your product all the time.

So how do you get affiliates to join your program? There are a lot of different ways, and you can use many of them.

Search for websites that cater to your target market and invite them to join. Make

sure you know who your target market is and what sites they visit online.
Promote your program to your customers. These people are already sold on, or at least

familiar with, your products. They make great affiliates for you.
Advertise on high traffic sites. Many website have unused advertising space. If you

can convince the owners of these sites to join your program rather than selling you the space, you both can win.
Advertise in newsletters and e-zines that cater to your market. This is a great way to

bring affiliates to you.

Register with Affiliate Program directories (listed in Section 6.2). People search these

directories when they are looking for an affiliate program to join. You can submit to these directories manually or use a submission service.
Think about working with your competition. They may have a larger customer base

or a slightly different target market. It sounds strange, but in certain arenas may work well
Market your program to everyone. Don't limit yourself to the ideas I've presented

here. There are plenty of other places you can find affiliates. Think creatively and it can help build your business.

EDUCATE AND MOTIVATE Once you've recruited your affiliates, you must educate them. Make sure they understand your program. Start with an email introducing yourself and how the program works. If they don't respond at first, send them a reminder email. You can decide how many times you'd like to contact them, but always let them know you are eager to work with them and want them in your program. A really effective and easy idea to help educate your affiliates is to give them a Frequently Asked Questions page. Once you've dealt with your affiliates for a little while, you'll know the ten or twelve questions that are asked most often. Then you just include that in one of the initial emails to your new affiliates. It saves you time in answering the same questions over and over, and it saves them the hassle of trying to get their questions answered. Include such things as how you track visitors, how the affiliate gets paid, what kind of income they can expect, how your orders are processed, etc. Another thing I would recommend is to offer a Start-up Kit. This email should include the instructions on how to link to your site, their ID number, hints as to the best way to promote your product to gain the most sales, etc. The Start-up Kit should be sent shortly after they sign up with your program so that they can get started right away. You can also send your affiliates articles and promotional tools to help increase their sales and motivate them. You want to keep them happy and profitable so they can send happy customers to you. When you discover or develop new techniques, let them know about it. Any chance you can give them to send more business your way, is more money in your pocket! JOIN UP

So how do you get affiliates to join your program? There are a lot of different ways, and you can use many of them.

Search for websites that cater to your target market Invite them to join Promote your program to your customers Advertise on high traffic sites Advertise in newsletters and e-zines that cater to your market Register with Affiliate Program directories (listed in Section 6.2) Think about working with your competition

Develop a regular newsletter for your affiliates. It keeps you in contact with them and gives you a chance to motivate them. Give them ideas on how to increase their referral fees with you. Offer specials. Make them a part of your business, and keep them apprised of any changes you are making to your site, products, prices, etc. Send the newsletter on a regular basis so that your affiliates can stay "up" on what's going on. It helps them to believe in your product and feel loyalty to you and your program. This is a terrific chance to inspire them and keep them working for you. About one percent of your affiliates will really go the "extra mile" and be your cream of the crop sellers. Reward these "A-List Affiliates" by calling them on the phone to speak with them personally. Let them know of new promotions ahead of time and thank them for their efforts with cards or gifts occasionally. It is also a great idea to offer bonuses to these top producers. It motivates them to keep producing for you and inspires the lower affiliates to do better. This brings us to the end of this section. As you can see, there is a great opportunity to be had with joint ventures and affiliate programs. They increase your brand recognition, increase your advertising effectiveness and allow you to back-end sell all of the referral customers that you never would have gotten in the first place. Take the time to evaluate these business opportunities. Highlight paragraphs in this section that appeal to you. You may not have the time right now as you get your business up and running, but eventually, you want to be able to take advantage of the benefits of these types of programs.

Conclusion Now that we've come to the end of this manual, take a second to digest what you've read and learned. It's a lot of information, but if you take what I've shared with you and put it to work in your business, you can become truly successful. Remember, you don't need a lot of money to get started online. You need commitment and a desire to succeed. You don't need experience, just the willingness to learn and apply these methods. Surround yourself with people who will help you succeed and not people who will bring you down. We are a product of our environment; do not let others who will criticize your methods or your business cause you to lose your focus or determination. I often refer to the crabs in the bucket scenario if you put crabs in a bucket, eventually one or two of the crabs are going to try and crawl out. The other crabs within the bucket will crawl up and pull them back down. As you trying to improve your own personal situation and succeed in business, d not allow others to pull you down or keep you from success.

Surround yourself with people who will help you succeed and not people who will bring you down.

Many people do not think they have anything to say about how successful they are. These are the people that work their entire lives at a nine to five job, and never become really successful. Don't let them destroy your enthusiasm for your business. Keep at it! You CAN be successful. You CAN automate your business so that you don't have to work hard as opposed to smart. Combine your hard work with the amazing technology available on the Internet to turn your business into a long-term, money-making machine. You will enjoy the rewards that this initial hard work will bring. If you don't know a thing about technology, then jump in with both feet and make a few mistakes while you learn. You'll have more experience through making mistakes, than if you never tried. If you already have experience in business and technology, take the things I've discussed in this course and make your business even BETTER! You have every possibility to take your business to the next level and even further As you create the success for yourself that I know you can, please keep me posted.

Good luck with all of your future endeavors.

Bonnie Holscher www.InPursuitOfWealth.com