eBay Stores and e-Commerce Website Choices - Build It In-House or Hire a Professional?

When you have made the decision to get your products online via eBay and/or your own eCommerce website, what is the next step?

First Question: Build it in-house or hire a professional?

Yes, you can build your companies eBay store and website with talent already existing within your organization.

Website design is taught at most high schools or community colleges these days so, chances are good that your employee pool may have budding web designer talent. Are you ready to trust your company marketing and image to that in house talent is the real question?

eBay provides numerous tools and a great deal of information for anyone to accomplish the task of getting a store up and running. The question is... does eBay provide these tips and tricks to help you as a business or to help their business? Obviously, if you are a seasoned business professional you will soon realize that a company such as eBay does nothing without a reason.

eBay Stores

Most of eBay's teaching tools and to a certain extent, eBay's entire growth strategy is based upon making the process of setting up an eBay selling account and consequently an eBay store easy for home based businesses. eBay wants mom & pop to go garage sale shopping with an eye towards making a few extra bucks for the cookie jar. To that end they want to get mom & pop up and running with an eBay store as soon as possible (and funneling fees into eBay).

Just because eBay has based a majority of their marketing focus on home based businesses does not mean that an eBay store is not a valuable asset for any established brick and mortar retailer or other "real" business concern. eBay is simply going after the largest number of potential users of their products. Unfortunately this also leads to numerous eBay store failures...

These home based eBay store owners do not have the prior background, sources or resources to take advantage of the world wide marketing giant and revenue producer now known as eBay. Therefore, while getting your company eBay store up and running may seem to be an easy in-house task for any intern, or kid just out of college with a great computer science degree... the real nuts & bolts set up and operation of an eBay store or e-commerce solution or both in tandem (the best option) is better left to professionals who work with eBay and e-commerce each and every day. If you are reading this because you are interested in moving your business more into an Internet sales based program you should consider the wisdom of hiring eBay and Internet marketing professionals to help you and your company get a head start toward those goals.

Still Thinking About Doing it yourself?

Building an online business requires ability in several completely different arenas: graphic design, programming, database development, Web design, copywriting, photography, and online marketing. This is just a short list of what is required to start from scratch or to add Internet marketing to your sales operation. If you have these skills in-house or if you plan on learning them yourself, please take this advice to heart.

Make a list of your employees' available skills as well as which skills they can learn. When you have a choice between learning a skill that will directly translate into making more money for your company or learning a skill that will let you do cool stuff on the Web, make a careful choice. Decide how much time you really want to devote to learning and doing things that really don't help you sell more products. Do you want to be an online retailer, or do you want to be a Web developer? The highest and best use of your available time & resources probably isn't learning the ins and outs of XHTML, but taking care of customers, finding new products, and promoting your business.

Making it Happen

Anything you can do yourself on a website design or to a eBay Store can be delegated or outsourced. You can hire eBay Stores Certified design professionals to design your eBay store from the ground up, create a custom logo, develop a corporate identity with unique colors and fonts, build your store product database, take product photos, write sales copy, perform search engine optimization on your site, custom-build XHTML templates that do almost anything you want them to do, and even manage your orders and perform customer service. It all depends on your budget.

After you've decided that you need help, you have lots of choices to make. The first decision is the size of your budget, which determines who you can hire. You can find prices for "building a eBay Store" that range anywhere from $300 to $5,000 and up. You can get a bargain using offshore designers (working anywhere from eastern Europe to India), college kids, or even professional designers moonlighting out of their basement. If you want a more "professional" experience, expect to pay up to $15,000 for a complete branding, marketing, and design package from top-drawer eBay store and Internet marketing firm. Both your web e-commerce site and your eBay store should present your branding and image as you expect them to. Getting the eBay image and your website image to mesh almost seamlessly is your goal, this can be quite difficult for even experienced web designers.

Using a CMS or Content Management System type of website design can significantly reduce your web design costs. There are a huge amount of new and exciting options available for web development, do not think you must use a "hand coded" html site to get your branding and image in front of the public. Some companies are even using simple blogging platforms like Wordpress or Typepad as the basis for corporate websites. These blogging platforms are very inexpensive to set up and the software is free. These CMS or Blogging platforms may also be used in conjunction with an eBay store or a with an eCommerce plug in (or both) to craft a unique Internet marketing funnel for your company.

You get what you pay for...

eBay store designs can run between $2,000 to $5,000 from a qualified eBay Stores designer. eCommerce website designs sometimes run in the tens of thousands of dollars with continual maintenance costs and webmaster fees. If your budget makes you choose between the two options, an eBay store is the more economical and faster route to success when managed correctly. Subsequently an off eBay eCommerce site can be developed for your best selling items. This allows you to use the power of eBay for marketing and SEO purposes while saving eBay fees on sales made through your own eCommerce website.

The best part of an eBay stores set up is that once it is installed as you want it, you have very few outside maintenance costs. Your company will have complete control of the products presentation (with the use of a template) and the inventory management is a simple to learn affair on eBay. Advanced tools are available to help with the management of large inventories and to help you create a listing just as you would within a word processing program or text editor.

When you get a quality eBay Stores design, sometimes the results are more than just superficial. Qualified designers improve the shopping experience, which can dramatically increase sales from your existing traffic by increasing your conversion rate. Also, many designs, when set up correctly improve the way your site looks to search-engine spiders, too! (This is the power of an eBay stores "me" page and other exclusive features and benefits of eBay stores packages).

After you determine what parts of the store building process you can do and what you can't do or would rather not do, you're ready to look for some help with the heavy lifting. First, you have to decide what type of vendor you want to work with because there's a big difference between working with a freelancer or independent consultant and working with a large design company or eBay Stores certified design specialists StoresDesigner.

eBay Stores certified design specialists - eBay Stores Designer

eBay Stores certified design specialists (certified eBay stores designers) provide the best overall experience. Your company will get the personalized attention it deserves and you will know that the design is based upon eBay marketing principles. Look at the portfolios of these certified eBay stores designers and decide which firm best represents your companies' image. Stay away from home based eBay stores designers with frilly eBay templates and flashy bouncing mouse pointers. You should be looking more for a corporate image that sells product and more importantly, cross sells more products for your company.

Look at the online stores you frequent in your daily life, think about the type of image and features you would like to emulate for your eBay store. Look at the designer's portfolios and or ask them if the features you think are most valuable are available in their design packages? Some eBay stores designers can deliver very advanced packages designed to promote more than one primary product at a time. If you are looking for growth in your Internet sales segment, these are the designers to contract with. Talk with several designers to find the one you are most comfortable with and the one who you think will represent the image of your company best with an online design. If the same designer can also develop your off eBay website e-commerce design, you should place that designer high on your list of candidates.

Having a web presence for your company which flows from eBay to your own website with the same "look and feel" is very important. Your goal should be to make your customers feel confident in your products and your company. If you (and your design company) have made an effort to create a nearly seamless shopping experience between eBay and your own e-commerce website, the confidence of the buyer will increase and your conversion rate will as well. Drawing eBay shoppers to your website from within eBay is not only possible, but very probable with a eBay store design done correctly.

Ask your prospective design firm the right questions and you will know immediately if you have made the best choice. Example Questions:

• Are you a certified eBay Stores Designer?
• Do you have examples of cross marketing designs?
• Can you create an eBay stores design which matches my existing website or can you create an e-commerce design to match your eBay stores design?
• Is SEO important for eBay?
• How important is a eBay about me page?
• Do your templates appear correct on all of the major browsers?

What kind of changes can be made to the design after your job is complete? (Can I offer a special sale item in my listing template?)

If your chosen designer is not informed in these questions you should look further. Not every eBay or Internet design firm has the necessary skills or background to help your company effectively cross-market your products. Find the right design firm which will give your firm a solid foundation from which to grow and prosper in the new world of Internet retailing.

Scott Pooler - Captain eBay
Article:
http://allbusinessauctions.com/blog/2008/01/23/ebay-stores-and-e-commerce-website-choices
http://www.allbusinessauctions.wordpress.com - eBay Trading Assistant Journal
http://www.allbusinessauctions.com/blog - All Business Auctions eBay Business Blog

Getting Started In E-commerce

The hardest thing about starting anything new is knowing where to start. The amount of resources available on the internet for getting started in ecommerce can be a blessing and a curse. A blessing as there is help at hand and a curse due to the amount of sites that provide information and some of the 'advice' conflicts.

There is an easy way to start without the head ache. Look at your idea as a business from the start. This way you won't be unpleasantly surprised by what needs to be done to both get your idea off the ground and manage it successfully.

The starting point is an idea. Should you not necessarily know what the 'idea' for you is yet, then a great place to start is to list out the things to love to do, the subjects your are passionate about. Having a list of two to three ideas is far better than just one.

The key advantage of looking at your ecommerce idea as a business from the outset is that there are activities that you can undertake to measure and plan to verify if the idea is worth investing money in.

It does take money though to conduct the research thoroughly. Free research tools can provide part of a story. However it is far better to spend a bit of money here, than find out later the ugly side of the story. You can spend the time, greater amounts of money and effort required to get the site up and going to later find out that other side of the story and the up hill battle that may lay ahead to get a return.

There are two tools that I would recommend.

1. Wordtracker.

Wordtracker is a purpose built keyword search and research tool. As such the information available is superior than what is available on free tools. Another great aspect to Wordtracker is that they offer a free trial period, meaning you can begin researching for free to complete the majority of your research prior to having to spend any money.

2. SBI Brainstorm It!

Should you be in a position of little doubt that you are going to start an ecommerce venture I would highly recommend SBI or Site Build It! This is a full host and domain registration service that massively over delivers. An example of this over delivery is the Brainstorm It tool that comes with your subscription. It is a high quality tool, easy to use and has some fantastic user friendly features.

So to get started in e-commerce make sure you treat the process like it's your new business. I would recommend 4 first steps.

• One, get organised. Have a clear space to work in and free of distractions.
• Two, list your ideas. Have two to three ideas that you are passionate about.
• Three, research. Conduct research on your idea to attain keywords, keyword demand and supply statistics to realistically evaluate if your idea is a flyer.
• And four plan your activities to get your site or blog up and running.

Mat Coolahan provides a free e-commerce information resource at http://www.ecommerce-information.net specializing in ecommerce home business and small business.

The Consumers Rights in The Internet Transaction Shall Be Regulated

The existence of internet in the communication world cannot be avoided anymore. The sophisticated instrument used to be used by the United States Department of Defense in 1957 to communicate with its colleague has become a worldwide major communication instrument. It is hugely spreading and now almost the whole countries in the world are using and utilizing internet for communication. The major users of internet are the United States, Japan and China and they take the role in communication through internet. It is predicted that such three countries are dominating the internet users and it is equivalent to half of the world population.

The benefits of internet do not need to be questioned anymore. The facilities such as E-mail/Listserv/Mail Exploder; searching/web/ftp; Usenet and Newsgroup are very useful for the internet users to interact one to another, to socialize and communicate, and exchange information. But it is really unfortunate that those huge benefits are often to be misused by the internet users.

The crimes such as hackers, cyber talking, terrorism, fraud, theft especially for the banking data, personal data, Intellectual Property Rights, sabotage, harassment and denial of service are most crimes regularly happened. The motif are varies such as business, group and organization competition and interest, and hobby. In many cases the purpose is to get personal benefits. For an example the case of Steven Haryanto with wwwklikbca.com, klikbca.com, klickbca.com that have been deceived the consumers to conduct internet banking transactions. The purpose is simply to o steal the consumers' private data.

The internet misused indication is quite apprehensive. Steven's talent in creating misleading websites to hit and trap the careless BCA customers needs to be aware. What is Steven's aim and motif if it is not something related to the crime? Similar to such case, the false websites internet transactions offered fake fancy goods such as Rolex watches, branded bags, international trademark shoes and international books where the sellers expect the buyers to pay the sold goods with credit cards. Once the transaction and payment are completed but the purchased goods never been delivered.

From the survey that had been conducted by 12 world consumer organizations at the end of 1998 and 1999 reported that the negative factor of the internet transaction so far faced by the consumers is that one of ten from the ordered goods never been accepted by the consumers. Another case is that 2 buyers from England and Hong Kong had waited for more than 5 years to get the refund from the seller. Further that nearly 73% of the sellers failed to fulfill the contract in the internet transactions and 25% of the sellers do not mention their addresses and telephone numbers in the internet transaction. The result is that the consumers will be harmed then where the consumers should report it to?

The crimes in the internet world are happened so often but up until today Indonesia still has not tried to give any legal protection towards the consumers. On the other side the information and technology developments have made the internet using be greater. If the legal protection is still very low then the crimes are going to be increased continuously in the future.

We should realize that in an internet transaction, the internet users or consumers expect that there is a law and legal order. The buyers wish that there is no false advertisement or websites spreading around that finally could damage their interests in the transaction. On the other side the sellers in internet also have the same principle that there will be law and legal order in conducting the internet businesses. Therefore it can be concluded that the sellers and buyers are expecting the certainty of law and trading through the websites world in order to have the both parties equal rights and duties.

The legal certainty for internet field in Indonesia has not been realized yet. It continuously happens since there is no valid rule governs the interests of the businessman and consumers. For a developed country such as England, they already have a protection model towards the consumers especially for the internet transactions. One of them is Distance Selling Regulation 2000 that governs the consumers' rights in the internet transactions. The Article 7 Paragraph 1 stipulated that the suppliers/businessmen are obligated to provide the information to the consumers in a proper time before conducting any transaction.

The information contains the identity of the businessman, term of delivery, price, payment system and the most important thing is that the consumer has the right to cancel the transaction, except for special terms as mentioned in the Article 13 of the regulation for example that the price of goods is fluctuated based on the market. How is about the protection towards the consumers in Indonesia? We only could be patient and wait for the realization.

Iman Sjahputra and Partners is an advocates and solicitors firm handling all legal matters. www.imansjahputra.com

Two More Reasons to Make Your E-Store Plastic-Friendly

There were two pieces of good news for e-shopkeepers in the last 90 days:

? During the final two months of 2007 Americans spent close to $30 billion online, setting a new record for Internet shopping.

? There was also a small but important shift in consumer buying patterns - that being people started to use Web stores for more pedestrian purchases. Translated -- shoppers are starting to look beyond holiday-related specially priced items or hard-to-find purchases when they go shopping on their computer.

So when you combine an increase in the dollar volume of Web shopping with people willing to buy more "everyday" goods via the 'net, and that means is additional revenue streams are opening for e-retailers At least the ones prescient enough to have their sites set up to process credit card transactions.

There was a time when the bricks-and-mortar retailers had an advantage they could leverage - that being consumers wanted what they wanted when they wanted it, and that meant they got into their car and went to the store. Now they're willing to wait a few days because it means they don't have to venture into traffic or navigate the shopping malls.

And for others it's a matter of placing increased value on their personal time. Why burn their lunch hour running errands, or squeeze in shopping after work when they can open their laptop wherever and whenever, shopping on their schedule? Being able to determine their personal shopping time overruled the desire for the immediate acquisition.

However, if an e-shopper should hit your site and finds out they have to send in a check for what they want, they're likely to balk. They'd rather take to time to go shop another site than reach for their checkbook. And does everyone keep a roll of stamps handy these days?

Even though credit-card debt is being treated in some quarters like a modern-day plague, consumers are still getting increasingly wary of a merchant that does not take plastic. Imagine a sports bar that only had black-and-white TVs. Not taking plastic makes a business look less legit.

At this point even the most ardent skeptic should be convinced that processing credit card transactions is good business -- so what's your next move? How do you wade through all the choices available?

If you're lucky you have some business friends who already take credit cards who can offer a trusted third-party endorsement, not to mention help you steer clear of problem vendors. If not, you're going to have to devote some time to research.

On the Web sites of virtually every merchant account company you should be able to find a page that shows what they charge. Cost shouldn't be the only deciding factor, but it's obviously an area that will affect your bottom line. For example, some charge just to consider your application - others waive this kind of fee.

And pay attention to the per-transaction fee. The difference between two merchant services providers may only be a percentage point, which doesn't seem like much until you forecast how many transactions will be processed with that extra point. Over time that will add up into real money that isn't going into your pocket.

And never hesitate to ask for references. A well-run company will not mind letting you speak to some of their existing customers. Make sure you allot the time to have those conversations. They will be well worth the investment of your time.

Jim Osterman is a Web content developer with Charge.com in Alpharetta, GA. Charge.com offers a complete slate of credit card processing and merchant services.

Increase Conversion's by Decreasing Shopping Cart Abandonment - Part 2

In part one of Increase Conversion's by Decreasing Shopping Cart Abandonment, we shown you the first 10 top tips to increasing your conversion rates. In part 2, we conclude with our final 10 tips, and a conclusion. Read on for more top tips...

11. Give the visitors the option to call.

If visitors have a problem during the checkout or just feel uncomfortable using their credit card online, give them a phone number to call. Use a separate telephone number that is different from the one you use for the rest of your site. this will help you track, evaluate & understand shoppers' needs and behaviors. While you are at it, give them a fax-order form so they can complete their order by fax if they prefer.

12. Make it always about your new customer.

Make the focus of the checkout process easier for your new visitor with whom you do not yet have a relationship with, than for your registered customer. It is much harder to acquire a new customer than to keep selling to loyal customers. Registered customer's will find a way to sign in (if they don't already have a cookie), but don't make the registration and log-in a barrier in the way of the new visitors finding their way to check out.

13. Add third-party reinforcement messages.

Verisign, BBB or logos of credit cards have either greatly boosted conversion rates, or kept them neutral. in other words, they never hurt. HackerSafe certification seems to be helping clients all across the board, especially in sites with larger average order sizes. They claim a 15.7% average increase in orders - directly attributable to earning the Hacker Safe certification.

14. Present coupon codes carefully.

Be careful how you handle these - you don't want to decrease your conversion rate. You might want to think carefully about where you present this option and how you label it. Coupons should add to the experience, not create doubt for those may not be shopping with a coupon.

15. Deal with pricing issues head-on.

If you sell name brand products and your store is price competitive or truly provides better value, why not try a "Lower Price Match" guarantee?

16. GTC: Get the cash.

Offer more payment options and add other ways to collect the cash. You can offer visitors the option to pay by cheque, PayPal or any other means you can to get the cash.

17. Offer point-of-action reassurance.

Check how often information critical to your customers buying decision gets buried in tiny type at the bottom of the page or in some place where it is not immediately visible when the need to know is foremost in the customers mind. If you walk into a store, its fairly easy to find out product warranty information. One can read the box at hand or chat with a salesperson.

Online, give your customer this same option at the POA where he'd figuratively be examining that box. Link right there to product warranties, your company's specific policies, testimonials, even optional extended service plans. Right there! Maybe you take them to the information or perhaps give it to the shopper in a pop-up.

At the exact point when your customer has to start filling in a form with personal information, reassure the customer that privacy is sacred to you. At the point the customer might be curious about your company's shipping costs, make them concretely available. Just when the customer is wondering whether or not it is possible to return the item if it doesn't suit, make it clear that you have a no-questions-asked returns policy. Make the best use of your assurances at the right time and place.

18. Track your mistakes.

Develop a system that keeps you notified of errors during your checkout process. One client noticed a portion of their visitors had cookies turned off. He developed a cookie-less checkout option and his conversion rate and sales jumped.

19. Save it for them.

We know that customers often leave a shopping cart with items in it, but they do return sometimes. Don't be overly concerned if visitors leave items behind. Just plan on doing your best to give them a reason and reminder to return and complete the sale. You may have the ability to save the cart for them or email them that they left items in their cart and can complete their order when they are ready. This can be done online at your website or through the telephone with interactive voice response (IVR). Remember, if they've gotten to the shopping cart, they are most likely considering the purchase.

20. When all else fails, survey.

Try an exit survey (think of it as an objectionator) if people abandon your checkout. Try offering them an incentive to complete your survey or even save their cart. They might just tell you why they didn't complete their order.

These twenty tips can help you reduce your shopping cart abandonment. Of course, every site is different and has its own environment and issues. Don't overly obsess about abandonment rates, since many people simply use the shopping cart as a placeholder for considering purchases of interest to them. These tips help you focus on those whose intent it is to check out and purchase, but may have questions, doubts or obstacles holding them back. Some of these tips will result in dramatic improvements and others might not do much. the only way to find out is to test each.

Andy MacDonald owns and runs his own website design company called Swift Media UK which also incorporates logo design & reliable web hosting. Also checkout our SEO Blog which is updated regularly with posts to help you achieve a top search engine ranking.

Work At Home - Training

Many people are looking to the Internet to work from home earning money. Many will succeed, while others barely make it or fail. Why is it that some are successful and others are not? Well I think at least part of the problem is that many people will try and find the easiest program that pays the most amount of money and simply join. This is setting yourself up for failure.

It is very important that you match up your skill sets, financial goals and comfort level with the program or programs that you decide to join. Some may not have the necessary skill sets to be successful. It depends on what type of work at home opportunity you choose. Most or you, who are reading this article, can operate a computer and have the desire to work at home, have all the tools necessary to do the job. Some just need the reassurance of training.

I decided to research the Internet with an eye toward specialized training for a wide variety of work at home programs. I was pleased to see that there are companies that do offer just what many or looking for.

An example of what I found is as follows:

You sign up and begin your training on day 1. In 3-5 business days they send you a CD by mail. Upon receipt of the cd simply install the program into your computer. The remainder of the training, software, manuals and job database, which is updated daily, are included in the program you installed.

When you go to the software section there was tons of jobs listed alphabetically. You can read through the success stories by users on the site. One person said, in so many words, that: "You go to the "job" area first. Pick a job you like, download the training and software. Then once you complete the training you do the job." Now that's what we are looking for!

I like this idea, and it would help many people. This gives people the training or reinforces what they already know. Sometimes it's just a vehicle to get someone over the fear factor. In my opinion almost anyone can do what is required with these work at home programs.

What I really liked in many of the training oriented programs I found where that they offered a variety of work at home jobs, but they did not stop there. They had the total package. Think about it! They find the opportunity, train you for it and then once you complete their training, you simply start earning cash. One stop shopping, what a novel idea.

Several things to consider are as follows:

1. Either do the research your self or use a site that has done some research.

2. Remember you will have to do some work from home. Nothing is free.

3. Put forth the time and effort to be successful.

Give yourself a chance. Please feel free to read both this article or one of my many others by visiting my link in the resource box below. I always enjoy getting emails pertaining to my articles or my site. Your feedback is important to me.

In Summary, do your research, pick a program that meets your skill sets, income goals and comfort level, and start earning money from the comfort of your home.

Michael Comeau has been owner of many successful businesses over the years including his current online business which can be viewed at http://www.workfromhome4dollars.com/ArticleWorkatHomeTraining.php

You may also find more articles by Michael Comeau at http://www.workfromhome4dollars.com

Shopping Cart - Great For Sellers And Buyers

If you've done any amount of shopping on the internet, you are familiar with the idea of the internet shopping cart. Ecommerce websites use the shopping cart to not only facilitate a customer's shopping experience but to increase sales as well.

For the initiated, the shopping cart is a virtual cart that "holds" items you wish to purchase until you check out. An unlimited number of items can go into the cart. Just as in a physical store, when you are finished shopping you checkout. The online retailer will total all items in the cart and you will pay the amount requested. This is a easy and intuitive process.

The ecommerce cart, or shopping cart, allows an online shopper to pick out items to buy online. A shopper only has to point and click on an item and it can place in a virtual cart for later checkout. This makes it easy on the buyer, and also helps the seller. When a shopper can effortlessly pick items to buy, they tend to spend a longer time browsing other items. This can increase sales for the vendor, and ultimately increase profits.

The cart also drives sales by having a save feature. Many times shoppers are not ready to purchase an item when they are surfing the web. Perhaps they are using a work computer or do not have their credit card handy. The cart's save feature allows the customer to keep items in their cart and come back at another time to purchase them. Many carts will hold an item for up to a month or more.

Another time saving feature of a cart is the totaling feature. When consumers purchase several items, they only have to click on the cart and a subtotal of all items will be available to them. This allows a consumer to stay on budget and again might possibly drive more sales. Some carts will even calculate any sales tax and shipping charges involved, letting the customer make an informed decision of the true cost of items purchased.

The introduction of the cart feature to internet shopping has contributed to its great success. The cart is easy to use. It has memory capability and a helpful totaling feature. It is helpful for the consumer. Online retailers like it too. This is mostly because it increases the amount of sales for the retailer, which results in greater profits.

When you go shopping at a grocery store, a shopping cart can hold all of the items that you wish to purchase until you are ready to checkout. Similarly, you can get an e-commerce cart from an e-commerce website to hold items for purchase until you are ready to checkout. Unique features of an online cart include the ability to save items for future shopping and easy one-click subtotaling of the cost of their items. The online cart makes shopping much easier and more convenient for consumers. Online sellers and buyers both benefit from this adopted feature.

Retail Stores Online

One of the most popular Home Based Businesses for 2007 was Online Retail Stores. Many people want to own their own online store without the overhead of a typical brick and mortar store.

You can see searches being done daily on the major search engines for phrases like online retail store, retail store, web based store, online store and online retail business.

With the explosive growth of the Internet, it's no wonder online businesses are very popular. Why? Well when you think about the cost of a typical brick and mortar business, there is no comparison. You do not have the normal expenses of a regular business. When you start a business you have to think of rent, utilities, insurance, salaries, inventory cost, advertising and all of the other overhead cost that goes along with getting a business functional. Once you business is up and running it takes time to get the customers up to a level where you are profitable. In many cases banks really like to see profit and loss statements for the last (5) five years. They figure if you are around for (5) five years then you have a good chance of surviving.

When I took a look at what types of online businesses are available I was quite impressed. They are plentiful and you have none of the above costs. You have access to millions of people utilizing the Internet. It is truly mind-boggling when you think of the overall concept. People are having great success daily simply creating businesses such Online Jewelry Stores and Online Dollar Stores.

When researching these businesses you will find that you can get your online web site up and running in minutes. In fact I have listed below a few of the things I found included in the companies I looked at:

* Web Site included

* Instant store setup

* Hundreds of name brand products

* You receive commissions on every sale

* Training - utilizing free startup guide

* Marketing consultation

There are many ways to make money online. The amazing part is it is only going to get better and better. More companies than ever are turning to the millions of people accessing the Internet offering discounted prices for shopping online. Think about it the companies have access to millions of new customers with minimal costs. They are able to offer discounted prices on products and shipping.

What I think it great is that anyone can own his or her own online business. You do not have to have prior experience nor do you have to have any formal education. Anyone can create wealth with utilizing the Internet. Everyone gets a chance to improve his or her lifestyle. Amazing!

When looking for any online opportunity you need to do your research. With most anything in life you have to be careful so that you don't get involved with companies that will take your time and money. I recommend either using a website like mine, other sites you are familiar with that has done the research, or be prepared to do it yourself. It takes time, but you need to do one or the other. Please feel free to read both this article or one of my many others by visiting my link in the resource box below.

Many people are afraid to try. The costs for the online opportunities I have found are minimal. You can spend more money going out to dinner with your family. Why not give yourself a shot. Go for it!

Michael Comeau has been owner of many successful businesses over the years including his current online business which can be viewed at http://www.workfromhome4dollars.com/ArticleRetailStoresOnline.php

You may also find more articles by Michael Comeau at http://www.workfromhome4dollars.com

Getting The Best Merchant Services Deal?

Are you getting the best possible deal for your credit card processing services? Are you sure?

There's no doubt that your ability to accept payments online drives additional customers and sales to your e-business site, but is your merchant services provider getting into your pocket with hidden charges, or charging you for things you don't want or need?

If for any reason you're not happy with your credit card services provider, don't be shy about making a change. But before you do, spend some time in research to make sure you're truly getting everything your business needs at the best possible price.

The first thing most people think about is price, so let's start there. You want to find a provider that will give you the most for your monthly fees, especially if you're just starting out. And you also want to find a company that is going to package the most services into their standard offering.

And take a hard look at their fee schedule. You're going to see terms like account verification, chargeback and other miscellaneous items. These may look rather small right now but over time they will add up and have a dramatic affect on your bottom line.

Always make sure you understand exactly what services are included. And beware of those one-time set-up fees or application fees. These can costs hundreds of dollars for services that other companies offer for free.

The next area of interest should be with customer service. There can be a big difference between what sort of service after the sale a company says it offers versus what they really do. Is their helpline staffed 24/7, or does it close at end of business? Is their support staff inside the company, or is it outsourced?

And also consider there are a lot of companies that may have customer service people that are there 24/7 and always answer the phone, but there is also a per-call charge for such service. Or a charge every minute you're on the line. If you're not careful this is another area where you can see your profits evaporate.

Probably the most reliable way to make sure you're going to select the right company is to ask for references and not just buy into the testimonials most companies offer up. Stop and think. Of course a company is going to put glowing customer reviews on its Web site, so there's not a lot of useful information there unless you can call those people and ask your specific questions. Keep in mind their experience may not be your experience and this is a case where it truly is all about you.

Another good source of information is your peers in the business community. They will be happy to recommend one of their trusted vendor-partners, and likewise they will raise the red flag if a card processing company they have done business with has caused problems.

All of this may sound like it can be time-consuming, but if you look at it as an investment it's not so daunting. Especially if you consider it as an investment in you and your business. And who deserves it more?

Cardaccept.com has received the highest security and approval ratings from America Online, Excite.com, and the highest rating from Apple Computers. They provide a host of credit card processing, merchant protection, and Internet processing software. To learn about their services, visit them online at http://www.cardaccept.com

Salehoo Review - Cash In On The Drop Shipping Industry

Salehoo is a wholesale drop shipping service that actually connects you to reputable suppliers to find products that you can list on auction sites such as Ebay or your own website and then will ship those products directly to your buyer once they have sold, leaving you with a nice profit. It is an absolutely wonderful service with one of the lowest sign-up fees in the industry. For a lifetime membership of $67, they are one of the most cost effective and consistently reliable e-commerce resources on the internet. They consistently update their supplier lists and makes sure that they stay consistent and competitive.

Getting started is basically searching for a product through their numerous suppliers, using their research tools to find out if the niche is hungry, list the product on an auction site or on your personal store front website, once it sells you sign back in and place the order, the product is shipped by the supplier directly to your buyer and just like that you have made a profit. If you are just starting out Salehoo is a great way to help you to get some sales under your belt and build up some capital. If you have been in the business awhile then this service can add an additional source of quality wholesalers and products.

They have great educational tools with top notch e-books and software and excellent research tools and they don't charge extra for these services like other companies do. I found the user forum absolutely priceless. You can get all your questions answered by people who are actually doing this for a living and have already gone through the learning curve . Their customer service is top notch and they will help you in your dealings with the individual suppliers especially when you can't find a supplier for a particular product that you are searching for.

Overview of Salehoo

* Database of suppliers (currently around 1000) is relatively large for the price they are asking and is updated daily

* Easy to navigate their site and find suppliers and products

* Wonderful Members Private Forum with tons of great advice and tips. (This feature is priceless)

* Excellent online chat, phone and email support.

* Great educational and research resources (E-books & Software.) To help you with the initial learning curve associated with this type of business.

* Perfect for beginners because of their ease of use but is still good for experienced power sellers as an additional resource because of their low price.

* An unconditional 56 day 100% Money Back Guarantee for ANY reason.

Bottom Line

Most people look around trying to find someway to make money online, buying all kinds of e-books hoping to make money, but most people never take action. Salehoo offers the right balance of low sign-up fee, educational tools, competitive suppliers and products. This is a real and legitimate way to make money online and they make it very easy to ease into the drop shipping business.

For additional information about this company and comparisons to other high quality drop shipping resource companies, visit my website at http://Dropshipping.Official-Reviews.net and take that next step toward your future.

Amanda Barnes works full time with internet businesses and loves to help people achieve their dream of financial independence.

Profitable Ecommerce - Paving the Way For a Smoother Ecommerce

Wherever you go on the web right now, all you can see are ecommerce sites that were built to provide products or services. One tries to outdo the other one so that they would have more visitors to their site and gain more profit. Competition is the name of the game. And if you want to be part of that game then you need to pave the way so that you would have a smoother ecommerce coming on your direction. You just have to trick all the competitors so that you can be on top.

Here are some of the ways on how you can attain that position and play the game fair and square.

1. There should be an ease of finding you. Your customers should not have a hard time finding your website. This is where search engine optimization becomes so useful for those people who are doing business online. If customers are searching for this keyword, then you should be easily located in the Internet using this keyword. You do not want your customers being lost in the World Wide Web and not being pointed to your website.

2. Make your visitors attracted so much to your site. Make sure that once a visitor visits your site, they would be able to do the actions that you want them to do - that is either buy your products or services or go back to your website to check on updates. And one way of getting this expected action form your visitors is by having a presentable and content-rich ecommerce site.

3. Have the right product and organize them. If you are selling tangible products, then make sure to have stocks so that you can complete a transaction faster. If there are a lot of variations with your product, organize then using categories. This will help in making more sales quicker.

Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to article marketing success, 'Your Article Writing and Promotion Guide'

Download it free here: Secrets of Article Promotion

Sean Mize is a full time internet marketer who has written over 1574 articles in print and 11 published ebooks.

Rebate Processor

Rebate processing from home is the hottest new opportunity in the work at home market. Huge amounts of people are looking to process rebates, answer paid surveys, answer phone from home, type from home or do simple data entry from the comfort of their home.

There is a huge demand for opportunities that allow everyday folks to work from the comfort of their home, while creating income? Get up when you want, stay in your pajamas, go out when you want and enjoy the life as we have always dreamed.

Searches are made on Google every day for rebate processing opportunities on the Internet. You see searches for phrases like process rebates at home jobs, rebate processor, rebate processor jobs, at home rebate processor, rebate processor job, rebate claims processor and rebate claims. This is just a few of the many searched done on a daily basis.

I think the reason that processing rebates from home has become so popular is due to the fact that it is a term we can easily understand. We all feel we can type at home or do some simple data entry. We know people use rebates all of the time so why not be a part of the process. It seems like a viable program that is easily understood. You can find many programs on the Internet that will take care of your work at home desires. You can work the hours you want, but no matter what they say, you are going to have to put forth some effort. If they claim you spend 5 minutes a day and you will makes hundreds of dollars, don't believe them and avoid them at all cost. Make sure you do your research. I always recommend either using a web site like mine, another site that you are loyal to, or do the research yourself. It takes a lot of time and effort, but it will worth it in the long run. There many bad companies out there just looking for and easy target. Take your time and give yourself a chance.

Some of the rebate processors are offering good money for processing rebates. They will give you step-by-step directions and you can start earning money within the next 24 hours.

If you have the ambition and can follow simple instructions, they will train you to be successful at this! They will show you how to make money simply by filling out online forms. For each form that is filled out they attach a special ID link that is assigned and simply submit it online. You then check your account for orders processed. Verify the information, fill out another form and submit. Continue this process over and over.

You are guaranteed to work with this company; and no one is ever turned down. There's no approval process so you will be assigned your ID and can start working right away! Please feel free to read both this article or one of my many others by visiting my link in the resource box below. I always enjoy getting emails pertaining to my articles or my site. Your feedback is important to me.

If you have a computer and Internet access you are good to go.

Michael Comeau has been owner of many successful businesses over the years including his current online business which can be viewed at http://www.workfromhome4dollars.com/ArticleRebateProcessor.php You may also find more articles by Michael Comeau at http://www.workfromhome4dollars.com

7 Tips Before Designing An Ecommerce Website for Your Business

1. What is your sole aim if you are an online supplier or a manufacturer of products? Obviously, it is to make the visitor to your website turn into a potential customer which is one of the toughest tasks to perform on the web. However, the goal is achievable if you are successful in gaining the faith of your targeted customers while they are exploring your site. Here, creating an ecommerce website serves as an asset in meeting your online business objectives. Ecommerce is another name for 'doing business online'.

2. For an effective ecommerce website design, it is imperative to take care of key factors so as to mark the footsteps of your online store on the forefront of the World Wide Web. Such ecommerce conceptual aspects include:

a) To professionally build the site which gives an answer to the question - Why should the customer approach you rather than your competitors?
b) To structure the online catalog in a planned way, so that customers can locate the required products among the long list of the available products.
c) To make the website design engaging and easily navigable.
d) To provide sufficient information about products so as to persuade the targeted customers. e) To provide an easy online shopping process.
f) To make the site search engine optimized.

3. Convenience and user-friendliness are the two key elements that should be kept in mind before creating a website. An ecommerce website works on the same principles. Attaining ecommerce solution means providing security assurance for the online purchase and offering multiple payment options.

4. Only a memorable customer experience can open those doors for companies which ensure repeat business and ecommerce web development takes care of all such aspects. An ecommerce website facilitates in increasing the clientele by giving options to expand business and take it to far off places too.

5. A well planned ecommerce web design includes features like auto responders, email notification, multiple payment modes and credit card payment processing. To ensure the secure processing of credit card transactions, such sites need to be encrypted. Ecommerce websites provide an option of ecommerce shopping cart which allow the users to collect the desired items while exploring the online catalogue. An effective ecommerce web site development means equipping the site with all the tools necessary to ensure a happy and reliable shopping experience for the user.

6. On the whole, a successful ecommerce website design should answer a simple question - Does your website make an online purchase a good experience for the user? If your answer is no, you need to seek the services of a company that has expertise as well as updated knowledge regarding online selling principles for your business on the web. 117WebSource has years of expertise in providing affordable ecommerce solutions which will be in line with your need to:

a) Promote your online business, and
b) Ensure that the customer comes back to you and again and again.

7. Many technical aspects are related to ecommerce designs, and that's why most business owners are unaware of which web site design development ecommerce is suitable for their online store.

If you are also perplexed, come to http://www.117websource.co.uk Our team of proficient technicians and web designers strive to meet all your ecommerce website design needs and offers a complete package of ecommerce website hosting and website design services to our clients.

Our specialization counts upon:

-Online databases (including server-side scripts (CGI, ASP)

-Ecommerce applications

-Sophisticated features for websites, such as maintaining interactive sites and so forth.

Hiring our ecommerce solutions means giving your online store a professional ecommerce website look. In other words, we will offer you a perfect combination of site architecture and along with it, take care of customers' security requirements while doing business with you.

Niche Affiliate Marketing Program - 5 Ways To Make Money With A Niche Affiliate Marketing Program

"Making Money With A Niche Affiliate Marketing Program Is Easy!"

As much as I'd like to say that it is really easy it certainly is half he truth. It becomes easy only when you apply the right strategies at the right target market.

Here are 5 ways you can go about raking in money almost immediately with niche affiliate marketing programs:

1. Join In Discussion Boards and Make An Impression

Believe me, the best way to really market any niche affiliate marketing program is to join in the specific forums like "web design" or whatever online. Its the best way to immediate be close to your target market.

Remember, getting noticed in front of your intended crowd can really prosper your business.

2. Have Your Chat Window or Phone Always On Standby

This method is useful when you already have a network of friends or prospects. Perhaps you even have already advertised in your local newspaper or magazine.

The best way to really reach and get people to purchase from your niche affiliate marketing program is to put the presentation right in front of them. Requires communication skills on your part.

3. Develop A Blog and Dive Into Social Bookmarking

If you've been living under a rock, the next wave is called "web 2.0" and social bookmarking is getting pretty big online. There are already bloggers who can a nice amount of money promoting any niche affiliate marketing program on their blog alone.

You just need to have a real passion to blog about anything and everything to your target market. Post consistently.

4. Only Advertise If You Got Some Money

Its about time that I'm going to talk about this here. You surely can use the methods above but by far the most effective method to cash in a niche affiliate marketing program would be paid advertising.

Why is this? People that have money will by a magazine or pay for an online newsletter subscription. Imagine if your opportunity were to appear in front of their eyes? "ka-ching!"

5. Joint Venture With Other Marketers

By far, this could be the most difficult if you are a total green marketer online with no contacts. However, there is still one way to get on the fast track.

Just develop a relationship with the niche affiliate marketers who are in similar but non competing programs. Its simple. Just call them, email for exchanging tips and strategies.

If the advice and help you offer is of good value they will begin to trust you and may even open up avenues for you to boost your income along with them. Talk about a "win-win situation"!

In closing, promoting and making money in your current or future niche affiliate marketing program is really easy if you stay focused on one or two methods. Successful affiliate marketers know one thing in common which is total focus and an undying desire to achieve their dreams.

About The Author:

This article is the property of http://www.Simple-Riches.com - you may freely publish it on a website as long as it is not modified in any way. It must include the author bylines; all hyperlinks and URLs must be made or remain active.

Vern How has been earning online since 2006. He is an Internet marketer who believes in giving back by helping others.

Find out the hottest marketing musings and tips at Online Marketing Business

For more information on your proven secret to profiting massively on the Internet, check out more Niche Affiliate Marketing Program Secrets!

A Merchant Account - Your Online Cash Register for Your Business

Regardless of whether you own a service-oriented business or one that primarily sells products, using the Web to accept payment is becoming a "must" in today's economy. Nowadays, more people pay their bills online than ever before. People use credit cards to pay for more than half of what they spend (either because they're broke and need to revolve on credit, or because they value the itemized statement to track their budget each month). So, where does that leave YOU as a business owner with an online Web presence?

Well, if you can't accept credit cards it means that you are missing the boat when people try to pay. The days of paper bill payments are numbered. Just look at your utility and bank statements the next time you go to your mailbox; businesses are making a shift from checks to credit cards. They prefer to accept your credit card. The "Life Takes Visa"? TV commercials that depict the world coming to a screeching halt when someone pulls out their checkbook (or cash) to make a payment are pretty accurate in today's economy. Since we live in economic times that are increasingly influenced by the Internet and e-commerce, the trend to accept electronic payments (both credit cards and e-checks) is at an all-time high. Where your mail-in envelopes used to inscribe "Place Stamp Here," they are now labeled with "Save a Stamp. Pay Online." As a business owner, you need to get on board with the realization of the paradigm shift that we're fast moving towards a paperless economy.

The key to being "ahead of the power curve" (meaning successful) in your online venture is to sell the way people buy. Otherwise they will shop someplace else. That includes paying for services, products, and even charitable donations. A merchant account is your cash register online.

That said, not all merchant accounts are alike. The costs and level of service from each merchant account vary significantly. Typically, the fees are broken down into the following categories:

• Application Fee: Just as it sounds, it is a fee to apply for the merchant account. The bank or the merchant account provider may charge this fee. Sometimes this is free, but I have seen it as high as $300 from some banks. It is a one-time fee.

• Setup Fee: This fee may be assessed to setup the online gateway with the processing center. It covers the overhead of programming and other costs related to building your account and associating it with your bank, your processor, etc. This can reasonably be anything from $50 to upwards of $150 depending on the processor you choose. Like the application fee, this is a one-time charge.

• Monthly Account Fee: Paid to the Merchant Account provider, this is a service fee (just like any type of hosting or subscription) to manage your account and maintain its status. Usually this fee is in the $25 to $45 range, but I have seen some as high as $125 per month for basic service. Specialized services (that are uniquely designed to interact with third-party accounting and inventory programs) can be prohibitively expensive, as much as $800 or $900 per month. Most of the time, those high-dollar monthly fees are related to extremely large corporations doing millions of dollars of monthly business. As a small- to medium-sized company looking to transact business online, you should be able to find what you need for less than $45 per month.

• Transaction Fee: Whether you process a sale or a refund, you are running a transaction. Even your daily batch of transactions sent to your processor after the close of business is a transaction. Transaction fees usually range from $.25 to $.35 each. Think of it this way: in the days of writing checks to pay your bills, each check you wrote had a cost of 18 cents to 30 cents (depending on how much you paid for checks), and each stamp today costs First-Class postage. To pay your electric bill, then, you have the overhead cost (a transaction fee) of perhaps $.65. As you can see, putting things into perspective, transaction fees for merchant accounts are much less expensive.
• Discount Rate: This is the piece of the transaction that the credit card company takes. It varies according to your merchant account provider. The Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, etc. companies earn their money, in part, by assessing a small percentage fee to each sale. Depending on your merchant account processor, the type of account, and the kind of transactions (high-risk, low-risk, etc.) your discount rate might typically be close to 2% for brick-and-mortar swipe terminals, or upwards of 3% for online accounts. I've seen higher. I've seen lower.

There are other options to process/accept credit cards beyond a full merchant account. Depending on your needs, you might be happy with an account from third-party processing companies that will handle your credit card transactions on your behalf. If you use such a service, you will not have to deal with all of the a-la-carte fees. A transaction fee averaging about 2% is the only expense you'll have. There are several such services available by simply doing a search using the keywords "accept credit cards" in a search engine.

Why get a full merchant account, then? Well, you may not need one if a third-party service does everything you want. There are two significant reasons to equip your business with your own merchant processor, however. First, credibility. It's not that third-party processors are not credible, because they are. But when your Website links to a third-party processor to accept payment, it tends to give some people the impression of "short-cut, imitation merchant account." Some of the service providers even require customers to create a user account and log in before paying you. That makes for a clunky process. Your customers often get uncomfortable if they see that they must leave your site to buy their items, and that can shake their confidence in your business.

The second reason that a true merchant account may be a more appropriate option than a third-party provider involves search engine optimization (SEO) of your Website. In order to accept payment via a third party processor, your Website must link to the processor's Website to secure the transaction. That means that your transaction is split into several segments that take customers away from your Website's domain. Some search engines treat that process unfavorably.

Obviously, having a true merchant account is preferable if you can afford it. The litmus test would be to see what the brand-name, established department stores do when handling payments online: they use a real merchant account in which their customers never have to leave the Website. Does it cost more? Sure. But in the end, it yields more business. However, having a third-party payment option is better than none at all. If you only expect five to ten transactions each month, the third-party option might be the right answer for your business.

Oftentimes, I have heard new (and usually inexperienced) business owners make the comment that they will "get a merchant account once they have developed some customers." Translated, that means "I won't get a cash register until someone has already paid me." It makes me scratch my head when I hear that. To me, that's akin to saying "I won't put any merchandise on my shelf until someone walks into my store to buy something." A merchant account (or at least a third-party payment processor) is one of the business essentials that companies in today's market must have in order to be competitive. The one detail you must keep in mind is that cheaper isn't always better, and if saving a dime costs you a dollar, sometimes it's better to invest a little extra in your business to get the desired results.

Please visit http://www.website411book.com and http://www.webdrafter.com for more information on Websites, search engine optimization (SEO) and marketing (SEM), domain names, hosting, e-commerce, merchant accounts, and more.

Tom Elliott is the author of Website 411: Business Survival in an Internet Economy, the president of WebDrafter.com, Inc. and an international Internet trainer.

His undergraduate degree is from Purdue University, and his Masters in Information Systems is from Florida Institute of Technology.

He served 13 years as a United States Naval Officer, followed by two and half years as the Director of Internet Training for a large marketing company while simultaneously building his own business. He is a Board of Directors member of the Central North Carolina Better Business Bureau, and has been the president of a Business Networking International (BNI) chapter. He also serves on the bachelor degree advisory board for a technical college, and is a keynote speaker.

Gain the Advantage Through Niche Market Websites

Competing with the major sites on the Internet may seem like a fantasy but it is not. Search engines don't care how big your site is as much as they care if your site is relevant to the search query of their visitors. If your site has the answer to the question it will gain a higher ranking in the search results.

A properly optimized niche market website will provide the answers search engine visitors are looking for. Your job is to create the website, fill it with relevant content and optimize it for inclusion in the search engine results. If you do this, pre-qualified visitors will come.

With few exceptions, mega sites don't take the time to focus on a specific niche. They focus on little other than trying to be everything to everyone. They are hoping that their pay-per-click advertising will draw the niche crowd.

With a niche market website you can easily outrank the mega sites and gain a greater market share of a specific product or category. The Internet is a great equalizer when it comes to delivery specific products. Create your own niche market website and take visitors and business away from the mega sites.

What is a Niche Market Website?

The best way to describe a niche market website may be to describe what it is not. It is not a site that encompasses the largest selection of items on the planet. It is not everything to everyone. It is not a website patterned after a Wal-Mart, Sears or any other major superstore.

A niche market website isn't even a department in one of these stores. A niche market website is not the automotive or sporting goods department of a department store. You need to think even more exact with the items in a niche market website.

Imagine the fishing section of the sporting goods or possibly the accessory section of the automotive department and you are now beginning to get the idea but you need to go further.

When you can imagine the fly fishing shelf or the floor mat area you are now able to understand what a niche market website is.

Creating a Niche Market Website gives you the Advantage

In so many ways the Internet is a great equalizer when it comes to market presence. Search engines and their users are not interested in who has the biggest site, the largest database of items or the most graphics. Search engines and their users are looking for information on a subject, the answer to questions and for a specific group of items.

These users don't want to wade through hundreds of pages to find their answer. They don't want to see every fishing lure known to mankind as much as they want to see the specific one they need to fill their collection.

They don't want to see every auto parts for every vehicle as much as they want to see what fits their particular make and model. Ford truck owners don't particularly care what accessories are available for a Chevy or vice verses.

You, as the niche market website have the advantage over the large department store style websites in that you don't have to be everything to everyone. Instead, you can focus on providing the answers and products that Internet users are looking for. This gives you the advantage over every other site on the Internet. Search engines will send hundreds or even thousands of visitors to your site daily if you can provide what their users are looking for.

Optimize your Website to Attract a Crowd

You entire site can be focused on providing the answers Internet users are looking for. Keep the information on your niche market website on your topic and you will soon become the darling of the search engines. Be the expert and you will gain the reputation you desire. Your search engine optimization efforts can focus on building landing pages that will attract pre-qualified visitors to your site who are looking for what you have. Think about it. Are you wanting someone who wants to browse or buy? Bring in a pre-qualified visitor who is looking for your specific items and you stand a better chance of turning them into a buyer.

Your off-site marketing is easier focused on a specific niche market than broad based topics. For instance, the articles you publish off-site can be targeted at the niche market your site targets, bringing in better qualified visitors to your site. Articles about fly fishing will bring visitors interested in that particular type of fishing rather than all types of outdoor enthusiast. Deep sea fishermen are interested in fishing but probably not in fly fishing. Target your off-site marketing toward the fly fishing crowd and you will have much better results in bringing in the buyers you want.

Be the Expert

Build your niche market website like you are THE expert on the subject. Use article directories and RSS feeds to bring in fresh content. Write your own fresh content to enhance these outside sources on the subject.

Use legitimate search engine optimization techniques to convince the search engines that you are the authority on your keyword phrases. Make sure that these keyword phrases are in your page titles, meta tags, content headers and in the body of the pages.

When building your shopping cart pages take time to properly name each item so it is easily found by the search users. Manufacturer, model number and descriptions need to include different methods of describing the item. Take into account misspellings of the keywords so you won't miss any potential buyers. If your site is targeting Chevrolet truck accessories don't forget to have the word Chevy in your descriptions.

When you are done, your niche market website will rank higher than the mega sites that try to be everything to everyone. Your niche market website will have more targeted pre-qualified visitors than other sites and could become the site people prefer to the mega sites that don't cater to their specific needs. Be the answer to their needs and they won't go elsewhere for their answers. Be the expert they need to make them smarter, better and a better fly fisherman and you will have a customer for life.

Jerry D. Wilson has over 25 years of experience applying technology to solve business problems.

Please visit some of Jerry's recent launches:

• CJ Gift Baskets
• CJ Picnic Baskets
• CJ Patio and Grill

Internet Business

So what does e-commerce mean anyway? E-commerce is the pre-eminent buzzword of the online business revolution. It captures the excitement and focus of this fast emerging market. But it is more than a slogan or glib party line. At its core it embodies a concept for doing business online.

The concept of e-commerce is all about using the Internet to do business better and faster. It is about giving customers controlled access to your computer systems and letting people serve themselves. It is about committing your company to a serious online effort and integrating your Web site with the heart of your business. If you do that, you will see results!

The Internet's role in business can be compared to that of the telephone. It is a way for people to communicate with each other. It is also a way for a consumer to communicate with a company's computer systems without human intervention. In fact, the Internet is a communication medium like the many others we use in business every day.

Think of the ways you communicate with people in business. The best way is face to face. Body language, tone of voice, and facial expressions all help you understand what the other person is trying to say. When you cannot meet face to face, you may use any of a number of different means to communicate: a telephone, a fax machine, Federal Express, the U.S. Postal Service, or maybe even a messenger service. These are all ways to deliver or receive information, authorization, even shipments of goods and merchandise.

The Internet is a reasonable alternative to all of those means of communication. Any place and any way that your business communicates with its customers, you should think about how you could have done it online. That is the power of e-commerce.

Can't meet face to face? Send an e-mail with an attached photograph. When it comes time to pay for merchandise, use a secured server to pay by credit card, or even digital cash! The opportunities and situations in which online business is possible are limitless.

Ron Foley is an author for the website Web Auto Income:

http://www.web-auto-income.com

Web Auto Income offers a 13-hour video course on how to make your own websites to make an automatic monthly income working from home.

Online Stores, Why Use Them?

I have had many conversations either by email or in talking with friends and family regarding shopping at online stores rather than going directly to the company itself.

I decided to do some research, as I always do, mainly because like most people I want to get the best products for the best price. Before I started my research my experience, was like most people I imagine, in that I searched for the best deal on the Internet. I would search for products, look for the ad that most closely matched what I wanted, researched a bit and bought the product from that site. Sometimes it was the company itself other times I would click on a link from an affiliate site.

After my research I recommend searching for good online stores before purchasing directly from the company. Why? Great question. I found that if you really do your research that you can find many of the online stores have researched the products for visitors and they will receive special offers, from the companies that they can pass on to their online visitors. By visitor I mean someone like you are I that goes to an online store (affiliate store) clicks on a link to a company like Amazon and buys directly from the company. You are actually buying from the company, but you will get any special discounts that may have been give to the affiliates online store.

There is a common misconception that you will get a better price if you go directly to the website. Not true! I discovered that not only will you not pay one penny more by using an online store, but you will often get special discounts that you might not see otherwise. How can this be? Well, if you go through an online web store you will be taken to the companies website and get the best pricing they offer. The difference is that many affiliate sites will get discount offers that they can offer their visitors who visit their site.

I was so impressed with my research that I decided to offer an online store on my site. I actually received many of these discount offers on a regular basis. What I like is that I am able to offer many special discounts to my frequent visitors. You will find many good online stores on the Internet, not just mine, that offer this.

A web site owner typically will get discount offers from the companies, which he or she can then pass on to visitors. A visitor simply clicks on the respective companies link from the affiliates site. It's painless and invisible to the visitor as he or she simply clicks through to companies like Amazon, Sharper Image, Camping World etc.

Why would these companies do this? Web site owners like myself pay to advertise their sites, which contain links to the companies. The companies are getting free advertising and in my opinion the discounts they offer saves the company money, because they cost of advertising is taken into consideration. They get more customers without paying for any advertising. The visitor gets the best price, which may include further discounts. It' a win-win situation for everyone.

In summary, just search the web like always, if you find an online store that you like and feel comfortable with, book mark the site and use it when shopping online. It's that simple. Please feel free to read both this article or one of my many others by visiting my link in the resource box below. I always enjoy getting emails pertaining to my articles or my site. Your feedback is important to me.

The growth of the Internet allows for the companies, affiliates and most importantly the online customers to be matched up helping all parties.

Michael Comeau has been owner of many successful businesses over the years including his current online business which can be viewed at http://www.workfromhome4dollars.com/ArticleMyStore.php . You may also find more articles by Michael Comeau at http://www.workfromhome4dollars.com .

Finding Wholesale Products to Sell Online

Starting an online business selling products is probably one of the quickest and easiest ways to start making money online. There are many making scams all over the internet, but working for yourself and providing a great service and quality goods is a business that will last and provide a great income for you and your family far into the future.

Yes, there are some steps that you have to get right and paramount amongst these is sourcing great products to sell. The watchwords here are reliability, pricing and quality. The most important thing, and I can't stress this enough, is to find suppliers who can provide all of these. You want to sell on items that people are going to love and think are great value, that way they will come back to you over and over, and subsequently you will make lots of lovely money. A happy buyer means a happy seller.

So, does finding great suppliers have to be a difficult task? On the contrary, products can be sourced quickly, simply and in many cases cheaply if you know where to look. You can then add a mark-up on these products, in some cases a very large mark-up, and sell them on sites such as ebay, Amazon or you can even set up your own website and sell direct. You can decide whether to sell just within your own country or internationally, the latter is really easy and the rewards of a worldwide market are great.

Sell what's hot at the moment or just create a niche and sell items you love or have an interest in such as jewellery, collectibles, crafts, car parts, books, DVDS, computer games, iPods....anything you want, the list is endless.

The key is to get going and start that online business now. The rewards can be phenomenal and a serious income can quickly be realised. Are you a student, stay-at-home-Mom/Dad, retired person, or on low income. Start your own business and start earning now. We did...and we've never looked back. The rewards of working for yourself, having time for your family and the freedom to choose your own direction are fantastic, and can be yours too.

Alison Wood:
Want to Buy Wholesale Products to Resell? Check Out:
http://www.squidoo.com/easyfindwholesaleproducts

15 Must Have Tools When Buying A Website

If you are in the market to purchase a website it is extremely critical that you do your homework before purchasing otherwise you could be in for a rude awakening once the transfer of ownership is completed. It is my experience that sellers tend to overvalue the sites that they offer for sale, while buyers tend to leap before they look.

I have been doing a lot of research on the subject lately and I thought I would share some of the information that I have found with you. Read the article below and you will find a number of tools that should help you Inspect What You Expect when buying a website.

Market Research

Market research is a fundamental area of research that you should be doing on your competitors. Do not take the seller at his/her word when the tell you the facts about their website. They will paint the best possible picture that exists without mentioning the warts. The collection below will allow you to inspect what you are buying without having to depend on the seller. It's almost like being able to complete your own "home inspection" before buying.

I have gathered these tools from around the web from multiple sources and compiled them here and on my blog.

Spyfu is a web scraping tool that will show you what a site spends on Pay Per Click adverts. A site can generate 1000 dollars a month in revenue but if it spends 900 dollars in PPC to do it then the REAL revenue figure is 100 dollars per month.

URLtrends - gather SEO data, Pagerank, links, rank trends and more.

Backlink Checker - See who is linking to a specific website. Incoming links increase pagerank..at least allegedly.

Yahoo Site Explorer - Check to see what Yahoo shows for inbound links and indexed pages.

Market Leap - Test the rankings of web pages. Great for testing competitor's sites.

WebTools - Check to make sure you aren't buying a banned domain. Critical if you ever expect to be indexed in Google or drive search engine traffic to your site.

Trademark Issues

If you're buying a fan site, celebrity site or any site with a potential trademark or copyright issue then you could be in for a rude surprise if you are served with a cease and desist from a law firm representing the trademark owner. The best time to find out what trademark issues you might face is BEFORE you pay for your site.

Trademark Electronic Search System - Use the Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS) to perform basic and advanced searches for trademarks.

Patent Electronic Business Center - Search the patent office's records for full-text and full-page image returns on your competitors' issued and published patent applications.

Research done here now will make sure you have no nasty surprises down the road. If the purchase amount is sizeable enough then you should surely consult a lawyer if you have reservations.

Hosting

Would you like to know how to see which host a specific website is using? This doesn't really matter much although it does give you a way to provide a "security" check on the seller. Some unscrupulous sellers will actually try to sell sites that don't belong to them. An easy check up to make sure they are who they say they are would be to ask them who hosts it. If they aren't the seller, chances are they won't answer correctly.

Don't rely on this as your only means of security but it's another check.

Who is Hosting This - This will show you is hosting the site currently.

Website Pulse - Website pulse will show you the speed of a web host. It shows response time, sizes and more.

Traffic

Would you like to know how much traffic a specific website is getting? Sellers will tend to flaunt their traffic count in the For Sale listings and it can sound impressive but you need to look more closely. Inspect the incoming URLs and see where the traffic is coming from. If it is paid traffic coming from "buy traffic for cheap.com" then tread carefully.

Look for trends or spikes and don't be fooled by a 3 or 6 month average. One front page Digg article can give a website a good monthly average for the year, even though these visitors are likely never coming back. Inspect the traffic month by month and even day by day.

Google Analytics - Google Analytics is one of the best tools around and a little known fact is that if the seller is using Analytics on the site you are considering, they can allow you access to their Analytics page. No secrets there.

Compete - Compete give a great overview of a site's traffic. It shows visitor info, growth, traffic counts, and you can put multiple sites in a portfolio as well.

Alexa - Alexa is the most commonly touted service there is, however it is definitely not the best choice in my opinion. There is concern out there that Alexa is heavily biased towards certain kinds of sites. Tread softly if this is the only valuation of traffic that you are offered.

SEO Analyzer - This tool will analyzes the weaknesses on a website allowing you to fix them and enjoy a resulting traffic increase.....at least that's the plan. You could use this to gauge how quickly and significantly you might improve traffic post purchase.

Statsaholic - This will show stats about a sites rankings, page views etc. I have very little experience with this but it is a popular tool.

Website Valuation Tools

You've probably seen those little widgets on blogs and websites that give a value of that site, did you notice how grossly inflated the price was? I am not aware of any service out there where you can plug a URL into it and it give you any idea at all what the site is worth.

The only way to accurately assess a sites value is using good old common sense and many of the tools that I have listed above.

I hesitate to even say this but a very rough calculation that is often used as a starting point is 12 times current revenue. This is NOT an accurate method but is widely accepted to be used as a basis for a starting point. There are so many other factors involved on website valuation that it will take another complete article to even begin to discuss tthe topic.

Conclusion

In the end the real value of the site is no different than anything else.... it is worth exactly what someone is willing to pay for it. It's no different than your house, your car, your timeshare etc...if a buyer isn't willing to pay the amount that you ask then the site isn't worth that much. Period.

If you have a website you are interested in selling or you have a comment on the website flipping craze then I would like to hear from you.

You can reach me on my Make Money Online blog at TheBlogEntrepreneur.com where you can read this same article with all of the links in place....saves you time.

What Is Ecommerce?

Electronic commerce, or e-commerce, refers to the use of the Internet at any point during the buying and selling of goods. The term is commonly used to refer to transactions where an actual payment has been made online via a credit card. But e-commerce also involves other online activities such as marketing, distribution and servicing of products over the Internet. Electronic commerce often relies on technologies such as e-mail and enterprise resource planning applications for transaction completion and order fulfillment.

The term e-business is usually interchangeable with e-commerce. However, some definitions treat Electronic commerce as a subset of e-business. In these cases, a clear distinction is made between transactions that involve the exchange of money online and those that don't. A transaction where a payment is made online is defined as e-commerce. And e-business is used to refer to all non-fiscal online transactions that facilitate and support the actual sale.

Electronic commerce can involve commercial activity between different interest groups. These could be business to business (B2B), business to consumer (B2C), business to administration (B2A), business to employee (B2E) or customer to customer (C2C). These classifications can be broken down into further sub-groups. For example, a B2B activity could be a vertical e-marketplace that offers goods or services to businesses within a specific industry segment. Alternatively, it could be a horizontal e-marketplace that offers services to businesses irrespective of industry segment.

E-commerce continues to grow in popularity and a large amount of business is transacted online every year. But it's worth noting that it also presents many challenges for governments and regulatory bodies, which can also affect your business. The United Kingdom has relatively clear Electronic commerce definitions and laws. But with its decentralised and complicated tax structure, the United States still has a moratorium on new, multiple or discriminatory Internet taxes. In 2000, an advisory commission on e-commerce in the United States failed to reach a conclusive agreement on Electronic commerce taxation.

e-Commerce Definition