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Who Needs It?
by Bob Osgoodby
Those with a "brick and mortar" business, quickly learn that
there are two types of people they will do business with. Those
who can afford to pay for the goods and services, and those who
can't. Now that seems simple enough.
Someone who leaves the store without buying, because they
couldn't pay now, will seldom be seen again. Sure, some
go to an ATM, withdraw the cash and return, but they are the
exception rather than the rule. Others will write a check, but
there are people who can't afford, at this moment, to write a
check either. If you can't close a sale when they are ready to
buy, they have time to cool off, and you will most likely lose
the opportunity.
The same holds true on the web. If you can't close when someone
has made up their mind to buy, you will probably lose the sale.
Now there are several methods of accepting payment on the web.
One is to have them send you a check or money order. They have
to write out the check or get a money order, and time passes - in
other words you have lost the immediacy of the moment.
Many people buy on impulse, and if you provide a convenient way
for them to pay for the purchase, you have a better chance of
making the sale. This can take several forms on the web, and
let's talk about just two.
Many online business barely make expenses when starting out. As
you get known, it will increase, but after awhile will level out.
You are losing the impulse purchases. Once you install online
checks, your business should immediately increase.
Obviously the online check submission has an effect. But, you can
then expect your business to level off again, even though it will
be at a higher level than before. Realize that people will not
submit a check online if they are tight on funds.
It is then time to take the next step. Acquire merchant status
and be able to accept credit cards. People can now make the
purchase knowing they have 30 days to make payment. If they
were financially tight at that point, they could make a minimum
payment, but still have the advantage of making their purchase
now. At that point, your business should take a huge jump.
If you are doing business on the web, and selling either a
product or a service, and feel you just can't afford to get a
merchant account, it is costing you lost sales. Sure, it costs
about a 700 - 800 dollars to become fully operational with online
checks and a merchant account, but you will recover that very
quickly.
But I have to have a "secure site" to accept these you might
think, and you are right. You can do this in one of two ways
that make sense. You can contract with a company for web space
that provides web space and get a "secure site" from them, but
this requires a knowledge of HTML coding, and can also get to be
expensive.
A second way is to find a web site that currently has a "secure
site" and make a deal with them. Many will be amenable to
renting you a page on their secure server, which will return the
credit card transactions to you, for a minimal amount. You can
then use the free web pages you get from your ISP (Internet
Service Provider) for the majority of your web site.
There are many ways to "skin the cat" and if you find one that
works for you, you won't be among the "wannabes" who say "Who
Needs It".
Bob publishes the free weekly "Your Business" Newsletter
Visit his Web Site at http://www.adv-marketing.com/business to subscribe.
As a bonus, get 40,000 FREE E-Books from
Larry Dotson, when you visit http://www.ldpublishing.com
 work at home
get paid to shop
write articles for traffic
free content
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