Humans have been writing articles for millenia. The internet has become popular for only about fiften years. Find out how this author uses articles to generate proven income with new home internet marketing strategies.
The title probably got your attention, but maybe this is not so new. And then again, maybe it is new as the internet is not that old. Human beings have been writing for millenia, Writing on the internet with this much ease has only been done for a very short time. I have written a number of articles on the subject of internet marketing, mostly because I am investigating the same, and the best way to clarify your thinking is to put it on paper. Articles will do this for you. Emphasis is on the basics, the kinds of things that anyone new to internet marketing can and should do, not the fancy stuff. These are the not so new home internet marketing strategies that more experienced internet marketers continue to do themselves on a regular basis. They provide the internet marketer with a dependable, recurring, high, and consistent proven income. Focus will be on article marketing because I have become aware of how important this has become to the search engines.
My honest wish is that I had started my online business about 15 years ago when the internet was just getting popular. Like most I didn't. When I did make the decision to start an online business, and I was really new to home internet marketing strategies, I looked at a number of websites for the keywords I had chosen. I remember the first time I spied on my competition. The site had over a thousand links. I had about 10. I thought to myself, how am I ever going to get this many? The competition is tough! Sites with pr four and pr five on page one of Google are so far ahead of me, I will never be able to make up this lost time.
I was so pre-occupied with Google Adwords, list building, and making fast money that I put the idea of getting a lot of links to my website aside. After about ten dollars, it was a lot more than that, and about a month of wasted time, I bought LinkMachine and started linking. I also started submitting my sight to the internet directories. I started getting some traffic from this, but I knew it was not nearly enough. I realized that most of the people looking at my link pages were not the customers I was seeking, but other internet marketing strategists looking for link partners. My site had gotten a pr three, so there were quite a few. I was getting lots of visits to my web pages, however no sales.
I spent the next few months focusing on my linking strategies along with directory submissions. Traffic continued to increase until all of a sudden, I could not seem to find any more high pr sites to link to. I had pretty much run into most of the relative web sites. Many of them required a pr four or higher. Most ignored my requests to be a link partner. This was probably because of the number of requests they receive. I did not want to link to the pr zero sites any more because I realized that this was not going to help my site when I reciprocate. I had to do something different.
I already had about five articles that had been submitted to a number of article directories. A few of them were sitting on page one for the keywords I had written about. After going through all of this, I decided to go on an article campaign. I wrote five articles in one week. I sat down and registered with about two hundred high pr article directories using Article Submitter Pro. I made sure that all of my old articles were showing up in all of the article directories and added them when I found them missing. I picked up a thousand back links just by fixing the old ones.
Then I submitted the five new ones in one week. Within a week my web page went from about page five and six to page one and two in MSN. It also climbed dramatically in Google for one relatively low traffic keyword phrase. Web page visits increased immediately by one hundred or so. The really cool thing about the search engine pages that my web site was showing up for on page one and two, is that the articles are also showing up on page one and two. So, surfers are clicking on my main web page by clicking on my web page link, and if they don't do that, they would also see and click on the article links showing up on the same page.
Fresh articles are important in the article directories as well. If the article directory has a recently added section, your article title will show up on that page as well. This not only exposes the article to surfers who frequent that article directory, it provides you web page with another back link in addition to the article back link itself, even though it may only be for a short while. Article directories like Idea Marketers will display this link not only on their main page, but on the pages of articles that are relative to your topic. They have made a science out of creating internal links for their own web site because these pages also contain links back to their own web pages. I had one article in this article directory that generated dozens of back links because the anchor text link showed up on a number of sub-pages.
Here is something about writing articles that I have found a personal observation on. The longer you are pursuing a business, and searching for that one thing that will give you the proven income that every marketer on the internet seems to promise with little or no effort on your part, the more focused your articles become on the keywords you want your web site to show up on page one in the search engines for. When I realized that this was incredibly important, as well as the anchor text in the author box, the higher my web page started to climb in the search engines. My web pages now show up on page one and two in MSN and Google for about a dozen key word phrases. I am adding about one hundred visits per day on average every month.
These new home internet marketing strategies in the form of your own fresh article content contributions, though not so new in conceptArticle Search, will move your web pages up in the search engine rankings fast! My hope is that your web pages climb the misty mountains of Google and MSN and provide you with the proven income you always deserved.
http://www.articlesfactory.com/articles/online-promotion/proven-income-new-home-internet-marketing-strategies.html
Friday, October 12, 2007
Make Money By Writing And Publishing Small Articles On The Internet
A writer can find a great market for his or her work on the Internet. Heck! A Writer can CREATE a business by writing small articles.
Right now, thousands of people from around the world, from professional authors to my sister-in-law, are using small, simple articles to make money on the Internet.
How much money can you make writing articles?Well, that is going to vary from person to person, and a lot of other factors are involved as well. It's not simply how good a writer you are, but the subjects you choose to write about, how you address the subject, where you place your articles, how many sites you get your articles on, how valuable the information is, and the site(s) you link to with your articles. A few small, 600 to 1000 words, articles properly placed can create regular customers and sales while enhancing an internet business website ranking within the search engines...which also increases traffic to the website. Increased traffic can translate to increased customers, therefore more sales, and, in some cases, repeat sales, which translates to residual (passive)Some people make thousands of dollars while others just make a few bucks. However, the technique is simple and it's a game that almost anyone can play. Even my sister-in-law figured out that if she simply wrote about some of the problems she encountered growing up, there would be places where her articles could be published, people who would read those articles, and a means of linking from those articles to a site she and her husband have on the internet.
So, what IS the technique for making money with small articles?In most cases, the first step is to decide on what the general subject is you wish to write about. In this case, I have chosen to write about writing. The general subject is then narrowed down to a niche. Again, in this case, I have chosen to write about how to write small articles for profit. Someone interested in bicycling may write about racing, or even narrow the niche to a specific sort of bike racing or type of racing bike.
The niche should be related to the product. The product may be a physical product, a service, or information. Some people will have a product already. Our bicycle enthusiast above may own a bicycle store or sell bicycle parts and accessories over the internet. I offer various services and information related to writing and publishing articles, so I have chosen to write an article on writing articles...for profit!!It is important in most cases that you choose a product or service that you enjoy talking or writing about. If you pick a product JUST to make money, but don't really care about the area of interest, you will lose your motivation during periods when income is small or slow. It is a reality, by the way, that the first few days, weeks, or even months may be periods where you will make little or no money. An interest in your topic will help keep you coming back to "open your store".
What if you don't already have a product?There are many sites on the internet where you can find people or companies which will be happy to pay you a commission for bringing them buying customers. Most of these "affiliate programs" will only pay if the customer you send to them actually buys something. Years ago, you could find programs which would pay an affiliate for a click-thru, but, of course, many people would just sit and click on the link or have friends click on the link in order to generate income, so that went away.
Some places where you can find products with affiliate programs are ClickBank.com, commission Junction (cj.com), and Link Share (linkshare.com). If you cannot find a product or company that meets your interests, just do a search on related topics and request "affiliate program" with the search. You may have to kiss a few frogs, but there are good affiliate programs in just about every field.
What do you do with your articles?Make your own website:
Obviously, if you have several articles on a subject, you can always create your own website. A benefit of having your own website is that you control the set-up of your articles and you have complete editorial control of both the articles themselves and the website. You can add, subtract, and edit as you wish, and you can create any potentially profitable links as you desire.
The drawbacks are that your website, and article, exposure will be only as good as your search engine optimization efforts will make it and that your articles will be confined to one spot on the web. You will also have to learn something about website design, buy hosting, register domain names, and provide periodic maintenance, just to name a few responsibilities. If you want to try this route, you might want to cut your teeth with free hosting and, once you have gained competence and confidence, register a domain and host your own site yourself.
Create a blog:
There are a myriad of places to create blogs on the internet, and most of them are free. If you are a prolific writer, a blog may be perfect as you can regularly update your blog with new material. Even if you don't turn out articles regularly, you can fill in with material from the article directories, which we will talk about in a moment. Again, you will have control over most of the linking, but free services are sometimes limited in what they will allow you to do. For one example, I once tried to place a banner for an affiliate program on one of my blogs and it threw the positioning of everything out of whack. However, if you can offer interesting and relevant information on your topic and update it regularly, you can create a good amount of traffic to your business or affiliate program.
Post your articles on forums:
There are a kazillion (my spell checker hates that non-word) forums on the Internet, and you can find at least one for almost any topic or subject area. Many will allow you to create a signature which can include a link to your internet business website. Regularly posting relevant and interesting articles on these sites can create a lot of traffic, and sometimes contribute to enhancing your ranking and placement on various search engines.
Post your articles on article directories:
This is my absolute most favorite type, kind, and sort of method. Once you have written an article, you can go to any one of several good article directories and post your article. Article sites will allow you to include a link to your site. Be aware, however, that many sites will not allow linking directly to an affiliate link provided by the company you are affiliated with, so you may wind up having to create an intermediate information site or portal anyway.
Since this article may appear on several different article directories, I won't mention any specific article directories here, but, if you are seeing this article on an article directory, I possibly posted it there...which brings me to a benefit of posting your article on article directories.
Obviously, the more exposure you get for your article the better...in most cases at least. However, it can be a real pain to go from one article directory to another, cutting and pasting and dealing with the rules or restrictions particular to each site. Since many sites allow for your article, with your byline or links attached, to be copied by others, your article may be copied and placed on other sites or used in ezines. Those placed on other websites create new links back to your site, enhancing the value of your site in the eyes of the search engine spiders, and possibly bringing in new customers.
Still, you are faced with the bother of manually placing each new article on several different sites with different requirements. One way around this is to purchase the services of an article submission service. For a fee, these companies will, once you have posted an article on their site, submit it to several different article directories and forums. This can increase your exposure exponentially.
As with many things, there are few overnight successes. If you are able and willing to write at least a few articles and find places to post, them, however, you will be able to create the start of an Internet success story. The key is not to give up just because nothing happens right away. This is why you choose an area which pleases and interests you. If you are working in such an areaFeature Articles, you will find it much easier to continue creating articles even if you are not immediately experiencing fantastic results.
http://www.articlesfactory.com/articles/business/make-money-by-writing-and-publishing-small-articles-on-the-internet.html
Right now, thousands of people from around the world, from professional authors to my sister-in-law, are using small, simple articles to make money on the Internet.
How much money can you make writing articles?Well, that is going to vary from person to person, and a lot of other factors are involved as well. It's not simply how good a writer you are, but the subjects you choose to write about, how you address the subject, where you place your articles, how many sites you get your articles on, how valuable the information is, and the site(s) you link to with your articles. A few small, 600 to 1000 words, articles properly placed can create regular customers and sales while enhancing an internet business website ranking within the search engines...which also increases traffic to the website. Increased traffic can translate to increased customers, therefore more sales, and, in some cases, repeat sales, which translates to residual (passive)Some people make thousands of dollars while others just make a few bucks. However, the technique is simple and it's a game that almost anyone can play. Even my sister-in-law figured out that if she simply wrote about some of the problems she encountered growing up, there would be places where her articles could be published, people who would read those articles, and a means of linking from those articles to a site she and her husband have on the internet.
So, what IS the technique for making money with small articles?In most cases, the first step is to decide on what the general subject is you wish to write about. In this case, I have chosen to write about writing. The general subject is then narrowed down to a niche. Again, in this case, I have chosen to write about how to write small articles for profit. Someone interested in bicycling may write about racing, or even narrow the niche to a specific sort of bike racing or type of racing bike.
The niche should be related to the product. The product may be a physical product, a service, or information. Some people will have a product already. Our bicycle enthusiast above may own a bicycle store or sell bicycle parts and accessories over the internet. I offer various services and information related to writing and publishing articles, so I have chosen to write an article on writing articles...for profit!!It is important in most cases that you choose a product or service that you enjoy talking or writing about. If you pick a product JUST to make money, but don't really care about the area of interest, you will lose your motivation during periods when income is small or slow. It is a reality, by the way, that the first few days, weeks, or even months may be periods where you will make little or no money. An interest in your topic will help keep you coming back to "open your store".
What if you don't already have a product?There are many sites on the internet where you can find people or companies which will be happy to pay you a commission for bringing them buying customers. Most of these "affiliate programs" will only pay if the customer you send to them actually buys something. Years ago, you could find programs which would pay an affiliate for a click-thru, but, of course, many people would just sit and click on the link or have friends click on the link in order to generate income, so that went away.
Some places where you can find products with affiliate programs are ClickBank.com, commission Junction (cj.com), and Link Share (linkshare.com). If you cannot find a product or company that meets your interests, just do a search on related topics and request "affiliate program" with the search. You may have to kiss a few frogs, but there are good affiliate programs in just about every field.
What do you do with your articles?Make your own website:
Obviously, if you have several articles on a subject, you can always create your own website. A benefit of having your own website is that you control the set-up of your articles and you have complete editorial control of both the articles themselves and the website. You can add, subtract, and edit as you wish, and you can create any potentially profitable links as you desire.
The drawbacks are that your website, and article, exposure will be only as good as your search engine optimization efforts will make it and that your articles will be confined to one spot on the web. You will also have to learn something about website design, buy hosting, register domain names, and provide periodic maintenance, just to name a few responsibilities. If you want to try this route, you might want to cut your teeth with free hosting and, once you have gained competence and confidence, register a domain and host your own site yourself.
Create a blog:
There are a myriad of places to create blogs on the internet, and most of them are free. If you are a prolific writer, a blog may be perfect as you can regularly update your blog with new material. Even if you don't turn out articles regularly, you can fill in with material from the article directories, which we will talk about in a moment. Again, you will have control over most of the linking, but free services are sometimes limited in what they will allow you to do. For one example, I once tried to place a banner for an affiliate program on one of my blogs and it threw the positioning of everything out of whack. However, if you can offer interesting and relevant information on your topic and update it regularly, you can create a good amount of traffic to your business or affiliate program.
Post your articles on forums:
There are a kazillion (my spell checker hates that non-word) forums on the Internet, and you can find at least one for almost any topic or subject area. Many will allow you to create a signature which can include a link to your internet business website. Regularly posting relevant and interesting articles on these sites can create a lot of traffic, and sometimes contribute to enhancing your ranking and placement on various search engines.
Post your articles on article directories:
This is my absolute most favorite type, kind, and sort of method. Once you have written an article, you can go to any one of several good article directories and post your article. Article sites will allow you to include a link to your site. Be aware, however, that many sites will not allow linking directly to an affiliate link provided by the company you are affiliated with, so you may wind up having to create an intermediate information site or portal anyway.
Since this article may appear on several different article directories, I won't mention any specific article directories here, but, if you are seeing this article on an article directory, I possibly posted it there...which brings me to a benefit of posting your article on article directories.
Obviously, the more exposure you get for your article the better...in most cases at least. However, it can be a real pain to go from one article directory to another, cutting and pasting and dealing with the rules or restrictions particular to each site. Since many sites allow for your article, with your byline or links attached, to be copied by others, your article may be copied and placed on other sites or used in ezines. Those placed on other websites create new links back to your site, enhancing the value of your site in the eyes of the search engine spiders, and possibly bringing in new customers.
Still, you are faced with the bother of manually placing each new article on several different sites with different requirements. One way around this is to purchase the services of an article submission service. For a fee, these companies will, once you have posted an article on their site, submit it to several different article directories and forums. This can increase your exposure exponentially.
As with many things, there are few overnight successes. If you are able and willing to write at least a few articles and find places to post, them, however, you will be able to create the start of an Internet success story. The key is not to give up just because nothing happens right away. This is why you choose an area which pleases and interests you. If you are working in such an areaFeature Articles, you will find it much easier to continue creating articles even if you are not immediately experiencing fantastic results.
http://www.articlesfactory.com/articles/business/make-money-by-writing-and-publishing-small-articles-on-the-internet.html
The Greatest Internet Marketing Strategy Using Google Adsense
Are you writing articles with the idea of marketing your internet business? Discover how using the right keywords in articles and having Google Adsense ads on your content site is now one of the most profitable ways of internet advertising.
Are you using this internet marketing strategy? If not, you may be leaving thousands of dollars of extra profits on the table by not utilizing this strategy.
Are you writing articles with the idea of marketing your internet business?
Discover how using the right keywords in articles and having Google Adsense ads on your content site is now one of the most profitable ways of internet advertising.
Are you using this internet marketing strategy?
If not, you may be leaving thousands of dollars of extra profits on the table by not utilizing this strategy.
This is one of the many reasons writing original quality content articles is now the latest marketing buzz.
The two basics that you can combine to really power a successful website. Content and links.
You already know that right?
Are you writing articles and submitting them using such services as SubmitYourArticle?
Many internet marketing pro’s have been writing articles for many years.
They already know the value of original quality content and using keywords will drive targeted traffic to their websites from the search engines such as Google.
So why don’t all internet marketing business owners write and submit articles for their internet marketing strategy?
The simple answer is that it takes time to write articles, submit them and get targeted traffic to their websites.
Another reason, is that writing articles reminds us of school research papers, essays and reports that are a deep negative anchor in the subconscious mind.
Did you enjoy writing when you were in school?
If your answer is yes, you have an advantage over the 95% of internet marketing business owners that want to make money online with a work at home opportunity.
Imagine how much opportunity there is for you because of knowing this simple fact.
The other 5% are taking advantage of this internet marketing strategy and internet advertising, by using Google Adsense ads to make money online on the front and backend writing articles.
Why do you think marketing sites want fresh, quality, original keyword rich content?
The website owner can have an article with keywords that relate to their website content.
This helps their websites page rank when indexed by the search engines.
Which in turn, gets more Google Adsense ads to show above, below and or next to the article on their website with targeted traffic.
Think about this for a moment. Imagine taking advantage of a work at home opportunity, marketing from both sides of the sales coin with 3 simple steps.
3 Simple Steps To Success With Content And Keywords
1.) You write quality original content, keyword/phrase rich articles, with links to your website in the resource box.
2.) You build a website or web page with targeted keyword/phrase rich original content for the targeted traffic that originates from your articles.
3.) You have Google Adsense ads that are targeted to your keyword/phrase rich original content site when visitors looking for more information arrive.
If you did not get all that, you may want to read it again.
A Win-Win Situation For Everyone Involved.
The person looking for quality content and information.
The person writing the original content articles.
The person with the quality original content rich website.
And Yes, Google Adsense and their advertisers are getting targeted traffic and sales, but so is everyone else.
Internet marketing business owners who incorporate Google Adsense with writing articles, can make money online if done properly with this internet marketing strategy.
An Overview Of Google Adsense And Writing Articles.
There are 3 keys to internet marketing success writing articles and using Google Adsense ads.
1.) Keyword Research. Find popular subjects and keywords/phrases, using a keyword selector and suggestion tool by Overture and 7Search.
2.) Writing Articles. Write original content with keywords from your research.
3.) Quality Content Site. Build a quality content site incorporated with Google Adsense ads that target the subject and keywords of your article and website.
There are many marketing business ideas.
Starting an internet marketing business can be very rewarding and at the same time challenging.
It’s best to take the time to research and develop an internet marketing strategy.
You can find all the tools, information and resources online by doing a Google search on any subject such as Google Adsense.
Internet marketing opportunities are wide open for you. Writing articles and using Google Adsense for your internet marketing strategy is one way to get a piece of the action.
Are you going to take advantage of the greatest internet marketing strategy online today to make money online with Google Adsense and writing articles?
Just get started. Do whatever it takes to write something. For building long term success, there’s very little you can do that will give you near the same results online today.
http://www.articlesfactory.com/articles/marketing/the-greatest-internet-marketing-strategy-using-google-adsense.html
Are you using this internet marketing strategy? If not, you may be leaving thousands of dollars of extra profits on the table by not utilizing this strategy.
Are you writing articles with the idea of marketing your internet business?
Discover how using the right keywords in articles and having Google Adsense ads on your content site is now one of the most profitable ways of internet advertising.
Are you using this internet marketing strategy?
If not, you may be leaving thousands of dollars of extra profits on the table by not utilizing this strategy.
This is one of the many reasons writing original quality content articles is now the latest marketing buzz.
The two basics that you can combine to really power a successful website. Content and links.
You already know that right?
Are you writing articles and submitting them using such services as SubmitYourArticle?
Many internet marketing pro’s have been writing articles for many years.
They already know the value of original quality content and using keywords will drive targeted traffic to their websites from the search engines such as Google.
So why don’t all internet marketing business owners write and submit articles for their internet marketing strategy?
The simple answer is that it takes time to write articles, submit them and get targeted traffic to their websites.
Another reason, is that writing articles reminds us of school research papers, essays and reports that are a deep negative anchor in the subconscious mind.
Did you enjoy writing when you were in school?
If your answer is yes, you have an advantage over the 95% of internet marketing business owners that want to make money online with a work at home opportunity.
Imagine how much opportunity there is for you because of knowing this simple fact.
The other 5% are taking advantage of this internet marketing strategy and internet advertising, by using Google Adsense ads to make money online on the front and backend writing articles.
Why do you think marketing sites want fresh, quality, original keyword rich content?
The website owner can have an article with keywords that relate to their website content.
This helps their websites page rank when indexed by the search engines.
Which in turn, gets more Google Adsense ads to show above, below and or next to the article on their website with targeted traffic.
Think about this for a moment. Imagine taking advantage of a work at home opportunity, marketing from both sides of the sales coin with 3 simple steps.
3 Simple Steps To Success With Content And Keywords
1.) You write quality original content, keyword/phrase rich articles, with links to your website in the resource box.
2.) You build a website or web page with targeted keyword/phrase rich original content for the targeted traffic that originates from your articles.
3.) You have Google Adsense ads that are targeted to your keyword/phrase rich original content site when visitors looking for more information arrive.
If you did not get all that, you may want to read it again.
A Win-Win Situation For Everyone Involved.
The person looking for quality content and information.
The person writing the original content articles.
The person with the quality original content rich website.
And Yes, Google Adsense and their advertisers are getting targeted traffic and sales, but so is everyone else.
Internet marketing business owners who incorporate Google Adsense with writing articles, can make money online if done properly with this internet marketing strategy.
An Overview Of Google Adsense And Writing Articles.
There are 3 keys to internet marketing success writing articles and using Google Adsense ads.
1.) Keyword Research. Find popular subjects and keywords/phrases, using a keyword selector and suggestion tool by Overture and 7Search.
2.) Writing Articles. Write original content with keywords from your research.
3.) Quality Content Site. Build a quality content site incorporated with Google Adsense ads that target the subject and keywords of your article and website.
There are many marketing business ideas.
Starting an internet marketing business can be very rewarding and at the same time challenging.
It’s best to take the time to research and develop an internet marketing strategy.
You can find all the tools, information and resources online by doing a Google search on any subject such as Google Adsense.
Internet marketing opportunities are wide open for you. Writing articles and using Google Adsense for your internet marketing strategy is one way to get a piece of the action.
Are you going to take advantage of the greatest internet marketing strategy online today to make money online with Google Adsense and writing articles?
Just get started. Do whatever it takes to write something. For building long term success, there’s very little you can do that will give you near the same results online today.
http://www.articlesfactory.com/articles/marketing/the-greatest-internet-marketing-strategy-using-google-adsense.html
Choosing An Internet Merchant Account
Surf to Google and perform a search on "Internet Merchant Account". The results are staggering (472,000 results!) If you have created a web based business and need to accept credit card payments, your choices are limitless. Before you partner with a provider, take time to understand the different components of internet credit card processing, and know what to look for in a merchant provider.
How It Works
Accepting credit card payments through your web site actually requires multiple components. Between a paying customer and your bank account, three layers exist:
Payment Gateway - This is the code that will transmit a customer's order to and from an internet merchant account provider. The payment gateway provides you the ability to accept customer billing information (credit card number, credit card type, expiration date, and payment amount) and the necessary validation steps that must be followed before the credit card is actually billed.
Internet Merchant Account - A Merchant Account is an account with a financial institution or bank, which enables you to accept credit card payments from your clients. The payment gateway actually transmits the billing information to the internet merchant account provider. Unfortunately, most local banks do not provide internet merchant account capability.
The main reason why most local financial institutions or banks do not want to provide online merchant accounts is because transactions conducted over the Internet are totally different from face to face transactions where a signature is required to authorize the purchase. This makes online transactions prone to credit card fraud. Fraud protection should be one of your primary considerations when choosing an internet merchant account provider.
Web Site - Regardless of which merchant provider and gateway service you choose, your web site will need to integrate with your service providers. Most providers include detailed web integration instructions.
How Much Does It Cost
Understanding the total costs of your merchant provider can be tricky. Remember my Google example - there are more merchant account providers than there are people looking for internet merchant accounts so ask questions and be picky! Typically, an internet merchant account will have three types of costs:
- Up Front Application Fees
- On Going Fixed Fee
- Discount Rate
- Fixed Transaction Fee
- Termination Fees
- Miscellaneous Fees
Let us discuss each type of cost:
Up Front Application Fees
Many internet merchant accounts will require an up front application fee. This fee, supposedly, is to cover their costs for processing your application. In case you choose not to open an internet merchant account, they still cover their initial costs. Although common, many providers waive these fees and I recommend that you choose a provider that does not require an up front fee.
On Going Fixed Fee
Most all internet merchant providers require a monthly fixed fee or "statement fee" as it is commonly named, which is simply another way to cover their costs and make money. You will be hard pressed to find a provider that does not require this type of fee on a monthly basis. However, do not choose an internet merchant account that requires more than $10 per month. Additionally, most internet merchant providers require a monthly minimum (usually $25). The bottom line is that you will be paying at least $25 per month (on top of the monthly statement fee) for your account.
Discount Rate
Usually, the discount rate will be between 2 and 4 percent. The discount rate is the sales commission the provider earns on each sale. For example, if the discount rate offered is 3%, and you receive a sale over your web site for $20, you will owe 60 cents to your internet merchant provider.
Fixed Transaction Fee
Usually between $0.20 and $0.30, the fixed transaction fee is the fixed fee portion of each sale. Unlike the discount rate, the fixed transaction fee is the same for every transaction. Whether you get a $1 sale or a $100 sale, the transaction fee will be the same.
Termination Fee
A bit more hidden in the small print, a termination fee can apply if you cancel your merchant account within a specified period of time (usually within one year). But beware, some merchant providers require a three year commitment!
Miscellaneous Fees
If a customer requests a refund and they want their credit card credited, an internet merchant provider will charge you a separate fee (usually between $10 - $20). Read the contract carefully, as other special fees may apply.
Putting It All Together
Now that the different fees have been explained, let us look at an example set of transactions to help understand what an internet merchant account may cost your business on a monthly basis.
I have created a simple formula to help you calculate your monthly charges:
Total Charges = Statement Fee + Number of Transactions x (Average Sale x Discount Rate + Fixed Transaction Fee) + (Number of Chargebacks x Chargeback Fee)
For example, let us see you sell widgets over the internet. The sales price for each widget is $10. You typically have 100 sales per month and about 5 people request refunds (chargebacks). For this example, let us assume you have signed up with Jones&Jones internet merchant account services and have the following terms:
Discount Rate - %2.5
Statement Fee - $10
Fixed Transaction Fee - $0.30
Chargeback Fee - $15
Using my formula above, your monthly Jones&Jones charges will be:
Total Charges = 10 + 100 x (10 x .025 + 0.3) + (5 x 15) = $140
You can calculate your monthly sales revenue by multiplying your sales volume by your price:
Monthly Sales Revenue = 100 x $10 = $1000
Your internet merchant provider is costing you %14 or your total sales.
Making Your Decision
Before you choose and internet merchant provider, understand all of the cost components. Use your current or projected sales data to forecast what your internet merchant account costs will be. Planning ahead can save you time and money.
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How It Works
Accepting credit card payments through your web site actually requires multiple components. Between a paying customer and your bank account, three layers exist:
Payment Gateway - This is the code that will transmit a customer's order to and from an internet merchant account provider. The payment gateway provides you the ability to accept customer billing information (credit card number, credit card type, expiration date, and payment amount) and the necessary validation steps that must be followed before the credit card is actually billed.
Internet Merchant Account - A Merchant Account is an account with a financial institution or bank, which enables you to accept credit card payments from your clients. The payment gateway actually transmits the billing information to the internet merchant account provider. Unfortunately, most local banks do not provide internet merchant account capability.
The main reason why most local financial institutions or banks do not want to provide online merchant accounts is because transactions conducted over the Internet are totally different from face to face transactions where a signature is required to authorize the purchase. This makes online transactions prone to credit card fraud. Fraud protection should be one of your primary considerations when choosing an internet merchant account provider.
Web Site - Regardless of which merchant provider and gateway service you choose, your web site will need to integrate with your service providers. Most providers include detailed web integration instructions.
How Much Does It Cost
Understanding the total costs of your merchant provider can be tricky. Remember my Google example - there are more merchant account providers than there are people looking for internet merchant accounts so ask questions and be picky! Typically, an internet merchant account will have three types of costs:
- Up Front Application Fees
- On Going Fixed Fee
- Discount Rate
- Fixed Transaction Fee
- Termination Fees
- Miscellaneous Fees
Let us discuss each type of cost:
Up Front Application Fees
Many internet merchant accounts will require an up front application fee. This fee, supposedly, is to cover their costs for processing your application. In case you choose not to open an internet merchant account, they still cover their initial costs. Although common, many providers waive these fees and I recommend that you choose a provider that does not require an up front fee.
On Going Fixed Fee
Most all internet merchant providers require a monthly fixed fee or "statement fee" as it is commonly named, which is simply another way to cover their costs and make money. You will be hard pressed to find a provider that does not require this type of fee on a monthly basis. However, do not choose an internet merchant account that requires more than $10 per month. Additionally, most internet merchant providers require a monthly minimum (usually $25). The bottom line is that you will be paying at least $25 per month (on top of the monthly statement fee) for your account.
Discount Rate
Usually, the discount rate will be between 2 and 4 percent. The discount rate is the sales commission the provider earns on each sale. For example, if the discount rate offered is 3%, and you receive a sale over your web site for $20, you will owe 60 cents to your internet merchant provider.
Fixed Transaction Fee
Usually between $0.20 and $0.30, the fixed transaction fee is the fixed fee portion of each sale. Unlike the discount rate, the fixed transaction fee is the same for every transaction. Whether you get a $1 sale or a $100 sale, the transaction fee will be the same.
Termination Fee
A bit more hidden in the small print, a termination fee can apply if you cancel your merchant account within a specified period of time (usually within one year). But beware, some merchant providers require a three year commitment!
Miscellaneous Fees
If a customer requests a refund and they want their credit card credited, an internet merchant provider will charge you a separate fee (usually between $10 - $20). Read the contract carefully, as other special fees may apply.
Putting It All Together
Now that the different fees have been explained, let us look at an example set of transactions to help understand what an internet merchant account may cost your business on a monthly basis.
I have created a simple formula to help you calculate your monthly charges:
Total Charges = Statement Fee + Number of Transactions x (Average Sale x Discount Rate + Fixed Transaction Fee) + (Number of Chargebacks x Chargeback Fee)
For example, let us see you sell widgets over the internet. The sales price for each widget is $10. You typically have 100 sales per month and about 5 people request refunds (chargebacks). For this example, let us assume you have signed up with Jones&Jones internet merchant account services and have the following terms:
Discount Rate - %2.5
Statement Fee - $10
Fixed Transaction Fee - $0.30
Chargeback Fee - $15
Using my formula above, your monthly Jones&Jones charges will be:
Total Charges = 10 + 100 x (10 x .025 + 0.3) + (5 x 15) = $140
You can calculate your monthly sales revenue by multiplying your sales volume by your price:
Monthly Sales Revenue = 100 x $10 = $1000
Your internet merchant provider is costing you %14 or your total sales.
Making Your Decision
Before you choose and internet merchant provider, understand all of the cost components. Use your current or projected sales data to forecast what your internet merchant account costs will be. Planning ahead can save you time and money.
You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as a link to FindMyHosting is included. For the link, please use http://www.findmyhosting.com, and for the link text, please use "FindMyHosting - Web Hosting Search". Although preferredPsychology Articles, no notification required.
http://www.articlesfactory.com/articles/web-design/choosing-an-internet-merchant-account.html
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