So, you’ve found your niche. You’ve searched and studied and researched. All that work has paid off – you have products for sale, and you’ve included them on your blog and website. So now what?

You need to make it easy for clients to pay for their product online. Your customers want to point and click, to pay and get their product shipped right away. They’re not interested in writing a check, putting it in the mail, and waiting for weeks. They want instant gratification, and they want it now.

That is why you MUST accept credit cards. If your customers have problems buying your product, they will buy it from someone else. It’s that simple. Even if you only have one product, include a “shopping cart” on your web page. Customers can easily select and pay for their product, and the receipt is e-mailed automatically.

The best way to start an EZ web business payment plan is through Paypal. Their shopping cart is definitely the way to go! It’s quick and easy to set up a Website Payments Standard Account – visit their website at www.PayPal.com and click on “Merchant Services” to learn more.

With PayPal, you get a shopping cart. Even better, you can accept major credit cards, e-checks, and PayPal payments. This gives you a competitive advantage that’s hard to beat.

PayPal does charge a small percentage on each transaction, as does every other credit card company. In fact, PayPal’s fees are among the lowest in the industry – and you don’t have to worry about the security of all that stored credit card information, because they take care of it all! There are no monthly fees, it’s free to set up an account, and you can cancel at any time, with no penalties. Talk about convenience!

Once your payment is received, all you need to do is deliver your product. Information and other electronic products are easily sent by e-mail. For physical products, your best bet is Flat Rate Priority Mail from the US Postal Service.

With flat rate mail, as long as your product can fit in the box, the cost remains the same. USPS gives you the boxes for free, saving you time and hassle. Use your home computer to print out the postage label and simply drop them off at the closest post office. No line-ups, no waiting, no hassle. It really works!

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© Stephen Beck, 2008
You have permission to reprint this article, as long as you don’t make any changes and include the bio below.
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Stephen Beck teaches 7 simple steps to starting a home business. For a free CD explaining those steps, visit Work at Home right now.

Information products are one of the hottest selling items on the Internet. And for good reason. Where else can you get timely, relevant information that is exactly what you want…even at 2 am in the morning?

The problem with information in books at the bookstore is that many times it is not specific enough. I don’t want to know everything there is to know about audio engineering, I just want to know how to record a talk, edit it and burn it to a CD to sell on my web site. Try finding that at your local Barnes and Noble! But it is relatively easy to find an ebook about that topic on the Internet. Even better, a video!

Another problem with buying information at the book store is that its information is at least one year old. That’s how long it takes to edit a book, send it to a publisher, get it printed and finally placed on the shelves in your local book store. By contrast, an ebook or other information product will usually have the latest, cutting edge info on your topic because they are so easily updated.

Information products can include anything from ebooks, videos and special reports to complete home study courses that go “thud” when the mail man drops it on your customer’s front porch. But information products can also include teleseminars, membership sites and paid newsletter subscriptions. Let me tell you that info products really help to boost my internet sales.

Where do you start with an information product?

Ask your prospective customers what they want.

I know this sounds obvious, but what you think your customers want and what they really want can be two different things. You have a lot of knowledge about your topic…that’s why you are creating an information product. But your customers do not have your level of knowledge and are probably asking different questions than you are.

So, while you are collecting their first name and email, add a custom field that asks their biggest question about your topic. After about 100 email subscribers, you will have a really good idea what it is they are looking for! And you can use that information to write your sales letter as well.

In part 2 of this article, I will share five amazing tips for creating incredibly profitable information products.

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© Stephen Beck, 2008
You have permission to reprint this article, as long as you don’t make any changes and include the bio below.
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Stephen Beck teaches 7 simple steps to starting a home business. For a free CD explaining those steps, visit Work at Home right now.

So, your Internet business is up and running. You’ve carefully
chosen and researched a niche, selected and displayed products to
your customers, processed their orders, and even generated some
new visitors. It looks like all the basic small business website
design principles are in place to build your online business.
You’ve seen others make amazing profits in their online business.
What do they know that you don’t? What are you missing?

I’ve worked hard to build a successful online business. I’ve
succeeded where others have failed through one simple principle
– I give my customers what they want. In return, they keep
coming back.

My customers, like you, appreciate what is familiar and
comforting. Everyone does it. You see a new book from your
favorite author, a new CD by your favorite singer, a new movie
starring your favorite actor, and you can’t wait to experience
it.

You loved the last book (or CD, or movie) and wanted more. They
offered more, and generated more sales. Its much easier to sell
your product or service to people who already know you.
Hopefully, their purchasing experience was a pleasant one, so
they like and even trust you. People prefer to buy from those
that they like and trust, those that are familiar.

If they drove past your store every day, they would constantly
be reminded of your presence. The Internet doesn’t work that
way. You need another way to market to them. Start by capturing
the e-mail addresses of all the visitors to your website. Once
they leave, there is only a 1% chance they will ever return (even
if you’re bookmarked, or in their list of favorites). How will
you get them back?

You must do two things. First, always look for new products to
offer to your clients. Second, stay in contact with your
customers constantly. Give them the option of driving past your
website to check out the specials. No, you’re not intruding, and
you are not being rude. Just the opposite, in fact. If I invited
you to my home and then never spoke to you again, that would be
rude! Yet business owners make this mistake every day.

Spend some time developing your e-mail list. Offer your
customers a special deal – offer a free article, mini-course, or
newsletter in exchange for their first name and e-mail address.
This is a quick and easy way to develop a healthy e-mail list.

Your e-mail list is where the money is. Large corporations like
Amazon.com use their lists to advertise special offers, new
products, and more directly to customers. You can easily use the
same technology. Keep doing this, and you too can make an
amazing profits with online business!

In the spirit of giving your customers what they want, keep this
in mind. Let’s say you have developed an e-book. By selling it
for $27, you hope to eventually become a millionaire. Imagine
how much easier that journey would be if you sold $97 e-books,
complete with audio and video. Perhaps your customers will come
back for a $447 home study course. They tell their friends, and
before you know it, they are all clamoring for a $5,500 workshop.
That’s a great way to build a successful online business!

Give your customers what they want, and they will always
return. Some customers will want more – more information, more
attention, more products and services. Offer them quality
information, and keep them informed of everything you offer. You
and your customer will enjoy a long and happy relationship.

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© Stephen Beck, 2008
You have permission to reprint this article, as long as you don’t make any changes and include the bio below.
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Stephen Beck teaches 7 simple steps to starting a home business. For a free CD explaining those steps, visit Work at Home right now.

You are open for business – your office is ready, and your website is working. Now you need to attract some traffic to your site. You’ve studied your audience and understand your niche, so you know what they want. Now how do you get their attention?

Well, there are three ways.

First of all, send an e-mail to everyone on your e-mail list. Tell them about all the cool stuff you have, all the special deals and new products. If you are not collecting the e-mail addresses of your visitors, START NOW! This is one of the most important ways you have to contact your customers, so don’t neglect it.

Use an e-mail capture box on your homepage to collect your visitor’s name and e-mail address. Amazon can generate huge sums of money with Internet business by sending sequential e-mails, advertising their product. You can do the same, with auto responder systems that make it simple.

You can also attract visitors by paying for them. The next time you search on Google, pay attention to the small ads on the right side of the page. Those are Google AdWords. You can advertise your site on Google, selecting keywords based on your Internet niche. You only pay when someone clicks on that ad, which whisks them to your webpage. It only costs pennies per click, and you can set your own budget and search terms.

The third, and most effective, way to get lots of traffic is through search engines. If you have good information on your particular topic, search engines like Google, MSN, Yahoo, and Ask Jeeves will direct a flood of traffic to your site. This “organic” search engine traffic is free.

Search engines help you find information. You type in “keywords” based on your preferred topic. Web spiders then seek out the information you request. Of course, search engines often return thousands or even millions of potential websites. Websites that rank most highly are at the top of the list. Customers are most likely to visit those popular websites, so it is important to rank your site as highly as possible.

When you aim to increase your ranking, you need to consider two factors: the stuff you see on your web page (your on-page optimization), and the things that aren’t on your webpage (your off-page optimization).

There are three ways to get better search engine ranks through on-page optimization:

1.Go to your HTML editor, and click on page properties. You will see space for a title. This is not the title that people see on your webpage; rather, this “title tag” is read by web spiders seeking information. Insert your keyword or search term in this area, along with other relevant keywords. Once this is complete, that title will appear in the blue bar at the top of your browser.

2.Now that we have fixed your title tag, it’s time to add a title to your webpage. Add your keywords near the top of the page, then use your HTML editor to choose an H1 or H2 tag. This will help those web spiders find the information.

3.Use your keyword throughout the text. Use your keyword once or twice in the first paragraph. Add a keyword to the second paragraph, and perhaps at the end. Use the word count feature on MS Word, and see how many times you’ve repeated the same keyword – if more than four to five percent of your text is keywords, you may be penalized by the search engines.

Those three simple steps will help you get more attention from the search engines. Come back next week, when we discuss off-page optimization strategies to build your business.

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© Stephen Beck, 2008
You have permission to reprint this article, as long as you don’t make any changes and include the bio below.
—————————————-

Stephen Beck teaches 7 simple steps to starting a home business. For a free CD explaining those steps, visit Work at Home right now.

I have helped many families start online businesses. Because of my expertise, I’m often asked questions about selling on the Internet. The question I most often hear is, “What types of businesses have been successful in e-commerce? What can I sell?” I have the answer.

My answer is always the same - you are asking the wrong question. Products come and go. What is hot one year, is forgotten in the next. Your clients will stay with you forever — if you take a few basic steps to ensure their loyalty. Why not start by collecting their name and e-mail address?

Collect all the e-mails from your visitors. Many autoresponder services include a simple e-mail capture form, making this quick and easy. Those auto responders can also be used to contact your clients, making the job of selling easier. Automatic systems like this one will build your business even as you sleep.

Let’s use an example. Bob joins your e-mail list using a simple capture form on your webpage. The next day, he gets an e-mail thanking him for visiting your site. One week later, Bob receives an e-mail to tell him about your great new sale. After that, Bob receives weekly e-mails telling him what you are selling and how it can help him. Your auto responders do all the work for you, so you can relax.

A month later, Sally decides to join. Your auto responders send the same messages, in the same sequence. Bob, meanwhile, receives continuing e-mails advertising your products or services. Sending sequential e-mails through an autoresponder is a great way to save time, and your business will build itself.

Isn’t that amazing? Sequential e-mails, like those sent through an autoresponder, can counter your customers’ objections and teach them the value of your product. You are saved the drudgery of answering hundreds of e-mails individually, and your business continues to build itself.

Sequential e-mails ensure that all your clients get the same information, no matter when they join your e-mail list. Your clients will never again miss a valuable promotion, and you will increase your clientele.

Place an e-mail capture form on your most popular page, usually near the bottom of your homepage. Make a trade with your clients - their first name and e-mail in exchange for something really valuable (for example, I offer mini-courses for marketing online). It doesn’t have to be expensive, just useful for your client. Try offering a downloadable report, article, or a video link in exchange for your clients e-mail address.

By building your list of subscribers, you are developing an online business that will be profitable for years to come. A word of warning - if you neglect building this list, you may find yourself at the mercy of products whose popularity waxes and wanes. Develop your list for success today.

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© Stephen Beck, 2008
You have permission to reprint this article, as long as you don’t make any changes and include the bio below.
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Stephen Beck teaches families & teens how to start home business . For a free CD discussing the steps for a successful internet business, visit Christian Home Based Business right now.