Recession and Payment Processors
I’ve had a huge lesson in Payment Processors the last few months, I hope this helps you out as well. Because of my interest in processing credit cards for my membership websites, I decided 2 months ago that I would move to a new payment processor that was supposed to be better for handling the recurring credit card payments that membership websites demand.
I thought it would be no big deal, that I would make the change and not notice a thing. Boy, was I in for a huge surprise when my sales fell 30%-50% for an eight week period. I scrambled to turn off AVS, and did everything I could, but the sales would not recover. In the end, I had to move back to my previous processor which had been serving me well for the last 12 years, and the sales seemed to pick up again.
What is the lesson here?
Be very careful about how you choose payment processors. If you have used the same one your entire life, consider switching to see if it makes a difference. If you keep all settings the same across processors, you should not notice any drop in sales. If you do notice a drop in sales move quickly away from the new processor and back to your old one.
Why would this occur?
My speculation is that the new processor I tried had much stricter credit acceptance policies and was restricting payments to my previous shopping cart purchasers. I have many purchases from outside of the USA and losing those sales makes a huge difference in overall sales volume.
So, there you have it… pay very close attention to how your payment processor is working out, and be cautious, but switch if you feel that you are losing out on sales. If the sales pick up, it’s likely your old processor may have been restricting the credit allowed on purchases that the new processor allows…. I know, it’s ridiculous, but true.
Keep your chin up, your eyes forward, and keep moving: with recessionary consumer spending habits in place, things are going to tighten up for anyone marketing to the consumer online, especially if you are in a impulse sale market.
Best of luck… post your comments, or stories below and we can continue this discussion.
Stomping Search Engines and The Net Effect both available again!
I’m excited because these are both great products to have. I’ve been a Net Effect subscriber since issue #1 and this is the best Internet Marketing magazine around. Up until a week or so ago, you couldn’t subscribe, even if you wanted to. Now the folks at Stomper Inc. have opened up subscription again and I highly recommend you get signed on.
You will get the Stomping The Search Engines 2.0 for $1.00, and The Net Effect subscription. This is a great combination that you must have if you are an online entrepreneur. Head over now and grab your copy.
Here are the links:
The Net Effect signup:http://stomping2.com/
Stomping Search Engines 2.0 Review of What is Included: http://www.stomperblog.com/seo/stse2-2/
Why XSitePro is my favorite ‘Graphic’ Web Designer
When it comes to graphic web design software, you really want to have something that will produce a great layout in a short amount of time and XSitePro does this job perfectly. As I mentioned on my rating page, I like XSitePro web design software the best. It is my number one rated editor and for good reason.
The faster you can get your design work done, the sooner you can get moving toward marketing and promoting your website. XSitePro is excellent for doing that. Here is why…
1.) It comes with a ton of pre-loaded Templates and they are great templates. Usually it works out that I’m excited about a new website I want to create, but, if you are anything like me (a design idiot), it can takes weeks to get a decent design setup, or if I decide to purchase one it can cost 100’s of dollars. What’s the easy way out? Fire up XSitePro and pick from one of the included templates. Your site is built and even loaded up (with it’s built in FTP software) in minutes. This one process makes creating a new website as easy as opening a document and typing, it’s that easy and I love XSitePro for that. The designs are well done and there are so many that they are not over-used either.
2.) XSitePro comes loaded with additional wizards. If I want to add audio/video to my website I don’t want to monkey around for hours trying to find the code, so once again XSitePro comes to the rescue. I open my website and follow along, answering a few questions and bam, my audio/video is inserted into my website in minutes.
3.) SEO Page analysis. That’s almost all I have to say here. I’ve paid hundreds of dollars for services like this in the past. But, these other services always need to be updated (at an additional cost), while XSitePro updates itself automatically, for free. The analysis is worthwhile and a great choice when getting started setting up a website. I like to use it before I even think about looking at competitors in the SEO market, it’s good, and it is included in XSitePro.
4.) Scripts are included, more than you wouuld ever want. A huge timesaver is when I can start up my design software and get the scripts already built in. I really can’t stand monkeying around with scripts trying to setup split-testing, a countdown timer, or even scheduling content to be uploaded. XSitePro provides all of this already, and the scripts are already tested and they work! It’s a no-brainer…
I could go on and on about the great features that XSitePro website design software has, but it’s easier if you just go check out their website and see for yourself. If you’re also amazed at what you see there, comment on this post, because I’d like to hear how you are using it to achieve great Graphic Website results instantly like I have… If you want to see a website I designed very quickly in XSitePro have a look at this one: http://www.dreampublishers.com
Here’s a link to XSitePro web design software where you can see all of the features, when I say ‘this software rocks’, I mean it, and I’ve been doing website design for over 12 years now.
Selling Memberships and Continuity
I’ve been around the block a few times - my main website has kept food on my table for over 12 years (the anniversary was a few days ago), so when it comes to everyone claiming that membership sites are the wave of the future and that you have to learn to turn everything you do into a membership - they might be right - here’s my opinion.
The hardest part of doing business online is keeping the customers flowing in. It’s not easy, and sometimes downright frightening. Traffic, list building, articles, and SEO are just some of the methods you can use. With Web 2.0, through in social media, audio, video, and you’ve got a basket of ‘time consuming’ tactics that could have you wasting away, while you try to provide content, so what do you do?
The easy question is, you find some way to draw in a loyal following and keep them on your website. But there’s way more involved than that - for example: How Do You Do It? You’ve got to keep everyone happy, and, provide some type of content, or access that will keep people coming back - one solution is a Memberhip Website (or Continuity in the marketing world).
Continuity - it’s been around for ages
Ever since ma bell (AT&T) started selling phone service, and big power companies offered up AC power to your home, people have been buying continual service at a monthly rate. The concept is not new. The methods for pulling it off in the Internet Marketing World of 2009 are a jumbled mess of theories, concepts and profit-hungry classes that claim to show you the way.
I’ve not seen the best one yet, but I’ve tried quite a few. Right now the word is still out on Continuity Blueprint which I just ordered a few days ago. I’m betting it will provide some answers, but I’m not sure yet…
So, what’s a person to do? As usual, I’ll find my way, but I’ll do it in a way that works best for me, and my customers. Provides a simple/easy to follow/’user friendly’ signup method, and gives my websites an advantage over others - ease of use, and less maintenance work for me.
Signup for my list (enter your name/email in the orange box on the top right of this page), as I’m going to be covering the details of all of this over the next several months. I’ll let you know what I found, what worked for me, and why, and what to do about it in your own marketing. It’s sure to be a wild ride, but I’ll get to the bottom of finding the best courses/classes and software to use to get Membership Websites and Continuity running.
Post your comments below - and let’s see where this takes us…
Multi-Media Blogging Course from Mark Joyner - Grab it for free?
Ok, you might have heard of Mark Joyner. Yeah, he’s been around a long time, and made a ton of dollars in internet marketing. Well, according to his latest blog post, he doesn’t know a thing about blogging, but he wants to learn - so what did he do?
He had his company (Simpleology) create a Multi-Media Blogging Course that he wants to get feedback on, so grab your own copy - following the instructions below, then pop back here and tell me what you think by posting a comment to this post - happy blogging…
I’m evaluating a multi-media course on blogging from the folks at Simpleology. For a while, they’re letting you snag it for free if you post about it on your blog.
It covers:
- The best blogging techniques.
- How to get traffic to your blog.
- How to turn your blog into money.
I’ll let you know what I think once I’ve had a chance to check it out. Meanwhile, go grab yours while it’s still free.
Best Website HTML Editors - Some Are Free…
So, you’ve finally made a step toward starting your online business. As part of that step, you’re probably going to have to roll your sleeves up and do some website design on your own, at least to get an idea of how it all works. Now, I hope that I can offer you the very best of HTML Website Editors since I’ve been busy doing my own Website Design for the last 11 years, I’ve tried quite a few website editors in my days.
Here’s a quick list of the Editors I recommend and how I rate them:
- XSitePro ***** ($197.00) - my favorite ‘graphical’ editor. This is definitely a force to reckon with. I purchased XSitePro about one year ago, it’s fabulous for created SILO (directory structure) websites, it comes with tons of built in templates and plug-ins available for adding autoresponders, popups, audio, video, create a mobile website (with phone capabilities), and just about any other type of feature you can think of adding to your page. It does all of it’s work behind the scenes, but you can switch to a code view to see everything if you need to. An excellent editor, and also recommended, it’s free Graphic Header File generator: XHeaderPro and the XSiteProClub website which features monthly videos, tutorials, templates and other goodies. Best all-around editor ever produced in my opinion.
- KompoZer ***** (free) - my favorite ‘dreamweaver’ editor. This used to be called NVU, but it’s been updated and stabilized. It’s almost exactly like using DreamWeaver, but with one difference, it’s free! A great editor with all of the extras you would want such as CSS/Stylesheet editor, WYSIWYG view, tables, template editing, tabs to switch between code/design view, color picker, spell checker, rulers, etc. It comes in Windows, Mac, Linux, Debian, Redhat versions so it’s sure to be available to almost everyone. A great editor available in 10 or more languages.
- AlleyCode *****(free) - my favorite ‘code’ editor. It’s lightweight, fast, features tabs and CSS Stylesheet editing that even beats a dedicated CSS editor I’ve used (TopStyle). Get the hang of code quick and easy with AlleyCode. Best for FireFox coding, as the layout produced with the SynchroView is FireFox, to get a good layout view for IE (Internet Explorer) see HomeSite Editor (below).
- HomeSite ***** ($99) - still one of my favorite ‘code’/HTML editors along with Alleycode. It let’s you get down and dirty with javascript coding, tabbed WYSIWYG editing, XML editing, code snippets and other great features. Unfortunately it was purchased by Adobe years ago and development has not continued in the last several years, even though there is still a somewhat active community of users - Adobe tries to steer everyone toward DreamWeaver - which doesn’t come to close to what HomeSite is capable of, in my opinion. The best design editor for IE design, for the best editor for FireFox see AlleyCode Editor (above).
- SeaMonkey Suite (formally Mozilla) **** (free) - based on Mozilla, the SeaMonkey(tm) suite now features more advanced editing that was lacking from Mozilla Editor such as full DOM (Document Object Model) editing, tabbed editing with WYSIWYG features and many more additional features which make Mozilla Editor obsolete.
- Mozilla Editor (formally Composer) *** (free) - previously called Composer, Netscape’s editor is now featured as the Mozilla Editor, it has all of the features you would want from a good editor but lacks a decent CSS, Stylesheet editor.
That wraps up my review of HTML editors/designers. Pick your tools wisely as you’ll find that you want something that can live up to what you ask of it. It’s my opinion that you want the best tool (regardless of cost) for the job. I have chosen XSitePro as my website editor, for mocking up full website designs and AlleyCode for use when I need a quick webpage update to make (such as adding a feedburner subscription code box) to my blog. It’s up to you to try out what you think is useful and see how it fits with your style. Leave me a comment below and tell me what your favorite editor is and why.
Niche Blueprint Review
I’ve just purchased Niche Blueprint, after previously owning Commission Blueprint. I’ve watched the first few videos, read through the PDFs and I am ready to give a short review of Niche Blueprint which had many waiting with high expectations. Here’s what I found…
Niche Blueprint
It is quite an amazing promise, the chance to earn millions online, while learning and setting up your own eCommerce stores to sell drop-shipped products and earn huge commissions. Can Niche Blueprint live up to it? Well, we’ll have to wait at least 3-4 weeks as the content for the entire course will be delivered one week at a time until I have it all. I can honestly say from the looks of the first two modules - “Yes, this looks like another winner” for Tim and Steve. The purchase routes you through a membership system where you setup an account and login immediately to begin downloading. The first two modules are available for immediate download, with the remaining 7 coming one week apart. I like the fact that they have staggered the delivery - it helps prevent you from becoming overwhelmed!
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UPDATE: March 12, 2009
I’ve went through all of the materials and Niche Blueprint is a superb product. Tim and Steve also provide you with a free drop-ship website for finding products, and: custom SEO information with specific details on how to gain top spots. Combined with their excellent customer service I rate this product a solid 4.5 *’s out of 5. I just wish there were a little more product in their drop-shipper directory, but other than that - if you can’t find a drop-shipper they will personally locate one for you - amazing….
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The course continues in typical Tim and Steve style! I really love it, basically it’s Tim walking you through everything, step by step on video. I blow it up to full screen, watch a little, then put it into action - doing the homework while Tim continues on. If the info comes to fast, I’ll pause the video, watch it again, then go back to my work on my local machine - I like to download the videos (you have a choice of download, or watching online) as it gives me excellent clarity and I don’t have to worry about a dropped internet connection. Ok, so, what do you get, a hands-on, and I mean very hands on approach which is taught step-by-step - it’s fun and even exciting to learn this way. If you have Zero Technical Skills - you’re going to find that it’s very easy to get a handle on. There is one software that you’ll want to consider purchasing as it’s used throughout the program, Market Samurai - which I have used myself for several months now. So far, other than that, nothing else is required, and everything else is included.
While considering the purchase - I did have to wonder if this would be as good as purchasing another ‘well known’ drop ship package such as the one offered from World Wide Brands. I can’t say from direct experience as I do not own the World Wide Brands package - but it does seem well supported and documented and offers a 30 day money back guarantee for $297. It also features access to a drop-shipping/import/wholesale database of suppliers, which is another major feature of Niche Blueprint. I’m not really at a place to make a comparison yet, but I’ll do that over the next several months when I do try out the World Wide Brands package. I can say that working with Tim and Steve while using Commission Blueprint has been nothing but pure joy - the support requests to the forums get answered immediately and they are always right on target with what I need… since in the forums (support desk for Niche Blueprint) you are working directly with the creators of the package, it would be very difficult to imagine anyone being able to match the support. This alone makes Niche Blueprint unique, and well worth it.
Also included free database access to a supplier database, and if that’s not good enough, they will help you directly locate a supplier to get your business moving. The videos/PDFs are extremely well done - the videos are clear, conscise and right to the point: they walk you hand in hand through each process - it’s top-notch, and shows why the Commission Blueprint course (the product before Niche Blueprint) did so well in sales.
Regarding the ‘Commission Blueprint’ course that in 2008 took the internet marketing community by storm. It sold over 15,000 copies in just 8 weeks. The success stories have been coming in, I’ve played with it myself, and consider it a viable option - but, you are still required to come up with an AdWords campaign budget to get started with Commission Blueprint (you are NOT required to have this for Niche Blueprint) so, I know it does put some people off - myself included, either way the sequel to Commission Blueprint expectation has been very high.
“Niche Blueprint” is an comprehensive course (Video and PDF books) that reveals the exact strategies they use to generate hundreds of thousands of dollars each year from setting up simple niche E-commerce sites selling physical products. This is done exclusivey through drop shipping, and since I got my own start in Internet Marketing that way, I know it is a viable option.
Tim and Steve have teamed with David Hermansen and Michael Hermansen who have years of experience with the E-commerce business and the ability and desire to teach this brand new material to others. The course includes 23 videos and 26 manuals (PDF format). Some of their own successes in this area have been featured in the New York Times and on television for Fox News. They have some incredible proof of income from a number of sites making huge amount of cash in very obscure markets such as ‘Sewing Machines’ and ‘Train Horns’ - I know it sounds bizarre, but you want to see that kind of sub-niche (micro-niche) success to know that the system works.
You’ll see an example of a simple website selling ‘Bird Cages’ (even a child could setup) that was recently sold for $173,000. Yes, that’s right, and that is a lot of money! Basically you’ll learn how to sell the websites for about the amount the earn in one year (annual profit), or if you like, just run them and keep earning the dough - it’s your choice.
From what I have seen so far, I can tell you that Niche Blueprint eliminates many of the problems that most of internet marketers will run up against when trying to get started creating an income online. How does it do that, well - it makes things a whole lot easier because: it doesn’t involve selling digital goods such as ebooks, software or promoting other peoples products such as affiliate products. In most cases then the competition is almost non-existent.
The good news for most people (and what really sets ‘Niche Blueprint’ apart from other internet marketing products) is that to make money with these methods, you don’t need a list, a product, any affiliates or even joint venture partners. You also do not need any additional investment, website skills or any online business experience at all. In other words, literally anyone can become successful with this - with very little setup time.
I have also heard that they have gone so far as creating a new hosting company and replicating a number of other services so that there is literally nothing else to buy once you have access to the course - short of having your own domain name ( you will want to purchase that, but they run about $8.00/annually). Every one knows that 2009 is going to be a very tough year financially. There are going to be a large number of job losses no matter which county you live in and as a result there could be a very strong possibility that you will need some sort of financial back up if something bad happens to your job, or any other type of financial unthinkable occurs.
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Since Tim and Steven have made this a ‘risk-free’ proposition (they will refund your money within 45 days if you are not happy), it’s really a no-brainer. I highly-recommend it, REMEMBER: the last time they offered this it sold out in 36 hours, so I recommend that you get over there right now and get signed up - do it now… Check it out at: NicheBlueprint.com
Find Out More Here: NicheBlueprint.com
Holiday Season Bankruptcy Fallout and Retail Stores Closing - How You Can Benefit…
Christmas season is over, and now the latest news is that several large (big box) retailers, and many smaller retail brick and mortar stores can’t make it anymore, and are ready to throw in the towel and file Chapter 11 bankruptcy, or just close the doors altogether. Why is this news so shocking when we know that our USA economy is in a serious recession?
There is one reason I feel that this is shocking, and it’s something that everyone who works at a job in a retail environment. Just a few days ago the news reads - Amazon posts it’s largest Holiday Season profit! What should this tell you? Several things, and here they are…
Reasons why the 2008 Holiday Retail failure is important to everyone
- It’s the brick and mortar, real storefront stores that are having a hard time making it and things are probably going to get worse.
- Online retailers are still cranking out the profits in record amounts, they are unaffected by these problems.
- Any job related to the retail industry is in trouble.
- People, in general are shopping less and less in real stores, and more and more in online environments.
I think you can see the trend here, as the real storefronts (brick and mortar stores) face disastrous consequences in recession, the online retailers and those in online business are doing just fine (thank you). Why is that important to ‘honest Joe’ on the street? Because, in my opionion, if you haven’t started to think about how you can become a part of the online business bonanza, you should be!
I have ran my own online business for over 11 years now, through tough times and good times, and I can honestly say that the profits and the ability to earn an income online is just as secure. I believe it is even more secure than most jobs in real ‘brick’ stores, or locations where you will have to worry about how every economic downturn, or upswing will affect your salary or benefits.
What are the simple things anyone can do to consider an online business?
1.) Visit Finding Your Niche Live and find out where your real strengths are.
2.) Check out this post on my blog about how anyone can start making money - with or without technical skills.
3.) Determine a “plan of action” for 2009 that includes additional online revenue streams that you can use to make your income more secure.
4.) Sign up as an affiliate of Amazon and learn how to sell Amazon products and collect some of their record profits for yourself, this could include blogging posts, reviews of products, or even setting up a basic referral page on a free service such as Google ‘Sites’.
I bet you will feel a little more secure in 2009 if you start planning any type of online income for yourself. Start doing it now, or at least thinking about it, your life will change, and you will be less affected by the crazy economic news that’s been going on.
Best of luck and to your Profit and Success,
-Brett
How Does Viral Marketing Work?
With all of the talk about viral marketing and how you can use it to enhance your marketing campaigns, you are probably wondering how and if viral marketing really works? I’ll try to cover the advantages and disadvantages of viral marketing in this short article.
The first step is to determine your market and then to research how viral marketing is being used to achieve search engine optimisation and to get your marketing message into your market. You probably already know your market, so continue to Google and do a quick search on “your market keywords” +viral (you can also add +ebook too) to see what comes up. You might be surprised to find that there are already many other products or services being used to spread a message virally in your market.
About Viral Marketing
Viral marketing happens when any marketing media (web page, ebook, private message, instant message, email, brandable software, video clips, etc.) allows the receiving person to pass the message on to another person in a self-replicating viral process. Word-of-mouth referrals are one simple example. Any social network method may be used. Eventually the spread of the marketing message becomes pathological, similar to the spread of a virus (and hence the term ‘viral marketing’). Products or services may be used to spread the message, or they may be part of the message
that is being spread - and hidden or transparent to the user. The more transparent the better the viral rate of transfer of the message and more people will see your marketing messages.
What are the advantages of Viral Marketing?
The main advantages are that your message will be able to reach a much larger group of people faster. If your message is one that is talked about and passed to many other people, your message can spread like wildfire to thousands, and even millions of other people. There is little extra work that you need to do as your message is passed from one person to the next.
Are there Disadvantages of Viral Marketing?
It is claimed that one customer will tell an average of three people about a product or service that they like. On the other hand, the average customer will tell eleven people about a product or service which they do not like. The disadvantages are few compared to the advantages, and as long as you have a viral product or service that is useful and works well you may never know of a disadvantage.
What can you do to try out Viral Marketing?
Probably the easiest way is to find a ebook that you would like to market and re-brand the ebook to contain your own website links, and/or affiliate links. This will help to spread your website address to many others very quickly.
ViralPDFSite.com
If you have a website and would like to provide a viral PDF option to any your website visitors on any type of computer, apple Mac, or Windows PC, then consider a viral marketing website service such as ViralPDFSite.com. This script will let you setup a viral marketing html to PDF converter right on your own website, others will come to your website to create eBooks, or to visit because of the static links in any ebook, which are not brandable.
ViralPDF.com
If you would like to create branded PDF’s from your own Windows desktop and distribute those to others so that they can rebrand them using rebranding software, consider a product such as ViralPDF.com. ViralPDF.com will let you distribute your eBook with a rebrander which anyone (with a Windows computer) can use to rebrand your eBook.Links to products/services mentioned in this article:
ViralPDFSite.com - lets you setup a free viral html to pdf converter right on your website.
ViralPDF.com - can provide you with an executable program that lets you create branded pdf/ebooks.
The Best Internet Marketing Electronic Newsletters, Ezines
First, see a separate post about the best print (hard copy) magazines. I sometimes prefer hard copy over electronic (when I want to carry them around the house and make notes), but, at other times electronic magazines have a distinct advantage in that all of the links can easily be clicked and accessed immediately rather than having to type them in by hand - so, you pick what works best. I suggest a combination - some print magazines, and some electronic ezines, that way you have the best of both worlds.
Ok, on to our reviews, in the electronic world there are tons of free newsletters, actually probably more than you would ever want to read, so, it becomes a bit of a problem to stay focused. To avoid overload, stick to the very best in your niche area, for example there are internet marketing ezines about specific topics such as traffic, conversion, niche marketing, mini-site development, keywords and seo, etc. You name it, and there is probably an ezine about it, and many of the electronic newsletters are free.
I’m going to spend the next several days updating this post as I watch what comes in, but I know of several off the top of my head that I would rate very high quality, in fact one of them just made it’s debut today. Watch this space for further developments as I review other ezines.
Topics will appear below - with the best newsletters/ezines listed at the top (in descending order of my ratings), this will help you to quickly spot the quality newsletters that you should consider reading.
Internet Marketing (in general)
A broad topic, so, it makes it harder to cover with just one person. There’s a new one that just debuted today, and I have to say I rate it at 5 *s and the top of the heap. I’m going to write a separate review of each individual ezine/print magazine if it offers quality content, so watch for a separate review post about this one:
Internet Marketing Newsletter (Armand Morin), Price: Free, Rating: *****, Link: Internet Marketing Newsletter
Armand has been involved in Internet Marketing for as long as I remember, and nearly as long as I have (over 11 years), so I would say, he knows what he’s doing - but, that has not stopped him from bringing on a slew of great (and experienced) marketers in their own right to handle the articles. What you end up with is an excellent mix of well written short articles that can be read quite quickly in PDF format (about 1-2 pages per article) for a total of nearly 40 pages. I suggest you sign up right away for this as there is no charge and excellent well-written newsletter with useful articles by top marketers such as: Jim Edwards, Ray , Michel Fortin, Jeanette Cates, Mike Stewart, Stu McLaren, Chris Howard and Armand Morin. Get your own free copy at this link: Internet Marketing Newsletter.
Early To Rise (Michael Masterson, Price: Free, Rating: ****, Link: Early To Rise
I’ve been reading this for over 4 years and it continues to entertain and educate me every morning. This is a short, one page email newsletter that covers a variety of topics: marketing, finance/investing, healthy living, vocabulary. Each day you will get a great little boost of information, you take what you need and read what interests you, and leave the rest. It’s no doubt some of it may not interest you each day, but there is a wealth of little gems that will keep you excited to find this in your inbox each morning. A great start to your day. Get your free subscription started at: Early To Rise.
Watch for my additions to this post where I will cover electronic ezines/newsletters in other subject areas of Internet Marketing.
