In the previous few lessons we’ve been looking at how to create a sales letter.
But a sales letter isn’t going to sell anything for you unless you’ve got a way of accepting money…
(Watch this video…)
Main points:
– Money transfer services (like Western Union)
– Alternative “currencies” (like E-gold)
– “Offshore” banks and payment processors
1) Merchant Account
-Also requires a Payment Gateway (ie. Authorize.Net), and possibly a shopping cart.
-Beware the horror stories and choose a good provider.
-I recommend PowerPay
Advantages:
– Pay less fees (in many cases)
– More control (upsells, processing, ownership, interface, etc)
– Ability to process offline payments. (Mail, phone, etc)
Disadvantages:
– Responsible for credit card security.
– Can be difficult to obtain outside of the US.
– Can be more complicated.
If you are processing credit cards on your website, it is also essential for you to have PCI Compliance. For this I recommend McAfee PCI Certification Service (Only $99 for up to 4 sites)
2) 3rd Party Payment Processor
I recommend PayPal
Advantages:
– It’s convenient.
– They handle the security.
– The fees are reasonable.
Disdvantages:
– They can freeze or close your account.
– Not accepted in all countries.
Why might PayPal freeze or close your account?
– They suspect fraud.
– They suspect spam.
– They perceive your product to be a violation.
– They perceive you to be high risk.
How can you stay out of trouble with PayPal?
– Play by the rules.
– Provide everything they ask for.
– Notify them if you’re going to be doing high volume.
– Ask them if there is any additional information you can provide.
What can you do if your account gets frozen or closed by PayPal?
(Please see video for how I recommend handling this kind of situation)
3) 3rd Party Vendor/Reseller
Technically they are “selling” your product.
I use and recommend:
Advantages:
– It’s convenient.
– They handle the security.
– Some have integrated affiliate programs.
– Some accept PayPal in addition to credit cards.
Disadvantages:
– Usually have higher fees.
– Many of the same risks as other payment solutions.
Regardless of which solution you choose…
Action step:
1) Choose at least one payment solution.
In the next lesson, we’ll create a payment button and a thank-you page!
As always, you are welcome to post your questions and comments below.
Have a great day!
Eric,
I have watched many of your videos, and many of them more than once! Have you made a video that addresses must have scripts to include on a website like cloaking, redirects, and other security measures? If so please supply me with the lesson #.
I think your Tips are fantastic, I am glad to hear you will continue this site.
Sincerely,
Mick
Thanks. No I haven’t talked about any must-have scripts, because I can’t think of any that are really essential. For cloaking and redirects you can make your own PHP redirects, which I talked about back in 2006:
I have created my book based on your advice and would like to publish it, does anyone have any information on the process of publishing an eBook?
For the last 2 months I have worked through lessons #1-53. These are great tips. I understand most of what you have said. The Sales Letter lesson was my favorite by far. I do have one question. Is there anyway you change my e-mail so I get on your current list? For example, I would like to receive a notice about lesson #54 instead of lesson #22.
Thanks in advancce for your time.
Blessings,
Nicolas.
Pingback: How to Create Payment Buttons, Links, And Thank-You Pages | Eric's Tips
When you sign up it automatically starts at the beginning. But it sounds like you will be synched up in about 30 days.
I talk about this here:
Talk about a cliffhanger! I’m on the edge of my seat waiting for Lesson #54, how to hook the pay apparatus into a website and make it work.
I’ve been trying to learn this stuff from books and message boards and ill-defined “clues” sprinkled in scattered ads, seriously Eric I have learned more about the moneymaking aspects of the internet from a few days poring through these video lessons than in all the last several years combined, there may be someone else out there explaining it as clearly and comprehensively but if so I haven’t run across them.
That’s what convinced me to take a chance on the Monthly Income Formula kit, I bought it last night and plan to deeply delve into it after I finish work this Friday afternoon and my week off for Christmas commences.
Thank you thank you thank you…now, about that Lesson #54 😉
And a Merry Christmas as well.
I’m currently using paypal and it works great!
It’s really nice blog about online advertising and good to share this marketing Knowledge. Online marketing is really gaining rapid popularity. To promote our site or product we have to do advertising so that people should know about it. Even i used to promote my site and sell my product online through fullservicead and my business is really growing. Marketing tools are helpful to promote our business. Your article contains nice information and i find it very helpful.
thanks you for information
Eric, i love your teachings and simplicity. To really succeed on-line, one cannot rule out the usefulness of Clickbank and Paypal. These two organizations do not list Nigeria or accept genuine minded Nigerians in there services. Even most digital products are sold through Clickbank alone. What is your advise and solution to Nigerians like me to this problem? Thanks.
Eric,
Based in South Africa and earning money through Clickbank has its challenges, as Clickbank only pay by cheque. Our banking fees are so high that it’s sometimes not even worth paying smaller cheques into my banking account, and can take 6 – 8 weeks to reflect in my account.
I have learned that opening a US Banking account is an option (also to use with PayPal!!) and I have done some research on this. My problem is that the people offering these “kits” to steer you through the rubble of opening an account seems (uhh, not sure how to put it…) fishy! Their websites looks fine graphically, but their grammar is usually poor with lots of spelling mistakes. (Hey, English is not my first language either, but even I can see these people don’t even do a plain spell check!) This makes me nervous.
OK, here’s my question: Do you or any one of the readers know a reliable source which could help one to open a US bank account as a non-US resident? I would surely appreciate some help here.
Hi Eric,
I have setup a US business, US business address with US bank accounts but reside in UK and having difficulty setting up a merchant account because it seems that merchant account providers only seem to accept business and personal being in the same country. Do you know any merchant account providers that will support this scenario?
Good question. I wish I had an answer, but I do not know. It sure seems like there are some merchant accounts which would accept your business address and not require your personal address. Do you have a US business tax ID #? If so, I am nearly certain that you can do this. If you find the solution be sure to post back here.
I don’t have a specific source, but I know it is possible. Perhaps if Adrian from the below comment sees this he can provide some insight.
This is going to sound oversimplified but… FIND A WAY 🙂
There are many Nigerians who have built legitimate online businesses.
If you haven’t seen this article yet check it out for some inspiration regarding overcoming online obstacles… http://www.ericstips.com/tips/ladan-lashkari/
Most online merchant accounts require a Fed Tax ID and Domestic SS# even if the account has a physical presence.
Very interesting! I am using PayPal, and never heard about that…
All the best,
Arne
Hi Eric,
Am I correct in understanding that you use PowerPay to handle your transactions for your membership sites (member sign-ups) and bypass all the 3rd party companies altogether.
Thanks,
Dave
Yes and no. With your own merchant account you are avoiding the “3rd party payment processors”. However that does not mean there are no middlemen. The merchant account provider and gateway still take their cut.
Traditionally, this still resulted in much lower fees compared to using a 3rd party payment processor (particularly for high volume merchants).
However, due to advances in the way payments are handled online, and the high volume of 3rd party processors such as Paypal, the cost savings is now negligable in many cases. Therefore the decision to use a merchant account should be based on other factors such as flexibility and control over the billing.
Cool… are you familiar with Paypal’s Merchant Account Service? Apparently they offer a merchant account but I’m curious if they are the same as other “official” merchant services.
I have not very familiar with it, but I think there are some differences…
https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_wp-pro-overview-outside
Hi Eric
Thanks again, very good, and informative lesson.
I am working a lot on all of the stuff I have received from your lessons. There are a lot off things I knew yet forgot didn’t think about and you are the very Best help to refresh all those things very well done Job thank you
Juergen Kleinen
I don’t know if South Africans are aware that the previous problem of not being able to receive payment through PayPal has now been solved Through FNB (First National Bank)
We use Paypal in our photo retouching / photo restoration business, generally with good results. Their invoices for variable-priced services are not very customizable, but otherwise the system works well. I advise retouching clients not to create a new Paypal account, because that seems to cause delays…just pay with their credit card or an existing Paypal account.
I assume you have white collar terms. Make sure you adhere to the terms strictly, and keep good books. Are you not allowed to do original products like eBooks, etc?
ciao eric bravo come sempre,bene oggi ti voglio far vedere il uovo portale che è ciclico e camaleontico,in esso cè i 2 figli di AnyShop il mio centro commerciale ebbene qui dove cè url troverete un sito che stà avendo notorietà x un guadagno offerto e stò definendo un progetto basato sul seo traffico e bla bla solo a fronte di un piccolo abbonamento ma fidelity non costi veri diciamo una card ok? scrivimi se necessiti ulteriori informazioni ho anche log e i forum se vuoi,è un argomento che sembra interessare troppi soldi con adword e se sai mirare puoi anche ottenere x gratis,hai visto esempio senuke con esso ottieni notevoli going ma bisogna renderlo free e mi stò impegnando,se vuoi possiamo collaborare io ho 20 anni di esperienza e creo progetti ambiziosi ma del resto non sarei il leader mistercall360 eheheh by eric al prox post
Translation please?
Amen to that.
Eric has by far not bombarded his lessons with products. Keep in mind one has to spend a “little” money to make money.
You can’t go “free” with everything, such as hosting as an example. Get a cheap hosting account, but not a free one which will make people question you as a business. Plus many of the free hosting companies bombard your visitors with banners or offers which pulls your visitors away. 🙂
Keep up the great material Eric.
Gary
Hi Eric, my first time posting. Thanks for your great series of lessons. I currently use Paypal, Google, & Moneybookers (Skrill). I am feeling a bit overwhelmed at the moment trying to follow your series, and get Trading Pro System up & running. Time my biggest challenge.
Question: I use TrafficSwarm and they include 000Webhost.com and Hitslink.com Wanted to use hosting program with Trade Pro System. Do you think it is OK? Also what do you think of those sites or progams. Sorry for so many questions, I should probably post more regularly.
I’m not very familiar with them, but yes you could use those programs. My recommended web host is in this lesson: http://www.ericstips.com/tips/lesson24/
But really the most important thing for you at this point is to get your business up and running.
Once again ,you give the best info available!
We thank you!
Gary
This lesson should come earlier. I’ve been waiting to push sales and set up another web site- figuing its of no value to try selling if you have no way of collecting funds.
Eric, thanks for the great tips. I am learning a lot. I have also been saving all your tips so I could go back and review. Yesterday (5/22) my gmail account was hacked and all my saved emails have disappeared!! Can I restart your tip list so I can save them again? Thanks, Ruth
I am wondering if anyone else is having a problem with PayPal concerning the ‘payment’ amount? I’ve had several payments for info products lately where the selling price on page and in the ‘button’ code plainly said $17.00 and the ‘accepted’ amount completed by PayPal was only $0.01 ! I’ve repeatedly contacted PayPal and get the run-around that it has to be my coding of my button scripts. But have had several friends check these codes and can not find any problem with the scripts. But IF the code says $17.00 WHY would they accept a payment for $0.01 ??????? Any ideas would be appreciated!
For me Eric bombarded me with knowledge and it’s overdelivered…sorry I am sometimes left behind..thanks for this newsletter..I am lucky I found you Eric.
Thanks
I hate to say it, but it sounds like a scripting issue to me too. I’m guessing you don’t have this prolem if you create a new payment button within your Paypal account and then use that code directly?
Also are you seeing this every time you click the button, or are you just seeing some random $0.01 transactions in your account? If you’re just seeing a few, then maybe people are using a loophole to “hack” your script so they can buy your product for 1 cent. That’s common in some scripts.
Yes you can restart it. If you’re using a new email address, just sign up: http://www.ericstips.com/join
If you’re using the same email address, unsubscribe using the link at the bottom of any email you receive from me. Then sign up again.
Thanks for your continued info. It’s awesome I’m trying to catch up but have been able to plot my course in determining the best approach to deal with my product. Your lessons are timely and well appreciated. Have a blessed day.
Eric this is by far the best internet experience I’ve had. i have learned so much and gained so much confidence in this arena that i will be eternally grateful. The making money thing, that’s up to me. The info you provide free or otherwise is totally invaluable and without it. many of us could not even get started or would of “crashed and burned”. i am grateful you put up something we can contribute to,”i don’t like to turn up to dinner empty handed”. Thank You
I am glad that I came back to your lessons,and now I am following every single one of them (incl. supplements)For a very short time they improved my scills a lot ,and very soon (when I finish the lessons)I will be able to dive in the big ocean
Thank You
FYI PowerPay changed their policy and no longer want to do business with information marketers. Lots of folks having trouble, accounts closed etc.
Hi All,
Off the wall question. How would you put a “buy now” button in a PDF. Would it be the same as adding it to a site. And more specifically would you recommend it?
Thanks,
Dave
Yes it would basically be the same as putting it on a site, and yes I’d recommend trying it. One thing I would recommend though is using a “redirect” link (php redirect which leads to the real buy link) in the PDF rather than the actual payment button code. The reason for this is you can then change the link anytime without having to change the PDF (which is impossible to do once it’s in other people’s hands). So if you decided to stop selling the product, or change the price, etc… you could simply change the redirect to point to a page where you explain the new offer.
Nice! And thanks for the tip on the redirect. Didn’t consider that aspect.
Hope you are well.
-Dave
Another great lesson..!!!! Since I already had a product, before finding you and signing up for your lessons, it was recommended I use Clickbank. Since it was suggested to be easier than Pay Pal to set that up. Not knowing, then, what I know now I did have options.
Nedra
Good work Eric. Pls what is Graphcard all about?
Hello Yinka,
We haven’t used Graphcard, but it appears to be a solution for receiving payments from people who don’t have credit cards:
http://www.graphcard.com/whatisgraphcard/index.asp
Again, we haven’t used them, so we can’t verify if this is legitimate or not.
Hi Eric,
Thank you for all the tips and teaching I have learnt from you along the way, I have just started to build a Website with wordpress, as we are both Christian’s my wife Joy and I we want to build a site for 24/7 Prayer for those in need and also Put a Donation Box on it to help Mission’s for those who have great Hardships, could you please give us any Advice on how would be best to set this up, Knowing You and your Wife and family are also Christian’s. be very Grateful for your Help thank you in His Service:
Garry and Joy Woods.