Thursday, June 28, 2007

Top 3 Goals All High Risk Merchants Should Know

Credit card processing is a confusing world. It is. Until you get hold of the details it is unwise to dip your foot in the murky waters. Established high risk merchants know that it's more than just getting a reliable payment gateway or the ability to accept debit cards. It is also about being able to provide security to your customers as well as getting the lowest rates on the best processing service. An efficient shopping cart is also a must.

The good thing about high risk merchant credit card processing is that it continues to evolve.


New merchant account providers surface to bring more competitive rates. New technical knowledge enhances open source software for free online shopping cart construction. More and more ways to accept payment online are being devised.


GOALS, GOALS, GOALS

But the core of building your own merchant account can be outlined in simple terms. The first goal is to make sure your customers are satisfied. The second goal is to profit more from low overhead costs and efficient payment processing. The third goal is to keep the business thriving with as few chargebacks as possible.

Goal 1: Customer Satisfaction

Goal 2: Profit

Goal 3: Survival

The rest of the article continues here!

Top 3 Goals All High Risk Merchants Should Know

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

High Risk Merchants' Guide on Building E-Commerce Websites

Building an e-commerce website -- what does it entail? Again, don't let me go into that harangue of telling you guys that this task is something only 21-year old eggheads in stiff white collars can do. You would either need a little of their help or search online for a reliable company that offers a package of services for high risk merchant account owners. And if you got lucky on the latter, you still would need to create a checklist on which elements you need to prioritize for your website. I'm talking about the bare bones. After you have decided on those, it's time to figure out whether to add some fancy stuff on your website or keep things simple.


So what elements should you consider added on your e-commerce website? If you've published a book before (not e-book, but if you want to go into that detail, see my article Homemade Remedy for Download Theft), most likely you'd already be familiar with the steps you need to take from the time you've conceived the story to the moment it's out in the bookstore shelves. Yes, you would need an endorsement from celebrities, too! Remember Harvey Mackay's "Swim With The Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive"? Well yeah, that one's a classic.


Web copy, layout and other visuals, e-commerce elements, marketing elements, and customer service tools, are some of the basic stuff you need to incorporate in your e-commerce website. Each one of these elements comes with its own set of structure that would also require a bit of search engine friendliness or better yet, full-blown SEO campaign.


The Web Copy

Image and Flash Files

Shopping Cart

Customer Service Add-Ons


Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Homemade Remedy for Download Theft

It's not for the geeks.


Many online sellers aren't bothered so much by copyright infringement as they are of losing money by theft of their online products. Most popular among these is the e-book. Guess we already know why those who are selling e-books are considered high risk merchants: the sole fact that the e-book they are selling can be easily downloaded for free (without being dubbed "freeware" or "shareware") makes them vulnerable to frauds and chargebacks in the long run.


Now, some first time e-book sellers are not savvy when it comes to protecting their products online. Of course it would be extremely helpful (and imperative) to learn how to do it before launching the e-book for paid download. It would be worth taking a look at my past article "What Every High Risk Merchant Should Know About Intellectual Property Rights" to find out more about what you can and cannot do on a legal basis when it comes to online product theft.


IT'S IN THE PACKAGING, SILLY!

Normally, a high risk merchant would find a way to counter hackers from getting access to the download page. But this takes a certain degree of skill.


Article continues here:

Homemade Remedy for Download Theft

(Highriskexperts.com tips by Gerri Bryce)