Mailbag: Shopping carts, merchant accounts and PayPal

We have a great question from Liz Lewis this time around. She asks,

“What is the difference between a shopping cart and a merchant account like paypal or other? Do i need to establish both relationships to have a complete and fully functioning ecommerce site?”

A: Liz, merchant accounts and PayPal are payment processors. Which means their systems connect to the credit card companies and banks to completes the transfer of money. A shopping cart however helps you take the order, collects all necessary information from the customer, sends it along to the payment processor (merchant account or PayPal) to help you collect the money. Once the payment processor says OK, money collected, go ahead and deliver the product, your shopping cart receives this information and records
it. If you have a digital product it will then send the customer to a download page and send everyone the necessary emails.

So the process is something like this:

Whether you need both depends how far you want to take your business. If you are casually selling one or a handful of items as a hobby. Then you don’t need a shopping cart. All you need is a PayPal account. Inside PayPal, you navigate to Merchant Services and you can simply start using the Buy Now buttons or Add To Cart buttons. PayPal includes a basic shopping cart system.

However, keep in mind when using this method, you retain little information about a customer. It also doesn’t have an affiliate program. When you use a shopping cart (depending on the cart), you can usually offer your customers a bit more in terms of customization next time they return to your store. You can also build an affiliate program, set your digital product links to expire or protect the thank you page. You also get to analyze and track your sales better. In other words better customer and sales management.

Need Encouragement?

“Anxiety in the heart of a man (or woman) weighs it down, but a good word makes it glad.”

Those are the words of the wisest man who ever lived. His name was Solomon and he recorded them in the book of Proverbs.

Somehow, he knew anxiety. He experienced loss. He experienced despair.

But he must have also experienced the joy of conquering despair through the “good words” of others.

Then he recorded life’s lessons so he could share them with others. Today, thousands of years later, we can still read them in Proverbs, Chapter 12.

I personally believe that each of us should challenge ourselves to continually speak good words to others, especially those we live with. You never know how someone is hurting.

It’s hard to find someone who hasn’t experienced loss of something significant, whether it’s a pet, a boyfriend, a job, a spouse or a parent.

It’s often hard to pull ourselves up out of despair and that’s why it is so important for us to encourage each other, especially during this family season we are entering in November.

Even though families are wonderful, the misunderstandings that often occur aren’t always reconciled. That can cause grief and complications at the Thanksgiving table… if everyone even shows up.

So we have to learn how to deal with grief constructively.

Tomorrow night, I’ll be talking with a grief counselor on the phone who is launching an exciting new site that offers help for the hurting!

Whether you’ve lost a pet or a parent, join us to learn more about a very needed ministry.

My guest will be Pam Clark, a former Hospice worker and homeschool mom from Colorado.

She has a story you don’t want to miss.

If you know anyone who is experiencing grief and could use some words of encouragement, invite them to this call. It could change their life.

The call is Tuesday, Nov. 13 at 9 PM Eastern Time.

The number to call is 605-475-4150

The passcode is 42037#.

We’ll talk to you tomorrow night!

So many books, so little time…

Rhea!

who loves bringing you experts who can change your life!

From the Mailbag: Do You Ever Feel That You Give More Than You Get?

Mara, a regular reader here at the expert blog, sent me the following question.

“Alice,

You’ve given so much to the WAH community in the way of free reports and resources. Do you ever feel that you give more than you get back for your business? How do you know when it’s time to cut back on being so giving?”

Ummm…Mara, don’t you remember this? I posted about giving away too much for free in my very first post here. You even replied that day too, but I understand that it’s an important question a lot of people have.

To me, the benefits of giving will always outweigh the return, whether it’s a direct financial benefit or a long-term business building benefit. I like to consider myself a smart business woman, therefore I conduct my business as such. I am not saying I only give to immediately receive, but I’ve come to understand that the more you give, the more you get back.

For instance, if I create a free report, there is a specific purpose for it. In exchange for the free resource, I may be building my list, or creating buzz for a new product, gaining traffic to a site or something else entirely. However, no matter what I create the report or guide for, I make sure it’s quality information. That helps ensure more word-of-mouth, better conversion on sales and more.

To me, giving is just about the best thing you can do in your business…it always comes back manifold.

Introduction, Segue, Closing and Promo

If you’re a do it yourself podcaster I hope that you’ve been able to invest in a professional introduction, segue, closing and promo.

An introduction is a combination of music, words and other audio imaging that welcomes the listener and tells them a little about your show.

“Welcome to the Snuggles Podcast, a weekly audio program for small children and their parents with a new bedtime story to listen to in seven parts - one for each night of the week!  Learn more about our show and download archived stories at SnugglesPodcast.com.  Let’s join our show to hear the first part of this week’s story:”

(Made up podcast - though it would be totally fun if someone did something like that!)

The background music for the Snuggles Podcast would be soft, lullaby like of course. 

Now for this podcast, because it is created in seven parts, we’ll want to have a soft segue audio between each part of the story - long enough to give parents a moment to turn off the audio until tomorrow night.  A simple 30 second segue would go like this:

“That’s it for tonight’s Snuggles Podcast. Hit stop on the audio and we’ll see you for the next part of our story tomorrow night - sleep sweet for now … (pause 20 seconds) … You’re back for the next part of this week’s Snuggles Podcast - let’s start right where we left off.”

Again it will have the same soft music, fading in softly under the words, getting louder, then fading away again.

Finally, at the end you’ll want a simple closing:

“You’ve been enjoying the Snuggles Podcast.  For more audio bedtime stories, visit SnugglesPodcast.com.  Subscribe to our mailing list and podcast feed to make sure you never miss a single story.”

In addition to these necessary show elements, you’ll want a good 30 second promo created that you can give to other podcasters as a way of promoting your program.

“Need some help slowing things down and getting your little one’s to sleep at night?  SnugglesPodcast.com has your bedtime story solution.  Download a new audio bedtime story each week and enjoy listening as the story unfolds over seven nights.  Your little one’s will be begging for bedtime when they have SnugglesPodcast to look forward to.  Visit SnugglesPodcast.com to subscribe.”

I recommend Al Ponalet for professional audio imaging work.  If your budget is a bit tighter, we can create something simple for you over at Mom’s Talk Radio. 

Time management & planning tips for the holidays

The Holidays are coming, the holidays are coming…

The best way to ensure that you remain stress free for the holidays is to be sure that you get a head start on organizing yourself, your family and your holiday check lists.

Here are some helpful tips that you can start using today:

Holiday Cards: Start early! I use a holiday card list that I derive from saving names and addresses from holiday cards my family has received in past years. I created a simple, computerized list that is easy to edit and print onto address labels. Be sure to stock up on stamps so that when you have your cards signed, stuffed and addressed you can affix a stamp to them and make one, simple trip to the Post Office.

Holiday Gifts: There’s nothing like getting a HUGE credit card bill in the mail at the start of the New Year. Many of us tend to want to be generous when shopping for holiday gifts. While your generosity will be appreciated at gift giving time, keep in mind that it is very easy to succumb to “impulse buying” and go all out on your holiday shopping. While your intentions may be good, your pocketbook may be singing a different song. Set a budget and stick to it – your bank account will thank you for it after the start of the New Year.

Start Early: Now is a great time to get starting on your shopping. Don’t run out to the malls just yet, why not turn on your computer and let your fingers do the shopping. You can shop online securely with many stores and work at home mothers.

Baking & cooking: If you will be cooking during the holidays, it is important to plan your meals ahead of time. Be sure to stock up ahead of time on all the necessary non-perishable baking ingredients such as flour, sugar and spices. Create a list of your holiday menus and a list of the ingredients you will need to prepare each of those meals. Also, try to think of a few dishes that can be prepared ahead of time and then frozen as an extra timesaving measure

Delegate: This is one of my favorite tips. Be sure to enlist the help of your family or friends. Sit down and discuss what needs to be done then ask for volunteers. If no hands are raised, simply assign small tasks to each of them. Whether it is arranging for a babysitter so that you can escape for a child free day of shopping, passing the shopping list onto another family member or friend so that they can pick up the items for you, or letting the children decorate your home. Be sure to get the whole family involved in the holiday preparations so that you will not be overwhelmed.

Business: It’s All About Relationships

Recently I received a question fron an InternetBased Moms reader who is NOT in direct selling.  She wanted to know if there are business skills and ideas from the Direct Selling world that would translate into the rest of the business world.

I actually hear this question often and the most interesting thing about it to me is that somehow we seperate the Direct Selling business world from the rest of the business world.  I actually approach my business coaching from the opposite mindset.  Business is business; entrepreneurship is entrepreneurship.  The business specifics may be different, but the business fundamentals remain the same.

What is the single most influential business fundamental for any and all entrepreneurs? Relationships.  By finding a way to develop honest, sincere relationships that come from a sincere desire to serve and provide meaningful solutions, any business owner can set themselves apart in a very loud, crowded marketplace.

Here are some tips for doing just that:

1) Think about how your product/service solves a problem others might have.  Frame your marketing around that solution.

2) When you are talking to others - ask them meaningful questions about themselves and really listen to the answers.

3) Look for ways to solve a problem someone else has - even it does not involve selling them anything you have.  You may have a resource that would help or you may know just the person who can help - make that introduction!  They will remember you:)

4) Communicate in meaningful ways.  Use the phone, use the internet, use the mail.  And communicate not only your sales message, but meaningful, helpful ideas/tips or even a note to say “hi” that has NO SALES MESSAGE AT ALL.

5) Be patient.  Developing relationships takes time and you will invest in those relationships before you sell a thing.  But the strength and length of that relationship and all the opportunities it will bring you will be worth it!

Love & Success!
Sarah

How to Find Experts in Your Field

From the mailbag:

Just recently Carl Asked - Mila I read your information 4 steps to creating an information product by interviewing an expert. My question is How do you find the expert?

Great question Carl thanks for asking.  In my experience experts are usually very willing to provide interviews and generally share their knowledge.  I’m not sure what field you’re in Carl, but a good place to start is usually related forums.  Amazon is a good place too, browse through books in your field and some names may pop out at you.  Magazines are also a good place to find interviewees, if the person has done an interview for a magazine they may be willing to do an interview with you as well.  Finding the right people takes a little research, but hopefully that will give you some good ideas. 

The more difficult part, in my opinion, is contacting the experts in the right manner so that they are happy and willing to work with you.   Here are a few tips that may help:

If you’re just starting out and don’t have a lot to bargain with (i.e. a big list, high traffic site, etc.), don’t let that hold you back.  Many experts are still very willing to do interviews and help out.  The key is to contact them in a professional and positive manner.  

Before contacting them make sure you take a little time to research their business.  This will help in two ways - one - it will help you decide if this person really is a good fit and - two - it’s just the polite thing to do.  You’ll want to show you didn’t just pluck this person’s name out of a hat and that you really appreciate what they’re doing.

Once you’ve decided who to contact research their site for preferred method of contact.  If the expert lists their email address or telephone number freely then it’s perfectly okay to use those.  However, if they have a contact form for customers only and you use that for an interview request that may not be appreciated.  Take a little time and follow their contact policies.

If given a choice between phone number and email, I prefer to use email first.  I feel it’s less intrusive and doesn’t put pressure on the person.  When you write the email don’t put the person under pressure or make them feel obliged.  Also don’t make it about you, instead concentrate on them. 

Start with a few genuine words about what they’re doing and how you appreciate their work, etc.  Please don’t overdo it, gushing will look false and maybe even embarrassing ;-)  Tell them about your project and why you feel they would be a good fit for it.  Ask if they would be interested in doing a brief interview.  Finally, thank them in advance for their help (you are already assuming that they will help you and write back to you, it gently persuades the person to reply).

But wait! Before you send the email, sweeten the pot a little - how can you help this person in return?  How about offering a transcript of the recording that they are free to use for themselves?  If you do have a subscriber list or high-traffic site, of course mention this.  If you’ll be promoting the expert’s product during the interview, that’s a great plus.

The most important thing is to gather all your facts and present yourself in a thoughtful and professional manner.  You want to show this expert that you are also a business person and know your stuff.  Also, make things easy for them.  People don’t like to go out of their way, especially if they’re running a thriving business, so include your contact details, tell them a little about you, and above all be brief and precise.  The initial email isn’t the time to go into the full details; save that for once they contact you back. 

Once they contact you, do the happy dance first, then compose yourself and write back with further details about the interview and list three available times and ask if any of those are good for them.  Also ask if they have any suggestions or questions for you. 

And if someone doesn’t contact you back, I would suggest following up a few days later.  People are busy and sometimes they just forget.  I recommend a maximum of three emails to avoid looking like a stalker or upsetting the person ;-)

If the expert doesn’t reply to the third email, simply move on and look for another more suitable expert.  Good luck, I hope this helps!

How Do You Listen To Internet Audio?

Anyway you want to!

If the audio website provides a ‘listen now’ or ‘play’ button, you can listen right on the web by clicking the play button and turning up your computer speakers. 

If you don’t happen to have speakers connected to your computer you can improvise by plugging a simple audio headset into the speaker jack on your computer and lisen that way.

If you don’t have either - can I ask you to please buy an inexpensive set of computer speakers?  There are so many awesome podcasts and media on the web is growing by the minute, it’s a shame to miss out on it.  I found this deal on Amazon: Cyber Acoustics (Under $5). 

Or if you have to share airspace with others, you should grab a USB headset mic that lets you listen (and talk) on your computer.  Here’s a good inexpensive set: Cyber Acoustics USB Headset (Under $25).

You can spend a lot more on computer speakers or USB headsets, but the casual user can skip pricey solutions and get by just fine.

If the website doesn’t provide a way to listen online through a player, it is probably offering the audio to you as an Mp3 file.  An Mp3 file is the most common type of file used to share audio digitally. 

Find the audio link and right click it so that your computer menu appears.  Then choose ‘Save Link As’ or ‘Save Target As’ or ‘Save File As’ (whichever appears on your list) and save the file to your desktop or to a folder you have set aside for it. 

Once the file downloads completely you will be able to listen to it on any media software that you have on your computer. 

If you can’t find a media player on your system, you can download iTunes (PC or MAC) or Windows Media Player (PC).  Both are freely available and will play your Mp3 files for you right on your computer.

What if you want to listen to the audio away from your computer? 

• You could burn the audio to a CD and take it with you to your stereo or car.
• You could transfer the audio to your preferred Mp3 player and listen anywhere.

Next time I’ll make a few affordable Mp3 player recommendations :)

Streams of Income

Here are the areas we talk about generally that you can use to create
streams of income.

 eBay is the fastest since you can create money in just 3 days. If you
have cashflow problems, this is a quick fix.
You can create passive income with it if you learn how. My son Drew does
that by selling houses there. Fees are not
high compared to what you have to pay if you sell a house yourself or what
the realtor has to pay if they list it in MLS for you.
And even though eBay recently increased their fees on regular items, it’s
still a great opportunity.

 

 Real estate is the best way to create residual income. There are
many, many things you can do in this area. The
first thing to do is identify what you like and do not like. For example, my
husband is a builder. He prefers to build
new construction from the ground up. The thought of renovating an old house
like what my son buys makes him cringe.
Answer: find what you love to do. Invest in your education before you buy
your first property. Real estate also offers
incredible tax benefits.

 

Stock Market offers lots of opportunity. When you know how it works,
you can make money when it goes down
as well as when it goes up. Again, there are lots of things you can do with
it. Some have more potential for profit than
others, some offer more stability.

 

The Internet offers another incredibly diverse avenue of creating
passive income. As with real estate, there are
many, many different things you can do and having a web site is only one of
them.

 

Owning your own business of any kind and producing your products
is another way to create income. So look at what you are
good at, don’t do what someone else
is doing, but find what you want to do and apply the model you see to do
your own thing. Again, the tax benefits are worth the effort.

 

Vending machines are a semi-passive income. My little boys have a few
gumball machines out in local businesses
that produce income, but they don’t offer totally passive income because you
have to go out and service them. But they
do give them a source of income. It helps if you can drive. But if you
can’t, you just hire a driver. That’s overhead. There
will always be things you can’t do so don’t let a small thing like not being
old enough to drive stop you.

 

Ask yourself how you can solve the problem and don’t let you or anybody
tell you, “I can’t afford it” or “I can’t do that” or “There’s no way that will work.”

 

 

Ask yourself what’s in your heart to do, then pursue the education you need
to get you where you want to be. Invest in yourself first!

 

Remember Rhea’s Rule: Attitude is everything!

 

So many books, so little time…

Rhea!

From The Mailbag: How To Do a 301 Redirect

Q: Hi Lynette! I have a question. I’ve used Website Grader to check how my WordPress blog is doing. They mention needing to have a 301 redirect to help the stats for visitors. I understand the need for doing this, but don’t understand how to implement it.

I’ve searched and gotten several explanations of the process, but for the life of me, I just can’t figure it out. Help!! You always explain “techie” things in a way I can understand. I look for your reply. - Mara B.

A: Hey Mara, you don’t need to look any further than Internet Based Moms itself. Here’s a great step by step article you can refer to.

You can also do the steps outlined in that article through your web host control panel. If you are using cPanel, Here’s how you do it. Look for the file manager.

Click to open. Then click on the folder next to public_html

If your blog is installed in the top folder (e.g. mysite.com) then look for the .htaccess file in the public_html folder. If your blog is installed in a sub-folder (e.g. mysite.com/blog or blog.mysite.com) then look for that folder - in this case, the blog folder, open it by clicking the folder icon, then look for the .htaccess file in there. Once you locate the .htaccess file, click the name.

On the top right corner of your screen you should see this list of links now. Click on Edit

You should now have a new screen with a box. If the file is not empty, scroll to the very bottom, type Enter to go to the next line then paste this code:

Redirect 301 /oldfile.html http://www.site.com/newfile.html

Click save and you’re done. If you do not see a .htaccess file anywhere in those folders, you create it. Click Create File

On the top right corner of your screen you will see this box. Type in .htaccess (including the period in the beginning)

You can leave it as a Text Document. Click Create you’re done. Now you edit the file and paste the code above into the file and save. You’re all set.

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