In this issue:

1) Tip of the Week

2) FEATURE ARTICLE: Harness These 2 Powerful Secrets to Double Your Internet Profits! by Lorene DiLeo

3) CLASSIFIEDS Traffic Builders Business Opportunities

4) FREE Resources Recommended Reading

5) POWERQUOTE

6) MARKETING MINUTE: Don't Jump On The "Cut N' Paste Bandwagon"... by Mike Merz

If you'd like to read previously ran tips and features, go to http://netcheckspayroll.com/newsletter.html

Pro-motion

Answers for the "Pro in Motion"

by jl scott, ph.d., Director, iCopô

Q. I believe I'm losing business by not offering an option for customers to pay by online check. But I'm having difficulty finding a dependable service to process online checks for me. Can you recommend one? (Julia)

A. First of all - you're right! Failure to offer potential customers the option of paying by check - AND still receiving fast delivery of their order - DOES lose customers. Not everyone chooses to use credit cards.

Now to your problem ... I'm quite familiar with it! I have personally been through four online check out-sourcing companies - none of whom were dependable. In fact at some point, I failed to be paid by every one of them!

The solution, as it turns out - is quite simple. WHY didn't I think of it sooner!!

Nearly all banks now offer debit cards to their customers. These debit cards must have either the "Visa" or "Master Card" insignia on them and can be used exactly like a credit card.

The only difference is that the money for the payment is debited directly from the customer's bank account - just like a check. The customer simply enters the payment amount in the checkbook as if (s)he had written a check.

Many folks aren't aware that they can use these debit cards online. So far, every merchant account I've checked with DOES accept debit card payments. This has also been true for the merchant accounts of credit card outsourcing services.

To alert your customers to this, simply post a note beside your "Buy" or "Order" link to advise your customers that they may use these cards. Be sure to state that the cards must be either Visa or Master Card debit cards. (A regular ATM card will not work.)

If you are in doubt as to whether you can accept these debit cards for payments - be sure to check with your merchant account or outsourcing company.

* To submit questions to "Pro-motion" mailto:Questions@i-Cop.org

jl scott, ph.d., Author Copyright © 2000, All Rights Reserved

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dr. jl scott is the Director of the International Council of Online Professionals (iCopô) http://www.i-Cop.org - and also the publisher of MONDAY MEMO! - the ezine dedicated to upgrading Professionalism on the Web. For your FREE subscription: http://www.MondayMemo.org/

Harness These 2 Powerful Secrets to Double Your Internet Profits!

by Lorene DiLeo

There are millions and millions of sites on the Internet with thousands more popping up every day. What is going to make you stand out from the rest?

First off, let me ask you this: "Did you get on to the Internet thinking that this was your way of being able to hide behind your computer and make sale after sale?"

Oh, it's okay to admit it. You are among the top 80% of people who suspected that this was a way of being able to do business without actually having to deal with people. Post a website, get a good product and the sales will pour in. Some even took it a step further, the smart marketers that they are, and thought that they could market their site effectively and that would be enough.

Well, there are a few programs out there where this will work and a good marketing strategy will bring in sales. However, if you have a high-ticket item for sale, then you are going to have to (are you ready for this?) pick up the phone and talk to the prospect!

I've heard varying statistics on this one. Some say if your product is over $100.00, then you can secure the sale more effectively by a phone call. Others say between $500.00 and $1000.00 and by gosh you better be on the phone. No one is going to feel comfortable plunking down that kind of money without talking to a "live" person. They have to have assurance that this isn't just some scam operation, here today and gone tomorrow. The Internet is so anonymous after all.

I like to think of it another way as well. When I have the opportunity to talk with a prospect, I know right off the bat if they are serious or not. Be sure to design your forms to collect the prospect's phone number. Most will give it to you and are they ever surprised when you contact them!

I had a request for information once, looked great on email, really serious interest. I called and you know what I found out? He was an autistic child who made a habit of requesting information from the Internet.

Needless to say, not a whole lot of time was wasted following-up (even in this age of autoresponders, I still like to send at least 3 personal emails before putting them completely on autoresponder. They are getting the information they requested by autoresponder, but some personal attention as well).

What am I requesting in my personal follow-up? Here comes secret number two:

Get their allotted Internet budget.

Again, nothing separates the serious from the non-serious more than asking for a budget. On top of that, how can you possibly make a proper recommendation to them (assuming you have more than one product/offer or service), if you don't know what their needs are and if they can afford it?

The first rule of sales is to determine the customer's need and then fill it. Email isn't always the easiest way to do that because people are so unresponsive. Again, with the impersonal quality of the Internet, people like to hide behind their computers and not respond to you. It is creating an age of "Internet rudeness", for lack of a better word. In the real world, proper business etiquette is followed i.e. the courtesy of a response at least. This isn't always the case in the virtual world.

I know what you're thinking: "Oh, the phone bills". There are a lot of excellent long distance savings plans out there and now a new company has developed a downloadable program that can actually let you make your long distance calls through your computer! No costs whatsoever so, consequently, no excuse not to call.

Use common sense. Not all requests for information will require a phone call. And when you have a serious prospect, they are not adverse to calling you.

My two powerful secrets summed up are:

1. Personal contact 2. Obtain their budget

You'd be surprised how implementing these two offline strategies to your online efforts will virtually double your profits!

Lorene DiLeo is webmaster of http://www.moneymakingsolutions.com Looking for a FREE tip-filled ezine full of Money-Making Solutions? Subscribe at http://www.moneymakingsolutions.com You'll get a FREE 40 word ad in not only this newsletter, but my Health Smart newsletter as well!

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"If we do what is necessary all the odds are in our favor."

- Henry Kissinger

Questions to Ponder

When in my life has this fact been proven out?

What can I do today to improve my odds of success?

Copyright the Discian Group from the Powerquotes ezine. See http://discian.com/powerquote.htm for more information.

Newbies: Don't Jump On The "Cut N' Paste Bandwagon"...

by Mike Merz

Top 5: The Affiliate/Associate Program Source http://top5affiliateprogram.bizland.com

What is the "cut n' paste bandwagon, you ask? Let me fill you in.

It involves a common mistake when trying to generate profit in a field that one is unaccustomed to; Taking the easy way out.

In this case, signing up for one of the many affiliate program offers, which are rampant on the net, cutting and pasting the preconceived code into a group mailer, and sending it out to dozens of related group lists, a favorite being the "ad promo", or "safe" list, where more or less anything goes.

First of all, when trying to sell to a prospect, credibility is key. And when said prospect receives numerous posts, all of which contain the same product, same ad, even the exact same wording, how credible can it seem?

Some group lists are nothing more than thousands of these "cut n' pasters", each trying to grab a fast sale, from a product they may not even know the first thing about. How do you build trust using these techniques? You don't.

If you are going to represent someone else's product, *you* must believe in it, first. You'll be surprised at how much easier it is to sell a product when you've experienced it for yourself, become excited and motivated by it, that is why testimonials are such an important form of advertising. Because they reflect on real experiences. Your confidence will help win the respect of your potential customers. Become a living example of the words you are sending to others, and they become 3 dimensional, your prospects will want to be where you are, and you will be there for them, before the sale, and after. That is how "lifetime customers" or the closest thing to it, are made. When you win someone's respect and trust, it's a good probability that they will pass the experience, and your "positive web presence" and credibility onto others. How do you think icons like Ken Evoy, Corey Rudl, Marlon Sanders, Rick Beneteau, and Mark Joyner, to name just a few of my influences, got to where they are now? All of the above.

So the next time you get the urge to climb aboard the "cut n' paste bandwagon", step back and start selling something much more valuable, yourself!

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Copyright, September 2000, Mike Merz, Owner, Editor, And Webmaster Top5/APFWM/N Group The *How To* Of Affiliate Program Marketing http://apfwmngroup.bizland.com Top5: The Affiliate/Associate Program Source http://top5affiliateprogram.bizland.com

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