In order to do business online, you will need a merchant account. While traditional merchant accounts often require pre-approval (and even business credit checks), you can save time and money by simply creating an account with a third-party processor

One of the most commonly known is Paypal.com and the beauty of this service is that it’s affordable, simple and requires no paperwork, credit checks or approval.

It only takes a few minutes to create your account. 

Here’s a quick walk through of how to get started:

Begin by clicking on the “Sign Up” link from Paypal’s main page. You will then need to choose to create a Personal, Premier or Business account.  Now here I’d recommend choosing a Business account if you intend on doing a lot of business – and you do!

Reasoning:  With a business account, customers will see only the business name that you enter rather than your personal name. You will also have no transaction limits or withdrawal limits. 

Next, you will be asked to indicate the type of payment solution you are looking for – Here choose ”Website Payments Standard” and continue.  Next you’ll be asked to create your Paypal merchant profile, which includes entering in your business name, address and email address.

Note that you will not be able to change the first and last name associated with your Paypal account, however you will be able to change the Business name associated with your account later on.

And that’s pretty much it…  Once you have created your merchant profile, Paypal will send a verification email to the email address you included. You will need to click on the link contained within that email in order to complete the sign up process.  You should take some time to explore your Paypal account area, including adding a bank account and credit card to your account so that you are eligible to participate in all of Paypal’s advanced features as well as remove any sending or receiving limits.

Now there’s also another service you should create an account at - 

Read the rest of this entry

Regardless of what type of online business you plan to develop, an autoresponder account is a vital component in being able to successfully build a mailing list of prospects.

When you sign up for an autoresponder account, you are able to create unlimited campaigns (which is important when targeting different niche markets). You want to ensure that you create a different list for each subject so you don’t confuse your subscribers with emails that don’t pertain to their interests (we’ll cover a lot more on list building soon).

Once you have a mailing list, you can instantly begin sending promotional based broadcasts to your leads .

Again, there are many different providers to choose from and throughout the years I have tried out the majority of them, settling on Aweber - I’ll give you some reasons below…

Why Aweber?

1) They are extremely affordable
2) Their delivery rates are higher than most competitors
3) Their navigation and control panel is user-intuitive.
4) They are a well-established autoresponder provider.

Now I’ve used Aweber for a number of years and apart from a few very minor hiccups have never experienced a problem.  If you can afford the service then go take a look…

… But there are alternatives out there!  And if budget is a concern then this will help because I’ve just brokered a special deal exclusively for Web Insider Club readers with the cool guys over at:  WizardResponderPro [all you have to do is click this link and you'll get 3 months FREE service]

A hosting account is required in order to house your website so that it’s accessible to website visitors. With a hosting account, you can create blogs, websites, squeeze pages (to capture leads) and much more.

Setting up a hosting account is exceptionally easy and very affordable. 

But there are plenty of providers to choose from and finding the right one can sometimes seem a little daunting.

While there are many different hosting providers to choose from, I personally recommend signing up for an account with HostGator  (check out their Swamp or Baby hosting package as its suitable for start up businesses).

Host Gator also offers Fantastico which is a utility that allows for instant script installations, including WordPress (it’s how we got this site up and running in just a few hours).  Fantastico will speed up the process of developing your websites eliminating any manual uploading or script configuration.  (and if you’re a little technophobic like me then I’m sure that’ll come as welcome news)

Here are two alternative hosting companies worth checking out also:  BlueHost.com (recommended by WordPress.org) & HostMonster.com

Let’s start with a domain name. It’s an important part of every online business as it helps to establish your online presence and gives you a place in which to direct potential customers.

Having your own domain name also lends instant credibility and shows that you are a serious business owner, rather than someone who may abandon their blog at any time, since it’s hosted under someone else’s control.

When choosing your domain name, there are a few things to consider:

1. Choose only .com domains if possible.
2. Use keywords in the domain.
3. The domain is easy to remember and spell.
4. Don’t use dashes in the domain.
5. Don’t use numbers in the domain.
6. Try to keep the domain to two words, three if necessary.

Make sure you buy a domain that suits your entire niche. If you are writing about general golf topics, don’t buy something like womensgolfclubs.com, because it won’t be suitable for the whole niche, just one segment of it.

In addition, there are literally hundreds of domain registrars online (a registrar is where you go to register and secure your domain name), my personal recommendation is to use Name Cheap

Not only is Name Cheap one of the most affordable domain registrars online but they also provide free privacy guard protection with every new domain registration.  (Privacy guard will protect your personal information so that it doesn’t appear in whois search queries, helping to eliminate spam and keeping your information private.)

Want to make some money buying and selling domains?
Let me know with a comment and I’ll add more tips & strategies for you soon.

Before you can begin building your business, you need to know who your audience will be, and what approach to take.

We figure all of this out through niche market research.

Don’t let the word “research” scare you off! It’s an incredibly important step in the process of building a business geared for success. It’s also a very easy step, and I’ll show you exactly how I quickly evaluate different markets, including existing competition to determine whether a specific niche is viable or not.

To start, it’s important that you understand exactly what a “niche market” really is.

Niche marketing can be defined as “marketing a product or service that caters to a specific customer base”.

Most mainstream niches will be very competitive, so it’s often wise to chisel down into the niche so that you are targeting a subset group of buyers in a smaller segment of that niche.

Every niche market that you focus on should have an existing consumer base. You don’t want to spend the time, money or do the legwork of chiseling out business in a new or untapped niche. Instead, focus your attention (and energy!) on VERIFIED, PROVEN markets where you can instantly identify that there is a current demand for specific products and services.

Also keep in mind that the more you know about a niche and its target audience, the easier it will be to develop products or services, or promote campaigns so that they are communicating directly with your average customer.

Once you narrow down your niche, by analyzing profitability, conducting market research and then determining the type of product or service that is likely to be successful based on what is already consistently selling, you can then rinse and repeat this system for each new market that you venture into.

This type of research, where you carve out a listing of profitable sub niches, rather than focusing on the larger markets will automatically give you an advantage over the larger companies that generalize niches under one main category.

Here’s why: Read the rest of this entry