| There are four basic ways to make money from | | | | You can make money on your site by having |
| your web site. You can sell products and | | | | subscribers or members who pay you a fee. A |
| services. You can sell subscriptions or | | | | membership or subscription fee is simply |
| memberships. You can make money from | | | | payment for privileged access. |
| advertising. And you can use your site to | | | | |
| generate referrals and commissions. | | | | People will pay for access to current |
| | | | content, to archives, to services or to other |
| Most businesses only use one or maybe two of | | | | people. Determine what mix of these is best |
| the four. You can increase your direct | | | | for your business. Make sure you can handle |
| revenue and your opportunities for | | | | subscription payments, acknowledgments and |
| cross-promotion if you consider them all. | | | | renewals. |
| | | | |
| Here's a review of what you need for each. In | | | | You can make money on your site from |
| every case you want to deliver what your | | | | advertising. This used to be quite |
| customers expect and automate as much of the | | | | complicated. But today, with Google's AdSense |
| process as possible. | | | | program just about any site can generate |
| | | | advertising revenue. |
| You can make money on your site by selling | | | | |
| things. You can sell products or services, | | | | You can make money on your site by using your |
| but to make money you have to make sure you | | | | site for referrals and commissions. On the |
| have mastered the details. | | | | web, these are called "affiliate programs." |
| | | | They can help you make money two ways. |
| No matter what you're selling you'll need a | | | | |
| good shopping cart. Online shoppers expect to | | | | When you send business to another site using |
| be able to pay with credit cards and with | | | | an affiliate link, you generate a modest fee |
| PayPal and complete transactions online. Your | | | | for yourself. Whenever you recommend a |
| shopping cart should calculate shipping | | | | product or service on your site, check to see |
| charges and sales tax automatically. | | | | if there's an affiliate program that will pay |
| | | | you for the link. |
| If you're selling physical products, make | | | | |
| sure you've worked out all the fulfillment | | | | Your own affiliate program can help you draw |
| details. Make sure that you have a shipping | | | | more desirable traffic to your site. You'll |
| and inventory system that will deliver great | | | | need software to help you keep track of the |
| service to your customers. | | | | business that affiliates send your way. There |
| | | | are standalone packages for this, but |
| Since the net is a worldwide phenomenon, you | | | | affiliate software is also part of most |
| may get orders from other countries. How will | | | | sophisticated shopping cart packages. |
| you handle them? | | | | |
| | | | None of these items is rocket science. So use |
| You can also sell digital products such as | | | | this article as a checklist and take a look |
| e-books and Special Reports. Buyers will | | | | at online shopping cart software and |
| expect to be able to download their digital | | | | ecommerce providers like to help you automate |
| product as soon as they've completed paying. | | | | all of these methods on your ecommerce web |
| | | | site. |
| You can sell services. Many companies are | | | | |
| conducting classes on the web, called | | | | The bottom line in increasing revenue is |
| "webinars." You'll need to be able to take | | | | using as many of the above income generation |
| orders and send acknowledgments to those who | | | | methods as you can, as effectively as |
| sign up. You'll also need a reliable way to | | | | possible. It's another case of how the |
| deliver your webinar. | | | | marketing magic is in the mix. |
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