4. Fulfilling Digital Products

Businesses selling only digital products (computer documents, software, music, video, etc.) have easiest time with fulfillment. You will need a web site, shopping cart software to take order, and a means of processing payment. The most automated businesses use technology that serves automatic download information to customer upon processing a transaction.

Online businesses might opt to purchase web storage, shopping carts, encryption for secure ordering, and a credit card processing service individually. Alternatively, they might look for a "one stop shop" that handles entire thing for a fee. The former is likely to be lower cost but labor intensive; latter could be more costly but simpler to set up and manage.

To find ecommerce providers, run a Net search for "ecommerce billing fulfillment service".

5. Out-Source to a Fulfillment Firm

If your sales justify it, you could outsource entire process to a fulfillment company. This may or may not be more expensive than doing your own fulfillment. Calculate cost of on-site fulfillment and compare price.

Out-sourcing reduces your control over fulfillment, as well as amount of contact you have with your customers. If customer contact is very important to your operations, or if you need to explain your product to customers before making a sale, outsourcing might not be your best choice.

Before signing a contract, consider these issues: 1.Will company package your merchandise appropriately? Can they handle your perishable products quickly? You want to avoid returns of damaged goods.

2. Does firm process orders quickly enough to accommodate your turn-around time?

3. Is company strategically located? Shipping costs and transit times will be reduced if your fulfillment company is located close to majority of shipping addresses. For example, 74% of U.S. population lives close to or in UPS zone five. A company situated in that region might be a good choice for businesses that sell primarily to US public.

4. Are sales reps assigned to your orders and are you permitted to train them?

5. Can firm provide references from customers running similar operations to yours?

As comedian said, "Delivery is everything."

Each time my site went down (due to their faulty systems), they took 30 hours to get it back on. I was pissed. And worst, it usually happened after a successful marketing campaign!

So I decided to invest a little more into a hosting provider who would provide better customer service. I surfed extensively for good hosting packages and checked out comments on several web hosting forums.

Finally I decided to switch to Hostway: http://www.internetmarketingfocus.com o.cgi?l=hostway

What impressed me was their live phone support. During initial site setup, I telephoned them a few times at midnight and they had real live staff picking up phone and attending to my requests!

And I'm not even paying them big bucks. I'm only paying a little more than my previous provider. Is it worth it?

Yes! The amount I spend with them is only a fraction of income my site generates when it is online 99.9% of time!

Tip # 3: Look At The Fine Print

One of factors that you must consider when buying a hosting package is their uptime guarantee.

The difference between 95.0% and 99.0% uptime is 14.6 days in a year. Never go for uptime guarantees of less than 99.0%.

For a list of good hosting providers, go to http://www.internetmarketingfocus.com/links.php?op=viewlink&cid=6

My personal favorite is Hostway: http://www.internetmarketingfocus.com o.cgi?l=hostway

Tip #4: Monitor Your Server

Don't expect your hosting provider or your visitors to tell you that your site is down. Be first person to know!

My site is continuously monitored by QwkMon monitoring service 24/7. Whenever my site is down, they send me an email immediately. They can also contact me via my cellular phone.

I can then quickly call Hostway's phone support staff and get my site restored - though after I moved to Hostway, I haven't had need to do that yet. Their uptime is excellent!

Here is a list of monitoring services that you can consider:

http://www.qwkmon.com (my favorite!) http://www.internetseer.com http://www.netmechanic.com/monitor.htm http://www.serverrat.com http://www.websitepulse.com http://www.siteprobe.com http://www.nfiniteweb.com ools.html http://www.alertra.com

If you're serious about marketing your products and services online, make sure your online storefront is always open for business!