PayMate Claims it is fastest and safest global trading service on Internet. It has no set-up fees, gateway fees, etc. Has a very high User Satisfaction and continues to add new improvements on a regular basis. Transaction fees for credit card payments are charged at 2.4%. Please visit their web site for more information on transaction fees. http://www.paymate.com.au

PaySat With PaySat you can sell your products/services Online and enjoy such features as: International Merchants Accepted; Instant Application Approval; Product and Recurring Billing; Easy To Use Plug-N-Play Code; Flat Low Rates; No Set-up Fee; Multi domain/brand support; and Intelligent Fraud Detection System. PaySat is only in its 2nd year of operation but has a pretty good reputation. Transaction fees are 5.3% plus 39 cents. http://www.paysat.com

Paystone Great service that started in 2002. Free to open an account with instant approval. Fees to receive payments range from 2.8% + $0.10 for micropayments to 2.8% + $0.30 for transactions over $5.00. There are no set-up or monthly fees. http://www.paystone.com

PaySystems PaySystems Internet Merchant Account Solution is designed to meet specific needs of Internet and mail/telephone order merchants. Available for U.S. and European-based businesses, PaySystems Internet Merchant Account Solution allows merchants to expand their payment options, increase sales and focus their management efforts on growing their business. PaySystems has no application fees and no merchant account set-up fees. Offers highly competitive rates on transaction fees but you must contact them using their online form at http://eforms.paysystems.com/ps/info/ for more information. http://www.paysystems.com

ProPay USA With ProPay, merchants can accept payments by credit card on Internet and by phone. There is no expensive equipment, no statement / gateway fees and no long term contracts to use their service. Annual fees range from $34.95 - $299.95 with transaction fees ranging from 3.50% plus $0.35 to 2.69% plus $0.25, depending on type of account you desire. http://www.ProPay.com

RegNow RegNow is software industry’s premier registration commerce provider. RegNow makes running a successful online shareware or software publisher business easy by putting a highly advanced platform, customizable technology and powerful resources right at your fingertips. No charge to apply but there is a one-time account activation fee of$9.95 and transaction fee is 16% with a $2.00 minimum charge. http://www.regnow.com/

RegSoft.com In business since 1998, RegSoft.com provides an easy system for users to pay for software and data licensing fees by providing a variety of payment methods. There is a one-time set-up fee of $50.00 and transactions are processed at 8.9% with a $3 minimum. http://www.regsoft.com

share-it! share-it! is used by over 30,000 Software Publishers for their e-Commerce Solution. share-it! works on a commission basis. In other words, after licensing your program, they retain a service charge of either USD/EUR* 2.95 + 5% (Pricing Model A) or 14.9% but no less than USD/EUR* 2.50 (Pricing Model B) and ) and forward remaining amount to you. http://www.shareit.com

StormPay A very good service which has been around since 2002. Free to open an account with instant approval. Fees to receive payments are 6.9% plus 69 cents. There are no set-up or monthly fees. https://www.stormpay.com

SWREG SWREG, oldest online software store in world, has been in existence since 1987. All their prices include credit card processing on their merchant account. Technically, you sell to SWREG on consignment and they sell on to end user. SWREG accepts Micro Payments for 69 cents for items to $7 in value. Default discount is $1 + 6% with a minimum fee of $1.50 (2% surcharge for American Express). This account will be charged a $20 monthly fee with first payment to you each month made with no transmission costs (free wire for instance). Visit http://www.swreg.org/pages/pricing.htm for complete pricing information. http://www.swreg.org

YowCow YowCow is a new company that offers online processing and a 5-level deep affiliate program. No merchant account is needed and you can begin selling today with no monthly fees and a free shopping cart. Has numerous account plans available. Please visit http://www.yowcow.com/yowcow.php?module=pricing for in-depth information. http://www.yowcow.com

Other Options Worth A Look:

Cardservice International at http://www.charge-it-now.com Charge.Com at http://www.charge.com/index.shtml Credit Card Processing Services at http://www.mcvisa.com Free-Merchant.com at http://www.free-merchant.com Free Merchant Source at http://www.freemerchantsource.com e-gold at http://www.e-gold.com GreenZap at http://www.greenzap.com/default.asp IntGold at http://intgold.com Merchant Warehouse at http://www.merchantwarehouse.com Peppercoin at http://corp.peppercoin.com Total Payment Solutions at http://www.totalpaymentsolutions.com VirtualBank at http://www.virtualbank.com

===================================================================== About Author: Drew Michael is a webmaster and marketer. He is owner of The Business Junction at http://www.thebusinessjunction.com, a major software and entrepreneur directory. For a free subscription to The Business Junction Newsletter and free software downloads subscribe at: http://thebusinessjunction.com/Newsletter_Subscribers_SignUp_Page.htm

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How often would you want to send it out?

That depends on various factors. Some businesses contact their subscribers as often as every day, others as infrequently as several times per year. You can do it once per week, twice a month or once a month.

More often, and your subscribers may unsubscribe or routinely delete your messages. Less often, and you're allowing your competition chance to win over your potential customers.

What works for you depends a lot on what you are selling, what information you can give to them, how often your subscribers will want to hear from you, etc. But most importantly, your time availability. How soon can you get newsletter ready?

The newsletter is an excellent integrity builder. It builds you as an expert in field.

More than 90% of people will not buy from you first time they see your ad. They will want to get to know you and see if they can trust you. Only then will they consider buying from you. If you don't have a newsletter, how else are you going to build trust with your visitors?

Your newsletter will prove to your subscribers that you or your business is not a "fly by night." You're serious in what you're doing and you mean business. They will begin to trust you and slowly but surely become your valuable long-term subscribers and buyers.

What's your subscription ratio? With other words, how many people are subscribing to your newsletter every month vs. how many are unsubscribing?

When you see more people unsubscribing from your newsletter in one month than people subscribing, you're either doing something that they don't like or you're not providing quality information.

The way you treat your subscribers will be same way they treat you. You treat them with respect, they will return same respect back to you. You give them value, they give you value. You take care of them, they take care of you.

You give them crap, ……… boy oh boy. They will give you 10 times more crap back to you. It takes a long time to build credibility and trust, but you can lose it all in one simple e-mail.

I saw it with my eyes when one supper-affiliate tried to take advantage of his subscribers by trying to profit from them while delivering sad news. Hundreds of them unsubscribed in one day and many of them sent him nasty e-mails back.

He was a topic of nasty conversations in many forums.

The quality of content in your newsletter is other determining factor of ratio between people subscribing in one month vs. people unsubscribing. What is quality, you might ask?

Quality content is useful content. It addresses a need or solves a problem. So, ask yourself what problems or needs your subscribers have, and use that as a starting point for developing quality content.

But, don't be too constrained. People have a need to laugh, learn, get informed, and so on. For example, typically useful content might: save time or money, entertain, inform or educate.

A good rule of thumb would be to provide information that will be useful to your subscribers. Only, don't stop at "good enough." After you're done writing your newsletter, read it yourself.

If you get "WOW!" feeling, your subscribers will too. If you get "WHATEVER" feeling, guess what? We're all humans. We all think alike. Your subscribers will see you as "whatever" person too.

How do you balance your content with promotions?

More promotions and less content, your newsletter loses in value. On other hand, if you, publisher, don't benefit too, then you're just being charitable with your time (by way, that's a perfectly valid reason to be publishing).

So, it's a bit of a riddle - how to produce content that readers are interested in, and at same time ensure you get a (financial) benefit too. A good guideline is to keep it at around 80% content and 20% promotions.

When a reader finds himself or herself coming close to a purchase decision, who will he or she turn to? He or she will turn to a credible and trustworthy source of relevant advice and information. And that's you my friend!

Your newsletter deserves time and attention - it is voice of you and your business and will help you build relationships with your customers (and potential customers) in a way that no other tool can.