The downside to paid advertising, is that it costs money. Plus, not all paid advertising is quality advertising. A good example of low quality, paid advertising are so-called "safe-lists." Don't be taken in by their sales pitch, these lists are nothing but a waste of money. All they do is flood your in-box every day, with hundreds of junk emails that no one reads. It's like paying to be spammed.

The bottom line is, there are some good ways to advertise for free, and you can make money doing it. You'll just make a lot more if you pay for good quality advertising. Just make sure to track your ads, so you know where your ads work and where they don't. If you don't spend your advertising dollars wisely, you will lose your money.

In order to determine how effective your advertising is, you must use a tracking system. I cannot stress this point enough. By tracking your ads, you'll not only know exactly where your visitors are coming from, but which ads work and which ones don't. Simply put, if you don't track your ads, you're throwing your hard-earned money down drain.

When you know where your visitors are coming from, then you can stop paying for useless advertising and concentrate your efforts on effective advertising. For example, I placed an ad in ten different ezines and tracked results. Three of them gave me a whopping 20-24% response, while other seven pulled less than 3%. Needless to say, I stopped advertising in seven that didn't produce responses and spent my advertising dollars in three that did. It's really that simple, and will save you tons of money by showing you exactly where your paying customers are coming from.

Accepting credit cards offers your customers convenience, while projecting an image of reliability, credibility, and professionalism. It says to world that banking establishment has put its trust in you, and recognizes you as a responsible entrepreneur. In many people's eyes, if you're good enough for bank, then you're good enough for them.

By accepting credit cards you will be able to cater to two specific types of customers: impulse buyers and international customers. Each has their own motivations and goals, but both are looking for same thing: a way to make extra money, just like everyone else. Whoever or wherever your customers are, your immediate goal should be to get them to buy now.

It is a proven fact that people purchase more with credit, online or off. Money is easier to spend using credit, since you don't have to pay for it right away. Customers like fact that they can buy today and pay tomorrow. As old expression goes, out of sight out of mind.

Remember, web surfers want instant gratification. That means paying online with a credit card and instantly receiving their merchandise. No waiting around. That's what Internet is all about, and that's what makes it so powerful. But you have to accept credit cards to take advantage of all it has to offer.

It is much easier to accept credit cards than most people think. It was true a few years ago, that most entrepreneurs were turned down by bank when they applied for means to accept credit card payments, but all that's changed thanks to Internet.

The most dramatic change has been relaxing of strict banking rules regulating an entrepreneur's ability to accept credit card payments. The privilege that was once exclusively reserved for "brick & mortar" businesses is now available to everyone.