Company X is a small family run roofing company. They repair, install and insulate roofs. They spend a lot of time and money advertising in press and exhibiting at consumer shows and events to attract new customers. They are visibly committed to their customers and their needs. They do it well and reap rewards. They are succeeding offline.

A potential customer sees them at a show they are exhibiting at. She has a brief but informative conversation about her roof with a company representative and takes away some literature to read. She leaves with a highly positive impression of company and its employees. When she reads literature she notices that company has a web site and visits it. Their site looks professional. She looks deeper into site by clicking a few links.

It only takes a few clicks for her to realise that website is very thin on content. There's little text and text that is present is incredibly dull and uninformative. The site looks exactly like brochure she took away. In fact, thats exactly what web site is - brochure online.

The site has a few basic features: you can contact company, request a quote visit or get their phone number. There's little else of any interest for potential customers. So would she stay and buy from company? Probably not. At this point she either has to contact company by phone to get more information or go somewhere else. She's been abandoned by a company that has clearly made little provision for her visit. At best its a dull visit. She doesnt think very highly of company now.

What went wrong? Why did company, which made such a positive impression offline, make such a poor impression online?

Preparing your website to process orders online isn't as difficult as you may think. There are basically two options. The first option is to set up a merchant account. This entails either making arrangements with your bank or using an online company. The second option is to use a third party credit card processor. This option requires no merchant account and usually entails setting up a form or placing a link on your order page.

Don't let this process intimidate you, as it is much easier than you may think. There are many professional companies on Internet that will assist you.

Merchant Accounts

If you decide to get your own merchant account, you will also need access to a secure server and a shopping cart system. A secure server will protect your customers' information. A shopping cart system will provide your customer with a running total of what they've ordered and total cost.

The following website can provide you with a merchant account:

Total Merchant Services (TMS) http://www.marketingtips.com/creditcards/index.html

This outstanding company comes highly recommended by Corey Rudl -- author of #1 selling online marketing course, "Insider Secrets to Marketing Your Business on Internet."

The TMS Merchant account, for Internet transactions, will enable you to accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover. They offer two merchant processing software packages to choose from. The first package is TotalPay powered by Authorize.Net™ Virtual Terminal. This package will enable you to authorize, process, and manage credit card transactions from any computer with a Internet connection and a Web browser. This package ordinarily runs $995, but for a limited time is being offered for only $397. The second package is TotalPay powered by Authorize.Net™ Virtual Terminal that includes Total Merchant Manager Shopping Cart. This package includes everything first package includes, and more:

- Customizable Shopping Cart System - UPS Shipping Module - Links to Virtual Terminal - Free Initial Installation

Their discount rate is 2.4% and $0.35 per transaction fee. Monthly fees include a $10 monthly statement fee and a $10 gateway fee that includes secure, online, real-time credit card and e-cheque processing and only applies to merchants processing transactions through their Internet payment gateway.

Third Party Credit Card Processors