﻿<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><rss xmlns:itunes="http://www.itunes.com/dtds/podcast-1.0.dtd" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" version="2.0"><channel><ttl>60</ttl><title>First Merchant Blog</title><link>http://blog.first-merchant.net</link><lastBuildDate>Wed, 10 Mar 2010 07:44:37 GMT</lastBuildDate><pubDate>Wed, 10 Mar 2010 07:44:37 GMT</pubDate><language>en</language><copyright /><itunes:subtitle> </itunes:subtitle><itunes:author /><itunes:summary /><description /><itunes:owner><itunes:name /><itunes:email>marketing@first-merchant.net</itunes:email></itunes:owner><itunes:explicit>no</itunes:explicit><itunes:category text="Arts" /><item><title>Free downloads for Webmasters</title><link>http://blog.first-merchant.net/2008/02/24/free-downloads-for-webmasters.aspx?ref=rss</link><author>marketing@first-merchant.net (Administrator)</author><description>&lt;font face="Verdana" size="2"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.applytools.com"&gt;ApplyTools.com&lt;/a&gt; - Free downloads for Webmasters: Free e-commerce tools, Free expired domain lists, free Java scripts, free perl CGI, and a live web robot for free download! &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.applytools.com/cgi-bin/partner/stetje.cgi?2055" target="_new"&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.applytools.com/images/media/atbanner.gif" alt="Applytools.com Desktop and Website Software" border="0" height="60" width="468"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/font&gt;</description><category>Internet Products</category><comments>http://blog.first-merchant.net/2008/02/24/free-downloads-for-webmasters.aspx#Comments</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">a31e0273-6ab9-43e8-a351-118cdc04101d</guid><pubDate>Sat, 23 Feb 2008 18:09:00 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title>An Introduction To Accepting Credit Cards on the Internet</title><link>http://blog.first-merchant.net/2008/02/24/an-introduction-to-accepting-credit-cards-on-the-internet.aspx?ref=rss</link><author>marketing@first-merchant.net (Administrator)</author><description>&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;&lt;br&gt;Source : &lt;a href="http://www.merchantaccountforum.com&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;"&gt;www.merchantaccountforum.com&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;If
you have a website and you don't accept credit cards then you're losing
massive amounts of business. Even if you do accept credit cards it may
be worth considering an alternative that will either offer you better
rates or save you time.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;Infact, if you're within the United States of America or Canada, there are a large range of options open to you.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;Unfortunately
if you're like me, and are located outside these jurisdictions life
becomes a little more complicated - though by no means impossible.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;Whatever your circumstances the aim of this article is to give you a quick start in accepting credit cards on the Internet.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;Once
you understand the basic concepts then hopefully the other articles on
this site will help you decide exactly what's right for you.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;To enable you to accept credit cards online, there are three methods you can use.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;They are:
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;&lt;li&gt;Gain your own merchant account from your bank
&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Use a broker or intermediary to gain your own merchant account
&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Use a third party service
&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;Let's look at these three options in more detail.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;The
most direct route to gain a merchant account is through your local
bank. Many banks will automatically send you details of their own
particular service when you open a business account.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;The problem with many banks is that as large, powerful institutions many are loathe to accept small businesses and startups.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;For
example, 12 months or more of audited accounts may be required,
business plans or evidence of considerable investment capital.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;Add
to this the fact that many banks are still developing their e-commerce
services. You see, banks offer different types of merchant accounts
depending on the situation.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;For
example, those accounts for retail are usually considerably easier to
gain than an Internet account. This is primarily because the retail
"swipe card machine" (or PDQ) involves physically swiping the card then
checking the signature.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;On the Internet of course, the number is just typed in and you can't check the signature so there's a far greater risk of fraud.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;Having
said that, banks are slowly starting to introduce services to help
internet companies, but in today's business climate I feel certain
you'd be better putting your time, energy and cash into gaining a
merchant account through the second route - using an intermediary.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;Intermediate
companies do exactly what it sounds - they form a defence between the
bank and yourself. Whilst this may at first sound like a disadvantage
because there's another body to get authorised by, the matter is quite
the reverse.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;Intermediary
companies understand the banks and what they look for in a new client.
They can "pitch" your application right and many boast enviable
acceptance rates, even for non-US merchants.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;The
greatest tip I can give you when applying through these companies is
this - minimise risk. Of applicants that do get refused many of them
are refused on the grounds of high risk. That's what these companies
look for. So wherever possible, find ways to make your business appear
a "safe bet" and you'll greatly increase your chances.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;I don't mean lie - far from it - you'll end up in far more trouble than it's worth but...
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;Aim
to start small, selling low priced items. Aiming to sell a few hundred
$10 items per month is much less risk than aiming to sell 10,000
television sets. Think small to start off with, then expand slowly.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;Prove
you're financially solvent - some companies will ask you to prove your
personal net worth. They may ask about your credit card bill, mortgage
and more so minimise your debt wherever possible.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;Whilst
I have no evidence to back me up on this point I believe that forming a
limited company (so you become Pig Farmers Inc. or Swine Herders Ltd.)
makes you look more professional and as result less risky. As one can
form such a company over the Internet these days for a tiny amount of
money I think it's well worth it if in doubt.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;You
may also be asked about guarantees on your products, monthly overheads
of your business, past fraud of any one of a million other questions.
For every one you're asked, think - "How can I instill more confidence
and make my business look safer?".
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;It's
just like your car insurance. Your rates are better if your car is nice
and safe (boring, even), is kept in a garage at night and you've never
had a crash, so think of it this way.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;Even
if you do get accepted, you may well find that if you appear safer, the
rates you are offered will be better. If in doubt apply.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;You might just get a nice surprise, and the sources we recommend allow you to apply &lt;b&gt;without&lt;/b&gt; paying an application fee so there's no risk to you whatsoever.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;The third and final method of accepting credit cards on your website is to use a third party service.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;In
this case, your business itself is not granted it's own merchant ID but
rather you utilise the merchant account of another company.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;Setting
up an account with a third party processor is generally tremendously
easy - it's a case of filling in a simple form with your name, address
etc. and you're away. Some of these services are free to set up whilst
most require a small "activation fee".
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;For the new startup who have tried unsuccessfully to gain their own merchant ID, third party processing is the way to go. 
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;As with any other method there are benefits and distinct problems with third party processors.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;The
first benefit is clear - easy, quick and cheap setup. Many third party
processors also offer additional services, some paid for, some free.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;For example, &lt;a href="http://www.merchantaccountforum.com/smallfish.html"&gt;Clickbank&lt;/a&gt; comes with built-in affiliate software as standard. 
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;However,
now we turn to the negative side of the story. Firstly, most merchant
account intermediaries deposit the money paid by your customers in
24-48 hours. This means that you receive payment swiftly which helps
keep your business finances bouyant and enable you to expand your
operation faster.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;In
contrast, third party processors on average pay every 14-28 days
depending on the company in question. Some will even pay you mid-month,
for the previous month's takings - meaning you may have to wait up to
45 days for the settlement of funds. Clearly this stunts your business
and can leave you open to problems.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;Secondly, it's fair to say that &lt;b&gt;all&lt;/b&gt;
merchant account providers, be they bank, intermediaries or third party
processors charge fees. This may involve a set per-month fee and/or a
per-transaction fee (such as 5% of the value of each purchase).
Unfortunately as you might expect, those of the third party processors
are generally far, far higher than those charged to businesses who
possess their own merchant account.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;Lastly
in this argument is the fact that you are far more limited in your
dealings with a third party service than your own merchant account.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;What I mean by this is that you have to send your visitors to &lt;b&gt;their&lt;/b&gt;
website to make their purchase, which makes you look less professional
and you generally have to use the third party processors designated
order form, with their name on, though some level of customization is
usually possible such as adding your company logo.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;In
this respect you're simply less in control of matters. And finally, as
you are using the third-party processor's merchant account, and not
your own, your customers credit card bill will show up the name of the
third party processor you have used rather than that of your company.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;In
general therefore, I'd regard using third party processors as a "last
resort" due to their far higher fees and less professional appearance.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;So
which of these three methods is right for your business? Only you can
make this decision but to help you we've created a whole site full of
articles in the hope of steering you in the right direction.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;It's free to use so please make use of it - and send us your &lt;a href="htte://www.merchantaccountforum.com/contactus.html"&gt;feedback&lt;/a&gt; so we can tailor the site even further to your needs.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;Best of luck to you and your business!
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description><category>Internet Marketing</category><comments>http://blog.first-merchant.net/2008/02/24/an-introduction-to-accepting-credit-cards-on-the-internet.aspx#Comments</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">70917459-6cca-4eae-b4e0-8f54886062be</guid><pubDate>Sat, 23 Feb 2008 17:25:00 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title>Want to Share Your Memory with Your  Friend or Family ?</title><link>http://blog.first-merchant.net/2008/02/23/want-to-share-your-memory-with-your--friend-or-family-.aspx?ref=rss</link><author>marketing@first-merchant.net (Administrator)</author><description>&lt;a href="http://https://www.securepaynet.net/gdshop/photo/landing.asp?prog_id=419916&amp;amp;ci=7314"&gt;&lt;img src="http://images.quickblogcast.com/112178-104738/6585_opf_01.jpg" border="0" width="600"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;</description><category>Internet Products</category><comments>http://blog.first-merchant.net/2008/02/23/want-to-share-your-memory-with-your--friend-or-family-.aspx#Comments</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">6c9a1de1-2673-4d64-83e1-ee78f2c4f4d9</guid><pubDate>Sat, 23 Feb 2008 14:33:00 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title>Free Web Hosting</title><link>http://blog.first-merchant.net/2008/02/21/free-web-hosting.aspx?ref=rss</link><author>marketing@first-merchant.net (Administrator)</author><description>Check our&amp;nbsp; hosting plan listed here &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;font size="5"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.100best-free-web-space.com"&gt;Free Web Hosting&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/b&gt;</description><category>General</category><comments>http://blog.first-merchant.net/2008/02/21/free-web-hosting.aspx#Comments</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">12d7db60-f5b4-4573-934e-f402b77975af</guid><pubDate>Thu, 21 Feb 2008 15:07:00 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title>Easy Way to Boost Your Website by Linkpartner</title><link>http://blog.first-merchant.net/2008/02/20/easy-way-to-boost-your-website-by-linkspartner.aspx?ref=rss</link><author>marketing@first-merchant.net (Administrator)</author><description>&lt;a href="http://www.linkpartners.com"&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.linkpartners.com/lp_banr1.gif" alt="LinkPartners.com - The Easy Way to Find Link Swap Partners" border="0" height="60" width="468"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;</description><category>Marketplace</category><comments>http://blog.first-merchant.net/2008/02/20/easy-way-to-boost-your-website-by-linkspartner.aspx#Comments</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">f202143b-b46a-4fa5-88c0-6a5f298b3301</guid><pubDate>Wed, 20 Feb 2008 14:15:00 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title>One Simple Method I Use To Skyrocket My Affiliate Revenue</title><link>http://blog.first-merchant.net/2008/02/17/one-simple-method-i-use-to-skyrocket-my-affiliate-revenue.aspx?ref=rss</link><author>marketing@first-merchant.net (Administrator)</author><description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;========================================
&lt;br&gt;One Simple Method I Use To Skyrocket My Affiliate Revenue
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;(Or How I Get Up To 1 In Every 3 People Who See My Affiliate Links To Click Them)
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;By Richard Adams
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;© 2004. All rights reserved.
&lt;br&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.merchantaccountforum.com/"&gt;http://www.MerchantAccountForum.com&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;br&gt;========================================
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;What's the easiest and quickest way to increase your
affiliate earnings - without increasing your traffic?
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;Increase the *percentage* of your traffic that is actually
clicking your links and visiting the affiliate programs
you're promoting. And make sure as many as possible end up
BUYING.  
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;But how?
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;The answer is targetting.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;Infact, let me rephrase that - I call it "ultra-targetting".
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;In this article I'm going to show you how I use it to
achieve huge clickthrough rates. 10-15% is easy, and I
regularly achieve up to 33% - on a regular basis. That is,
for every 3 people that see my affiliate links, 1 of them
clicks one.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;And that's amazing.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;It's so simple, it would be too easy to overlook this
method, but when you compare the 0.5% clickthrough rate that
others are getting by using banners, and my 33% result, who
do you think is making more money from affiliate programs?!
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;Tell me - have you ever seen one of those story books where
you choose what happens?
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;The story starts, then you get two options of what happens
next. And based on what you decide you turn to a different
part of the book.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;Then you read that and you get two more options and so on.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;One book, but dozens of choices and different options taking
you off in all sorts of different directions - and also
leading to a different end.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;That's exactly what your affiliate website should be.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;Let's say, for the sake of argument, that you have an
affiliate site on the highly profitable subject of
computers.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;Imagine the number of different people who could visit your
site.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;Students, parents, business owners, companies, doctors and
more.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;They might be looking for a cheap computer. A powerful
computer. A fast computer.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;A computer with a flat screen. With a dvd drive. Or a
printer.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;Wanting to use it for games. Work. Emailing. The Internet.
Desktop publishing.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;Now what if you put one identical text link on every page of
your site? Something like:
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;"For the best deals I've found in computers, click here"
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;What would happen is two things:
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;Firstly, fewer people than can be achieved would click the
link because is doesn't specifically target their needs very
well.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;After all, for someone searching for a computer to play
games on, a better link would be:
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;"For the best games computer I've found, click here"
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;Secondly, of those people that *do* click through, very few
will actually find what they want because you're not
specifically sending them to the exact product that matches
their needs. 
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;Now, text links just like the example above, inserted at
both the top and bottom of every page, will garner much
higher clickthrough rates than any banner ad, but if we
ultra-target, we can boost our results much, much more.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;Provide lots of options to your visitors, in the form of
links to other pages. Pages that pander to all sorts of
different scenarios:
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;- Are you looking for the cheapest computer?
&lt;br&gt;- Are you searching for the latest model of computer?
&lt;br&gt;- Do you want to do desktop publishing with your computer?
&lt;br&gt;- Are you new to computers and looking for an easy option?
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;And so on.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;If necessary, break it down even further.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;Get your visitors to choose their country. Then what style
they're looking for. Or the price they're willing to pay.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;So long as your visitors feel they're getting close to a
solution to their problem, you should be able to take them
through 3 or 4 pages without annoying them.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;Then, on each of these "subpages" that you've created, find
a suitable solution for your patient visitor.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;Provide the link they've come looking for.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;No, don't just "provide" it, "prove" it. Discuss it. Argue
it. Compare it with others. Describe your experience of
shopping there. Ask others for their opinions.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;Make it not only a highly targetted option, but also one you
turn into such a perfect-sounding solution, they just
*have* to click it.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;They'll be so targetted that your clickthrough rates will
skyrocket. 
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;And as you've carefully matched the affiliate program with
your lead, your sales will also increase considerably.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;You win both ways.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;One further way you'll benefit is that these sub-pages are
exactly the sort of highly targetted pages that the search
engines love - bringing in even more traffic (and sales).
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;And the fact you're creating keyword rich links pointing to
these sub-pages will help them (and your main homepage) rank
even higher.
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;Did you notice how many times I naturally managed to include
the word "computer" in the links above?
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;Search engines - and Google in particular - *love* this. 
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;Lastly, if you want to see two examples of sites that ultra-
target, check out the following two links:
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;&amp;gt; &lt;a href="http://www.merchantaccountforum.com/" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.MerchantAccountForum.com&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;br&gt;&amp;gt; &lt;a href="http://buildit.sitesell.com/buynow.html" target="_blank"&gt;http://buildit.sitesell.com/buynow.html&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;========================================
&lt;br&gt;Richard Adams is the founder of Merchant Account Forum, one of the
 net's most popular merchant account advice sites. Click Here Now =&amp;gt;
&lt;br&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.merchantaccountforum.com/"&gt;www.MerchantAccountForum.com&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;br&gt;========================================
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description><category>Internet Marketing</category><comments>http://blog.first-merchant.net/2008/02/17/one-simple-method-i-use-to-skyrocket-my-affiliate-revenue.aspx#Comments</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">a847b621-1f37-4e68-b13a-86f9180d3e51</guid><pubDate>Sun, 17 Feb 2008 15:00:00 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title>Merchant Account Forum</title><link>http://blog.first-merchant.net/2008/02/17/merchant-account-forum.aspx?ref=rss</link><author>marketing@first-merchant.net (Administrator)</author><description>&lt;font color="ORANGE" face="verdana, arial, helvetica"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="2"&gt;&lt;font face="verdana, arial" size="2"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, Arial" size="-1"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.MerchantAccountForum.com" target="_blank"&gt; Merchant Account Forum&lt;/a&gt; is One
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</description><category>Internet Marketing</category><comments>http://blog.first-merchant.net/2008/02/16/free-website-content.aspx#Comments</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">ade71802-8686-4fe9-8c03-70d1eb48a952</guid><pubDate>Sat, 16 Feb 2008 15:38:00 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title>10 Ways To Erupt Your Sales Like A Volcano</title><link>http://blog.first-merchant.net/2008/02/16/10-ways-to-erupt-your-sales-like-a-volcano.aspx?ref=rss</link><author>marketing@first-merchant.net (Administrator)</author><description>&lt;pre&gt;&lt;tt&gt;&lt;tt&gt;1. Save time and money using ad submitters. You&lt;br&gt;will reach a larger part of your target audience far&lt;br&gt;more quickly than by manually submitting your ad.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;2. Create a good first impression. You will not be&lt;br&gt;able to sell very many products if your visitors think&lt;br&gt;your web site looks unprofessional.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;3. Stop procrastinating and start finishing all your&lt;br&gt;business tasks. Do one at a time. Do not get caught&lt;br&gt;up thinking that you can never get them all done.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;4. Develop a relationship with all your visitors and&lt;br&gt;customers. Tell them how much you appreciate&lt;br&gt;them visiting your web site or buying your product.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;5. Hire a business coach to help improve yourself&lt;br&gt;and business. They could help increase your sales,&lt;br&gt;motivate you, balance your workload, etc.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;6. Stay away from being too comfortable with your&lt;br&gt;income or life. You should always be making new&lt;br&gt;goals for yourself and developing new sales ideas.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;7. Stay away from becoming a workaholic. Your&lt;br&gt;mind needs time away from your business life. This&lt;br&gt;will help your brain think clearly while working.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;8. Create and follow short/long term goals for your&lt;br&gt;business. The short goals can create early success&lt;br&gt;and the long term goals can create future success.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;9. Look for different ways to prove your business&lt;br&gt;and products to your audience. You could collect&lt;br&gt;testimonials, hold surveys, do scientific tests, etc.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;10. Try new business ideas and strategies. Do not&lt;br&gt;be afraid of changing what you're doing. You could&lt;br&gt;try out technology, advertising, marketing, etc.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Quote of the Day:&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;"Those things that hurt, instruct." -- Ben Franklin &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Warm regards,&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Eddie Watkins&lt;br&gt;&lt;a target="_blank" href="http://www.teamsuccesspros.com/"&gt;&lt;span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1203175147_1"&gt;http://www.teamsuccesspros.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;P.S. Try this, :&lt;br&gt;&lt;a target="_blank" href="http://www.teamsuccesspros.com/pips.html"&gt;&lt;span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1203175147_2"&gt;http://www.teamsuccesspros.com/pips.html&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;It really works!&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Top Online Business Opportunity&lt;br&gt;4444 Groft Blvd&lt;br&gt;&lt;span style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204); cursor: pointer;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1203175147_3"&gt;Las Vegas, NV&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;span style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204); cursor: pointer;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1203175147_4"&gt;(702)235-4475&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/tt&gt;&lt;/tt&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;</description><category>Internet Marketing</category><comments>http://blog.first-merchant.net/2008/02/16/10-ways-to-erupt-your-sales-like-a-volcano.aspx#Comments</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">f3f7b371-03d7-4de4-a4e3-8a1c61e7d125</guid><pubDate>Sat, 16 Feb 2008 15:32:00 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title>7 Basic Rules for Internet Marketing</title><link>http://blog.first-merchant.net/2008/02/16/7-basic-rules-for-internet-marketing.aspx?ref=rss</link><author>marketing@first-merchant.net (Administrator)</author><description>&lt;font size="2"&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Internet marketing strategies&lt;/b&gt; involve driving targeted (people who are interested in what you have to offer) traffic to your website, blog, or sales page.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;That traffic then has to be converted into sales. This simple formula illustrates this process:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Traffic + Conversions = Sales&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Keeping this formula&lt;/b&gt; in your mind will help you in your
internet marketing efforts because you will realize that you not only
have to generate traffic, but also turn those visitors into buyers.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Furthermore, here are 7 basic rules to follow when applying this
formula. These rules are relevant to all forms of marketing but are
especially important for online marketing where inexperienced people
can "burn" a lot of money quickly and become very discouraged.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;/font&gt;

&lt;font size="2"&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;1. All marketing involves RISK.&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Whether you are trying something new or "copying" a strategy that
has brought good results for others, there is still an element of risk.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;When speaking of risk, you tend to think of gambling which makes for an appropriate analogy here.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;For internet marketing, we try to reduce the risk and swing the odds
in our favour by doing keyword research, learning skills like ad
writing, article marketing, and pay per click, and other general
marketing activities such as knowing what your target market is
interested in.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;2. Test small first.&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Reduce your risk by testing a marketing approach on a small scale
first. If it works, then increase the scale and create momentum.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;This is how to make money!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;3. Be consistent.&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Successful marketers do something to propel themselves forward everyday. That is their secret.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;A good practice is to create a to-do list every night featuring 5 actions that you must complete the following day.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;By doing this at night before you go to sleep, you engage your
subconscious mind and the next day you will know what you have to do
and be on target to complete these tasks.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;This is a very powerful process. Try to do this, one day at a time, until it becomes a daily habit.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;4. Set a budget.&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Determine what you can afford to spend on advertising on a monthly basis. In this way you can set and manage your expectations.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;This should also prevent you from trying things you cannot afford.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;5. Diversify.&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Spread your efforts as much as you can over many different sources.
This will also reduce your risk and help you to discover what works.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Remember that if one internet marketing method that you try does not
produce results, you have not failed. This just means that you are one
step closer to finding something that DOES work.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;6. Learn how to write effective copy.&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The skill that will make or break you in internet marketing is copywriting.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;It is especially important to learn how to write headlines. There is
a ton of good information online that is free regarding headlines and
copywriting. Just do a Google search.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;/font&gt;

&lt;font size="2"&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;7. Take action, test, and track.&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Tracking is essential because you absolutely need to know the results of your marketing efforts.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Once you start getting results, you can employ simple tests to see
if you can improve. Often this testing involves strategies that are
free.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;One such strategy that comes to mind is split testing. You can do
this for free, and it can provide incredible returns. Generally
speaking, split testing involves making slight changes to a landing
page or adwords ad, often just the wording of the headline, and testing
it against a current version.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;I have seen very simple&lt;/b&gt; changes DOUBLE the productivity of an
ad. It's not only amazing, but also a lot of fun! Marketing takes work.
You simply cannot get something for nothing. Massive action creates
massive results.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;So take action&lt;/b&gt; and do not be afraid to fail. Remember to minimize your risk.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;/font&gt;
&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;hr size="1" width="125"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;font size="2"&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;About the Author:&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt;

&lt;i&gt;Mark McCullagh is the author of the &lt;a&gt;internet marketing strategies&lt;/a&gt; that work, especially for network marketing.&lt;/i&gt;

&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description><category>Internet Marketing</category><comments>http://blog.first-merchant.net/2008/02/16/7-basic-rules-for-internet-marketing.aspx#Comments</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">73966c74-b4ae-4aa3-a6ac-f1dd26eb82db</guid><pubDate>Sat, 16 Feb 2008 15:21:00 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title>Sistem Pembayaran melalui Bank Lokal</title><link>http://blog.first-merchant.net/2008/02/13/sistem-pembayaran-melalui-bank-lokal.aspx?ref=rss</link><author>marketing@first-merchant.net (Administrator)</author><description>Kami memberikan panduan kepada seluruh pelanggan dan calon pelanggan tentang bagaimana bertransaksi di website kami.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Kami sangat mempertimbangkan khususnya pelanggan kami di Indonesia yang belum semuanya paham atau yakin tentang keamanan bertransaksi via internet pada umumnya.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Tata cara transaksi kami kelompokkan dalam 2 kelompok besar :&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;1. Menggunakan Kartu Kredit atau Debit&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;2. Tidak Menggunakan kartu Kredit atau Debit&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;1. Menggunakan kartu Kredit atau Debit&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Bila anda yakin dengan menggunakan kartu anda dalam bertransaksi maka mohon diperhatikan hal sebagai berikut : Pastikan kartu&amp;nbsp; anda masih dalam masa berlaku.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Pastikan setiap selesai bertransaksi, hapus seluruh memori di komputer melalui&amp;nbsp; Clear Cache yang berada di menu Option Internet Browser anda.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Bila anda akan sering bertransaksi di Internet maka siapkan 1 buah kartu yang dedicated untuk bertransaksi. Dan mintalah Bank yang mengeluarkan kartu tersebut untuk menurunkan limit kartu sampai pada batas yang bisa ditoleransi oleh anda. Misal : Limit menjadi 3 juta, dengan asumsi bahwa bila terjadi kebobolan anda masih bisa mengcover tagihan tersebut.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Pastikan billing statement kartu dimusnahkan terutama yang mencantumkan no kartu anda.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Jangan memberikan informasi kartu kepada sembarang orang guna menjaga kerahasiaan kartu anda.&lt;br&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Penggunaan kartu untuk bertransaksi di website kami, anda cukup mengikuti menu Checkout dengan mengisi data yang valid.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Pada akhir transaksi, anda akan diminta memasukkan Kode Acak dari system kami untuk verifikasi pendebetan kartu anda.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Bila selesai transaksi, simpanlah receipt sebagai referensi dikemudian hari bilamana diperlukan.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;2. Tidak Menggunakan Kartu Kredit atau Debit&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Bila anda tidak bermaksud menggunakan kartu kredit atau debit maka anda dapat melakukan langkah alternatif berikut :&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;A. Bantuan Agent atau menggunakan Digital Prepaid.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Proses di website First Merchant :&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Tentukan produk, jumlah dan periode untuk masing masing produk&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Lakukan checkout dengan mengikuti urutan prosesnya.&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Saat di tahapan secure checkout akan tampil perincian order anda.&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Lihat Sub Total pembelian anda dan catat amountnya (dalam USD)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Proses di website Agent :&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Setelah proses ini, Anda coba membuka website Agent (salah satu yang kami tahu Cendrawasih.com).&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Klik bagian Digital Prepaid Card dan anda ikuti petunjuknya.&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Anda akan mendapatkan kartu digital yang persis dengan kartu kredit atau debit.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Sebagai catatan :&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; - Kami tidak bekerjasama dengan pihak Agent tersebut.&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; - Segala ketentuan agent baik kegagalan maupun problem yang muncul murni tanggungjawab agent yang&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; bersangkutan dan tidak ada kaitan dengan First Merchant.&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; - Sesuai dengan ketentuan agent, pihak agent akan mengenakan fee tersendiri.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Proses di website First Merchant lagi :&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Buka kembali website First Merchant&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Lakukan transaksi checkout seperti diawal penjelasan sampai selesai.&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Masukkan data digital prepaid card anda pada bagian memasukkan data credit card.&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Isi semua data yang diminta secara lengkap dan detail.&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Ikuti semua proses sampai selesai. Saat selesai anda akan mendapatkan Receipt.&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; * Printout receipt dan anda bisa melakukan login sesuai dengan No Customer dan Password anda.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;B. Bantuan kami.&lt;br&gt;Langkah yang harus dilakukan adalah&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Tentukan produk yang akan dibeli&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Lakukan proses checkout seperti diatas untuk melihat Sub Total (dalam USD)&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Beritahu kami via sms di 0813-1966-5570 atau email : sales@first-merchant.com atau dengan mengisi form kontak dengan menyebutkan produk yang dibeli, jumlah, jangka waktu, nama, password yang diinginkan, nama lengkap dan detail alamat.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Kami akan mengconform jumlah Rupiah yang harus ditransfer mengikuti ketentuan kurs dari First Merchant.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Bila anda setuju, anda dapat mentransfer dana ke A/C BCA No 5210523776 KCP Harapan Indah Bekasi&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Kirim pemberitahuan kepada kami via sms 081319665570 maupun email kami &lt;a href="mailto:sales@first-merchant.com" target="_blank"&gt; sales@first-merchant.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Bila dana sudah masuk, maka kami akan meng-create account untuk anda. (Dibutuhkan waktu 1-2 hari )&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Bila proses sudah selesai, kami akan kirim informasi via email dan sms ke anda.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Anda dapat menggunakan untuk login di website &lt;a href="http://www.first-merchant.net" target="_blank"&gt; First Merchant&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;</description><category>Business Solution</category><comments>http://blog.first-merchant.net/2008/02/13/sistem-pembayaran-melalui-bank-lokal.aspx#Comments</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">f4e7aa55-d290-44ff-a10e-102f469c7b27</guid><pubDate>Tue, 12 Feb 2008 17:15:00 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title>10 Upsell Strategies That Will Increase Your Profits</title><link>http://blog.first-merchant.net/2008/02/13/10-upsell-strategies-that-will-increase-your-profits.aspx?ref=rss</link><author>marketing@first-merchant.net (Administrator)</author><description>&lt;br&gt;As you know it can be very expensive to attract new&lt;br&gt;customers. You can cut down on those expenses&lt;br&gt;by "upselling" to those new customers. For example,&lt;br&gt;let's say you're selling a computer with a 15" monitor&lt;br&gt;for $1200. You tell people they can upgrade to a 17"&lt;br&gt;monitor for only $200 more. That's upselling! Your&lt;br&gt;goal is to get more money out of the first sale. Below&lt;br&gt;are ten upselling strategies you can use to increase&lt;br&gt;your profits.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;1. Deluxe Upsell-You could sell a basic product and&lt;br&gt;tell people for a little more money they can receive the&lt;br&gt;deluxe edition.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;2. Money Upsell-You could offer people the rights&lt;br&gt;to sell the product they are buying from your business.&lt;br&gt;You could charge an extra $30 dollars to get the &lt;br&gt;reproduction rights.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;3. Discount Upsell-If you're selling a product people&lt;br&gt;may order again in the future like shave gel, you could&lt;br&gt;offer them a second can of shave gel at a discount.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;4. Time Upsell-If you're selling a product or service&lt;br&gt;people subscribe to, like a magazine, you could tell&lt;br&gt;them if they subscribe for two years instead of one,&lt;br&gt;they can receive it half off the cover price.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;5. Quantity Upsell-This is similar to the discount upsell.&lt;br&gt;The only difference is you increase the discount by&lt;br&gt;how many products they order. If they order 3 it's a&lt;br&gt;10% discount, if they order 5 it's a 15% discount.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;6. Package Upsell-When you're selling a product you&lt;br&gt;could offer similar products in a package deal. Tell&lt;br&gt;the people the other products are cheaper with the&lt;br&gt;package deal versus purchasing them separately.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;7. Affiliate Upsell-When you're selling a product you&lt;br&gt;could offer someone else's product as an upsell. You&lt;br&gt;would have to make a commission on the product in&lt;br&gt;order to profit.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;8. Free Upsell-You could offer a free sample or trial&lt;br&gt;of your product (your first sale would be free) and&lt;br&gt;then tell people if they order the full version right now&lt;br&gt;they will get a discount.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;9. Extra Upsell-There are many things you could&lt;br&gt;charge extra for at the time of sale. It could be gift&lt;br&gt;wrapping, imprinting, custom designs, etc.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;10. Extended Upsell-If your product comes with a&lt;br&gt;warranty, you could ask people if they would like to&lt;br&gt;extend the warranty one more year for only $30.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;In conclusion, you can use one or all these strategies&lt;br&gt;to increase your profits at the point of sale. Don't be&lt;br&gt;afraid to use your imagination to come up with other&lt;br&gt;upsell strategies.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Quote of the Day:&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;"Knowledge is more than equivalent to force." -- Samuel &lt;br&gt;Johnson &lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br&gt;Warm regards,&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Eddie Watkins&lt;br&gt;http://www.teamsuccesspros.com&lt;br&gt;P.S. Try this, :&lt;br&gt;http://www.teamsuccesspros.com/pips.html&lt;br&gt;</description><category>Internet Marketing</category><comments>http://blog.first-merchant.net/2008/02/13/10-upsell-strategies-that-will-increase-your-profits.aspx#Comments</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">8fa27007-e9c8-431b-8704-14cae49952d6</guid><pubDate>Tue, 12 Feb 2008 17:05:00 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title>A New Way To Make Money With eBay</title><link>http://blog.first-merchant.net/2008/02/12/a-new-way-to-make-money-with-ebay.aspx?ref=rss</link><author>marketing@first-merchant.net (Administrator)</author><description>&lt;a href="http://estikofh06.nichestore.hop.clickbank.net"&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.buildanichestore.com/affiliate/images/468x60/money-making-website.gif" width="468" height="60" border="0"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;When you hear "eBay" and "money" in the same sentence 
    your probably think of becoming an eBay seller.&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;You place product listings in the eBay marketplace, buyers bid, you pay your 
    eBay seller fees and what you have left is your profit margin.&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;There is, however, another way to build a business which still revolves around 
    eBay but which doesn’t involve you selling a single thing in the eBay 
    marketplace.&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;This "other way" opportunity is based on the eBay affiliate program 
    and a great tool which makes entry into this opportunity not only 
    possible but also super easy. This tool is called "&lt;a href="http://estikofh06.nichestore.hop.clickbank.net" target="_blank"&gt;Build 
    A Niche Store&lt;/a&gt;".&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;Now if you don’t know – an affiliate program enables you as an 
    individual internet entrepreneur to promote the products of a company in exchange 
    for a commission on all sales that you refer.&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;You are basically operating as an internet middleman and connecting internet 
    browsers to particular products and companies through you own network of websites 
    and marketing methods.&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;If we return to the eBay affiliate program, eBay actually invites you to 
    promote all of the product listings in the eBay marketplace and in exchange 
    for your efforts will pay you up to 75% of the revenue they make from each 
    sale you refer plus up to $35 for each new active eBay member you refer.&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://affiliates.ebay.com" target="_blank"&gt;You can have a read about the eBay.com 
    affiliate program here&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;What this means is that you can earn up to three quarters of eBay’s 
    revenue simply for connecting people to the products listed in the eBay marketplace.&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;Not only do you get to partner with the best branded marketplace in the world, 
    you also get access to and control over ALL of the products listed in this 
    marketplace. The eBay product inventory becomes YOUR product inventory and 
    yet you do NOT have to stock items, deal with customers, organize shipping 
    or process refunds.&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;You are no longer limited to selling only those products which you can buy 
    and sell for a profit margin. You can choose ANY niche market and promote 
    those eBay products relevant to your chosen niche outside of the eBay marketplace, 
    funnelling targeted traffic through to eBay and into your own affiliate commissions.&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;Golf clubs, sewing kits, laptops, dog collars, diamond rings, Florida real 
    estate…&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;If you know eBay you know how BIG it is – there are NO limits.&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;At this point you might be thinking - well this sounds interesting but in 
    reality is there any money in it? Well, here’s the shocker – eBay's 
    top affiliates make over 1 million dollars a month. That’s right – 
    8 figures a year without stocking, selling or shipping a single thing!&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;Now eBay does provide some basic free tools to help you succeed as an eBay 
    affiliate and build an affiliate business BUT it has been the development 
    of a tool outside of eBay that has really opened this up as a legitimate business 
    opportunity.&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;The tool, as I mentioned earlier, is called "&lt;a href="http://estikofh06.nichestore.hop.clickbank.net" target="_blank"&gt;Build 
    A Niche Store&lt;/a&gt;" and what it enables you to do is build eBay affiliate 
    websites targeted to any eBay niche you want. These act as the medium through 
    which you funnel targeted visitors to eBay. &lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;Here are a couple of examples, one targeting Race Cars and the other Golf 
    Equipment:&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.getaracecar.com" target="_blank"&gt;Race Car eBay Affiliate Website&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;
    &lt;a href="http://www.thebiggolfstore.com" target="_blank"&gt;Golf eBay Affiliate Website&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;As you can see, these are professional looking websites that contain all 
    of those eBay products related to their target niche inside a searchable store 
    format, each of which automatically contains your eBay affiliate id.&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;These stores then automatically update as new products are listed for sale 
    and old listing expire from the eBay marketplace and the software has built 
    in development features which enable you to create new store pages, add content 
    to these pages, create content pages, modify your template etc etc.&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;Basically, in the space of about 10 minutes (once you are familiar with how 
    the software works) you can create a fully functional eBay affiliate website 
    targeted to the niche market of your choice.&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;Your store content is all search engine friendly which will provide the foundation 
    for attracting targeted traffic from the search engines and you can then use 
    the development features to attract more targeted visitors which will in turn 
    mean more eBay affiliate commissions.&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;It really is a brilliant concept and I’ve been hearing great things 
    about the guys behind the project and the member forum which you get lifetime 
    access to when you purchase the product.&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;Build A Niche Store comes with a step by step user manual which will walk 
    even the most technically inexperienced through setting up their eBay affiliate 
    website, 9 professional template layouts which can be customized (from inside 
    your admin panel) to match your target niche, lifetime member forum access, 
    comprehensive product support and possibly most importantly – an UNLIMITED 
    domain license which means you can build as many of these niche websites as 
    you want for the small one time fee.&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;Think about how many niches eBay caters to!&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;How big could your eBay affiliate business be?!&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;This product gets my full recommendation – check it out today…&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://estikofh06.nichestore.hop.clickbank.net" target="_blank"&gt;Click 
    Here To Read More About Build A Niche Store&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;
</description><category>Marketplace</category><comments>http://blog.first-merchant.net/2008/02/12/a-new-way-to-make-money-with-ebay.aspx#Comments</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">576bb3ad-ae5b-4f66-8641-3fad3c2132dd</guid><pubDate>Tue, 12 Feb 2008 16:18:00 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title>MoreNiche Affiliate Program - Make Money Online!</title><link>http://blog.first-merchant.net/2008/02/12/moreniche-affiliate-program--make-money-online.aspx?ref=rss</link><author>marketing@first-merchant.net (Administrator)</author><description>Affiliate program that works! &lt;a href="http://www.moreniche.com/" target="_blank"&gt; MoreNiche&lt;/a&gt; affiliate program will help you
to make online money. This is your solution to make money online fast
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</description><category>Internet Products</category><comments>http://blog.first-merchant.net/2008/02/09/im-gonna-give-you-master-resell-rights-to-200-products.aspx#Comments</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">21af5a62-be02-43d0-b9cd-9e9344ad58ce</guid><pubDate>Sat, 09 Feb 2008 02:36:00 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title>Free Traffic Exchange</title><link>http://blog.first-merchant.net/2008/02/07/free-traffic-exchange.aspx?ref=rss</link><author>marketing@first-merchant.net (Administrator)</author><description>  &lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;a
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