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SITE-SELL! Issue #008
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SITE-SELL!
The World's Most USABLE E-commerce E-zine
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>A free, occasional e-zine dedicated to showing you ...
> ... how to MAKE YOUR SITE SELL!
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February 12, 2000
Issue #008
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If a friend forwarded this copy of SITE-SELL! to you,
please subscribe at...
http://www.sitesell.com/site-sell.html
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
o Site-Sell Xpress News
o Featured Articles
1) Mirror Mirror On the Wall...
2) More On Long Domain Names...
3) A Story by Ralph Wilson
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~SITE-SELL XPRESS NEWS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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5 Pillar AFfiliate Program Named "Best of '99"
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Our 5 Pillar Affiliate Program was named...
"Best Affiliate Program of 1999"
by Clint Pheeney of AffiliatesDirectory.com...
http://www.affiliatesdirectory.com/
Clint says...
"Our Award for the Affiliate Program of 1999 clearly goes to
'Make Your Site Sell'! Learn why this was the hottest
affiliate program of 1999 and WHY it is THE affiliate
program to take you into the New Millennium! If you
currently sell products or services on the web, or you plan
to, then you MUST HAVE 'Make Your Site Sell.'
Clint has over 2500 programs in his directory. And there are
a heck of a lot of good marketing programs out there (albeit
not at our price of well under US$20).
So when he says that we are "clearly" the winners...
... well, it's a true honor. Thanks very much, Clint.
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>From the EDGE -- "FREE SAMPLE" URL...
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We just sent out THE definitive guide to mastering GoTo.com
and its clones to all subscribers of Sales From the EDGE.
>From time to time, the EDGE publishes important updates that
you need to SELL on the Net. Most "latest and greatest" Net
marketing and sales developments simply waste our time.
Today's "hot new technology" is tomorrow's "whatever
happened to... ?"
Occasionally, though, something comes along that STICKS.
When that happens, the EDGE cuts through all the "white
noise" of Web marketing. It explains each important new
development and outlines clearly how you can best take
advantage of it.
SALES FROM THE EDGE is sent *ONLY* to MYSS! owners.
Get the EDGE now, while it's still free, by ordering MYSS!
(Electronic Version, Print Version, or the Combo) at its
still "ridiculously" low price...
https://secure.sitesell.com/order.html
As one reader said...
"The EDGE alone is worth the price of MYSS!."
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I've put up a free sample of the EDGE for you at...
http://articles.sitesell.com/
While you're there, please do check out the Affiliate
Report, too. You'll see why everyone calls it the
best affiliate-support newsletter on the Net.
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5 Pillar Affiliate Program -- Free Gifts
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Free... The Ultimate Link Tracker software and the 5 Pillar
Affiliate Manual, total value of over US$100, just for
joining "THE Affiliate Program of 1999." Join now at...
http://www.sitesell.com/affiliateprogram.html
See why affiliate guru Allan Gardyne
(http://www.associateprograms.com/) has called the 5 Pillar
Manual "the best manual on affiliate programs at any price"
and why he said the 5 Pillar Program is "where other
programs will be in 18 months."
On February 29, we'll be LEAPING into a rapid growth phase,
launching at least one new product per month for the next
12 months. Those affiliates currently on board and working
will be very happy by the end of 2000.
If you have not yet joined the 5P Program, do it now. This
program will grow income for affiliates exponentially, as we
add new products one after the other throughout the year.
But, and it's a BIG but...
If things progress according to plan, we'll be closing the
5P Program to new applications, just like Net Detective has
done. At that time, affiliates' equity and income will
appreciate substantially.
When that happens, well...
Don't say that I didn't warn you. :-)
More info at...
http://www.sitesell.com/affiliateprogram.html
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~FEATURED ARTICLES~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Mirror Mirror On the Wall,
Who's the Fairest Chargebacker of All?
--> "It Ain't MasterCard, Sweetie!"
When it comes to chargebacks, not all credit card companies
are created equally.
Here's the story. We get the occasional chargeback request
for MYSS!. It is almost always an error. Here are some of
the reasons...
o "Oops. I forgot who 'GoodBytes' was."
o "Oh, my lousy brother used the card. Leave the
charge on. I'll take care of my brother." (Oh-oh!)
o "Oh right~ That's the book my wife wanted."
And on it goes.
How does VISA handle chargebacks? They send you a LEVEL 1
chargeback where you have a chance to provide a signed chit
(which gives you the chance to contact the customer and head
off a mistake).
Now, of course, you don't have the signed chit -- after all
no one signed it! But that's OK. You have your chance now
to contact the customer and find out that it was an error.
Customer drops the request for chargeback and we all live
happily ever after.
AMEX is just as easy, and they're a pleasure to deal with.
But MasterCard? Ouch...
MasterCard just flat out charges you back. According to
MasterCard International, you're supposed to get a
notification of the chargeback, but we never do.
Regardless, it's too late. The chargeback HAS ALREADY
HAPPENED.
So what are you, the out-of-luck merchant, supposed to do?
If you notify the customer, he has to then REVERSE the
chargeback -- this is much more work than just dropping it.
And, even in the unlikely event that he does this, you are
still stuck with the banks's chargeback penalty...
... yes, even though it's NOT your fault.
Now, even VISA will chargeback automatically in crystal-clear
cases (ex., two identical charges to same card within minutes).
That's fair.
And it's more than fair that the customer must
have the LAST say as to whether she ordered a product using
her card IN CASES WHERE THE CHIT IS NOT PRESENT (I.E., NOT
SIGNED), which is the case for all Internet orders. After all,
if the customer does not feel secure, she won't use it.
But to flat-out total-chargeback without giving the merchant
a chance to reply? Couldn't be. I was sure my bank had it
wrong.
So I called MasterCard International. Here's what they
confirmed...
If the cardholder simply confirms that she did not order the
product, the chargeback simply *DOES* happen. No, the
merchant is never given a chance to rebut before the actual
chargeback is debited from the account.
Check for yourself at...
rules@mastercard
And after you check, make a DIFFERENCE. Here's what I
recommend you do...
1) Make VISA your "default" card by pre-selecting this radio
button (it's a simple bit of html) and by giving it THE
place of prominence) on your Order Form. Put AMEX second in
order. Tuck MasterCard into the least visible place so that
only those who MUST use it will choose it.
2) Let MasterCard know that you're doing it... and why.
3) Forward this article to someone you know, asking that
person to do the same. If you are an e-zine author, please
reproduce this article and urge your subscribers to do the
same.
Hey, we all agree...
It's an ABSOLUTE MUST that the consumer be protected. But
it's unfair that merchants be burned. If enough merchants
complain and give MasterCard "least favored status" on their
order pages, they'll change their policies to match VISA and
AMEX.
Somehow, this has been overlooked by everyone, including me.
I only found out because I overheard Janice arguing about it
with MasterCard.
Here's hoping we can use the Net to bring about change...
Make a difference. :-)
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---2---
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More On Long Domain Names...
Just about everyone who's anyone in affiliatedom reads our 5
Pillar Affiliate Report, the e-zine that goes out to the
affiliates who promote Make Your Site SELL!. It's been
proclaimed by so many people as the best affiliate-support
e-zine that many affiliate program directors and other gurus
also subscribe to it.
I didn't realize this until recently, when...
It caused quite a brouhaha when I came out hard a while back
against the strong promotional push to go out and register
67 letter domains. Since then of course, voices of reason
like Ralph Wilson and search engine guru Danny Sullivan have
said the same thing...
Long domains that contain your keyword, when considered as
part of the whole "Search Engine Ranking Mix," will not
shoot you to the first page. On the whole, they'll have very
little effect.
Well, here's a little tidbit that I wheedled out of two
engineers at two major engines (can't reveal them because
they could get into trouble -- we've called all the engines
over the past 2 months on another project). One does not
even look at the content and the other laughed and said...
"It's so small. But if you really wanted to get that
so-small edge, just register a subdomain and put your
keyword in the subdomain. For extra measure, put it in the
html file, too."
So, if I wanted to load up a URL with "diamonds," for
example (hey, it's Valentine's!), I might use a URL like...
http://diamonds.sitesell.com/diamonds.html
Clean and simple.
Make Your Site SELL! lists all the critical criteria of a
great commercial domain name. A 60 letter domain violates
so many of these that, all in all, it's a big negative.
Sorry... I call 'em the way I see 'em. :-)
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---3---
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A Story by Ralph Wilson
Ralph has graciously allowed me to reprint this from his Web
Commerce Today e-zine, 12/15/99.
--------------------------------------------
What makes people click the order button? A
variety of motives. A couple of months ago I
spent several days applying the direct
marketing principles contained in Ken Evoy's
Make Your Site Sell to my single product
offering -- newsletter sales for Web Commerce
Today.
Study the techniques I used at
http://wilsonweb.com/wct/.
I ask a question, and try to get people to
click on the problem that is most compelling
for them. Then I tailor my sales approach to
a particular kind of buyers and their special
motivations and interests.
It has resulted in a substantial increase in
the sales rate. I encourage you to adapt my
approach to your own single-product site.
--------------------------------------------
Wow, what a thrill, coming from a true pro like Ralph.
Thanks very much for those super-generous words, Ralph, and
for that wonderful Sunday A.M. service in LA two weeks ago.
Many people have written to say that any single chapter
alone would have been worth the US$17. And I appreciate it,
of course.
But when Ralph chimes in, the music is just a touch sweeter. :-)
-----SIDEBAR-----
For those of you who are interested, tapes of that Abraham
Summit, at which Ralph and I spoke, should be available
shortly. More information about that summit, and the
upcoming tapes, are at...
http://www.abraham-netrageous.com/
-----SIDEBAR-----
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To learn how to build upon the strengths of selling on the
Net, and how to minimize its weaknesses...
Read the BIBLE of Site-selling...
http://www.sitesell.com/
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Written by Ken Evoy, M.D.,
President of SiteSell.com Inc.
(c) and ™ SiteSell.com Inc. All rights reserved.