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For webmasters and websites owners looking to create their own online magazines, we have put together a complete guide on Magazines in which you will find articles and resources to create your online magazines.

• Art Magazines
• Fashion Magazines
• Free Magazines
• Magazines Music
• Online Magazines
• Newspapers Online
• Magazines Sports
• Trade Magazines
• Travel Magazines

You can access the Main Index on Magazines …

With so many magazines out there, you need to learn more

What are Merchant Accounts?

The process of buying products through the internet has become so convenient that we become unaware that there is actually a complex system of commerce that goes with it. With the birth of the credit card, business owners have realized its potential on making their products more accessible to their target consumers. This is when merchant account providers come into the picture. Merchant account is way for business owners to accept payments through credit cards.

What are Payment Gateways?

Aside from the merchant account provider, there is also a middle party that oversees how the actual exchange of payment information takes place. It is the online version of a cash register. Upon payment, the consumer enters encrypted information into the merchant’s web browser. The payment gateway then sends another encrypted information from the merchant account provider then into its acquiring back and lastly into the issuing bank. The seemingly complicated process of exchanging encrypted information between the different parties takes only around 3 seconds.

What should business owners look for in an eCommerce merchant account provider?

Reputation, integrity and compliance are some of the important characteristics that a merchant account provider should have. Business owners may study the history of the company by looking through the company’s financial statements, tax accounts, credit returns and its Dunn and Bradstreet credit file. The merchant account provider should also be properly registered to the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standards (DSS) and is insured to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Business owners may also inquire with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) to look for any complaints, if any, that have been filed against the merchant account provider.

The merchant account provider must also offer a reliable technical support. The technical support must be available for 24-hours through the net or the telephone. Most preferably, there is a qualified technician that would personally respond to any problems associated with either the software or hardware. A few seconds lost through a technical problem would also mean loss of profit.

Business owners should also look into the cost that the merchant account requires from them. There are additional costs to consider other than the typical costs that goes with merchant accounts like interchange fees, transaction fees and monthly fees. There are hosting fees, website maintenance and design costs and website start up fees. Most of the time, the less you pay for these additional costs, the less is the quality you get and the poorer service you give to your costumers.

What are the risks associated?

The risks associated with an eCommerce merchant account provider are basically the same as with the traditional merchant account provider. Fraud is the most common scam in online transactions. Hackers may enter into the system and transfer credits into their own accounts. They may also steal the customers’ personal information from the merchant account system and use it for other fraudulent transactions.

Other risks may also be accounted to the part of the costumers. They may falsely claim that the product was not properly shipped, that it was not accurately described as it was on the website or that they may not actually have received. The customer may also complain of unfair or incorrect billing.

What are some of the best eCommerce merchant account providers?

Charge.com easily tops most of the reviews of merchant account providers. Some other highly praised merchant account providers are Merchant Account Express, CyberBit and Electronic Transfer.

Merchant Account Vocabulary

In this new age of ecommerce, more and more people, even without a formal business background, want to go into an online business. Almost all of online businesses, even the large ones, need a merchant account. Here are some of the jargons that online business owner wannabes must understand first before finally taking their baby steps in setting up their business.

Credit Card

A credit card is a small plastic card which allows a consumer to purchase a product or service through a line credit issued by a bank or a merchant account. It is activated by a Personal Identification Number (PIN) that is accessible only by the owner of the card. The card itself has an electronic system that goes into a system of payment scheme involving the merchant and the issuing bank. The size and shape of the credit card must comply with the regulations set by the ISO 7810.

Merchant Account

A merchant account is an agreement between the merchant and an acquiring bank in which the merchant could accept payments through credit cards through an extended line of credit given by the bank. The merchant account maybe provided by either a bank that is directly processes transactions with Visa and MasterCard or by an Independent Selling Organization/Member Service Provider (ISO/MSP). The costs of setting up a merchant account depend on the type of the product, expected sales and the process of how transactions are made.

3-Tier Pricing

This is the most popular pricing scheme for most merchant account providers. Depending on the situation on how was it done, the transaction will be classified into three groups: non-qualified, mid-qualified and qualified. The less qualified the transaction is, the more it will be charged. A transaction that is done according to what is set and defined by the merchant is considered to be “more” qualified.

Payment Gateway

A payment gateway, as what its name suggests, provides the channel in which encrypted information is exchanged between the consumer, the merchant account provider, the merchant, the acquiring bank and the issuing bank. This makes sure the information exchanged is accurate and that it will be exclusively used by the involved parties only.

Chargeback

A chargeback often results from a dispute between the customer and the merchant. This is when a transaction is returned by the costumer into the acquiring bank, and ultimately, to the merchant. A customer files a chargeback when he/she finds that the product does not meet his/her expectation, when the product was not delivered properly or was not delivered at all, or when the transaction itself is fraudulent. The merchant may avail a chargeback insurance to protect himself/herself in the event of a chargeback.

Electronic Commerce

Electronic Commerce or eCommerce basically refers to the commercial activities that are carried out through the internet. Aside from selling, it also includes activities like inventory management, supply chain management, exchange of business information and management of online funds. Due to the increased flux of businesses taking advantage of the accessibility of the internet, there was also an increase of ecommerce merchant account providers.

Some ecommerce merchant account providers do more than managing the transactions between the consumers, the acquiring bank and the issuing bank. They also take care of the technical side of putting up the online store, like website hosting, maintenance and design.

On the surface, you’d expect email to be one of the biggest productivity-boosters to ever be invented. After all, email can easily replace most faxing, rambling phone calls where much of the information is quickly forgotten after the call, and the dreadfully slow postal mail.

I’ll concede the point: Used the right way, email can boost your productivity. But here’s the thing – most people don’t use email the right away. In fact, many people choose email as their main communication method, even when another method would be more suitable to the situation. And that wastes time and money.

The next time you’re tempted to fire off an email, ask yourself these questions:

* Will I fritter away hours sending emails back and forth? If you need to confirm something with a colleague or perhaps ask a simple yes or no question (that doesn’t require an immediate answer), then email may be a good choice.

On the flip side, if you’re attempting to have a “conversation” by email, then you’ll likely waste entirely too much time typing emails back and forth. If you can pick up the phone and be done with the conversation in a minute or two, choose to call instead of email.

* Can I close my email client/window after I send this email? Do you need a reply to your email right away? And what will happen if the recipient isn’t sitting at his computer… does that mean you’ll spend the next two hours checking your email every few minutes?

If so, you’re wasting time.

If you’re constantly stopping the task you’re working on to check email, then you’ll lose a few precious minutes every time, since when you get back to work you need to refocus. It’s a productivity killer – and often, we’re not as good at multi-tasking as we’d like to believe.

If you need an immediate answer, pick up the phone. If email is the preferred method of communication, then hire an assistant to download and sort your email… and he or she can alert you when an important email comes in.

Whether email is a productivity booster or time-waster for you depends on how you use it. If you have the discipline to check it at set times during the day and then close your email client, it can very likely be a good tool for you to use. But if you have a compulsive need to check your email incessantly all through the day, it may be time for you to reconsider how you use this tool.