By Paul Lang, Editor, Sell It!
October 25th, 2000

See Also   Terrence Sherry and 1 World Sarongs   Andrew Bridgeman and eART-originals   Mark Annett and Scruplestore.com   David Sabot and Cheaphumidors.com   William Waite and Nemmelgeb Murr   Mary Lu Wason and LampLink   Michael Campbell and Cellwest   Bob Rankin and Flowers Fast   Louis Jay and Health4Her.com   Jeff Swearingen and TheGift.com   Bill Broadbent the T-Shirt King   Jim Goodbody and PlanetLearn   Todd Mogren and coastaltool.com   John D. Einhorn and CapShack.com   Beverley Wood and the Gift Ship   Sgt. David Hack and US Wings   Brenda Do and MindFood Media.com   Rory O'Connor and Shopirish.com

[This is the second part of a three part article. The first part can be read here].

Lang: What server and shopping cart software are you using and why?

Annett: I did try one of those “business in a box” programs. I can't even remember the name of it, which tells you just how impressed I was with it. I returned it after a couple of days because it didn't even do what it said on the box. I went back to the notes I had taken, when I had sat down with my neighbor, and then I was off to the local library. Luckily the local library had 12 books on that thing called HTML; I borrowed them all.

As luck would have it, one of the books had a free trial version of Homesite. It automated the process of writing HTML code and the fact that I could instantly see the impact of any changes that I made was very powerful. If somebody is planning on developing their own Web site then I would suggest that they consider making a minor investment (under $100) in a HTML editor like Homesite.

During my Web site development, I made a very important decision that I feel was critical to my company's success: I decided to enter into a retail partnership with CCNOW who I found out about through your article, "How to Accept Credit Cards without a Merchant Account" . Quite simply CCNOW acts as the back end of your store. They process the retail credit card transaction and they handle any associated customer service, with live operators. When an order is placed they send you an email confirmation and then you drop ship the product for them. Then, at the end of the month, they mail you a personal check including any interest.

For your customers a retail partnership with CCNOW has many advantages:

• CCNOW.COM is located in Delaware so there is never any state sales tax.

• In the unlikely event of a charge dispute, your customers are dealing with a retailer who is far more interested in protecting its credit rating then your Web store. Therefore, your customers can order with confidence! Additionally, CCNOW is registered with the Better Business Bureau online reliability program (BBBOnline), which adds even greater confidence.

• CCNOW offers toll free customer service for billing inquires and other questions.

I have tried to make sure that my customers are aware of all of these advantages before they place an order. I even got approval from the BBBonline and CCNOW so that I could place the BBBonline symbol on my Web site. Basically, CCNOW can display the BBBOnline symbol anywhere that they advertise. I was the first person to ever make such a request from the BBBOnline and they were initially a little hesitant. I actually wanted to put some additional language on my site so that the customers would know that the BBBOnline symbol only applied to CCNOW, but the folks at BBBOnline would not allow it. If you are interested in doing this than you should check out how I implemented it on the order page of my Web site and you should also verify any specific usage with the BBBOnline.

For me, a retail partnership with CCNOW has the following advantages:

• It gives my customers confidence and increases my sales.

• It allowed me to out source a major function of my business, with live customer service.

• I do not have to deal with any sales tax because I am a wholesaler.

• I did not have to open up any special business bank accounts or even register my business, if I didn't want to. There were no start-up costs and it is very easy to use.

[Please note that the break-even point will be different for every company and product. Everyone should do the math for themselves. However, once they have done the math they also need to add in the additional value (and potential increased sales) an association with someone like CCNOW brings.]

As I mentioned earlier, one of the advantages of utilizing CCNOW is the reduction in Web hosting requirements. Since you are not processing any credit card transactions, you don't even need a SSL. All you need is a basic Web hosting package, which is a considerable cost savings.

For hosting, I selected One World Hosting and I am very happy with them. They have no set-up fees and even their basic package ($11.95 a month, with a one year pre-pay) includes a Web based control panel. From this one interface, users can access, update and configure their entire account, including setting up a database, change passwords, customize email, send and receive email, and analyze your Web traffic, and this is just a partial list. This Web based control panel was critical because it meant that I could manage my entire store while I was at work during breaks and lunchtime, if I needed to.

One important reason that I would recommend One World Hosting is that they only host Web sites and they do not provide Internet access. I have heard horror stories about people who were looking for inexpensive hosts and selected ones that also provide Internet access. The words “slow” and “down time” are a major part of their vocabulary.

Lang: How much did the store cost to build? How much to maintain and promote?

Annett: With the exception of registering my domain name, my Web site cost me absolutely nothing to build and it only costs me $11.95 a month (plus $1.99 a month for beeper service) to maintain my site.

By the way, I thought I was particularly clever with the beeper service. My auto response to all customer service requests tells my customers that I will respond to their requests with in 24 hours, but if they need immediate assistance then I give them the option to beep me. This does a lot of things. From my customers perspective it provides an unprecedented level of customer service and it gives them the opportunity to get an immediate response. From my perspective, it allowed me to provide great customer service, while I still maintained my day job, and it also saved me $25 dollars a month by not having to install a second phone line for my business.

Lang: What were the major challenges you faced?

Annett: The major challenge that I faced was how I was going to run my business and still maintain my day job. Customer service is very important to me and I know it is to my customers. Partnering with CCNOW really made a difference for me and doing things like giving my customers beeper access has really meant a difference to them. The other challenge that I faced was how to communicate the value of my product. Although I did not spend a lot of money creating my Web site, I did spend a considerable amount creating my product. The design itself was commissioned from world-renowned medallic artist Alex Shagin and the medals are made of pure investor grade silver. Therefore, in addition to the coins being collectors' items, they also have an intrinsic value.