If you are reading this you are perhaps a bit older, 35+, maybe a business owner and interested in “selling online” but worried about giving out personal details or releasing merchandise based on an internet order. These are valid concerns. But like most things the security threats can be mitigated and the real benefit to you as the merchant – and a new sales channel – the Internet - can be yours if you approach it in the right way and you understand what you are doing.

My AdWords Success Story.  I run a chalet in Mont Tremblant and am a member of the tourism bureau and spend money on classified advertising.  3 years ago invested about $30.00 US in AdWords to generate a few bookings.  One of the customers touched by this campaign has now been staying with us for 2 weeks every summer.  $30 investment -  $3000 in revenue; this is a formula that works for me.

Using the Internet to "drive traffic"?  Less useful.  I imagine this would be similar to running an image building campaign offline; if you have deep pockets and are accustomed to spending $10K on a 1/4 page ad in a trade magazine then a few hundred on AdWords looks like a bargain. 

I guess my advice is that the Internet can be an excellent secondary "on-line brochure" for your business; it's practically a requirement today to have a website address.  It can be a great way to generate calls and tell people about the services that you offer. Websites these days are like using Microsoft Word Documents, easy to edit and change.

If you are a retailer and want to use the Internet as a new sales channel there are many things to consider and some of the information out there is confusing.

If you want to sell online but are unsure how to go about it check out our articles below:

Find out more about: 

How the credit card acceptance process works and how this affect online selling

Using Payment Gateways like PayPal and Google Checkout to complete orders for goods and services securely.