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Tim Knox's Articles


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Do I Really Need A Business License And Tax ID? I've gotten quite a few emails recently from ebusiness owners who seem to think that just because their business is conducted online or from the comfort of home that the rules and regulations that govern brick and mortar businesses do not apply to them. The ebusiness questions I get most often do not involve building websites or conducting ecommerce. They are more what I call the "Do I Really Have To" line of questions, such as: "Do I really have to get a business li... Don't Be Afraid To Give Problem Customers The Boot Q: In a recent column you made the point that the customer is always right, which I agree with. However, in the same column you also said that it is sometimes necessary give problem customers the boot. If the customer is always right, at what point do you think they become so problematic that you should stop doing business with them? -- Gary M. A: That column brought a number of emails similar to yours, Gary, requesting that I clarify the line between "the customer is alw... Don't Fall For The Latest Internet Identity Theft Scam Q: I use PayPal to accept credit cards for my online collectibles business. I recently received an email that my PayPal account was going to expire in five days if I didn't click a link in the email and give them my PayPal account information. Being naturally paranoid I decided not to give this information and I'm happy to say that my PayPal account did not expire. Was this a scam? -- Brenda A. A: Be thankful that your paranoia kicked in, Brenda, because you were about to... How To Create Your Own Ebay About Me Page Regular readers of this newsletter and my newspaper column know that I am a big fan of eBay's About Me Page feature. This is a special page you can create as part of your eBay account that is linked from your eBay ID (with a little About Me icon). You can use your eBay About Me Page as a sales tool. Customers can click on your About Me icon to get to your About Me page, which you can set up to include information about you, your interests, and even links to your website. ... How To Create Your Own Info Product In the last article we talked about why informational products are the best type of products to sell online. An informational product can be a digital book (known as an e-book), a digital report or a white paper, a piece of software, audio or video files, a web site, an ezine (electronic magazine), or a newsletter. Any product that's informational, instructional, or educational in nature can be considered an info product. If you missed last week's column you might wan... How To Profit Using Ebay's Saved Search Feature Did you know that eBay will help you locate products you can buy cheap, then flip for a quick profit? No? Then listen up, because I am about to let you in on a little known feature of eBay that can literally stuff wads of cash in your wallet in less than 24 hours. This is an eBay tool that I use every day to locate products that I can buy and resell or buy cheap and keep for myself and my family. And the great news is you can use it, too. What is it? It's eBay's Saved... If You Build It, Will They Come? QUESTION: I recently launched a website for my sporting goods business. Do I need to do anything special to attract customers to my website? I know nothing about search engines and marketing as such. Please tell me where to begin. -- Sean M. ANSWER: Sean, that is a question that has been asked by every business person who has ever launched a website. If I build it, will they come? Of course they will -- if you’ve built a website that appeals to dead baseball players. ... Maintaining Your Business Website QUESTION: Should I build and maintain my business Web site myself or pay someone else to do the work for me? -- Wesley L. ANSWER: When you say, pay someone else to do the work for you, Wesley, I am going to assume that you are talking about hiring a professional Web site designer to do the work and not your next-door neighbor’s teenage son. If my assumption is correct, then read on. If not, go ahead and flip over to the comics section. You will get no good out of the adv... Online Payments Make It Easy For Your Customers To Buy In the last column we discussed the process of credit card enabling your brick-and-mortar business. I pointed out that research has shown that accepting credit cards can help increase revenue and speed up cash flow. This week we will look at setting up an online payment system for your business website. If you think hooking up a brick-and-mortar location with a credit card system stymies most bankers, try asking them how to do it on your website. The fact is most banks can... Please Don't Buy Anything From Me This has been an interesting week. My company has thousands of customers around the world, so my team and I are used to dealing with customer support issues and do everything possible to make sure every customer gets exactly what they paid for. And 99.999% of the time our customers are extremely happy. Then there is that other .001%... This week I had one customer threaten to hunt be down and shoot me like a dog. Another said that if she could get her hands ar... Taxing Ebay Part Deux When my column on paying income tax on eBay profits ran it brought a wave of emails on whether you were required to report income earned from eBay sales to the IRS sparked a number of additional questions and comments from eBay sellers who were hoping that I could somehow validate that their eBay activities were mere hobbies instead of actual businesses and therefore not susceptible to IRS taxation. Several folks argued that just because their little eBay hobby generated a... The Reasons Why Most People Will Never Find Online Success Q: Tim, I have spent the past few months trying so hard to start an ecommerce business. I have read virtually everything you have written. I have listened in on more than one of your teleconferences. I have clicked and spent and clicked and spent and clicked and spent. I filled the laundry basket and sold on eBay. I became a Clickbank affiliate (I think I am an affiliate of almost the entire Internet). I know that it's ironic that I want to make money on the Internet co... What Do Your Business Emails Reveal About You? I am a huge fan of email. In fact, if you do business with me the bulk of our communication will not be through the telephone, but via email. Email is quick. Email is convenient. Email takes less time than long-winded telephone conversations. Most importantly, email gives me an electronic record of my communications with clients, employees, partners, and vendors; which makes it easy for me to refresh my quickly-aging memory by easily referring back to our electronic conversat... What's In A Name? When It Comes To Your Business, Plenty! Q: How important is the name of a business? Should the name of a business reflect what the business does or is it better to come up with something catchy and easy to remember? -- Randy P. A: What's in a name? When it comes to your business, Randy, a lot more than you might think. In fact, deciding on a business name is one of the most important decisions you will ever make. The right business name can help you rise above the crowd while the wrong business name can leave y...