How to Receive Payments Online

Set up a PayPal Shopping cart - One very popular solution is receiving payments online through Paypal shopping carts. Simply sign up for a Paypal account and follow their easy instructions on setting up PayPal buy buttons.Choose this option if you want a simple shopping experience and an easy payment system that is well recognized.
Invoice customers through by email through Paypal -The next method you will want to use to receive payments online is invoicing customers through Paypal. With Paypal's invoicing option, you can request payment from your customers by email. The customer then pays for your products or services through Paypal.Choose this option if you want an easy method to conduct business offline and want to receive payments online.
Use a different third party payment processor - There are other companies (such as e-junkie or clickbank) that both provide the shopping interface for customers and process your payments online. Many of these have specific specializations, such as downloadable products or affiliate program management.Choose these if you are want more than just what PayPal offers but still want to keep it simple.
Use your own credit card merchant account -Having a merchant account allows you to process and accept credit cards without using a third party (such as PayPal). Even as a small company, having your own merchant account gives you certain flexibilities and control which third party solutions don't. If you don't already have a merchant account for your business, check them out and see for yourself.Using the simplest credit card processing with your own merchant account, you receive payments through a shopping cart system and then process the credit cards manually. This is not a recommended solution, but can work well for companies that only plan on receiving a small number of orders online. See next step for more complex solutions using your own merchant account.
Use your own credit card merchant account with payment gateway -The next method of how to receive payments online is to get your own merchant account and use an online payment gateway (such as authorize.net) to process the payments for you. The merchant account will allow you to accept credit cards, but the payment gateway will allow you to authorize those credit cards in real time right when the customer makes a purchase.Choose this method is you are serious about e-commerce and want a sophisticated interface for your customers where credit cards are processed on the spot.Note: Some payment gateways also offer merchant account services, so check these out.
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How to Use Excel for Flexible Money Management

Create and save a new Excel workbook. Create 8 columns with the following headings: Month, Day, Description, Save, Debit, Credit, Checking Balance, Savings Balance. Bold the headings, and use the freeze panes function to freeze the top row so that you always see it at the top of your spreadsheet (Hint: look under the View tab in Office 2007, or under Window in older versions). Format columns D through H as currency (right click, format cells), and choose to have negative amounts show up in red. Use your vast knowledge of Excel to make the spreadsheet pretty if you like, but avoid the table function of Excel 2007 -- it is a pain!
Type the name of the current month in the first row of the Month Column, and type today's day in first row of the day column. Type your current Checking Balance and Savings Balance in the first row of the appropriate columns.
Now, enter the recurring bills (rent, car payment, insurance, credit card, cell phone, etc.) that are coming up between now and your next paycheck, putting each one on a new row. Type in the date you actually mail the check to pay a bill or the date it is debited from your checking account. Type a generic description of the bill (ex., 'Discover Card'), and type the bill amount into the Debit column.
Enter rows (without date) for Gas, Grocery, and Miscellaneous. You should have actually created a budget at some point, so that you know about how much money you have to spend on these things. If you like, you can split Miscellaneous into additional categories. Round each bill amount UP to the nearest $5 or $10 (ex., $70, not $66).
Type in the date of your next paycheck, describe it (ex., Paycheck) and type the pay amount into the credit column. Round your approximate pay DOWN to the nearest $5 or $10 (ex., $1025 or $1020, not $1028). On the next row, enter the description Savings, and type the amount you plan to save from each paycheck into the Savings column.
Now, enter the recurring bills coming up between this paycheck and the next, followed by the Gas, Grocery, Miscellaneous categories. Then, enter the next paycheck amount, followed by savings. Repeat until you have entered all of the info for the next six months -- you should be able to copy and paste most of this info to save time. Enter any additional income as needed, typing the amount into the credit column. Be sure to type the name of the new month at the appropriate place.
Now that you have the basic framework, you need to enter formulas into the Checking Balance and Savings Balance columns so that it will automatically calculate for you. For this example, I am going to assume that your headings are in row 1, your starting balances are in row 2, and your columns are A-Month, B-Day, C-Description, D-Save, E-Debit, F-Credit, G-Checking Balance, and H-Savings Balance. In cell G3, enter =G2-D2-E2+F2 This will subtract any savings and debit and add any pay to your checking balance.In cell H3, enter =H2+D2 This will add the amount you save to your savings balance.Copy and paste these formulas into all of the cells of columns G and H.
Periodically -- once a week or before/after any unusual purchases -- look up your ACTUAL bank balances and type them into the balance column on the appropriate date. Be sure that all of the items listed before that date HAVE already come out of your account -- if not, you may need to shift a row up or down. If you move any rows, re-copy or retype the formulas in columns G and H to be sure they are correct.
Now, just look over your balances. Will your checking balance go into the red in two months? If so, you need to cut something out! Spend less on entertainment, eat Ramen, or as a last resort, reduce the amount you are paying to your credit card or saving. I find that actually having to cut those payment amounts makes me really re-think sushi lunches!
If you keep going into the red, you need to take a look at your bank statement to see where you are overspending your budget.Try to keep your savings balance above $100 at all times. If you have a good bit more, increase the amount you are paying on your credit card or saving -- don't just let that money sit there burning a hole in your pocket, or you will spend it.
Delete past months, and keep planning at least six months ahead. When you get used to this method, you will be able to realistically plan your spending, quickly see when you are spending too much, and adjust so that you don't go into the red!
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How to Get Royalties Checks (4 Steps)

Compose musical compilations or books to get royalty checks . Money you earn from music are sometimes called mechanical royalties. You must either negotiate an agreement with a publishing group or start your own publishing venture to distribute your creations. In either case you must maintain some rights to your work in order to receive royalties. Each time a customer purchases your book or music you receive a payment.
Invest in real estate as another method of securing royalty checks. In this case the royalty checks are the rent payments that you receive each month from tenants. This is a common yet riskier way to seek royalties compared to other options because you take the chance of nonpayment by tenants and the depreciation in value of the property.
Establish an affiliate arrangement to get royalty checks. In an affiliate arrangement you advertise another company's goods or services in exchange for a percentage payment on each sale. This arrangement can continue into eternity assuming you maintain a contract with the business. Online affiliate services connect you to interested companies. In addition to receiving direct royalties from the items you directly refer to customers, some affiliate programs also pay you for referring other affiliates to the selling program.
Use your skills as a photographer to get royalties on a perpetual basis. You can make royalty money from selling the rights to your images as royalty-based stock photos or by creating publications displaying your photography. Some web-based services also create prints of your photographs to distribute as posters, sell them on your behalf, then send you royalty checks for each sale.
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How to Get Reinstated on eBay (5 Steps)

Determine why your account has been suspended. eBay sends you an email explaining why it has taken this action. You may also find this information if you didn't get the email by logging into the messages section of 'My eBay.'
Pay off any outstanding balance that you owe eBay. Most suspensions are for non-payment. Clearing your balance should automatically reinstate your account.
Look for any other reason why your account is blocked. Other reasons can include a bad email address, unauthorized transactions or activity limits set on your account.
Contact eBay to resolve any of these issues. You can respond directly to the suspension notice via email, or you can contact eBay through the website.
Appeal any unpaid item strikes that appear on your account. Contact a seller directly if he placed a flag on your account. Otherwise, file the Unpaid Item Appeal Form with eBay and provide proof of payment (see Resources).
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How to Build a Savings Interest Calculator in Excel

Open a new spreadsheet in Excel.
Label row 1 as follows: A1 is 'Date,' B1 is 'Balance,' C1 is 'Additional deposits' and D1 is 'Interest.' Format columns B, C and D as currency by selecting the columns and clicking on the dollar sign button in the 'Home' tab. (Users of Excel 2003, click the dollar symbol on the Formatting toolbar.)
Call your bank or look at your account online to find out when the bank adds interest payments to your account.
Fill in column A with interest payment dates, starting with the most recent date your account received an interest payment. If your bank adds interest payments monthly, use monthly dates (October 1, November 1, etc.); if it pays annually, add dates by year. For example, if your last interest payment was October 1, 2009, the next date will be October 1, 2010.
Type the current balance of your savings account into cell B2.
Fill in column C with additional deposits. If you deposit $500 into the account in the interval between interest payments, enter '500' in cells C2, C3, and down as far as you'd like. If you deposit irregularly, leave those cells blank but enter figures each time you make a deposit. You can combine these approaches, entering a minimum figure and adding to it if you make more deposits.
Enter the following calculation in cell D2, without the quotation marks: '=B2+C2+x
(B2+C2)' where x is the interest rate. The interest rate type--daily, monthly, annually or other--must match the intervals between the dates in column A (step 4). Remember to multiply the interest rate expressed as a percentage by .01. So a 1.5 percent interest rate calculated once a year gives you a multiplier of 0.015. In this case your formula would be '=B2+C2+.015
(B2+C2)'. If the same interest rate was applied monthly instead of annually, your formula would be '=B2+C2+(0.015/12)*(B2+C2)'.
Copy cell D2 and paste in cells D3, D4 and on down as far as you'd like.
Navigate to cell B3 and type (without the quotation marks) '=D2'. This will cause Excel to display the formula result--your account balance after the interest payment--in cell B3.
Copy cell B3 and paste in cells B4, B5 and on down as far as you'd like.
Save the spreadsheet and close it.
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How to Become an Amazon Affiliate (6 Steps)

Go to Amazon and look on the home page for the link to Amazon Associates. Follow the link. This will allow you to sign up for the Amazon Affiliate program.
You will need to sign in to your Amazon account if you have one. If you don't already have an Amazon account, you can create one for free.
Once you have signed up or signed in to your account, you'll need to enter all of the information requested. This includes your name or company name, payment address and most importantly your web site information.
Enter the information for your main website or blog. Once approved you will be able to add more websites and use links on any website or blog that you have.
Read the contract terms and conditions and then click the button to signify that you agree.
Once that you have been accepted as an Amazon affiliate, you are ready to start using the program. You will see a bar appear at the top of your computer screen every time that you are on the Amazon website that will allow you to link to different products. You can choose text or picture links.
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