Subscription-based business model has seen an explosive growth over the past decade, spanning industries from software to wellness and even grocery delivery. As businesses transition to recurring revenue models, creating an effective subscription management strategy becomes crucial. It is the foundation of any business that automates billing, invoicing, and customer management tasks. But with the […]
Affiliate marketing is a great way to promote your product and build brand awareness. For subscription-based products, it can be even more effective than for traditional businesses because your affiliates are able to build recurring revenue by promoting your brand. Here’s how to create an effective affiliate program and commission to boost your subscription sales. 1. […]
As we are about to step into 2024, the subscription economy continues to thrive and adapt, introducing new dynamics that reshape industries across the board. Here are 8 subscription management trends to watch in 2024 to keep your business thriving: 1. Inflation is going to be a major challenge to subscription businesses Inflation is putting […]
Discover the essential steps to effectively price your SaaS product with this comprehensive guide.
Marketing is usually measured by the number of new customers that were on-boarded. But there’s a more important number every subscription business needs to keep an eye on: How many existing customers were retained. Customer retention refers to the percentage of customers that stay with a business over a specified period of time. Basically, this […]
Running a successful subscription business means creating an effective subscription management strategy which aims at identifying and eliminating customer cancellations. Collecting and, more importantly, utilizing customer feedback is one of the keys to a successful subscription management strategy helping you identify and align your product to your customers’ needs. Here’s how customer feedback can help […]
Product-led growth (PLG) is a strategy relying on utilizing the product as the primary driver of customer engagement, acquisition, monetization, and retention. In other words, it’s when a product should be able to sell itself. Here are some key features of a product-led growth strategy: So how to set up your product-led growth strategy? Upselling […]
Driving visitors to your site is one thing, converting them into buying is a completely different story. As many as 70% of your site visitors may abandon your cart. Think about that: You invested all that money and time into driving traffic to the site, a small percentage of those people will add your product […]
Failed payment rates for subscription payments may vary based on lots of factors (your business, location, payment method, industry, etc.) But what they all have in common is that failed payments generally have significant consequences for subscription-based businesses, like involuntary (i.e. “delinquent”) churn and revenue leakage. Failed payments also complicate customer relationships and impact ongoing […]
Combining ClickFunnels with PayKickstart is the path to creating the ultimate selling machine. Read on to find out how both platforms compliment …
The subscription-based business model seems like a very good idea because monthly revenue is more or less predictable, thanks to active recurring payments. And yet these businesses face quite a few challenges when it comes to managing those recurring customers that they rely on. Here are the most common of those challenges and how to […]
You’ve probably debated this with yourself multiple times considering that you are reading this article. But do you know exactly what it would take, and how hard it could be? You may think that building your own billing solution could have big upsides, because you would be in full control… But does owning the turf […]
Selling digital products have lots of benefits. Digital products are easier to create than physical products. You don’t have to handle shipping or non-delivery. You don’t have to spend time or money creating a new product for each purchase. It is also a great way to monetize your expertise or hobby, and hopefully turn both […]
Churn is something any SaaS company will always keep fighting with. Put simply, churn stands for losing existing paying customers. Types of Churn The two main types of churn are: Obviously, these two are inter-connected for most of the SaaS businesses out there. Additionally, there are: Reasons for Churn Voluntary churn happens for many reasons, […]
Are you looking for ways to boost your SaaS business income or speed up your cash collections? It may be time to improve your invoicing strategy. If you are still using manual SaaS invoicing, chances are it is holding your business back. Here’s how: 1. The Inevitability of a Human Error Humans make errors, there’s […]
Affiliate marketing is a great way to generate more sales and brand awareness. It is not easy to manage though because it has quite a few on-going relationship management and payment processing tasks involved. Leveraging innovative tools can simplify tracking and maximize campaign performance. The first step to setting up an effective affiliate marketing program […]
Would you like to explore new markets and discover a new customer base for your product or the service you are offering? Adding crypto payments as one of your payment methods is likely what you need! Crypto Payment Processing Fundamentally, crypto payment processing works similarly to credit card payment processing, but with digital currencies. While […]
Social proof is something that has been used for years. We want our customers to share positive feedback to drive more sales. But is it possible to use social proof for product positioning? It certainly is, and here’s how: What is Social Proof? Social proof refers to positive feedback your customers share with you and/or […]
The biggest business and marketing trend of this decade is the exponential growth of subscription-based business models. These days every other business offers a subscription option: Ecommerce and retail stores offer unlimited free delivery to their subscription customers. And let’s not even get into the unbelievable growth of SaaS platforms which more often than not […]
Figuring out if affiliate marketing is worth it can be tough. On one hand, there are influencers out there making a killing out of it, and the projected growth of the industry is set to reach new heights in 2023. And on the other hand, people have tried and failed miserably, which you don’t really […]
A survey confirmed that over 80% of businesses run affiliate marketing to drive traffic to their website to increase sales. Hence, companies will need a full-fledged tool to help manage their army of affiliates. PayKickstart’s Affiliate Management offers robust sales, lead tracking, and automated payout features. Their Affiliate Portal allows affiliates to perform single sign-on […]
The SaaS industry is rapidly growing. Since 2015, the SaaS industry grew from $31.5 billion to $171.9 billion by 2021. Although the future of SaaS is promising, it is expected that most SaaS businesses will have to outperform more and more competitors. In the next ten minutes, we have given you five actionable tips that […]
The global COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the growth of cryptocurrency like Bitcoin. An increasing number of businesses are using cryptocurrency globally, and there are lots of startups trying to make the process of cryptocurrency exchange easier. What does it mean for your business and billing strategy? Mainstream Adoption According to Crunchbase, the crypto sector has attracted […]
Recurring billing offers lots of business and revenue growth opportunities, from diversifying income sources to higher customer loyalty. Yet, lots of businesses have realized the multiple benefits of subscription payment models, so the competition is getting higher and higher. Customers are growing increasingly weary of adding another subscription, and they are becoming much more picky […]
Are you looking for a way to boost your ROI without investing more into your marketing strategy? Adding order bumps to your checkout process is where you need to look into. What is an order bump? An order bump is an additional product that is suggested to a customer when they are completing their order […]
So you’ve spent time creating (social media) content and have started building a devoted following. What’s next? Is there a way to put that effort to good use and start building income from those accomplishments. Yes, and quite a few ways actually: Use Native Ads This is the easiest and most obvious option, albeit not […]
Are you looking to boost your sales this year? Setting up an affiliate program may be the answer, but first you need an affiliate marketing software partner. What is Affiliate Marketing? Affiliate marketing is encouraging other people to promote your product in exchange for a commission. Affiliate marketing is a great way to boost your […]
When launching an ecommerce or SaaS project (or when digitizing your existing business), choosing shopping cart software is one of the first steps to take. There are quite a few options available out there which makes choosing one option may be challenging. There are a lot of pros and cons to keep in mind as […]
Every marketing-related post starts with “put your customer at the heart of your business,” and that’s for a reason. A 5% increase in customer retention can bring you more than a 25% increase in profit, according to Bain&Company. Salesforce has evidence that almost 80% of consumers see customer experience as important as the product or […]
Whether you like it or not, your competitors’ pricing impacts your customers’ expectations and perception of your product. Pricing your platform based on your competitors’ prices may not be your ultimate pricing strategy, but it’s a good starting point. But how do you analyze your competitors’ pricing? Here are the steps: Define Your Competitors Who […]
Pricing your product well is the first and crucial step to making your business profitable. There are a lot of factors that you should keep in mind when creating your pricing strategy and your customers’ willingness to pay is one of the key components of it. What is willingness to pay? As obvious as it […]
Setting up billing is one of the fundamental steps to selling your products. And it is not an easy one. Here’s how to deploy automated billing to start selling your digital business: What is Automated Billing? Automated billing is invoicing your customers and then getting paid by them without having to do that manually. Another […]
Setting up and building your subscription business is challenging, yet it is very rewarding. The huge benefit of a subscription business is recurring revenue which is something that is pretty consistent and won’t normally go anywhere out of nowhere. Recurring revenue will withstand seasonality, get your business through slow or challenging times and will give […]
One of the crucial elements of a SaaS business success is how they position their product. What is product positioning and how to approach it better? What is Product Positioning? Product positioning is the message you bring to the market: It is how you describe where your product fits the market, how it solves existing […]
In SaaS marketing where customers’ journeys are actually never-ending (at least we wish they were), customer relationship management is paramount to the business success. One of the effective ways to build stronger connections with your SaaS platform users is to set up customer success email automation. An effective customer success email marketing strategy will reduce […]
Are you looking for new ways to grow your SaaS company? Here’s an idea for you: Instead of investing even more money in outbound tactics, work on your in-house structure first. To start, start working on your SaaS customer support strategy. Why is Customer Support Strategy Crucial to SaaS Business Success? Customer support is the […]
SaaS business owners deal with a lot of metrics that allow them to evaluate whether their company is moving in the right direction. Customer attrition is one of those metrics any SaaS business owner needs to keep an eye on. What is Customer Attrition? Customer attrition reflects a rate at which paying users stop doing […]
More often than not, SaaS businesses rely on recurring payments. But how often do these payments need to re-occur? In other words, how long should your subscription cycles be and which ones do you need to prioritize. In many ways, the answer will rely on the nature of your business and your customers’ lifecycle but […]
Setting up an affiliate program for your platform or product is only the first step. If you really want your program to bring in real revenue, you need to get to know your affiliates and to let them get more familiar with your product. In other words, if you want your affiliate program to boost […]
Growing a SaaS business includes a lot of steps but the most important (and fundamental) step here is to understand your customers’ journey. In fact, when it comes to SaaS businesses, it is not so much about journeys. SaaS marketers are dealing with the customer lifecycle which is a never-ending process of finding, attracting and […]
Affiliate marketing spending is expected to reach a whopping $8.2 billion by the end of 2022. Yet, many affiliate marketers are struggling to generate $10/month from their affiliate marketing business. Could it be that affiliate marketers making more than enough for a comfortable living are unicorns? Not at all. They just found the right way […]
M-Commerce refers to optimizing your online store for mobile shopping. Mobile optimization is becoming more and more important each year, as more and more web users are interacting with brands using mobile devices. Mobile traffic surpassed desktop traffic back in 2016 And in 2028, studies revealed that as much as 40% of online sales were […]
It’s not over even when you think it is! Writing a subscription cancellation email might seem like bidding goodbye to a perfectly good client relationship, and for the most part, it is. But, write these emails a certain way, and you stand a chance to boost customer retention instead. Now there are several reasons why […]
At the heart of every business, be it offline or online, is its customers. Like it or not, businesses are nothing without customers. Therefore, it is understandable that businesses focus on wooing new customers. While there’s nothing wrong with this, it is equally important to focus on customer retention and brand loyalty. Customer Lifetime Value […]
Launching can be overwhelming and intimidating: Your project never seems quite ready to launch! I know the feeling but delaying the launch is never a good thing. As soon as you have your first users, working on your SaaS product is going to be much more motivating and satisfying! But how to get those first […]
Now matter how carefully you have approached your pricing strategy, chances are you haven’t got it right from the very beginning. Lots of startups are facing improper pricing issues, and this point they have to decide whether they need to pivot their pricing model or go with what they have. What is Pivoting? In business, […]
“A satisfied customer is the best customer of all.”—Michael LeBoeuf (Business writer and strategist) What are your customers thinking? This has become the (literal) billion dollar question for businesses big and small. If you’re looking to optimize the customer experience your business offers and foster lasting customer loyalty, it’s time to start looking inside your […]
With players like Google Pay, PayPal, Stripe, and Apple Pay leading the charge, the payments industry is getting more and more fragmented. As an online merchant, it can be difficult to understand and choose the best payment methods and facilitators for your business. If you add Apple Pay or Google Pay will people even use […]
Every business has its slow months. What those months are can vary. For the average ecommerce store, the slowest period is usually during the summer. For SaaS businesses it could be later or earlier in the year, depending on what it is they sell or which service they provide. When that happens, the profits made […]
Back in 2007 Radiohead did something that caught the attention of music fans and business people alike: they released In Rainbows, their seventh studio album. It wasn’t the release of another Radiohead album that turned heads, though. It was how the album was released. Instead of going the traditional route of releasing the album through […]
These days people all over the world are looking to monetize their unique expertise and one of the best ways to do that is through starting an online group coaching business. What is Online Group Coaching? Online group coaching is providing support, resources and guidelines to people wishing to achieve a specific goal. Unlike face-to-face […]
When planning and setting up a SaaS business, there’s always a question of which payment model to choose. Most SaaS businesses choose a subscription payment model. An ability to predict and gradually grow your recurring revenue accounts for the ever-growing popularity of the subscription business model. But what’s the best billing frequency when it comes […]
Successful businesses are run by people who know how to play the long game. While it’s easy — and at times very necessary — to fixate on first-time conversions, the customer journey doesn’t end the moment a conversion happens. If you pursue new leads only to neglect them as customers, churn rates and unsubscribe rates are […]
While free trials are commonly perceived as a good idea (hence you see them everywhere), there is no obvious consensus as to how effective one-dollar trials are. Are you trying to decide whether a one-dollar trial is a good idea? Obviously, no article will ever offer a definitive answer because it always depends on your […]
Are you planning to sell physical goods? Then you will likely find our Shopify integration extremely useful! What is Shopify? Shopify is one of the largest and most popular e-commerce platforms for online stores and retail businesses. It is a subscription-based software that lets you set up an online store and sell their products. Shopify […]
The nature of SaaS businesses is usually global. Without physical products to ship, you can pretty easily expand your offering to other countries and increase your reach and userbase. But there’s one distinct problem with turning your business global: Meeting your customers’ international payment needs. Cross-border transactions can become a major barrier to any business […]
The buying process is no longer linear and is now a multi-channel experience. Free access to information has changed the buying behaviors of the digital consumer. Shoppers are now more price-savvy as they are able to scour the web for incredible deals and exclusive offers before committing to a purchase. Social connectedness has also given […]
SaaS subscriptions can sell like hotcakes, but customers may not go beyond the trial period. This is why it’s important to recapture your customers. It’s essential to find ways to connect with customers and increase your value propositions. How important is it to focus on your current customers? Increasing retention by just 5% can lead […]
Whether you are still following traditional approaches or shifted to online marketplaces for your sales and marketing, one thing is still common in all organizations, industries, and businesses, and it is the never-ending struggle to find clients and retain them within your organization. This shows the importance of CX even in this hi-tech era. And […]
Have you been struggling to come up with effective customer acquisition and retention strategy? You may be missing an essential step: Building your buyer persona.
Every SaaS platform is always looking for new ways to increase conversions. One of the most effective ways to boost your revenue is creating a sense of urgency. Here’s how you can do that: What is Urgency in Marketing? Urgency is often used in marketing to cause people to act quickly. The tactic aims at […]
Start-up founders have a lot to worry about – from product quality / demand to marketing and growth hacks. Yet, one crucial step to startup launching is often overlooked: ensuring an effective customer service. In fact, many startups I had to deal with or help to launch had no customer care strategy in place till […]
Generally, when building a marketing strategy, we tend to focus on conversions. In SaaS marketing though, a conversion is not the final step in the sales funnel. When a customer invests in your SaaS product, they need to quickly decide whether they have made the right decision. In other words, once a visitor converts into […]
Although the global business landscape is as lush and fruitful as ever, it’s also in a constant phase of growth, transformation, and competition. Rising—or remaining at the top—is a simple function of how well your business keeps up with market trends because the survival of your business, dreams, and legacy all depend on your ability […]
A smart business always values payments over sign-ups. After all, any number of people can sign up on your platform – but turning visitors into paying customers is an entirely different ball game. So, what is it that helps to convert these sign-ups into actual sales? The answer is value. The greater the value perceived […]
While the contention that the customer “is always right” doesn’t hold water when taken literally, the spirit of the saying is accurate. Every halfway-competent business owner understands the immense importance of delivering exceptional customer service. If the customer experience you’re delivering moves too far away from what people are expecting (or vice versa), your reputation […]
Many site owners leave no stone unturned when it comes to trying to attract traffic. They generate top-notch content, design a great website, and create comprehensive social media and web content calendars. However, they still fail to attract traffic or convert their traffic into sales and subscriptions. This guide will discuss how to create a […]
Software as a Service (SaaS) has grown leaps and bounds since the early 2000’s. There were an estimated 6,800+ such companies in 2018 and there have only been more to spring up and make their mark in the time since. Not only are they becoming more commonplace, but the enthusiastic response of users means the […]
Focusing on your online business is a must if you want to be successful in the modern world. The US economy witnessed a 33% increase in e-commerce sales in the first three quarters of 2020, continuing a long-term trend that has accelerated due to the coronavirus. It’s essential to make it as easy and safe […]
Would you like to know your current (and future) customers better? Few SaaS founders would say “no” or “I already know enough” to this question. We all want to know who we are selling to and what drives them. While web analytics platforms let you see what people are doing on your site, surveys can […]
Are you looking for more ways to boost your SaaS conversions? I bet you are! One of the most effective ways to increase your conversions and avoid investing more in attracting more traffic is to try and shorten your SaaS customers’ buying journeys. SaaS Customers’ Journeys Are Becoming Longer and More Complicated The buyers’ journeys […]
If you are a SaaS owner, or someone who is part of a team, you’ve probably already heard about Pat Campbell, and if you haven’t, you should! He’s the owner of ProfitWell, a blog that offers products and services that help reduce churn, increase revenue and overall profitability of SaaS companies. Not only do they […]
Cold outreach is a tried and true way to get more leads into your pipeline. According to a survey conducted by DiscoveryOrg, 75% of executives are willing to schedule a follow-up conversation based on a cold call or email alone. Like most sales tactics, cold outreach takes strategizing, testing, and practice to perfect. We’ll go […]
Subscription payment management is not an easy task. You need to deal with failed payments as well as customers who signed up for something they didn’t really understand or need. One of the most complicated (and confusing) areas here is dealing with refunds. Any SaaS business will have to deal with cancellations and refund requests. […]
A customer pain point is an issue experienced by someone who does business with you. It could be a challenge related to the person or their situation, or a problem connected to your company. Perhaps you offer eco-friendly products at prices significantly lower than competitors. In that case, people may come to your website to […]
Webinars have gained notable popularity in the last couple of years. That popularity skyrocketed with all the things going around COVID. Freelancers, entrepreneurs, and companies are more and more, realizing the power of being able to communicate to big audiences efficiently. Companies are using webinars to hire and educate new employees. They are used to […]
If you have a Software as a Service (SaaS) business, then you already know the importance of customer satisfaction in regard to retention and renewals. It’s easy to understand why a consumer who feels valued as a client, personally catered for, and well informed is far more likely to renew a subscription to your service. […]
The desire to win is nothing without action. In his book, The Dichotomy of Leadership, Jocko Willink says, “What does it take to win? Yes, you have to be determined. Yes, you have to be driven. Yes, you must have the unconquerable will to win. But to really win, to truly win at all cost, […]
What is the number one way to increase the number of customers for your business, you wonder? Over 82% of small business owners or entrepreneurs will tell you it is through referrals. But even with the success of referrals, only 29% of your customers will refer people to your products or services. Unless you get […]
The start is never easy. Considering how big competition in e-Commerce is, the start is as hard as ever. In fact, 46% of global-wide companies believe that the competition is very tough. There are just too many businesses that offer the same services or products and were there before you. Therefore, marketing experts have come […]
What do your users think about your product or your platform? Does it fit their needs? Is it easy to use? Why do your customers cancel membership at your platform? Why do they leave your site? How can you improve your product and / or your site to match it better to your customers’ needs […]
“Content is King” has long been a marketing buzz phrase, especially in the B2B industry. However content is only King if it enables sales. In most cases, there’s a disconnect between those content creators and sales representatives who are trying to leverage it. The resulting problem is two-fold: Sales reps struggle to find relevant content […]
Whether you’re working toward breaking-even or increasing earnings, it’s important to analyze and understand buyer behavior. Audience personas differ from business-to-business depending on what services and products are available. For example, a stock music and video company appeals to videographers, filmmakers, and content creators looking to license music while another business might cater to different […]
The way you communicate with your customers affects every part of a business: from sales to marketing to customer success itself. Using the right language, the right tools and providing the best user experience when communicating with your customers might seem mundane and very generic to you. You might think: Yea, I’ll be nice to […]
With the coming of digital marketing, numerous new strategies on how to effectively market your services or products have emerged. SaaS also referred to as Software as a Service Marketing is one of those methods. Also, the overall SaaS market is estimated to become a $623 billion industry by 2023. Image Source: istockphoto But, if […]
Customer churn is the biggest barrier to SaaS growth, and customer retention is at the heart of all SaaS growth strategies. Developing a SaaS growth strategy is both a challenge and an opportunity. The challenge comes from a highly competitive landscape with low entry barriers. The big 5 (Microsoft, Oracle, Adobe, SAP, and Salesforce) control […]
It seems like there’s a new payments app or facilitator springing up every few months and further fragmenting the industry. This may be good news for customers because they have more options but it can be difficult for vendors to keep up. Apple Pay was originally launched in 2014 as a way to bypass the […]
As more and more customers are getting used to shopping online, shopping and checkout expectations are growing exponentially in just about any sector from small ecommerce retailers to SaaS platforms. Which customer expectations should you be meeting (and exceeding) at checkout? 1. Fast, Cross-Device-Compatible, and Smooth According to Google, 53% of visits are abandoned if […]
Affiliate marketing has continued to be an important profit generator for everyone from businesses to influencers. If you have watched YouTube videos recently, you will have noticed that sponsorships with built-in affiliate programs (think access and sign up codes) have become bigger than standard monetization. A similar trend is seen with affiliate programs versus pay-per-click […]
The emergence of Covid has carried a heavy toll on a range of industries. Many companies that have previously grown accustomed to receiving a healthy portion of their revenue in brick and mortar stores have had to quickly adapt to the changing commerce landscape. As lockdowns interrupt business and the rise of work from home […]
No matter how awesome your subscription product or SaaS platform is, there will always be users who will go inactive from time to time. Life happens: employees leave companies on behalf of which they were using their accounts, people get sick, switch careers, close businesses, go traveling, etc. Whether those are paying customers or free […]
Churn is a natural part of any business. Customers come and customers go, and it’s inevitable that you will lose shoppers at some point — including subscription box businesses. But while it’s natural, it doesn’t mean it’s not avoidable. There are ways you can keep churn low by avoiding a few simple mistakes. Here, we […]
Some site owners believe that it is enough to create a beautiful bright picture of their resource, and traffic will flow to it like a stormy river. This is far from the case. What is responsive web design? It is a tool that requires a careful approach. There are a number of tips and tricks that […]
The great thing about spikes in website traffic is that it means we’re doing something right. Customers are finding our website and this is a great thing! However, sudden spikes in demand can put a lot of pressure on your website. If you don’t anticipate these spikes, it can put your website offline at precisely […]
Just like your body language is a reflection of your personality, landing pages represent how credible a brand is and help to demonstrate the usefulness of your products or services. They are designed as standalone web pages, designed specifically for getting leads or conversions. Landing pages can be compared to a date that the user […]
Customer feedback can help any business to improve its products and services to stay more competitive in the modern e-commerce market and widen the audience of its consumers. During the e-commerce development process, the business certainly gets a lot of positive and negative feedback. And if the positive feedback shows that the consumers like the […]
While the importance of high-quality images is obvious when it comes to selling tangible products online, visual marketing of digital products (books, courses, premium membership, etc.) is often overlooked. Digital product marketers tend to focus on videos (demos, walk-throughs, etc.) more than images. Yet, images provide so many additional marketing opportunities that they can hardly […]
Sales and marketing professionals understand the strategy side of building a strong digital customer experience, but there are so many factors that go into what encompasses relationship-building with customers that it can be easy to overlook the full picture. Businesses of all sizes need to ensure they’re listening to their customers and responding to inquiries […]
Marketing has always been the cornerstone of growing a business, second only to the product itself. Word of mouth has always been the most effective method of marketing. Thanks to technology, word of mouth means one person can potentially tell thousands rather than a small group. This is due to online feedback outlets and social […]
Managing a successful subscription-based or SaaS business means having a very engaged userbase. Engaged users spend more money, never miss failed payments, recommend you to others and never want to cancel. Yet, engaging users is getting more and more difficult. As web users have access to more communities and platforms, they easily get distracted and […]
We tend to be always looking for ways to attract new traffic to our sites in an effort to increase our subscriber base. Yet, tapping into your existing userbase is what should be your priority for two important reasons: You already invested in attracting them to your site, so it may not require any further […]
Picking the best-fitting billing model is crucial for your business success. It is also a choice that may be very hard to change underway… unless you start with a flexible payment model that allows for flexibility. Usage-based billing is the most flexible billing model out there which more and more businesses are adopting these days. […]
Let’s face it. If you move around a lot in the startup circles, you must have heard about disruptive growth hackers transforming the business – from small-scale businesses to multi-million dollar entities. And if you’re looking for ingenious ways to boost growth and revenues, it’s time to understand what success hacking entails. In simpler terms, […]
The last time I went to a convention I noticed something surprising. It used to be that there were only a couple of ways to accept payments in booths: cash or Square. I had gotten used to that system and usually carried cash with me, just in case a booth’s Square machine went out (it […]
Monthly recurring revenue is crucial for your subscription business success. Whether you have a SaaS company or service that relies on a monthly and yearly recurring customer base, this concept is critical. Maybe you have already started searching for information online, but like many business owners and partners, we can feel lost in the sea […]
Maybe you’ve heard of it, maybe you haven’t, but the concept of event-based billing has come into the SaaS conversation whether we agree with it or not. As a recap, event-based billing is the concept of charging your customer based on individual actions taken and frequency of use using your product, rather than just charging […]
SaaS is trending and there is no point in denying it. In 2020, the market size in this niche is expected to reach $157 billion. It makes Software as a Service highly profitable and interesting to invest in. However, a constantly growing market means a constantly growing competition. Sometimes it seems like no matter what […]
Are you using targeted marketing in your business strategy? If not, you could be missing out on a lot of opportunities for growth. We live in a pretty challenging online market right now. People are spending more than ever through digital channels, especially since the pandemic hit. But with that sudden influx of business comes […]
No one saw it coming but 2020 has turned out to be a year of a major economic disruption. The coronavirus pandemic left millions of people unemployed and changed the lives of just about anyone on the planet. But how exactly did it change the SaaS sector? With people moving to work from home without […]
Let’s face it, marketing in this day and age is tough. Especially when the attention span of your customers is constantly being pulled at from every direction. And you’re probably thinking, “Where does my SaaS company fit into all of this? Will I be able to reach my ideal customers? Will they even care?”. Being […]
When it comes to marketing, we often talk about sales funnels, a visual representation of your customer’s journey through your site, from landing to purchasing. With SaaS and subscription business, a sales funnel fails to describe your whole customer’s journey as it doesn’t end with purchasing. Your SaaS customer doesn’t leave your site after the […]
Right now we live in a rather shaky global economy and for the first time that includes online businesses, alongside brick and mortar ones. With a continuing pandemic, many with lessened or suffering income and small businesses in particular taking a hit, maintaining pre-established customer bases is more important than ever. At the same time, […]
Humans are creatures of routines. We all adore our familiar favorite things. We have our best stores where we shop, even though it is much more expensive than other ones. We have used that exact shampoo since we were teens, no matter how good and more helpful the new products are. Why do we pay […]
So how exactly do startups with little to no budget for marketing seem to pop up almost overnight? That’s a common question and the answer seems to be… sales and marketing! Sean Ellis, CEO of GrowthHackers, would say they are ‘growth-hacking’ while Shane Snow, author of Smartcuts, prefers the term ‘smart-cutting’. Actually both of those […]
Email marketing is an integral part of any subscription business as it is the only way to keep contact with your customers. While you are obviously already using emails to keep your customers updated on their subscription status, send payment reminders or failed payment notices, etc., you can definitely do more with this powerful channel. […]
Unlike a freemium model that engages a customer for lifetime allowing them to utilize their free tools without ever being required to upgrade, the free trial is limited in time, so it is normally believed to be better for conversions to the paid level. But how to increase your free trial sign-ups? Here’s what other […]
Upselling is one of the most effective ways to boost your business’s ROI without investing time and money into attracting more customers to your site. Upselling increases your revenue and – if you do your job right – builds your customer loyalty. But how to implement them correctly? Upselling can be tricky as you are […]
Let’s face it… Advertising is becoming more personalized and hyper-targeted than ever before. In order to have your marketing message resonate with your prospect or customer, you need to have the “right messaging” to the “right person” at the “right time”. This is why the Audience Builder from PayKickstart is so powerful. It allows business […]
There are so many acronyms floating around that it can be difficult to keep them all straight. That’s especially true in the field of finance. Being a complex topic, finance is filled with technical jargon. String together a bunch of technical terms and you suddenly have one big, unwieldy term on your hands like “Automated […]
How to Create and Market a Lead Magnet Lead generation is one of the most effective marketing tactics to build up revenue and generate your own business asset you can turn to when you need (e.g. when your traffic is slowing down). Creating and marketing a lead magnet helps you generate more leads and start […]
We have seen it a hundred times: a customer has gone through your website, picked out a few items, are just about to make their purchase and… nothing. They have left their cart abandoned and another sale is left unmade. This spells disaster for SaaS businesses. Nothing is quite as frustrating as those leads following […]
The Free Trial and Freemium models are effective growth methods for SaaS businesses across the web. But an additional element is being added to the format that combines more traditional means of upgrading customers with the free version option popular today. That is providing a free trial so customers (that may have been using a […]
Choosing the tools you’ll use to power your business is an important decision. Things like price, functionality, integrations, and ease of use are factors that need to be considered before making a choice. This is especially important for an Ecommerce business because there are so many providers targeting the Ecommerce space. While there’s no perfect […]
Software as a Service (SaaS) is a unique business model that has been hitting its stride in the past decade. It is the past few years where its impressive force has really been seen. In the eyes of the average brand, outreach and customer acquisition, particularly to newly launched products, may seem like the most […]
There is one single statistic that manages to successfully change the way I thought about the purchasing power of my consumers. That number comes from an article by Forbes, which found that customers were a full 86% more likely to buy something if it was made really easy to do so. Why did that fact […]
After processing over 400M in sales and being in a unique position to look under the hood of 600+ SaaS businesses (who use PayKickstart), here’s what I learned separates those with hockey stick growth/scalability and those that just pitter along… First – I want to apologize as this is a bit of a RANT, but […]
You can describe any business as an exchange of value (described by the value proposition) for money. When customers do business with a company, they exchange their money for the value the company has to offer. Such is the case from the smallest company to the largest corporation. For this exchange of value to be […]
Have you ever signed up for a service because you needed it but all of the plans were offering too much? Only one feature or two features are relevant or your usage would be much less than the smallest plan but you were forced to pay anyway? The goal with this form of subscription billing […]
It’s common practice to offer a free trial when you’re selling a subscription service. It’s so common that subscription-based businesses without a free trial are considered an anomaly. The challenge is that a free trial has many permutations including length, credit card or no credit card, and value of the customer. Depending on how you […]
There’s a common thread in every subscription business. It doesn’t matter if you’re selling software or clothes, if you’re not careful, it’ll eat up all your revenue. I’m talking about churn. There are many types of churn such as revenue churn, customer churn, voluntary churn, and involuntary churn. It should be the top priority of […]
Starting a business is no easy task. You have to pay taxes regularly, may need specific permits, and must master a wide range of skills to survive. If that’s not enough, there are factors at play behind the scenes which affect one of your most important functions – the ability to process credit cards. I’m […]
Just about every company or business could benefit from an affiliate program. These programs allow you to expand your marketing resources without having to add staff or pay for ads. You can also turn your current customers and others into marketers, and ultimately product champions who advocate for and promote your goods and services. SaaS […]
Churn is the silent killer in subscription businesses. If it’s not tackled head-on then it’ll erode your revenue even if you do everything else right. There are many types of churn such as logo, revenue, voluntary, and involuntary churn. Each one has its own nuances and the ideal method of resolution but there’s a common […]
Subscription businesses are becoming more and more popular as time goes on. That’s for good reason. For businesses, it’s easier to create a base of loyal customers, plan investments, and expand operations because of the predictable income. For customers, they’re paying for access to a product or service that’s constantly improving and evolving. It’s a […]
There have been multiple studies on cart abandonment rates with one thing in common: They all agree that the majority of shoppers abandon the cart without ever making a purchase. Think of this stats this way: After all your efforts you have put into attracting potential customers to your site and getting them to follow […]
We, as consumers, are indecisive. While there might be plenty of reasons to make a purchase, there are always going to be doubts working against them. This rocking chair would look perfect on my front porch! (But I don’t have enough room for it out there, and I would have to rearrange the whole furniture […]
Come a little closer. I have a secret to share. Many people don’t figure it out until they’ve been in business for a while and have learned a lot of hard lessons. Revenue and profit are not the same things. You can have a lot of revenue but still struggle to make ends meet. When […]
There are fewer elements to running a business that are as important as managing your ROI. What you spend has to be less than what you produce for revenue and the wider the gap, the better. But it doesn’t just apply to profit. You should also be considering the amount of time and energy being […]
The payment processing industry powers the giant global online e-commerce market. In 2018, Statista estimated there were 1.8 billion global e-commerce buyers. In 2019, they determined that e-commerce sales accounted for close to 15% of total global retail sales. If you are a business owner wondering how e-commerce can help your business grow online, there […]
Software-as-a-Service, often built by SaaS startup founders, has been a massive trend for the last 20 years or so. As more services move online and become automated and traditional tech products move from one-time payments to subscription models, this momentum is expected to remain steady. What this means is, often, tech startup founders will find […]
When we think of generating revenue we tend to have some solid plans in place. Marketing, targeted ads, specials and sales, demographic and geolocation based hype, social media and content… the list goes on and on. Many entrepreneurs and business owners will remember the first time they encountered a problem that they may not have […]
Digital marketers provide more content than they can effectively market. According to a 2017 report by Accenture (pdf), marketing leaders feel they produce an “enormous” amounts of content. But 20% of that content is never distributed. In other reports, the trend is even more drastic. According to SiriusDecisions, up to 70% of the content that […]
Finding the right price for your products and services is essential. There are a lot of pricing methods you can choose from but none of them actually tell you how much to charge. No one can. Pricing is one of the decisions in your business that has the highest leverage. If you choose wrong, you’ll […]
You’re almost certainly familiar with invoices. If you’ve ever paid any type of bill, be it for your phone, electricity, or whatever, you’ve paid an invoice. Likewise, if you’ve ever sent clients or customers a bill for products or services that you sold, you’ve issued an invoice. Yet many people are less familiar with credit […]
If you run or manage a small business, you’ve probably heard of invoices as nearly every business will have to issue and/or pay an invoice at some point. However, credit notes may be less familiar as they are less common. Still, credit notes are important for businesses big and small, and if you’re not familiar […]
Did you know that shopping cart abandonment rates can reach as high as 80 percent? For whatever reason, people will often fall in love with a product, throw it their shopping cart, and then never act. For online retailers, this presents a major headache. Revenues and profits would improve tremendously if people would simply complete […]
We are well into 2020 and with that comes new strategies to take advantage of leads over the next twelve months. If there is any area where some heavy focus should be laid, it is in social media. Social commerce has been growing to new heights, launching businesses from obscurity to fame thanks to clever […]
Shopping tricks are nothing new. We have all heard of how grocery stores improve sales by putting special items at the front to catch your eye for last minute purchases, or how some department stores will waft in the smell of cookies to get you in the mood to spend more. In fact, most (if […]
No matter what your niche or the kind of products you sell, it’s safe to say that increasing the number of people who complete a purchase is important to you. Exit popups, when used correctly, can help you make that happen. Like many lead generation devices out there, people have mixed feelings about them. Some […]
Marketers will swear up and down about the wonders of email marketing. Some will even go to the extent of calling them the best possible tool you could deploy in your marketing strategy. Done wrong, and you could have tens of thousands of email subscribers—and less than a third of them could be paying customers. […]
Paypal is one of the most popular payment solutions in the world, and is especially popular in the United States. These days, Americans actually keep more cash in their Paypal account than in their wallet. Nearly 60 percent of Americans had a Paypal account as of 2018, and 81 percent of Paypal’s customers prefer using […]
An accurate LTV calculator is important to the success of your business. It’s different from other metrics like MRR or social media followers because it has a direct impact on the acquisition channels, price points, growth strategies, etc. you can use. If your LTV is below a certain threshold, a sales team won’t make much […]
Nothing is as intoxicating for a SaaS startup founder as those initial signs of traction. You have built an MVP, released it into the wild, and lo and behold, you are starting to see users sign up. While this is fantastic and can be an indication that you are onto something, it can also be […]
PayPal is one of the most popular payment processors in the world. It has millions of customers and processes almost $750 billion in transactions annually. Needless to say, it can’t be ignored if you want to acquire the maximum number of customers with minimal friction. It has a product called PayPal Subscriptions that allows you […]
Personalize ecommerce is something that everyone is discussing. Yet few businesses understand the concept or how to implement advanced personalization on a doable budget. What is personalized ecommerce and why care? Personalization in marketing and selling is a must have, allowing you to target individuals rather than casting too wide a net. It is the […]
If you’ve been following the PayKickstart blog, you’ve probably already heard about SaaS growth hacks and buyer personas. Both concepts are vital for SaaS companies. In this article, we’re going to meld the two concepts together to see how you can use hacking methods to better uncover your buyer personas. We’ll also consider how buyer […]
If you’re a retailer in Canada, you need to make sure you’re following Visa’s CVV2 mandate. Visa is looking to crack down on fraudulent “Card Not Present” transactions in Canada and is now implementing the mandate to combat fraud. If you fail to follow the mandate, you could be liable for the fraudulent charges. “Card […]
It’d be nice if you could create a product that was the all in one solution for everyone and everything. You’d be like the next standard oil. Unfortunately (or fortunately), that’s impossible. The needs of your customers are too wide and too varied for you to be the only solution they use. Other companies are […]
Feature creep, just like the name implies, happens slowly and has far reaching consequences. Most businesses start out wanting to solve a specific problem for a specific customer base. Over time, they get good at that and realize they can help other people. When they present their solution to those other groups, they have a […]
No one dreads “your payment is decline” more than a customer… except perhaps the business itself. If you run an ecommerce store, declined payments are just as big a problem for you as they are for the customer. Every time a payment is declined, you may end up losing a sale, and thus revenues. More […]
The 1990’s are no more. The days of simple shopping carts that allow for little more than checking out are over. If you select a fully featured shopping cart like PayKickstart, your cart can become a powerful sales tool. One of our most powerful and popular features is our order bump tool. This tool can […]
The debate about whether affiliate marketing is a legitimate way to earn a living has long been put to rest. Clickbank affiliates, CJ affiliates, and more are proving the naysayers wrong every day. The question ceases to be whether it’ll work. What affiliates are asking now is which network or vendors have the best offers. […]
Consumer spending is considered the backbone of the overall economy – in fact, Investopedia reports that up to 75% of GDP is driven by consumer spending. So it only makes sense that companies want to keep a close eye on customer sentiment and know what their target audience thinks of their brand. The impact of […]
Most of the time, when a credit card gets declined it’s out of your control. Almost 50% of all declines are due to insufficient funds. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do your best to lower credit card decline rates. If you’re doing a large volume of sales or each sale is worth a lot then […]
Creating a Custom Checkout Solution Versus Using PayKickstart If you’re looking to add a checkout cart to your website, one of the first questions you need to ask is whether you should have a custom checkout solution built or should instead use something like PayKickstart that works right out of the box. Which cart is […]
Startups have become the stuff of legend. More than one has transformed the way we live and do business. Uber made it possible to get a ride from anywhere. LinkedIn brought about the professional social network. Amazon changed the way we buy books – then everything else. Today, being a startup is cool but the […]
Are you looking to increase your business revenue? A smart cross-selling strategy is what you need to create then.
The global spending for online retail in 2019 was an estimated $3.46 trillion according to research from Global Commerce 360. This makes it the only trillion-dollar industry that’s reportedly growing at a double-digit percentage each year! Millions of global shops around the world compete for a piece of this trillion-dollar pie. Converting clicks to currency […]
Many people break out in cold sweats and start shivering when they think about making videos. An affiliate review video is out of the question. Some of the thoughts that come up include: How do I get the lighting right? What about audio quality? Which software should I use to edit the video afterward? How […]
In the not so distant past, a go to market strategy was optional for small business owners. You could bring a product out and be relatively optimistic about your chances of success even if you didn’t do elaborate planning. The market has evolved a lot since those days. Now, the competition is too stiff and […]
Only when your hosting provider fails you, you realize what a huge chunk of your e-store success depends on web hosting. There are tons of hosting providers out there and numerous spokes they can possibly put in your wheels. To keep your business running smoothly, you need as few issues with the website as possible, […]
Conversion marketing will require a change of mindset for marketers in 2020. Below, we look at 14 points that you should be following if you want to improve your bottom line this year. Visual Content Strategy Source: Venngage If you want to boost conversions in 2020, it is best to start focusing on creating attractive […]
Data security breaches are all over the news nowadays, and businesses and consumers are both hypervigilant about identity theft and credit card fraud. And the unfortunate trend is growing: in 2018, consumers reported losing almost $1.48 billion to credit card fraud, an increase of $406 million from 2017. Ecommerce and SaaS businesses are continuously looking […]
Monetizing content on various platforms is not easy, even if you have made sure your content is unique and high-quality. Finding a monetization model that would be best suited for your digital content may be a major challenge, especially if you don’t know exactly what you need. Here are a few available options (as well […]
While PayKickstart provides a wide variety of reporting, metrics and analytics – we realize that many online businesses want to dive into the nitty, gritty details. We realize that there are companies out there that focus solely on metrics and can deliver advanced reports for those who love numbers. It’s why we added a new […]
Customer acquisition cost is the amount you spend to attract new customers into your business. This number is so important because it determines if your business is profitable or not. When it’s too high, there isn’t enough money left over from your acquisition to support all the other things that are important in your business. […]
Wix is one of the most popular website and page builders. You can create a professional website in an afternoon. You get hundreds of templates, social media integrations, SEO tools, support for dozens of languages and much more. It even comes with a basic Wix shopping cart through Wix Stores that will allow you to […]
One of the most important things you can do to increase conversion rates is to take high-quality product photos. There’s a reason major brands and large eCommerce stores invest a lot of money in professional photos. Fortunately, you don’t have to shell out a lot of money to take good photos. In this guide, I’ll […]
Did you know that over 80 percent of Americans now own a smartphone? And those smartphones aren’t just sitting in their pockets, either. Smartphones have quickly emerged as the preferred device of choice for many people who want to surf the Internet. For these reasons, among others, it’s now vital to have a shopping cart […]
As an online business, there’s a ton of data available to help you make better decisions about what you’re selling and how you’re selling it. With this data, you…
If you’ve been publishing articles online for more than a few months now, you may be asking yourself an important question: “How can I utilize this effort to build some income?” In other words, is there a way to sell my articles? This question makes perfect sense for several reasons, including: Creating high-quality content takes […]
Using data to measure performance is vital, especially when it comes to digital ad campaigns. If you’re spending a lot on marketing but aren’t generating solid returns, you could end up wasting a lot of money. Further, some ad campaigns will simply do better than others. By knowing which campaigns are most effective, you can […]
As you’re making money, you’re spending money (in some cases being charged fees). That’s what happens when you process credit card transactions through your website. These fees are called interchange fees and depending on your setup, it can be a big deal or something you can easily manage. It’s important to know what your interchange […]
Online funnels are intricate creations that, when used properly, can make you a lot of money while building brand awareness and goodwill. What may take you days to set up can be completed by your customers in a matter of minutes. If something breaks along the way, they won’t tell you, they’ll just bounce and […]
Business is a numbers game. When you know your numbers, you’re in a better position to scale, acquire customers, and maximize customer lifetime value. When you don’t know your numbers, it becomes a guessing game about what’s working and what isn’t. That’s a dangerous place to be. The first number to look at is your […]
There are countless ways to grow your brand but few are as effective as word of mouth from a trusted brand ambassador. Think about the last time you acted on a recommendation from a friend, family member, or influencer. What made you take them up on the offer? More than likely, you believed the person […]
Returns and refunds are the bane of online businesses. Not only do you lose revenues, but you often have to arrange for goods to be shipped back and the refund itself must be processed. This eats up resources and makes inventory harder to manage. Returns will also lower your conversion rates and make it more […]
Should you offer a payment plan for your customers? Should you work with outside parties to offer payment plans? Some companies will now act essentially like credit card companies, financing purchases. Meanwhile, many service providers, including Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) companies, offer monthly subscription plans. PayKickstart offers a monthly plan. All of these various options accomplish one […]
What’s the big deal? They’re all phrases that pretty much mean the same thing – right? At first glance that’s true. All of them tell a visitor the button they’re about to click will initiate a transaction but each has a different effect on the person viewing it. Add to cart, in many situations, means […]
Sadly, fraud is more than common these days. While most companies go to great lengths to protect consumers, and many consumers themselves try to ensure that their information is secured, identity theft and fraud remains common. In 2017 alone some 14.2 million credit card numbers were exposed. So too were 158 million social security numbers! […]
Affiliate marketing has come a long way since its inception and when it was considered a scam by many. It’s now a proven way to generate income for both the business and the affiliate marketer. Even if you the best affiliate program in the world, you may experience challenges because the wrong affiliates are signing […]
Think about how many electronic devices the average consumer now has access to and can use for shopping. There’s smartphones, laptops, desktops, tablets, smart watches and more. And these days, many people mix in their devices during their customer journey. Consider that 4o percent of customers start their journey on a mobile device while 42 […]
Text messaging is one of the most effective and often overlooked methods of driving traffic to your e-commerce store. A study by Hubspot found that 61% of businesses struggled with generating and leads in 2018. But only 39% of used some form of texting to talk to their customers. One of the biggest benefits of […]
There’s a longstanding debate about whether or not you should use a one page checkout for your shopping cart. On the one hand, it presents everything for your shoppers up front. On the other hand, a long form may be daunting and increase the chances of abandonment. There are different schools of thought about the […]
As cliché it may sound, you cannot improve what you are not measuring. In other words, how can you possible improve your business performance and increase your ROI if you don;t know what’s currently working and what may be preventing you from generating more income? A happy customer is what makes any business a success. […]
Nowadays many physical and digital services are subscription based. A subscription-based pricing model is a payment structure that allows a customer to commit to a service on a continuous basis. As long as they remain subscribed, customers pay a business automatically on a regular basis (monthly or annually). In other words, with customers paying automatically […]
Split testing, or A/B testing as it is often called, is one of the most effective ways to increase the performance of your various marketing campaigns and ultimately your entire sales funnel. You can run an A/B test to measure the performance of many different parts of your sales funnel, including your email campaigns, landing […]
Should your business purchase chargeback insurance? Determining when to get just about any type of insurance can be a bit difficult. If you never use your insurance policy, you’ll be “wasting” money on premiums. On the other hand, if you find yourself on the hook for high liabilities or damages, and your insurance protects you, […]
Affiliate marketing is one of the most cost-effective ways to grow your business. You build a commission only sales team at scale. On the surface, it seems like the perfect way to build your business. When done right, it is. When you don’t have rock star affiliates, it’ll be difficult to see the gains you’re […]
A funnel – especially for SaaS – is no longer optional. Subscription businesses have a lot of advantages but require more consideration than other types of products. Why’s that? Because your customers agree to pay you over and over again. This can be daunting especially if they’re using your application to control important information. If […]
SaaS is a unique business model that comes with a lot of benefits as well as challenges. The MRR or ARR gives you the ability to easily forecast revenue growth or contraction and there are natural opportunities for revenue expansion. On the downside, when a customer stops buying from you, it’s more concrete. SaaS churn […]
Not many things are worth a million dollar, let alone billions of dollars. In the startup scene, a billion dollar company is considered a “unicorn”, giving you an idea of just how rare a billion dollars is. However, some have estimated that Amazon’s now-expired patent on 1-click sales was itself worth billions of dollars. Yes, […]
Did you know that you can make a rough guess about how much consumers would pay for your products? Willingness to pay is the maximum amount of money a consumer would sacrifice in exchange for a product or service. On the other hand, willingness to accept is the minimum amount of money an individual, a […]
Did you know that customer experience has become a part of marketing? Some people even say it is new marketing. It shouldn’t be surprising because the vast majority of unhappy customers won’t complain to you will tell other people about an unsatisfying product or customer service. In fact, according to the White House Office of […]
As sales are one of the vital functions of an organization, the entire sales process has to be meticulously planned, and every stage of the sales pipeline needs to be judiciously executed. An essential part of the sales process is to identify and include the right steps in the sales pipeline. Though the pipeline stages […]
One of the most effective but often under-utilized strategies for marketing, pricing, and various other efforts is cohort analysis. Using cohort analysis will allow you to better understand your customers and their decision making process. You can use this understanding, in turn, to influence their decisions. In this article, I’ll outline how you can use […]
If you run a subscription business, you may choose to have different pricing tiers for different levels of your service. In some cases, you may have only one pricing tier, but you also offer a free trial. In both cases, you want to make it possible for your customers to transition from one pricing tier […]
By their nature, digital goods are easy to be shared and used by multiple people. If you have this type of product, sharing between multiple devices is probably a violation of your terms of service but most users don’t care. Naturally, you want to protect your products and receive fair value for them while making […]
When the US constitution was first written and signed, Benjamin Franklin wrote a letter. He said the constitution looks permanent but nothing in this life is certain but death and taxes. That statement has proven to be more or less true. Tax law, especially for online businesses, has grown more complex over the years but […]
Around 70% of shoppers typically abandon their shopping carts before completing the checkout process and – as voice and mobile shopping continues to grow – this number is increasing continuously. In fact, Oberlo has collected industry statistics around different cart abandonment rates in various industries: You can recover many of those incomplete purchases with a […]
One of the most effective ways to keep your existing customers buying and recommending your business is to create a successful loyalty program.
Ecommerce is already one of the largest and also fastest growing industries in the world. In fact, ecommerce sales accounted for $1.8 trillion dollars in revenue in 2018 and are projected to rise to nearly $4.9 trillion in 2021. That’ll be good for roughly 17.5 percent of total retail sales! Find more statistics at Statista […]
These days, many companies focus on growing their monthly recurring revenues. This is especially true in the software development field. Rather than selling one-off installations, many developers now focus on providing Software-as-a-Service. This way, instead of receiving a single one-off payment, the software provider can receive steady, reliable subscription income. However, two competing payment models […]
Over the last few years, there’s been a fundamental shift in the way companies do business. A decade ago, you could walk into a store and buy software like Adobe and use it forever. That’s not the case anymore. It and other big players like Microsoft have moved to the cloud and started charging a […]
Setting up recurring payments in PayPal the right can help your business capture more business and retain more business too. Read on to find out how.
A multi-vendor shopping cart supports marketplaces which can be an attractive business model that which yields incredible returns when done right. When done wrong, you’re looking at a lot of headaches and lost time. There are popular multi-vendor marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay, and Etsy but there are a lot of smaller ones out there […]
If you’ve been selling online for longer than a few days then you know one of the biggest challenges is abandoned customers. Some estimates put the number higher than 70%. Across the entire ecommerce industry, trillions are lost due to abandoned customers. While some abandoned carts can’t be recovered, the majority aren’t a lost cause. […]
Listening to Podcasts is a great way to stay informed. Not only are they packed with information but you can listen to them while you’re out taking a walk, driving to work, or relaxing on the couch. For many people, podcasts are more convenient than books and videos. Fortunately, there are tons of great ecommerce […]
If you want to succeed in the e-commerce space (or just about any industry, for that matter), networking can go a long way. Through networking, you might find customers, mentors, investors, partners, and more. Fortunately, there are several great e-commerce events held across the world each year. It’d be smart to start putting some of […]
If you want to succeed in the competitive jungle that is the World Wide Web, a sound data strategy built upon SaaS metrics is vital. These days, the best companies are data driven. They make decisions, at least partially, based on what their metrics tells them. By tracking SaaS metrics and finding key insights, leaders […]
Knowledge is power. That saying gets tossed around perhaps a bit too often, but at the end of the day, it’s true. Knowledge can go a long way in determining how successful you and your company are. Quite simply, if you know your stuff and understand your industry, you stand a better chance of surviving […]
At PayKickstart, we offer more than 50 native integrations with 3rd party services and applications. Unfortunately, with there being literally thousands of apps people use to help run their businesses, we simply cannot support native integrations with all of them. It’s the reason that we have partnered with Zapier. Zapier is an online automation tool […]
It’s no secret that a slow website can frustrate customers and actually make you lose money. The right web hosting can make or break your Ecommerce business. Not only that, it affects rankings in search engines and the perception of your business. No matter how much you optimize a website, if you have bad hosting, […]
I’ve been shopping at ASOS for years. They send me an email for one deal or another at least once a week. I can’t lie, the emails get me to click through to the website and occasionally buy. ASOS gets more sales and repeat purchases from me but what about profitability? Discounting is a tricky […]
What’s more important, the customer service experience or the product? There are different schools of thought. Some people say that if the product is good enough then customers will come no matter how poor the customer service experience is. Others feel that without a stellar customer service experience, nothing will save you. These are two […]
Sales strategy has changed dramatically over the years. As the online consumer is getting more overwhelmed with the growing web, digital selling has become less about driving direct sales and more about creating processes and funnels that would consistently generate organic conversions. In this article, we’ll discuss three major strategies to drive sales without selling: […]
The debate between SaaS free trials with a credit card and SaaS free trials without a credit card has many an entrepreneur scratching their heads. Which one will bring the best conversions? Which one should they pick? While there’s no straightforward answer, there are several factors that, when considered, can help give direction on which […]
Unless you’re an A-List band or similar celebrity, event marketing can be quite challenging. Many people simply don’t want to change their routines and even if they’re interested in your event, they may not want to get off the couch. This makes selling event tickets online a bit tricky, but in this article we’ll offer […]
WordPress is one of the most popular content management solutions (CMSs) in the world. In fact, WordPress now accounts for roughly 61 percent of CMS market share. Shopify, on the other hand, accounts for just 2.8 percent. (Keep in mind, many websites have no CMS.) WordPress is the most popular CMS in the world. So […]
At PayKickstart, one thing we’ve discovered is that small features can go a long way towards increasing conversion rates and lowering shopping cart abandonment rates. For ecommerce stores and SaaS providers, conversion rates and shopping cart abandonment rates are very important. So if you can improve those metrics, you can improve your business prospects. Even […]
The age old question, is a free trial or freemium best for you? Just like most things in this life, the answer depends on your circumstances, goals, and a bunch of other factors. I can’t answer whether or not you should choose freemium or free trial because your situation is unique. Instead, I can help […]
In most businesses, the goal is to convert customers from free to paid which is easy to say but much harder to do. We live in a world of choice and competition. It’s a good thing because it keeps us on our toes. It’s a bad thing because customer acquisition is tougher than ever. Giving […]
Customer loyalty is what keeps you in business. There are times, no matter how good things are going now, when acquisition slows down because of factors outside of your control. When that happens, who do you think keeps your business afloat to weather the storm? It’s not that new contract you’re chasing. If you said […]
Your sales funnel might be broken and you may not even realize it! If you’re not seeing the results you had hoped to see, it might be because your sales funnel is broken, or at the very least, not operating as efficiently as it could be. However, by following the 14 tips outlined below, you […]
Setting the right price point is vital for any company but actually honing in on that right prices can be difficult. For both ecommerce stores and SaaS providers, however, putting together an effective pricing strategy is all but a must. Easier said than done, but I’ll help you get started. Be warned, there are serious […]
Over the last ten years or so, subscription billing has become a major component of modern business. Pioneered by Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) companies, today, all kinds of businesses are experimenting with subscription billing – from flower companies to makeup companies. The main driver behind this rise in subscription billing is the promise of recurrent revenues as […]
Subscription businesses are unique. You work hard to get customers through the door but the majority of the value isn’t unlocked until months or even a year down the line. While you’re waiting, it can feel like nothing is happening. Eventually, as long as you keep going, you gain momentum, a positive feedback loop is […]
When people think about affiliate marketing commissions, it’s usually the ones from large vendors like Amazon. While popular, the commission percentage is small and only takes a single purchase into consideration. Other large vendors may give a flat commission fee for referrals that become customers. This is attractive because it’s often more than or equal […]
Each business has its own unique needs, goals, and even customers. The subscription billing model that works for one business may not work for another one and vice versa. One of the most important things you’ll do is decide what kind of billing model your business will adopt. If you choose the right one then […]
Shopify is one of the more popular online shopping cart and ecommerce solutions. Shopify makes it pretty easy to set up an online commerce store. However, their platform can get quite costly. This is especially true if you use paid apps and plugins. If your Shopify apps and plugin costs are getting quite high, you […]
Did you know that a majority of web traffic now comes from mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets? That’s right, more people now use their mobile devices to surf the web than personal computers. As such, it’s vital to have a mobile optimized website and checkout page. Unfortunately, shopping cart abandonment rates remain high. […]
One of the most important decisions any SaaS provider will have to make is when to scale. Your SaaS company will move through several phases in its lifecycle and at some point, your startup is no longer a startup. However, it’s estimated that as many as 70 percent of startups fail due to premature scaling. […]
Amazon is one of the largest retailers in the world and dominates the online retail market in the United States. Amazon also has a huge presence in other countries, including Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, and more. When it comes to brand recognition, market capitalization, and everything else, Amazon is usually at or near […]
One of the most frustrating aspects of an online business is the number of people who abandon the cart. Depending on the source you look at, the abandonment rate ranges from 60% to 80%. No matter where you fall on the range, more than half the people who start the checkout process are leaving it […]
A backup payment method can help reduce cart abandonment in ways you may not have considered. Shopping cart abandonment is a real issue facing online business owners. The latest estimates from Barilliance put the cart abandonment rate at over 75%. There are many reasons for cart abandonment such as unexpected fees, a confusing checkout process, […]
Failed payments contribute to churn, and we all know churn is bad for business. Dunning emails serve as a reminder of the status of the customer’s account while also providing the steps to update their information and continue using the product. Having the right tone in dunning emails is crucial to their success. The main […]
We all know it on some level – referral marketing works and the referral program software you use matters. Just think back to when a friend told you about a movie, restaurant, or event. How did their recommendation affect your perception of it? If you’re like most people (82% of Americans to be precise), it […]
So you’ve developed an awesome new app or piece of software, fantastic! Now, you’ve got to start marketing and selling that software. As Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) providers ourselves, we know the software industry is intensively competitive. However, we’ve also found that hard work and sound strategies pay off. With the right marketing and sales strategies, you […]
WooCommerce is one of the more popular online shopping cart solutions. In fact, 30 percent of online ecommerce stores run on this platform. WooCommerce also offers a free plugin that you can use to start selling. Given the “low” costs and market penetration rates, you might think that they are the obvious choice for any […]
PayPal is one the most popular online payment methods in the world, and for ecommerce stores, is becoming quite ubiquitous. Customers can use PayPal credit or an account balance to make payments. If your ecommerce store doesn’t support PayPal, you may be losing out on sales and customers. That’s why we’re going to go over […]
Many people have a misconception about affiliate marketing and ask questions like is it a scam, is it worth it, and can you grow a business with it? It’s not a scam, it is worth it, and you can absolutely grow your business through affiliate marketing. In 2019, it’s estimated that affiliate marketing spend will […]
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the subscription economy is booming and many people are starting successful companies. SaaS and other subscription businesses have unique metrics that apply mainly to them. For example, churn in a subscription company is measured differently from churn in a sporting goods company. One of those important […]
Digital marketers are good at marketing themselves. This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. After all, marketing is their profession. Many great ecommerce companies and entrepreneurs have built up impressive blogs that are loaded with information. In this article, we’ll go over ten of the best ecommerce blogs out there! Of course, you should […]
Laddering is a powerful technique that allows you to uncover what people actually value. When it comes to ecommerce, understanding what people value is essential. Once you understand this, you can craft a sales pitch that closely aligns with their values. Unfortunately, uncovering these insights can be difficult. That’s where laddering comes in. Determining how […]
Most Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) providers don’t charge setups fees, at least not for basic setup. The reason is simple: setup is often quite easy. Customers can often simply login to a SaaS and start using it. In some cases, the SaaS may need to be integrated. PayKickstart’s customers, for example, will have to integrate our shopping […]
No matter what type of business you run, customers will always have customer feedback regarding your business. This could be a positive or negative opinion. When you visit review-focused websites like Amazon and Yelp, you find customers praising or lashing out at businesses because of goods and services provided. As a business, this is a […]
If you are looking for a replacement affiliate manager or your very first one, you have a great opportunity to start strong. To do so, you will need to hire the right affiliate manager. Because this is the person who will manage your affiliate programs, you want to set the bar high when choosing a […]
PayKickstart allows you to sell pretty much anything online. Whether you’d like to sell physical products, digital products, or even services, PayKickstart can make it possible. Best of all, when you use PayKickstart, you’ll keep more of your revenues for yourself. You can use PayKickstart to increase book sales. If you sell books through a […]
Social commerce can increase the efficiency of social media ads for brands and streamline the buying process for customers.
The subscription economy is on the rise and for good reason. Giants like Adobe and Shopify have leveraged it into billions of dollars. SaaS startups are raking in millions. Subscription boxes are the new black. There’s a reason for this. Subscription businesses have numerous benefits that other types of businesses don’t. Recurring revenue Predictable growth […]
As a subscription business, you know churn will hurt your bottom line over time more than anything else. We rigorously test onboarding flows, acquisition channels, and even reach out to customers to better understand what they like and dislike. It’s part of the fabric of growing your business but no matter how hard you try, […]
When you’re building a business, a lot of what you do goes on behind the scenes. Most of the time, it’s thankless work. People who are wiser and more successful than us have said it’s important to celebrate the little wins. If you don’t then you’ll be out of practice when the big victories roll […]
Odd-even pricing is one of the simplest tricks you can use to increase sales. This strategy is based on human psychology and the many quirks that come with the human mind. When you engage in odd-even pricing you avoid round numbers like $100. Instead, you use a price like $99.95 or $99.99. There’s only a […]
Captive product pricing is one of the most effective ways for ecommerce stores and SaaS providers to increase revenues. With captive product pricing, you offer related and compatible products that people will hopefully purchase alongside and after their initial purchase. Take a printer, for example. When you buy a printer, many stores will try to […]
Many companies have turned to Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) models in order to generate revenue. Since SaaS relies on monthly or annual subscription fees to generate revenues, this model can provide stable, dependable, and predictable incomes. One potential source of income that’s often overlooked, however, is expansion revenue, which refers to generating extra revenues from existing customers. […]
At the end of June, our Co-Founder Mark was interviewed on StarterStory. It’s a regular show hosted by Pat Walls that interviews founders at all stages of growth. Some of them haven’t crossed six figures in annual revenue and others are making millions. It’s an interesting look at many of the challenges startups and their […]
Far too often competitive markets feel like a race to the bottom. Simple economics states that consumers will always pick the lowest price among comparable products. However, human psychology is actually a bit more complex and in some instances, higher prices can lead to more sales. Why? People tend to associate cost with quality. After […]
No matter how good your product is, people will leave. If you’re unable to get customer churn under control you’ll have to work harder and harder to stay afloat. It’ll be even more difficult to increase your saas revenue over time. The image below shows how relatively low churn can affect your earning potential over […]
There are countless ways to price your products. You may have seen companies with a product that’s priced lower than anyone else. The only catch is that the price is temporary. It’s usually referred to as an introductory offer. This is known as penetration pricing. Depending on your goals and the product you’re selling, you […]
Many founders start their saas business life by selling to SMBs because it’s what they know. It’s where they’re comfortable. Over time, you’ll notice some of the distinct challenges associated with SMBs such as higher average churn and little room for expansion revenue. Those problems are reduced or eliminated when you move your saas upmarket. […]
For many websites and SaaS providers, subscription-payment models have turned out to be highly profitable and reliable. Subscription models ensure monthly reoccurring revenue (MRR), which in turn provides predictable, dependable income. Of course, “predictable” and “dependable” need to be taken with a grain of salt. Any organization running off a prescription-based model will already know […]
Did you know that a mere 1 percent improvement in price optimization can boost profits by 11.1 percent, on average? Few things can have a bigger impact on your bottom line than implementing the correct pricing strategy. One effective strategy, especially in competitive markets, is competitor based pricing. Optimizing price can have a big impact […]
Markets are intensely competitive. Did you know that only half of all businesses survive their first five years? And only one-third will still be in business after ten years? For tech startups, the failure rate has been estimated at 90 percent. Stats like these can be intimidating. There are measures you can take, however, to […]
September is coming, and when it arrives, e-commerce merchants need to make sure they have enabled 3D Secure. Come September 14th, the European Union is rolling out “Strong Customer Authentication” (SCA) requirements across the European Economic Area. Up until September 14th, most European customers will be able to complete a transaction simply by filling in […]
The SaaS business model centers around recurring revenue. Once you have secured a happy customer who has a need for your product, you can count on regular income for months or even years to come. Still, while SaaS models can offer healthy finances, forecasting your growth can be difficult. In theory, if you know your […]
The PSD2, also known as the Revised Payment Service Directive, has been a game changer for the banking industry and online retail. One of the most important components of the PSD2 is the requirement that Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) be used for most ecommerce transactions. Before the PSD2 was implemented, banks enjoyed a near monopoly […]
If you set up an ecommerce store or decide to offer Software-as-a-Service through the cloud, one of the most important decisions you’ll have to make is deciding which online payment software to use. The software you select could have a big impact on conversion rates, sales, profits, and other metrics. Before committing to any online […]
If you’re involved in tech then you may feel overwhelmed at times by the sheer number of acronyms. There are so many that it can be difficult to keep them straight. And these acronyms are often used to describe concepts that are quite similar in practice. Take SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS, for example. All three […]
The recurring subscription economy is booming. SaaS companies like Netflix and Salesforce are worth billions of dollars and have millions in MRR. Educational membership sites are minting millionaires every week. A subscription box is another recurring revenue model that’s often overlooked but can yield huge dividends. This is only possible if you get your […]
You put in a lot of time, energy, and money to get your business to the point where it brings in a steady stream of customers. The last thing you want is to get a slew of chargebacks that damage your reputation with your payment processor and incur extra charges. If you’re not careful or […]
Sales tax is a normal part of making purchases. If you go to any brick and mortar business, you’ll pay a fixed amount depending on which state or locality you’re in. Online sales tax is a bit of a grey area. Major online retailers like Amazon apply a sales tax accross the board but many […]
Unfortunately, the World Wide Web is a dangerous place. Phishing attacks, data breaches, viruses, you name it, companies and individuals face many dangers. One of the biggest risks for any online store or other websites that require payment is the risk that consumer data, such as credit card info, could be exposed. Consumers know the […]
Running an e-commerce business requires you understand the difference between a payment gateway vs. payment processor. Read on as we discuss this in depth.
Click Funnels and Leadpages are two popular marketing software platforms used for a wide variety of use cases. Each platform has tons of features that make it attractive and something any marketer would want to use. The main challenge is which one to pick. If you are a marketer or you own a small business, […]
In 2018, it’s estimated that 2.84 trillion dollars in transactions were performed online. That number is expected to almost double by 2021. According to BI Intelligence, affiliate marketing makes up 15% of all revenue in the digital media industry. That’s equal to billions of dollars. I have a question, if affiliate marketing was a scam, […]
Assembling detailed and insightful buyer personas is essential for essentially every business. Without buyer personas, you’ll have to rely on guesswork and assumptions. While you might get lucky, there’s a serious risk that you’ll miss out on opportunities and potential sales if you simply try to wing it. Sometimes, marketers think that buyer personas are […]
If you want to increase sales, understanding how potential customers think and behave during the buying process is essential. Once you know how a potential client thinks you’ll be able to position your products, services, and brand to appeal to them. This, in turn, can help you increase sales and satisfaction, and improve other metrics. […]
Ecommerce is one of the fastest growing segments of the economy. If you follow tech or financial news, you’ve almost certainly heard an analyst talking about ecommerce at one point or another. And if you ask someone on the streets to name an ecommerce company, they’ll probably say Amazon Ask people to define ecommerce, however, […]
Customer acquisition cost (CAC) is one of the must know metrics in your business. It doesn’t matter if you’re selling jeans or cars. The formula for CAC is straightforward. It adds sales and marketing expenses over a period of time and divides it by the number of new customers. This is also known as blended […]
ARPU is a metric used by subscription businesses and non-subscription businesses alike. It helps them understand how much they’ll earn every time they sell a unit of product. This number is an average and shouldn’t be used to evaluate individual transactions. Instead, it should be used to understand your businesses health over time. It’s relevant […]
Your pricing strategy will play a big role in determining the success or failure of your company. If your prices are too expensive, you will lose out on customers and sales. If your prices are too cheap, you’re missing out on potential profits. So how can you determine the right price? It’s easier said than […]
When someone mentions SEPA wire transfers they can be referring to multiple things. There’s something known as SEPA credit transfer (SCT) and SEPA direct debit (SDD). Both of them entail moving money out of your account and into another person’s account but they’re used in different situations. If you’re not careful, it could spell trouble […]
Arbitrage is the process of buying something in one place and selling it in another place at a slight markup to take advantage of price differences. In the past, people would buy grain up north and sell it down south and pocket the difference. In a digital world, that has become more difficult. Customers are […]
At PayKickstart, we recognize that a shopping cart can be more than just a shopping cart. Your cart can also be a powerful marketing tool that you can leverage to increase sales and ultimately profits. In fact, we built an order bump feature right into our shopping cart that allows customers to add additional products […]
By using quantified buyer personas, you will be able to target the right individuals precisely by using the right value proposition at the right prices.
What if you could double your revenues with just a few clicks of a button. This might sound too good to be true but with one-click upsells, it’s possible. We’ve done split tests with some of our customers and found that by using one-click upsells our clients were able to more than double their revenues, […]
In your personal life, accounting is easy. You get a check and record it as income. SaaS revenue recognition is a lot more complicated. When money hits your account, it seems natural to recognize it as revenue and pat yourself on the back for a job well done. In reality, that cash isn’t revenue until […]
Payment gateway providers are a lot like traffic lights: they tell you when to proceed … and when to stop. Online sellers want the green light to stay on constantly when sales transactions are processed. But it’s not. The light turns red way too often. Here’s a troubling set of ecommerce statistics: About one in […]
The only two things that are sure in this life are death and taxes. With recent advances in technology, I’m not so sure about the death part. Sales tax on services and products is one of the largest sources of revenue for states and plays a critical role in keeping essential infrastructure running. If you […]
How much should you charge for your product or software? This turned out to be one of the toughest questions for the PayKickstart team to answer. Picking a price point is quite frankly, difficult. What if you charge too little and leave profits on the table? Or what if you charge too much and it […]
If you’re new to the SaaS game, figuring out which metrics and reports to pay attention to can be overwhelming. It’s easy to focus on metrics that don’t matter much, like what screen resolution your customers are using, simply because they’re there. Once you figure out the important metrics, you gain a much deeper understanding […]
Want to be an ecommerce entrepreneur? Or are you already one but looking for a bit of extra inspiration and motivation? If you’re in the ecommerce industry, you owe it to yourself to follow some of the top ecommerce entrepreneurs on social media. Most big name ecommerce entrepreneurs are sharp, insightful, and have loads of […]
One of the most important decisions you can make when setting up your ecommerce store is selecting a shopping cart solution. Your shopping cart is going to have a huge impact on conversions, which in turn will affect revenues and sales. Likewise, your shopping cart can impact security, user experience, and even perceptions of your […]
Affiliate managers are a dime a dozen with most claiming to be the best affiliate manager. Before we jump into what the best affiliate manager is and how to identify it, let’s take a step back and talk about what an affiliate manager is in the first place. An affiliate manager is a software program […]
As a vendor, you may have multiple products and services that have different pricing models. For example, you may have a business that sells both a subscription service as well as a per-item billing service. In such a case, your customers will have different billing profiles. Additionally, once your customer base grows, you may begin […]
Tiered pricing and volume pricing are a bit more complex than standard pricing because the more someone buys the more the price changes. There’s also an added layer of confusion around the terms because they’re often used interchangeably. In reality, there’s a difference between the two types of pricing. One may maximize revenue while the […]
There are countless ways to price products and services. It depends on a number of factors like positioning in the market, target audience, and quality. Some pricing strategies are ideal for maximizing revenue on the front end while lowering acquisition costs. One of those strategies is price bundling. Bundle pricing has been in use for […]
Invoices are an integral part of business. When they’re paid on time there’s enough cash to meet payroll and take care of your expenses. According to a study by Market Invoice, 60% of all invoices are paid late. Some clients are chronic late payers while others might have run into unforeseen circumstances that pushed your […]
How to price your product is the single most important exercise you can undertake in your business. Whether you are selling t-shirts or a SaaS service, how you price your product will determine its success or failure as well as that of your very company. If this is the case, why is it that for […]
At PayKickstart, we’re building one of the best blogs for ecommerce and online shopping, period. Our list of articles is already quite extensive and growing. In the not-so-distant future, you’ll be able to check out our blog to learn about a huge range of ecommerce related topics. Whether you want to learn about upselling, user […]
The history of commerce stretches back thousands of years. In fact, by studying commerce and trade from a historical perspective, you can develop a considerable understanding of human civilization. Trade routes, wars over access to resources, and the advance of shipping technologies, among other things, have all had a great impact on human society. The […]
The concept behind the freemium model is simple: You rapidly build your subscription base by giving your service away for free. Once your customers are hooked on the value you provide, they’ll naturally want to step up to the (even more valuable) paid version. The freemium model is basically a digital version of the classic […]
CAC is a term that represents a metric that has an impact on every other aspect of your business. It affects: Budgets Profitability Forecasts Pricing Marketing and sales channels What is CAC? CAC (customer acquisition cost) is the average amount of money you spend to acquire a new customer. It’s also one of the […]
Setting up a reliable SaaS billing system is the foundation of your business success. Scaling SaaS billing can be overwhelming. On top of all, it can be risky and complex. In this article, we’ll have a look at various SaaS billing options. Why is SaaS Billing So Important Selecting a billing system for a SaaS […]
Your SaaS ACV (annual contract value) is one of those metrics that determines how other parts of your business operate. It directly impacts: Sales strategy Marketing channels Simply put, if you’re not optimizing and planning around ACV then you’re likely spending too much for too little return on investment. That means it’s difficult to grow […]
SaaS affiliate software is what the best companies use to grow their top line revenue. Dropbox used an affiliate program with a twist to build a multibillion dollar brand. AirBnB went from a little more than 100k users in 2010 to over 100 million users in 2017. This was due in part to implementing the […]
What is net negative churn and is it good for your SaaS business? To answer this question, let’s first look at the definition of churn. When building any business, customers will inevitably leave. In some cases, you will know why they left but in most, you won’t. This customer departure is known as churn. In […]
Since appearing on the scene back in 2010, phone-based credit card readers have changed the way small business do business. They didn’t have a lot of options to begin with, even into the 2000s it involved things like the old style manual credit card imprinter and required a signature. Among the short-comings of these systems, […]
Here’s my field-tested theory on subscription management software: If you only need a garden hoe, don’t rent a backhoe. But if you really do need a backhoe, by all means go get one – just don’t start drooling over the Komatsu PC4000 hydraulic excavator sitting at center stage on the heavy equipment seller’s lot. In […]
There are many things to take into consideration when you’re accounting for revenue that enters your business. With the ASC 606 standards in full swing, that process has gotten more complex for many businesses. At least part of the income entering your business will be for services you’ve not rendered or products you’ve not sent […]
Monthly Recurring Revenue (usually referred to as MRR) is one of the most important metrics in a subscription business. It helps you understand whether you’re growing or contracting every month. A simple rule of thumb is that long as MRR is more than all of your expenses, you‘re running a profitable business. As soon as […]
The Latin language has been dead for centuries but we still have vestiges of it in English. The term prorated billing stems from the Latin word pro rata which loosely translates to ‘in proportion.’ Then, pro rata could mean anything that’s in proportion. Today, we tend to look at it in terms of money or […]
Storing credit card information is necessary for transactions to take place on the Internet and even at a POS terminal. Whether you are a SaaS company or artisan shop selling hand-made shoes, you need your customers’ credit card information to bill them. The problem arises when storing credit cards is done improperly, resulting in poor […]
In 2014, The Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board created new standards which prescribed rules for recognizing revenue in all industries around the world. Those standards are called ASC 606 (in the US) and IFRS 15 (international version). It replaces the old standard for revenue recognition known as ASC 605. Companies […]
Setting up your e-commerce store could be an exciting moment. You just completed all the grunt work of coming up with the best idea, created your store, completed setting up all the social media accounts, and have all the products listed. You’ve probably made a few sales through word of mouth and social media promotion, […]
With the right billing tool, you’ll be able to cut down on a lot of the stress associated with collecting payments. The entire process is seamless and your customers will be happy. The wrong billing tool does the opposite. Invoices will sit around unpaid and your customers will drop off as soon as you acquire […]
There are two things every digital marketer should know about “credit card declined” problems that put a screeching halt to sales during the online checkout process: Card declined notifications are an inescapable part of doing business online You don’t have to lose the order because of them Whether you realize it or not, about 15 […]
In the real world, it seems like it’s a rule that every shopping cart has a squeaky wheel. With online shopping carts you don’t have to worry about those wheels squeaking. However, other problems can still emerge and if they negatively affect the customer’s experience, you could end up losing sales. For many industries, shopping […]
Should you accept Bitcoin? Is it worth your time to integrate with an eWallet? Would cash on delivery pad your bottom line? These are important questions when you’re trying to figure out the best online payment methods for your business. It doesn’t help when every day, it seems like there’s a new one added to […]
Credit card fraud is an umbrella term used to describe theft that involves the use of a credit, debit, or other payment card. People who engage in credit card fraud either want to steal money from the card or collect goods without legitimate payment. It’s an unfortunate reality online business owners have to battle every […]
Automated Clearing House or ACH payment processing is an electronic money transfer merchant service that businesses offer to customers as an alternative to credit card payments. Although credit card payments are ubiquitous and almost all merchants offer it, there are some situations when ACH payment processing makes more sense for both the customer and the […]
Major companies like Microsoft and Adobe are shifting from a fixed payments model to a recurring payments model. Even smaller, traditionally fixed-payment businesses like flower sellers, lawn maintenance and plumbers are moving to recurring payments models. While the main driver behind this trend is the availability of recurring payments platforms like PayKickstart that allow businesses […]
A subscription business model is a great way to produce a predictable income but comes with its own set of unique challenges. It takes a lot of energy and well thought out strategies to acquire customers. Once they’ve signed up, you work hard to keep them satisfied by delivering first class customer service and products. […]
CLTV is one of the most important metrics in your business. It’s the difference between focusing on customers segments that’ll grow your bottom line exponentially and losing it all. Yes, it’s that important. What is CLTV? CLTV (Customer Lifetime Value and) also known as LTV (Lifetime Value) is the dollar amount each customer is worth […]
Are you looking for more ways to earn money from your website? Would you like to build a solid source of passive income? Then give affiliate marketing a try. Affiliate marketing is the form of digital advertising where you earn money for referring qualified leads or sales to a product of your choosing. The first […]
For anyone selling a product/service online, you’ve probably tried many different shopping carts. I’m sure you quickly realized that, not all shopping carts are created equal. Many have ignored the fact that technology moves quickly – and so do customer expectations when it comes to purchasing online. It’s why we created this infographic – whether […]
For a small business owner working online, payment processing is probably one of the top priorities. It can be quite overwhelming: All those numbers, merchant accounts, paperwork submission and approval process may be quite intimidating. If you’ve researched the question at all, PayPal has probably come up more than once. PayPal is one of the […]
In the flood of new and emerging payment methods, it’s hard to find what’s best for your business. Working with merchants, gateways, security, it can all get to be a series of hurdles you have to face… as if starting a new business is not overwhelming enough! Accepting online payments can become surprisingly difficult, at […]
A product page is probably the most important page on your website. Whether you are selling actual products or offering an access to your membership, you want you “money” page to both rank and convert! Here are 5 elements of a product page that both give your keywords prominence (boosting organic rankings) and help increase […]
An upsell means enticing a customer to buy more by offering upgrades, additional products (cross-selling), one-time offers (OTOs) or other add-ons to their initial purchase to increase the amount of the final order. Basically, an upsell is anything that increases your customer’s order value. Amazon is a great example of a well-set-up upselling strategy: Why […]
We are super excited to announce a brand new feature that we’ve added to PayKickstart. It’s been one that a lot of people have been waiting on and was holding some people back from making the switch. Well it’s here! You can now import existing Stripe subscriptions into PayKickstart with just a few clicks. Seamlessly […]
Share this Infographic Please include attribution to PayKickstart with this graphic. [php]<p><a href=”https://paykickstart.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/5-Sales-Hacks-2.jpg”><img alt=”TRIPLE Sales with These 5 Simple Conversion Tricks” src=”https://paykickstart.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/5-Sales-Hacks-2.jpg”/></a></p> <p></p>[/php] If you’re not using PayKickstart to sell your products and handle all of your upsells, subscription payments automatically, what are you waiting for? It’s free to get started today! Are You Ready […]
Co-Founder Mark Thompson, interviews Jeff J Hunter, one of the original early-adopters of PayKickstart – showing how he increased his revenue by 5X without making any other changes in his business, besides making the switch to PayKickstart. If you’re not using PayKickstart to sell your products and handle all of your sales and automation […]
Your sales funnel is the roadmap for turning visitors into buyers and then, hopefully, lifetime repeat customers. If you’re just starting out, it may be hard to gauge what success means for your funnel. For veterans, you’ve already got a baseline to use as a springboard to success. Whether you’re creating a new sales funnel […]
One of my group coaching students recently asked me: “Are membership sites trending up or down?” And my answer to that was simple… As long as businesses have been selling goods/services to people – “memberships” have been around and they’re not going anywhere. They’re just found in different forms. First were the days when the […]
PayKickstart has made some fantastic enhancements to the platform, to help vendors easily sell their products and services to a global marketplace. As you probably are already aware, PayKickstart allows vendors to select their Language and Currency preferences on a Campaign basis. This means you can easily charge for your products/services in the currency of […]
One of the best things about selling online is the ability to AUTOMATE your entire sales funnel and the flow of your visitor transitioning into your customer. By automating what segments you put them into, you can deliver a hyper-targeted email message to them on pure auto-pilot. You just have to set it up once, […]
For online businesses, there is no metric more important than the checkout conversion rate. This is the page that actually “finalizes” the sale.. Even a tiny increase of 2% in conversion rate can add hundreds and thousands of dollars in revenue to your bottom line. It’s why at PayKickstart, we focus much of our time […]
Disputes and Chargebacks are not the most exciting thing to talk about when it comes to running a business. However it’s a topic that can dramatically impact it in a negative way if you don’t have a plan in place to avoid and handle them. If not managed properly, your payment gateway or merchant accounts […]
With PayKickstart growing by leaps and bounds, we get people asking all the time… “So I keep hearing about PayKickstart. What’s it all about?” We thought it would be neat to actually SHOW YOU how exactly PayKickstart leverages automation, a robust feature-set and never seen before functionality to help Entrepreneurs power their online businesses like […]
We have some exciting news to share! Stripe has endorsed PayKickstart as one of their official integration partners. As PayKickstart continues to grow, getting recognition from one of the most well-known and authority Payment Gateways will help us continue to spread the word about our vision for building the ultimate shopping cart and affiliate management […]
Originally when we designed and built PayKickstart, it was meant solely digital goods – software, information products, etc… Well we have some EXCITING news to share with you! PayKickstart has evolved. We understand that not all businesses are 100% digital..they need ability to handle physical goods in the seamless, automated fashion as we handle digital […]
Our PayKickstart vendors have been asking “Hey…when are you planning on adding more checkout design options?” …and we listened! Our template library is growing, now with 16 different checkout templates to choose from (not to mention our checkout popup widgets and checkout embed form options)… We have just rolled out 8 new beautiful checkout design […]
One of the single greatest changes we made in our online business, that had the biggest impact on our bottom-line, was simply offering additional products/services to our existing customers – immediately after their initial purchase. This is better known as an upsell or one-time offer. However we learned a number of lessons along the way […]
The PayKickstart platform has been growing at a ultra-fast pace – with new features and functionality added each month. One comment I’ve received over and over again, when having casual conversations with new PayKickstart vendors is… “Wait! What? PayKickstart Can Do That!?” Our bad… I guess we have been head-down, making the platform the ultimate […]
The Teachable concept is simple. Their platform enable teachers to create their own online “classrooms”, allowing them to sell their class content to the students through their own websites. Teachable handles all of the content hosting and delivery, so you can focus on what matters: creating awesome courses! And now… you can automatically enroll your customers […]
We are happy to announce a new partnership and integration with Easy Pay Direct. Knowledgebase Article https://support.paykickstart.com/knowledge-base/integrating-easypaydirect/ While gateways like Paypal and Stripe are great platforms, designed for new businesses – EPD is a perfect solution for established companies who want to mitigate risk. With Easy Pay Direct, they take the time to get to […]
At PayKickstart, we understand that selling your products online should not be limited to only one market. This is why we’ve recently implemented the ability to automatically translate your already high-converting checkout page into 12 Different Languages. With this new feature, (among others) you can translate the coupon code fields, order bumps, name, email, and […]
Ugh! Remember the days when you had to use a spreadsheet to manually calculate revenue sharing with each of the partners you work with? Going from report to report, adding up your revenue, subtracting affiliate commissions, gateway fees, etc… Then manually paying out each partner. WHAT! You mean you’re still doing it that way? Well […]
It’s that time again! Another MEGA feature update to tell you about. We are super excited to announce a ton of new features that our PayKickstart members have been begging us to add. Well, lets go ahead and share each of the new updates that are now available to ALL PayKickstart members. Feature #1: JV […]
Have you ever wanted to get the top affiliates to promote your product… …only to end up with no response? The video below fixes that for you. Believe it or not, you can actually get affiliates to promote you even without “begging” them to promote. They just WANT to and LOOK FORWARD to. In this […]
You will be amazed when I show two recent case studies that show how we are using the psychology of scarcity, one of the most powerful sales triggers, when running an business online… In this video, I’ll show you how we had a $80k day – where our conversions tripled literally overnight – just using […]
Got some awesome comments and feedback from you guys on the first “lesson” I posted about how to DOUBLE your transaction value w/ building your backend sales funnel and using 1-click upsells… Did you miss it? Watch Lesson #1 Here. Today – I just released Lesson #2, which continues to show you more ways to […]
[WATCH VIDEO TRAINING BELOW] Did you know there are really only 3 ways to grow any business? They are: #1. (Traffic and Conversions on the initial sale). Increase the # of customers you get #2. (Upsells). Increase how much your customers spend PER Purchase #3. (Cross-Sells). Increase how OFTEN your customers make a purchase Most […]
We are super excited to announce a TON of new features to the PayKickstart platform that will help all vendors generate more revenue, provide more flexibility and ease of use. All of the features are now live inside your account! Let’s dive right in… #1. Order Bumps Probably our most anticipated feature in this release, […]
Over the next few days, we’ll be revealing some of the biggest and best feature updates to PayKickstart that we’ve been working on over the past couple of weeks. Though there are several features we added because of our own experience and results as online entrepreneurs, the majority of the features that have been added […]
Just one week removed from our last BIG update with tons of new sales features and enhancements, we’re back with EVEN MORE today! Keep asking, and we’ll keep giving… Check out what’s on tap for future releases and how you can request for ANY feature your big mind can dream up. 🙂 Here’s a breakdown […]
Are you bringing in new customers? How are you rewarding your most loyal active customers? Are you able to recover lost visitors and turn them into paying customers? Everyone loves a deal! And using coupon codes can be a powerful sales machine for any online business. We’ve compiled a list of 8 easy ways to […]
We launched just 1 month ago, and PayKickstart is quickly growing and scaling, not only the number of new people using PK to sell their products online, but more importantly the new features and updates we’re making available to YOU to help you sell even MORE products! Our main goal is to make PayKickstart the […]
You’ve got a great product in hand, and you’ve crafted a marketing campaign that would make the best salesperson swoon. It seems perfect, but you’re not seeing the results that you thought were certain to come. Marketing campaign craftsmanship doesn’t stand a chance if you’re not matching your sales message to your target audience. Think […]
When businesses look to generate tons of revenue, they usually think of a hugely successful product launch. That initial surge of sales can make any marketer’s mouth water, but after that first launch, you’ll see the natural progression (or regression) of success trickle down to a slow. To maintain the profits, marketers will begin to […]
We’ve been hyping up PayKickstart for some time now, and you might be intrigued, to say the least. Payment processing is pivotal in any business with an online sales base. Without accurate, secure, and efficient payment processors, you’ll suffer tremendously with acquiring the payments from your customers which can influence your conversion rates and, ultimately, […]
You’ve got a new product and you’re ready to launch. Investing your hopes and dreams on a new product can be emotionally and physically exhausting, to say the least, but if you do it right, the rewards can be huge. Over a quarter million new products are launched every year but with a failure rate […]
Our entire business is hinged on the fact that we are providing a product to our customers that is useful and effective — but that doesn’t even begin to have the same impact as marketing does on our overall success. For instance, take two identical products and give them to two different businesses to market. […]
The best way to target the right audience is to first understand who makes up your audience in the first place. Without the details, you’re taking shots in the dark about who to target, what their needs are, and how to best cater to those needs. When it comes to the people who matter to […]
That first sale from a customer is not just the end of a funnel; it’s the beginning of a loyal purchasing relationship. And from the moment that first sale is made, the clock starts ticking. Did you know that 40% of an ecommerce store’s sales are made by a mere 8% of its customers: your […]
Have you ever been perusing a website when suddenly the site crashes? What do you do? You may hit the ‘refresh’ button a few times, but if the site is down for the count, then you’ll probably wander away and abandon your cart — either temporarily or permanently. Brick-and-mortar businesses stand to lose about 8% […]
Who is the most important person to your business? Is it yourself? Your customer? What if we told you that the most important people are your AFFILIATES? Your affiliates are the folks who have chosen your company as one that they will invest their time and effort promoting in return for monetary compensation. While this […]
If you’re reviewing your numbers and struggling to make the math work in your favor, you’re not alone. Many small- and medium-sized businesses especially are always looking for ways to increase their margins of profit and revenue streams. Even the smallest changes in the way we operate can have huge impacts on our bottom lines. […]
Would you like a large for a quarter more? You’ve probably heard a phrase similar to this at the movie theater or in a fast food lane. These businesses have perfected the art of the upsell, and it’s allowed for their companies to thrive throughout the years. Increase Profits Exponentially — and with Little Extra […]
When you hear the word “metrics”, can you instantly visualize what we’re talking about when it comes to your online marketing and your business? Metrics are simply the measurements that help you determine if you’re reaching your KPIs. More importantly, they are critical to guiding your business decisions. Without having a firm understanding of your […]
When it comes to internet marketing, you’ve probably heard what some may refer to as a ‘buzzword’: FUNNEL. It’s one of the most misunderstood terms in the industry, and it’s haphazardly thrown around often to describe the trickle of customers from lead to sale. But this word is more than just an idea; it’s one […]
Acquisition, Activation, and Monetization – these are the biggest conversion funnels that businesses use today. But if you’re constantly having to beef up your acquisition funnel, then you’re missing out on one of the most pivotal qualities that define a big business from a successful one: customer retention. Failing to attend to customer relationships can […]
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