PAYPAL!

The only thing that this so-called payment processing company seems to have mastered is the ability to COPY AND PASTE.

Here’s an example. Yesterday, I wanted to begin doing business with TradeBit.com to sell my software. During the singup process, I realized that they were using this dreaded company for their payment processing. Now don’t get me wrong; I’m not mad at TradeBit.com and other companies that use PayPal – I’m mad at PayPal itself for limiting small entrepreneurs from growing.

For years I’ve been trying to get a REAL response as to why I can’t receive payments in my country – and they’ve been giving me the EXACT SAME DUMB VAGUE REPLY over and over again. Here’s the latest copy/paste email that I got from them below …

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Thank you for contacting PayPal.

Sincerely,
James Garner
PayPal, an eBay Company
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Would you believe me if I told you that this is the EXACT VAGUE SET OF REPLIES that I got 4 years ago, 3 years ago, 2 years ago, 1 year ago – AND TWICE YESTERDAY ??? Think I’m kidding? Try it out. Send a help message to PayPal and say that you are from a country that cannot receive payments – see what kind of response you would get.

It’s pretty obvious to me that the “copy/paste/mail merge” mentality is the specialty of the day in that company. I’ve received checks from AlertPay and other companies so I know that the “challenges and complexities associated with the worldwide financial network” – is actually “ONE BIG STEAMING PILE OF B.S.”

It’s a small world and other companies have learned to make and receive payments to any country – so when the hell is PayPal going to stop behaving like it owns the internet, get off its royal backside and actually do something about these so-called challenges and complexities?

As for companies like TradeBit.com etc that use PayPal as their only payment processor – they should not limit themselves to just one company. There are other companies like AlertPay for example that will allow you to expand your customer base. Giving customers a wide range of options is key to business growth – a lesson that PayPal has failed to understand.

Let’s start off with “themed ad units”. What are these all about? These types of ads can be used on your website to promote special occasions. For example, you can have ads that will display products around Christmas time, Valentine’s Day, New Year’s Day, etc. You can consider these types of ads as “occasion specific” and are focused on particular themes at particular times of the year.

Now bear in mind of course that these ads will only appear if they are available from your advertisers. If there are no ads that are “occasion specific” then other ads may appear on your site – but this of course all depends on your Adsense settings. You would also need to bear in mind that the ads that appear for these occasions are “location specific”. After all, not every country in the world puts high priority on occasions like Christmas, Valentine’s Day, New Year’s, etc, so don’t expect these ads to show up in every location where your website is viewed. Keep these things in mind if you intend to use “theme ad units” on your website. Now let’s look at “link units” and see what they can do for you.

Depending on the placement of your ads and the content of your pages, you may wish to use “link units” as a viable alternative. The first difference that you would notice with “link units” compared to other ad units is that you would not get paid when a user initiates a click on this ad unit (it simply opens up a new page with ads), you would get paid however if a user clicks on any of the ads in the new ad page – in other words, a user has to initiate two (2) steps in order for you to get paid. Now some webmasters may think that giving the user this “extra step” is a waste of time, but in reality, this is a way of ensuring that the user is really interested in the ad being offered – and that they did not simply click on it by accident (hey, it happens sometimes.

Because these link unit results are based on a specific topic that the user wishes to view (because they clicked on your link unit ad first) the resulting ads displayed are more meaningful to the user. This ad unit is very useful if you have webpages that focus on specific topics. So look at your webpages and see which ones would benefit from “link unit” ads.

So what do you think about Google’s ad unit structure. Does it work for you? What strategies do you use? Do you use Google Adsense or do you use another company? I’d love to hear your views about this topic so feel free to leave your comments below.

Be grateful for the stores that make it so easy to buy the things you need, the restaurants, the utilities, services, and electrical appliances that make your life effortless. Be grateful for the magazines and the books that you read. Be grateful for the chair that you sit on, and the pavement that you walk on. Be grateful for the weather, the sun, the sky, the birds, the trees, the grass, the rain, and the flowers.

There is so much to be greatful for … so never stop being greatful.

May your days be most gratifying

However, I think you could visualize this to yourself more often. Seeing the end result in all its glorious detail, bypassing the cursed-hows and whys, and feeling the emotions you expect to feel.

Visualize…

Right this very moment, there’s a gorgeous home on a splendid property with a spectacular view, whose roof will someday give you shelter. But that’s not all…

Right this very moment, there are beautiful souls on this beautiful planet, whom you do not even know, yet through your meanderings and theirs, paths will cross, love will be shared, and eternal friendships will be created. But that’s not all…

And nothing you do, or don’t do, can prevent these serendipities I’ve just shared, and so, so many more…

Think about it…

In the meantime, stay tuned for the “new and improved” version of VahidLancaster.com