Web Based Subscription Start Up - Love a bit of help

You need something like an aweber account I think for the emails, not sure about texts. Bear in mind most people pay NOT to have emails sent to them (anti spam) so I think you might have a hard sell persuading them to pay unless you have something very exclusive and very desirable. You can get google alerts already for free.
------------------------
Wholesale Home Accessories

Wholesale Mirrors

Hi Paul

We've actually set this up for a couple of people so that we administrate it - there are a couple of variants though. I'm happy to give more advice offline if you don't want to reveal too much, but in general terms you need to consider:

- how many subscribers you will initially have, what fee they pay and whether you are willing to risk investing in a full-on shopping cart system?
- whether you want the entire system to be integrated or if you are prepared to be slightly more manual (i.e. can you spend an hour per day checking emails/lists? Or do your subscribers expect an immediate response?)
- will your bank give you a direct debit facility? Can it be a standing order of a fixed amount instead? Would you feel comfortable giving your account details to subscribers?
- what accounting software do you use? (Strange question, but you need to make sure it integrates!)
- re: texts - are these UK mobile numbers?
- would you worry about them passing on this info to other people if it was available online?

MORE INFO ON EMAIL MARKETING/SMS Bulk Texts

It sounds like you are wanting something pretty specific though - drop me a line if you need to talk it thru?

Caroline
------------------------

Caroline Wylie

www.virtuallysorted.com

www.SocietyOfVirtualAssistants.co.uk

Hi Paul,

You can use PayPal as a payment processor. It's pretty cheap and can be set up to manage recurring payments.

We have worked on similar members systems. Your clients would sign up to gain access to a restricted area for a monthly payment.

If you want to ask about our services please feel free to give me a buzz on 0845 86 20 353.
------------------------
Matthew Adams
____________________
The cheap and easy website package

http://www.easyeasywebsite.co.uk

Wise words and may touch base with a few of you.

Can the paypal system be integrated into the back end of the site so that you can identify who hasnt paid etc. Just dont want to have thousands of customers entries within the accounting system - just want a sales figure to come out of the back end?
------------------------
pauldavidvanstone@hotmail.com

Paypal can tell you when a subscription is either cancelled or doesn't collect for some reason (e.g. say if there isn't any money in the Paypal account).

In terms of it integrating with the back end of your accounting system - it's slightly tricky because paypal takes a % fee on each transaction, but all you are really concerned with is the net that actually goes into your bank account. There are a couple of programmes you can use which specifically work with Paypal - Kashflow is one of them: www.kashflow.co.uk
------------------------

Caroline Wylie

www.virtuallysorted.com

www.SocietyOfVirtualAssistants.co.uk

thanks caroline - kashflow seems to be impressive software - may bell you re your call answering!
------------------------
pauldavidvanstone@hotmail.com

Hey Paul,

Paypal will do the trick on the subscription side of things.

As for the text messages. You need to have an account on an sms gateway and a script on your server along with a database of numbers that want notification. The text messages from these bulk providers are not free but are a lot cheaper than the the consumer price.

If you want to get in touch just drop me an e-mail at niall@limeliteweb.co.uk
------------------------
Oxford Web Design