Taking Credit Card, E-Check, and Online Payments
Whatever your wellness specialty, you NEED a way to take credit card payments. I'll be honest: I was just too lazy to try to figure out merchant accounts and shopping carts in the early days of starting my coaching practice. I figured I didn't need it until my practice "got going." But, I was lucky and got some paying clients right away - and I knew I was going to have to start acting like a "professional coach" - including having a way to bill them in advance and take credit cards!
So, I got an account up and running in 10 minutes on PayPal and took in my first coaching dollars - easy as pie! It allowed me to start taking credit card and e-check payments right away (no more "it's in the mail" or waiting for the bank to clear the check.)
It was so simple, and I was so lazy, that even when my income justified starting a merchant account, I still used PayPal exclusively for the first 2 years of my practice. Even when I launched my first websites, I continued to use the PayPal system to take sign-ups for my coaching programs. I don't recommend you wait that long, mind you... but I do recommend you get a PayPal account and start taking credit cards RIGHT NOW.
I highly recommend that every private practitioner in any wellness field have a credit card on file for each of their clients, and have the ability to take credit card and online payments. It's part of your professional posture and allows you to charge people for no-shows and non-payments. (More on that in other articles!)
I also wanted to be able to invoice people monthly using a simple online billing system. PayPal worked well for that also. Here's how it works: I request money through PayPal, and they get an email with an easy "click to pay" payment option. The payment system is secure and simple.
One problem with using PayPal is that some people associate it with eBay and may view a PayPal-only payment system as a little less than professional. But that perception seems to be fading quickly as PayPal expands its services. Most online merchants now offer a PayPal payment option because they know it's quite popular and feels more secure than giving your credit card information directly to the merchant.
You do still want to get a merchant account and shopping cart going when you build your website, or shortly thereafter. But in the interim the PayPal system is great for getting your online and offline credit card payments up and running in a hurry.
You can invoice people by email for goods and services using either the "invoice" feature or the "request money" feature. They can pay using a credit card OR an e-check drawn on their regular checking account.
One improved feature in the last year or so is that clients no longer need to sign up for a PayPal account to make their payment. (Remember to tell them this when you invoice them so they know they have the option.)
There's other good features like PayPal shopping cart which I have not used personally but which seems simple and easy to integrate into your website or emails. You also can create PayPal "pay now" buttons for your websites and html emails and Ezines like Constant Contact.
Finally, the latest and greatest in PayPal is their "Virtual Terminal" features which allows you to take phone and fax credit card orders like any merchant (without needing to sign up for a merchant account). This is the clincher - you don't ever need to say "pay me with PayPal" or send a money request - you just take a credit card number and enter it into the Virtual Terminal yourself. They get a receipt emailed to them, you get paid instantly, and you don't have to worry about them losing your money request, forgetting to pay, or having to wait the 2-4 days for their payment to process.
Trust me, when you do this you will feel like a TRUE professional. Something about being able to take credit cards like the rest of the world makes you understand on a gut level that your services are as valuable as anyone else's! If you want to check it out, visit them by clicking my affiliate link: 
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Virtual University
