Once in our lives, we've made a trip to the shrink(since our friends would be too tired to listen to us rant) or hired the services of a life coach. Some may shirk away from the idea of having somebody coach our lives, or listen to us rant about things private to us. However, this “i have an appointment with my shrink” has also translated itself to the ecommerce market. Let's just say they've gone bigtime and have been offering to online consumers as well.

If you're a life coach, you can double your revenue, possibly make it more convenient for your patients to benefit from your products and services. How? Through a free merchant account.

Here are ways to maximize the capabilities of your free merchant account:

1. Offer to other countries

Having a website alone isn't enough. Offering your services online to your countrymen as well as to other interested customers outside of your borders can prove rewarding financially and work-wise. You get to tackle the different situations of different customers located in different parts of the world. A free merchant account can accept their credit card payments for your services.

2. Recurring billing

Ever heard of recurring billing? Like most life coaches, you send out different newsletters, and a host of products and services to your customers. They can opt to pay at their convenience with recurring billing. Recurring billing automatically charges your customers' accounts for fees to products or services they've subscribed to. They don't have to stop by your clinic, or miss a monthly payment. Your free merchant account can deal with that for you.

3. Sell your ebooks online

Selling your books has never been easier with a free merchant account. Simply promote your books on your site and your customers can make purchases with their credit cards. No more waiting for check payments and you don't have to deal with fraudulent characters who make purchases and run.

4. Audio

As much as life coaches are great in giving advice, sometimes the written word cannot compensate for the spoken word, hence the rise of podcasts and audio recordings. You can offer audio recordings of stress-relieving meditations easily. Send to their emails and receive payments by offering credit card processing on your site using a free merchant account.

5. Real time consultations over the net

This one's pretty new. Offer one on one webcam consultations over the net for your customers who aren't in your area (or if they don't feel like getting off the couch). Charge by the minute or by the hour. They can simply pay via your free merchant account, and you get their payments in your bank account.

6. Pre booking of seminars

You've got a seminar in Denver, or a bootcamp in Chicago and you've still got a couple of people from other parts of the globe clamoring for you to have seminars in their area. It's a big risk for you to just go there, and not have anyone fix the seminar details for you. However, if you have pre booking of seminars on your site, it can be easier for your team to finalize locations, and other details for your seminar. Case in point: If you only have 3 people who have pre-booked a seminar in a certain place, you can cancel the seminar or make necessary changes to it easily. By paying for the seminar fees via your free merchant account, they are already signifying their intent to attend your seminar – and whether they show up or not, you've already been paid. Reduced level of risk for you.

Life coaches deal with different situations. And they deal with people in different locations. Having a website can allow you to widen your network, gain more revenue, and help more people in the process.