Merchant Account Fees To Business Owners

As a business owner, when you set up a merchant account to enable your customers the ability to pay for your products or services using credit cards (or debit cards with a Visa or Mastercard Logo), you will have some fees associated with the credit card transactions.

The specific fee amounts that you pay will depend on the merchant account provider you select to provide your credit card processing service; however, there is a list of typical fees that the majority of providers charge business owners in exchange for the ability to accept credit as payment.

Discount Rates
Visa and MasterCard have what is called “interchange” rates. They range in price- so in order to make it easier, the merchant providers created three categories.

Qualified Discount Rate – a percentage is paid from each dollar charged.

Mid-Qualified Rate – does not apply to merchants that manually enter transactions.

Non-Qualified Rate – added to the qualified rate n certain transactions. Also get billed this higher rate if you don’t use address verification service (AVS) when you manually enter transactions.

Other fees many merchant account providers charge their business customers include, but are not limited to the following:
Reward Cards- most merchant providers charge higher rates if the consumer pays using a reward card.

Transaction Fees- a specific, flat rate that is paid on every sale processed through the credit card processor. (Sometimes the transaction fee is called the interchange fee, authorization fee, or per inquiry fee).

Address Verification Service (AVS)- merchant account providers charge a small fee for the validation service to ensure that the billing address provided in the online checkout process matches the issuing bank’s records. Not using this service will result in hefty charges on the processing of the card for that sale.

Batch Fees- most merchant account providers require that customers close out their transactions a minimum of one time each day. The batch fee pays for expenses for the gateway or software that accesses the credit card processing network. If you don’t have transactions to process, there is no batch fee to pay.

Monthly Statement or Customer Service Fee – most merchant account providers charge a monthly fee in order to cover their monthly costs of operation (paying their customer service team for example).

Monthly Minimum Fee- some merchant account providers require you process a minimum amounts of sales per month, or you pay a monthly minimum. Monthly minimums tend to range between $15 and $40 per month.

Gateway Fees- for some merchant accounts, there are fees for internet and mail order merchants to use an internet gateway service such as Authorize.net, although some merchant providers will cover this fee on their customer’s behalf as part of the package deal. If you are solely an internet business, you’ll want to look for an internet merchant account that includes the gateway service as part of the package.

Annual Fees- often charged by merchant account providers- particularly the merchant account providers that offer free terminal equipment. There are numerous merchant account providers that do not charge an annual fee, so you may want to shop around if the first few you look at require an annual fee. Sometimes it would be cheaper to purchase the equipment than to pay an ongoing annual fee.

Cancellation/Termination Fees- Most merchant accounts require a contract agreement of one or two years and if you cancel early, you are likely to be charged a termination fee.

Chargeback/Retrieval Fees- When a customer requests a refund (or the customer’s credit card issuer requests a refund), merchant account providers typically charge a “chargeback” fee.

5 Top Reasons Impatient Business Owners Should Say "control Myself"

This article is from your MYB Consultancy for small business owners, in fact any business owner

Online Business Education – Operational Risk Management Training

Impatience drives me crazy when I see small business owners being impatient. Working as a business consultant as I do, I see this all the time. If my business owner client is to get the best value from our work they will need to get some balance into their ways, otherwise impatience will hold them back from being the successful business owner they want to be. Who wants to be held back? NOT you.

Patience is a virtue – isn’t that what we’ve always heard. Don’t be too patient though, don’t use it as an excuse to be lazy.

The right balance of patience will help you move forward to improved results. Take a look at these 5 Top Reasons why:

1.You need to complete what you start. Impatient people often don’t complete what they start and therefore don’t make too much progress. In business you need to finish each of your goals. Completed goals bring you a great sense of success and achievement. Successful people complete tasks.

2.You need to stop and listen. Impatient people don’t often take enough notice of what their people are saying around them. In business you need to hear what these people are saying. Rather than just an OK result, pool ideas to achieve a more powerful outcome. Successful people listen.

3.You need to plan. Impatient people often just jump in and get started right away. Part way through the job they find too many problems they hadn’t anticipated. It’s easier to complete a task when you plan what to do. You can enjoy yourself more when you make plans and achieve them. Successful people plan.

4.You need to consult. Impatient people don’t stop to ask others what they have found out about similar tasks. They often make decisions without learning some facts. Facts are very helpful when you are taking actions to develop your business. Don’t just go along with your limited ideas; be like successful people who consult. Successful people consult.

5.You need to share. Sharing ideas with the people around you helps you more than you think. It motivates people to make suggestions and provide you with support. No business owner can achieve success on their own. Sharing with a team of people helps you and it helps them. Successful people share.

When you have a new idea or task to do, remind yourself to “control yourself”. You need to become more patient to be more successful. Use these 5 Top Reasons as your guide. Business and personal growth is the linchpin for great business owners. Take advantage of FREE online business coaching and maximise your Operational Risk Management Training opportunity. Success is what you and I both want for everyone.

Impatient business owners should say this over and over “control myself”

More tips for becoming a successful small business owner can be found at my website: www.businesscoachingsite.com

Top 10 Secrets Of Outrageously Successful Business Owners

Are you struggling to make a profit? Are you challenged in reaching your next success level? Would just like to reach your desired business goals faster?

Then “THE TOP 10 SECRETS OF OUTRAGEOUSLY SUCCESSFUL ENTERPRISES” is a *must* for you. These business secrets are the *BEST OF THE BEST.* These secrets were not gotten from a book or seminar. Rather they represent the wisdom I gained from coaching & consulting hundreds of businesses over the last 21 years ... from the soloist entrepreneur to multi-billion dollar companies.

I GUARANTEE if you apply any one of these top 10 secrets with conviction and commitment, you will experience quantum leaps in your business.

MINDSET SECRETS

1. *EXPECT* TO WIN... *EXPECT* TO SUCCEED

While we all experience highs and lows in our business, outrageously successful enterprises EXPECT to succeed over the long run. For such enterprises,

Success is the ONLY option.

To what extent do you EXPECT to succeed in your business? What less empowering expectations currently undermine your success? Make a *decision* today to succeed. “Cut the cord” on all other possible outcomes.

2. LIVE AND BREATHE YOUR MISSION STATEMENT

While most businesses have crafted a mission statement, it is not enough just to have one. Outrageously successful enterprises live and breathe their missiion statement ... in every goal, every strategy and every project of their business. It is the life force and the reason for everything they do.

Do you have a compelling mission statement for your business? Do you communicate it - both in words and actions - to every client, every prospect, every employee? If you asked any one of these stakeholders what is your mission, would they know what to say?

Post and read your mission statement daily. Include it in all your collateral materials. Live and breathe your mission statement in every goal, decision and action. This one principle will make your business a compelling magnet for greater and greater levels of success.

3. ALWAYS ASK THE MILLION $$ QUESTION:

***** “Where is the opportunity in this situation?” *******

Within *every business challenge,* there is an extraordinary opportunity for a HUGE breakthrough. Even with the most difficult challenges, outrageously successful enterprises never see challenges. They ONLY see opportunities. They constantly ask: “Where is the opportunity in this situation?”

Where is your focus right now in your business - on the challenge or the opporunity? Make it a habit with every challenge to ask: “Where is the opportunity in this situation?” that one question will blow open the doors to new solutions, new strategies and new possibilities to take your business to the next level.

4. BECOME THE ULTIMATE BUSINESS “ROMANTICIST”

Outrageously successful enterprises are constantly “IN LOVE.” Yes, that’s right. They LOVE their customers. They LOVE their employees and vendors. They LOVE their visions. They LOVE everything about their business.

This priniciple is not something you get from a book. It comes from the very heart and soul of why you are in business. When you are “in love,” it shines forth in every client interaction, every exchange with a prospect, every dealing with a peer or vendor. Remember the old cliche, “People don’t care what you know; they want to know that you care.”

Are you “IN LOVE” wiith your clients and prospects? Are you “IN LOVE” with the benefits you offer? Are you “IN LOVE” with every aspect of your business? If not, why not? What do you need to change about your attitude, beliefs or actions to become the “Ultimate Business Romanticist.”

STRATEGY SECRETS

5. LOOK AT MARKETING AS A *CONTINUUM*, NOT AN EVENT.

Contrary to conventional business thinking, marketing does not end with a sale. Outrageously successful enterprises know that marketing is a perpetual process. And, contrary to most business practices, these enterprises focus more than 50% of their marketing efforts **after the sale** -- such as ‘post sale” follow-up, repeat business incentives, backend selling, referral marketing, etc. They know that the greatest revenues are generated *after the sale.”

How do you see and practice marketing in your business -- as an event or a continuum? What *post sales* and prospect follow-up activities can you incorporate as the focus of your marketing efforts? This one shift n your marketing focus alone can increase your revenues 100%, 200%, even 500% ... more than any marketing action you take in your business.

6. CONSTANTLY “MARKET UP”

Within every target market, there is a high end and a low end market and everything in between. Million $$ enterprises constantly stretch their marketing sights and target prospects that most businesses would think impossible to acquire as clients. They constantly “market up” to high end prospects ... a strategy that catalyzes their business to a much bigger game.

What specific prospects ... or kinds of prospects ... would you love to have a clients or customers but think it is impossible? Think out side the box and think BIG. It could be celebrities, politicians, admired companies or CEOs, leaders in your community, rolemodels, etc.

Pick one high end prospect to start. Build a marketing campaign to reach that person or company. This strategy requires persisitence, yet is well worth it. From my own first hand experience, ”marketing up” can skyrocket your reveneues and business exposure instantly and multiply your profits for years to come .

7. MAKE “ADDING MORE VALUE” YOUR #1 CRUSADE.

Outrageously successful enterprises are in the business of creating value. They have a stgrong conviction to contribute to more and more richness to their cleints’ lives and businesses.

In everything they say and do. they let clients know “you matter. Your well-being and success is important to us.” They focus on “what do I have to give?” ... NOT “what do I have to do to get a sale?”

Where is your focus right now --- on adding value, or making the sale? Make a list of at least 10 ways yo can increase the value of your products and services. Implement the easiest one ideas ... starting now. Make “adding value” a routine business priorty. When you do, your products and services will sell themselves.

PERFORMANCE SECRETS

8. OPTIMIZE, OPTIMIZE, OPTIMIZE

Outrageously successful enterprises are masters at achieving the greatest return at the lowest possible risk. They constantly look for ways to reduce the amount of time, money and energy to achieve their ultimate goals.

They take what works and see if they can make it better, faster, cheaper. They know the “what if” implications of every new strategy, goal, product or service. They are pros at maximizing performance tradeoffs.

Do your know the profitabilty of each product or service you offered? Do you know what clients are the most expensive, demanding or time-consuming to serve? If you doubled your client base, do you know the implications on costs, revenues and the operations of your business?

To optimize your business results, think highest and best use of your time, energy and money. ALWAYS THINK HIGHEST AND BEST!!

9. MULTIPLY PROFITS THROUGH THE POWER OF LEVERAGE.

Most businesses build their enterprises in a haphazard way. Outrageously successful businesses grow their businesses from a place of leverge. They look for new ways to convert their current assets, strengths and opportunities into new revenue streams. They constantly take inventory and seek ways to profit from untapped capabilities and underutilized resources. They integrate marketing activities into a single business strategy to maximize results.

How can you leverage

*** your current assets (eg., your client base, employees),
*** your current strengths (eg., your knowledge base, processes),
*** your current resources (eg., your business network, capital),
to quickly grow your business?

How can you revamp your marketing activities so that your products and services sell each other? Leverage is one of the most under-utilized principles for multiplying profits in business.

10. DEVELOP A BIAS TOWARD ACTION

Outrageously successful enteprises understand that, in today’s economy, windows of oportunity are often measured in months ... not years and decades. They know they cannot wait for the perfect strategy, the perfect solution to capitalize on these opportunities. They must act quickly if they want to thrive in these highly changing times.

What new projects, strategies or opporatunites are you stalling in order to achieve perfoection? What new practices, support structures or habits will accelerate your bias toward action?

The Checklist Web Hosting Service for Business Owners

One of the inceptive quality I develop is that the hosting companies can ripe with you. If they separate propose one package, and you thirst more, your netting dwelling possibly down for up to 2 days and/or you may have to change the code on any forms you use to match the new "server settings".

Don't be bothered to interpret a hosting service's subscriber information, FAQs (frequently asked questions), pastime areas or recognition boards on their sites.

A right hosting firm offers as copious of these basics as possible:

This is a hosting company I can succulent afford.

They instance a Money Back Guarantee.

They have hash on their zone about server uptime/downtime.

The transaction contacts me, at my first off email address, when/if acknowledged are installment server problems. (Could be problems when they're updating their server, hurricanes, etc.)

They arrange at maiden 5 POP email accounts (example yourname@yoursitesname.com) Your email accounts should receive Alias Accounts, which sight eat up a POP balance to the business sending you an email; however, the inscription is in toto an "alias" that's forwarded to molecule other email account you choose. And when you send an email back to the original sender, it is the forwarding email account, NOT the yourname@yoursitename.com that the sender receives.

There is a Web-based Email channels (a build for you to rationalize your email online). If not, my favorite is an undemanding disposition for email forwarding (and stop notice) capability.

24-hour customer service, by phone, leveled if it's a high station call, is best!

50 mg show (the room you infatuation for a 100 page website with each page in that approx. 8x11)

2 Gig Data Transfer/month (this bequeath be enough for utterly a while!)

Front Page Extensions - single wanted if you undertake a interlacing point with MS Front Page

Cgi/PHP/MySQL (or asp availability). Check with your designer to excogitate what you'll have need for forms to be created).

Easy Control Panel: This character is especially right-hand if you requirement to keep at your zone

or have someone heavier tender make headway it. It's the one father to adventure when making changes to your site, add addresses, etc

Statistics - Does your hosting companies works gain weekly and yearly statistics on each of your lattice pages? Will you notice how someone launch each of your web pages?

Secure server, Shopping camper (and unrelated things you'll ravenousness to side with elaborating a merchant bill system)

Server type: The trait of server a hosting care you choose, should advance consequence explanation the programs you consign migration for things pleasure in your shopping cart, affiliate program, lacework site pages, etc. If you're using ASP, JSP, PHP, CGI, PL, or CSS, these programs will influence the choice of a server and vice-versa. Your hosting service may use Windows (which for example accepts ASP but not PHP), Linux or Unix-based (Apache/FreeBSD/etc.) servers.

The BLUE CASH for Business from American Express - A Card For The Business Owners

Founded in 1850, the American Express is a financial organization that is highly respected. Now, it has around 78200 employees. American Express cards are renowned for their remarkable benefits and excellent customer service. They promise the customers immediate purchasing power.

One such card, the BLUE CASH for Business from American Express is a cash back version of the BLUE Card, which was introduced in 1999. The BLUE CASH card is basically a business credit card, which is specifically made for the small business owners interested in a cash back rewards program and having an average credit.

What Does The Card Offer?

The BLUE CASH Card from American Express is equipped with a 0% introductory Annual Purchase Rate (APR) available for the first six months on your purchases and 7.99% rate on the balance transfers, also applicable for the first 6 months only. After the end of the introductory period, the purchase APR remains within a reasonable range. The card has no annual fee.

The card creates enough scope for the cardholders to earn rebates through a reward program. The rebates are offered for the expenses you make within the "OPEN Savings" network, which include general purchases, Hertz, Staples, AT&T, FedEx and others. Here, the cardholders can earn up to 5% cash back on purchases.

As a cardholder, you can earn up to 2.5% cash back on purchases even outside the network of the "OPEN Savings". The high-rebate percentage scheme will be valid until the annual spending on your card reaches the $15000 limit. After you reach the limit, the purchases made within the OPEN Savings network will fetch you 2% cash back and the other purchases will get you 1% cash back.

Package Of Benefits

The other benefits offered by the BLUE CASH for Business from American Express includes unlimited extra fee-free cards, business advice from experts, travel and emergency insurance, extended warranties on certain purchases, travel accident insurance, car rental insurance, emergency card replacement, various Internet account related services, purchase protection and more.

The OPEN Savings Network

The BLUE CASH for Business from American Express provides you access to the OPEN Savings Network, which is a small business network. This offers you the resources and associations to help you in the smooth functioning of your business. Other than the unlimited fee-free additional cards and savings, the network permits you to manage your account online with the Small Business Dashboard. You can also track charges with the Expense Management Reports.

You can avail expert opinion and advice for help on business matters; you may as well discuss business issues with other business owners online.

The Main Problem Facing Home Business Owners Today

What is the main problem facing home business owners today? No one has any clue how to market or sell their product. See the one great advantage of starting a home business, is also the one disadvantage. The one great advantage of starting a home business is you do not need much capital or experience to start. Now with those facts in mind, home businesses let everyday people start and run a business, which is great. But it also has it's drawbacks with some companies over promising and under delivering, what's more these companies offer no solutions for the average person to market their product. If you have a business background then you will understand the ups and downs of starting a home business. Some people are starting a business for the first time and this is where the problem lies. People starting a home business for the first time may have been promised the world just to join the company and then once they start their business they have no training to help them out. Or maybe they expect to strike it rich in one month and when they don't, they quit and leave with a bad taste in their mouth.

Now it is not entirely the companies fault. Some people just have a get rich quick mentality and are just lazy plain and simple. I think people have not come to fully recognize what a home business is. It is your business you are responsible for running it not the main company. Many companies expect you to already know how to fully market and run a business. All the companies are giving you is an opportunity to sell their products and they handle all of the major parts of running a business for you. Now the companies are not entirely off the hook. Why? Many companies are claiming things they should not be claiming, like we will build your down line for you. Work only 10 minutes a day, which is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. If you owned a casino in Vegas would you only keep it open for 10 minutes and then shut down for the day? I highly doubt it. You must use common sense when looking at different home businesses to start.

Now most people starting a home business have no experience running a business ever. So there are many factors they will have to face. For example not wanting to make sales calls over the phone, not knowing how to generate leads, overcoming the fear of rejection, not knowing how to market online, not knowing how to market period and the list goes on.Now you may or you may not have a big bank account to advertise with, either way it really doesn't matter. Why? What good is having the money to advertise with if you have no clue on how to properly spend it. See in the business realm there are more crooks and scam artists cleverly disguised as legit businessmen. If you have no experience in business you will not be able to tell who is who, and I've seen people taken to the cleaners by paying these crooks and scam artists. And if you think Pay Per Click gets any better you are horribly mistaken. If you do not know what you are doing with Pay Per Click you will first be ineffective in your efforts and then you can lose a lot of money learning the hard way.

So what is the solution to all of this? First you must humble yourself and be willing to learn. Next you must look for a company or mentor to help teach you the in's and out's of properly running a home business. You want a company or person who is going to give you straight out answers, no hype or gimmicks. Once you have that you are ready to start your home business.

Can Software Get It Right For Business Owners And Professionals

Software has achieved the status of deity over its short fifty or so years of life; to such an extent that we pray to the altar of the software industry and pay homage to the organisations that invoke incantations to conjure up new commodities. In much the same way that the Egyptians constructed temples and revered them in the name of their gods, so we wait for the next sign that is passed down from on high.

Software is all embracing in that invades everyone’s life in some way or another, and as a consequence it is too huge a subject for any single organisation to completely encompass. There are notables who dominate a certain niche, but the industry is symbiotic; needing software users, Original Equipment Manufacturers and Software organisations feeding off each other to keep the snowball rolling and growing.

From the outside it would appear that these esteemed organisations have a great deal to think about. It would seem that they employ the most erudite of people, who ponder endlessly on the software that the organisation specialises on. In my fantasy moments I visualise a library-like environment with software developers sitting with a chewed pencil between their teeth and a furrowed brow that is deep in contemplation. I visualise the silence broken by footsteps and a whispered voice, deliberately muted to avoid any disturbance.

And then I awake, and realise that reality is somewhat different. Most software projects start in mushroom mode, with no one knowing what has really been sold, or alternatively what shifting market is being addressed. It is rare to include the customer in early deliberations (if at all) because inevitably the salesman has sold the organisation as being ‘market leader’ or ‘best of breed’. It would be difficult to turn around and say to the customer ‘excuse me but how do you do this particular activity’, or ‘I don’t know how this works’.

Thus the Thames barrier is raised between the customer (including the end user) and the software supplier, and a game is played out with the developers screaming for detail, and the legal beagles parrying each other. Perhaps without this facade no one would ever win a contract, but I would personally prefer to work with someone who is honest about their limitations, and who will work with you to arrive at the best possible solution to the problem.

All products evolve, no one ever gets it right first time, but we pretend we do. Whilst I agree that it takes a fair amount of trust between software developer and customer it is surely better to work together to get through the cycle of evolution than to build a glass wall which we fight over.

The customer does need to have some veto over what is happening, since (heaven forbid) there are those who will milk such situations for what they are worth, but if the product is going in the right direction, you will surely get a better outcome.

Blogging For Business Owners

If you run a small company, you may find that the world

of blogging for business owners is a world that you

want to be a part of. Blogging is a great way to get the

word out to consumers about your product or service,

and it can even be useful for inspiring employee loyalty

and helping you keep your workers at peak morale. If

you are looking for a way to take your business to the

next level, consider what starting a blog might be able

to do for you.

Blogging for business owners has a lot in common with

all other types of blogging, but it has its own unique

pitfalls and strengths. The key to having a successful

blog as a business owner is keeping your goals clear

and concrete at every step of your blogging adventure. It

can be all to easy to get sidetracked, especially if you

are just learning about the exciting possibilities of

blogging technology, but if you want your blog to

succeed you need to stay focused. Write up a plan for

how often you will update, how you will promote your

blog and retain readers, whether you will feature

photographs or video, and other aspects of your blog,

and then stick to it with the same kind of determination

that you used when you built your company.

4 Deadly Mistakes Home Business Owners Must Avoid

We're all part of a very special group, us entrepreneurs. Yet, we don't all enjoy the same level of success. Why is that? We'd like to believe that the rich and successful have secrets that they're keeping from us, and if only we knew them, or fortunes would be transformed!

Well, there is no magic secret. Sorry. It all has to do with discipline and following a system. With that said, there are some very common mistakes that people make in the day to day functions of their business. These mistakes doom them to a life of mediocrity. They choke the life out of the efforts. Below are four of the most common:

Not Scheduling

The apparent freedom that comes with working from home can be a double edged sword, especially if you're just breaking free from the shackles of the corporate world. Unfortunately, whether you're working from someone else or working for yourself, you must have a schedule. Time is the scarcest of commodities, and you must treat it as such. It is the most valuable thing you'll ever have to manage, it is priceless.

If you allow yourself to just 'figure it out' each day when you wake up, you'll never get anything done. If you're honest with yourself, you'll realize this. With no scheduling and planning, you don't know what you're working towards and you don't know what you're accomplishing. Most likely, you'll end up spending most of your time doing tasks that do nothing for the growth (money) of your business. Tasks such as filing, cleaning your workspace, bills, calling customer service for that issue that 'has to be taken care of today'.

True, all these tasks are in some respect important. But they fall under the category of 'Operations'. They do nothing for your bottom line, and therefore should be relegated to either someone else to do, or to a block of time where they are addressed together and quickly.

Pick a day during the week – I use Sunday evening – and every week sit down for 20 or 30 minutes and plan out that upcoming week. Based on the goals and stepping stones you have set for your business, what needs to be done this coming week to reach your 1 month goals, 3 month goal, 1 year goal? If you have this process in place, your business will run smoothly. Also take this opportunity to look at the week passed and to review it.

Not Prospecting

For most businesses, you have to prospect. Just because you're now working at home does not mean that you do not have to associate with the outside world anymore! Quite the opposite – the very existence and success of your business depends on it!

I have my own preferred methods of prospecting, but I won't get into that here. There are various methods to use: be it cold-calling, search engine marketing, email marketing, offline marketing, etc. You have to do your homework and pick a mix of marketing methods that will supply you with prospects. Then you have to prospect them.

You need to take the time to learn and refine your communication and prospecting skills. It is an art and skill to be able to prospect and close someone effectively. Learn this, or your business will suffer.

Momentum – Not Running Through the Finish Line

So you now have goals and schedule – great. But what do you do when you reach a goal, especially at the beginning stages of your business? You absolutely should celebrate your successes, no matter how small – but then get back to work!

Watch a race, any race. It could be swimming, running, motorcycles, or car racing. How do these people finish the race? Do they race to the finish line, or do they go full speed right through it?

Treat your business the same way. One mistake I see too many people do is celebrate and relax too much at every little sign of progress. Give yourself a pat on the back and a smile and keep going. Building momentum is so key to making things happen in business. Every time you stop, you kill any momentum you have built and you have to start over. Keep refining your goals and adding to them so there is always a next step. Don't kill your momentum. Make sure you run through the finish line.

Marketing – Not Enough Of It!

Ah, the big one. Let's put it very simply: If no one buys from you, you have no income. If no one knows your business exists, then no one can buy from you. If you do not market, then no one knows your business exists.

Therefore, if you do not market your business, you have no income.

Agreed?

If you don't like marketing – start liking it. There are so many ways to do it, find a few that you enjoy and make it fun. The fact is, the majority of your time should be spent MARKETING. At least 60% of your time, if not 80% should be spent marketing.

Go through your typical day and think about what you spend time doing. How much do you spend marketing? If you're like most people, you probably spend less then 20% of your time marketing. Therefore if you're like most people, you're not making any money with your business and like most people, your business will fail.

Get the word out! Find the people that already want what you have, and get in front of them. There is not a lack of ways to do this, so get out there and learn and MARKET.

Agreed? If you need ideas or you're struggling with this, just get in touch with me and I'll help you out – that's not a problem. Just get out there and Market Your Business.

Business Owners: Five Surprising Changes That Affect Business Travel

I took my business on the road for three months while traveling by car around much of North America. In 2007, I took almost as long for a road trip from Massachusetts to Alaska and back. In those four years, several things changed that significantly affected some practicalities of taking care of business when away from the office and one’s home base for that long a time. If you’re planning extensive business travel and haven’t been on the road in a couple of years, some of these changes might come as a surprise to you, too.

1. Internet access. In 2003, high-speed Internet was a specialty item in the hospitality industry, restricted to a few name-brand hotel and coffee-shop chains. Before I left on my 2007 trip, several people told me blithely, “Wi-fi is everywhere now.” I’m glad I looked skeptically at that assessment.

During ten weeks of travel in Canada and the U.S., only one-third of the time did wi-fi work conveniently and right away in the room where we were staying. Another third of the time we were able to use wi-fi after quite a bit of technical fiddling or by going to the motel office or restaurant. And the other third of the time, we would have been without Internet access had wi-fi been our only option. I had three backup options for this contingency: going online on dialup with the modem in my laptop; using my handheld phone/computer (an AT&T 8525) to pick up email; and telephoning my virtual assistant to ask her to check my email for me.

2. Receipts. If you’re planning to deduct business travel expenses on your taxes, then you need to save receipts and you need a written record of the expenses and their business purpose. What changed since 2003 in this regard is that more and more businesses provide receipts on thermal paper whose ink fades and smudges with the least exposure to sun or friction. This means that if you shoe-box your receipts into a pocket or a compartment in the car before you record your expenses, you could be unable to decipher your evidence. I’m not sure what the IRS’s take on this development will be, but I’m glad I had the discipline to record the expenses in a little notebook at least every day or two.

3. Plastic. During our 2003 trip, we had to keep hitting up ATMs for cash, because quite a few places where we had to pay for things did not accept credit cards. In 2007, the only places where we really had to have cash were a few tolls and a few tourist attractions. We had one Canadian ten-dollar bill with us left over from the previous trip, and apart from that we were able to charge nearly everything. When a panhandler tried to hit us up for cash, we were able to say truthfully that we had none. We were putting everything on plastic, sorry!

4. Cell phone coverage. Our surprise here was that there wasn’t as much improvement in cellular service for the more remote sections of the U.S. as we expected. Along interstate highways, you can pretty much expect to get a signal. But otherwise, where population density is low or nonexistent, cell phone coverage is usually likewise absent. A big exception was national parks. I had a long conversation with a friend back home from Denali National Park in Alaska, where the whole county has only 1800 or so full-time residents.

5. Mail forwarding. This change isn’t the progress toward efficiency that you might expect. It took longer in 2007 than in 2003 to get postal mail forwarding going and longer to stop the forwarding. My postmaster explained that forwarding was now centralized and computerized. Whereas previously, individual post offices had been in charge of forwarding mail addressed to residents in their service area, now this was handled at the regional mail processing facility. My postmaster could put in the request to start or stop mail forwarding, but he had no direct control over the process, and it took 7-10 days for the forwarding and the no-more-forwarding orders to take effect.

Be prepared for these and other changing conditions, and you’ll have a better, easier and more prosperous time away from home.

Business Owners: Customer Satisfaction Is Key

As a consultant for people who are considering starting their own small business, I naturally have many things to share with people. Clients come to me with a host of questions about the process of starting a business and about the details of what to focus on above everything else. Once we have talked through the logistics and the finances that are necessary in starting a business, I quickly move into talking about the keys to running a successful business. The first key that I always talk about is customer satisfaction.

Before I share with clients that customer satisfaction is my number one key to success, I make them list in order of priority what they feel are the top ten keys to success in their future business. This is important because it gets them thinking about their goals and about actually having to perform for their business to be a success. Most of the time my clients rank customer satisfaction somewhere in their list, but it is very rare that it makes the number one spot. They are shocked when I reveal my list and they see customer satisfaction all the way on the top.

I feel strongly about customer satisfaction for many reasons. I guess the biggest reason is that the whole purpose of a business is to invite customers and to meet a need that they have. If business owners and potential business owners lose sight of the fact that they are in business for the customer and not for the money, then they will never have a successful business. I find that businesses are prosperous and long-lasting to the degree that they truly do make customer satisfaction the center of all they do.

Customer satisfaction means a variety of things for the business owner, but the main thing it means is that the needs of the customer are the bottom line and the driving force behind all decisions that are made for the business. It means that gaining and keeping customers is important enough to a business that they are willing to make changes if necessary based on what customers want.

Customer satisfaction is the missing key in many struggling businesses. Give customers what they want in a way they want and in a friendly matter and many more of our companies would be doing better. Customer satisfaction is hard to achieve, yet with intention and care it can be rewarding for everyone involved.

Business Owners: Can You Depend On Wi-fi When You Travel?

"Don’t worry – wi-fi is everywhere these days!"

That opinion is widespread, but as I prepared for a 10-week sabbatical road trip from Massachusetts to Alaska and back, I didn’t give it much weight. I would be traveling to some of the most remote areas of North America and needing to check my email each morning and night to keep my business affairs humming along smoothly.

Because I found it impossible to get reliable information on Internet access along our route, I prepared for worst-case scenarios. And I’m reporting my findings here to help others plan for a similar trip.

Before we left home, I equipped myself with a wi-fi card in my laptop and purchased a handheld phone/computer device that could access wireless Internet too. The laptop also had a modem that could be used for Internet access through a phone line. And for further backup, I had a virtual assistant whom I could call to request her to check email for me if I were stuck someplace where neither wi-fi nor dialup worked.

My husband and I stayed in mid-priced or budget motels, lodges and bed and breakfast inns. We also took a few overnight ferries. While we took day hikes, we never camped out in the wilderness. Here’s what we experienced:

Wi-fi in motel or B&B room, worked fine: 34%

Wi-fi in office or restaurant, not in room: 12%

Wi-fi in room worked intermittently: 14%

Wi-fi took more than 20 minutes to get working: 8%

Wi-fi did not work after considerable fiddling, used modem instead: 6%

Wi-fi down town-wide from storm or outage: 4%

Wired high-speed Internet in room: 4%

Wi-fi available but forgot to ask for password: 2%

No wi-fi available, used modem instead: 12%

No Internet connection at all available: 4%

So, only one-third of the time did wi-fi work conveniently and right away in the room where we were staying. Another third of the time we were able to use wi-fi with some delay or inconvenience. And the other third of the time, we would have been without Internet access had wi-fi been our only option.

In those no wi-fi situations, hooking up the laptop to the phone line was our next option. Most of the time, this happened in isolated places where finding a coffeehouse with wi-fi for patrons was totally out of the question. And in nearly all of those cases, the laptop modem came to the rescue.

In Watson Lake, Yukon, however, a town of about 1500 people, the high-speed Internet network was DSL and did not work because phone service throughout the town was down. This meant that my backup plan – calling my virtual assistant – wouldn’t work, either. There was nothing I could do about it until we drove on to another waystation on the Alaska Highway where my hand-held device picked up wi-fi at a truck stop.

In Alaska, we stayed one night at a rustic lodge in the middle of nowhere that said they had wi-fi in the restaurant, but it didn’t work, and our room did not have a phone line to which we could plug in the modem. The lodge did not have a pay phone, either, for a call to my assistant, so again we hunted down a wi-fi connection in the next couple of towns the following day.

We were in luck – these nights and the nights we slept on ferries that didn’t have Internet access – didn’t generate any of those angry "Why the #%@$* didn’t you answer my email?" messages that any business owner dreads.

One bonus bit of advice: In many places, motel clerks stared at me blankly when I asked if they had wi-fi. But they all understood the question, "Do you have wireless Internet?" Use the longer question, especially outside of metropolitan areas.

Business Owners Know That Their Customers Are The Key To Their Success

If you have heard the saying “the customer is always right” you are among thousands, if not millions of people who have also heard this phrase. While this may or may not be the case, the customer does have a lot of say and influence in how a company or business performs and its current and potential success. Today, more and more business owners are paying more attention to what their customers say and feel.

Business owners know that their customers are the key to their success. If there are no customers there is no business. Keeping the customers happy keeps the customers returning for future business transactions, which is good for both the customer and business owner. Many business owners authorize customer surveys to be distributed either electronically through email or through the postal service.

Customer satisfaction surveys give the business owner a good idea of what the customer thinks about the services and products. These surveys allow the business owner to ask specific questions about the customer’s most recent experience, a particular product, and the freedom to provide any additional comments that he or she may want to share. This survey system is incredibly useful in keeping a business on target with what its client base is interested in and wants.

What a customer thinks of a particular product or service is vital information to a business. Knowing what the clientele is thinking allows a business owner to get the upper hand on competitors and to provide customers with what they want. The happier the customer is, the happier the business is, so to speak.

Businesses that actively seek out the opinions and thoughts of their customers usually attain loyalty from those customers and clients. Loyalty to a particular brand or business is essential to success. With this loyalty comes free marketing in the form of word of mouth advertising. In most cases, satisfied customers will tell their family and friends about a great new product or a great service provided by a particular business. During these discussions, the customer’s friends and family will consider the item or service then check it out for him or herself later. Word of mouth advertising gives the business more credibility than simple paid advertising.

Any business owner that wants to ensure success for his or her company is wise to consider the thoughts of the customer-base. Listening to the customers’ thoughts, needs, wants, and ideas can help improve business dramatically and thus ensure customer loyalty. New customers help businesses grow, however returning loyal customers make all the difference. It is easy to get a customer for the first time, however it is much more difficult to get the customers to return if they are not satisfied.

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Business Owner's Essentials - The 5 Biggest Challenges for Today's Business Owner

Copyright 2006 Andy Warren

Some of these challenges have been around since business began and others are new ones that are being faced as technology and the marketplace evolves. As a business owner, you need to be sure that you are handling each of these effectively and looking out for where they might destroy your business.

1. Cashflow Management

This is the number one essential for all businesses, no matter what stage they are at. Even the most successful businesses can fail if they take their eye off the ball on cash. Your cashflow is the difference between how fast money comes into your business from your customers and how fast you pay it out to your staff, your suppliers and the tax man.

Many business owners don’t realise that their cashflow can be at most risk when they are growing fast or taking on big orders. This happens because, in most businesses, products and raw materials have to be bought and paid for before they can be provided to customers and billed. This is also similar for services, where your employees and contractors have to be paid at the end of the month but the client may not be billed until the following month or when a job is completed. And they may not pay you until some time after that.

In periods of high growth your costs can go up and out of the door long before the cash from the increased sales comes in. And suddenly you find you have a cash crisis on your hands.

2. Your staff

Your employees can make or break your business. When you choose the right ones they can massively add to the value of your business. When you get the wrong ones they can be a drain on your time, your money and they can hold back your business.

The usual mistakes made include recruiting people who are not as smart as you so that they make you look good; Hiring too fast and firing too slowly; Not investing in training and development for your staff; Not listening to what they’re telling you; Not taking up proper references when recruiting; Not adopting good, consistent and fair HR policies within the company.

Many business owners find that employee issues are the number one drain on their time and attention. And often the issues don't get resolved and lead to litigation and expensive legal bills.

The first key is to recruit high quality people, who are smarter than you, who are motivated to build and grow your business and who come with a good track record. Also, always take up references and carefully check CVs or Resumés for any gaps or inconsistencies.

The next key is to treat your staff fairly and reward them for good work. Whatever you measure and reward will get done more, so consider this carefully. Create clear and consistent policies for employee development and training and make sure you allow good time for one-to-one reviews where the discussion is allowed to be open and frank.

And above all, keep the lines of communication open and clear and trust them.

3. Getting Noticed in a Crowded Market

You may have a great product or service but unless your potential customers know what you provide you’ll never have a great business. You need to get out into the market and deliver your message to the people you want as customers.

The challenge comes with the fact that today people receive an average of 3,000 marketing messages a day. And they’ve become immune to many of them. Your job is to be able to cut through all those messages and stand out enough to get noticed by your customer.

The best way to achieve this is by focussing on a niche. This way you can target your marketing with a laser focus to match your desired customers directly. And when you specifically target your prospects with a message that is tailored to them and their needs, they’re far more likely to take notice and listen.

The standard reaction to this is to worry that by focussing on one niche you could miss out on other customers. The reality is that the scatter gun approach that throws your message out to anyone and everyone is extremely hit and miss in its results. And it rarely works now because the message becomes so generic that no-one believes it applies to them. Remember, you can always select another niche once you’ve worked the first one. So you can eventually get to all of your potential market in a far more effective and targeted way.

4. Poor planning

It’s said that when you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there. This means that without a clear plan and objective you can get distracted and diverted all over the place and never achieve what you really want for your business.

When businesses fail to plan they find themselves losing money, losing staff, losing momentum, losing customers and losing business.

Without a plan, you won’t know whether you’re on the right track and you’ll have no guide as to whether you need to go faster or approach the business in a different way. Stumbling through simply doesn’t cut it for a good business.

Making plans allows you to prepare for more eventualities. It allows you to foresee potential problems and avoid crises. It actually gives you more flexibility because you can flex around your plan and revise it as you go. It also makes it easier to make decisions because you have something to judge the outcome against. You’re able to assess whether taking a specific decision takes you further along your plan or moves you away from it.

5. Neglecting customers

The final challenge that is faced by every business in this supposedly service oriented world is neglecting customers.

After all the uphill struggle of finding a prospect, telling them about your product or service and closing a sale, are you just going to let them go? Many businesses do. They are so focussed on making new sales that they forget that the best source of additional sales and new business referrals comes from their existing customer base.

They also forget that when you neglect a customer and lose them, they will tell others. And as a customer with experience they will be believed and that can knock a significant hole in all your marketing efforts.

It costs significantly more to find and sell to a new customer than it does to keep and sell more to an existing customer. Make sure you get your customers' contact details, look after them and keep building and strengthening the relationship. The first sale should be just the beginning.

And a happy, satisfied customer can do more to market your business than almost anything else.