Credit card processing allows you to do more with your online business. It can be very difficult to accept payments online if you don’t have a way to accept credit cards. This means you need to use some type of merchant account. The decision to use one of many different types of merchant accounts depends on what type of business you run online and the volume of sales you expect.

If you are just starting out, you may only need an online merchant account. By finding a service provider online, you can avoid paying an expensive set up fee. You can also avoid leasing or purchasing any equipment for processing the credit cards. The merchant account provider you choose should supply you with shopping cart software or a way to integrate their payment processing into the software you already use.

You will need to pay some type of monthly fee and transaction fee. If you don’t know how many transactions you will process every month, you may want to opt for a smaller transaction fee and larger monthly fee, at first. Once you get an idea of the amount of transactions your website will process every month, you can figure out which fee schedule will benefit you the most.

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Recently we added the new ShopKeep iPad-powered POS and Cash Register system to our service wares.  Is it a hot commodity? Read more about it on our Powered By ShopKeep page.

Report from WCBS New York –

One Brooklyn wine shop and grocery store is uncorking the wave of the future.

“We never anticipated that we would be in tech,” says Amy Bennett, who runs the Greene Grape in Fort Greene.

But that was before things got frustrating.

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When you make a credit card purchase for $100, it costs the merchant about $1.00 in processing fees. It’s unclear why card issuers think they deserve a 2% cut.

Most of the attention in recent months has been focused on fees for processing debit cards.  However, in early July, the Federal Reserve limitedd the base charge that can be imposed to 21 cents per transaction, on average — well below the current average of 44 cents.

The processing fees in question are known as interchange fees, and they’re a major source of revenue for card companies like VISA and MasterCard.  Merchants and consumer groups alike have long challenged the fees for being too high and out of proportion with the actual cost of processing transactions.

Banks contend that they need such fees to maintain the integrity of their computer networks as well as to fund anti-fraud efforts.

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A Los Angeles merchant credit card processing account is critically important to your business’s success. In addition to being able to accept cash and checks for payment, it enables you accept debit and credit card payments. However, while there’s many great benefits in accepting credit cards, there are also potential pitfalls. A few things that you need to consider in order to avoid fraud and charge backs follow.

• Exercise caution in your International transactions. I’ve had problems with Eastern European, some Asian and other developing nations. The major culprits in fraudulent purchases live in those areas. Be especially wary of an order for a large quantity of high priced items.

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1. Know your Business Type

Visa/Mastercard use pricing indicators or business types to apply discounts toyour rates. In the beginning, Visa/Mastercard used to charge one rate for everyindustry. Some industries refused to accept credit cards because they thoughtthe rates were to high and cut into too much profit margin. Supermarkets wereone of the biggest holdouts. So, Visa/Mastercard began offering discount ratesto specific industries, card types, and processing methods. This is why there are 440 different rate categories. These discounts paved the way for credit cardacceptance at supermarkets, gas stations and fast food restaurants.

Your business may qualify for one of Visa/Mastercards special programs.For example, if your business has an average transaction of less than $15, youmay qualify for the small ticket program. If you are paying 1.64% + $0.25 pertransaction now, then under the small ticket program you could get your rates aslow as 1.65% + $0.04. Now your processor will probably tack on another sixcents to cover its costs. Still, you would save fifteen cents a transaction or 1.5%on a $10 transaction.

Visa/Mastercard has programs for most industries like restaurant,B2B, MOTO,Quick serve restaurants, Convenience Store, Hotel, Gas Stations, Supermarkets,charities, insurance, utilities, government etc.

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While online video marketing is one of the world’s most effective online advertising formats, the Internet is the fastest growing segment in Online Marketing; when you put Video Marketing and the Internet together you have the most powerful combination today for small business advertising.

The Internet Video Marketing trend is growing exponentially. The longer your company waits to start using online video ads to build credibility, trust, loyalty and excitement for your products and services the harder it will be for your company to make sales period! Online Video Ads are definitely the way to go…. but how do you achieve the nececessary search visibility power?

We caught up with Brian Dean at Las Vegas-based www.Video-Dean.com, an acknowledged leader in “SEO video” marketing strategy and he had some tips for getting maximum search power from our videos –

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Source: Catalyst QuickBooks Accounting

The “Cloud” is comprised of many different solutions and all of the providers that deliver Cloud products are experts on their own product or service.  Our Cloud provider – Cloud9 Real Time – has assembled the leading Cloud solution providers to come together and provide an opportunity to learn much at a single venue at a distinct two day event.

The 2011 Cloud Summit and User Conference will be in San Diego, California October 20th and 21st, 2011 at the Catamaran Resort and Spa.  This premier event will focus on Cloud technologies while giving attendees the opportunity to get in-depth user trainings on their favorite Cloud solutions. The featured manufacturers that will be providing user trainings are: Bill.com, SmartVault, Intuit, CloudSway, eFile Cabinet, and Cloud9 Real Time. In addition to the user trainings, educational courses will be conducted to provide attendees with CPE credits, information on how to implement the Cloud to their firm and clients as well as marketing courses on how to ethically and effectively utilize Social Media Marketing. This exciting event will also host nationally recognized and awarded speakers, Bill Butterworth, Eric Pulaski and Jerry Undin. To find out more and register for the exclusive event… (more…)

Small business owners excel in a DIY mode: Do anything and everything you can do yourself and don’t pay for anything new until you absolutely must. It’s especially tough to rationalize hiring financial help like a full-time or even an outsourced accountant or bookkeeper.

With so-called “user-friendly” financial software like QuickBooks available, many business owners believe that they can maintain their financial data records and books on their own, even as they struggle with finding more time for the business and stress whether they are doing the bookkeeping correctly.

Source: Catalyst QuickBooks Solutions

Deciding about “hiring an out-source accounting team is something I struggle with all the time,” chuckles Matthew Marsh, president of Catalyst House client Lead Research Group, a Web and broadcast leads-generation and marketing company in Huntington Beach, CA. While Marsh finds basic QuickBooks relatively easy, it takes him away from working on his growing company (Lead Research Group has been named to the INC-500 fastest growing private companies – see: CES Client Named #23 on INC-500 List). Meanwhile, his company’s accounting and tax planning have become increasingly complex in the years since he and partner Ryan Rasmussen founded their national marketing company.

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Image: DannyBrown.me

What do you have to say to your clients and prospects and what do they have to say about your business or company?

You certainly do not need social media to reach out to your customers and clients but it doesn’t hurt to spread your name and brand in a way others looking for someone in your field can clearly see. Social media is about more than just marketing though. It’s about learning from those you engage with.

Karen Leland

Source: Karen Leland | Huffington Post

Earlier this week, I came across a springy King Charles spaniel happily chewing on a tennis ball, when he suddenly became aware of his owner filling up his water bowl at the drinking fountain.

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… and stick it to Wall Street at the same time! Sounds like the best of both worlds to us!

In November 2009 Ellen Brown wrote at AlterNet that bailing out the banking system “…has only fixed the economy for bankers and the wealthy; it has not done much to address either the fundamental problem of unemployment or the debt trap so many Americans find themselves in.”

Source: Catalyst QuickBooks Solutions

The Bank of North Dakota may seem like a sole-surviving relic of a bygone era.  As a “state-owned” bank, it offers discounted loans to farms and agriculture, students and education, and small companies.  It serves as an important  economic development agency and a “banker’s bank” that reduces the loan risks of private banks and assists the private banks to finance bigger business projects.

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