To attain business success, it is imperative that a business owner provide high quality products or services, develop a unique selling proposition to separate from one’s competitors, establish a target or niche market, offer exemplary customer service, etc.  But even if a business owner successfully implements the aforementioned components, he/she may never realize financial success if the world does not know about his/her business’ existence.

This point (i.e., getting the world to take notice of one’s business) strikes a responsive chord within all internet marketers.  All entrepreneurs NEED to showcase their wares and build an audience (hopefully, a receptive one).  Without an audience, the show cannot go on.  (How many quality television programs have been cancelled because of this fact?  Maybe this is not a good example; “quality television programs” may be an oxymoron.)

After four years online, our business continues to ebb and wane.  While we continue to strive to provide the best merchant account offering, it has been a more difficult task to generate great awareness of our programs.  Although we are winning the optimization war for certain key words and phrases, we are off the radar on more important search terms.  Even though we have attracted attention from our articles, they do not appear on as many sites as we hoped.  While we have formed several alliances, there are so many more partnerships that we need to build.  And so we have not reached our potential although we are making small, yet significant steps.

As I know a lot more about merchant accounts than internet marketing, I have enrolled in the University of Internet Marketing – vociferously reading as much information on the subject as possible.  I am more predisposed to learning facets of the merchant account field but it is imperative that I become more marketing-savvy.  To this end, aside from reading a myriad of articles on internet marketing, I visit business-related sites and forums, picking the collective brain of fellow forum members.  There are many sites and forums to choose from (just do a google search) and marketing ideas will begin to cascade over you.  And if you are well versed in internet marketing and knowledgeable in other business topics, please contribute on these forums.  

(Jeff Cox, webmaster of a promising, informative, and new website, 

 http://www.thebusinessforum.net, is certainly looking to expand his base of contributing experts, if not his base of visitors in general.)

Of course, a business owner may decide to contact that internet marketing expert, the search engine optimization guru, the wise, omniscient link builder, etc.  But those folks don’t work for free and many are outrageously expensive, although all claim that their services are “worth it.”  If one is looking for the affordable Business Yoda, call upon  Leontine van der Meer, owner of http://www.lionsites.com.  She has been in business since 2000 and has established a reputation as an extremely proficient, dedicated, ethical web designer, internet marketer, and search engine optimization expert.  Clients are unfailingly generous with their praise towards her, citing her high degree of responsiveness, trustworthiness and work orientation.  She also happens to be very smart, exemplified by the fact that she recommends our service as the #1 choice in merchant account providers.

To learn more about our merchant account services, please visit us at http://www.intelli-collect.com.

In the merchant account field, a merchant account provider’s success is contingent on their base of customers.  While all companies are “financially dependent” on their customer base, this fact is even more pronounced in the credit card processing arena.  Indeed, the more success a customer attains (i.e., the greater his/her monthly credit card processing volume), the more commission a provider earns.

Consequently, it is not surprising to learn that a vast majority of merchant account providers actively seek companies that process a high volume of credit cards (i.e., a high number of transactions and a high dollar amount).  Many agents in the merchant account field use the jargon, “elephant hunting,” to describe the endeavor of finding and landing a big client.  One large client can open the door to greater prosperity for the merchant account provider, contributing hundreds, if not thousands, to their financial coffer.  Of course, while the potential payoff is handsome, it is difficult to establish a partnership with such a firm.  (Large companies tend to have many “gatekeepers,” and it is an arduous task getting to the right party – the individual(s) who can determine which vendor to use.)

As I’m now entrenched in the merchant account business with over four years experience, I have met many colleagues who assert that they only hone in on companies that “produce” – generally companies that have at least $50,000 in monthly processing volume.  As one veteran in the merchant account field told me, “Small merchants are just not worth my time.”  He expounded that answering a merchant’s questions, setting up and managing accounts, troubleshooting when necessary, entailed too much of his time if the financial reward was modest.  I responded, “Please send those merchants in our direction.  I added, “It is better to have 100 merchants contributing 1% each to your portfolio than one merchant who is responsible for 100% of your portfolio.  (I am not dispensing unique business wisdom; I am borrowing the aforementioned business rule from Dale Carnegie.)

Any business that relies on a sole large client or a couple of large clients is in a precarious situation.  What happens, in the untoward circumstance, if one of these customers leave?  The profit margin will be seriously hampered, leading to dire effects.  (Obviously, retaining clients should remain a priority but that will be a subject of another blog entry.)  By diversifying a portfolio, relying on a large contingent of small volume clients, a merchant account provider can reduce the impact of any attrition.  (My colleague, the veteran merchant account agent, would counter that his plan is to acquire a great number of large company clients – but again, this is a formidable task, albeit, not an impossible one.)

Still, it appears important to diversify one’s portfolio to reduce potential loss.  (Isn’t this what mutual fund managers do?)  Moreover, my perspective is that any profit is greater than no profit at all.  A wide and vast collection of small business merchant accounts can add up quickly and lead to a sizable profit.  And the bottom line can only get better when this band of small merchant account businesses are owned by a happy, satisfied clientele.  Referrals will eventually be provided and one or more of these new clients may very well be a high credit card volume business. 

In addition, who is to say that a small business merchant account cannot transform to a large business merchant account?  All businesses want to see their own profit increase and owners are motivated to seek further growth and expansion.  We have several clients that, for years, had negligible credit card processing volume and have recently posted a much greater volume.  It is exciting to share in their growth, from an emotional and financial standpoint.

Finally, one cannot discount the ethical imperative that small merchants, the “mom and pop” business owners, deserve to be treated with the same high degree of responsiveness, courtesy and respect.  They merit good deals as well and they tend to be loyal, appreciative customers.  They form a crucial foundation for a merchant account provider’s portfolio as there is no doubt that there is power / profit in numbers.

So while my colleages continue to go “elephant hunting,” I am happy to remain outside the “jungle.”  Of course, I welcome the opportunity to meet all “elephants,” too, convinced that our program will best serve their interests as well.

Although they are used throughout the world, plastic credit cards are as American as baseball and apple pie.  Indeed, they are part of our culture, employed with great frequency and duration of time. 

Credit cards were first introduced in the 1920’s although they were much more simplistic than their present-day counterpart.  While the 1920’s credit card identified customers and kept track of items sold on credit (customers had to pay back the store in full the following month), they did not rely on any automation or processing network.  Moreover, the card itself did not contain the magnetic strip that we are familiar with today.  (This magnetic strip holds information reserved for the card-issuing bank, such as the name of the card holder, the credit card number, including expiration date, country code, etc.).

Innovations with the credit card, such as the magnetic strip, were made in the 1970’s, and this reflects the modern-day card that we have grown accustomed to and now accept as part of our economic system.  There have been relatively few advances with the credit card since this time ... until recently.

Welcome to the brave new world of blink card technology!  All it takes is a wave of a credit card near a credit card reader and the payment process has been completed.  No longer will a customer have to swipe a credit card or hand the card to a cashier for a transaction to take place.  A contactless credit card, embedded with a chip recognized by the merchant’s credit card terminal, may now be used to initiate a transaction.  The special credit card reader then beeps to confirm that the transaction has been authorized and completed.  Indeed, this is an automated process and the customer’s signature is not required.  

This procedure (i.e., holding the card, hearing the beep) may add a little fun to the customer’s shopping experience, perhaps even contributing to impulse sales.  (I have to admit that when I’m at Walmart, the kids and I enjoy placing a couple of the products near the price reader, hearing that beep and reading the cost.  Yes, I need more hobbies.)  But this contactless credit card is a novelty and people will be pleased with its unique aspects.

Better yet, customers and merchants alike will appreciate the fact that the contactless credit card is quicker to use than the standard credit card.  It is estimated that 10-15 seconds will be shaved from a given transaction, leading to 10%-40% reductions in “standing on line wait times.”  (Opening up more cash register lines would lead to a similar reduction in waiting time but that is another story.)    

But the advent of contactless credit cards is not without its critics, particularly those who are concerned with credit card fraud.  Even though the contactless credit card must be scanned very close to the credit card terminal’s reader head (the card’s chip must communicate with a reader via a radio frequency interface), contactless credit card detractors argue that a thief can potentially intercept the data with a wireless, high-powered antennae.

Many credit card representatives contend that data interception is virtually impossible.  Chase officials assert that the point is moot for their contactless credit cards as they have the necessary encryption that would render any illegal data capture useless.  Moreover, the authorization code changes with each purchase and this code is necessary for an authorization to occur.  Experts in the credit card field also assert that thieves may not be interested in this illicit activity because of the “small ticket” purchases associated with contactless credit cards.  Food, gas, video stores and other establishments will be the ones targeting the contactless credit card market and thieves may not be attracted to the relatively small amount of ill-gotten gain.

Finally, fraud may be more difficult to perpetrate with these type of cards as they do not leave the customer’s hand.  Visa, MasterCard and American Express are working on attaching the cards to key chains, dwindling the odds that such cards will be left at the point of sale.

But will merchants embrace the new blink card technology?  7-Eleven, CVS Corp, and other convenience-type establishments are paving the way, rolling out contactless credit card readers.  And when there is a need, there will always be a supply.  Our company is now supplying contactless readers free of charge when merchants sign up to use our service.  Retail merchants, you now have another good reason to give us a call.  

To learn more about our merchant account services, please visit us at http://www.intelli-collect.com.

In an incessant effort to increase our visibility, we are officially announcing our blog to the entire world via the prominent site, Technorati.  The primary purpose of the blog is to share information on the payment processing field, providing insight to merchants who need to establish and manage a merchant account.  Blog entries should enlighten business owners on aspects related to credit card payment processing capability, enabling merchants to better understand available options, the fee structure, our company and its programs, related e-commerce news, etc.  Personal vignettes will also be shared in an effort to inspire, encourage and support merchants.

Technorati spiders please unleash your spiders: Technorati Profile

To learn more about our merchant account services, please visit us at http://www.intelli-collect.com.

Our company specializes on setting up merchant accounts for new businesses or established ones that have never had credit card processing capability.  Our pride and confidence swell when such business owners tell us that they have selected us after performing much due diligence – some researching for months before taking the leap into the credit card payment processing field.  While I have always been enthusiastic speaking with merchants who are new to the credit card arena, I typically feel a little uneasy speaking with merchants who are already processing with another vendor – as if I am walking on someone else’s lawn.