You’re Going To Lose A Lot Of Money

Did you know that since 2005, more than 80% of all credit card breaches have occurred at a small business?

Sounds like a horror movie doesn’t it?  Sadly, it is reality. 

Everyday I see more and more businesses being “sloppy” about PCI compliance (Payment Card Industry if you’re a little more than sloppy……).

• Some have all of their clients credit card numbers on an Excel spreadsheet anyone can get to……………
• Some have a binder with all of the customer’s credit info so they can charge them on a recurring basis without having to call…………….
• Some even have to get a customer’s credit card number written on a basic invoice with one of their technicians who later brings it to the shop to be charged………..

All of these are a big no no that can result in fines anywhere from $90 to $500,000 and possible civil litigation from the consumer on top of that!!


In 2006, 40% of businesses that reported breaches had them come from contractors, employees, and business partners……………..

So how do you protect yourself?

1. Protect stored card holder data
1. If you have to keep customer’s credit info, do it the smart way.  This means no paper records or folder full of the info.  Use the computer.  It's kind of a useful tool............
2. Encrypt the data
1. The easiest way to do this is to have a payment processing system that has encryption with it already.  Preferably one that has a web based system of storing the data.  That way it is never physically in your possession. 
3. Assign a unique user ID to each person that may have access to the data
1. This does 2 things.  One is that not just anybody can access the data.  Two is that if something does happen, you can more readily find the culprit.

In short, if you’re keeping your customers’ credit info do an assessment of your security.  If it’s still “old school” you definitely need to upgrade to a safer and more modern system for your customers and your protection. 

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3 Things All Small Businesses Should Do

So you've been in business for a while.  Things are going pretty good.  You're paying your bills.  Your doors are still open,............but you're they're all the time!!  

Are you running your business or is your business running you?  And when I say "run" it I mean being the most efficient with the least amount of your most valuable resource, ………..time.  

Owning your own business is supposed to provide you the greatest luxury of owning your time.  A poll in 2009 poll concluded that out 39% of small business owners work more than 10 hours per day.  Struggling businesses are probably closer to 70% working more than 12 hours a day! 

So how can you stop this conundrum? 

By being more efficient. 

There are a lot of missed opportunities for marketing and sales in small businesses  that some know about and some never thought of.

1.  Social Media

I can't stress this enough.  For some reasons businesses think they don't need social media.  Take Twitter for instance.  Stephanie Wagner says "Twitter not only facilitates real-time businesses-to-consumer communication, but it also facilitates business-to-business and consumer-to-consumer communication. Twitter has transformed the platform of business communication. " That is marketing gold.  Plus,
ALL SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS ARE FREE!!!!!

2.  Get customers’ emails (if you’re not already)

Email is one of the biggest revolutions in marketing today.  Even if you’re not a great marketer, it provides great opportunity.  Jay Baer concluded from a study that 44% of email recipients made at least one purchase last year based on a promotional email.  In 2012, 85% of the world uses email…………So basically, if you get all of your customer’s email addresses you may be able to get 1 extra sale from 44% of them!  That’s potentially huge!!  Don’t miss the chance.  The easiest way to get their emails is to use it for their receipt or invoice.  If you’re not paperless, then hurry up!

3.  Watch your competition

This may seem like common sense, but I don’t mean just watch the competition and hate them.  If they appear to be doing more than you, see why.  Are they using more social media?  Is their page better placed on search engine results?  Are their online listings more complete than yours?  There’s nothing wrong with learning from your competition.  There is something wrong with being obliterated by them for simple reasons though!

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This Is Why You Should Go Paperless

You may have heard of paperless offices.
If you haven’t, you’ve lived under a tree!
So why should you make the plunge into paperless?

There are a plethora of reasons (bear in mind that a paperless office can still print things out. The point though is to avoid this as much as possible. A lot of owners get scared that “paperless” means there is no other option.)

1. Saving money: You can save upwards of $100,000 a year by going paperless because you avoid paper costs, receipt paper costs, printing toner, mailing costs, and storage! That amount can be the difference in a business still running for another month sometimes.
2. Protecting yourself: This is in the case of receipt paper. A lot of people don’t know this, but receipt paper contains high levels of BPA and BPS. These chemicals are bad for your health as they cause cancer, diabetes, obesity, etc. Imagine your staff being exposed to cancer causing chemicals every single day!
3. Marketing: If you go paperless you open up a new venue of marketing. Typically paperless systems integrate a lot more email into the routine. THIS IS FREE MARKETING GOLD! When you get a client’s email you have all kinds of opportunities to increase revenue.
4. Improve accounts receivables: Surveys find that businesses who accept payments electronically are normally paid within 10 days versus 27 days for all other forms. Every owner I’ve dealt with wanted their money ASAP. Obviously electronic is faster because who carries checks?...........................Plus,
5. Reduce the amount of bounced checks: Back in 2000 it was estimated that 731 million checks would bounce for various reasons. Don’t get caught in that statistic having to chase a customer down! With a credit/debit card payment you find out right away if it is good, not days later! Plus people nowadays like the convenience of it. I rarely carry my checkbook.
6. Store records on a hard drive not a hard cabinet: A computer can take up inches and hold billions of records while paper takes up cubic feet! Find your transactions in split seconds, not minutes or even hours. Plus, if you pay for bookkeeping, it will save you money being able to present your records via email or USB rather than a folder (accountants hate folder files)

I could go on longer, but you might run out of paper………………………

Seriously though, get with it. There’s nothing to be afraid of. Change is good!

I hope these tips help your business grow!
PS – They will.

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What Everybody Should Know About Receipts

Shopping. Sometimes mundane yet sometimes exciting. We do it habitually but also impulsively.
It is such a joy, but carries a serious threat.

WE USE 4.3 MILLION TREES A YEAR FOR RECEIPTS!

We found that in the United States 80% of the population receives 1 to 3 receipts a day!  That is a ton of paper.  On top of that, 70% said they have no organized way of storing their receipts (think about the size of them.....You're either stapling or using envelopes....) plus 30% agree that paper receipts are a growing environmental concern. 

So basically,

MAJORITY OF PEOPLE HATE RECEIPTS!!!

ON TOP OF THAT, THERE IS THE EXTREMELY DANGEROUS CHEMICAL BPA FOUND ALL OVER THE RECEIPTS.

Oh yeah, if you didn't know, BPA can cause Cancer, Diabetes,  obesity, infertility, and more.
Business owners have an opportunity now to make a difference. There is up to 19 times more BPA on a receipt than a plastic bottle. The only solution is to go paperless. Protect the earth and yourself!

Plus, paperless offices run far more efficiently.

I hope this tip helps your business grow!

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I Bet You're Not Doing This 1 Simple Thing To Nurture Your Business

With so many tips out there for small business owners, what is the most powerful? ( When I speak of business owners on this topic I am mainly referring to those with a physical business). Some people think it is to invest in a commercial on TV (which is still pretty powerful). Others will say online directory marketing (also powerful).

Although both of these are great things to do, they also can be very expensive………some of these online advertisers charge $200 a month and you may not have a great return on that investment all of the time. So what is the solution?

GET EVERY CUSTOMER’S EMAIL ADDRESS!!!!!

A survey conducted in December 2009 by ExactTarget indicates that more than 50% of consumers make purchases as a direct outcome of email. It also drives more ROI than any other channel including social media and PPC advertising.

This little thing is one of the things that helped Amazon become the giant they are today. With your email submitted to them you get recommendations on products to buy, deals, and links to review what you bought. All are marketing gold!!

So here’s all you have to do in your brick and mortar business:

1. When you are completing a sale with a customer, get their email so you can send them a paperless receipt . Tell them you’re doing it for their safety and for the better of the environment (if you’re not paperless now, catch up!!).

2. Within 1-2 weeks (depending on your sales cycle) send another email with 3 parts:

a. Telling them thank you for choosing your company/product

b. A request for them to leave you a review (preferably on Google, but otherwise on SuperPages, YellowPages, Yelp, Bing, Yahoo, or HealthGrades if you’re a physician

c. A direct link to your social media pages (FaceBook, Twitter, Google+, Yelp, FourSquare, MySpace, or whatever you have!!)

This simple 2 email process does 2 things:

1. A little old fashioned courtesy in saying thank you again. This practice has all but died out unless in this fashion. I wouldn’t really expect you to send thank you notes, but at least you can do this……… People appreciate it.

2. Increases your chances of getting reviews. We all know that people will post negative reviews easily. The positive reviews sometimes need a push. If you contain a link right there in their email for where to go, then there is little to no excuse for them to not review you!

I hope these tips help your business grow!!

Paperless Joy: Paperless Business & Lifestyle Design (Google Affiliate Ad)

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Shocking Way You're Killing Your Staff and the Earth

Human beings. The top of the food chain, arguably. We are a consuming people. Otherwise we would’ve never gotten to the pinnacles we are at now, but at what cost. I look at it like a butterfly effect sometimes. You just don’t know how much one mundane incident means to the future. Here’s one that most business owners don’t think about…………….

Your receipts

These small little slips can do some significant damage. Did you know that a large majority (some say 100%) of all U.S. receipts contain the chemical BP-A or BP-S (Bisphenol A or S). A lot of people are familiar with BP-A, but now companies are trying to pass BP-S in products that say “BP-A Free” (clever huh).Bad thing about BP-S is that is up to 19 times more absorbable in the skin that BP-A!!! Now if you didn’t know, BPA has been linked to :

Cancer	Diabetes
Obesity	Infertility
Liver Problems	Heart disease

YOU ARE EXPOSING YOURSELF AND YOUR STAFF TO A LIFE THREATENING CHEMICAL EVERY DAY

The chemical rubs off of the receipts very easily and can be found on your hands up to 2 hours after washing your hands. Plus, we use 4.3 million trees every year just for receipts! Of these 4.3 million trees, most of the receipts are just tossed in the street.

Do yourself a favor and go paperless. It’s the only way to protect yourself, your staff, and your earth.

It would be nice to not have all those little receipts everywhere, wouldn’t it?

Imagine just looking in a digital database for a receipt and not in an old filing cabinet! Pretty sweet huh?

That chemical exposure and wasting of paper is the only reason places like Macy’s asks you if your want your receipt emailed to you.

There is an extremely easy way for your office to go paperless without breaking the bank.

Send me any questions you have! If I don’t have the answer, I will find it!

Sources: http://www.naturalnews.com

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