Q: What should I expect to pay for set-up and application fees?

A: Don’t work with any merchant provider that charges application fees.

Q: What is the cost of equipment?

A: Free is the best price for a terminal, but be prepared for the processing rates to be a little higher then purchasing or leasing a new terminal. On the other hand, the slightly higher rates are usually lower then a monthly lease payment.

Q: Is there such thing as a ‘reprogramming fee’?

A: No. Most terminals can be reprogrammed for no cost depending on the age of the terminal.

Q: How much is the monthly service charge?

A: A monthly service charge or monthly fee usually ranges from $15 to $25 per month, but can also depend on how much you process.

Q: Is there a monthly minimum of transactions?

A: Usually $20 to $30 a month and you will also want to calculate if there is an individual minimum transaction. Sometimes the company or fees for an individual transaction will be cost prohibitive.

Q: Will you receive a monthly merchant account statement? What is the cost?

A: A monthly merchant account statement details your transactions and can range in cost from free to $10 a month. Ask about downloadable online statements, which are usually free.

Q: How much are the processing percentage fees?

A: Processing fees have a range depending on your volume. Mapclicks.com can refer you to processors that have Retailer rates starting from about 1.19% for check cards. If you are a high volume restaurant or retailer your rates can be a lot lower.

Q: How much is the per-transaction fee?

A: Usually expect to pay .15 to .35 per transaction.

Q: Where can I see a chart of all of the fees and charges?

A: Before signing anything, read the merchant agreement CAREFULLY about charge backs, fraud protection, batch fees, technical and customer support.

Q: How long does it take to receive my payments?

A: In most cases the merchant account processor releases the money to your bank within 24 to 48 hours. Your bank might be the one holding your funds. Check with your bank on their policies.

Q: How long is the contract length?

A: Expect to sign a three year contract. That lock-in your rates for three years. Short contracts mean the rates will change more often.

Q: Will the rates change?

A: Be sure that your contract is about specific how and when the rates and fees can change. Rate changes are determined by Visa and MasterCard, which affect all processors and therefore your rates.

Q: What about other services that might be offered by the processor?

A: Having a processor that offers additional services can be advantageous. You have already established a business relationship with them and they are familiar with you, making it easier and faster to get certain services, Including

• Point-of-Sale terminals
• QuickBooks credit card processing
• Cash Advances
• Credit Lines
• Equipment Leasing
• Automatic Teller Machines (ATM)
• Online shopping carts or e-commerce
• Gift Cards

Need More? Call Local Biz Solutions for detailed answers to your credit card processing needs. Their merchant services experts are usually able to lower your rates and would be glad to answer your questions and explain the full-line of services that are available to you. Call today for your Free consultation. (503) 922-3032

Google Local Results appear on a search engine results page, usually situated near a map

with markers on it. Because these results are almost always near the top of the results page, and because they contain direct links to websites, they are highly desired. The Google Local Results are designed for “brick and mortar” businesses, but other types of business will clearly benefit from a listing there. Google requires that you list a “real” address (i.e. no PO Box,) and a phone number. Google uses a couple of methods to verify that the address and phone number are both real.

How do you get posted? First, you will need a Google account. If you have a Gmail account, then you have a Google account, so you may simply log in to your Gmail account and skip down to the next paragraph. If you need a Gmail account, go to www.gmail.com and fill out the information to set one up. Some people are not too crazy about setting up another email address to go with the many they might already have. One of the nice things about Gmail is that you can set it to forward to a different email and therefore be relieved of needing to remember to check it all the time.

Now that you are logged in to your Google account, go to www.Google.com to be sure. In the upper right side you should see your Google account email address followed by some links like: Web History | Sign Out….  Go to www.google.com/local. You will see a large map of the United States, a search bar and a lot of links.  In the middle of the page on the left side, click on the link that says Add or Edit Your Business: Learn More. This will take you to the Local Business Center, where you should start filling out the information about your business. The right side has a cool feature that shows you how your listing will look. Notice that if you are not satisfied with where Google places the map marker for your address, you can change it.

Click Next. Google then brings up some businesses that are close to you to make sure your business is not already listed. This is to make sure they do not get more than one listing per business. If your business is there, click it and then you are done. If it is not already there, click “My Business Does Not Appear Here” and then Next. – Now comes the fun part of choosing up to five categories for your business. Be sure to choose wisely because this will determine where Google places your result. You choose the main category on the left drop down menu and the more specific category on the right drop down menu. Click “Add Another Category” to assign up to five categories to your business. You can also suggest a new category to Google, but don’t hold your breath on your suggestion getting accepted.

Click Next. Now you fill in your hours and payment options. Pretty easy.

Click Next. You can upload photos to be a part of your listing.

Click Next. You can add extra information to your listing. Google makes some standard fields and also allows you to create your own.

Next is the validation process. Google wants to make sure that only “real” businesses are listed in the local results. I prefer the “by phone” method of validation because it is the quickest. Of course, they will only call the number you list in the listing result. – If you click the “by phone” validation method, you are taken to a page that asks if you want to have Google call you immediately or in five minutes. After you click, an automated system calls your number and asks you to enter the validation code that appears on the web page. – Once that is all done, Google claims it could be as much as four weeks before your listing appears. It probably won’t take that long; mine appeared immediately. – Get your customers to write reviews for you. This helps you get better placement among the local results. I’ll post an article later about ways to get more reviews. For now..just get listed!

1. Set and Forget It. – sometimes for years. In this ever changing world of the internet, a website can become stale in a short period of time.  Solution: Review your website and your competitor’s website on a regular schedule of at least once every 90 days. What is new about your business this quarter? New product? New service? New promotion?  Ask your resident expert at Local Biz Solutions.net.
2. Spending too much time and not enough money, or Spending too much time AND too much money.  Are you getting what you are paying for?  Inexpensive sometimes means cheap and not done right. Do not cheapen your business with a cheap website.  Along with that, don’t keep paying your web designer when you are not getting timely results. Solution: Using a web marketing expert is your best decision, otherwise, hire on time-delivery basis.
3. Confusing a web designer with a web marketing expert. A web designer does computer coding, a web marketing expert integrates the design and content of your website as part of your marketing efforts. Solution: Find a web marketing person that understands you business, let them contract web designers that will do a good job based on your marketing needs and their instructions.
4. A lot of pretty pictures and no content. A beautiful website does not mean that your customers will FIND your website. Content is king. Do you have key words?Solution: Content is what keeps people on your site and starting to fall in love with you, wanting to visit you and call you. Content is how Google and all the other search engines find your website.  Hire a good writer or LocalBizSolutions.net that will know the key words that best describe your business and make you easier to find online.
5. Not offering a product online.  People search the internet to shop or gather information 24/7, and people like knowing they could buy something from you.Solution: Offer something, even if it’s for free. Many times it doesn’t even have to be a product or service you provide, just a free newsletter or a coupon in exchange for their email address. Which brings us to #6
6. Not collecting email addresses. An email address is like money in the bank and you want as many email addresses that you can get. Solution: Giveaway something of value in exchange for an email address. Be sure to provide a notice of what you do with those email addresses. Do you have your privacy statement posted?
7. Thinking of not linking – linking is like magic. Links bring customers to your website and give you greater exposure. Solution: Link to other websites, and have them link to your website.  Mapclicks.com provides links to all of its client businesses websites. If you don’t have a website for MapClicks.com to link to, you are doing yourself a disservice and losing free advertising in the process. There are link exchange services available, call or email us for LocalBizSolutions.net recommendations.
8. Too long of a domain name or using a sub-domain – typing is an acquired skill and some people are lousy spellers. Too long of a domain name or using a sub-domain leads to people going to the wrong site and you miss out on a good customer. Solution: Keep it short and simple.
9. Falling in love with artistry or technology – Hard to read text, colored text on colored background, too much Flash, intrusive animation, confusing navigation, and looooong load times. A website is there for the purpose of supporting your business, either by generating money or generating clients that will bring you money. If it’s not doing that, you are wasting YOUR money.  Solution: Keep your home page easy to use and as fast loading as possible. Save the fancy technology and artistry for sub-pages, which provides “stick”. Your business website should be clean, bright, informative, and easy for your customer to use. A website is more than computer coding and flashy gimmicks, and way more than just an advertising tool.
10. Not Having a website. That is the same as not having a storefront sign. Nowadays, it seems like if you don’t have a website you don’t exist. Customers like to find you on the web, even if it’s only to look up your phone number and hours. At worst, without a website, customers will go to a competitor that does have a website that shows up on the search engines. At best your credibility as a viable business drops dramatically and puts doubt to your long-term viability in a potential customers mind. Solution: Have at least a one page website, it’s better than the yellow pages and less expensive. If you do not have the time to sort out all your website choices and costs, find a web marketing expert that can help you. Most offer a free consultation.