Community Joint Ventures

Hi gang, Rick here from Community Joint Ventures. Businesses of all sizes are beginning to realize the advantage of blogging and how that activity can increase their rapport with clients.

Despite still being in its infancy, compared to other more mature marketing technologies, blogs are already significantly affecting businesses. That’s because if used and designed properly a blog can help you manage your website and leverage your existing content for better business visibility.

One of the best things about using a blog with your business is that it can be used in a variety of applications. Started as a simple personal journaling web application, a blog can quickly mature and evolve into a business and marketing tool that some of us can’t live without.

So what can a blog do for your business?

1) Keep in touch with prospects and customers. Keep the interaction flowing and let them know you better. Demonstrate that there is a human behind your business, instead of a static website.

2) Position yourself as an expert in your niche. Regularly post about business events, share thoughts, new innovations or even provide customer service.

3) Capture leads. Engage them with content, delivered regularly through blogs, RSS feeds and e-mail.

4) Generate revenue. Selling advertising space, products, services, or build relationship and pre-sell. You to cash in your content by participating in contextual advertising program like Google AdSense, Yahoo! Publisher Network and others.

5) Boost business productivity. Used internally for communication, project management, or just a personal place to throw ideas at.

Standalone conventional websites used to adequately deliver information, but nowadays customers want more than that. We live in an information age where there is enormous amount of data being generated every single second. That has meant that end-users (clients) are beginning to shift their information consumption habit. As a result, they now demand more control over the medium, and they prefer to choose when and what information they’re going to process.

As part of the shift, consumer generated media is set to take on older web models, especially as consumers want to participate in the market, and not just as passive readers.

If customers are familiar with your product they may want to share what they think with others at your blog. On the other hand, if they’re unfamiliar with your product, they may want to hear more about what you have to offer from others. In other words, the idea is to help them know your product better, and hopefully decide on your product when it comes time to buy.

Instead of just sitting and watching, customers want to have a conversation, where they can tell you directly what they think about a product or service that you offer. That can be scary, but it’s also valuable feedback.

One of the interesting things about using a blog, is that it forces people to become participatory. You find that you have no choice but to jump into the conversation. And remember, if you don’t allow people to have a say and talk on your blog, that doesn’t mean it’s the end of the conversation since they can just as easily start their own blog or leave comments on other people’s blogs.

Thanks to Hendry Lee, Spero News for this. He helps small business owners use technologies to market their business online. Marketing should be fun without hard selling. Visit his blogs for frequently updated information about Podcast Marketing and Publishing; Small Business Blogging; and RSS Marketing and Publishing.

Join other entrepreneurs like yourself and increase your sales without spending a dime!. Were all about doing joint ventures with others that requires No Money, No Risk and very little time spent. That’s what a TRUE joint ventures is, a WIN-WIN for all parties involved. Sign up, our membership is always FREE.

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Also we value your comments, if you can add more info in regards to this article please do so. Thank you. Rick Ostler, Community Joint Ventures.

Hi gang, Rick here from Community Joint Ventures, EzineArticles has just launched a 12-part email-based training series for all new EzineArticles members to help newbies understand and implement the EzineArticles article writing & marketing system.

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If you want to understand the basics or get a refresher course, this is for you: http://EzineArticles.com/training/
To Your Article Writing/Marketing Success & Passion!

Join other entrepreneurs like yourself and increase your sales without spending a dime!. Were all about doing joint ventures with others that requires No Money, No Risk and very little time spent. That’s what a TRUE joint ventures is, a WIN-WIN for all parties involved. Sign up, our membership is always FREE.

If you found this interesting, please tell others by clicking on the bookmark icon in top left corner of page and insert a brief remark to let others know were here.

Also we value your comments, if you can add more info in regards to this article please do so. Thank you. Rick Ostler, Community Joint Ventures.

Hi gang, Rick here from Community Joint Ventures on Selecting Merchant Services for your online company.

All small businesses require some form of payment processing. Understanding how to select merchant services can impact your sales revenue and profit. Learn the essential 6 questions of merchant services, and the hidden rules of the merchant account game.

1: What are merchant services?

Merchant services enable you to process credit card payments from your customers. It’s a special account tied to a credit card processor that works with your customer’s bank to help route payments into your bank account.

2: Who offers merchant services?

Merchant services are provided by specialized companies called merchant service providers or independent sales organizations that offer payment processing. Another source for setting up merchant accounts are financial institutions.

3: Which type of company is best for a small business owner?

It depends on your business situation. A home-based business owner may be turned down from a bank since their business is less established. Merchant service providers and independent sales organizations can be more flexible. While one person may feel comfortable dealing with their local bank, another might prefer a credit card processor who offers low rates. Choose what is important to your business.

4: Is a merchant account required to accept credit cards?

No. One option is to contract with companies providing payment processing on your behalf. Their prices are higher from taking a larger percentage of the ticket price. All credit card providers charge your small business a percentage of each credit card payment received. If you are considering selling on the Internet, a merchant account provides a better professional image.

If you allow a third party company to process your payments, you have to put your order form on the payment processing site. You may only be able to get your funds two or three times a month, limiting cash flow. With your own merchant account, expect to receive those funds in less than three days from the time of the transaction.

5: What is required to begin payment processing online?

To begin payment processing you need the following:

# Secure Server with Certification: When your customer enters their credit card information, it is sent in unencrypted text form to the server hosting the website. To prevent data interception use SSL encryption ensuring no unauthorized decoding can occur.

# Order Form: Your customers need a place to input personal and banking information. The order form must be on a secure server.

# Gateway: This is the “tunnel” which allows for the authorization, processing, and management of the merchant services. It is the mechanism transferring your customer’s vital information to the processor so you can get paid.

# Shopping Cart: A shopping cart is software allowing your small business to have an e-commerce store where purchases are automatically calculated for you. Ensure the gateway is compatible with the shopping cart.

# Merchant Service Account: You can have a secure server with certification, an order form, shopping cart and a gateway, but real-time processing cannot take place without establishing a merchant account. The merchant account provides access to a processor able to authorize, capture, and settle credit card transactions.

6: What are other ways to accept credit card payments?

One method is to outsource merchant service to a third party. The third party collects your customers’ data and does all the work to process payments for your small business.

Another way to collect credit card payments on the web is called deferred payment processing. The customer inputs all data and you receive the data manually. With deferred processing, the data does not go through the gateway. One advantage to deferred processing is the ability to inspect all orders and correct them. Deferred payment processing can be time-consuming especially if you have hundreds of orders per day.

Finding the best merchant service option can be overwhelming. Review your options and make the decision based on what your customers would prefer and your small business can afford.

Join other entrepreneurs like yourself and increase your sales without spending a dime!. Were all about doing joint ventures with others that requires No Money, No Risk and very little time spent. That’s what a TRUE joint ventures is, a WIN-WIN for all parties involved. Sign up, our membership is always FREE.

If you found this interesting, please tell others by clicking on the bookmark icon in top left corner of page and insert a brief remark to let others know were here.

Also we value your comments, if you can add more info in regards to this article please do so. Thank you. Rick Ostler, Community Joint Ventures.