Posted by Elissa Beckman

For the second year in a row, PaySimple is proud to participate in Blog Action Day, an annual event that invites bloggers on all topics, from around the world, to unite by writing a post about one important global topic.  The topic for Blog Action Day 2009 is Climate Change, the changing of long-term weather patterns.

Although scientists are still unsure of the exact causes and implications of climate change, it is nonetheless an extremely important issue that we should all be aware of.  We cannot deny that climate change is occurring and simultaneously posing significant threats to our world’s ecosystem and the overall health of humans.

When contemplating what to focus this particular blog on, my thoughts drifted toward small businesses and the role entrepreneurs play in fighting climate change.  (What can I say…I work for a small business that provides a product for small businesses.  It’s a natural topic for me.)   I once read that 90% of the renewable energy sector is comprised of entrepreneurs creating progressive technologies to combat potential problems like climate change and global warming.  Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 11% [?]

Posted by Connie Howard, SVP of Sales for PaySimple

Recently, after wanting to learn more about how our Customer Care Associates spend their time, I decided the best way to do this was to experience the job first-hand. And so I assumed the role of a Customer Care rep, answering the phones and problem solving customer questions.

My first reaction was “this job is hard!” It is more complicated and has more moving parts than one might expect. It requires a problem-solving train of thought, good listening skills, the ability to smoothly multi-task, and the temperament to remain upbeat and personable—no matter what is coming at you. Since one component of PaySimple’s service is to help our merchants maneuver between multiple vendors and payment processors, our Care reps must also be able to research questions across several different platforms and CRM tools. It is not a job for the faint of heart.

Next, I realized that the degree to which the decisions made and processes created in the company come home to roost in our Care department-–in mostly good, but sometimes unexpected ways.

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Popularity: 16% [?]

Posted by David Sharp

With more and more small businesses obtaining merchant accounts to accept credit cards, it is essential to review some common scenarios that business owners and their consumers may run into. The merchant account agreement contains a complete explanation of key procedures, but here are some highlights.

Within the merchant agreement, there are card acceptance procedures, also known as Operating Rules. Most of these rules are generally set in place to protect all parties in the process and keep commerce flowing. If you are a business owner, at first glance, some of these conditions may not seem advantageous to your business. But it is important to keep in mind that aside from running a business, you are a consumer protected by these rules just the same.

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Popularity: 92% [?]

By Chad Gardner

With the rapid expansion of technology seeming to be coming at us from all angles, small businesses have the opportunity to test the early adopter waters to see if they can harness these advances. If all turns out as desired, this could help mitigate business expenses, while increasing business productivity–switching what would be high operational costs into increased value for consumers.

We have spoken countless times in the past about how our electronic payment processing solution gives small businesses the opportunity to collect payments like large corporations. This value can largely be attributed to the PaySimple Solution being a Software as a Service (SaaS). The value that SaaS can bring is clearly seen by the maturation and migration of companies of all shapes and sizes, shown in this survey by Gartner.

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Popularity: 94% [?]

Posted by Chad Gardner

With over 25 million small businesses , all in a wide range of industries, all needing a variety of products and services–and most willing to invest to improve right now–it’s important to take a look at how advances in technology have brought down the cost of implementing services like recurring billing and electronic invoicing for your customers, and how this can help your niche.

Recently, we’ve had an influx of customers from membership and contract-based businesses, like health clubs and gyms. So I wanted to share information we have learned from our day-to-day operations about how online payment processing helps this niche.

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Popularity: 100% [?]

Posted by Chad Gardner

Regardless of the economic climate, finding and retaining great employees is essential for a small business, even more so than for large companies. Most small businesses have limited resources and thus talent becomes one of the most important assets they have.

So the good news for 2009, according to a press release by TriNet, is that two-thirds of small businesses will be looking to hire. With the recent splash in the unemployment pool this year, there are undoubtedly top prospects available to help your company’s productivity and profitability moving into the New Year.

Looking at the projections going into 2009 might leave some skeptical, but small business hiring is up 3.3% in 2008, and 80% of respondents in the TriNet survey said they tried to hire this year. This is just point-in-hand that small businesses are able to run leaner than companies we see in the news on a daily basis.

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Popularity: 94% [?]