Square is a new way to accept credit cards with a mobile device. Keeping it really simple, following Paypal, they only take out a percentage per sale. No monthly fees or extra costs. It’s pretty amazing.

Does it really work? What are the catches? As an experiment, I’ll be trying out Square for my business over the next few month for credit card transactions. I do appreciate my current merchant account, but if I use Square, I could save over $180/year in monthly fees and extra fees. Sounds like a deal I can’t beat.

In the meantime, I interviewed a few Portland, Oregon

SquareUp-Logo

Dane Ault with Monkey Minion Press mentioned that
“We’d been wanting to add credit card processing to our convention appearances for a while before Square came out, but due to the costs associated (monthly fees, processing costs, etc) and the arcane mumbo-jumbo that most of the credit processing companies we looked at wanted, it was just unfeasible, no matter how much it might grow our bottom line. We looked into the credit procesing services offered by Costco, and a few others things that had iphone apps and those cell phones with the card swipers built into the sides.”

Dane noticed that their sales close to doubled once they could accept credit cards at their shows. Folks didn’t mind forking over their credit card to pay for items. He’s pretty happy with how Square has met their needs. He said “The fact that the Square app can also double as basically a mobile Point-of-Sale system and cash register is just fantastic in helping us keep track of not just credit card sales but cash sales, too.”

Kim Malek at Salt and Straw explains why they chose Square:

“We researched many traditional options but found the industry to be quite confusing.  We appreciate the systems to track sales by category and check on sales remotely at any time…I can keep track of what’s going on and call the shop to do things like manage labor or get more inventory as needed. Plus, it’s paper free, which supports our mission of doing what we can to tread lightly in the planet.”

Kim also mentioned some surprises they didn’t expect such as seeing their customer enjoy paying on an Ipad.

“People live seeing the sleek design and innovative interface…like getting to sign with their finger and have their receipt texted or emailed to them. It’s the only POS that causes people to cheer out in delight and call their friends over to watch them pay!”

She noted some cons were the system doesn’t accommodate for tipping so there’s been a decline in tips and some confusion with customers on the whole tipping thing in general. She also mentioned that Square is working on resolving tipping with their system.

Marco Madian, a massage therapist, found the using Square gave him the flexibility to accept credit cards no matter where he is. He works out of 2-3 offices and wanted to be able to bill for chair massages and Square is making it possible!

Marco mentioned that the downsides he’s found are the tipping aspect as well. He stated

“It would be nice if people wanted to tip that it’s not a straight % that they could just add a $$ amount instead.  As a Service Industry (massage) people often tip but to add 10-15% is not normal, usually it’s like $5 – $10 or something similar.”

Dane, Kim and Marco are overall pretty excited about Square and it sounds like it’s helping to grow their businesses. In the part two of this report on Square, I explore how I’ve been using it and talk more how mobile devices are allowing businesses to use services like Square.

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photo by gfoster67

It is no secret that the popularity of social media sites continues to grow. Smart online
businesses are taking advantage of the ability to sell through social media sites like
Facebook and Twitter. Even businesses that do not offer products can still leverage
social media to build brand awareness or increase the number of leads or sale for a
service.

The power of social media is that it enables businesses of all sizes to play on the same
field and compete for the same customers. Anyone who would like to find easy ways to
sell online can do so very easily with the help of an ecommerce website and social media
marketing tools.

If you’re a small business looking to get started, but feel overwhelmed by the number of
options – then look no further. We’ll break it down for you in four easy steps.

1. Create an ecommerce website.

You have two main options: first, you can add a “shopping cart” to your existing website. This enables you to create online transactions. PayPal and Google Checkout are two very easy options. If you don’t have an ecommerce website or if yours currently needs an upgrade, do some research before you commit to buy. There are many ways to get an ecommerce website for free or for very little money. The most important question to ask an ecommerce website provider is if your new website can grow with your business? For example, if you have 10 products now, but hope to grow to 100, will your website be able to handle it? Will you be charged a much higher fee? What other charges could there be (e.g. hosting, bandwidth, images, SSL)?

2. Build a strong social brand by developing your ecommerce friendships online.

To build your social brand online you will need to establish a strong presence. One way to
do this is by developing a following online in the social media sites. Start engaging others
regularly in conversations and work in ways to talk about your business. The number
one mistake that businesses make is to simply “join” a social network versus “creating
a presence” on a social network. Know the strengths of each social media channel and
think about it as a marketing channel. Remember that social media is simply a way to
engage with your customers. You still have to close the sale.

3. Increase your social presence with help from your existing customers.

One great place to start is to leverage your existing user base. Tell your customers via newsletters,
blogs, and on your website that you’re on Facebook or Twitter and give them a reason to
follow you. These are people who are already interested in you and will probably help
you spread the word about your business. Simple offers like free shipping or customer
appreciation coupons really help to drive the message home. Make your customers your
best brand ambassadors.

4. Sell directly to your customers on social media channels.

While Facebook commerce or F-commerce is still relatively unproven, the possibility of selling to 700 million users can’t be ignored. Therefore, after you have started (because social media an ongoing strategy that never stops) steps 1-3, the next thing to think about is getting your Facebook fans to buy from you. By engaging others in conversation, befriending them and sharing with others people will begin to build up a trust in you and your ecommerce business. If you’re wondering about how to sell on Facebook, there are many providers who can help – many that are free.

5. Define your strategy and stick to them.

Too often small businesses want to hop on the “newest” social media channel. Keep in mind that this channel may not work for your business. The best way to succeed in social media is to stay focused on your end objectives and always calculate your return on investment. If you’re spending 10 hours a week on social media, how much is that worth per hour? Would that money have been better spent on paid search or a new web design? These are all things you should continuously evaluate because social media, but its very nature, is social. This can result in a huge time suck and you have a business to run.

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Yelp wants to get on the action of the discounted deals and has started offering Yelp Deals to businesses here in Portland, Oregon. A few weeks ago, they announced this in their newsletter, so I logged in to check it out.  I thought I might try it out for my web hosting plans, but hesitated until I got a chance to write this blog post and research it more.

Here’s the scoop:

• *Yelp will retain 30% of the discounted price from each deal sold.
• *Yelp will pay you monthly, you Yelp Deal will appear on your Yelp page immediately after you sign and create it.

*The Deals are showcased on the top of each business’ Yelp page. The regular price and discounted percentage will also be listed so your customers know what deal they are getting. The Deal will also be highlighted in your search results and a dedicated Deals section of yelp.

*All of Deals are accessible via iPhone and Androids, just like Groupon and LivingSocial. The app allows you to see which deals are offered at nearby restaurants, etc. This is a direct competitor for Groupon Now, a mobile app wanting to accomplish the same thing.

The one advantage Yelp has is that its apps are already popular and used by over 4.5 million people a month. Groupon is still struggling to find that audience with Groupon Now. Slight differences in Yelp Deals approach is announcing deals 1-2x a week, not daily and a slow roll-out. The Deals are only available in 12 cities right now, with new ones being added.

I’ve decided to wait and see how my colleagues do with Yelp Deals, I want to be sure to offer something I don’t mind discounting, especially if there is a payoff through marketing and getting the word out.

It’s gonna be interesting to see which company races along to offer the most deals. Will this trend continue on how we do business day to day? Will customer always expect deals from small businesses, even when we are out of the recession?

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photo by timkas23

As Ferris Buhler said it best “Yup, life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and take a look around once in a while, you might miss it”.

Digital Stamps: The Denmark Post now has digital stamps available and can be purchased via text message. A simple code is sent to the customer and it can be written on an envelope instead of the old fashioned stamp.

Euro McDonald’s are adding a point of sale touch screen to 7,000 European stores. The screens include swipers for cards, reducing the need for human cashiers and speeding up transactions. Burger King is also following suit.

Google Wallet, an Android App, allows someone to make payments with their phone. Users pay by tapping their phone on a Mastercard paypass terminal. Users can also receive offers and loyalty point with the app.

In developing countries, mobile is playing a huge role. South Africa’s First National Bank has a service that allows customers to take out cash from an ATM using their mobile phone. The customers receive a text message from the bank with a temporary pin that allows them to use an ATM within 30 min.

A Spanish based clothing company called N-spired Story encourages people to send in interesting photos, stories, news or videos. One of those stories is printed as an image on an short-run edition t-shirt each month. Users can then use their phone to link to the story online.

Don’t have time to shop? How about for just 4 seconds? That’s the amount of time a sale is listed. A Swedish business called “Papercut” launched a site called Speedsale, offering discounted books, DVDs, and more for only 4 seconds and then the sale is over!

Don’t have time to read all the reviews of a product? Just Buy This One takes care of it by gathering an average rating of product reviews and offers a single recommendation. Includes 9 categories overall.

Want to buy your friend a drink without being in the bar? You can in Germany, a company there called frinXX lets users buy drinks at any bar and you don’t have to be there. A code is generated from the transaction and sent to the recipient’s cellphone with a custom message.

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photo by Serge Melki

This year Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 9th, 2010. Mother’s Day takes on a whole new meaning when you are a mom. This will be my first year celebrating being a mom and I’m pretty excited. I’m really looking forward to future Mother’s Days as my daughter gets older and celebrates it with me. I’m even more appreciative with how important this day is for my own Mother!

Mother’s Day isn’t just a sentimental holiday. Last year,  Americans spent $14.1 billion dollars on their moms. Americans purchase a combination of traditional gifts like household or gardening goods as well as spa treatments and electronics and gifts cards.

If you own an ecommerce website or website that offers services that can treated as gifts – here’s a few tips that can apply future holidays like Father’s Day.

Offer Holiday-Related Coupons Codes Gift cards bring in 1.5 billion dollars of spending during the year. When consumers are in a hurry, gift cards can’t be beat. Offering themed coupon codes such as promotional discounts on golf clubs for Dads and higher ticketed items that may not sell as well.

Keep you Customers in the Loop Using email newsletters, you can keep your customers “in the know” about special products, services, sales, and more. Don’t be afraid to talior your emails for certain audiences. For example, one email geared towards couples for wedding seasons. Plan ahead (6 months or more) and use strategy to gain the right customers.

Free or Discounted Shipping Everyone loves a deal and it’s hard to argue with free shipping. These days many people live far away from family, so if you can save them a trip to the post office, you are making their lives much easier!

Host a Contest Everyone loves contests! Introducing the contest can be done through social media (twitter or facebook). Some ideas could be naming a new product, submitting a funny photo, or answering a hard question. Offer a gift card or shopping spree to the winner.

These are just a few ideas, have fun with it. Promoting your ecommerce site during holidays should be a fun experience and help you get your customers excited about what your business is doing.

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