Author Archives: Matt Rushing
What’s my cash flow? Find out with this handy calculator
Now more than ever, cash flow is critical for small businesses. An insufficient supply can delay projects, stunt growth or even shut off the heat! Fortunately, there are steps that small businesses can take to optimize their cash flow situation.
For starters, it’s helpful to determine the current state of your cash flow (the measure of how much money your business takes in vs. how much it pays out over a given period). We’ve developed a handy cash flow calculator to help you do just that. Continue reading…
The SMB forecast is cloudy (in a good way)
Isn’t the Internet handy? It gives us the ability to access free information from virtually anywhere, even from our pocket-sized super computers, formally known as cell phones. But what’s even greater than the free information is the universal access to our personal accounts for email, banking, and social networking from just about anywhere.
The impact of cloud computing is not limited to your personal life, though. Businesses use the cloud to manage critical operations such as customer relations, long-distance meetings and payment processing. Continue reading…
8 steps to launch an email marketing newsletter
Executing an effective communication strategy is vital in today’s connected world. Sure, you want to communicate special promotions and other marketing messages that will increase your customers’ interest in your product or service. But to be successful, you should also provide objective, interesting content they can enjoy and put to use.
An email newsletter is a great form of communication because it allows you take off the sales hat for a moment and talk to your audience in a different way. Not only does it help your brand, but crafting a newsletter is a soothing drill for YOU as well. But where do you start? Continue reading…
Save on PaySimple Pro between now and December 31st
Businesses that sign up for PaySimple Pro between now and December 31st, 2011, can save up to 50% on their subscription fee for the first three months of 2012! There is a catch, however: fast action equals more savings. For example, new merchants that sign up between now and November 15th will receive the maximum savings of 50% off for three months. November 15th – November 30th merchants will receive 40% off, and so on.
Please see the image below for the full schedule, or click here if you’d like to sign your business up for a fresh start in 2012!
How to make your customers comfortable with mobile payments
So, you’re all set up with a mobile payments solution for your business and ready to break it our at your next in-person customer encounter. Chances are that customers will not only be impressed in your new application, but they’ll appreciate being able to pay you on-the-spot.
But, as with any new technology, you’ll get the occasional naysayer, the “wait-and-see” consumer, as opposed to the “early-adopter,” if you will. But don’t sweat it.
We’ve come up with a list of ways to make your customers comfortable with mobile payments:
I ♥ Small Businesses Sweepstakes
From now until October 31st, PaySimple is giving you the chance to win an Amazon Kindle Fire in our “I ♥ Small Businesses” Sweepstakes! Simply like our Facebook page and fill out your name and email address to enter. Continue to follow our page for access to daily small business tips and insights, as well as future sweepstakes and contest offers for small businesses. If you’re more into tweeting, you can access much of the same information by following us on Twitter.
So, click here to enter, and perhaps you’ll be the lucky winner of a brand new Kindle Fire, courtesy of PaySimple! Continue reading…
No more Saturday mail? One more reason to go with electronic invoicing
The first thing I’ll do when I get home from work tonight is check the mail. I don’t know why, but I treat every trip to the mailbox like I’m going to collect a prize. Did the new issue of Sports Illustrated arrive? What did Netflix send me today? Did my parents remember my birthday this year (in their defense, they bat around .900)? Granted, there is a lot of coal in the stocking (bills, auto registration, etc.), but the good outweighs the bad in my opinion.
And Saturday is no different, except I usually retrieve it immediately since my dogs send out several warning barks. But it sounds like that will all change soon. In the age of digitalization, the United States Postal Service is hurting financially, and, along with first class mail, Saturday delivery may be one of its first casualties.
So aside from my own enjoyment, what else will suffer from the lack of mail on the sixth day? Continue reading…
A growing construction company’s conundrum – How to transition from manual invoicing and billing
While perusing one of my bookmarked small business forums recently, I stumbled upon a post from a small construction company that was looking for a better way to manage their invoicing requirements. The post explained how currently, after a job, they type up each invoice in a word processing program and send them out manually. And how do they track which payments they’ve collected and which are still outstanding? “We do this by memory.” The company is seeking advice because they’re experiencing growth and want to find a better invoicing solution that can grow with them. I give them props for realizing this need before it presents a problem, and thus want to offer my opinion as to why they should transition from their current methods to an electronic invoicing and billing solution in the cloud. After all, I’m sure they’d do the same for me if I was looking for advice on which way to point a nail gun. (If you’ve heard the term “cloud” tossed around a lot, it’s really just a creative term for web-based hosting of information, which is then accessible from anywhere.) Here’s why invoicing and billing works better in the cloud: 1. It’s secure One of the biggest advantages of cloud-based billing and electronic invoicing solutions is the security they can offer. By storing sensitive customer information with a third-party provider, you don’t have to exhaust as many resources … Continue reading…
5 ways mobile credit card payments can help your business grow
Not every small business owner’s long-term goal for launching their own venture is growth. According to a recent PaySimple survey, 42% do so to master their craft, and 25% to gain freedoms that may not be attainable through working for someone else. Nevertheless, over a third of small businesses still report “growth” as a centerpiece of their strategy, and this group is always looking for innovative ways to scale their businesses through process improvements. For those growth-seekers out there, mobile payments are a great tool to facilitate such a strategy. Here are 5 ways accepting mobile credit card payments can help your business grow: 1. Improve cash flow Cash flow is vital to the growth of a small business. Mobile payments help your cash flow by giving your customers more ways to pay you. With payment acceptance technology in your pocket, you never have to say “no” when a customer asks to pay via credit card. The quicker and more reliable your payments, the more stable your cash flow. You can always grow sales in this manner –providing convenience that your competitors are not. 2. Build your customer base Repeat business is a HUGE driver of growth for businesses, but if you don’t have your customer’s information on file, how are you going to sell to them again? Depending on the software you choose, mobile payments knock out two birds by running the payment on … Continue reading…
Ecommerce payments get a boost from an increase in customers
Ecommerce spending enjoyed its seventh consecutive quarter of year over year growth in the second quarter of this year, according to a report by the digital analytics firm, comScore. Q2’s $37.5 billion dollars spent via ecommerce payments marked a 14% increase over Q2 2010. The number of online retail customers increased 16% over the same period, likely contributing significantly to the overall spending increase. Furthermore, an estimated 70% of all Internet users made at least one payment during Q2. “It’s clear that consumers are continuing to shift to the online channel, with almost $1 in every $10 of discretionary spending now occurring online,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. He went on to point out that convenience and low online prices are the driving forces behind ecommerce payment adoption. Also noted in the Q2 report, was that top-25 online retailers now only account for 66.4% of online sales. Similar as to what was reported in the first quarter of this year, their market share continues to shift in the direction of small and mid-sized retailers. Fulgoni predicts that, given the economic climate, the third quarter of this year will be a key indicator in what’s to come in consumer behavior, including the future of ecommerce payments. “With economic growth remaining soft, the unemployment rate stubbornly high and financial markets in turmoil, consumers are less optimistic today than they have been in preceding quarters, which raises concerns … Continue reading…
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