Hello,
Recently while talking to a friend that is self employed as well - he said that after he started accepting VISA and MasterCard - his sales doubled.

I just wanted to get an opinion from other business owners if they have done this and their results.

Also, another self employed friend told me that after placing an ad in the Yellow Pages - his business really took off as well. Dual question I gess... what are the opinions on either/both??

Thanks,

Brian
Village Garden & Landscape Co.

Whether your business will benefit from accepting credit cards will depend on the business. Do you have a fairly steady customer volume and do your customers often ask about paying by credit card? Some businesses start out by opening a PayPal account to accept electronic payments, then progress to a merchant's credit card account with their bank if it seems feasible.

Every business should be listed in the Yellow Pages with at least a one-line ad. If you have a business phone line, you should be automatically listed. If you are using a cell phone as your only business phone number, that is a sign of an amateur and can actually hurt your business. You should have a business phone line with voice messaging and someone should regularly check those messages. Whether a larger ad will be of benefit depends on your clientele. In my business, the majority of my new clients come from referrals with only a very small number coming from the Yellow Pages. Therefore, I have an ad, but it is a small one. If you are not tracking where your new customers come from, you might find it enlightening to do so. Then, you can better plan your marketing budget.

>Every business should be listed in the
>Yellow Pages with at least a
>one-line ad.

I have a yellow page ads and they do help my biz. But are you trying to tell me that my local mom and pop gas station would benefit (benifit?) from a yellow page ad. I just cant buy blanket statements like that. That is like people who sell web site design and hosting telling everyone they need web sites. I just dont buy it.

>If you are using a cell phone as
>your only business phone number, that
>is a sign of an amateur
>and can actually hurt your business.

Gee, I am in trouble now! I am currently going from a store front to a non-retail site. Therefore, I decided to just use my cell phone as my business phone. I think in my industry buyers (high level buyers that is) are intelligent enough to realize that the cell phone is a very useful tool.

> If you are not tracking
>where your new customers come from,
>you might find it enlightening to
>do so. Then, you can
>better plan your marketing budget.

Ok we are friends again! I fully agree. If your market and do not include some kind of tracking device you are going to waste alot of marketing money.

good hunting

Hi Brian,
Go for the credit card processing. I think there is a mentality in America where people don't have the cash for something, but putting it on a card seems somehow easier. My sales have definately increased as a result. You can start with PayPal, but it's not that expensive to go with a merchant. I use Practice Pay Solutions and have been happy with them. You can also do research on the web.

I also usually dissuade people from doing the phone book advertising. Basically people do business with people they know and people they trust. If you are going to spend advertising $$, do it to your existing customers or folks who already know you. A great book about this is, "The Referral of a Lifetime" by Tim Templeton. I talks about creating a system for generating referrals. You can probably get it on Amazon.

Hope this helps!

Therese Skelly
www.acceleratingyoursuccess.com

>accepting VISA and MasterCard - his
>sales doubled.

I experienced the EXACT results. btw... our new wireless terminal arrives within the week!!!

T.

VP Marketing, Peppermaster Hot Sauces
Brooks Peppermaster Foods Inc.
http://www.peppermaster.com

It depends on the type of business and the type of customer. We own two stores and only accept credit cards at one of them. The store that we accept credit cards at has a mostly middle & upper class clientele that doesn't usually carry cash on them. Being that we are mostly in the produce(fruit and vegetables) business, our sales haven't really increased that much since we began accepting the cards, but it is a service for our customers. We have,however, seen an increase in large ticket items such as outdoor furniture that we ocassionally sell and in large plant purchases since accepting credit cards. At our other store, we do not accept credit cards because no one really asks if we accept them and we hardly ever get checks from our customers(the first store probably takes in more in checks than in cash). This store is in as mostly hispanic (all new immigrants) neighborhood and most of our customers use only cash, and the rest prefer cash for small purchases such as food.

Thanks to all that took the time to send advice... We started taking MC and VISA 3 weeks ago and have done close to 15k in new business. Mostly from those who wanted more than what they would have spent.

Any suggestions on having a successful grand opening/open house (April 2nd) - please feel free to contribute! (We are a nursery/gardencenter)

Thanks again to everyone!

Brian

>It depends on the type of business
>and the type of customer.

It seems that on these boards alot of people state things as if because they work for me they WILL work for everybody. Almost every question posted on this board gets absolute anwsers without even a question about what industry the poster is in.

Most things are industry specific. To have a web site or not. To take credit cards or not. Is direct mail better than News ads. All these depend heavily on your industry.

good hunting or not?