October 18th, 2018 by Admin
As your business grows, your time seems to shrink. Here are some tips that can help you manage your time better.
Create a Plan
Creating a plan will always lead to a successful day. Organization will allow you to have a much more balanced day and better quality of life while running your business. Be sure to write down all the tasks you need to get done. Having them written down will give you a better idea of how much you have to do and what needs to get done.
Have a Calendar
Along with a list of all of your tasks, a calendar will help you figure out what else is happening throughout the day. Do you have meetings to go to, people to talk? A calendar will be your best friend for better time management. It will also help you block out time to get your to-do list done.
Prioritize
Now that you have your list and your list, it is time you prioritize and figure out what needs to get done first. A common mistake is to go down your to-do list as you wrote it and that is not efficient. Figure out your “Must’s”; “Should’s” and “can wait’s” so you can get the best out of your day. You will realize that many tasks are not as important for your productivity as you might think.
Delegate
Now that you see what you must do first, do you need to do it yourself? Perhaps some tasks do not require all of your attention. That is when delegating will be your greatest ally for time management. That run to the store for supplies can be done by your employee or family (if you run your business from home).
Learn to say no
Along with running and managing a business, there will be things that, while you would love to do, are not necessary for you to do. Learn to say no in a polite way and you will find yourself more organized and meeting deadlines faster. Sure, you might have a few disappointed people at first, but they will realize that you are working on being efficient for them and you and it will add value to your service.
Track your time spent
Do you feel you are spending way too much time on a task or job? Perhaps it is time you start tracking your time. This is an excellent tool for freelancers who find themselves working day and night. Tools like TopTracker can keep you accountable and give you perspective on how much time you are truly working. It will help you learn and adjust if necessary.
Eliminate Time Wasters
There are plenty of time wasters at the office! That e-mail didn’t need to be checked so many times, and that note could have waited for later. No, you do not need to check Facebook before work. Setting boundaries will allow you to become much more productive and have more time to do tasks like this after you have completed your list.
Always plan to be early
When it comes to meetings, calls or events, always plan to arrive early, this will help you prepare for unseen events like traffic jams or car problems. Practicing this habit will help you be on time and have less stress.
Take Small Breaks
To get all of your tasks done, you must take breaks. Taking breaks will allow your mind to rest for a few minutes and can help you become a lot more productive. Be sure to use your calendar so you can schedule some break time every day.
Focus
Lastly, focus. Know that the tasks needed need to get done in a timely matter. Be sure you focus and avoid any distractions while getting it all done. Focusing will help you be done with all tasks sooner than you think.
We hope these steps can help you get more out of your day and you can be in control of your time better.
Posted in Small Business Improvement Tagged with: business, business goals, calendar, data, delegate, efficiency, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, freelancer, leaderhip, manage, plan, planner, planning, professionalism, smartphone, technique, time management, tools, track time
October 14th, 2018 by Admin
Marketing is an essential element for your business’ success, and we are here to give some simple tips to help you market beyond flyers and brochures.
Create a Promotion or Discount Offer: If you are starting up or your business has slowed down, creating an offer or promotion can bring in some new business to you. Be sure is an offer that truly brings value to your customers and something that does not entirely undervalue your services either.
Creating a promotion or discount offer can help those who are undecided, to make a decision and try-out your services so they can see and test what you have to bring to the table.
Attend Networking Events: We all know this, but not many do it. People are needed for business, so what a better way to get customers than to attend a networking event.
Better yet, a networking event can bring a plethora of ideas. By only talking to others about what they do and who they are, you can realize how you can best serve your audience and also create long-lasting relationships.
Write Guest Posts: Chances are, that if you are in business, you have a certain amount of experience in some topic. What a better way to show your knowledge than to write about it!
While you can start your blog (which we recommend), you can also add value by going to other, perhaps more popular blogs and share your expertise there. Medium is an excellent site for this, and there are plenty of other blogs out there that are looking for people like you to share their two cents and bring value to their audience.
Host a Training: Following on sharing your expertise, what a better way than to host a training about what you do! Sharing some expert tips and giving others the power to do what you do can bring clients to you.
Sharing your expertise can give people an idea and sense of how passionate you are about what you do and how well you know your subject. By doing this, many can realize that instead of a do-it-yourself approach, it is best they hire your services. At a minimum, hosting training will bring in value to those around which can help with word of mouth.
Use Social Media: Lastly, but not any less important, social media is a big way to market yourself. All of these topics above can benefit and be used as part of your social media campaign.
You can connect with your audience faster and constantly with social media. You can use to promote your blogs, your training, your promotions and even to continue to communicate with those whom you have connected at a networking event.
The best part about social media is that you can get a quicker response about how you are sharing your message and if people find value in it. It can also help you learn about your audience and how that audience reacts to you.
There are many more ways to market your business, but we think these five can give you a great head start and help you grow your business today. We would love to hear from you about how these have helped your business succeed.
Posted in Small Business Improvement Tagged with: blog, blogger, blogging, business, entreprenreur, expert, Facebook, facebook ads, Instagram, marketing, networking, promotion, social media, social networking, training
October 10th, 2018 by Admin
Life has its ups and downs, and we all know of those times where you feel like giving up. These quotes will you motivated and ready for round two!
When you reminisce the past because it was “easier.”
1. Be loyal to your future, not to your past.
When people say you are not ready to start a business:
2. You are never too old to start an empire, or too old to chase a dream.
When you feel you are not moving in the right direction:
3. The difference between who you are and who want to be is what you do.
When the nay-sayers say you are spending too much time on your “little dream”:
4. I would much rather work 16hrs a day for myself, than 8 hours a day working for someone else.
When you need to get started:
5. If you want to achieve greatness stop asking for permission.
When you are not sure how to stay motivated:
6. Create a vision that makes you wanna jump out of bed in the morning.
When you are too scared of trying:
7. You have no idea what you are capable of until you try.
When you need to remember why you are doing it:
8. The goal isn’t more money. The goal is living life on your own terms.
When you are not sure if you are ready:
9. If you wait until you’re ready, you’ll be waiting for the rest of your life.
When you are ready to make a change:
10. You’re only one decision away from a totally different life.
Posted in Daily Inspiration Tagged with: boss, bossbabe, business, customer, e-commerce, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, ideas, inspiration, inspire, motivation, quote, quote of the day, quotes, transaction
October 7th, 2018 by Admin
National Transaction is celebrating 21 years in the business today. Founded in 1997 National Transaction (NTC) purpose is to serve businesses of all sizes with their cash flow with the highest levels of professionalism and care.
This 21 year anniversary would not be possible without our leader, Mark Fravel and we want to take you back to his why and the reason we are still here today.
The beginnings:
Mark, a single parent of 3 beautiful daughters, wanted to provide for their kids without being on the road all the time. And so, with this passion in mind, a desire to serve and commitment to his family, National Transaction was born.
NTC began like many business and passions, with no customers and only one employee but quickly grew and Mark knew that leading with confidence and excellence will drive this business somewhere.
The Present:
Now, NTC often ranks in the top 10 of many data and technology awards. This Excellence has also earned us an A+ rating in the Better Business Bureau.
This 21 years would not be possible without our desire to help a business grow and give them the right tools for their transactions. We love being on the phone with our customers, we love getting to know them and how we can provide our best service.
The Future
Mark started this with a desire to be a family man, and so, this family feeling has stayed with our company. We treat our team like family, and we are excited about what our future holds the next 21 years.
Thank you for celebrating 21 years of customer service, passion, connection and above all, quality. We will continue to provide you with the best service we know how to give, and we will uphold our promise and mission to make digital transactions reliable and simple to the merchant and familiar to the consumer, reducing the complexity and expense to both.
Thank you for being part of the National Transaction Corporation‘s family.
Posted in nationaltransaction.com Tagged with: Anniversary, ASTA, Better Business Bureau, business, card, consumers, credit card, credit cards, credit-card, customer, customers, data, e-commerce, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, MasterCard, merchant, merchant account, merchants, Mobile Payments, National Transaction, payments, point of sale, Security, transaction, visa
October 3rd, 2018 by Admin
October comes and so does breast cancer awareness month. As a company supporting entrepreneurs in their dreams, we want to take this opportunity to highlight famous and strong entrepreneurs that are also breast cancer survivors.
Being an entrepreneur is a journey like no other and we applaud and admire those amazing warriors who took another journey alongside them. Here is a humble list of the ladies who are Breast Cancer Survivors and have left their mark in the business world.
1. Jaclyn Smith: Jaclyn is best known for her role as Kelly Garrett in the TV Show Charlie’s Angels. In addition to this role and other films, she develops and markets her own brands of clothing and perfumes; introducing her first collection of women’s apparel for Kmart.
2. Suzanne Somers: Best known for her roles in Three’s Company and Step by Step, Sommers is also an author, singer, and health spokesperson.
3. Georgia Frontiere: A businesswoman and entertainer, she was the majority owner and chairperson of the Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams football team. It is interesting to note that the Rams made the playoffs 14 seasons, reached the Super Bowl three times and won the championship game once in 2000 while Frontiere was in charge.
4. Naomi Sims: She was the first African American model to appear on the cover of Ladies’ Home Journal in 1968. In 1973 she retired from modeling and started her own business which eventually expanded into a multimillion-dollar empire.
5. Evelyn Lauder: She was the Senior Corporate Vice President of the Estee Lauder Companies. She also created the Clinique brand name and developed its product line.
6. Carly Fiorina: The first women to lead a Top-20 company, Fiorina was the CEO for Hewlett-Packard (HP) from 1999-2005. She’s also served as Fund Chair for One Woman Initiative (OWI) and is Chair and CEO of the Fiorina Foundation.
7. Teresa Heinz: She serves as the Chair of the Heinz Endowments and the Heinz Family Philanthropies and has received honorary doctoral degrees in 12 institutions.
While there are many more successful and amazing entrepreneurs, we want to pay respect to these strong ladies in their journeys and all entrepreneurs whose have gone through breast cancer. National Transaction always supports all who want to pursue their dreams.
Posted in Daily Inspiration Tagged with: actress, african american, bossbabe, business, business woman, business women, corporate, estee lauder, Football, Heinz, Hewlett-Packard, inspiration, list, model, ntc, october breast cancer awareness, pink ribbon, Rams, step by step, Super Bowl, three's company, TV
September 26th, 2018 by Admin
Start-ups, online business and just about any business starts somewhere right? Not every business starts with a hefty amount of money and not all can afford it all. Let’s be honest, even if you did, it wouldn’t hurt getting a few things for free at the beginning.
Here are some incredibly easy (and cheap) tools to get you started:
1. SCORE: The plethora of training and resources on this website is just what any entrepreneur needs. You can also get paired up with an experienced business owner to be your mentor. Best of all it is a free service.
2. Grammarly: Writing the perfect e-mail or proposal can be a lot of pressure. Grammarly makes it simple to ensure you sound like you and your grammar is simply perfect!
3. Pixabay: If you need good quality pictures and graphics and your budget are not existent, Pixabay is the way to go. The pictures are completely free to use at any time. But if you want to help the cause, you can donate or as they say: “buy a cup of coffee” for them.
4. NTCePay.com: Take the hassle out of invoicing and getting paid. Simply sign up for NTC ePay and voila! The fees are low in comparison to other payment processing companies and the services are always personable.
5. Google Drive: If you are an Android user, Google can definitely be your friend. Not only to store documents and pictures but to write up all those important conversations. Goodbye Microsoft, hello Google.
6. TopTracker: Do you work with freelancers or are you one yourself? TopTracker can help you track the time spent on projects and can be an easy tool to help invoice your hours. Best of all, it’s free!
7. Asana: Another great tool to have whether you are a solopreneur or have a team. Asana can help you coordinate all of the work your team does and manage it well. Plus you can keep communication specifically with each project, making it easy for everyone on the team.
8. Canva: An user-friendly tool to help you create graphics and content for your social media and print work. There is no need to learn new software and this can be accessed on your computer and phone. The free version has plenty of tools to get you started.
As you grow your business, some of these tools do have paid versions which will allow you to grow with them without worrying about moving to a new tool.
Posted in Small Business Improvement Tagged with: asana, b2b business, business, business owner, Canva, entrepreneur, free, freelancer, Graphics, National Transaction, ntc, Score pixabay, social media, TopTracker
September 18th, 2018 by Admin
Starting a business can be tough. It requires time, effort and passion like no other. It requires you to have tough skin and not allow small things bother you.
But, although all of these qualities can be good, you still need to start and you need money, right? Not necessarily. Starting a business doesn’t always require you have a big amount of money or a business loan. There is some business that requires little to absolutely no money to start. And to be honest, with a little of resourcefulness, you can make your business big while spending less.
Here are 3 simple businesses to start with no money:
- Start an online business: With the age of social media and the internet, starting a business online it can be as simple as 123. You can sell T-shirts on places like Zazzle or Cafepress (to name a few) and get your own designs going. If you have a passion for graphic design or just have really cool sayings and ideas, this is a sure way to get started and only requires you to open up an account, upload designs, and spread the word.
- Sell your things: Making money doesn’t have to be complicated. You might have things laying around that you no longer need or you know you will never use. You can simply turn to places like Facebook Marketplace, eBay or any online marketplace platform to sell up your used or gently used goods. Want to make it a bigger business? Check out garage sales, pick up free stuff (also being offered online) and get going. No money required.
- Sell up your skills: Blogging, writing, or just really good computer skills? Become a professional writer or Virtual Assistant and get paid to use up those skills! You can promote yourself online in places like Fiverr, UpWork, Craigslist and even Facebook Groups (Just be sure to follow the group’s guidelines on this!) Some of this are 100% free to promote and get work while others charge you a minimal fee after you get your first gig.
Remember that being an entrepreneur is already making you be part of the different, the risk takers and the creative. So don’t play down your skills. You can start for free and grow from there. Even migrate to other passions of yours that can be turned to business.
Posted in Small Business Improvement Tagged with: blog, blogging, business, business tips, cafe press, craigslist, ebay, entrepreneur, Facebook, fiverr, freelancer, online business, social media, start a business, start-up, t-shirt, t-shirt printing, tips, upwork, virtual assistant, work from home, writing, zazzle
July 11th, 2016 by Elma Jane
Facebook announcement of News Feed algorithm shift will affect how businesses use this platform. Content posted by brands and publishers will show up less prominent in News Feeds.
This Facebook update may cause reach and referral traffic to decline for many Pages who’s traffic comes directly through Page posts. To limit the impact of this change Boost Engagement is the key, individual users commenting, liking and sharing on business posts will help circumnavigate the new algorithm. Diversify your referral traffic sources. Look for alternative social media platforms, pay per click ads or blogs to make up for the loss in referrals and increase your reach.
To limit the impact of this change, Boost Engagement is the key. Individual users commenting, liking and sharing on business posts will help circumnavigate the new algorithm. Diversify your referral traffic sources. Look for alternative social media platforms, pay per click ads or blogs to make up for the loss in referrals and increase your reach.
Diversify your referral traffic sources. Look for alternative social media platforms, pay per click ads or blogs to make up for the loss in referrals and increase your reach.
While this change will have an impact on big businesses that rely on Facebook for their referral traffic and content sharing, small businesses will still feel the change. By boosting your engagement and diversifying your referral traffic sources, you can lessen the impact to your business.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants Tagged with: business, pay, platform, referral, social media, traffic
June 14th, 2016 by Elma Jane
Getting a merchant account is an important step for any business that sells services. Helping merchant to understand the underwriting process and some of the key things that are reviewed, in order to get approved.
Billing policy – Does the business bill in advance or after products or services are rendered? Businesses that bill too far in advance are at greater risk for a chargeback.
Example: A travel agency who sold travel destination packages six months in advance and cancel the trip, you’ll need to reimburse your customers.
Business type – Some business types are riskier. Industries with vague products or services are more highly to be examined in detail than those with concrete offerings.
Chargeback history – A business with a lot of chargebacks tied to their old merchant account will have a hard time with underwriting. A chargeback might be issued by the cardholder when they feel that the merchant does not fulfil the product or service being rendered as agreed.
Owner / signer credit score – Credit score plays a big role during merchant account underwriting. However, some processors will review financial statements instead in the case of poor credit. if the original signer’s credit score is insufficient, businesses with multiple partners can also try the application with a different signer.
Requested volumes – Are weighed against the processing volumes requested on the application. New businesses usually start with smaller volumes to build a trustworthy relationship before increasing their processing volumes.
Years in business – Long terms in business go a long way in merchant account underwriting, it speaks for their legitimacy. They are more prepared to respond to something like a chargeback and often have a more stable cash flow.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants Tagged with: business, cardholder, chargeback, customers, financial, Industries, merchant account, products, services, travel, travel agency
February 11th, 2016 by Elma Jane
E-commerce is a virtual platform, where we can get products and services and make payments through the internet.
E-commerce trend is constantly changing, it is necessary for a merchant to watch out for the upcoming Trends in this industry for a business to success.
To help boost your conversion rates here are the trends to be followed:
Contextual Commerce – The next big thing in payments and e-commerce. Providing complete description with images and videos to help your customer decide to purchase a product. Customization is an important factor as well to convince about the products or services.
Fast Delivery Shipping – Customer wants to receive the products after purchasing as soon as possible. So Reliable, Timely shipping means a lot.
Mobile Shopping – getting your online store ready for mobile shoppers is not an optional feature, it’s a mandatory part of a strategy.
Multiple Channels For Shopping – optimization is a great experience for shoppers. Having online store presence in different technology gadgets is a must.
Real Time Analytics – analyzing consumer behavior based on data entered into a system less than one minute before the actual time of use. Finds out why a customer leaves the store and prevents customer loss.
Virtual Sales Force – Hiring virtual salesforce, utilizing pop-ups and live chat who will help customers which are similar in a physical store.
Step ahead out of the conventional methods and adapt prevailing trends by embracing innovation so you can offer something new to your customer.
Posted in Best Practices for Merchants, e-commerce & m-commerce Tagged with: business, consumer, customer, data, e-commerce, internet, merchant, mobile, online, payments
