Changing Lanes is NOT a Bowling Alley

This is a cautionary tale about information and how easily we can lose control over our brand/image/name.  Cautionary from the viewpoint that if we put "noise, comments, images" on the internet - redacting, changing and correcting can be a long process.   Even when you didn't do it!  So, beware what you post, others post about you and your business and even what your paid advertising is posting about you.  Solution - still in the works. 

From 2000-2004, Changing Lanes paid for a yellow page listing under the heading "Business Consultants".  Now, I know that yellow pages is generic for business directories, but this was the book that was part of our telephone service from AT&T.  We would be listed alphabetically by our business name along with the category listing.  When we first got this listing, if someone thought they wanted to find our number in the book, they would go to "C" for Changing Lanes and NOT find us. 

Why?  Because, AT&T felt strongly that out business name was Lanes, Changing - you know, like Chemical, Sun; or Corning, Owens; or Nobles, Barnes.  Right?   Read More or check out our ongoing blog at Changing Lanes

To Whine or Not to Wine

If you are not working ON your business at least 5 hours a week, then maybe on your way home tonight you will want to pick up some cheese and crackers so when you “whine” you won’t be doing it on an empty stomach. In Michael Gerber’s The E-Myth Mastery as entrepreneurs, we are reminded to work ON our business and not IN our business. In reality, the business owner with less than 15 employees will often not have the luxury to spend all her time ON the business. Here are some questions to start your thinking beyond the day to day work:

1. When will you spend 3 hours planning weekly? Is it scheduled?

2. What can you do this week to create a better tomorrow? (write it down)

3. What core competencies do your employees possess which can be leveraged to affect sales growth? (write them down)

4. What is the number one bottleneck in your business that is holding back growth of sales, profit or both? (Document these)

5. If you had to price everything your employees and you do on an invoice for your customer, how many of these items would your customer recognize as value-added?

 Read More or check our most recent blogging at Changing Lanes

Multitasking - Interviewing - Ego

Multitasking - Not!
By Linda Fayerweather

In 1740, Lord Chesterfield offered the following advice: "There is time enough for everything in the course of the day, if you do but one thing at once, but there is not time enough in the year, if you will do two things at a time."

Repeatedly, science has shown that multitasking does not save time, in fact it can make you stupid! A Wall Street Journal article from 2003 titled the Pitfalls of Doing Too Much at Once to an August INC magazine article titled Multitasking is Making You Stupid.

We would all agree, that texting while driving is a big no-no. But what about reading while riding the exercise bike? Or listening to music or the radio while driving? Or cooking dinner with a baby on your hip? Here is where I draw the line on what is OK multitasking and what is not. Our brains can only preform one higher level task at a time. The higher level tasks or functions require attention and focus, the lower level tasks are routine and often repetitive. When we try to preform two higher level tasks it is like trying to watch two different tennis matches at the same time - you are going to miss something. This is also why texting and driving is so deadly - two higher level tasks that cannot co-exist.

Read More and get tips on Inteviewing Questions and Ego Driven Peers

Labor Day 2012

The first Labor Day holiday, created by the Central Labor Union of New York, was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882 and now many of us see this holiday as end the of summer.

Celebrate today the 364 days you work and help make the world economy revolve. Yes, we are the world as all of our work is linked to others through vendors, customers, employees, subcontractors and neighbors. Finding meaning and purpose in our work is important and for some, labor is an exchange for the resources to give meaning to life. For others, work is what we do to meet our life mission or goals. Knowing your own personal mission is something that may help define you and your work. Dr. Britt Andreatta has created worksheets for helping you develop your own statement and it is worth a look. Personal Mission Statement

Read More includeing tips about The Human Contact Factor and Selling Tips.

Thriving, Expecting and Leading - August 27, 2012

The Law of Profitability
By Linda Fayerweather

Like the law of gravity, the Law of Profitability does not change over time. Everyone knows that a business must make enough money to pay all its bills but often employees and customers forget that businesses are in business to make a profit. Knowing what your profit does for your business needs to be clear. Profit is key to fueling growth, capital improvements, employee bonuses, corporate sponsorships, having "rainy day funds", and rewarding the risk takers.

If you wonder what people think your business does with your profit - ask. You'd be surprised! Here is what I've heard in the trenches over time to the question "what does this company do with profit?" :

Read More

Changing-Your-View----Monday-Morning-Motivators-August-20--2012

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Changing-Your-View----Monday-Morning-Motivators-August-20--2012.html?soid=1100399893080&aid=MPLbmPQ-Ycg

Vacations and Expectations

June 4, 2012

"Advances are Made by Answering Questions. Discoveries are Made by Questioning Answers." --Bernard Haisch

Quick Tip for a Productive Week

Summer can be a wonderful distraction from the world of work.  To stay productive when it isn't your week to vacation, creating some distractions does helps.  The apple break has always been a favorite of mine.  When I'm feeling sluggish, can't finish the task or just having really heavy eyelids, it is time for a break.  Taking a walk in the summer sun or rain; crunching an apple or some carrots, even taking a lunch break away from my desk can be a wonderful time management tool.  So often when we feel overworked or overwhelmed, our brains hear us and checkout!  Making a healthy choice to step back, relax and revive can mean a huge difference in meeting my deadlines.  What is your favorite "get back on track break"? --Linda Fayerweather

Read the Rest of this weeks issue at MMM

View discussions about MMM at www.ChangingLanes.biz

New Adventures

May 28, 2012

"As America celebrates Memorial Day, we pay tribute to those who have given their lives in our nation's wars." --John M. McHugh

Quick Tip for a Short Work Week

This is a short work week and many of us are dreaming of summer fun. Making some short term expectations for the summer season could mean that beside affording you and your staff some much need R & R, you could reach September with some new ideas or skills. That brings a whole new meaning to the essay "How I spent my Summer Vacation". Things to do that will make the summer memorable: Read a business book - we at Changing Lanes have lots of suggestions, but even taking one off your stack of "to-read-someday" would be a good start. Read a fiction book - maybe even one of your kids' books; could be the conversation starter you would enjoy. Listen to educational information - so many podcasts are free and on just about any topic. You can even learn a language. Change something in your lifestyle to become more healthy; suggest a challenge to your colleagues, co-workers or family. Attend a Conference and it doesn't have to be work related; it could be something totally different or maybe a hobby! Now, to really make this happen, 1. Make a SMART goal, 2. Post it so you see it twice a day and we will 3. Have a celebration in September! Oh yes, sharing our goals often helps it happen! Check out the rest of this issue of MMM or read it and comments at www.ChangingLanes.biz

To:  Corporate Customer Service

Reason:  The message below was emailed on 12/27/06 after our experience *********

I am from Ohio and regularly eat at the Restaurant near our home in Maumee.  While visiting with my daughter and son-in-law in Providence, I suggested that we eat at the ************ that was very near her home. 

Since my daughter has an 11 day old infant, we thought it best to call ahead (we do this in Ohio and it really cuts our wait time).  I had my son-in-law, John call ahead at 5:30pm.  We requested the next available sitting for 6 (six) people which was 7pm.  We were given the number “702” and requested to arrive 15 minutes early. 

We did all this and arrived at 6:45pm.  I went to the reception stand and noticed a hand written sign that said wait time: 20-30 minutes.  I gave my number “702” and assured the woman with an orange baseball cap and retainer on her top teeth (she will be called “Orange Hat” from this point forward) that we had arrived and our entire party had arrived.  Orange Hat told us in an exasperated tone that we were early and would have to wait 30 minutes.  Well, we said, okay and we planned on being seated at 7:15pm. 

At 7:20pm, my husband went to ask when we would be seated and Orange Hat said “We are on a different clock, so you have really only been here 15 minutes”.  Now he was puzzled by this and came back and asked us what we thought this meant since he, too, is from Ohio. 

At 7:30pm, my son-in-law went and asked when we would be seated and he was told in a very surly tone by Orange Hat that if they had known we were a large party, they would have told us it was a 90 minute wait.  I guess waiting from 5:30 to 7 on the Call Ahead doesn’t count as even part of your wait time. 

At 7:45 pm, I got up and walked past Orange Hat and asked 2 of the 4 women standing around in Texas Roadhouse shirts to please explain what “Call ahead” meant.  They politely explained that procedure we had done and also the same way it is practiced in Ohio.  At that point I explained that we had called at 5:30pm, got a 7pm sitting, arrived at 6:45pm as suggested and have been waiting with the 11 day old infant for an hour and wondered when we would be “allowed” to have a table.  One of these very helpful women took our number 702 and had us seated in 1 (one) minute.  Now, when we turned into our booth, we noticed the clock in the kitchen that was 15 minutes slow!!!!!

Our server, Oscar was very pleasant and a helpful and the food was excellent, thank you. 

Now, which of these was most exasperating (this is multiple choice)?

1.  Orange Hat treating us as unintelligent morons (oh, did I forget to mention that out of the 6 of us we hold 10 college degrees?)

2.  That the ************ has a “secret time zone” that is 15 minutes slower than Eastern Standard time?

3.  That Call Ahead still meant we had to wait 1 hour (60 minutes) when the sign said 20-30 minute wait?

4.  That no one even cared and said “Gee, we are sorry this is happening to you, could we give you a cup of coffee while you wait”?

Did You Get Your FUD Shot!

In my travels and conversations with business owners from the east coast to the west and many places in between, I'm becoming optimistic about the future business climate. The great recession was declared done in 2009 and while many parts of the country are still trying to dig out of what resembles an ice age snow storm, business owners are speaking positivity about the future. Back to a FUD shot, it is an acronym attributed to IBM for an illness called "Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt." For all I know, the end of the world as we know it could be 12-12-12 or some other pivotal event, regardless, what if it doesn't happen?   Stepping outside the FUD and following your business plan is one way to capture market share while others are not paying attention. If you get this disease, realize that it will last for awhile but you can fight it - it just takes persistence and often less TV news watching.  Not paying attention to your metrics can lead to FUD and you may miss the important opportunity.  If you haven't seen the basketball video by Daniel Simons that helps you analyze your attention to what is suggested, check it out: Basketball  Make sure your attention is focused on what matters in your life. --  Linda Lucas Fayerweather www.ChangingLanes.biz  419-897-0528 linda@changinglanes.biz Consider working with a coach or a MasterMind Team to make 2012 the year of your dreams!

THRIVE! Workshop to Build the Business of Your Dreams. . . Details below

Be SMART

You may have heard the acronym before, but it is well worth mentioning again, S.M.A.R.T. goals. Setting goals the SMART way will help make your goals easier to obtain and help your staff get on the same page for the year ahead. Here is the breakdown of the SMART goal system. S - Specific - Your goals should be able to answer the 5 "W" questions; who, what, where, why, which M - Measurable - If your goal is not measurable, how will you know if you staff is making progress? Set target dates and create spreadsheets. This will keep the motivation high when your staff can see their success in progress. A - Attainable - Be realistic. It is nice to set the bar high, but too high only sets your staff up for failure. This part should answer the "How do we get there" question. R - Relevant - Make sure to choose the goals that are relevant. Are these goals worth your staff and company time? T - Timely - Give your goals a time frame, 6 months, 6 weeks or the entire year, make it clear what your target date is and stick to it. Remember to evaluate your goals often and make sure you are on target for completion. Check out our article at:  SMART --  Tiffiny Fayerweather tiffiny.fayerweather@ChangingLanes.com

It Doesn't Hurt to say "No"

Back when I first started out my professional career as a web designer, I would take on every and any web or media based job I could get my hands on. My list of services was a mile long. I did everything from web design to video work. I was the jack of all trades and the master of none. After about two years of this it became apparent to me that I couldn't keep up with the ever changing web languages, be proficient, feel comfortable providing services that weren't mediocre, and have a life. It was time to focus on a few languages and services. I cut down my services to only a handful that I'm really good at. Focused on them and what I needed to provide them. I am now a master of a few trades. My business has a focus and a niche in the market. My rates dictate that and so does the quality of work you will receive from my business. My clients and potential clients know exactly what my business provides. It was one of the best and most important things I could have done for my business. But it wasn't easy. Money is tempting, especially if you are just starting out and every penny counts or if you just like money (which who doesn't). One of the hardest days for me that tested my business integrity was the day a potential client asked me to do a service my business no longer offered. It was something I could do and it would have been a good pay day. I told the potential client I couldn't help them. I pointed them to a few businesses that could. At first it was hard knowing that I just let a bunch of money walk away from me. But deep down I knew that I wouldn't have been able to provide the best service and I would have spent way to much time on the project because of it. Now I have no problem passing up business even if I provide the service. There are various reasons. Here are a few. The project or service a potential client wants done is beyond what I can do or I'm capable of doing it but I don't offer that service. The potential client has unrealistic expectations for the project and I'm not able to educate them so they will understand a realistic expectation. Such as a web site will automatically generate business for them. After talking to a potential client it becomes clear they want more than they are willing to pay for. After talking to a potential client it becomes clear they are too demanding. There will always be some sort of aspect of the project that they will complain about. It means they won't be happy with my business. It can be have a negative impact that can cause all sorts of problems. At minimum I would lose time and maybe have to refund money. Or even worse, the client could say negative things about my business. If I took on the job that I don't normally do and failed to produce quality results, I'm responsible for that. At minimum I would lose time and have to refund money. Worse than that the client could say negative things about my business or they could sue me. I would rather not do the work, point the potential client to a business that can and have them be happy that I did because that business was able to fulfill their needs. If I don't know of any businesses that can help, I don't point them to any business, I just tell them sorry, I don't know of any. Instead of creating a headache for myself and some one who thinks negative of my business. Take the time to think about what services you offer. Are you actually providing the service to the best of your or your business's abilities? Are there services that your business provides that causes headaches each and every time. Can you improve on that service so it doesn't? Are there any services that you can cut out so you can focus your business and create a better niche market? If you know exactly what your business does and how it does it. It is easy to convey that message to the world. Its easier for people to understand your business. Which will make it easier to get business. --   Jeff Mendelsohn Liquid Mechanix Studio, LLC www.liquidmechanix.com 419.297.3364 --

Welcome to February

Welcome to February!

January 2012 is history! By February 1, 65% of people who made a resolution are still on track. By year end only 25% will even remember what their resolution was. A business plan is like a resolution. --You have the desire, --You have the team, --The market share is available, and --How do you hold yourself accountable? That is precisely why a monthly date with your plan is so important.   So . . . Did you review January? 4 Suggestions to get started What was your Gross Revenue? How did it compare to your expectations (projections or budget)? What department of your business exceeded expectations? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? What part of your business was lack luster? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? The first two questions are asking for objective quantifiable answers - it either is or it isn't. Your business may be tracking some very common industry averages for YOUR industry. It might be Gross Profit Margin or it may be traffic - website views, calls in, customers in the door or your close ratio. Maybe you track a debt to assets or debt to equity ratio. Businesses that track at least one financial,one customer, and one quality measure tend to be more in control and achieve goals more quickly. The next two questions with the 5 Whys are designed to have your team delve deeper in to what happened.  Many a business meeting is peppered with quick answers and solutions that may or may not really solve the problem. The 5 Whys are a technique that may help you dig deeper and find the root cause, especially of a reoccurring problem.   Often when working with a team you will discover several underlying problems not just the most obvious. Once a root cause is found, a solution is not far behind. The other added benefit is that instead of blaming, we work as a team to solve problems and make the business a whole lot better. Answering these questions each and every month in 2012 will either help you have a great 2012 or just totally irritate you. Either way, you and your business will be in touch. Linda Lucas Fayerweather www.ChangingLanes.biz 419-897-0528 linda@changinglanes.biz Consider working with a coach or a MasterMind Team to make 2012 the year of your dreams!

THRIVE! Workshop to Build the Business of Your Dreams. . . Details below

Planning for Staff Evaluations

Yearly evaluations can be just as nerve racking for you as it is for your staff. Having some kind of order can help ease your staff into expectations while giving them a chance to communicate their concerns. Both parties are looking for ways to make your business run a little smoother while keeping their sanity. First, be fair and honest. The only way to make sure your staff knows the direction you want them to go is to tell them. Start the meeting off with the direction you would like and ask if they feel they can make some changes. This approach allows both of you to feel more at ease instead of defensive. Have each of your staff complete their own evaluations of their job and of their overall experience. Allowing your staff to address their concerns will open the lines of communication and make them feel their voices are being heard. Be open to hearing a little constructive criticism, there may be ways to improve morale and productivity that you have overlooked. Next, get down to the details. This is where you need to be honest and address situations that require correction or improvement. Whether it is web surfing or just plain lack of motivation, you owe it to your staff member as well as your business to bring it to their attention. Just remember to keep your cool and not play the blame game, talk in a casual and collected manner and don't be over bearing. Always end your evaluations on a positive note. This positive note brings strengths and positive feedback to the top of mind.  Staff evaluations are not a time for lay-offs or firing. These meetings are for the staff you want to keep on board and continue to grow.  Tiffiny Fayerweather tiffiny.fayerweather@ChangingLanes.com

What Do You Mean "Email isn't Secure?"

A few weeks ago my business friend, Steve told me he was signing up for a conference that I might be interested in attending. It's a national conference hosted by a pretty big company. Upon checking out the conference, I thought it would be a pretty good conference to attend. I clicked the register link to see my options and was horrified by what I saw. One of the options was to fill out a PDF and email in your registration. Not Fax, email it. They wanted Credit Card Information, Company Information, some personal information, and a digital signature. I closed the PDF and immediately called Steve to see how he registered. Luckily he registered through the site and submitted his info over a secure connection. But he was confused as to why I was so livid about the register by email option.  When I told him email is not secure whatsoever and is one of the most hacked area's in the Internet world, he agreed but I could tell in his voice he didn't believe me. So I asked Steve to tell me about his email accounts. He uses a standard email program like Outlook or Thunderbird. He pulls in three email accounts. One from his business, (a .com), two personal accounts from free email services such as GMAIL, Hotmail, or Yahoo. He was keeping his email on each email server for about 10 days before his email program deleted it, which is normal.  I then asked Steve to tell me about the last ten days worth of email (email that would still be on the server). Besides all the promo/marketing emails, he had a bunch of email from his clients, and several emails that contained login info. A gold mine of information.  Then Steve admitted to me that his one email accounts was hacked about a year ago! The hacker sent out a bunch of spam emails but they could have gotten access to a lot more. The hacker had access to a good chunk of Steve's emails. They could have gotten access to his accounts on Amazon, eBay, PayPal, and more. It clicked for him as to why I was so livid about the email registration option. All the hacker would have had to do is open up some of his emails... That's all any one would have to do.  It doesn't take much to get into an email account due to a weak password, a virus, hacking into the server, or a disgruntle or nosey co-worker that has access to your server. Once in, what do they have access to? Emails from clients, username and passwords to sites, private information, you name it. They could even setup a forward to collect your emails and you wouldn't be the wiser.  Email is not secure. Period. It is rarely sent and received through a secure connection, it is rarely encrypted, lives on the server or a computer for way too long, and more people could have access to it then you think. The bottom line is don't send any sensitive data through email, EVER and don't send any thing you wouldn't want some one else to read.  Then it got me thinking, if this company is that oblivious or lazy about security what other security holes do they have? Will my data actually be safe with them?  It doesn't take much to be secure. Create strong passwords. Don't use one word dictionary passwords. Use a minimum combination of 8 alpha-numeric characters. Or a 4 word sentence. Don't send or receive sensitive data. If you wouldn't feel comfortable letting someone else read your emails then don't send it. Make sure to clean up old emails, delete them from your Deleted Folder both on your computer and on the server. Be aware of who has access to your email accounts. Make sure they are people you can trust. Setup surprise security audits on a regular basis. If you are storing information make sure it is encrypted and protected. Make sure you have firewalls, anti-virus, and other security software in place, update to date and running. If you want to learn more do some Internet searches for "Email Security Best Practices" and "Creating a Security Audit". Or find a security consultant that can help you. Taking these extra steps I often hear people complain that it complicates things or makes accessing their data difficult. To those people I respond, What would happen if your merchant account or the credit card companies found out you were dealing with credit card information in a non secure way? Answer, you would lose your merchant account and possible be blacklisted from being able to accept certain types of credit cards, until the issues are fixed. What would happen to your company if you had a breach of security and lost client information? By law, you are required to inform your customers.  For most big companies it's pretty damaging both to their profits and in customer relations. For smaller companies it can destroy the company. How would your clients feel? How would you feel if a company you did business with had a breach of security and fraud was committed with your lost information? This article isn't meant to scare you into never using email again. It is meant to help you realize the limits of what you should use email for and what you should do to protect yourself and your clients. Think of security as a form of insurance. Protect yourself while protecting others. -- Jeff Mendelsohn Liquid Mechanix Studio, LLC www.liquidmechanix.com 419.297.3364

Profit Now and Smile Later

January Theme: The 5 Priorities of Business:

Principles - Prepare/Plan - Product - People - Profit.

Profit Now and Smile Later

As a kid, I can remember on vacations riding in the car behind my Dad and actually saying "Are we there yet, Dad?" His answer was to teach me to read maps and estimate miles-to-destination using my thumb as a measuring tool comparing its length to the legend. I knew how many "thumbs" it was to Lansing, Michigan and about how long it took to go a "thumb". In business, it is helpful to know when we are "there". If we are "here" now and what to be "there", in my book, the strongest benchmark is profit. And without profit, a business will not survive!  Pricing right is one of the keys to creating profit. When selling a product, it is critical to know the cost of goods sold and the overhead. Overhead is all the costs to keep the business in operation even when when there are no sales (horrors) and in a service business this will be all costs. After you have all these estimates, you can now project profit. Don't make the mistake of thinking if we want 20% profit on a job or item, you multiply the total cost by 20% and add that to your price. This will give you a 17% profit not 20%. Sound strange? Well, it is just a little algebra. Here are the common multipliers to get your price with the proper profit percentage and use as a "rule of thumb" for profit. Yes, the decimals do make a difference. Multiplier for 10% profit is 1.11. Costs time l.ll = Price with 10% Profit! Multiplier for 15% profit is 1.18. Multiplier for 20% profit is 1.25. Multiplier for 25% profit is 1.33. Multiplier for 30% profit is 1.43. So, how many thumbs do you need to go to get "there"? Linda Lucas Fayerweather www.ChangingLanes.biz 419-897-0528 linda@changinglanes.biz Consider working with a coach or a MasterMind Team to make 2012 the year of your dreams!

Share the Profit

You have carefully hand-picked your staff, taken care to groom and train them and your rapport with them couldn't be better. So, with the knowledge that more and more companies are hiring, the question on your mind may be whether or not your precious staff will stick around or bolt to what they feel may be bigger opportunities.    If you want to reward your staff, while at the same time retain them for years to come, you may want to consider employee retention bonuses combined with profit sharing. Design a profit sharing contract. If your company hits all of the targets you have set for the year, give your staff their bonus, half in cash, half in a retention account. Each year your company hits the target you again, pay out half, put the other half in their account. After five years your staff member can earn the first years bonus along with any bonus earned for the present year. If your staff member chooses to walk away after a few years, wish them luck and send them on their way. Pay out only the required years they have earned. Your contract can stipulate how much that employee walks away with. Here is an example of a staff member making $35000 annually showing raises.     This is just one of the many options that give you and your staff member a sense of security in an ever-changing market. Need help to figure out what kind of bonus works best? Contact your favorite Business Coaches at Changing Lanes! Tiffiny Fayerweather tiffiny.fayerweather@ChangingLanes.com

Making Profit on the Internet

This week, to wrap up the series on the 5 Priorities of business, I will be talking about making profits on the Internet.  A key component to making money on the Internet is making it easy and secure for people to give you money. It is often one of the most over looked steps. First let's talk about security. The Internet has made it easy for fraud. Fraud can happen to anyone and any site. About once a month I read about some company having a breach of security. Some times worse than others but overall in most cases credit card data is stolen. For big companies it is really damaging. For smaller companies, it can be downright disastrous. Like out of business disastrous. Because of this, small companies need to be extra careful when it comes to security. I'm not going to go in to too much detail but here are some good rules to go by. Only submit and access sensitive data over a secure connection - Secure Sockets Layer {SSL} Buy a quality SSL certificate from a reputable provider. Don't buy a low level SSL certificate (40-bit, 56-bit) Buy a higher level (128-bit, 256-bit). It is an investment to protect your business. 128-bit encryption is one trillion times one trillion times stronger than 40-bit encryption. Don't ever email sensitive data. Email is about as secure as a paper bag, all you need to do is open it. When storing data always make sure it is encrypted. Don't store credit card data or other sensitive data longer than you have to. If you want to read up about further security practices check out OWASP and do searches for "Best Online Security Practices".  Security is very important and should be taken very seriously. So please take some time to learn about it and do everything you can to ensure security for your customers. Now that we have talked about security, let's talk about making it easy for users to give you money. By this I mean your checkout process. If you make it difficult for a user to checkout by creating road blocks, they are less likely to buy products from you or return to buy products. Here are some examples of road blocks. Forcing a user to login when they add a product to their shopping cart. Forcing a user to go through the whole checkout process before they know their final total (product price + tax + shipping). Making it difficult for the user to edit their shopping cart. Forcing users to say yes or no to extras, such as warranties, similar products, add-ons, etc. Forcing users to sign up for "free" services. Taking users through an extra long checkout process.   The checkout process should be four steps or less from the time you click checkout. Sign in or checkout as a guest. Enter in billing, shipping, and credit card info. If checking out as a guest, this is the time to ask if the user wants to enter in a username and password to create an account. Confirm the order. Thank you for your order screen. The payment process should be easy, too. There are many payment gateways out there. All have their advantages and disadvantages. So take some time to choose the right one that will work for your business. With services like Paypal or Google Checkout, you don't have to handle credit card information, no monthly fees but the drawback is you have to pay slightly higher rates plus a transaction fee. You have to send the user to PayPal or Google Checkout site. These type of gateways are great for low transaction sites. But they don't give off a professional image and they can add extra steps to the checkout process. There are regular merchant accounts, the fees are usually lower but there is usually a monthly fee. Merchant accounts are good if you can do a certain amount of transactions per month. Usually any where between $2500 to $5000 a month or more. The down side is you have to deal with credit card information. But it makes your business look professional and you can really make it easy for a user to checkout. You don't have to send them off to another site. There are also services that gives the illusion that your company has a merchant account but you don't have to deal with credit card information. One such service is stripe.com. The upside is you look professional and you don't have to deal with credit card information. Stripe.com does it for you. Plus its great for both low transaction and high transaction sites. The downside, the fees are a little higher, and it is just about as much front end coding as having a merchant account. Personally I like the idea of Stripe.com. It's great for any small to mid size company that wants to make the checkout process easy, give the illusion that they have a merchant account but don't want to deal with the security that comes with processing credit cards. If you want to offer even more options, even if you use stripe.com or have a merchant account you could add the option for a user to checkout via PayPal or Google Checkout. The whole point is to make the checkout process easy, friendly, and secure for a user. The easier it is for a customer to give you money the more likely they will. In these modern times if you don't accept credit cards and your sales demographic dictates that you should, then you are more than likely missing out on a lot of profits. But be smart about it, find a service that provides credit card processing that will fit your business both in cost and image. Then find a professional web designer to add credit card processing to your site (it's much cheaper to pay for a professional than it is to get sued over fraud due to lack of security). Remember with any sales and checkout process there is always room for improvement. If something isn't working, change it. It is a lot cheaper to rewrite the checkout process than to lose sales. If you can't afford to go with a full on merchant account, start with PayPal or Google Checkout. No matter what, make it easy and secure for the user! -- Jeff Mendelsohn Liquid Mechanix Studio, LLC www.liquidmechanix.com 419.297.3364