It continues to amaze me how many small businesses (both existing and soon to be born) do not have an online component, particularly here in the Silicon Valley.  In my continuing conversations with entrepeneurs and business owners I keep hearing the same (sad) reason for not being online: we simply don’t know how to do it.  Well, that excuse is no longer valid thanks to the fine folx over at VenalTech.com.

Their professional web developers and skilled programmers will get your business online, exactly the way you want it, with both speed and precision.  Wether you’re looking to move an existing small business online or are starting a new venture (of any size) the team at Venal technologies can meet your needs.  Want to sell your products?  Check.  Allow social networking and user interaction?  Check.  Perform tasks automatically?  Check.  These guys can make your website look and act however you want it to look and act.  After all, the site is representing your business.

Once the site’s designed and online you’ll need to promote it to the masses surfing the world wide web as well as market it to anyone and everyone online who may be interested in your products and/or services.  Well, the VenalTech.com crew can help with that as well.  SEO (Search Engine Optimization)?  Check.  Building your businesses profile on social networking sites?  Check.  Pay-per-click advertising and/or banner ads? Check.  They’ll even help you create interactive media like digital video.

So, with VenalTech taking care of all the technical aspects of building an online business (or moving your real world business online), there are no more excuses.  Visit their site, drop them an email, or give them a call today.  And I look forward to seeing more local shops taking the plunge into the world of internet marketing.

I never intended this blog to turn into a constant discussion on credit cards and small businesses, but it seems to be what local merchants want to discuss.  After my “Credit Card Processing For Small Businesses” post a few days back I’ve been pounded over the head by merchants asking why, exactly, they should accept credit cards.

The answer, of course, is because your customers want you to. But this isn’t good enough for some local businesses. One merchant pointed me to an October CNN Money article citing a September Javelin Strategy & Research study that showed 39% of consumers decreased their credit card usage, up from 37% in April. But what this merchant (and others like him) are missing is that this is the holiday season. The one month of the year when nearly everyone feels absolutely compelled to spend inordinate amounts of money whether they have it or not.

Yes, Americans drew back from burning up their Visas and MasterCards for a short time with the news of banks and other financial institutions crumbling around them. But then came the biggest gift-giving stampede of the year and they’re all out of cash. Credit is king once again, and your customers are going to be using those cards somewhere. Wouldn’t you rather have it be in your shop?

A few weeks back I mentioned an ongoing discussion I’ve been having with some small merchants here in Morgan Hill regarding using small business loans from Merchant Advisors to help carry them through the lean economic times we’re all experiencing right now. In that post I mentioned that I’d suggested Merchant Advisors for credit card processing in a previous post. Well, as that same friend recently informed me, it turns out I was wrong. Not about Merhcant Advisors – they do, indeed, offer credit card merchant services for as low as $8.95 per month and 1.59% + $0.19 on face to face transactions.  I just hadn’t ever actually written about it here on Aahz Reviews Morgan Hill.  So, consider this post a remedy to that oversight.

Aside from the simple fact that Merchant Advisors is focused on small businesses, meaning you’re far more likely to be accepted in to their program with favorable terms then through more “traditional” banks and institutions, the packages they offer are absolutely phenomenal:

• Accept All Major Credit Cards
• Free Credit Card Machine
• NO Contract Term – meaning you can cancel anytime without cancellation fees.
• NO Annual Fees
• A free Gift Card Kit (including card supply) so you can issue your own store gift cards.
• Free Terminal Replacement Program

Plus, the first month is free as well.  So what’s keeping you from offering your customers the convenience they want?  We may be cash strapped, but we still know how to use those credit cards.  Shouldn’t we be using them at your shop?

I was just reading a blog post over at internet marketing consulting guru Danny DeMichele’s site titled “10 reasons why the best thing for online is a bad economy“, and she made some very excellent points. With the real world economy struggling, online entrepreneurs will see more and more opportunities opening. Sure, she puts too much weight, in my opinion, on gas prices affecting shopping habits since gas is now at a three year low (as I pointed out last week) and the fact that she’s an Internet Marketing Consultant makes her somewhat biased, but that doesn’t mean she’s wrong.

I totally agree that the ease of shopping at home, the (at times significant) tax savings of shopping online, ease of price comparison and advertising cut backs by traditional retailers all play in to the hands of the micro- or small business retailer who is willing to aggressively pursue online marketing opportunities both in the current holiday season and in the coming year. Of course, there are some technical hurdles that must be crossed but there’s plenty of help out there for those interested in staking their claim t oa little cyber real estate.  In addition to marketing advice, Mr. DeMichele, for example, offers his services as an SEO Consultant to help small online businesses find their way to the sop of the all important Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).

I was talking to a friend yesterday who runs a small local business here in Morgan Hill. (I’m intentionally not naming him/her or the business because we were talking about the store’s finances.) While seeing all the business closures in the area and the fewer and fewer customers entering the shop and average dollar value of each transaction plummeting as well this business is seriously in trouble. After growing steadily for several years they’re just about at the point of profitability and are not sure they can survive a down holiday season.

Luckily, the same company I’ve previously recommended for Credit card processing also now offers small business loans. They applied for a Business Cash Advance through Merchant Advisors yesterday afternoon and just called me to inform me they got the loan.  How’s that for a speedy approval process?  Now the store can hang on until at least the Spring.  Woohoo!

I know I’ve been talking about saving and the economy a lot lately but, really, is there anything else foremost in people’s minds these days? With the bailout failing to rejuvenate Wall Street all the talking heads are saying that no one’s loaning money which is waht’s really stagnating the economy. Well, I’ve been poking around the net a bit and finding all kinds of places that are still loaning money.

In fact, just today I learned about LawMax which offers commercial lawsuit funding.  For a small or micro-business in this quasi-recession, being able to afford a court costs for a lawsuit could be the difference between life and death (of the business).  After all, you’d be hesitant to put working capital into attorney’s fees, etc when you might need them to pay your suppliers and/or employees next week, wouldn’t you?

My point?  Rest assured that there’s money out there to be borrowed, as long as you’re a decent risk.

While Zaira and I were out driving around this evening I mentioned to her that in addition to Mervyn’s imminent demise, the local Circuit City is also closing.  Proving once again that she is, indeed, my daughter her reply centered on the addition of more empty store fronts to our cozy little town.  It seems like every strip mall and shopping center, no matter how small, has at least one empty space available.  She wondered if we’d be able to spend any money at all here in Morgan Hill next year.  I assured her that new businesses would eventually fill those holes and when pressed on how anyone could afford a new business in this economic climate, the answer came to me in a flash: franchises.

The primary benefit of a franchise is that you have someone looking over your shoulder as you start out whose personal success rides on yuor success as well.  Curious where she could find such an opportunity I told her about MatchPoint franchise consulting website I recently discovered. MatchPoint is a member of the International Franchise Association and helps with such issues as selecting the business that’s right for you, how to buy a franchise, growing your business and even offers leadership and guidance. While they certainly won’t do the work for you they can certainly offer a friendly push in the right direction to get you giong and a helping hand when things look a little rough.

My daughter Z and I have started a couple of new hobbies that require utilizing snail mail. Obviously one of our first stops was the post office to stock up on postage stamps. However, we’ve now realized that we also need another kind of stamp… Ones that will imprint our return address on the dozens of envelopes we mail out every night. As always I started my search at the locally owned businesses. Unfortunately prices started at around $15 and went up from there. The big chain store was no better when it came to price or service. One thing I did notice, though was that almost all of the stores had the same promotional material for their rubber stamps. Turns out they all outsource them to companies elsewhere. So, I decided to cut out the middle man.

I’ve used Vista Print for a lot of printing services over the years and found them to have both excellent service and low prices. When I checked on their self inking stamps I was not surprised to find the same held true there. Much as I like to shop locally I don’t see any reason to pay 20% or more to do so when those local companies are simply going to farm out the job themselves. Until Morgan hill gets a local shop willing and able to do its own production I’ll continue to use VistaPrint for all of my custom printing needs.

While visiting a friend at one of our local high tech firms today I noticed that his office neighbor had the most amazing work station I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately, photography was verboten and mere words can not do the beauty of this system justice. Fortunately, I did find out where he got the table made: Formaspace. They have been creating both standard and custom laboratory furniture, drafting tables, packing stations, rack systems and workbenches for more than a decade. Now you can design and order your own custom workspace online and have it delivered directly to your home or office in as few as 5 days.