As someone who has worked with computers for more than three-quarters of my life, I can say without boasting that I have a decent proficiency with them. Where I don’t know everything about every piece of hardware or software out there, I can usually get my way around with some analysis and troubleshooting.
The longstanding line, “computers are supposed to make our loves easier” seems more like a fleeting goal for many people. Due to my technical experience, I am often held in a higher regard by those who are more tech novices, namely when something they may not understand or are having trouble with comes more naturally to me.
Don’t get me wrong – ego stroking every once in a while is a good thing! But in all reality it mostly isn’t warranted. Whenever I get a large abundance of praise or witness someone denigrate themselves over their lack of technical knowledge, I usually look at them and smile, then I explain to them the reason why I am smiling.
Why? We all have our place.
My skill and ability with computers overshadow things I can’t and mostly don’t want to do. I can’t iron a shirt without making it look worse than what I started with, I can’t lay tile, I can’t bake, I can’t ice skate, I can’t use a SLR or DSLR camera… and the list goes on. But do I care about these things I can’t do? No. Why? Because others can do them, do them well and I look to them for those tasks and services.
Untwisting Abilities
Years ago I was at a friend’s business, an auto body shop. When I was there, he couldn’t figure out how to do something on his computer and asked for my help. I don’t recall exactly what the task was but I do recall figuring it out rather quickly. When I showed him what I did, he was flabbergasted and expressed how stupid he felt that he couldn’t have figured it out for himself.
Then it was my turn. I smiled and said something like, “dude, we all have our place. I know computers, and you know cars. You can take a twisted hunk of metal and turn it back into a Mercedes. So when you have a computer question you call me, and when I get into a car accident I call you.” He’s a smart guy and he agreed with my logic.
Place Holding
So the next time you feel frustrated over something you don’t know, think about what you do know and what your place is in helping others. Plus I have to admit – I get baffled with a lot of technology issues I run into and completely sympathize with you that many things are not more intuitive.
This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.
The April 18 – 24, 2013 edition of Time Out Chicago, which unceremoniously arrived in my mailbox this past week, is apparently the last print issue of the weekly arts, food and entertainment magazine. As of this writing I haven’t heard it officially, only from other sources, including some of the majority of the staff who were just fired.
For as much as I talk of how I get most all of my news and information online, Time Out Chicago was the sole exception. It was part events calendar, part coffee table book and not to mention part great bathroom reading material. Even if I wasn’t participating in the literally hundreds to thousands of events, shows or restaurants listed, it was a convenient, well-edited and attractive print publication.
And now it’s gone.
Once partially owned by Chicago resident and Morningstar founder Joe Mansueto, it was sold back to its parent company (which published editions in other cities) and it is apparently going solely online. They already have a Web site, though I have infrequently visited it. They also have an iPod app which apparently I could have bundled with my print subscription but when I attempted to do this the last time I renewed my subscription the customer service rep was not aware of this. Though it would have been nice to have it on my iPad, I had the print version, so why would I need another format?
My Idea Too-Late But Worth Mentioning
This idea hit me when I was in a doctor’s office waiting room, looking at the magazines fanned out on a table. Among them were a copy of Time Out Chicago and StreetWise, the latter being a periodical sold on the streets of Chicago by, as described by their Web site, people “…who are facing homelessness.” The magazine is part of a larger social services agency, and you can read more about StreetWise on their Web site. Where I don’t personally know much about the larger organization , I do see the people selling copies of them on the streets of Chicago. I’ll be honest I may have maybe bought 1 or 2 copies over the years, but then again I barely pickup free copies of other periodicals also available around the city.
So do you see my idea? Why not merge or mashup the 2 publications? The much smaller StreetWise would be included in the pages of Time Out Chicago, then the street sales force would sell the combined publication.
Could it have worked? It would have been worth a try! Rather than hearing someone hawking, “Streetwise…” we could have heard “Get Time Out Chicago, with the latest going on in Chicago…” Add to it Time Out logoed-gear to wear, and it would have added more to the sales pitch. The tourists alone would have bought out every issue.
But alas, it’s not to be. With the staff cuts already made, Time Out Chicago is going digital. I don’t know how much the quality will be effected, or even if their Web site has an RSS feed, but only time will tell.
Though it’s too late, I had to share this. What do you think, could it have worked? Are there other mashup opportunities out there that could be such a win-win? Other potentials for for-profit businesses and non-profit organizations to partner? Please share your ideas and thoughts in the comments to this post.
This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.
So why the frustration? For me personally, as I switched to Fever last year, losing the service won’t impact my personal consumption of information via RSS feeds. Before I get into it I’ll offer up an explanation of what RSS is – if you are already in the know you can skip it or go ahead and read it to critique my approach to defining it.
So What Is RSS?
For those who are reading this please note I will not try to get too technical, rather explain the process. RSS is a method of informing of new content published, It is achieved by posting some or all of that content and related meta data, links, inages, etc. to a data file. This data file has a particular structure as it is formatted in the XML language (I won’t get into XML here, but if you must follow this link to learn about XML). That data file is placed on a Web server for anyone to access or subscribe to with a public Web URL (the file can also be private too, but I digress). Whenever content is added or any is changed or deleted, the publisher of the content can update the RSS file. As this file can change frequently, it is referred to as an RSS feed, as in feeding new content to the consumer of it.
The RSS feed in itself is not the only place where the power of RSS lies. Software, called an RSS feed aggregator or an RSS reader processes these RSS feeds that are subscribed to and organizes them to present the content to the consumer. There are a variety of RSS feed readers out there, from installed software, mobile apps, Web services (like Google Reader), as well as Web browsers and email clients. The reader also keeps track of what has been read, so that when the RSS feed is updated, it will show new vs. old content, among other features as linking to the source content on its Web site and social media and email sharing functionality. This concludes this RSS overview – let me know if it is clearer to you, or clear as mud.
Now Back To Our Story
Of all of the RSS readers out there, one of the most popular has been Google Reader, It’s power has been in its simplicity and robust formatting and sharing features, plus the fact it was from Google and integrated well into your Google account and that it was a free Web service. So when it was announced that what may be the most widely used RSS reader is going away in a few months, there was much shock and dismay, not only from people who use Google Reader to consume content but from content publishers as well, as an important channel may go away if those consumers of content do not find an alternative to Google Reader.
So why would content publishers be upset? They are still publishing the content so people can still seek it out to read it. First, I’ll give a perspective to who all of these publishers are. When one thinks of RSS feeds, they often only think of blogs and news. Most all blogging software includes out-of-the-box the ability to generate an RSS feed or multiple feeds, and typically you have to make an effort to turn this off. Many believe – including myself – that RSS feeds plus the ease of publishing have led to the popularity and success of blogs. News Web sites are a perfect match for RSS as they are constantly publishing content. This is why most sites not only offer 1 feed but many have a feed for each section of the site or content categories, such as breaking news.
Beyond blogs and news, many Web sites and information sources offer RSS feeds. A quick look at my own personal RSS feeds show job postings and news from company Web sites, weather forecasts, LinkedIn status updates for all of my connections, sports scores, discount shopping offers, Twitter searches and of course blogs and news.
As I talked about in the previously-mentioned iGoogle post, for me RSS is my main source for information. Moving from Google Reader to Fever has not diminished this at all. However what many fear is that people won’t seek out one of the many alternatives to Google Reader out there, and it could signal that RSS is no longer a viable technology or medium, just because Google is dropping Reader.
RSS Is Simply Not In Google’s Future
This past week’s announcement from Google is not the only activity they have taken against RSS. It has been slowly dismantling and marginalizing its FeedBurner service, which is an RSS “enhancer" providing analytics like subscriber counts, the ability to subscribe to a feed by email and other features to a “burned” feed. FeedBurner has always been a free offering from Google since it bought the eponymous Chicago-based start-up several years ago. Though it integrated inline advertising thru its AdSense service, it never really innovated the overall FeedBurner service or further integrated it like it has done with other acquisitions. Even FeedBurner's look and feel has barely changed over the years.
Recently Google announced it was shutting off the FeedBurner API as well as AdSense for RSS feeds. As a result there have been rumors abound that Google will shutdown FeedBurner altogether. Despite this Google has been silent on these rumors. Now with the announcement of Google Reader, people are biting their lip waiting for the other shoe to drop, and looking to other services like FeedBlitz to replace FeedBurner and keep similar functionality along with keeping their RSS feed live.
RSS Still Not A Household Term
By what I have described here regarding the power and simplicity of RSS, you would think that everyone is using it. However that is not the case. RSS, though a free open standard, has had an image problem in my opinion. It’s as though it’s too “techy” for the average person and as a result has not had universal adoption. Though it has a familiar orange icon and browsers and email clients now process feeds, it is not a completely seamless process to subscribe to a feed. Other than Google, not many large service providers with anywhere near the same name recognition have offered RSS readers. RSS has an identity crisis, with emphasis on the latter word ‘crisis.’
What’s Next For RSS?
Just because Google Reader is going away, RSS is not. And in reality, it can’t! As it’s an open standard, as long as someone is publishing an RSS feed file and someone is processing it, RSS is more than alive and well.
Over the past few days I have seen a lot of activity online from those looking for alternative RSS readers such as Fever that I use. A am also sure that entrepreneurs are coming up with innovative alternatives, and I wouldn’t be surprised if another major player makes a goodwill PR move into RSS feed reading as well. On another note, I predict FeedBurner will be eventually shutdown by Google, though that is a whole other blog post on the impact and recovery from that!
#VIVARSS! Do you agree? If so or not, I welcome your comments to this post. And if you do comment, please indicate whether or not you subscribe to The Hot Iron’s RSS feed.
This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.
It’s almost hard to believe that it has been over a year since the TV in our home met its demise. What is probably more surprising is that we never replaced it over that last year, and in all reality my wife and I can’t say we have really missed it.
On January 10, 2012, our TV would not turn on. After checking power and all other connections we concluded the TV had shown its last programming. Why do I remember that date? No, I did not write it down, rather I thought it was ironic that it happened on the day of the New Hampshire presidential primary as I bought the TV at the Lechmere store in Salem, New Hampshire back in the early 90’s. Yes, this was an old TV, a 27” Sony Trinitron with a picture tube. It most certainly was not high-definition, but as of late, but Elmo seemed to look ok on it to our kids.
I’m Not Anti-TV
Before I continue let me make it clear – I am not anti-TV. I did not intend or go out of my way to rid our home of a TV. I have always had a TV of my own since I went off to college many moons ago and have been watching cable TV since it was first wired into my childhood home’s black and white TV back in the early 80’s. Where I will admit that sometimes I let the TV control my schedule and probably watched more than I should, most of my TV diet was of the news and some dramas, and of course Elmo.
When the TV never came back on, we had a decision to make. At the time it was a major expense we weren’t expecting to take on. We also noticed that the kids weren’t really expressing interest in watching anything with it not working. It was the latter more than the former which led to the decision to not replace it.
Have I Missed It?
When you take any element out of an environment which commonly has a great focus to it there is a form of a void. When the massive tubed TV departed to the recycling center, that was the case in our living room. Though we did fill the space with a much smaller replacement –more on that below – it was still a different dynamic, especially as there was not as much noise and sound coming from the spot in the room.
Stimulus aside, not having the TV available to watch “something” was a slight adjustment, but not a major behavioral change, at least for me. Though much of what we watched was news and home and cooking shows, it was nice to have these available when we wanted some (as my wife always says) mental chewing gum. But where we were always aware of our kids watching too much TV, we didn’t always apply the same standard to ourselves. Not that it was always a bad thing though!
In some regards, I do miss having a TV readily available. But on the other hand, I have somehow managed to live without it as well.
Alternate Media Delivery
Though we did not replace our TV, our home is not completely devoid of video entertainment. I connected an LED computer monitor to the WD Live TV box we already had (like a Roku, a media streaming device) and our home theatre so we could still watch movies, videos and some streaming programming. Though not completely ideal, it passed the main test as Elmo looked good on it. Later in the year we got an iPad so we were able to introduce Netflix and Amazon video to the mix, along with apps from TV and cable stations so we could keep up with video news if we needed to.
By the time the TV went kaput, I was already getting my main meal of news and information from sources other than on TV. Using my RSS feed reader, I was subscribed to a multitude of RSS feeds from news outlets, media channels, bloggers and other sources to keep me more than informed. Podcasts and Sirius XM satellite radio have rounded out the text with audio nicely. I was able to scan the headlines much easier and dig deeper as I needed to, all without being beholden to a TV news schedule (I did not have a DVR, nor do I ever want one!).
Where nothing can truly replace anything, this overall experience has come close to what we had before. Couple it with watching TV sporting events at local pubs and watching one of the TVs in the conference at the OfficePort Chicago co-working office space have filled in the gaps nicely, especially as those gaps have mostly been with sporting events.
Watching Ahead
Is there a TV in our future? Possibly. As the LED monitor isn’t completely ideal (did I mention it’s only a 19”?) or compatible with our other equipment (the LED monitor won’t play Netflix videos because it is not HDTV compatible) we are contemplating buying a TV for better viewing, but wouldn’t go any wider than a 32”. Even with this, we would not get cable TV again. An HDTV would allow us to watch local channels if we really want to, and our limited video viewing (a.k.a. Elmo) will continue as is.
If we really need a local TV fix, we can always walk a few blocks to the CBS 2 street-front studio and see Rob and Kate live.
I’m interested to hear if any of my readers have also cut the cord to their TV and their experience with it. Or if you think I am nuts for not having one, feel free to say that too in the comments to the post.
This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.
Back in late December, 2012 and early January, 2013, a small but might event occurred across the US – Hug Train USA. As the name implies, there was a journey across the country by train, stopping in major cities and offering hugs and raising money, all in the name of mental health.
Rather then telling the story myself, I asked Arié Moyal to tell it himself. The format is in the order of the 6 Questions I have asked in the past, but as a video. It was recorded on January 3, 2013 on his second stop in Chicago. If you can’t see the video below you can view it on YouTube.
If you would like to get involved with Hug Train USA you can learn more at their Web site or you can follow them on Twitter or Facebook.
This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.
On December 30, 2012, with no fanfare (once again), this blog – thehotiron.com – turned 6.
Where I got back into a small groove of blogging as of late, I am over a month late in acknowledging the anniversary of this venue. Like last year where I tried not to set unrealistic expectations, I will not set any again, and rather would like to take the opportunity to thank you, my loyal readers, who have given me the encouragement to keep writing and keep The Hot Iron going! Without you, I would be simply talking to myself.
So let’s see what THIS year has in store…
This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.
They say all good things must come to an end. Even if that thing is to be replaced by something else, often is the case the sentiment and meaning of the old thing is never truly brought back. This is how I feel with the recent closing of Daley Bicentennial Plaza in Chicago.
Daley Bicentennial Plaza was created in 1976 on top of a parking garage and named after late mayor Richard J. Daley. It consisted of a park district fieldhouse where classes and events were held, as well as tennis courts, walking paths, picnic areas, an ice rink and a playground. Located at the northeast corner of Grant Park, it paled in comparison to its newer sibling across the street, Millennium Park. And though it was connected to it by the Frank Gehry-designed BP Bridge, Daley Bicentennial Plaza was never overly crowded and not a major tourist attraction in itself. Its simplicity may not have drawn visitors, but it served the residents of the area perfectly.
This is why I always called it the Locals Park.
It was reported there was major water leaking from the park into the parking garage below it. The only way to repair the leak is to put a new membrane on top of the garage. In order to do this, the entire park has to be removed, destroying hundreds of trees and removing everything on top of it. What stood for over 35 years was to be obliterated. This I actually understood as a similar project occurred in Boston in the 1990’s when the parking garage under the Boston Common was leaking, however in this case only grass was removed as that was all that was on top of the garage.
Once the roof of the garage is repaired, a new park will be rebuilt on top of it. It will be named Maggie Daley Park after the late wife of former mayor Richard M. Daley, and the daughter-in-law of the previous namesake. From pictures and plans I have seen, it will be a beautiful park, complete with a rock-climbing area, new playgrounds, ponds and a skating ribbon. The new park is scheduled to open in about 2 years.
Short-Term Loss
While the work is being done to repair the garage roof, there will be a major loss to the residents of the community, especially for those with kids. The playground – or playlot as it was called – was the center piece of the park for myself and my family, as well as many families that live downtown in the Loop. Surrounded by plenty of tall shade trees and with great views of the city skyline, it was an ideal location with a great set of equipment for kids to play and explore and get tired out on. Several times a week my kids would be climbing around and running on the rubberized surface, whether it was hot and sunny or cold and snowy out. When you live in a high-rise and you simply can’t open your backdoor to let the kids run around in the backyard, this was their backyard.
As my wife and I are raising “city kids” they have grown up on this playground and park, and we have the pictures to prove it! From infancy to today over the almost last 5 years we have images and video of our kids literally growing up in the park. Our oldest daughter’s first “friends” birthday party was held in the fieldhouse, and she used to attend play programs there until she started in school. The first time our oldest was on ice skates was on the rink in the park, which was nearly empty as compared to the rink over at Millennium Park. Seeing the kids at various ages using the same equipment in these pictures will always bring back fond memories for us. And not to forget times we spent in the park before the kids were born, whether it was walking in the untouched new-fallen snow or watching fireworks or just getting away from the sounds of the city. When the park was about to close my wife and I pondered the idea of taking “last” pictures of the park, but I decided not to, as we already have hundreds if not thousands of pictures of it already.
Moving Forward
Clearing the old park has already begun. As seen in the photo below, on the left is what this pathway from Randolph Street into the park from the west used to look like, and on the right is what it looked like about a few weeks ago.
I was also amazed at how trees were being removed. The video below shows a tree being removed by a piece of heavy machinery which first grabs the tree, then cuts it close to the stump. From there, the stumps are ground up and the tree is gone. If you can’t see the video below you can view the video at YouTube.
Though this video is a sad image, it will be the furthest from my mind when I reflect back on the time I and my family spent in Daley Bicentennial Plaza over the past years. Of course the replacement will be a great addition to the city, but it just won’t be the same, and even though the new park will be progress for the city, fond memories of what once was will always remain. The new park will be a great park, but I am not sure if it will be a Locals Park after all.
This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.
To all of my friends and readers in the US and abroad who celebrate the American holiday of Thanksgiving, a happy and peaceful and fulfilling holiday!
Thanks go to the Web site Keep Calm and Posters for the Thanksgiving poster. If you have seen these posters around and are wondering about their origin (as I was) here's a great article from Wikipedia about the original Keep Calm and Carry On poster, whose roots are ironically British.
2012 has turned out so far to be a very interesting year for me in many ways, and there's still a lot to happen in the next few weeks. I am thankful for my lovely bride, my 2 lovely princesses and all of my family, whether they are blood relatives or not. So even if you live someplace where there is no Thanksgiving, I hope you are thankful for all you have and the opportunity for more!
A recent article on the Kansas City Star’s Web site by Diane Stafford titled, “Why young achievers don’t stick around” caught my attention, in addition to the fact it was promoted in a weekly LinkedIn email. The topic of team building, motivating, mentoring and leading your team is one that means a lot to me. The article referenced a Harvard Business Review study and research on exit interviews, both of which talked about how young workers will only stay around a company as long as they have opportunities for growth, training and to receive mentorship. Otherwise, they will leave and go elsewhere.
When I read this, my reaction was, “duh!”
The same conclusions of these sources are something I have experienced numerous times in my own career in high technology – as an employee myself, as a manager and as a colleague of other managers who lament over the loss of people on their teams. After reading this, my own beliefs and philosophy in management and leadership were reaffirmed, and I am writing this to discuss this topic and observations I have made over my career.
You Hire A Person, Not Just Their Skillset
Allow me to repeat that, you hire a PERSON, not just their skillset. As obvious as this may seem to some, time and time again I see recruiters and hiring managers looking just at what skillset the person has and how immediate they can contribute to the company, team and bottom like. Of course this is important, however they often overlook the entire person – who they are, what types of experiences they have had in the past, what they do outside of work and what their goals and interests are. The individuals who overlook these important attributes often lack vision themselves, or the manager is more interested in their own goals rather than those of the team.
Many managers are looking to simply make their jobs easy for themselves, expecting their team to just “git ‘er dun” without any regard for their team’s wellbeing and growth. A perfect example of this is the job titles that are prevalent in many Web technology jobs, which include qualifiers like “rock star,” “guru,” and “ninja.” With labels like these employers are looking for the best, but are they also willing to give their best back to the employee, with a positive venue of personal and professional growth?
The True Cost Of Developing Your Team
When management looks at what it takes to give their employees what they need not only to succeed but to grow, they are always fixated on the dollar figure. Many companies have cut back on employee training and other growth opportunities with the justification that once the employee gets this benefit, they will just leave for a new job. Granted that can happen, but they may still leave if the opposite happens and they don’t get growth and mentorship in your company. Where you may have saved on training, conference and time taken for mentoring, you are now spending It on recruiting, recruiter fees and the time it takes to review, interview and vet the replacement employees. In many cases those costs are actually higher but not realized as such as they may be spread over several departments where staff development may only apply to the department they are in.
You Must Believe For It To Happen
In order for people who work for a company to get the growth and attention they crave, management must believe in it. Those managers who do are what I truly call leaders. Sure, some companies may say they do, but if it is not marked against a manager when his staff doesn’t get these opportunities, it truly it not a culture that believes its success is tied to the growth and success of its people.
Like Anything Growth And Mentorship Must Be Defined
In most businesses if it is not defined it will not happen. The same goes for developing your team. To whatever degree you want to do it, write it down, include it in the employee manual and promote the heck out if it. Even small teams can offer budgeted dollars for formal training classes or to attend seminars or conferences. This can include covering either the entry fees and/or the time off from the office. An added feature can be that this budget can be exceeded when the staff is presenting or speaking at such events, where they are a representative – and brand promoter – of your company.
When it comes to mentoring, it should be stated what and how the company looks out for its staff, and what defined meetings or metrics are in place. The challenge here is that not all managers may have it in them to be mentors. In that case, training for mentors can be implemented or mentors from outside the firm who have a vested interest in it (e.g. investors, board members) can be assigned to staff. What better way can there be to ensure of the company’s success than working with its people at all levels?
Strive For Action Not Perfection
If your company doesn’t have a growth or mentorship program or you are a new business, then just start one. Define, review it and refine it with 360 degree feedback from those on the giving and receiving end of the program.
Career Growth and mentorship have always been things I have strived for as a manager. As a small business of 1 person I admit I have not always been the best boss to my 1 employee – me. But if you are to grow, you need to consider the time and cost investment in your people along with everything else you do to bring the on-board your firm.
Agree? Not agree? Not sure? I welcome your comments and questions.
Where you’ll rarely find a retail merchant who doesn’t accept credit cards, you’ll find plenty of professionals – from painters to physicians – who do not. Whenever I ask one why they don’t, whatever reason they give me is almost predictable to me, especially as I am a small business person who didn’t always accept credit cards. Despite this, I look back on my decision to do so as a wise one. Rather than counter common reasons, I’ll present it by benefits, as well as how to decide how to accept them.
Credit – AND Debit Cards
Today most all debit cards are branded with a credit card company logo, so automatically when you accept credit cards, you are able to accept debit cards too. This is not only good to know as some people only have a debit card rather than a credit card, but also for the various “sources” of debit cards, including:
Flexible Spending and Health Savings Accounts – Most FSA or HAS accounts provide their insured customers with a debit card, and not checks, so the only other way to draw from the account is to pay in cash or check, then submit a claim for reimbursement. As a result, patients would prefer to pay by debit card and not have to front the money and wait for it to be reimbursed to them.
Unemployment Benefits – Some states, including Illinois, pay unemployment benefits by addingto the balance of a debit card rather than sending a check. Thus, this may be the best – of not only – way for someone to pay you.
Gift Cards – Just because it was given as a gift it doesn’t mean it has to be spent that way.
PayPal – You can draw on your PayPal account balance by debit card to a merchant or even at an ATM, and many people choose this rather than transferring the funds to their bank account.
Credit Card Fees Vs. Getting Paid Sooner
The fees, the fees! Yes, credit card processing involves fees, where depositing a check usually doesn’t. The best argument I can give in justifying the fees is getting paid sooner when someone pays with a credit card than with cash or a check. Why? In order to pay by cash or check you need to have the money on hand (not considering overdraft protection on your account or just overdrawing your account) where a credit card, providing they have credit available, someone will let you process it right away or sooner than the terms you have offered them. If there is any delay, it may be to wait until after a billing cycle closes so the charge appears on a statement in 2 months as compared to the next one.
My personal experience with my Web consulting business has shown me that clients who pay by credit card typically pay me in HALF the time of my terms with them, which are net 30. Some of them have asked me to pay them when I generate the invoice. For me, that’s huge!
Credit Card Fees Vs. Not Getting Paid At All
Earlier I mentioned I didn’t always accept credit cards. The catalyst for me was when I presented a proposal to an existing client for a new Web site project. They said they didn’t want to proceed right away as they did not have the cash on hand, but if they could charge it they could. I wanted the project to happen and I also realized that at some point I would have to accept credit cards, and there’s no time like the present! By the end of the day I was setup to process cards and ran theirs, and the project began the very next day.
The Magic Numbers For Determining Credit Card Fees
There are many ways to process credit cards, and I will get to that next. Before you inquire you need to know 2 key inputs to how credit card fees are calculated – the number of transactions per month and the average transaction dollar amount.
Any processor that can provide customized rate plans will use these values to determine what they will charge. As you can guess, the higher these numbers are the less your fees may be. Where you may be able to accurately calculate these values, others may not, especially if you have never processed credit cards before. If not, you can survey your customers to see if they’d prefer to pay you by credit card. If you still have no idea – no worries, as that can help narrow the choices for you initially.
Choosing A Credit Card Processor
Below is a list of some credit card processors and is not meant to be an exhaustive list. In addition to these, talk to colleagues or other business owners for ideas on who they may use.
PayPal – The pioneer in person-to-person is ideal for business as well, especially if you don’t know your transaction volume, or if you do and it is sporadic. PayPal charges per transaction only and has no monthly fees, though the per transaction fee may be higher than others. PayPal offers Web online payments as well as a smartphone card reader.
Square – The newcomer introduced the smartphone card reader and now others are adding it to their feature set like PayPal and Groupon. Square offers per transaction as well as flat monthly fees. Soon you will be able to buy a Square at Starbucks stores.
QuickBooks - Intuit’s QuickBooks and QuickBooks Online integrates credit card processing right into their software and Web site functionality. This reduces extra steps – and vendors – and provides a 1-stop shopping with a quick turnaround on setup. Their fees may be higher than what you can get from a bank, and they do charge a monthly fee even if there are no charges for a month.
Your Bank - The bank where you do your business banking may go the extra mile to keep credit card processing under the same roof as your bank accounts. They can provide custom rates by volume and can waive setup fees. They will charge a monthly fee but it could vary by volume. I’d suggest looking into all options first and presenting all of this to your bank to see if they can match or beat it.
Note no matter which way you can start, you can always change if your volume changes.
I’d welcome your feedback and comments on this, and even if you’re still not convinced to accept credit cards.
The Hot Iron strives to present unique content and perspective on business, technology and other topics by Mike Maddaloni, a Web and business strategist based in Chicago.
Back in late December, 2012 and early January, 2013, a small but might event occurred across the US – 
Where you’ll rarely find a retail merchant who doesn’t accept credit cards, you’ll find plenty of professionals – from painters to physicians – who do not. Whenever I ask one why they don’t, whatever reason they give me is almost predictable to me, especially as I am a small business person who didn’t always accept credit cards. Despite this, I look back on my decision to do so as a wise one. Rather than counter common reasons, I’ll present it by benefits, as well as how to decide how to accept them.
