Merchant Account Blog - Straight Pass Through » Web 2.0

Straight Pass Through as a Lifestyle?

Robb Lejuwaan — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 18:20:18 +0000

When I first thought up the name of this blog as "Straight Pass Through" (SPT) my focus was merchant accounts alone. It was all about exposing the truth behind interchange and how it affects a business’s bottom line.

However, in the year this blog as been up my understanding of that phrase has been expanding. SPT has become more of an overall business philosophy to me that can be defined in several words – transparency, openness, sharing, listening, and most importantly, serving. That last word really sums it all up, SPT is synonymous with the phrase, "how may I serve you" and really meaning it. This is just basic "golden rule" stuff, treating others as you wold want to be treated.

Would I want to receive pricing for my merchant account that is confusing and results in me paying more than I need to for your account? No way! So I only write up accounts with clear and simple pricing. Would I want someone to not share all their knowledge with me so they could make more money off me? No way! So I share everything I know can that can benefit my clients. You probably get the idea here, this is real simple stuff.

The philosophy is so easy and simple that I am almost shocked when I see the majority of sales people and businesses not operating this way. I know U.S. business culture is moving in this direction, but wow do we have a long way go. Yesterday I was talking to a industry colleague and he was complaining that honesty does not pay off, that potential clients always seem to go with the competitor that is acting deceptively. This type of thinking is probably one of the reason why SPT is not lived out more. People feel like they must compromise their own values and ethics to be able to survive.

You can probably guess I do not agree with this line of thinking at all! In fact I am completely contrary to that line of thinking. I believe the fact that most do not operate by the idea of SPT is a great thing. Why? Because it allows me to distinguish myself from the pack. Living the SPT business life style enables me stand out and feel good about what I am providing my clients.

Speaking of clients, SPT allows me to attract the type of clients I want to work with. Are you familiar with the saying, "like attracts like?" My experience has shown me this saying is mostly accurate, we tend to attract people into our lives that share the same interests and values. So if I am deceptive and greedy in my business practice, I will attract clients of the same ilk. Many of my clients end up becoming friends and I truly enjoy serving them because they tend to operate by SPT.

I am going to stop here, I do not like to write long blog posts because they do not get read! In closing I want to say two things. First, if you have not tried to live the SPT lifestyle, try it; but don’t jut dip your toe, jump in with great passion and strong action. I guarantee you will not regret it. Secondly, if you have any questions about this topic, contact me . I love to talk about this stuff and always enjoy meeting others who work this way.

Great Lessons for Small to Mid-Sized Business Owners

Robb Lejuwaan — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 12:26:36 +0000

Source: WikipediaAmerican Express has begun advertising a new website they call “Open Forum – Networking, Ideas and Expertise for Business Owners.” Before I visited the site I thought it would be cheesy – I was wrong. They recently shot a bunch of videos at the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas with leading business thinkers and practitioners. Here is a list of who was interviewed:

Seth Godin is the author of 9 books that have been bestsellers around the world and have been translated into more than 20 languages. Permission Marketing was a New York Times bestseller, Unleashing the Ideavirus is the most popular ebook ever published, and Purple Cow is the bestselling marketing book of the decade.

Sean Parker is the co-founder and Chairman of “Project Agape,” a new network that aims to enable large-scale political and social activism on the Internet. Sean is also a Managing Partner at The Founders Fund, an early stage venture capital firm based in San Francisco. Previously, Sean was the co-founder of the category defining Web ventures Napster, Plaxo, and Facebook.

Jimmy Wales is the Internet entrepreneur best known for founding Wikipedia.org, as well as other wiki-related organizations, including the charitable organization Wikimedia Foundation, and the for-profit company Wikia, Inc., which operates Wikia.com.

Susan Sobbott is President & General Manager of OPEN from American Express, the division dedicated exclusively to the success of small business owners and their companies. OPEN is the fastest-growing proprietary business unit within American Express, and the nation’s largest credit and charge card issuer for small business. Daughter of the owner of a small trucking business, Susan returned to her small business roots when she joined the OPEN team in 2003 and was named its President in 2004.

The topics they cover include Web 2.0, radical transparency, blogging, viral marketing, building a community out of your clients, social networking and a bunch more. Here is a sample video:

Click here to checkout the site.

Are You Linkedin?

Robb Lejuwaan — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 13:45:00 +0000

Have you ever heard of Linkedin? If you haven’t you are a little behind the times because over 14 million business people are already using it to network with one another. So get with it and check this business community out:

To help you make the most of Linked in read the following blog post from one of the hippest people on the web today, Guy Kawasaki. His post is entitled:

Ten Ways to Use LinkedIn

Last, I invite you to check out my profile on Linkedin a get connected with me. Here is the link:

Merchant Account Blog - Straight Pass Through » Web 2.0

Straight Pass Through as a Lifestyle?

Related Posts

Great Lessons for Small to Mid-Sized Business Owners

Related Posts

Are You Linkedin?

Related Posts