Novera Payment Solutions

As you are browsing the internet for resources on how to accept credit cards for your business, you may stumble upon an ad that looks something like this:

Regardless of how many times you have seen an ad like this on Google, these “Free” credit card merchant accounts don’t exist.  When processors advertise “free merchant accounts,” they are usually referring to equipment or application fees.  All businesses have to pay interchange fees to card-issuing banks, assessments to the card brands and a markup of some sort to the processor.  Therefore, it can’t be entirely free.  Don’t waste your time looking for a completely free merchant account; instead use Novera Payment Solutions which offers a unique transparent pricing model unparalleled in the merchant services industry.

Understanding Credit Card Fees

Most processors still prefer to use tiered or a form of cost plus pricing in order to preserve the highest profit margins on merchant accounts.  Understanding these pricing forms is key in determining if your paying more than you should be for your merchant account.  Twice a year, the credit card brands review and adjust their transactional costs and pass them along to the processors.  In turn, the processors use this as an opportunity to raise the entire expense for the merchant.  Ultimately, this is what causes the merchant fee to creep upwards over time.  It’s not simple, it’s not transparent and it’s not fair pricing.  

The Novera Approach

Novera Payment Solutions has developed a unique flat fee credit card pricing format that passes along all the direct transactional costs:

1. Interchange
2. The processor costs
3. A small “flat fixed fee” per month depending on the monthly merchant volume (usually between $19.95 and $99.95 per month).  This amount is essentially the gross margin on the account.

Since everyone knows we are in business to make a profit, we are not hesitant to let our merchant clients know what a reasonable profit margin will be.

Over time, the savings can actually increase because unlike the “tiered” and/or other forms of cost plus pricing structures, our program only raises the one line item that is affected rather than increasing each tier when the credit card brands change their rates.  This is the only true transparent way of offering merchant processing. 

In most cases, Novera Payment Solutions also offers the option of either “Next Day” or “Weekend Funding,” and always with “Gross Deposits.”  Unlike many processors who deduct their rates/fees daily from your deposits, fees for our services are not collected until the month after the month you have been processing.  This means you get your money faster and it’s easier to reconcile with your bank statements.

Join the Novera Payment Solutions team for a free webinar focusing on what you need to know about credit card processing.

The webinar is April 15, 2014 @ 2:00 PM EST and is designed to help you understand the in's and out's of the credit card processing industry. This valuable free webinar will be 45 minutes or less and we guarantee you will learn practical information to help you make better choices when shopping for credit card processing services.

As a participant in this webinar you will learn the following:

• Understand Visa/MC/Disc. true underlying cost which in turn will help you negotiate better pricing
• How to make sure you are getting a truly fair deal for payment processing services
• Awareness of the latest in technology available in the market place today
• Tips for keeping credit card processing costs down
• Best practices for keeping cardholder data secure and maintaining PCI compliance

You can register for this free webinar using the link below.

About Novera Payment Solutions

Novera Payment Solutions is a leader in the credit card payments industry. We are committed to helping businesses improve their bottom line by providing significant savings on credit card processing fees through our innovative flat fee merchant account pricing model.

Contact Novera to learn more about how we work with businesses  to provide the most fair and transparent pricing structure available on the market today!

SPACE IS LIMITED!

FREE WEBINAR : WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CREDIT CARD PROCESSING

APRIL 15, 2014

2:00 PM EST

Facebook is rolling out a new look to business pages in April 2014. The new look not only allows visitors to view your business information more easily, but it also helps your page administrators better navigate through the available Facebook business tools. 

Key Changes to Facebook Company Page Layout

1. Timeline Design

No more jumping from the left to the right to read the most recent posts on a business page.  The new timeline design for business pages will be similar to the news feed and current personal profile timelines.  Now you will see the most recent posts on the right side of the page, while the left side of the page is filled with your business information.  All of the information that is currently horizontal along the top of your business page will be moved to the left-hand column on the timeline.  This information includes a map, your business hours, phone number and website URL. Your videos, photos and apps will also be featured in the left-hand column.  Below that information you will find your reviews and posts by others on your page.  Now your posts will be the first thing visitors see on the right instead of who likes the page and posts by others.   

2. Access to Admin Tools

Wherever you are on your page, you will always have access to the most important information for business administrators: page likes, post reach, notifications and messages.  A box on the right-hand side will display these numbers for you to easily view at anytime as it moves along with you while you scroll down the page.  Instead of the current admin panel you have at the top of your business page, the new layout features a navigation bar where you can easily access the specific information that you want.  These tabs include Activity, Insights, Settings, Build Audience and Help.  On the Insights page, you can access the statistics on your likes, reach, engagement, visits, people and posts.  The Build Audience tab will provide access to your Ads manager.   

3. Pages to Watch

Currently, there is a spot in your admin panel where you can add pages to watch such as your competitors or other pages related to yours.  This feature has been moved to Insights tab in the new admin navigation bar.  In the Overview section, you can see some key statistics about the pages you are watching and compare them to your own page.  You can view more detailed information on what posts are working for them and their engagement over the past week under the Pages tab of the Insights.  This feature allows you to stay on top on your competition! 

4. Relocation of Facebook Tabs

The Facebook tabs for photos, events, apps and more that were customizable with photos and text will no longer appear horizontally under your cover photo.  These are now available under the more tab and in the left-hand column of the newly designed timeline layout under your business information. 

5. Encouragement to “Like” Page

Visitors to your business page (who have not already) will be encouraged to “like” your page.  As they are scrolling through your timeline looking at the content, a white bar prompt will pop –up that says “Get updates from Your Business in your News Feed” with a call to action button to “Like” your page.  As the visitor scrolls down, the bar floats along with them so it is always in front of them while they are on your page. 

Administrators should watch for a notice as Facebook gradually rolls out this new look.  Once you have clicked to reserve your spot on the waiting list, give it a few days for the new version of your page to appear.  As with other updates, Facebook is known to reset your page settings to a default setting.  This can actually cause some of your posts to be hidden which will result in a “Facebook Oops” graphic on your page instead of the content you intended to be shown.  Once you receive the new 2014 Facebook page layout, be sure to check and reconfigure your settings where needed. 

For more information:

https://www.facebook.com/business/news/A-Streamlined-Look-for-Pages

http://www.steamfeed.com/new-facebook-page-layout-2014-expect/

About Novera Payment Solutions

Novera Payment Solutions is a leader in the credit card payments industry. We are committed to helping businesses improve their bottom line by providing significant savings on credit card processing fees through our innovative flat fee merchant account pricing model.

Contact Novera to learn more about how we work with businesses  to provide the most fair and transparent pricing structure available on the market today!

Sometimes referred to as the business version of Facebook, LinkedIn is considered a critical place to connect with other businesses.  While many people have profiles set up, most are not optimized to provide the best business opportunities possible. 

Here are 7 tips to help you get your LinkedIn profile to All-Star status.

1. Create a Complete, Detailed and Updated Profile

The only way to effectively be found on LinkedIn is to have your profile complete. The LinkedIn search algorithm looks for 100% completed profiles, so if yours is not complete, you will likely end up at the bottom of search results.  Not only does a complete profile help you rank well within LinkedIn searches, public LinkedIn profiles are also indexed by Google.

Look to the right of your profile page and you should see a space titled “Profile Strength.”   The levels are Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Expert and All-Star.  You can increase your profile strength by clicking the “Improve Your Profile” button at the top of your profile page.  You will be prompted to answer questions that will help to complete your profile.  You can also manually edit any section of your profile that you wish. 

The following areas must be filled in to reach All-Star status:

• Your Industry and Location
• Your Current Position (with a description)
• Two Past Positions
• Your Education
• Your Skills (minimum of 3)
• A Profile Photo
• At Least 50 Connections

Think of your headline on LinkedIn as the subject line of an email.  You need something to catch the reader’s attention and make them want to check out your profile.  By default, your company name and title is used by LinkedIn in the headline area. This does not make for a very good headline.  Fortuantely, you can edit the headline, but you only have 120 characters, so make them count! 

Headline tips to consider:

• Use Keywords When Appropriate
• Use Words that Appeal to Your Clients
• Include a Call-to-Action

A LinkedIn profile with a professional headshot is seven times more likely to be viewed than a profile without one.  In order to obtain a 100% LinkedIn profile status, a profile photo is required. 

Profile photo tips:

• Use a headshot, preferably in professional attire
• Do not use images with cropped out people or selfies
• Do not use grainy, pixilated or poorly lit photos
• Your photo should be square, rather than rectangular in layout
• Limit the file size to 4 MB (maximum size allowed by LinkedIn)
• Crop the photo to pixel size between 200 x 200 and 500 x 500

Don't annoy your profile viewers with excessive keywords; however, LinkedIn’s search algorithm does value keywords in certain sections more than others, so keep that in mind when writing various sections of your profile. 

The strategic use of keywords in your LinkedIn profile can be important, so be sure to place them in these sections:

• Headline
• Summary
• Current Work Experience
• Past Work Experience
• Skills and Expertise

To gain "All-Star" profile status you have to boost your connections to at least 50.  So how can you get more connections? Make your message stand out, so the person on the other end wants to connect with you. LinkedIn gives you an option to include a personalized message with the email that LinkedIn generates ... be sure to use it.

Adding your skills is also necessary for "All-Star" profile status; however, you can go beyond that and use recommendations to build credibility on the skills you’ve listed. People tend to give more credibility to a third party recommendation, so LinkedIn recommendations are so important. When trying to build your recommendations, embrace the idea of givers gain. If you give a recommendation to someone else, they are more likely to give one in return. 

Tips on giving great recommendations:

• Keep it short and sweet
• Include specific facts (eg. "saved our company $1,000 quarterly) in credit card processing fees)
• Add sizzle (eg. "Jane Doe is absolutely brilliant!” rather than “Jane Doe is great at what she does.” 

By default, your LinkedIn profile URL consists of random alphanumerical characters.  However, you can edit this by going to “Settings,” “Edit Public Profile,” then “Customize Your Public Profile URL.”  You can enhance your personal brand by adding your name to your LinkedIn URL.  For added coverage, make sure that your Facebook, Google Plus and LinkedIn vanity URLs are all the same.  For example: www.linkedin.com/profile/janedoe and www.facebook.com/janedoe.    

You can enhance your profile in different ways by taking advantage of LinkedIn applications.  For example, if you write a blog for your company, you can install the WordPress app allowing you to sync blog posts with your LinkedIn profile.  Other sample applications that allow you to show off your work include Slideshare (for sharing presentations) and Box.net (for embedding videos in your profile).   

LinkedIn is All About Business Connections

Whether you are an entrepreneur, working for a non-profit, working for a company, or new to the business world altogether, LinkedIn is a great networking and connection tool to help you achieve your professional goals.  Having a professional LinkedIn profile set up with "All-Star" status can help you take advantage of business opportunities and connect with influencers in your industry.

About Novera Payment Solutions

Novera Payment Solutions is a leader in the credit card payments industry. We are committed to helping businesses improve their bottom line by providing significant savings on credit card processing fees through our innovative flat fee merchant account pricing model.

Contact Novera to learn more about how we work with businesses  to provide the most fair and transparent pricing structure available on the market today!

Google+ is one of the largest growing social media sites out there.  With over 300 million monthly active users, the site is not quite as large as Facebook yet, but they’re working on it.  One of the main incentives for businesses to join is being active on the site will help your website rank higher in search engine results. 

Do you have a Google+ business page yet?

Follow these simple steps to get your business page set up and see your business start rising to the top!

Step 1: You Need a Personal Page

Google+ is set up so that every business page is tied to someone’s personal page.  You can’t create a business page without first having a personal one.  If you already have one, you can go stright to step 2.  If you don’t have one, simply sign up for one by going to https://accounts.google.com/SignUp.  There you will be asked to enter your name, email, birthday and gender.   You will also be asked to create a username or use an existing email account and create a password.  The cool thing about Google is that you only need one username and password to access all the Google owned sites.  If you already have a Gmail account, you can login, go to Google+ and then click create profile. 

Step 2: Navigate to Pages

Once you are logged into your personal page, towards the left of the screen you will see a Home button.  If you hover over that, a dropdown menu appears.  There you select "Pages"(towards the bottom).  You will see a button that says create a page. 

Step 3: Choose a Category

Google+ has several categories that you can choose from: Local Business or Place, Product or Brand, Company, Institution or Organization, Arts, Entertainment or Sports and Other.  If your business fits into any of those categories, select that ... otherwise choose "Other". 

Step 4: Add Basic Information

Depending on which category you choose, the process may be slightly different.  If you choose local business, a map will pop up asking you to locate your business.  If you find it, perfect.  If not, you can click "Let me create my business" at the bottom of the listings.  Sometimes this can be challenging, especially if someone previously used your address for a different business and it is still listed on Google.  If you are having trouble with this step, go back to the category page and choose Other.  Once you have picked a category, a screen will pop-up asking you to enter your Business Name and Website Address.   You will have to accept the terms and conditions and then hit continue.  

Step 5: Customize Your Page

Now that your business page is set up, you start adding your business information.  You will be asked to provide a Tagline of approximately 10 words that describe your page.  You should also upload a profile picture.  Here you should use a nice headshot of yourself or the company logo.  In the introduction section, you should type a short paragraph on what your business core services.  You also want to be sure to add your contact infornation.  In addition to the profile photo , Google+ also allows you to add a cover photo across the top of your profile. The profile image can be as large as 2120x1192 pixels. Google+ is helpful in that it walks you through each step so you can easily add your information.  You can also always go back and edit your profile later. 

Step 6: Be Active 

Now that your profile is complete, you should start posting great content to your page regulary.  Being active on your page is what can help drive your business up in the search engine rankings.  Help your business thrive on Google+ by having your friends and related businesses follow your page, and you follow theirs.

Although no one can guarantee your website will rank number one in search results, growing your social media presence definitely helps.  Since Google recently changed its algorithm for ranking web sites, social media is now an important factor.  And since Google+ is owned by Google, it’s definitely a social media site you should pay attention to!

About Novera Payment Solutions

Novera Payment Solutions is a leader in the credit card payments industry. We are committed to helping businesses improve their bottom line by providing significant savings on credit card processing fees through our innovative flat fee merchant account pricing model.

Contact Novera to learn more about how we work with businesses  to provide the most fair and transparent pricing structure available on the market today!

If you are new to social media marketing for your business, you may be wondering about hashtags, how to use them and when to use them.  A hashtag (also known as the pound sign in the US) is used to make a word searchable on Twitter (and on Instagram & Pinterest). In recent months, Facebook and Google+ have also integrated hashtags.  On these social channels, hashtags give you a way to categorize your posts based on topics that people may be interested in following.

Hashtags are used to help your posts get found online, but before you jump in and start using them, there are 5 things you should know to make the most effective use of them.

Start by thinking about the types of hashtags your customers would follow.  Don't be too general; you want your customers to engage in what you have to say.  When marketing your business online, think about the detailed words and phrases that those in your target market use. Be creative and think outside your brand message. Consider trending topics, as well. It's okay to participate in a conversation online outside of your sales message. Consider this, your potential custumers watch the news, primetime TV, have families, and need a variety of services. The use of a variety of hashtags in your marketing messages can get you in front of these consumers using topics you may have never considered.

Below are a few examples to give you an idea of where to start with hashtags:

• Name an event. #Olympics2014 is a popular hashtag right now ... how might you integrate this into your marketing message?
• Build on a trend. If you run a Jeep dealership, #lovemyjeep might be a great hashtag for a post ... especially if you can get others (your customers) to start using it!
• Use a location. #Atlanta localizes your message if you are an Atlanta based business.
• Use something from pop culture, such as a popular TV Show. #AmericanIdol, might be a great hashtag if you operate a Ford auto dealership. Because Ford is a major sponsor of America Idol, getting online and tweeting locally about #AmericanIdol may get their younger demographic into your dealership.
• Give a summary of your day. #lovemyjob, might be a good one to push a message about a client success.
• Use SEO Strategies. #BrooklynHondaDealer, focuses keywords around your business if you operate an auto dealership in Brooklyn that sells Hondas.

 You get the idea!

By creating your own unique hashtag, you can drive conversations about your business.  If you are having a sale, you could promote it with a hashtag incorporating your business name,  #SaveBigatNovera is an example.  Encourage your followers and friends to use the hashtag as well.  Creating hashtags for an event also works well to get attendees and prospects interested in the event.  You want to make sure your new hashtag is distinctive. Try to incorporate your business name or at least the initials if the name is too long. 

If you are creating a new hashtag to use for marketing, make sure it isn’t already being used by someone else.  The hashtag may already be in use by a company or group that you don’t want associated with yours.  Some words have double meanings, so be careful when choosing a hashtag to represent your brand and company. 

Using already popular hashtags is also great way to get your business noticed, as well.  See which hashtags are trending and try to incorporate them into your posts. Find businesses like yours and see what’s working for them. 

A few resources for researching hashtags include:

• Twitter Search : https://twitter.com/search-home
• Hash at It : http://www.hashatit.com
• Hashtags.org : http://www.hashtags.org
• What the Trend : http://whatthetrend.com/

Since twitter already limits you to 140 characters, it is important to keep your hashtags short.  If you want others to re-tweet your message, you need to get your point across by being clear and concise in that short amount of space.  The most successful hashtags are typically the ones that are easiest to remember. 

Excessive hashtags send the message of desperate marketing and can be a way to lose followers quickly.  Use only 1-3 hashtags per tweet for the best results.  Too many hashtags can be distracting from your message, as well. 

Now that you know a little bit more about hashtags, search for a few topics that are relevant to your business.  This can give you a starting point for your first attempt at using hashtags.  The proper use of hash tags in your posts across the social media channels can help drive conversation about your brand and your industry, as well as grow your followers and fans.

About Novera Payment Solutions

Novera Payment Solutions is a leader in the credit card payments industry. We are committed to helping businesses improve their bottom line by providing significant savings on credit card processing fees through our innovative flat fee merchant account pricing model.

Contact Novera to learn more about how we work with businesses  to provide the most fair and transparent pricing structure available on the market today!

It's no secret to business owners that credit card fees can be extremely confusing.

At Novera Payment Solutions, our goal is to remove the mystery and provide a service that is clear and easy to understand.

The first thing to know about pricing is that MasterCard, Visa and Discover in conjunction with the banks that issue the credit and debit cards to the consumer actually set the underlying transactional cost of credit card processing (known as “Interchange”). They then pass along this transactional cost to the processor, who in-turn adds a profit before providing the retail rate and service to the merchant. The cost or “Interchange” is now public knowledge and posted on MC/Visa/Discover’s respective websites.

Tiered Pricing for Credit Card Processing

Currently tiered and/or a form of cost plus pricing is the methodology most processors still prefer to use in order to preserve the highest profit margins on merchant accounts. Understanding tiered and other forms of pricing  is the key component to determine if your paying more than you should for your merchant account.

Tiered pricing utilizes the 160 +/- individual transactional costs (known as “Interchange”) with each transactional cost comprised of:

1. Unique percent of the sale
2. Transaction fee 


Both are dependent on the type of card used, (i.e. debit, credit, rewards, business etc..) and, how the purchase was made (in person, over the phone etc...). 
These transactional costs (which are the same for all merchants large and small) are categorized into either three or four tiers with each tier housing approx. 40 of the 160 transactional costs (“Interchange”).

Why Understanding Fees is Important

Understanding the challenge with Tiered pricing is the next step in understanding merchant pricing. Twice a year MasterCard/Visa/Discover reviews and adjusts some of the 160 +/- transactional costs and passes this change along to the processor, who in-turn, usually seizes that as an opportunity to raise the tiered retail rates to the merchant and create additional profit made on each of its “tiers” (the difference between the underlying transactional cost and tiered retail rate) thus raising the entire expense for the merchant, even if the underlying transactional cost is never actually applied against the merchant for a transaction.

Ultimately this is what causes the merchants fee to creep upwards over time.

It’s not simple, it’s not transparent and it’s not fair pricing.

Novera Payment Solutions Approach

Novera Payment Solutions has developed a unique pricing format that passes along all the direct transactional costs:

1. Interchange

2. The processor costs
3. A small “FLAT FIXED FEE” per month depending upon the monthly merchant volume (usually between $19.95 per month up to $99.95 per month). This amount is essentially the gross margin on the account.

Since everyone knows we are in business to make a profit, we are not hesitant to let our merchant clients know what a reasonable profit margin will be.

 In addition, this pricing format delivers:

1. Substantial savings based upon volume
2. Transparency in pricing
3. Detailed reporting on statement

4. Best “cost plus format” available
5. Flat fixed fee never changes

Your Savings Can Increase Over Time

The savings can actually increase over time because unlike the “tiered” and / or other forms of cost plus pricing structures, which raises the overall rate of the tiers or markup when MasterCard/Visa/Discover change rates, our program only raises the one line item effected, this is the only true transparent way of offering merchant processing.

Next Day Funding or Weekend Funding for Gross Deposits

In addition, Novera Payment Solutions offers our merchants in most cases the option of either “Next Day” or “Weekend Funding”, and always with “Gross Deposits”. Unlike many processors who deduct their rates/fee’s daily from your deposits, fees for our services are not collected until the month AFTER the month you have been processing. This means your get your money faster and it’s easier to reconcile with your bank statements.

Novera Payment Solutions is a Great Solution for Your Business Credit Card Processing

The Novera Payments' solution not only offers an integrated credit card processing solution, it also offers a unique transparent pricing model unparalleled in the merchant services industry.