October 2011

Banks who skip the $5 debit card fee

by Cinda Baxter on October 24, 2011

This whole fee thing makes me nuts.

First, banks charged merchants for every single card swipe (both credit and debit) at the register. Didn’t matter that debit cards were “safer” transactions since no extension of credit risk was involved. Businesses still paid full fare for both, on behalf of their customers.

Now that the Dodd Frank bill has been enacted, putting controls in place that limit skyrocketing swipe fees that hammer merchants, banks have begun looking in new directions for additional fees…consumers, and they’re hoppin’ mad.

(Yes, I appreciate the irony. When a merchant paid the fee on behalf of the customer, many consumers saw it as “the cost of doing business.” Now that banks ask customers to pick up part of their own tab, the bristling has begun.) [click here to continue…]

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The 3/50 Project 2011 Holiday Campaign Name Contest

by Cinda Baxter on October 20, 2011

in The 3/50 Project

Feel like winning a little green? Getting a little time in the spotlight? Cool beans, baby. Fire up the right side of your brain and tell us what The 3/50 Project should call our holiday campaign this year.

Here’s what we’re looking for:

• 10 words or less
• Original content only
• Must be free of all TMs and copyrights

As examples of our past campaigns (both holiday and otherwise):
- Eat Down the Street
- Roll Local
- Big Things Come From Small Boxes
- Locals Love You More

Enter as many ideas as you like (no repeats, though, since it won’t help your odds…the final decision will be based on creativity, not the number of entries).

Full details and the entry form can be found here, as well as via the Survey Monkey link on our Facebook page (left column). You must use the entry form—ideas left here in the comments are not considered “entries.” [10.27.11 Editor's note: I've turned off comments on this thread since so many kind hearted folks were still putting their suggestions here...gotta use the official entry form, linked above, if you want to win the prize!]

Contest ends at 12:01 a.m. CDT on November 1, 2011.

Helpful hints as you put on your thinking cap….

• Avoid the words “shop” and “buy” since they exclude service providers, restaurants, and other non-retail store merchants

• Nothing political in nature, please, since that polarizes consumers. We don’t want to appeal to only one side of the aisle, as the saying goes–merchants need ‘em all. (Translated: The word “occupy” isn’t your best option.)

• To enter more than once, clear browser cookies/cache between visits. Survey Monkey uses them to avoid multiple survey responses in normal scenarios—our contest is a bit abnormal, which is completely normal if you’re an independent merchant. (Been there, done that, so I can call us crazy.)

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How The 3/50 Project can change our world

by Cinda Baxter on October 12, 2011

in Marketing, Real World, The 3/50 Project

Some bits of wisdom are truly timeless. As Steve Jobs explained to Apple employees upon his return to the company in 1997:

“To me, marketing is about values. This is a very complicated world, it’s a very noisy world. And we’re not going to get the chance to get people to remember much about us. No company is. So we have to be really clear on what we want them to know about us.”

That advice fits, whether you’re an independent brick and mortar merchant struggling to stay visible in a big box world -or- a grass roots movement reconnecting consumers to those same merchants. “People with passion,” as Jobs put it, “can change the world we live in.”

Take a few moments to watch the video, then ask yourself: Do I value the existence of local, independent, brick and mortar businesses in my community? If the answer is yes, ramp it up. Get active. Get out there.

Get passionate.

(Get yourself to The 3/50 Project website.)

Together, we truly can make a difference.

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The 3/50 Project welcomes MC Services

by Cinda Baxter on October 3, 2011

in The 3/50 Project

When the search for someone to rebuild The 3/50 Project database began, so did the nightmares. Determined to stick with an independent brick and mortar, I started in Minnesota, quickly learning the only folks here who built on our required platform were home based businesses, a retailer I swore never to do business with again, and one particularly awful guy who researched me first, saw the logo of our past sponsor, then based his numbers on the assumption we had unlimited funds (which we all know wasn’t the case). Pretty eye-popping stuff. [click here to continue…]

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Time to update (Round 2)

by Cinda Baxter on October 1, 2011

in The 3/50 Project

At last…we’re there. Time to wrap up loose ends. If your business appears in the left hand column on one of The 3/50 Project’s Supporter pages, one of two things is about to happen: [click here to continue…]