I’ve been in business about 45 days so
far, and, to be honest, my phone doesn’t ring very often yet. So I was initially
excited when the phone rang this afternoon.

[Beth answers]
Beth speaking.

[Guy pauses]
Hi. Is this Avenue Z?

[Beth’s heart pounds — a customer!
Beth sits up straight.]
Yes, it is.

[Guy’s voice changes]
Well, hi then. How are you today?

[Beth’s heart drops — a telemarketer]

He was a telemarketer for yet another
credit card processing company. I’ve gotten at least 5 calls from them since I
filed my official paperwork at the official agencies. And I have no idea
how many flyers, postcards, brochures, packages, offers I’ve gotten from
others. That must be one of the most competitive markets out there. One company
offered me a computer to sign up. Another offered coupons at Staples or
something.

I actually did set up PayPal as an option
if any of my clients want to pay with a credit card. That was actually the very
first payment I received. I was thrilled, of course, and my dad said I should
frame the email notification like one frames the first dollar bill. But I
certainly don’t need a processor.

I searched around without success on the
web for a while before writing this post to see if anyone had written about the
full-scale attack of credit card processing vendors on new businesses. Maybe
it’s just me they’re after.

At any rate, I did find this nice resource from
Forbes.com
on how to choose a credit card processing vendor.