Total Merchant Concepts turned 21 years old this month- no small feat in the business world. Since we started the business the same year our son Tyler was born, he also turned 21 this month! During our celebration, a few things reminded me of the various Rites of Passage not only in our personal lives, but in the lives of our businesses. LONGEVITY IS EARNED: In order for a child to grow into a 21 year old, certain precautions have to be taken. Safety measures and guidance are required. Our businesses are no different. In order to have a long standing business, we need to consider putting systems into place that provide the guidance and feedback that will insure our survival. BE SELECTIVE ABOUT WHO YOU HANG AROUND:

There are few things better than a great massage! This past week I was enjoying some amazing hands and we struck up a conversation that made me think of business- strange! Yes- right there in the middle of working the kinks out of the old body I found some great business tips. (Amazing what you find when you are looking) TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT: Before our session began, my therapist asked me a series of questions that helped him identify what I needed. In our world, we have to begin with understanding where our businesses are coming from so we do not end up selling a PAY AS YOU system to a client who really needs a traditional terminal set up. That works for every business right?

In her Forbes Magazine Article, Cheryl Conner discusses how gratitude impacts marketing. Here are some specific tips related to some very powerful Social Media Platforms (the link at the bottom will take you to the full article!) YouTube. Share videos on various social networking sites that “speak” to your interests and principles, while also commenting to express your appreciation of their content and their value to you. Twitter. Twitter provides the ideal opportunity to show gratitude for someone’s remark by retweeting it. Retweets provide great information for your own network while also recognizing someone’s contribution to your own immediate sphere. “A retweet is a recognition of someone’s value to you. That’s a form of thanks,” Toto says. Tweeting someone’s photo/article/blog post or informative essay is a way to