This time of year, there are fundraising opportunities everywhere! Last week, our team had the opportunity to ring the bell for the Fort Vancouver Lions Club (in conjunction with the Salvation Army) and we had a blast! With a willing staff, candy canes and Christmas music we did our best to help the Salvation Army help others! Even my son (now 14), who rang his first Salvation Army bell at 5 years old, enjoyed the ability to give back. As you pass by the red buckets this year- consider adding a few coins or dollars if you can- every penny counts! Cheri PerryFriday, December 17, 2010

Greetings and Holiday Cheer from Sir Smiley and the entire team at TMC! During this VERY BUSY holiday season, a few things have taken a back seat to our daily chores; the blog is one example. So this morning, I checked the email and found this message from one of our very valuable merchants: Good Morning Everyone! I was just doing my monthly check of the TMC web site (a little late I admit) and found that there have been no blog entries since OCTOBER! Christmas is coming and I’m sure there are oodles and oodles of merchants anxiously awaiting a witty and informative blog regarding the Christmas Holidays and New Year from the knowledgeable and customer service oriented folks over at TMC. Brainstorm people! Brainstorm! Within the

Some people think that November is the start to the Holiday season but a quick trip down the center isle of your local supermarket will soon prove that HALLOWEEN is the sweet start of the silly season! This next week people will be busy filling up candy bowls, customizing their costumes and putting the final touches on their ghoulish party plans. Then we are off to the ‘Big 3’: Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years! As business owners, one of two things is happening right now: 1- You are winding down from a busy summer and getting ready to plan out 2011 or 2- You are running around like crazy, getting ready for your busiest time of the year ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In either case, here are a few timely tips

Some months back I was at a business conference and one of the presenters said that he had decided ‘Not To Participate in the Recession’. I LOVED that idea and the power it contained! While the financial worries of the day are not completely behind us, there is some good news! Here at TMC, we are seeing a solid flow of new businesses as well as steady increases in transaction volume by our existing merchants. There are still signs that the economy has not completed its recovery but for the most part, the businesses we have the pleasure of working with are moving in the right direction. Perhaps the reason we are moving in the right direction is because we are taking better care of our finances. It

Sir Smiley here and Guess What? We just upgraded our phone system! As our business grows and we are privileged to serve more andmore merchants, finding ways to be more efficient is at the top of our priority list! Don’t worry- no call Ques or extensive ‘Press#…’ options at TMC! Just a solid, robust phone system designed to make accepting your calls and calling you even easier! Here are just a few of the features we are excited about: #1- Since the new phone system is integrated with our contact management software, we will be able to go directly to your record when you call from any of the numbers we have on file! #2- Likewise, when we are in your record we can easily click a button

For the past several days, I have been attending an Anthony Robbins Leadership seminar. As a small business owner, I use these types of events to ‘recharge’ my battery and gain helpful insights to continue growing and finding ways to be of even more service to our merchants and referral partners. Yesterday, I heard some powerful statistics that might interest you from a business stand point or from the stand point of a financial partner who provides services to businesses: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Business Survival Rates 2006 50% of businesses fail before their 1 year anniversary 80% of those businesses fail before reaching the 5 year mark 96% of those businesses will never see their 10 year anniversary In other words 4 out of 100 business start ups ‘make it’-