If you’re like most people these days, you’re trying to get your finances under control, which includes reducing credit card debt and saying “no!” to new credit offers.  Without credit, however, you have very limited payment options for online purchases.  Bill to Phone, also known as Local Exchange Carrier (“LEC”) billing, enables you to purchase items online and over the phone and have those services charged to your landline phone bill.  Each month, Bill to Phone enables over 2 million households to pay for services by charging services to their phone bill. 

So what kinds of companies offer the Bill to Phone alternative payment option? Internet access providers, like EarthLink, People PC and NetZero, credit monitoring services like Privacy Guard and long distance calling like Yak Communications offer this option to make it easier for people who either don’t want to charge everything to their credit cards or don’t want to use a credit card online. 

Here are some of the places you can use Bill to Phone:

• Earthlink and People PC are award-winning Internet service providers (“ISP”) and pioneers in this space, providing dial-up Internet for more than 14 years and broadband for a decade.  This past January, 11,000 satisfied customers were able to pay for Earthlink and People PC services on their phone bill.
• Privacy Guard is a credit monitoring service that watches your credit on your behalf and sends quarterly updates showing activity in your Transunion, Experian, or Equifax credit records.  In addition, it monitors your credit records daily and will notify you of any derogatory remarks, credit inquiries, or new lines of credit opened in your name.    Over 50,000 households use Bill to Phone for their credit monitoring service. 
• With Yak Communications you can call worldwide with super low long distance rates and no contracts or monthly fees. You only pay when you use the service.  Over 200,000 calls are placed each month with Yak and billed through ILD Teleservices. 

These are just a sampling of services where Bill to Phone is accepted.  For more information on where you can use Bill to Phone, or if you are interested accepting Bill to Phone for your business, contact us today.

“Always look on the bright side”, “there’s always something to learn from hardship”, and another favorite expression “there’s a light at the end of the tunnel”.  Just a few positive sayings to keep one’s spirit optimistic in these challenging economic times, right?  Well, while optimism is always important, life’s lessons are equally essential.  Many of us have realized that spending more than we earn can quickly get us in to trouble and have since learned to value non material things.  For lots of Americans, material wealth is not quite as important as we once thought.  These economic conditions have forced many to learn how to live without credit.

This tough lesson has resulted in a 32% increase in bankruptcies in 2009. According to AACER (Automated Access to Court Electronic Records) and the American Bankruptcy Institute, there have been more than 1.4 million consumer bankruptcy filings recorded last year. Even worse, bankruptcies grew by one third between 2007 and 2008.  Right now, we are seeing the highest level since the ‘05 reform. 

“This is now a perfect storm” as 2009 saw house prices fall and unemployment and foreclosure rates rise, says David P. Leibowitz, a bankruptcy attorney and managing member of LakeLaw, headquartered in Waukegan, Ill in an interview with CreditCards.com. But with many credit card companies cutting back on consumers’ spending limits or canceling cards completely, some consumers are becoming financially strapped, Leibowitz says.

In addition to learning these lessons, watching the banking industries recent blunders makes one really think about credit cards and the impact they can have on our own financial future. Survey results published by USA Today and conducted by Auriemma Consulting in July showed that 47% of consumers have less trust for credit card companies compared to a year ago.

Consumers are looking for payment choices; particularly those cashless payment alternatives which offer no interest.  When shopping online, the option to choose alternate payment options, such as PayPal and Bill To Phone are becoming the smartest way to keep the credit card nightmares away.  But like any payment method, there’s good and bad – no interest, no finance charges and simple and easy payment as well as risk of fraud and cramming to the phone bill.  Alternative payment providers, like credit card companies and ILD Teleservices, follow a strict process which begins with conducting comprehensive background checks on merchants prior to billing, requiring documented authorization of each transaction, and offering complaint resolution in cases of unauthorized billing. 

The perfect payment option has yet to be developed, but the shake up of the credit card industry and the resulting financial debacle certainly shows we are moving in a new direction.  Don’t you think?

In the previous post we gave you some tips to use for your Online Marketing strategy. To put those tips into practice you will need some tools to launch your strategy and measure your efforts.  Following is a list of free tools you can use to both boost your sales and increase your profits as you put your Online Marketing strategy into action.

Social Media Tools – According to a report by Econsultancy and ExactTarget, 70% of responding companies plan to increase their budgets for off-site social media.  The recent boom of Twitter with an 82% increase in December of 2009 compared to December of 2008 and the continuing growth of Facebook has made them an internet phenomena that marketers can use to attract business, offer services and connect with customers.

If you’re new to Twitter or not sure exactly how to use for marketing, here are some useful resources.

How to Use Twitter for Marketing and PR from Hubspot

Twitter Marketing: Step by step guide from Twittermarketing

Google Analytics – Once your marketing efforts are put in to place it is critical to measureyour success.  Google’s Analytics tool allows you to monitor number of visits, traffic sources, keywords, and set goals to track leads and contacts.  All you have to do is add some code provided by Google and you’re set.

http://www.google.com/analytics

Google Alerts – Google Alerts are email updates of the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc.) based on your choice of query or topic.

http://www.google.com/alerts

Rank Checker – This is a free downloadable tool that works with the Firefox browser to check a websites ranking based on keyword. With one click you can check where your website ranks based on several keywords on Google, Yahoo and Bing.

http://tools.seobook.com/firefox/rank-checker

Linkscape – This free tool from www.seomoz.org  is a link analysis tool that will help you make improvements on your website, know where your website is being linked from and also look at your competitions links.

http://www.seomoz.org/linkscape – Linkscape

 http://www.seomoz.org/tools – Complete list of all their tools.

As traditional media outlets such as newspapers, magazines, TV and radio commercials struggle to influence consumers, the power of online marketing continues to grow. Now more than ever, marketing and PR professionals have to adjust and learn to take advantage of the constant changes occurring in the marketing arena. Forrester Research has recently issued a report which states that online marketing budgets will be growing by more than 500% in the next five years.

If your business is considering using online marketing to add to its success, here are 5 tips for successful online marketing that we recommend.

1. Know your Web Marketing Options – Email, Social Media, Search Engine Marketing, Pay Per Click, Blogs, Video, Newsletters, Banner Advertising. Do the research to determine which avenues will reach your target audience.

2. Control your Message from Start to Finish – Take ownership and responsibility of all your marketing messages as you are the advertiser. The advertiser is the party investing in the purchase of the advertising inventory, sales, or leads and therefore their brand and reputation are at stake in the process.

3. Track your Online Marketing Efforts with Web Statistics – To measure your success and make adjustments as you learn, have strong online marketing analytics and statistics in place. Track your sources of traffic, quality of traffic, if leads are converting to sales, etc.

4. Create your Own Guidelines – To ensure the integrity and quality of your marketing campaigns, create your own online marketing guidelines.

5. Know your Industry’s Distinction and Weave it into Web Marketing – Make sure that your online marketing efforts serve your specific business needs by setting distinct goals around your campaigns.

For more information on web marketing and some of ILD’s recommended best practices, download our white paper.

If you are like most people, you have welcomed 2010 with an evaluation of 2009 with hopes of making improvements in several areas of your life. The New Year gives us the opportunity to view our lives with a new start, a new beginning and a time for changes.

In addition to eating healthier food, exercising more regularly, quitting the smokes, etc., another common resolution this year is the goal of better managing finances.  That’s definitely something I’m trying to accomplish this year.  One of the things that I’ve realized is that too much of my money goes to paying off debts.  And apparently I’m not alone.  According to a 2009 survey by The Nilson Report the average American owes $8,329.  With a 15.99% APR and paying the minimum, that could take 33 years to pay off!

If you’re looking to get your finances in better shape this year by reducing your debt, here are a few things you can do and look out for:

• Instead of purchasing items with credit, look for alternative payment options which require payment in full that day or at a later date (like ILD Bill to Phone). 
• Watch out for credit card offers with really high interest rates. There was one that went out not too long ago that had a 79.9%!
• Prioritize your debt based on the one with the highest interest and pay that one off first by making more than just the minimum payment.

Remember, in reality if you don’t have the money to pay for the service or merchandise, do you really need to buy it?

Here’s to sticking to this year’s resolutions!  Happy New Year.

Sources

 http://www.bankrate.com/finance/personal-finance/5-new-year-s-resolutions-that-save-money-5.aspx

http://www.youngmoney.com/budgeting/041223-01/

Today, ILD Teleservices’s parent company ILD Telecommunications, Inc. announced its name will now be ILD Corp.  The name change reflects changes to the business model and a new direction.  As times and commerce changes, ILD has taken proactive measures to keep in line with today’s business needs and remain as leader in the  industry from back-office support to e-commerce customer service.

Read the Press Release here. http://www.ildcorp.com/PR-namechange.html

Read FAQ’s regarding the name change here. http://www.ildcorp.com/faq-namechange.html

If you have any questions regarding the name change or any other questions please comment here or you may contact us at askild@ildmail.com.

Several initiatives in 2009 made the last year a great success for ILD.  Always looking for ways to innovate and improve the company as a leader in the alternative payments industry, these changes have us prepared for a great 2010!

Some of these initiatives include improvements on our merchant platform www.ildbnc.com and our enhanced website www.ildteleservices.com.

Read all the details here.

http://ildtelecom.com/PR-ILD_2009_APM_Initiatives.html

1. Virtual Currencies

• With the integration of virtual worlds like Facebook and Twitter into the physical worlds of nearly 400 million users, social media and digital content have created a new market for virtual currencies.  In 2010, we will see more virtual flowers sent to mom, more Christmas trees gifted online, and more gifts exchanged through virtual worlds.  Note – KITN Media recently acquired virtual currency service provider, Super Rewards for a rumored $30 million. 

2.  Digital Content and Games

• With Zynga’s FarmVille gameon Facebook accounting for more active users than Twitter, (69 million active users), online entertainment will continue to grow, and as a result we’ll see more ways to ‘pay for play’.  Note – FarmVille’s rival Playfish was recently acquired by Electronic Arts in a deal valued at up to $400 million.

3.  Pay By Mobile Phone

• The mobile payment channel is one to watch in 2010, as more wireless carriers enter the payments space, much like ILD Teleservices’ LEC billing is to the landline, we’ll see more wireless devices used for ecommerce and social entertainment. 

4.  Credit Card Transaction Decline

• While we are a plastic dependant society, “cash is king”, and with 45% of consumers telling Consumer Reports that they are paying less with credit than last year, we will see more credit card account closes and more prepaid and direct bill payment options. 

5.  Credit Card Companies Look to Alternative Payments

• Credit Card companies like Visa and MasterCard will look deeper into alternative payment methods, following the footsteps of the acquisition of Revolution Money by American Express for $300 million.

The death of the credit card is inevitable. 

You don’t agree? Read this 3-part series.

The oldest payment method in civilization is making a strong comeback.  No, not gold (that’s for another post).  Rather, the concept that if you are going to buy something, you’re going to have to pay for it.  Consumers are shifting away from the “borrow and buy” mentality back to the “cash and carry” model which has been used for civilizations.   

If back in the day, you didn’t have the money to pay for merchandise, then you went without.  Not the norm anymore, given all the plastic in our wallets.  Believe it or not though, consumer credit is still a relatively recent phenomenon – for how much longer we have to ask?  To answer that, we’ve got to understand the history.

History.

The first modern consumer credit cards were developed only 60 years ago (in the 1950’s) with Diners Club, followed by American Express, then Bank of America (“BofA”) with their BankAmericard (which is now Visa) close behind.  In an effort to capitalize on the “all-purpose credit card”, companies started dropping preapproved credit cards to unknowing consumers.  BofA, for example mailed over 60,000 preapproved cards to folks in Fresno, California, although those consumers never asked for them.  Others again followed suit, and the next thing you know the scams started - people are stealing credit cards out of mailboxes, consumers are getting billed for cards they never knew they had, and a black market  began in stolen credit cards and identity theft. 

Things got a little better in the 70’s, when Congress began regulating the credit card industry.  For starters, they banned the practices of mass mailing active credit cards to those who had not requested them (some of whom were even dead).  However, not all government regulations have been so consumer friendly. In 1996, the U.S. Supreme Court in Smiley vs. Citibank lifted restrictions on the amount of late penalty fees a credit card company could charge. Deregulation has also allowed very high interest rates to be charged.  In an effort to get consumers to use, award points programs were promoted and in the decades since, using a credit card has become so universal that paying with cash has become passé. Check your wallet, how much cash do you carry around these days? 

Continue to Part 2 of this 3 Part series.

The death of the credit card is inevitable. 

Still don’t agree? Continue reading Part 2 below.

Current Situation.

Want to buy a new car, the dealer down the street will give you a lease.  Tired of your old television? Get 10% off by opening a Best Buy credit card.  Two hundred dollar steak dinner at Ruths Chris?  Charge it.  Kindle? iPhone? Christmas?  Whip out that plastic card, and justify it with all those great points you’ll get. 

While it makes sense to charge it at the time, because you know you’ll pay the charge off that  month or in a few months, what happens when suddenly you can’t,  and you’re forced to make only the minimum payment?  You may find yourself, like many people in this economy, charging necessities like gas, groceries and utilities to your credit cards, further exacerbating your debt load. 

In 2008, the average credit card debt in America of households was $10,679 (and likely higher in 2009).  If some of these households now can only make minimum monthly payments, they could be looking at 30 years to pay off that balance, and in the end they will have paid about $15,000 in interest alone.  Check out Bankrate.com’s  calculator and see for yourself.  

Note – In the current economy, banks are paying only about 1% in interest for borrowing your money, but charging as much as 29% when you borrow their money. 

Continue to Part 3 of this 3 part series.