One of our blog advertisers asked if they could pay via MoneyBookers. I had heard about MoneyBookers on Digital Point in the past, but I never had a need for an account. He assured me that it was legit, and the fees were considerably less than with Paypal. After some quick due dilligence, I signed up for an account. The advertiser paid me shortly thereafter.

Here’s where my nightmare began. In order to withdraw my money, I had to verify my account. The simplest way seemed to be via text message. I put in my information, and I was texted a verification code that I entered on their site. Done.

Or not. When I tried to withdraw the money as a paper check (I didn’t want to give out my bank information), it said I needed my address verified, by regular mail. WTF? So a few days go by, and I get a letter in the mail with a verification code. Log into MoneyBookers, enter the code, and now my address is verified!

Now I initiate the withdrawl, print out my confirmation, and start the waiting game. (They say checks could take 8-10 business days to be delivered, even though I got my address verification letter in 2 days!) But the following morning, I receive an e-mail that says:

For Security reasons we have stopped your withdrawal transaction with the following details:

And would like to ask for an explanation about the reason you are receiving funds from user XXXXX.com Please also provide us copies of following documents:
- personal identification document with picture (identity card or driving license or international passport)
- a proof of the address submitted with our system (bank account statement or utility bill)

You can send those scanned to our email address XXXXXX@moneybookers.com or faxed to +XX XXX XXX XXXX.

As soon as we have your feedback and verified your identity your moneybookers account will be operational again and you will be able to request your withdrawal. Please excuse us for any inconvenience caused.

Now I’m getting pissed. I’ve already wasted 4-5 days jumping through hoops, and now they halted my withdrawl because of some random “security” check? I decide to comply, because I’m anxious to get my money. A day goes by, and there’s no response whatsoever. The following day, I get another form letter that’s basically asking for the same information all over again.

This time, I fire off an e-mail expressing my frustration, and resent them the information they requested for a second time. Another day goes by without any response from them - But when I checked my account history this morning, it appears they have finally processed my request.

When I first signed up for MB, I was really impressed with their setup, and thought that they could pose a real threat to PayPal in the US. But after this whole ordeal, I’ll NEVER use MB again. When I had a Paypal issue in the past, I picked up the phone, got someone on the phone within 60 seconds, and had a resolution in a matter of minutes. As much as people like to bash PayPal, I’ve been using them for 10 years now (even back when they were x.com), and I’ve never had an issue with them.

Consider yourself warned..

Ever feel like you’re drowning in e-mail, and not making any progress on what’s important? Join the club! I get about 150-200 e-mails a day, and it is constantly taking me away from what I’m working on.

It’s a challenge to find a good balance between e-mail and work. I deal with people who check their e-mail only once a day, and it drives me nuts because I have to wait 24 hours to get a response.

On the flip side, there are people who check their e-mail CONSTANTLY. I was in a public restroom the other day, and some guy was on his Blackberry sending e-mails while he was taking a piss!! Sadly, that’s not the first time I’ve witnessed something like that..

I’ve found the constant influx of e-mail beyond distracting. So now I just check e-mail every few hours, and leave my Outlook closed otherwise. Life still goes on, and I get more work done without interuptions.

In the old days, there was no e-mail, cell phones, etc. But now we live in a wired world, and people expect constant and immediate contact - And it’s getting even worse with IMs and text messaging. I actually find myself getting stressed out by e-mail, and that’s just crazy!

Cut the cord, and take back control of your life! Thank me later..

I’m in trouble! Traveling all over the world this past year, I’ve easily put on 25-30lbs.. Now Blog World Expo is coming up in 3 weeks, and I need to shed some of this extra weight. One small problem - Timing. This is my busiest time of year, I’m impelenting two new technologies onto my e-commerce site, and we’re rolling out two VERY high profile websites that are sure to keep me busy!

What’s a fatty to do?

I’m going to post my progress on ZanderChance.com, and hopefully this will add some motivation to my workouts, and keep me on track. It should be interesting to see how this plays out.. I’ll post updates, so keep checking back!

After destroying my old sandals in Punta Cana, I needed to find some decent sandals to replace them. I’ve heard great things about Reef sandals, so I decided to take a look. Journey’s had their Fanning Supreme for $52.99 - A bit more than I was looking to spend, but considering I wear sandals almost everywhere, it’s money well spent.

These sandals ROCK! And the bottle opener on the bottom of the shoe is pretty trick, always a crowd pleaser at parties.

I hate Wordpress. Every time I get comfortable with a version, a new one is released. After putting it off for awhile, I upgraded all 50 of our Wordpress blogs to v2.6. And as luck would have it, v2.6.1 was released the FOLLOWING DAY!!

Ridiculous.. In any event, 2.6 works just fine, so we’re sticking with it for now. An unfortunate side effect to v2.6 is the fact that it won’t work with PodPress v8.8. (If the plugin is active, the Visual Editor doesn’t work, and apparently there are issues with adding media/audio/video)

For those of you unfamiliar with PodPress, it’s the ultimate plug-in for Podcasting on Wordpress! There are some suggestions on the PodPess forums, but none of them work (at least for me).. So you’ve got two options - Don’t upgrade to WP2.6, or disable PodPress until v8.9 is released. Both of these options suck, but what can you do?

Here’s hoping that PodPress v8.9 is released shortly..

I came across a great article from Wildfire Marketing Group over the weekend, and I thought it was worth reposting..

What does a cheap logo design really cost you?

We’ve written several times about the importance of professional graphic design and even how to chose the right graphic designer, but what we haven’t discussed very much is how the cost of design can affect the return on your investment. As business owners, people often look for any opportunity to reduce their costs. While there can quite frequently be a strong upside to this, just as frequently if not more frequently, there can also be a tremendous downside.

Logo design, unlike most tangible products, is not a commodity. You may be able to find a manufacturer who will sell the same bolts you’ve been buying elsewhere for half the price. This is usually because that manufacturer has developed some specialized process to produce the bolts at a lower cost than their competitors can, or perhaps they have bought their raw materials in significantly larger quantities, earning themselves a volume discount. When it comes to service based businesses, this simply isn’t possible. You are paying for skill and experience.

So what happens when you try to reduce your costs by hiring graphic design companies or freelance graphic designers to design your logo based on price? Well, sometimes you come out ahead, but more often than not, you learn a very expensive lesson. On one end of the scale, you may end up with an unprofessional logo that presents a poor image of your company. On the other end of the scale, you could end up in a situation like a client that came to us after hiring one of the lowest priced design firms they could find.

They had hired a local firm to design their logo, then they had business cards, stationary, brochures and signage printed and even wrapped six cargo vans, only to find out that their logo was almost an exact copy of a competitor in the next city. They were furious and unfortunately, the firm that put them in this situation went out of business shortly afterwards leaving them with no recourse. Needless to say, after saving a few hundred dollars only to then waste several thousand dollars, they now thoroughly understand the cost vs. value equation. In the end, we developed a professional (and original) logo for them along with their new print marketing materials which they were very satisfied with.

When you decide to hire a graphic design company, before you look at their price, look at the quality of their work and how long they have been in business. If it turns out that you can’t afford the services of a top-quality graphic design firm, you may want to consider finding a way to come up with the money - it may save you a more sizable amount in the long run.