While many people use PayPal for ebay purchases and personal transactions with family members and friends, credit cards are still the number one form of payment for online purchases, and even for many localized purchases. But in order to accept credit cards as a form of payment, you will need to have a machine that reads credit cards, and a merchant account that’ll process the transactions and transfer the funds from a run credit card to your bank account. Monex group can provide these credit card processing services, as well as other specialty services – such as your very own branded ATM machine in your store! ATM machines are always very handy to have, especially if you’re able to collect your own processing fees from them.

But if you’re strictly looking for POS systems, then Monex Group won’t disappoint. Monex Group offers point of sale solutions for brick & mortar stores, on-the-go businesses, and specialty payment services such as ePayments and recurring payments (payment subscriptions are also offered). Whether you need point of sale solutions for your brick & mortar store, or for your website on the internet, Monex can provide you with everything you need. Gift cards are another option that Monex Group offers, which are handy for building a loyal customer base and encouraging others to visit your store.

For more information, visit monexgroup.com.

You know what’s annoying? When you somehow get on the mailing list for PR pitches that have absolutely nothing to do with the content on your blog. I don’t blog about fashion or celebrities, yet I routinely get pitches about the latest prom dress that some A-list celebrity is wearing while doing her grocery shopping, or the hideous little purse that a B-list celebrity was spotted carrying at a hair salon.

The worst part is that the requests to unsubscribe are almost always ignored. And while I should just set up a filter so that those messages are immediately marked as spammed, or better yet marked deleted, there are some PR agencies in which there are two employees who email me – one with their super-annoying pitches about celebrities and dresses and tiny purses; and a second employee who has contacts that I find relevant for my blog.

Bah.

With Valentine’s Day a little less than a month away, and the average shipping time for glasses ordered from Zenni Optical about 12-14 days (from my experience – I’ve made about a half dozen orders from Zenni Optical between glasses for myself, glasses for my husband, and glasses for my seven year old daughter), now’s the time to pick out a pair of stylish, sexy frames in time for Valentine’s Day! Maybe you want a new look for your romantic night out, or maybe you’d like to surprise your lover with a pair. Either way, Zenni Optical has many stylish Valentine’s Day glasses to choose from – and of course many other styles as well.

What I love about Zenni Optical is that they carry prescription eyeglasses for men, women, and children. Whether you’re near-sighted, far-sighted, require bi-focals, or would really love a pair of prescription sunglasses (Zenni Optical offers several color tints, including pink!), Zenni has what you need. Their frames (lenses are included) start at just $6.95, and they offer the same quality products and craftsmanship that regular brick and mortar optometrist establishments have. I have ordered from them many times, and have always been satisfied with the quality and durability of the frames and lenses I’ve picked out. When it comes to style, function, and affordability, Zenni Optical can’t be beat!

For more information, check out Zenni Optical today!

…the e-reader that you love! My husband has a Nook Simple Touch, I have the Nook wifi/3g version that was a hit in the fall of 2010, and my brother has a Literati. When it comes to the best ereader, a lot of it has to do with personal preferences, I think. What works for one person may not necessarily work for another, you know? Of course, there can be legitimate issues that will cause an ereader not to work as it should, or not to work at all. That’s why it pays to research reviews and such before making your purchase.

Nexsan is a global leader of digital storage management. Their efficient, high-powered, cutting-edge technology of data storage systems ensures that whether we’re talking about “basic” digital storage, more premier digital backup solutions, or even cloud backup, your data is covered – securely, reliably, efficiently. Nexsan was founded in 1999, in Thousand Oaks, California where the enterprise-class corporation still resides today. The company’s purpose is to provide digital content management via both hardware and software products. Storage solutions are necessary for just about every industry out there, and every need, both personal/residential and business/commercial.

Nexsan’s technologis are available in ATA, RAID, and SATA disk storage, and the majority of their products are best suited for mid-tier deployments in large organizations, a well as medium-sized businesses. Nexsan’s storage solutions can meet your every need – and then some.

Visit Nexsan at Nexsan.com to learn more.

I’m a Zenni girl, in a blogging world
Frames of plastic, they’re fantastic
You can love my style, I can see for miles
Zenni Optical, they’re affordable!
Sing to the tune of Aqua’s “Barbie Girl”

I love Zenni Optical. I’ve blogged about them before, and here I am blogging about them again. But what’s not to love? They offer thousands of stylish, high quality plastic and metal prescription eyeglass frames, and the prescription lenses themselves! You can get yourself a decent pair of glasses, lenses and all, starting at just $12. Choose from plastic or metal frames in a variety of styles and shapes (rectangular and slightly angled are my favorites), specify your lenses based on your prescription (it is your responsibility to obtain and verify the accuracy of this, FYI), and you’re good to go! Zenni Optical has prescription eyeglasses for men, women, and kids. They even have prescription sunglasses – you choose the lens tint color and intensity.

More recently, Zenni Optical has introduced a new coating for their lenses, Fingerprint Resistant (Oleophobic) Anti-Reflective Coating, or AR. This snazzy anti-reflective coating repels and reduces the likelihood of water, oil, fingerprints, and dust from sticking to your lenses. Not only do your lenses stay cleaner for longer, but when they do need to be cleaned, they’re easier to clean! Also, this coating significantly reduces reflections, meaning you won’t have that annoying lens glare in photographs.

Zenni Optical’s Fingerprint Resistent Anti-Reflective oleophobic coating is a premium add-on for your prescription glasses, but it’s well worth the investment.

Thanks to Zenni Optical’s superb selection of prescription eyeglasses, one thing I’m always able to do is blog in comfort – and by comfort I mean I’m able to see the computer monitor without a lick of eye strain. I’m also able to blog in style, since Zenni Optical carries thousands of frames in a variety of shapes and styles. You can find frames for men, frames for women, and frames for children. Prescription lenses are available for nearsightedness, farsightedness, and multi-focal needs (bi-focals, tri-focals, etc.).

I have purchased several pairs of glasses from Zenni Optical (four pairs for me, two pairs for my husband, and three pairs for my daughter), and I’m a very satisfied customer of theirs. Their prescription eyeglasses start at just $12 (that covers both the frame and the lenses!), and they have so many styles available it’s unreal. How can Zenni Optical afford to sell prescription eyeglasses so cheaply? Simple: they cut out the middle man. And by middle man, I mean that they do not operate any physical locations, and they do not verify prescriptions (it is your responsibility to obtain your own prescription from your optometrist and verify that it is both up-to-date and accurate). The results is them being able to focus on delivering stylish, functional, high-quality prescription eyeglasses to everyday consumers, such as yours truly. I definitely give them a 5-star rating!

One of my goals in 2012 is to stay on top of my health needs. I’m doubling my protein shakes each day so that I’m taking in the required amount via shakes, and any other protein sources are just bonuses (last year I was only doing one shake per day, and relying on regular “food” sources for the other protein I needed, and I know that didn’t always pan out). I’m continuing to take my vitamins, and I’m going to keep taking the vitamin B and C complexes for energy and immune system boosting, because so far, with the exception of an icky sinus cold I woke up with on the 1st, I’ve been doing well in terms of fighting off illnesses.

Nopalea may be of interest to me, at least in terms of hopefully reducing some of my digestive issues (which may or may not be contributing to my frequent bouts of excruciating abdominal pain). Nopalea is a wellness drink whose juice comes directly from the Mexican Nopal cactus. The Nopal cactus is known for its healing properties, and Nopalea is designed to help reduce inflammation in the body that may be caused by toxins in the body (Nopalea neutralizes these).

When taken daily, Nopalea can help your body remove toxins and reduce inflammation, and overall promote optimal health. Want to try Nopalea? You can, for free, by calling 800-203-7063 (just pay S&H). Learn more on Facebook or Twitter, and of course check out Nopalea directly at their website.

For the blogger or other work-at-home person on your list, here are some gift ideas that may be worth considering as you go about your holiday shopping:

• Bookshelf speakers – these are perfect for people who only have laptops; laptop speakers are notoriously crappy!
• Books about blogging; also, inspirational blogging books, such as Maggie Mason’s “No One Cares What You Had for Lunch”, are great to help with writer’s block.
• Fun USB-powered lights and other gadgets that can be plugged in to any type of computer.
• Subscriptions to professional blogging/SEO forums
• Gift cards to sites like ThinkGeek – most bloggers are geeks, right?!

With that said, can you believe that today is December 7th? That means that there are just 18 days until Christmas!

One thing I have learned from writing articles and doing a variety of SEO-oriented work over the past five years is that, in general, SEO work is something that is neverending. There is always search engine optimization tasks to be completing, setting up, or researching. But covering all of that ground can be exhausting; sometimes it can be too much for one individual or even one small company to do. Also, if SEO is just part of what you need to offer a client, but your skills lie elsewhere – say, in web design or Flash illustration – then you may be in a little over your head. What’s the solution? Outsourcing. And yes, you can outsource SEO work.

One company in particular that offers SEO work from via outsourcing is HubShout. HubShout specializes in offering companies white label SEO – that is, SEO work that HubShout provides for you, even going so far as to allow you to private label the work and results — meaning that you contact HubShout and ask them to do the transparent and accountable SEO work, all the while keeping your name on the work.

For more information about HubShout, visit HubShout.com.