Get answers to some frequently asked questions.

General Background
Sign Up
Account Management
Profile Management
Goals
Groups
Blogs
Twitter
Networking
Mentors
Answers
Library
Resource Center
Feedback

General Background

What is the Visa Business Network?

The Visa Business Network is a community of small business owners coming together to pursue business goals, grow their businesses, network, and ultimately achieve their goals and move their businesses forward.

What can I do here?

One of the most important things you can do is to create a complete business profile—this is a free web page that will help you reach customers online. It allows customers to find you in Google search results and can be invaluable in getting new business leads.
We also encourage you to take advantage of our interactive goal toolkits and getting support and advice from the community. Get and make comments, and connect with others who are pursuing similar goals.

Why did Visa create the Visa Business Network?

The Visa Business Network is part of Visa’s dedication to helping small businesses succeed. We realize how important networking is to small business owners offline and increasingly online, considering how the internet is rapidly changing the way business is done. By offering you a social networking tool, we hope we can help you develop closer relationships with customers and other businesses. And by doing so, we hope you’ll see many ways that Visa Business helps you grow and manage your business better.

Do I need a Visa card to join?

No, no credit card of any kind is needed.

Are all services free?

Yes, this is a free community for small business owners.

Top ⌃

Sign Up

How do I sign up?

Just fill out the required fields, create your password, and you’re done. Your username is your email address.

What information should I place on my profile?

Make sure to include all relevant information about your business—name, years in business, location, address, phone—and add information like your area of expertise. This information will be part of your free web page and will help potential customers learn more about you.
Every month we will feature a new business from the network in our “Featured Business” section. This is a great opportunity to showcase your business. You’ll need to have a completed profile to be considered.

How do you use the information I provide when I sign up?

Visa will only use your information to enhance the network. We track popular trends and industries to help us gauge what new functionality and resources will be useful and aid conversations. We aim to cater this network to meet your needs. For more details, see our Privacy Policy.

Top ⌃

Account Management

Can I change information after I’ve created my profile?

Sure. You can always go to “Edit My Business Profile” to change your icon, upload new pictures, add new expertise—whatever information you want to include is always in your control.

Top ⌃

Profile Management

Is there a difference between what members and the general public see on my profile?

Yes. You have a guest profile (what a visitor to the network sees) and a more robust member profile (what someone signed in to the network sees).
Your guest profile is your public web page and can be found in an online search. This is a great way for potential customers to find you. Guests will see your business contact information, business photos, and your goal.
Your member profile helps network members connect with you. Your associates will show up here, as well as your goals and comments.
For both profiles, you can limit the information you want to display. And your email address will never be displayed.
For more details, see our Privacy Policy.

Can I customize my profile page?

Right now you can only change the information you display in both your public and member profiles. But soon, we’ll add features that will let you create a more customized page. Check back often for updates.

Top ⌃

Goals

How did you determine the goals that I can work on?

Through months of polling small business peer groups, we selected the goals that most businesses said they cared about, and gathered all of the content that you’ll find supporting each goal from the best sites, blogs and areas of the web.

We encourage your feedback and welcome your suggestions about new goals you’d like us to add.

Does the Network track my progress for me?

Yes it does. It’s all a part of our determination to help move your business forward. As you complete a step in a goal, you’ll notice a change in your progress meter.

How do I comment on a goal?

You must be a member of the network and signed in to comment on a goal. As you work on your goal, you’ll be asked to share your experience of working on that step with the member community. Write words of encouragement, advice—whatever positive information you’d like to add and click “Share Your Experience”. You can also click on the “thumbs up” icon to quickly support a goal.

Top ⌃

Groups

Where did my groups go?

Groups have been transitioned to a new area called “Answers.” You’ll still have the benefit of reaching out to the member community about topics that matter to you, but it will allow everyone to share their ideas on these topics instead of just a few small groups. Now everyone can join the conversation — making for rich detailed, feedback. to go.

Top ⌃

Blogs

Can I set up a blog on my profile?

Yes, and no. You can add your blog feed to your profile, as long as it’s in RSS 2.0 format. As far as the network hosting your blog for you, that service is no longer available.

How can I get my blog included in the Blogs list in the Library?

Please e-mail us at visabusinessnetwork@socialarc.com for consideration. We review blogs based on the type of content along with the resource needs for The Visa Business Network.

Top ⌃

Twitter

Why should I have a Twitter feed on my profile?

Twitter lets you reach out instantly to customers with information, deals, questions—anything about your business. So having your feed on your profile makes you more accessible and engaged with your customers in real-time, right on the Visa Business Network.

How do I set up my Twitter feed?

You’ll have to have a Twitter account to show your feed on the Visa Business Network.
If you already have a Twitter account, just go to the Twitter settings page, enter your Twitter username, check the “Show Feed” box, and click “Add Feed.” If you’re not already a Twitter user, you’ll have to set up a new account first at Twitter.com. Click the “Join Twitter” button to begin, or start our “Learn to Use Twitter” goal to learn more about the benefits of using Twitter for your business.

How do I remove or hide my Twitter feed?

You can easily change your Twitter settings from your business profile. Just go to “Twitter Settings” and remove your Twitter username from the input box, and uncheck the “Show Feed” box.

Top ⌃

Networking

What does it mean to “Invite Associates?”

When you send an invite to an associate this means you want to start a conversation with them. When an invitation is accepted you are able to send messages to each other. And our search functionality makes it easy to find businesses like yours or near you.

Why and how should I connect with other businesses?

There are many reasons why you may want to connect with other businesses. Exposure to possible new clients, get advice from fellow businesses—especially ones in your industry—and share success stories. Speaking with other individuals working towards similar goals is one of the best ways to learn how to run a successful business.Use the search feature to locate relevant Visa Business Network members. Then send an associate request with a brief statement as to why you want to connect.

How do I search for other businesses?

The “Find a Business” tool on the Networking page allows you to search for businesses by keyword, business type, and geographical radius from a zip code.


How do I become a featured business on the Networking Landing Page?

Visa selects new businesses to feature on a regular basis. Please apply to be featured business here: Featured Business Application

What does a Mentor, Visa Agent or Visa badge signify?

Mentors are hand-selected experienced small business owners that are here to help guide you with advice.

Visa Agents are not employees of Visa, but affiliates of Visa who are rendering services for payment.

Visa employees are indicated by “Visa” badge in their avatar.

Top ⌃

Mentors

What are Mentors?

We’ve hand-selected some experienced small business owners (just like yourselves) that can help guide you with advice on goals, networking, and anything else that might be important.

How do I become a mentor?

Visa is always looking for qualified businesses to mentor our members. You can review an overview on becoming a mentor and access the application here: http://www.visabusinessnetwork.com/networking/become_mentor

How does Visa choose mentors?
Visa employs a team of dedicated people to manage the growth of the VBN community, and as the network expands we are always looking for businesses that demonstrate leadership skills and aptitude in topics that matter to small businesses. We encourage you to visit the Become a Mentor page to learn more specifics on how mentors are chosen.

Top ⌃

Answers

What are Answers?

Now you can draw from our rich network of more than 100,000 small business owners when you have a pressing question to be answered. Simply input your query and you’ll receive a range of answers from the community, and you can decide which possible solution works best for you and your business.

How do I ask a question?

Visit our Answers page and enter the text of a question you would like to ask the community. Be sure to select a topic that your question relates to, as this is a required step. You can enter more details about your question in the “Add Some Details to Your Question” field to give your readers more context, but this is not required.

Once you click “Ask a Question” we will look for similar questions that have already been posted. If a similar question is found, it will be displayed before your question is posted so you can decide whether to continue posting your question or cancel and view the responses for the existing question.

How do I answer a question?

Answer a question that has been posted by clicking the “Answer Question” button. You will be taken to a separate screen where you can enter your answer in a text field. Once you click Answer Question on this page, it will be immediately posted to this page.

How do I find a question or answer?

You can search for a question or answer by entering a keyword or phrase into the “Find a Question or Answer” field on any page of the Answers area. Be sure to select a topic before you click the “Find” button, as this is a required step.

Top ⌃

Library

How are articles selected for the Library?

Visa carefully selects topics and articles from partners like Entrepreneur and Inc.com that relate to goals and other topic areas within the VBN. Members can also submit links to their favorite articles by pasting a URL into the “Links” field and clicking the “Submit” button.

How are blogs chosen for the Library?

Bloggers are chosen based on how popular their site is with the small business community, and whether they blog about topics that are covered on the VBN. Blogs are constantly being reviewed for the quality of their content and our list is continually growing!

How can I get my blog included in the Blogs list in the Library?

Please e-mail us at visabusinessnetwork@socialarc.com for consideration. We review blogs based on the type of content along with the resource needs for The Visa Business Network.

Top ⌃

Resource Center

What is Visa Small Business Spend Insights and where can I find a copy?

Visa Small Business Spend Insights is a quarterly newsletter that highlights the current economic confidence and concerns of U.S. small business owners. The newsletter is populated with Visa spend data and small business owner responses to a quarterly online survey. Small businesses and those serving them can benefit from these trends and insights obtained from Visa’s proprietary research.

Current and archived versions of this quarterly newsletter can be found at www.visabusinessnetwork.com/spendinsights

Top ⌃

Feedback

What if I have other questions not addressed here?

As we continue to improve functionality, add features, and fix bugs for future upgrades, any feedback you can provide will be useful. Click on the “Give Feedback” link in the footer. Be sure to include your email address so we can reply.

Top ⌃