[Wabbitt]

Great thread. I am a noob myself in the industry, and I did go the route of training with an ISO. Unfortunately, the guy I worked for was a crook who was selling every deal at a 1.59 to as high as a 1.99 and tacking on crazy upfront fees. He was hurting merchants and hurting the industry. Not only that, but he was also not paying his agents the way he was supposed to. It was quite a learning experience-and a costly one. I learned quite a bit, but urge you to use caution when starting out and do your homework on the company you go to work for. As far as saturation, well, I've seen a lot of new competition, even in the short time I have been in the industry, but I still talk to plenty of merchants who are very unfamiliar with the product. I had a lot of early success, which could be a good thing, or a bad thing depending on how you look at it.

[HollyH]

Wabbit, thanks for that.

The ISO guy I mentioned, I believe, is on the up and up, although I'm a little turned off by the commission split (5% to me of FUNDED amt from a direct lender that will, if I go with them DIRECTLY, pay 8-9% of PAYBACK amt to me). Does that sound standard to you all?

I was trying to reach him for two weeks and during that time found the same lender (he uses) on my own. When he finally got back to me I had already researched the lender.

I'm torn between going with an ISO for the training and starting on my own. I'm sharp, have succeeded in sales and am great with people, but am acutely aware that I know only a little. I considered going with the ISO and then being on my own with other lenders, but I don't know if that intention is coming from complete integrity on my part.

[JDZ]

So much good info on this thread! Thank you for all the professionals who are taking the time to help us newbies. I'm feeling pretty darn frustrated...I just can't seem to figure out how to work enough volume of folks who are interested to make any money. Any advice on what works to generate business would be awesome. I'm willing to work the phones or whatever it takes to be successful.

[J.Celifarco]

So much good info on this thread! Thank you for all the professionals who are taking the time to help us newbies. I'm feeling pretty darn frustrated...I just can't seem to figure out how to work enough volume of folks who are interested to make any money. Any advice on what works to generate business would be awesome. I'm willing to work the phones or whatever it takes to be successful.

go work for an existing company and get the training you need to know how to sell and succeed in this industry. You are not going to figure it out on your own without it costing you a fortune..