This month our Sacred Commerce practice celebrates our holiday season’s quintessential qualities of being: joy and peace. This season’s emphasis on them gives us an opportunity to reflect on joyful moments: moments passed and moments yet to come.

Upon reflection, we are grateful for the lessons, awakening, and accomplishments we have experienced in 2011. This year has taught us that peace and joy are a state of mind and are always present inside of us, ready for us to choose to express them in our thoughts, attitudes, speech, beliefs, and actions. We have learned that cultivating joy in our lives is as simple as choosing to celebrate what each moment has to offer. We have also learned that peace can come through an active practice of mindfulness from which awareness of the bigger picture arises.

Here are some other examples of how we cultivate peace and joy:

1. Tell a joke or laugh at one
2. Share inspirational stories
3. Give something away
4. Acknowledge someone
5. Enjoy a quiet moment with yourself or others
6. Share meals or good food
7. Practice self care and compassion
8. Count your blessings (focus on what you’re grateful for)

What have you learned this year and how do you cultivate joy and peace in your life?

On November 12-13, Green America and Global Exchange hosted the 10th Anniversary Green Festival in San Francisco and Dharma was grateful to be there. We are always excited to see our conscious, sustainable community show up in force to network with each other.

This year’s event played host to speakers as diverse as perennial Green Festival favorite Amy Goodman from DEMOCRACY NOW and Frances Moore Lappefrom Food First and the Small Planet Institute. There were courses on how to break up with your Mega-Bank (and your mega-credit card processor!) to how to make sure your Thanksgiving is as Fair Trade as possible. We left this year’s event with many new friends and tons of inspiration.

A big THANK YOU! to everyone who stopped by our booth to say hello and to express gratitude for the work we do. We wouldn’t be here without you and we thank you for choosing to support us. And if you appreciate what we do and find it valuable to your business, we urge you to share your experiences with your friends. As we saw this weekend, our community grows stronger when we partner together. We hope to see you at next year’s event!

We were delighted to attend the Green Chamber of Commerce Annual Event! Celebrating “A Taste of the Bay” and held at the beautifully remodeled Levi Strauss & Co. headquarters in San Francisco, the event was filled with so many of our favorite Bay Area merchants such as Green Dentistry, Equator Coffee, Three Twins, and Frey Vineyards, as well as exciting companies new to us like Trim Tab Media !

We thoroughly enjoyed the fabulous program of speakers (expertly put together by Green Chamber Executive Director Stacie Shepp and the Green Chamber team) that included passionate and engaging community leaders such as Mitchell Rofsky of Better World Club, David Bodwin, co-founder of the American Sustainable Business Council , and Donald Simon of Wendel Rosen Black & Dean LLP,  who also served as lead attorney in advocating for the recently passed B-Corporation bill. The joyous Jess King ushered the evening to its close accompanied by a small, but riveting electric cello.

Congratulations to all who attended, catered, volunteered, and made the annual event a wonderful success! Our sincere thanks to the Green Chamber for hosting and fostering such a brilliant community of movers and shakers in the green business movement.

With the intention to help you process as successfully as possible, here are some fraud flags for you to look out for:

• “Rush” orders
• Orders shipped to an address that does not match the billing address
• Large orders
• Orders to be shipped outside the United States
• Multiple sales made in a short period of time which appear to be indiscriminate purchases

In all of these cases, please contact the customer before shipping any products. If the order does not seem legitimate to you, do not ship and void or refund the transaction. Remember that customers can do a chargeback, for any reason, up to 6 months after the charge is processed. It is relatively impossible to win a chargeback case in a card-not-present environment, meaning you face losses due to reversed funds, unpaid products and chargeback fees.

If you process with Authorize.net, protect yourself by setting the Daily Velocity value and Card Code Verification rejection option under the “Security Settings” section under the “Account” menu in your Authorize.net Merchant Interface. You can also sign up for their Advanced Fraud Screening service directly from your Authorize.net account.

Lastly, please monitor your account on a regular basis. If you see irregular activity, such as 100’s of transactions for small amounts which indicate automated testing of stolen credit card numbers, we can shut down your processing number temporarily to help you avoid being charged authorization fees for fraudulent transactions.

This month we’re grateful to feature a beloved client who has done wonders for the health of our co-founders. Run by Dr. Matt Colman, Hayes Valley Wellness is an oasis of peace and attentive, personalized care in the bustling, hip neighborhood of Hayes Valley.

From the moment you are greeted with a warm welcome by their kind and professional staff to the time you leave feeling better than when you walked in, an appointment at Hayes Valley Wellness is always an experience in awakening and healing.

Dr. Colman combines his expertise in chiropractic care and whole food nutrition with Sacro Occipital Technique and Neuro Emotional Technique to treat his patients with a completely holistic approach. Rather than treat symptoms, his practice is about uncovering the root causes that create barriers to wellness and then identifying a path to maintain life-long health and success.

As regular patients, Jeff and Alexia can personally attest to the effectiveness of his treatments. They both credit his care for helping them maintain their good health. Also, in Alexia’s case, Dr. Colman accurately diagnosed and successfully treated a life-long, painful condition that traditional western medicine was never able to address.

We’re grateful to be working with him and even more grateful for Dr. Colman's incredible gift of healing.

eCommerce merchants are vulnerable to a certain type of fraud that is perpetrated by attempts to authorize stolen credit card numbers via a program that generates hundreds or even thousands of credit card authorizations at one time. We saw a recent case that resulted in over 8,000 such attempts in one day! You may not realize this is happening until you check your daily batch, or worse, not catch it until the month end statements show the excessive transaction fees being charged for these authorizations. Please protect yourself by using the fraud filters available with your eCommerce software. If you use the Authorize.Net payment gateway, please enable the Velocity Filter, which limits the number of transactions allowed per day. To set that filter, go to the “Account” menu, and click on the “Daily Velocity” link under the Security Settings area. Authorize.net also has additional Fraud Screening technology available with their optional Advanced Fraud Detection Suite.

In addition to setting these filters, we strongly recommend that you review your transaction activity every day before the settlement time, and immediately contact us or the 24/7 support center if you see any anomalies. This type of fraud can quickly add up to thousands of dollars in authorization fees, and we don’t want to see that happen to any of you!

To help avoid being the victim of fraud, we recommend shipping products outside of the US only once you have vetted the cardholder and verified their address.

If you are processing with Authorize.net, the default Address Verification Service (AVS) settings will automatically reject transactions placed on cards that were not issued in the United States, and you will see a letter code returned with the decline reason that corresponds to a specific AVS reject reason.

If you decide to change those default settings so these transactions are not automatically declined, please take care to not fulfill the order, especially a large order, without vetting the customer first.

• Require copies of the customer’s passport and the front and back of the credit card. Most thieves will not reply, assuming that you are “fraud aware”, and have caught on to them. If they do respond, contact the card-issuing bank using the toll-free number on the back of the card and ask them to call their customer to verify that the charge is legitimate.
• Call the phone number given with the order. It may be bogus or could be the actual number of the person whose card was stolen. Ask the cardholder for the card expiration date, and the details of the order. Fraudsters often lose track of which card they used on which site, and go on a “shopping spree”, not remembering who they ordered from or what they ordered. A legitimate consumer will know exactly what they ordered and will be able to repeat their order accurately.

We with you much success in the world economy but hope you take care with these orders to make sure you are not putting yourself at risk. Trust your instincts and if you ever want to double-check with us, please give us a call!

This month we are “Being Healthy” as part of our monthly Dharma & Sacred Commerce practice.

At Dharma, we share the perspective that health doesn’t just mean a healthy body or a healthful diet but encompasses practices of regular nourishment and love of our bodies, minds, and spirits.

Whether it is...

• fulfilling a life-long dream to travel (our Co-Founder, Alexia, just returned from 3 weeks in Nepal with Heifer International); 
• going on a spiritual retreat (our other Co-Founder, Jeff, is attending one at Spirit Rock next week); 
• planting, harvesting, eating from, and sharing organic vegetables (our Account Manager, Trace, has an organic farm in Petaluma); 
• rock climbing (our Account Manager, Nick, is one amazing monkey); 
• cooking and singing daily like our Office Manager, Yebuny; 
• or practicing virtues like compassion and gratitude (some of our favorites here at Dharma)...

...there are myriad ways to cultivate health and well-being in our bodies, minds and spirits. We find taking care of ourselves and each other with these practices are also great ways to practice gratitude – especially during this holiday season!

How are you choosing health and well-being for your body, mind, and spirit?

Fraud losses cost the financial and retail industries over $250 billion annually, and cybercrimes get more sophisticated every year.

Here are some new fraud trends and how to respond to them:

Card Skimming

Here, thieves install undetected skimmer devices inside the card reader of terminals and capture credit card data. To safeguard against this, keep your credit card terminal accessible to employees only, and watch for signs of tampering.

Malware Attacks

Malware, short for malicious software, gains access to and damages a victim’s computer without the victim’s knowledge. In 2009 the frequency of this type of attack was 10 times greater than in 2008. Most malware attacks today are designed for financial gain. The malware escapes detection while collecting and transmitting sensitive data such as the user’s bank account information, passwords and credit card details. To protect against malware, always keep your virus protection up to date, because vulnerabilities are usually found in older or out-of-date virus definitions. Never store unsecured credit card details on your computer.

Card Testing

This involves software that automates the testing of stolen credit card numbers using an eCommerce website. We saw two cases of this last year, where a non-profit organization’s website was used to run hundreds or thousands of transactions for small amounts ($1.00) so the card numbers could be tested. This caused the non-profit to incur the authorization fees until they caught it and took the website down or the thief finished testing all of the cards. To prevent your site from being used for card testing, set the “Daily Velocity” filter under the Account menu in Authorize.net, and monitor your transactions daily.

Fraudulent Returns

Here, someone with access to a credit card terminal will run a return transaction on their credit card, putting a credit on their card, when there was no original sales transaction to be returned. The thief will often do this first thing in the morning and then batch out the terminal so there is no record on the closing report. To protect against this type of fraud, keep the terminal in a protected area and consider putting a password on the return function.

Whaling

First we had phishing, where emails prompted users to reply with sensitive information to confirm they are the actual owner of specified accounts. This evolved to SMSishing, where the solicitation was sent via text. Now there’s whaling, where profiles on LinkedIn and Facebook with descriptors like vice president, chief executive officer, chief financial officer, etc. are targeted. Google was hacked in 2010 via a PDF file sent to executives that, once opened, caused vulnerability on each user’s computer so hackers could steal information. If you have one of these profiles on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube or other social media outlet, keep your private information private and watch out for requests for sensitive information.

This is one of the most enjoyable business books I have ever read. Actually I’m not sure I’d even call it a business book. To me most business books lecture, prescribe esoteric theory and talk at 10,000 feet. It’s like the author never started a business, except for writing business books. (Please send us examples to the contrary!) This book, while about the incredible business called Method that broke into the uber-saturated soap business, is more like a fantastic conversation. You always have the sense that you are hearing from a person, not an author. It’s refreshingly honest, gives practical and useful information, and is really funny.

The book covers the 7 obsessions that are the method to method. According to founders Eric Ryan and Adam Lowry, these are the “rules written by our younger selves, holding us to the ideals we shared when we first decided to launch the company”. The seven range from internal culture to retail relationships, from to commitments to sustainability to commitments to high design. Knowing how vision and intention can get obscured and muddled by the frenetic pace and amount of daily challenges when running a business, it’s great to learn how Method has been successful by not losing sight of their priorities at the heart of their business.

One of my favorite aspects of the book (besides the humor) are the “error autopsies”. In “The Method Method”, these stories of how some pretty big blunders came about and what was learned from them are inspiring because they’re so honest and real. At Dharma we celebrate mistakes in order to create a shame-free environment and not let mistakes take us away from our commitment to oneness and being our best selves. As Rama says, “it’s not about whether or not you make a mistake, what matters is how fast you recover”, and in “The Method Method” we get to learn how mistakes didn’t stop them from forging on. In fact, we learn how these “learning experiences” increased their knowledge of their product, understanding of their customers and commitment to their principles.

Enjoy!

On October 9th, California became the newest state to pass benefit corporation legislation, creating a new, fully voluntary class of corporation in California called “benefit corporations”. This new corporate structure allows businesses to pursue a material positive impact on the environment and community in addition to maximizing profits. Previous corporate law required corporations to exclusively prioritize financial interests and shareholder profits. For example, this meant that executives could be sued for choosing organic ingredients over cheaper alternatives produced with pesticides that are toxic to consumers, workers and the environment. They could also be sued for giving back to the community if shareholders felt that was taking money out of their pocket. With this new legislation, businesses can choose to incorporate benefit corporations and enjoy these significant advantages:

• Greater access to social impact and venture capital investments;
• Legal protection for directors and officers in their more broadly defined fiduciary roles of maximizing profits as well as ensuring social and environmental considerations; and
• Marketing opportunities that will allow consumers to distinguish, in a very real and ascertainable fashion, between a business that claims to be socially responsible, and one that is responsible.

The legislation was proposed by Assemblymember Jared Huffman under Assembly Bill 361, which passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in both chambers of the California Legislature. The bill was supported by over 200 California-based businesses and associations. As noted in previous blog posts, we were more than happy to appear in Sacramento twice to testify in support of this bill. We’re thrilled that it passed and encourage you all to propose similar legislation in your state or consider becoming a Benefit Corporation!

It’s actually a little tortuous writing about Cocopotamus, because we start drooling just thinking about their artisan fudge inventions. Magical flavors like gourmet sea salt & dark chocolate, or cinnamon & chlli, let alone rose water infused chocolate fudge is our idea dessert nirvana. Cocopotamus is the delicious creation of passionate foodies Max and Ally Sinclair, who sought to honor and preserve America’s contribution of fudge to culinary history by keeping the tradition alive. Their extreme makeover transformed the overly-sweet, sometimes dry, grainy slab into round truffles that are extra creamy, rich and celebrated with exotic and playful flavors. Their artisan approach that uses high-quality ingredients and creative flavor combinations has caught the eye of Whole Foods, Rachel Ray and even the Oscars and Golden Globes, where Cocopotamus fudge was given as celebrity gifts. Read on to learn more from their “Top Banana”, Max Sinclair.

How did you get the idea to start Cocopotamus (and the idea for the great name)?

Our whole grand idea was to do something that’ll help bring joy to people’s lives. Chocolate happens to be the perfect medium to do that because it’ll automatically bring a smile to most people. We wanted people to remember that joy is not some elusive quest. It’s the everyday little things…like having a meal with the family, listening to a favorite song, and of course, eating chocolate. So we created a brand that’s unlike your typical high-end chocolate company. Cocopotamus is fun, joyful, approachable, and unpretentious. The feeling begins with the name.
Our secondary mission is to, in our own small way, bring the world together. So we created flavors that represent many of the world cultures. Roise Posy from the Middle East, Cuppa Joe from Italy, Sumos Never Sleep from Japan, Ommm…from India, etc.. The idea is very subtle, but we think it works. The process is to take a dominant ingredient (or two) from a culture and infuse it in to our chocolate truffles and make the chocolate taste delicious. We hope to bridge gaps through the flavors of our chocolate.

What effect have you seen Cocopotamus having on your community?

People really come together & enjoy the experience of tasting our world flavors. We’re always so happy to hear stories from our customers about how Cocopotamus help bring joy to their day, became such a fun gift, or made a special occasion extra special. From family reunions to the fanciest weddings, we love to hear how Cocopotamus brings joy. Over the last two years, we’ve collected over a hundred stories from our customers. They emailed us or some even called us on the phone just to tell us how happy they were to have discovered Cocopotamus and how much joy they got from eating it. We’ve put a small collection of these customer stories in our Real People Real Stories section of our web site to share.

What is your favorite aspect of what you do?

We get to eat chocolate every day!!! Enough said. : )

Any words of wisdom to share with budding entrepreneurs?

Don’t give up on your dream. Create something that genuinely comes from your heart and people will respond well to it.

A Buddhist practice called Maitri, the practice of compassionate care and loving kindness, is a useful tool with which to practice compassion toward one’s self and each other.

To us, speaking powerfully means being deliberate, clear, and compassionate in our communication. This is particularly useful when there is something “hard” to say. As our President Jeff Marcous often says, “it’s notwhat you say; it’s how you say it”. Sacred Commerce suggests leaning into our discomfort by saying what we don’t want to say with compassion. This can bring us closer to our dreams and create love and trust in our relationships. On the job, this means always speaking the full truth, with kindness, to new leads and customers. Even if it is bad news and we don’t want to say it, we commit to doing the right thing.

Another a great way to practice speaking powerfully is by making requests. Here the belief is that we trust that others want what we want for ourselves. Speaking powerfully is a way to honor and even celebrate each other and ourselves by standing for who we really are, which we say is love. This month we are asking ourselves, “What stops me from speaking powerfully?” We find that this question gets us out of our heads and into our hearts, and into the present moment where we are more productive, innovative, and often happier. What stops you from speaking powerfully in a compassionate way?

Dharma co-founder Alexia Marcous was interviewed by Lorna Li of GreenMarketing.tv. 

Check out this interview to find out why these principles are so central to Alexia’s entrepreneurial approach, including her thoughts on:
- The benefits of incorporating the spiritual into your business
- Using passive residual income to give back to the community
- Balancing work and life demands
- Why she chose to make her company a Certified B Corporation
- The challenges and benefits of being a greener business and where to get a green certification
She’ll also talk about her own personal journey of seeking to incorporate the sacred through right action and right livelihood into her daily life.

View the full featured artcile at GreenMarketing.TV | Sacred Commerce Meets Green Business – Alexia Marcous, Dharma MS »

Self-esteem is the measure of how you feel about yourself at a given moment in time. Your worth, however, is not a product of your intelligence, your talent, your looks, your good works, or how much you have accomplished. Rather it is an immeasurable and unchanging manifestation of your eternal and infinite oneness with the universe. It represents the cornerstone of the dual foundations of optimism and self-belief. Your worth cannot be taken from you or damaged by life’s rigors, yet it can easily be forgotten or even actively ignored. By regularly acknowledging your self-worth, you can ensure that you never forget what an important, beloved, and special part of the universe you are. ”

Our friends at The Daily Om shared this perfect article with us explaining the difference and urging us to appreciate ourselves and treat ourselves kindly. We urge you to do the same. To us, you are infinitely worthy.