Welcome to Issue #006 of The Outerchange, the weekly briefing for payment processing agents who want more leverage behind their effort.

Happy Easter weekend to those who celebrate and happy long weekend to those who just celebrate the time off.

In today’s edition:

Let’s rock n roll 🚀

⚠️ The Friction:

Most agents and ISOs are grinding to build an audience from scratch. Posting on Facebook, hoping someone sees it. Cold DMing strangers. Dropping comments in groups where 47 other agents are doing the exact same thing. It's a war of attrition where everyone is fighting over the same eyeballs with the same pitch.

Meanwhile, there are people who already have the exact audience you want and they're not even in payments.

✅ The Solution:

Think about who else serves the businesses you're trying to sign. If you sell to plumbers, there's a guy building websites for plumbers. If you sell to restaurants, there's an accountant who specializes in restaurant books. If you sell to med spas, there's a marketing agency running their Google Ads.

These people aren't your competition. They're your distribution partners. They already have the trust, the attention, and the relationship with your target merchant. You just need to give them a reason to introduce you.

This is how marketers on LinkedIn have been growing for years (collab posts). Two people, same audience, one piece of content. Both get tagged, both get reach, both get credibility by association. The payments industry hasn't caught on yet (which means the window is wide open).

🛠️ Build It:

Collab Posts & Content (Free): Find 3-5 people who serve your target niche but aren't in payments. Accountants, web designers, POS consultants, bookkeepers, marketing agencies. DM them with something like: "I serve the same merchants you do but in a completely different lane. Want to do a collab post? I think both of our audiences would get value from something like this! We both post it and tag each other."

Both audiences see new faces. Nobody steps on the others toes. You look like a connector instead of a pitcher.

Micro-Influencer Sponsorship (Paid): Forget going for popularity and TikTok influencers selling lip gloss last week. Find the niche content creators who already have your merchants' attention. The guy with 2,000 followers who posts plumbing business tips. The woman running a Facebook group for salon owners. Pay them $100-$300/month to mention your brand in 2-4 posts.

That's not an ad budget. That's a referral partner with a megaphone.

⭐ The Outcome:

One good collab partner with 1,000 followers in your niche is worth more than 10,000 random LinkedIn connections. You're not building from zero anymore. you're plugging into existing “trust” networks. Do this consistently and within 90 days you'll have more inbound conversations than your cold DM game ever produced.

View an Example of a COLLAB POST HERE

Here's a question: How many cold emails did your prospect get this week? Probably dozens.

How many leaky buckets did they receive in the mail?
Zero. That's the whole game. Get weird, stand out. It’ll backfire but it’ll generate laughs and make them remember you.

Direct mail is one of the last channels agents almost never think to use for merchant acquisition. I was the same. Everyone's fighting in the DMs and the inbox. Meanwhile, physical mail sits on a desk, gets picked up, and if it's weird enough, gets shown to someone else. That's free impressions beyond the first touch.

I'm not talking about a tri-fold brochure with your rates on it (those go straight in the trash and you know it). I'm talking about pattern interrupts. Lumpy mail that gets opened due to curiosity. Things that make a business owner stop, laugh, remember you then think “oh wait…”

Here are 3 to steal:

🗑️ The Shredded Statement (~$0.50/piece) Take a fake processing statement showing ugly fees like inflated batch fees, PCI non-compliance charges, the whole horror show. Shred it. Stuff the shreds into a mailer and mail it with a post card that says: "This is what we do to bad processing rates. Want to shred yours?"

How to do it: Print 50 fake statements on regular paper (make the fees look ridiculous but realistic, they should recognize the line items). Run them through a shredder or cut em up, bag the shreds, and drop them in a padded mailer with your card and a one-liner. Total cost per send: roughly $0.50 for the print and bag, plus postage.

Follow-up (Day 2): Text or email: "Did you get the envelope full of shredded fees? That's what happens to bad processing rates when I get involved. Want me to run a free analysis on yours? Takes 5 minutes one day this week if you have a second 🙂 ."

🪣 The Leaky Bucket (~$1.50/piece) Grab a mini plastic bucket from the dollar store (the little sand castle size). Drill or punch small holes in that sucker. Attach a tag that says: "This is your profit margins and revenue on your current processor."

How to do it: Buy mini buckets in bulk from Dollar Tree or Amazon (they run about $1 each in packs). Drill some holes. Tie your card to the handle with twine or a zip tie. Ship in a small box or bubble mailer.

Follow-up (Day 2): Email: "That leaky bucket I sent you? That's what happens when your processor charges you fees you didn't even know existed. I can plug the leak. 15 minutes and I'll show you exactly where the money's going. Here's my calendar: [LINK]"

🛠️ The Duct Tape (~$1.50/piece) Mail a mini roll of duct tape (you can get these in bulk for about $1 each) with a card that says: "Duct tape fixes everything… except bad processing rates. For that, you’d call me."

How to do it: Order mini duct tape rolls in bulk from Amazon or AliExpress (24-packs run about $15-$20). Drop it in a padded mailer with your card. This one works because duct tape is universally useful lol. And every time they reach for it, your name is right there in the ol’ memory palace.

Follow-up (Day 2): Text: "Quick question, did you get the duct tape? Most business owners have been patching their processing situation for years. I can actually fix it. 15 minutes, free analysis, and I'll show you what a clean deal looks like. Worth a look Susan?"

The system: Send 20-30 of these per month to local merchants (or more if you lock in a system). Rotate between a few ideas so you're not a one-trick pony. Always follow up within 48 hours by email, call (best) or text referencing the specific item you sent. The mailer gets attention. The follow-up gets the meeting.

I want to know: What are you looking to improve/build/delegate in your payments business this year?

There's no wrong answer. It could be:

Reply to this email with your answer. One sentence is fine. A paragraph is better. Whatever comes to mind.

This won't be shared with anyone. I'm using the responses to figure out what to write about, what to build, and where the gaps are for agents and ISOs right now. The more honest, the better.

Appreciate it friends! 🤝

Before you go :