Small Business

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  • Is an Ad on Facebook Worth the Money?

    OPEN Forum Articles
    27 Jan 2012 | 2:30 pm
    From Courtney Rubin: If you can have a Facebook page for free, why pay money for an ad? That appears to be the feeling among small-business owners. While 70 percent use Facebook for marketing, just 23 percent have forked over any cash for an ad on the world's largest social network, according to a new survey. That 23 percent is up five percent from just six months prior, says MerchantCircle, the online marketing firm for local businesses who conducted the study. But business owners are not overwhelmingly convinced the ads are worth the money: Over half (62 percent) said they'd advertise…

  • Inside the Entrepreneur's Brain With the Start-up Doctor

    Inc.com
    Tim Donnelly
    27 Jan 2012 | 1:26 pm
    What do hyper-creatives, emergency room nurses, and CEOs have in common? Dr. Aaron Blackledge has identified a particular neuro-chemical pattern. Do you have "entrepreneur brain?"Aaron Blackledge doesn't like to stand still. He possesses kind of mindset that is often too fidgety to stand tedious processes, such as attending lectures or writing papers to attain advanced degrees. So when he wanted to become a doctor, instead of settling into higher education, Blackledge doubled down and completed his pre-med in nine months. He decided to open Care Practice in the Mission District of San…

  • Twitter Link Roundup #117 – Small Business, Social Media, Design, Copywriting, Marketing And More

    crowdSPRING Blog
    Ross
    27 Jan 2012 | 12:20 am
    Every day on the crowdSPRING Twitter account and on my own Twitter account, I post links to posts or videos I enjoyed reading or viewing. These posts and videos are about logo design, web design, startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Here are some of the links that I’ve liked and shared this past week! The image above is a fun look at bottled water from Apple – if Apple made bottled water. That post, and other interesting posts are in the “Other” section below. Crowdsourcing: a 7+7 Primer (tips for businesses on…

  • One (Common) Marketing Tactic That Can Ruin Your Business…

    Starting Your Own Business with Successful Entrepreneur Erica Douglass
    Erica Douglass
    24 Jan 2012 | 5:48 pm
    Scott McNealy, former Sun Microsystems CEO, and Larry Ellison of Oracle announce a closer partnership in 2006, which led to Oracle acquiring Sun in 2009. There’s one (unfortunately common) marketing tactic out there that can actually take down your entire business. This is the true story of how I watched it unfold at a Fortune 500 company… Back in 2000, the company that I worked for, Cobalt Networks, was acquired by Sun Microsystems. I interviewed, and was accepted for, a position in Sun’s marketing department, working on Sun.com. As part of Sun’s marketing department,…

  • Design a Sam Adams beer

    How to Change the World
    GuyKawasaki
    20 Jan 2012 | 10:24 am
    Now this is a fun project. I’m helping Sam Adams “tap” the knowledge of beer drinkers and crowd source its next brew. Join the party by getting the app and designing your beer: The final brew will be released in Austin in the first week of March. #sponsored
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    OPEN Forum Articles

  • Top 5 Weirdest Companies on the Market

    27 Jan 2012 | 4:00 pm
    From Katie Morell: Call them weird, edgy or just plain tasteless, these companies caught our eye as being not your average small business on the market. Here are five companies that are keeping things interesting. Soccer Collies Who knew dogs could play soccer? Mark Lukas found this out after his border collie started tossing a ball around the house. The idea hit him and he founded Soccer Collies, a company that pits humans against dogs in a game of soccer. That was five years ago and now Lukas and his two collies, Ms. Z and Bek (after David Beckham, of course), travel around the country…

  • Is an Ad on Facebook Worth the Money?

    27 Jan 2012 | 2:30 pm
    From Courtney Rubin: If you can have a Facebook page for free, why pay money for an ad? That appears to be the feeling among small-business owners. While 70 percent use Facebook for marketing, just 23 percent have forked over any cash for an ad on the world's largest social network, according to a new survey. That 23 percent is up five percent from just six months prior, says MerchantCircle, the online marketing firm for local businesses who conducted the study. But business owners are not overwhelmingly convinced the ads are worth the money: Over half (62 percent) said they'd advertise…

  • How to Reward Your Employees

    27 Jan 2012 | 12:00 pm
    From Elizabeth Sile: When you're rewarding employees, what's important is not how expensive or showy the award is. It should be a little personal. Employee-rewards programs tend to be considered a softer part of business, says Dr. Bob Nelson, author of 1001 Ways to Reward Employees. Typical small businesses don’t have much money to motivate people, so they don’t do anything, Nelson says. “By doing that, they’re making the assumption that it’s only money that speaks to employees, and they brush it off.” But having a strong employee-rewards program is…

  • 5 Ways Supplemental Coverage Can Help Reduce Healthcare Costs

    27 Jan 2012 | 10:00 am
    From Mark Henricks: As the percentage of workers covered by employer health plans with deductibles of $1,000 or more has more than tripled in five years, the question of how to shield even the insured workers from unexpected medical bills has become pressing. One solution that’s gaining in popularity is the use of supplemental health indemnity plans. Unlike conventional health insurance, these plans pay policyholders directly in cash, rather than reimbursing medical care providers. Although payments may be $1,000 per day or more in the event of hospitalization, supplemental plans…

  • Celebrity Kyle Maclachlan On Why He Went into the Wine Business

    27 Jan 2012 | 8:00 am
    From Shira Levine: Chances are you know Kyle Maclachlan more for his acting roles in such cult classics as “Twin Peaks,” “Blue Velvet,” “Sex and the City,” and now, “Portlandia.” But for oenophiles who look for niche boutique wines from emerging regions, Maclachlan’s small yet growing wine business called Pursued by Bear is attracting garnering some legitimate respect and attention. Based in Walla Walla, Washington, within the Yakima Valley where Maclachlan grew up, the last few years of his great grape endeavor has allowed him…
 
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    Verizon Small Biz Blog articles

  • Tips to Protecting Your Customers' Data

    Ellen_Yu
    27 Jan 2012 | 3:12 pm
    Guest post by Michael Kaiser, the Executive Director of the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSAG).   In this digital age, your business shares information online on a daily basis. Chances are, you trust that the data are safely protected.   But are you doing everything you can to keep that data confidential? Do your employees understand how to protect data? Are you prepared to handle a breach?   This notion might encourage you to take a closer look at how your data is being collected, shared, and stored online.   January 28th, 2012 is Data Privacy Day (DPD) – an…

  • Small Business Owner Shares How The Right Solution Allowed Her Business To Flourish

    Paul_Macchia
    26 Jan 2012 | 10:55 am
    A few posts back, I talked about our GoPayment solution in conjunction with Intuit and how it made it easy for the entrepreneur or small business owner to accept credit card payments anytime and anywhere.  Today, I’d like to share a success story.  Verizon Wireless customer, YiShaun Yang, owner of AdoraPet, conveys a good business case below.   In her own words YiShaun wrote:   While I was working as a corporate attorney in a Manhattan law firm, I made the decision to take a leap of faith and start my own business.  I believe children are full of potential…

  • Let’s Rev Up Your Marketing Right Now

    Ellen_Yu
    24 Jan 2012 | 11:56 am
    Guest post from John Jantsch small business owner, marketing consultant, social media expert and author Duct Tape Marketing and The Referral Engine   Join me later this afternoon live – January 18th – at 2 p.m. ET as I give you an hour of fast paced, no frills, action-orientated tips that I’ll challenge every participant to employ right away.   Register here (or go tohttp://bit.ly/xYxAoR) to make sure you can attend this live – FREE webinar – presented by the Verizon Small Business Centeror to receive a notice when the archive is ready for…

  • Businesses in California: Verizon Small Business Makeover and More

    Ellen_Yu
    22 Jan 2012 | 11:24 pm
    Guest post from Shirley Chun in California, small business marketing manager for Verizon.  To get news specific to California, follow @VerizonCA (http://www.twitter.com/verizonca   It’s a brand new year and my team just launched a contest to give businesses in California the chance to get a “tech” makeover – worth over $5,000!  We also want to congratulate the Fitness Compound for winning the Verizon's Fans Choice awards.  

  • Weekly Roundup – Outsource Security, Latest Gadgets, and Embarrassing Website?

    Ellen_Yu
    21 Jan 2012 | 9:28 pm
    We hope you are enjoying your weekend.   Click in to read more...you’ll find a few articles which we hope you will find of interest.  
 
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    Fast Company

  • Artists: SoundExchange Has Free Money For You, No Nigerian Princes Involved

    Austin Carr
    27 Jan 2012 | 5:05 pm
    Since its inception, SoundExchange, the organization that collects royalty payments from digital music services like Pandora, has brought in more than $900 million--$292 million of which it collected last year alone. But how much of a cut does SoundExchange take for itself? Nothing, other than for operating and administrative costs. SoundExchange is a non-profit that's rapidly growing to become one of the most important organizations in the music industry. For many labels, it's the No. 2 source of digital revenue only behind iTunes. And for president Michael Huppe, it's now more important…

  • This Week In Bots: Roboplayers, Robodancers, Robowarriors, And The Delicate Ethics Of Robosex

    Kit Eaton
    27 Jan 2012 | 3:40 pm
    Would you love your Roomba more if it had rat-like whiskers? How about if it saved people's lives in post-disaster situations? Yeah, us too.RobohockeyTeaching robots to play sports is a clever way to advance the science of robotic movements, environment sensing, and artificial intellgence all in one swoop. That's because a game or sport has a predetermined set of rules so it's simpler than the "real" world. Enter UPenn's Design of Mechatronics Students with their robotic hockey players. [youtube 7njq2hFbw14]See how instructive programming those little beasts must've been? They're not…

  • Jon Rubinstein, Force Behind TouchPad, WebOS, Leaves HP: "We Ran Out Of Runway"

    Austin Carr
    27 Jan 2012 | 3:23 pm
    Jon Rubinstein, the former CEO of Palm and the man behind WebOS, has left HP.It's hard to imagine that only about 19 months ago, HP acquired Palm for $1.2 billion. In that short span, HP embarked on an aggressive plan to produce smartphones and tablets running WebOS--before deciding to kill that original strategy due to poor sales, spin off its PC business, change CEOs, and radically pivot toward acquiring enterprise services company Autonomy for $10 billion. Now Rubinstein joining a slew of recently departed executives--including Phil McKinney and Richard…

  • Spotify Growing By 8,000 Subscribers Per Day, More Than Netflix, Sirius XM

    Austin Carr
    27 Jan 2012 | 1:19 pm
    Spotify just hit 3 million paying subscribers, the Financial Times reports. That may sound like an impressive milestone for the popular on-demand music service, but how impressive is it really? Only about 64 days have elapsed since Spotify announced it reached 2.5 million subscribers in November. That means 500,000 users have signed up to pay for the service in that time--or, from another perspective, a back-of-the-envelope calculation reveals that 7,000 to 8,000 users are subscribing to Spotify each day, on average. And remember: These are global statistics from a service that has been…

  • Rubinstein Leaves HP, Twitter Can Block Tweets By Country, Cook Defends Apple On Worker Standards

    Nidhi Subbaraman
    27 Jan 2012 | 12:41 pm
    Breaking news from your editors at Fast Company, with updates all day.Jon Rubinstein Leaves HP. Rubinstein, formerly of Apple and then lead at Palm during its efforts to rival the iPhone, is leaving HP. It's being spun as simple fulfillment of contractual agreements, signed when HP bought Palm. But with the killing-off of HP's Pre smartphone and tablet efforts, a disorganized decision process about webOS and news that Jon has no current plans a different conclusion can easily be drawn. --HP--Updated 1:30 p.m. ESTApple TV Buzz: OLEDs And Remote Controls. The freshest leaks about Apple's…
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    Escape From Cubicle Nation

  • A concrete example of how to get yourself to “do the work”

    Pamela
    24 Jan 2012 | 5:56 pm
    Golden Gloves contender Amanda Wang and Pamela Slim. Photo by proud cousin Abe Cajudo. They say the best way to learn something and reinforce positive behavior is to teach it. So here, 5 minutes after gaining insight while on a walk to Starbucks, is my advice to help you “do the work” (said channeling Steven Pressfield). To watch directly on YouTube, go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zVWDH2QflA What I neglected to say in the video is that exercising even a little bit makes everything feel better! <Enjoy getting back to your regularly scheduled programming. I have a…

  • How to build a powerful and profitable mailing list

    Pamela
    17 Jan 2012 | 2:27 pm
    If you have studied small business marketing, you may have heard the frequent cheer “The money is in The List!” And indeed, creating a strong email marketing list is a powerful foundation for any business, online or offline. In this video, I give you a few things to think about as you are establishing your mailing list, as well as a cardinal sin to avoid. To view this directly on YouTube, go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4xEkc0qEbg More marketing tips coming! At the end of this month, I am going to be opening a new section of Power Boost Marketing for enrollment. Power…

  • Bigger goals mean more resistance – don’t back down!

    Pamela
    12 Jan 2012 | 2:19 pm
    Happy 2012! If you followed my planning videos in December, you may have defined some nice juicy goals for yourself this year. And as you have started to execute those plans, you may have already faced some challenges and resistance from your market. My best advice? Don’t back down. Here’s why:  (Direct link to YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY-BbkxIkGQ) Bigger Fish! Pescadotes!

  • What it looks like to walk in the direction of your goals – or not

    Pamela
    11 Jan 2012 | 10:59 am
    I came across a funny and realistic video yesterday on Facebook by Sonja Alarr, a wildly creative life coach who captures what happens when you want to move towards your goals, but find yourself running in the other direction. (Watch on Vimeo at this direct link: http://vimeo.com/20876606 This was her first video, and I think you will agree with me that she knocked it out of the park. See what happens when you feel the fear and do it anyway? Her tips for getting unstuck and moving toward your goals: Give yourself a hard deadline Get a great teacher Find time to practice Get friends to help…

  • How to step clearly and powerfully into the new year

    Pamela
    3 Jan 2012 | 5:24 pm
    All this new year talk can get overwhelming, can’t it? Between plans, resolutions and goals, it is easy to get frustrated before the first week of January is over. Let’s step back from the pressure of big goals and talk about some practices that will anchor productive behaviors, the key to consistent progress throughout the year. Take a few minutes to jot down responses to these four questions: Question 1: What thought am I going lead with as I take my first step out of bed? My husband often shares a teaching from his grandfather, who was a very wise person and a medicine man. His…
 
 
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    Small Business Labs

  • The Rise of Co-ops

    Steve
    26 Jan 2012 | 3:00 am
    In case you missed the announcement, 2012 is the United Nations International Year of Cooperatives. The UN defines cooperatives as: "Cooperatives are business enterprises owned and controlled by the very members that they serve. Their member-driven nature is one of the most clearly differentiating factors of cooperative enterprises. This fact means that decisions made in cooperatives are balanced by the pursuit of profit, and the needs and interests of members and their communities." According to The International Co-operative Alliance (a co-op trade association) there are over 1…

  • Living With Mom and Dad

    Steve
    25 Jan 2012 | 3:00 am
    Salon has a good interview with the author of The Accordion Family - Boomerang Kids, Anxious Parents and the Private Toll of Global Competition.  The book covers the trend towards young adults living with their parents.   This is not a new trend.  The share of Americans living in multi-generational households has been trending up since 1980.   But due to the Great Recession there's been an acceleration in the numbers of young adults living with their parents. Key quote from the Salon article: "According to the Census Bureau, the number of 25- to…

  • Income Inequality Not Caused by Independent Work

    Steve
    24 Jan 2012 | 3:00 am
    GigaOm's Independent Work: Another Cause of Income Inequality and Maclean's The End of the Job look at the issues around independent work and income inequality. The key quote comes from Maclean's: "The rise of the contract worker may also be having a more wide-scale impact than previously realized. A growing gap between rich and poor in countries like Canada has been blamed, in part, on a growing number of poor quality jobs. There’s also mounting evidence to suggest that the rise of the throwaway worker has made recent recessions more painful and longer-lasting. Temp…

  • Shell Opening Business Centers in Gas Stations

    Steve
    23 Jan 2012 | 3:00 am
    A few years ago we worked on a "future of gas stations" project for a major oil company.  One of our forecasts was that gas stations would offer business center services (Internet access, printers, office space, etc.) to motorists.   The client didn't agree.   So as you can imagine, I was pleased to see that Shell Oil (not the oil company we worked with) is starting a business center pilot project in Europe.  They are working with business center leader Regus to open business centers at several of their gas stations.  The first is open outside…

  • Is it Morning in America Again?

    Steve
    20 Jan 2012 | 3:00 am
    New Geography's This is America's Moment, If Washington Doesn't Blow It covers the trends driving a potential resurgence in America's economic power.   The trends listed in the article are: growing U.S. energy production demographic shifts favoring the U.S. the agricultural boom manufacturing returning the U.S U.S companies dominating the IT industry Increasing levels of foreign investment in the U.S. We've covered all these trends and agree they heavily favor the U.S.  We also agree that the biggest issue facing the country is a dysfunctional government.
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    How to Change the World

  • Raising Money: What Not to Say and What Not to Believe #OfficeandGuyK

    GuyKawasaki
    20 Jan 2012 | 12:46 pm
    Over the past two weeks via my partnership with Microsoft and Office Web Apps, I’ve provided templates of models for you to create enchanting PowerPoint pitches, Word business plans, and Excel financial models. They are all available for you to download from my SkyDrive account. I hope these documents and blog posts help you save a boatload of time and increase the quality of your efforts.I leave you with two sets of top ten lies: one of entrepreneurs and one of investors so that you know what not to say and what not to believe. Top Ten Lies of Entrepreneurs “Our projections are…

  • Design a Sam Adams beer

    GuyKawasaki
    20 Jan 2012 | 10:24 am
    Now this is a fun project. I’m helping Sam Adams “tap” the knowledge of beer drinkers and crowd source its next brew. Join the party by getting the app and designing your beer: The final brew will be released in Austin in the first week of March. #sponsored

  • How to Create an Enchanting Financial Forecast #OfficeandGuyK

    GuyKawasaki
    17 Jan 2012 | 3:52 pm
    This is the third post in my Microsoft partnership, and it’s all about numbers. The topic is crafting your financial forecast to include in your pitch. Bill Reichert, my partner at Garage Technology Ventures, created an Excel model and wrote this blog post. There’s a lesson in this too: Get the best person for the job. His grasp of financial models and how to present them exceeds mine by two orders of magnitude. The Purpose of Financial Projections When it comes to financial projections, there are two types of entrepreneurs: first, the “visionary entrepreneur” who…

  • How to Create an Enchanting Business Plan #OfficeandGuyK

    GuyKawasaki
    12 Jan 2012 | 10:16 am
    Here is the second post in my series about planning, pitching, and launching a new business venture. In partnership with Microsoft and Office Web Apps, I’ve created a Word document that outlines a good business plan. It’s saved to my SkyDrive folder here. Feel free to download it and use it as inspiration. And if you’re working with a partner, you can use the free Word Web App to stay in sync. I provided the PowerPoint document before the Word document because a good business plan is an elaboration of a good pitch as opposed to a good pitch being a distillation of good business plan.

  • How to Create an Enchanting Pitch #OfficeandGuyK

    GuyKawasaki
    9 Jan 2012 | 10:01 am
    Welcome to the first in a series of blog posts I’ll be doing as part of a partnership with Microsoft and Office Web Apps. Over the next two weeks, I’ll cover everything a budding entrepreneur needs to turn an idea into an enchanting investment opportunity—from the perfect pitch to a killer business plan to financial forecasts. I’m going to start with a little dissertation on creating effective PowerPoint pitches for your company. I embedded the sample deck for you to click through by using the PowerPoint Web App. When you’re ready to get started, you can download the…
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    Planning Startup Stories

  • LiftFive: My Favorite New Startup Launches

    Tim Berry
    27 Jan 2012 | 2:05 pm
    Are you looking for real expertise in social media? Megan Berry today announced the launch of LiftFive, her new startup. I wish her all the best on this exciting launch day. And yes, she is my daughter and I’m very proud of her. You can reach Megan as @meganberry and now also as @liftfive on Twitter, or visit the new website at liftfive.com. I’ll conclude with this quote, from her announcement: I will be helping startups grow communities through LiftFive, a new company I’m starting in partnership with Lerer Ventures. I’m moving to NYC to work out of the Lerer Ventures space with…

  • Was it Social Media That Defeated that Bad SOPA/PIPA Bill?

    Tim Berry
    26 Jan 2012 | 11:53 am
    I was delighted to read Vivek Wadhwa’s take on Social media’s role in politics on the Washington Post: To frame this battle properly, a loosely organized group of Internet leaders outwitted a well-funded lobbying organization. And they did so in grand style, convincing dozens of lawmakers to reverse their votes virtually overnight. he goes on to liken this phenomenon to the voice of the people in Egypt and then the rest of the Middle East last Spring. But also something else altogether, this: A sleeping giant — the technology world — finally rose. Google, Mozilla, Reddit,…

  • Do You Like Working Alone, in Teams, or Both?

    Tim Berry
    25 Jan 2012 | 10:45 am
    Did you perhaps catch The Rise of the New Groupthink on the NYtimes.com last week? Here’s author Susan Cain’s interesting lead … SOLITUDE is out of fashion. Our companies, our schools and our culture are in thrall to an idea I call the New Groupthink, which holds that creativity and achievement come from an oddly gregarious place. Most of us now work in teams, in offices without walls, for managers who prize people skills above all. Lone geniuses are out. Collaboration is in. But there’s a problem with this view. Research strongly suggests that people are more creative…

  • Asking Your Opinion on Storefront Social Media and Loyalty Programs

    Tim Berry
    24 Jan 2012 | 10:45 am
    Are you a store owner in the U.S.? Do you know one? I want your opinion on a few things. I’m working up some data on small stores and payment plans and local loyalty programs for some friends of mine. As part of that, I’ve worked up a quick and easy survey — only 10 questions, no names, no email addresses, no sensitive data, just your opinion — that I’d like you to take. Please click here to take that survey I promise: It will take you only a minute or two. Thanks, Tim

  • Good Business Decisions Aren’t Made by Vote

    Tim Berry
    23 Jan 2012 | 1:32 pm
    Have you heard this? It’s not mine, I think it’s sort of common knowledge: If the decisions were made by consensus, every wall would be painted beige. As my business grew up from entrepreneurial to stable, we had to redo our decision process. Early on, we sat around, a few of us, discussed and decided. That was when there were 10 or 12 of us. I guess I made a lot of the final decisions, because it was my work, my product, and my company. But it often felt like consensus. And it seemed to work. But it didn’t work forever. After a while — a few years, really, but it…
 
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    Inc.com

  • Looking To Raise Capital?

    Tim Rice
    27 Jan 2012 | 4:00 pm
    Pravina Raghavan, New York District Director of the Small Business Administration, recommends you take advantage of free resources.

  • 10 Candidates for the Feds' Best Job

    Jon BurgstoneBill Murphy, Jr. and
    27 Jan 2012 | 2:20 pm
    Aneesh Chopra, the first-ever CTO for the United States, is stepping down. Here are a few good people who could replace him.It sounds like perhaps the coolest title any American entrepreneur could have: Chief Technology Officer of the United States of America. And it turns out, the job is open.The White House announced today that Aneesh Chopra, the first person to hold the post, is stepping down. While it hasn't been the most high-profile position in the past, it might make great sense for the administration to pick a replacement who would bring a history of entrepreneurial success---and…

  • True Crime: Founders Gone Astray

    Nicole Carter
    27 Jan 2012 | 1:30 pm
    News flash: Entrepreneurs are people too. And as with any group of people, it includes a few bad eggs--and some downright rotten ones.News flash: Entrepreneurs are people too. And as with any group of people, it includes a few bad—and downright rotten—eggs. Insider trading? Check. Forming a gambling ring? Check. Beating on innocent women? Check. Take note from these founders' cautionary tales of bad behavior.Pinkberry founder Young Lee In early January, the frozen-yogurt chain founder was arrested in Los Angeles for felony aggravated assault stemming from an incident in June 2011,…

  • Inside the Entrepreneur's Brain With the Start-up Doctor

    Tim Donnelly
    27 Jan 2012 | 1:26 pm
    What do hyper-creatives, emergency room nurses, and CEOs have in common? Dr. Aaron Blackledge has identified a particular neuro-chemical pattern. Do you have "entrepreneur brain?"Aaron Blackledge doesn't like to stand still. He possesses kind of mindset that is often too fidgety to stand tedious processes, such as attending lectures or writing papers to attain advanced degrees. So when he wanted to become a doctor, instead of settling into higher education, Blackledge doubled down and completed his pre-med in nine months. He decided to open Care Practice in the Mission District of San…

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    27 Jan 2012 | 1:15 pm
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    Copyblogger

  • Answers to the 3 Biggest Email Marketing Questions We Get

    Robert Bruce
    27 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am
    We’re back and we’re ready to talk email marketing. I asked two pros to come on and spill their best advice on the three biggest email marketing questions we get here at Copyblogger. DJ Waldow joins me and Sonia Simone to discuss: The best way to build an email list The 2 reasons why people open an email The most important element of an email that sells How to write emails that get opened How to stay out of your reader’s spam filters Sonia’s secret weapon of email marketing that works This one’s fast and useful, so keep your ears on … Hit the flash player…

  • The Glee Guide to Attracting a Raving Horde of Social Media Fans

    Beth Hayden
    26 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am
    If your memories of high school involve wedgies, broken hearts, and getting stuffed into your locker, you probably love Glee. The musical comedy TV show — Ryan Murphy’s smash hit about the nerds, misfits, and social outcasts of McKinley High School’s glee club — is equal parts quirky, cheesy, heartbreaking, and surprisingly delightful. Over its first two seasons, the show has also attracted millions of obsessive fans from all over the world. Glee fans, or “Gleeks,” follow the moves of their favorite show with a passion once reserved for Cabbage Patch Kids…

  • 4 Simple Steps to a Facebook Timeline that Tells Your Marketing Story

    Andrea Vahl
    25 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am
    So how about that new Facebook Timeline? Love it? Hate it? Either way it’s here to stay (until it isn’t). As always, Facebook loves to change things up and people love to kvetch about it. You can always use new Facebook Features to improve your marketing, so how can you use the Facebook Timeline to your advantage? Read on. First, a few facts about the Facebook Timeline. The Timeline only affects personal profiles at the moment. Facebook has not announced when (or even if) they will roll the new Timeline look out to Facebook Pages. Second, not everyone has the Timeline yet. If you…

  • How to Instantly Transform Your Landing Page Images from Good to Great

    Sean D'Souza
    24 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am
    Reading this post made us smarter, richer, more fascinating, and an average of 3 inches taller. Let’s say you place a photo of a client on your landing page. Just the photo. No client name. No title, or business name. No clue as to what industry that client is in, or where they come from. Now, photos are a great addition to landing pages. Photos of happy clients help to build trust with your readers, showing the type of people who do business with you. But would anyone even know that person was a client? The moment you add in a few important details — the client name, the…

  • 12 Tips for Selling to a Global Audience

    Uttoran Sen
    23 Jan 2012 | 7:00 am
    Time for a quick pop quiz … What percentage of online shoppers are from the United States? Better yet, what percentage of online shoppers speak English? 90%? 80%? Surely at least 75%, right? Nope. This might shock you, but according to J.P. Morgan — reporting for the Department of Commerce — only 27% of online shoppers speak English. By neglecting to communicate with the rest of the non English-speaking world, you’re costing yourself a mountain of money. In South Korea, 99 percent of individuals with internet access shop online. 97 percent of British, Germans, and…
 
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    crowdSPRING Blog

  • Twitter Link Roundup #117 – Small Business, Social Media, Design, Copywriting, Marketing And More

    Ross
    27 Jan 2012 | 12:20 am
    Every day on the crowdSPRING Twitter account and on my own Twitter account, I post links to posts or videos I enjoyed reading or viewing. These posts and videos are about logo design, web design, startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Here are some of the links that I’ve liked and shared this past week! The image above is a fun look at bottled water from Apple – if Apple made bottled water. That post, and other interesting posts are in the “Other” section below. Crowdsourcing: a 7+7 Primer (tips for businesses on…

  • 12 Questions: Meet Vinay and Asha (India)

    Audree
    26 Jan 2012 | 10:13 am
    In our 12 Questions blog series, we feature interviews with someone from the crowdSPRING community. For these interviews, we pick people who add value to our community – in the blog, in the forums, in the projects. Plainly – activities that make crowdSPRING a better community. Be professional, treat others with respect, help us build something very special, and we’ll take notice. We’re very proud to feature Vinay and Asha (crowdSPRING username: Knifeonbutter) today. Vinay and Asha live and work in Goa, India. 1. Please tell us about yourselves. We have traveled around the world,…

  • Small Business Spotlight of the Week: Studyers

    Amanda
    24 Jan 2012 | 11:05 pm
    Current education (I speak as a U.S. citizen) is a little–  how to say this delicately– well, stale. Kids come from playing highly interactive video games or browsing on the collaborative internet to sit in uncomfortable desks, read from textbooks published in 1969 that are falling apart, and take notes on paper in cursive.  How students are learning in the classroom isn’t super relevant to how they are learning vasts amount of information outside the classroom.  But how do you start to connect this disparity? It can start with a service like Studyers. Studyers is an…

  • Crowdsourcing: a 7+7 Primer (Pt. 2)

    Mike
    22 Jan 2012 | 11:04 pm
    Last week I posted the first part of this article on crowdsourcing strategies. In the post, I discussed some of the big-picture issues that I believe should be considered carefully when planning a crowdsourced project. Best practices for crowdsourcing require managers to first determine the best venue for their project, effective management of the process, careful quality control, executing a well-planned recruiting strategy, active engagement of the intended audience, express ’training’ of the participants, and the anticipation that pushback may be encountered. Today I’ll…

  • Small Business Spotlight of the Week: Twittapolls

    Amanda
    17 Jan 2012 | 11:05 pm
    So, we all know that social media is this thing that we’re supposed to use to promote our businesses. There are a billion articles telling small business owners that this is REALLY IMPORTANT and NECESSARY and VITAL,  or else we should go crawl into an analog, Web 1.0 hole and end it. This is mostly for good reason. After all, it makes it relatively easy for your company to interact directly with customers and for said customers to submit feedback and suggestions. However, organizing this feedback can prove to be quite the challenge. Twittapolls is a service does just that: organizes the…
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    The Franchise King

  • Quiznos Locations To Remain Open; Franchisees Breath Sigh of Relief

    The Franchise King
    27 Jan 2012 | 9:09 am
        Quiznos franchise owners all over the world must be feeling a sigh of relief this week. That’s because their Denver-based franchisor was just saved.  The Avenue Capital Group out of New York just stepped up and invested $150 million to prevent the chain from having to file bankruptcy. The beleaguered sandwich chain has been struggling for years; franchisees all over the US have had to close their stores–and go out of business. Franchisee anger and resentment reached an all-time high a couple of years ago, which culminated in a class action lawsuit against…

  • Food Franchises Stink

    The Franchise King
    25 Jan 2012 | 7:19 am
      Believe or not, there are actually franchise businesses that kind of stink, and should be avoided at all costs. You want names, right? Like in the post I wrote about a certain coaching franchise? Well, you won’t be getting specific names from me this time around. Instead, I’ll be teaching you a few things about franchise opportunities that you’ve probably looked at already, but ended up scurrying away from like a field mouse that’s just sighted one of these bad boys;   Now that you’ve, “digested” that, let’s move on to a few…

  • So, James Gets This Call From an Executive Search Consultant…

    The Franchise King
    24 Jan 2012 | 1:36 pm
      All he was doing was sitting at his desk, catching up on his expense reports. It wasn’t like he was waiting for his phone to ring.   But, it did.   “James, my name is Tim Adams, and I’m an executive recruiter with CCM. We specialize in finding outstanding sales executives for companies that are ready to take things to the next level, and that’s why I’m reaching out to you today. I’m working with a company that I feel would greatly benefit from your expertise. Are you open to learning a little bit more about what could be a serious career…

  • Free Franchise Ownership Webinars

    The Franchise King
    23 Jan 2012 | 3:36 pm
      Attention:   If you’re thinking that 2012 is the year for you to become the owner of your own franchise business, there are two free online franchise ownership webinars that have just been announced…     The management team at Portsmouth-based, Direct Capital has asked me to be the presenter at two different webinars that all potential franchise owners can benefit from. They’re both free, and the first one is Tuesday, January 31st, from 1-2 PM, (ET). I love teaching people about opportunities that exist in franchising, and I’ll be using…

  • Going Upscale: The Subway® Cafe Franchise

    The Franchise King
    22 Jan 2012 | 11:23 am
        (A warm and inviting interior)   Several Subway® locations are involved in the test-marketing of a new-and very classy-looking, franchise concept.   Named, the Subway® Cafe, this fast food restaurant concept looks pretty nice.   The Subway® brand is a powerful one. And, while I don’t always agree on it’s almost always being ranked as a top franchise in the numerous franchise ranking articles that can be easily found in several print and online publications, it is a solid franchise business concept.     A Cafe   A Subway® Cafe…
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    800 CEO Read

  • In The Books

    Jon
    26 Jan 2012 | 3:48 pm
    TweetIt’s that time of year again. We’ve compiled all the great books, ideas, and activities that 800-CEO-READ was involved in over the past year and published them in our annual In the Books publication. As the intro states: “At 800-CEO-READ, we don’t come to work everyday just to sell business books. We go to work to try to improve the way business is done.” This publication is the clearest example of that. Featuring the winners, shortlist, and candidates from the 2011 Business Book Awards, ChangeThis highlights, 8cr events and activities, 100 Best book…

  • ChangeThis: Issue 90

    dylan
    25 Jan 2012 | 2:29 pm
    Tweet GROW: How to Change the Narrative of Business by Jim Stengel “The business case for brand ideals is not altruism. It’s self-interest and mutual interest. In addition to its wider positive impact, a devotion to brand ideals will do more for your own business and career than any other factor. Maximum business growth and high ideals are not incompatible. They’re inseparable.” Transcendent Leadership: How to Lead Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime by Les McKeown “What if each successive leadership role brought out more of what makes you you, rather than asking you to compromise your core…

  • Attention Business Authors!

    Jon
    24 Jan 2012 | 3:40 pm
    Tweet               The 800-CEO-READ AUTHOR POW WOW January 13-15, 2013 Austin, TX **REGISTER EARLY AND SAVE** NOW THROUGH APRIL 1: $1000 April 1 – October 1: $1250 October through event: $1500 REGISTER HERE! The Author Pow Wow will not only provide you with all the knowledge you need to do what works, but will also connect you to the people who can help you in the process. During an intimate and intensive two days, authors, soon-to-be authors, publishers, publicists, marketers, agents, speaking experts, social media strategists, and business people…

  • The End of Illness

    Jon
    24 Jan 2012 | 12:59 pm
    TweetOn one hand, this book is not our usual thing. On the other hand, nothing can move forward if our health isn’t in order. So, it’s completely worth pointing out Dr. David B. Agus’ new book, The End of Illness. The provocative title certainly draws our attention, and we might be expecting a “to-do list” of things we’ve heard before. Certainly, there are some universal truths in here that we’ve heard all our lives (the question is, are we adhering to them?), but also, there are more than a few discoveries in here that might surprise us, about the…

  • The Fear Index, a business thriller

    Sally
    23 Jan 2012 | 12:08 pm
    Tweet We’re thrilled (seriously!) to post an excerpt from Robert Harris (best selling author of Fatherland, Pompeii, and The Ghost Writer, which was made into a movie with Ewan McGregor and Pierce Brosnan, and many others) to showcase his new novel The Fear Index may not be our typical fare, but the novel appeals to us for many reasons: a master storyteller, the drama of hedge fund trading, a really creepy old book–Darwin in this case–, lots of money, and lots of thrills. To start the adventure, read below! The Fear Index Robert Harris Knopf | Hardcover | January, 2012 |…
 
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    Small Business Technology

  • Four Ways To Turn Your Office Admin Into A Tech Guy

    Ramon Ray
    27 Jan 2012 | 4:00 pm
    Beyond senior management, there are a few key people every office must have? 1. An office manager or admin who helps run the office and does a variety of tasks to keep the office running. In a small office they do a bit of payroll, a bit of office supply up keep, a bit of marketing support, a bit of scheduling, a bit of everything to support the team. 2. The second person is your local IT consultant (who many refer to as their tech guy). This person ensures that your computers are running well and helps you leverage technology as a strategic asset or tool in your overall business growth. For…

  • Online File Storage and Sync Services Mature and Expand Features (Mozy Stash Launches)

    Ramon Ray
    27 Jan 2012 | 3:00 pm
    Mozy has traditionally been known as an online backup service, competing head to head with Carbonite. However, Mozy recently announced a new service, Stash, that allows you to synchronize files across computers and mobile devices. File synchronization services such as Mozy, Dropbox, SugarSync, CX and Microsoft SkyDrive make it very easy for highly mobile professionals to access files from wherever they are – knowing they’ll always have the latest version of the file with them. There are so many services starting up that you can try many of them and use the one which works best…

  • Intuit’s Mobile Credit Card Reader Gets An Upgrade: Better Design, Better Looks

    rayramonadmin
    27 Jan 2012 | 1:00 pm
    It’s annoying for the customer and business owner when a business does not accept credit cards. The business loses a sale and the customer can’t buy what they want. I’ve been writing for some time now about the ease with which any business can start processing credit cards from just about anywhere with mobile credit card solutions from Intuit’s GoPayment and Square. Recently Intuit updated their GoPayment credit card swipe from a white half moon plastic gadget to a cool looking black swipe gadget that makes it even easier to do a credit card swipe. So why should you…

  • Learn to Lure Customers into Making a Purchase in 3 Minutes (Video)

    Allison Midori Reilly
    27 Jan 2012 | 11:00 am
    With the direction online marketing is going, it’s no longer enough to have a presence. Small businesses must push their marketing message strategically, and then lure customers is through quality content and a quality message. Sounds tough, but it’s doable, and John Lawson of ColderIce offers these key takeaways in the video below: - Social media isn’t exactly free. If you’re going to include social media in your marketing mix, make sure that it’s part of a strategy, and not something playing the field on its own. - How do you get people to sign up for your…

  • Printing on the Run? New Mobile Color Printers and Scanners Can Help

    Stephanie Faris
    27 Jan 2012 | 9:00 am
    There was a time when office printing meant sitting at a desk in an office, printing to a nearby shared printer. In today’s business world, that notion seems outdated. For businesses—especially small businesses—work is done in the parking lot of your two o’clock meeting or while sitting at the gate waiting for your flight. For the busy professional, packing a laptop, tablet, and/or smart phone, being able to print means being able to print on the go. Luckily, as the demand for mobile printing has increased, the production of mobile printers has increased as well. Among the more…
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    Small Business News, Tips, Advice - Small Business Trends

  • If Your Product is Really Good, It Should Sell Itself

    Jamillah Warner
    27 Jan 2012 | 1:30 pm
    How true is this?  In response to an article on how to promote your business without being pushy, David Morgan threw the statement, “If your product or service is really good, it should sell itself” out there. So is it true? If your product or service is really good, will it sell itself? And if so, when? We want passive income, passive work and pay checks that come like clockwork—I know I do. But how passive can we be in the sales process? Do products or services really sell themselves? I see it like this: marketing is exposure. But the sales part of the process is closure. It’s the…

  • Join us in Atlanta for “Getting Down to Social Business”

    Anita Campbell
    27 Jan 2012 | 1:00 pm
    Join me, Anita Campbell, and an impressive list of the CRM industry’s leading experts and solution providers a  free 1-day information packed seminar on February 3, 2012 , in Atlanta, Georgia! The day will focus on the need for companies to transition their approach to “social” away from a narrow, reactionary set of disconnected activities … to a full-fledged corporate culture strategically aligned to build long-lasting relationships with today’s empowered customer. Sessions Include: Keynote presentation by Paul Greenberg, author of the best-selling “CRM At the Speed of…

  • Jeanne Hopkins of HubSpot: All Leads Are Not Created Equal

    Brent Leary
    27 Jan 2012 | 10:00 am
    Time is very valuable and this is especially true when it comes to small business. In a small business, time is worth its weight in gold. Using your time wisely on matters that will make a difference and aligning business goals is crucial to a small businesses success. Here, Brent Leary joins Jeanne Hopkins of HubSpot to discuss the concept of inbound marketing and wise time management. Small Business Trends: Why don’t you give us a little bit of your personal background. Jeanne Hopkins: My background is pretty normal for a marketing person. I started working in the toy business for Milton…

  • Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire

    Mark Anderson
    27 Jan 2012 | 7:00 am
    It might be hard to read those little baskets on the desk, but they’re labeled “Frying Pan” and “Fire.” I’d love to take more credit for this, but it’s based on an old co-worker’s desk. She had the traditional “In” and “Out” paper bins, but she also had one labeled “OMG!” where I’m assuming she kept items that needed to be dealt with more quickly. I never asked her about it, but it always amused me when I’d walk by, so I decided to come up with my own take on it, and this cartoon is the result. From Small Business TrendsOut of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire

  • 2012 the Year of the Entrepreneur

    Small Business News
    27 Jan 2012 | 4:30 am
    Could 2012 be the year of the entrepreneur? Some believe it is. Check out these important links for more tips on your entrepreneurial journey. Entrepreneurship Is 2012 the year of the entrepreneur? Scott Gerber, founder of the Young Entrepreneur Council and co-founder of Gen Y Capital Partners, thinks so. Among other things, Gerber says the current economy and job market will push more people into the idea of providing an income for themselves through starting businesses. Bloomberg Businessweek Always be a market leader. Whether you enter an existing market or create one yourself, always…
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    Seth's Blog

  • Reconsidering Gartner's Cycle of Hype

    Seth Godin
    27 Jan 2012 | 4:22 am
    One theory of technology marketing and acceptance goes like this: A technology causes a media hypestorm and rising expectations. Then it crashes to Earth as the popular press and the public discovers that it's not all the hypesters said it would be--through no fault of the technologists who brought it to the world in the first place. Then, gradually, the truth about the technology seeps out until finally it reaches its use case--and then becomes that status quo, just waiting to be disrupted as it previously disrupted what came before. While the violent vicissitudes of this chart make for good…

  • Who cares?

    Seth Godin
    26 Jan 2012 | 4:09 am
    Unless someone does, things start to fray around the edges. Often it's the CEO or the manager who sets a standard of caring about the details. Even better is a culture where everyone cares, and where each person reinforces that horizontally throughout the team. You've probably been to the hotel that serves refrigerated tomatoes in January at their $20 breakfast, that doesn't answer the phone when you call the front desk, that has a shower curtain that is falling off the rack and a slightly snarky concierge. This is in sharp relief to that hotel down the street, the one that costs just the…

  • Solving problems (vs. identifying them)

    Seth Godin
    25 Jan 2012 | 4:27 am
    Often, we're hesitant to identify a problem out of fear we can't solve it. Knowing that we have to live with something that we're unable to alter gives us a good reason to avoid verbalizing it--highlighting it just makes it worse. While this sort of denial might be okay for individuals (emphasis on might), it's a lousy approach for organizations of any size. That's because there are almost certainly resources available that can solve a problem if you decide it's truly worth solving. Put yourself and your people on a path to finding problems without regard for whether or not they are capable…

  • "It's completely up to you"

    Seth Godin
    24 Jan 2012 | 4:06 am
    ... and that's the problem. I was picking out the mat for a framed photo and there were a thousand colors to choose from. The framer uttered the scary invocation, putting the choice back to me. So many things are now completely up to us, more than ever before. Where and how and when we work and invest and interact and instruct and learn... If you think you have no choice but to do what you do now, you've already made a serious error. It seems to me that passing the buck on this merely because it's easier than choosing is precisely the wrong strategy. It enables an abdication of power that…

  • The pricing formula (S&S)

    Seth Godin
    23 Jan 2012 | 4:32 am
    Years ago, my bosses and I needed to finalize the pricing for a new line of software I was launching. In the room we had MBAs from Harvard (2), Stanford, Tuck and, I think, Wharton. We had three prices in mind, and the five of us couldn't agree. So we did the only scientific thing: we flipped a coin (two out of three, just to be sure). Pricing your product is actually simple, as long as you consider it from the buyer's point of view. How much it costs you to make something is irrelevant. They don't care (of course, you can't price something at a loss and hope to stay in business for long).
 
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    Bill Taylor on HarvardBusiness.org

  • Are You Learning as Fast as the World Is Changing?

    Bill Taylor
    26 Jan 2012 | 11:00 am
    Tom Kelly, general manager of IDEO, the world-renowned design firm, likes to quote French novelist Marcel Proust, who famously said, "The real act of discovery consists not in finding new lands but in seeing with new eyes." What goes for novelists goes for leaders searching to craft a novel strategy for their company, a new product for their customers, or a better way to organize their employees. In a world that never stops changing, great leaders never stop learning. Today, the challenge for leaders at every level is no longer just to out-hustle, out-muscle, and out-maneuver the competition.

  • Average Is Over. What's Your Extra?

    Bill Taylor
    19 Dec 2011 | 8:05 am
    I approach a book by New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman with a mixture of wariness and anticipation. Wariness because Friedman's books tend to go on for many pages longer than they need to, and many of those pages contain his trademark blend of Davos Man self-congratulation and cheesy metaphors. Yet I still have a sense of anticipation because in every one of Friedman's books there are a handful of insights that are so clear, so sharp, so flat-out right that they frame how you look at the world going forward. That Used to Be Us, Friedman's newest book (written with Johns Hopkins…

  • Just Because You Can Doesn't Mean You Should

    Bill Taylor
    6 Dec 2011 | 1:52 pm
    As we come to the end of a bitter, divisive, downright ugly year in business and society, it's hard to pick the one big story that defines the climate of the times. This summer's rancorous debt-ceiling talks come to mind, as do the collapse of the feckless Italian government and the rise of Occupy Wall Street and its satellite movements around the country and the world. But if I had to pick one small story that provides a huge "teachable moment" for business leaders going forward, I'd choose Bank of America's late-September decision to charge customers a $5 monthly fee to use their debit…

  • Don't Let What You Know Limit What You Imagine

    Bill Taylor
    29 Nov 2011 | 2:03 pm
    One of the most perplexing features of these troubled times is that so many capable people in so many fields look so lost and ineffective. Whether it's the stubborn inefficiencies of the health-care system, the ever-rising costs of the higher-education system, even the slow-motion collapse of the US postal system, leaders with unrivaled expertise and decades of experience can't seem to develop creative solutions to dire problems. Why are so many smart executives so ineffective? One answer may be that all this experience is itself a problem. In her underappreciated book, The Innovation Killer,…

  • The Values Proposition: Do Small Things with Great Love

    Bill Taylor
    24 Oct 2011 | 9:18 am
    The world confronts vast uncertainty, from unrest in the social climate to accelerating shifts in the climate itself. The economy faces huge challenges, from public-debt crises in Europe to the overhang of mortgage debt in the U.S. The business community faces an ongoing series of stops and starts, from the loss of an icon like Steve Jobs to the rise of new-economy giants like Amazon and Facebook. There is a temptation, amidst the turmoil, for pundits to conclude that the only sensible response is to make bold bets — new business models that challenge the logic of an industry, products…
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    Scott Anthony

  • A.G. Lafley vs. Steve Jobs

    Scott Anthony
    23 Jan 2012 | 3:41 pm
    Usually the question comes right after I tell an audience that I put former Procter & Gamble CEO A.G. Lafley on my "Innovation Mount Rushmore" as a reminder of the importance of investing time and energy to understand the target market. "But how do you square that with Steve Jobs?" an intrepid audience member asks. "After all, Jobs said, 'It isn't the customer's job to know what they want.'" It feels like a classic battle — the scientific approach of a company that launches 80 market research studies a day versus the intuitive touch of the iconic innovator of our time. But it's a false…

  • Kodak and the Brutal Difficulty of Transformation

    Scott Anthony
    17 Jan 2012 | 11:46 am
    2012 has not gotten off to a great start for Eastman Kodak. Three of the company's directors quit near the end of last year, and word recently emerged that the company was on the brink of filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The easy narrative is that Kodak is a classic case of a company blind to the disruptive changes in its marketplace. Like many easy narratives, this one is not quite right. In the 20th century, Kodak was truly one of the world's powerhouses. Its rise to prominence began when it launched its affordable Brownie camera in 1900. In the decades that followed Kodak…

  • How to Choose the Ideas Your Company Should Invest In

    Scott Anthony
    11 Jan 2012 | 8:51 am
    My last post described how Innosight follows a three-stage process to evaluate investment proposals from outside entrepreneurs. But deciding how to invest in ideas at a corporation is a different beast. In The Innovator's Guide to Growth we suggested that companies should create one-page "Idea Resumes" that capture the essence of an idea on a single PowerPoint slide. After this starting point, however, our VC process holds pretty well. The first decision is whether to explore an idea more deeply. Consider some combination of the following criteria: Does what we hope to do fit our strategy?

  • A Disciplined Approach to Evaluating Ideas

    Scott Anthony
    3 Jan 2012 | 10:37 am
    "Make sure you ask the right questions at the right time." That's one memorable piece of advice from a leader at a global innovation powerhouse. Unfortunately, it is a piece of advice that is heeded too infrequently inside large companies. At many companies, the idea evaluation process revolves around detailed Excel spreadsheets, comprehensive PowerPoint documents, and an orchestrated sequence of pre-meetings leading up to a decision meeting. This kind of disciplined approach works very well when companies have knowledge that lets them be precise in their analysis, and executives have the…

  • Business Model Innovation the Red Sox Way

    Scott Anthony
    21 Dec 2011 | 3:59 am
    We entered the EMC Club at Fenway Park on a crisp December evening, about 10 minutes before the scheduled start of Innosight's year-end party. We gaped like little kids at what John Updike memorably called a "lyrical little bandbox of a ballpark" illuminated with wreaths. Then we turned to the scoreboard and saw what seemed a 300-foot-tall sign saying, "Fenway Park welcomes Innosight" (they even had our new logo!). Why am I writing about Innosight's holiday party? Because Fenway can show us some novel ways to grow a seemingly mature business. When John Henry and Tom Werner led the purchase of…
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    Rita McGrath

  • Industry Analysis Is Dead. What's Next?

    Rita McGrath
    19 Jan 2012 | 11:54 am
    One of the most widely held beliefs in strategy is that variations in performance can often be explained by what industry a company competes in. A lot of our most cherished tools — five-forces analysis, the BCG portfolio matrix, and even SWOT analysis — rest on this assumption. But evidence is all around us that, although industries matter, they matter in different ways and with different effects than we may have thought. To take one example that crossed my desk recently, consultancy Accenture has developed a point of view on what they call the "Age of Aggregation." Among the…

  • How Many Customers Did You Lose Today?

    Rita McGrath
    7 Dec 2011 | 12:36 pm
    My theme this month appears to be tone deafness among business designers. Cue Bank of America! But genuinely, one of the most vexing dilemmas for senior executives is being plugged in to what is actually going on in the front lines of their business. It's all too easy to miss critically important customer experience information when one is engaging in the day-to-day grind that constitutes an executive's job. All the same, not being attuned to the way your business is perceived by customers can lead to a lot of damage. Here's a recent example. My husband and I were traveling from Edinburgh to…

  • Bank of America: A Case Study in Tone Deafness

    Rita McGrath
    2 Nov 2011 | 9:33 am
    You would think that savvy, sophisticated companies would have an easy time figuring out whether a move they are considering would blow up on them, wouldn't you? And yet, in the last few weeks we've seen some amazing examples of firms that seem to be tone deaf about how their customers feel about them. Take Bank of America. A month ago, it famously introduced a fee for using its debit cards, to a withering storm of protest. One customer was sufficiently enraged to gather 200,000 signatures asking the bank to reverse its decision. Oops. Yesterday, the bank announced plans to do just that. But…

  • Groupon's Business Model Is Leaking

    Rita McGrath
    13 Oct 2011 | 12:54 pm
    Remember late last year when Google offered $5.3 billion to buy out Groupon? When the daily deals site rejected the generous offer from the search giant in favor of pursuing an IPO, it unleashed a flood of commentary, from this site and others. Many were skeptical; I wrote a blog post for HBR in the aftermath of the decision questioning the business stability of Groupon's model. Others contended that the deals site — at one time speculated to be valued at $15-20 billion — had nowhere to go but up. But in hindsight, spurning Google's offer is starting to look like a bad decision…

  • For Growth, New Ideas Aren't Enough

    Rita McGrath
    15 Sep 2011 | 7:22 am
    This post is part of the HBR Insight Center Growing the Top Line. There it was again in the Wall Street Journal on August 29: a beloved and uplifting, but unfortunately not effective, approach to driving growth through innovation. The idea is that companies need to encourage innovation from everyone and at every level in the organization. Ironically, the article cites Apple and Procter & Gamble, two companies that have most emphatically learned that generating lots of ideas is the least of their problems when it comes to growth. The "let a thousand flowers bloom" approach to innovation often…
 
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    cool global BIZ

  • Football's San Francisco 49ers Reflect Winning Workplace Culture and Management

    Edward Iwata
    23 Jan 2012 | 2:01 pm
    "Drills" by jpeepz (Jay Peeples), under a Creative Commons license on flickr. Peeples is a photographer and writer in Silicon Valley, U.S.A. HOW DO YOU handle a soul-crushing defeat if normally-reliable colleagues fall short? Strengthen the fortress and build up your teammates, don't divide and conquer. After the National Football League's San Francisco 49ers fell short of reaching the Super Bowl, losing to the New York Giants on Sunday, they did not blame the young player whose turnovers played a role in the loss. They rallied around him, and rightfully pointed out that the whole team missed…

  • McKinsey Calls for Resource Revolution As Global Demand Soars for Food, Water, Energy

    Edward Iwata
    17 Jan 2012 | 2:01 pm
    "Sustainable energy from the source" by Frits Ahlefeldt-Laurvig, under a Creative Commons license on flickr. Ahlefeldt-Laurvig is an illustrator in Copenhagen, Denmark, at HikingArtist.com. NEXT TO GLOBAL warming, perhaps the most critical and urgent issue of the day? The supply and demand for basic resources as the world population -- a billion here, a billion there -- continues to explode. In a recent study, the McKinsey Global Institute urges companies and governments to launch a "resource revolution" to improve resource productivity, and to meet the vast global need for energy, materials,…

  • Are You a Manager on a Mission, Like Denver Broncos Quarterback Tim Tebow?

    Edward Iwata
    9 Jan 2012 | 2:01 pm
    HIS IN-YOUR-FACE spirituality may turn off some folks. His football passes can be wild and erratic. And his power scrambling surely will shorten his promising career. But Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow boasts those magical qualities and intangibles that every executive and manager wishes he had: Fire and spirit. Courage and credibility. Leadership mojo. You can measure the visible traits of people all day. You can write performance reviews late into the night. But those assessments exist only on paper, only by the numbers -- and only in your biased and fallible judgment. As critics are…

  • Global Economy in 2012: Ho, Ho, Ho, Nobody Knows. Meanwhile, Happy Holidays

    Edward Iwata
    22 Dec 2011 | 2:01 pm
    "The Christmas Carolers" by deltaMike (Mike Renlund), under a Creative Commons license on flickr. HO, HO, HO, nobody knows, not even jolly ol' Saint Nick! Holiday shopping up. Unemployment down. Euro debt rising. World economy stalling. You pick: 2% or 3% growth? Recession or depression? Read the latest economic reports, and haul out the Ouiji board. Or sing some holiday tunes, like the colorful Christmas carolers here. Meanwhile, happy holidays. Associated Press via Google News, "Holiday shopping season is strong" by Anne D'Innocenzio. CNET, "Online holiday spending hit all-time high last…

  • Still Happy Holidays for AT&T After T-Mobile Mega-Deal Falls Through?

    Edward Iwata
    20 Dec 2011 | 2:01 pm
    SANTA HOPES THAT AT&T still has the holiday spirit, after its $39 billion bid for Deutsch Telekom's T-Mobile just collapsed amid opposition from the U.S. Justice Department, the Federal Communications Commission and others. Will AT&T bandage its wounds and circle back to T-Mobile or other telecom firms with a more bite-sized acquisition attempt, maybe after the 2012 presidential election? I still wouldn't count them out, after predicting earlier that they would push through the T-Mobile mega-deal. Corporations on the prowl never rest. Meanwhile, a host of critics -- telecom rivals such as…
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    Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing

  • How to Drive Sales Offline With Local Online Calls to Action

    John Jantsch
    27 Jan 2012 | 7:24 am
    How to Drive Sales Offline With Local Online Calls to ActionThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing One of the real underutilized opportunities these days is to use your online presence to drive local offline sales. In order to do this you must think beyond the content aspects of your website and start to think about ways to tap local buying behavior and enable local buying tools. The heart and soul of this kind of thinking is the tried and true call to action. Marketers have been using the simple act now, buy now, call now language to get prospects to take all manner of action since the dawn…

  • Admitting We Have a Problem Is the First Step

    John Jantsch
    26 Jan 2012 | 6:46 am
    Admitting We Have a Problem Is the First StepThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing One of the most fulfilling moments in my consulting work comes when a client finally flashes a hint of realization that they do indeed have an affliction. And that affliction is – that they desperately need to be exactly like everyone else in their industry only older, bigger, and more results oriented, cost effective and partner centric. The treatment for this is not pretty, but it usually starts by showing them a series of test results like the ones listed below that include comparison results from…

  • What Our Fears Are Here to Tell Us

    John Jantsch
    25 Jan 2012 | 6:57 am
    What Our Fears Are Here to Tell UsThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing I’m going to get a bit personal today, but I believe there’s a solid business context for the message. I was sitting around a dinner table with a number of colleagues, which in this case meant people speaking at the same event as me. Martin Lopatka via Flickr CCA couple of the folks were pretty engaged in a conversation about another speaker that was not present and suggested that he was a fraud. The sentiment was that he didn’t really know what he was talking about because he had never really done what it is he…

  • Creating a Company of Owners

    John Jantsch
    24 Jan 2012 | 7:28 am
    Creating a Company of OwnersThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing I believe that one of the greatest opportunities we have as business owners is to create wealth. By that I don’t necessarily mean get wealthy. I mean create an asset, a business, which is worth more today than it was yesterday. All too often this view gets buried in the push to create a paycheck. In my view there are much easier ways to draw a salary than owning a business. The real magic in the wealth creation opportunity comes when you also see it as a way to create wealth for all of the people the work to increase the…

  • 5 Ways to Use Other People’s Content in Your Marketing

    John Jantsch
    23 Jan 2012 | 8:03 am
    5 Ways to Use Other People’s Content in Your MarketingThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing You need lots of content, you know that, but you also know that content creation is one of the more time intensive marketing activities you have to tackle. While you do need to create your own content as the foundation for your total content and teaching strategy, you can – and should – supplement your content with that from other people. Image hazel.estrada via Flickr CC One of the best services marketers can provide these days is to act as a filter for all that’s being produced out there and…
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    Andy Sernovitz | Damn, I Wish I\'d Thought of That!

  • Abuse of trust

    Andy Sernovitz
    27 Jan 2012 | 9:00 am
    Did you ever wonder why so many consumers hate businesses? Often it’s because businesses take advantage of the relationships we have with them. When I bought a camera from Casio, I was pretty excited about the relationship. I bought several models over the years, convinced many friends to buy one, and blogged about them more than once. I was a fan. I gave them my email because I trusted them. But to them, I’m just a name in a database — a name to be marketed to. Even if it makes no sense at all — such as these emails that I’ve been getting for keyboards and…

  • Newsletter #868: The “Use What You Have” Issue

    Andy Sernovitz
    26 Jan 2012 | 10:00 am
    [Welcome back to the Damn, I Wish I'd Thought of That! newsletter. This is text of the great issue all of our email subscribers just received. Sign yourself up using the handy form on the right.] Great marketers aren’t just looking for the new and shiny — they’re also looking at how to get the most out of what they already have. Here are a few examples to inspire you: 1. For recruiting 2. For innovation 3. For competition 4. Check it out: Events from your birth year 1. For recruiting Finding new, talented people to join your team can be expensive and time consuming. But…

  • I can’t tell you about this

    Andy Sernovitz
    25 Jan 2012 | 9:30 am
    Seriously, I can’t. I was at the mall and some guy in a kiosk was selling special iPhone screen protectors that are supposedly better-feeling, better-working, and don’t fall off. With a lifetime guarantee. For $20. My regular screen protectors keep falling off or getting bubbles, so I decided to try it. It’s amazing! You should get one. I show it to everyone, every time I pull out my phone. But here’s the big word-of-mouth lesson: I have no idea what it’s called. I don’t know the name of the store. There is no brand name, no package, nothing to tell me how…

  • How long are your shirt tails?

    Andy Sernovitz
    24 Jan 2012 | 9:00 am
    A good men’s shirt has long tails (it keeps the shirt tucked in). A manufacturer can save millions by slicing a few inches off the bottom of every shirt. Bad companies look at this as a spreadsheet question: How much money can we save by reducing fabric quantity? But the most important data never shows up on a spreadsheet: Customers who bought the shirt, thought it seemed short/cheap, and never came back. Your “fabric cost” spreadsheet doesn’t have a column for “customer retention costs.” Which means you may be saving money on a cheap product, but losing…

  • She left me standing there, and I don’t know why

    Andy Sernovitz
    23 Jan 2012 | 9:00 am
    I was a customer of a very good web hosting service for many years — until I cancelled my account last month. Cancellation was easy — I did it online and it was hassle-free and efficient. I left with a positive feeling. But they have no idea why I left. Why didn’t they call? Why didn’t they ask? Was it an unsolvable problem, or could they have won me back with a quick fix? Was I upset about something that they could apologize for? Or was there a mismatch between my needs and their product line — information that would help them in the future? Don’t let a…
 
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    ChangeThis Newsletter

  • 90.01

    changethis@gmail.com (ChangeThis)
    25 Jan 2012 | 3:55 pm
    GROW: How to Change the Narrative of Business by Jim Stengel “The business case for brand ideals is not altruism. It’s self-interest and mutual interest. In addition to its wider positive impact, a devotion to brand ideals will do more for your own business and career than any other factor. Maximum business growth and high ideals are not incompatible. They’re inseparable.”

  • 90.02

    changethis@gmail.com (ChangeThis)
    25 Jan 2012 | 3:54 pm
    Transcendent Leadership: How to Lead Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime by Les McKeown “What if each successive leadership role brought out more of what makes you you, rather than asking you to compromise your core values, bury your deepest wishes, hold ransom your dreams? Having coached and advised hundreds of leaders, I know this isn’t a pipe dream.”

  • 90.03

    changethis@gmail.com (ChangeThis)
    25 Jan 2012 | 3:53 pm
    Shift & Reset by Brian Reich “There are lots of excuses for not making real, demonstrable changes in the way we live, work, and how we interact as individuals and engage in groups/communities. I have heard them all. I have used many of them myself. But they are bullshit. All excuses are.”

  • 90.04

    changethis@gmail.com (ChangeThis)
    25 Jan 2012 | 3:51 pm
    It Really is As Simple As ABC: What Leaders Can Learn from Masterful Orators of the Past by Matt Eventoff “Millions of meetings and presentations occur daily. Each of these presentations is meant to drive 'someone' to do 'something.' And what do the vast majority of [them] have in common? Unfortunately, they usually fail to get anyone to do anything.”

  • 90.05

    changethis@gmail.com (ChangeThis)
    25 Jan 2012 | 3:49 pm
    Make Social Media Sell—Now by Jeff Molander “The 'social media revolution' is over-hyped nonsense. The real business opportunity is to become more relevant and meaningful to customers in ways that create sales.”
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    Business Opportunities Weblog

  • Kitt’n and Shake’n

    Dane Carlson
    27 Jan 2012 | 4:38 pm
    In my continuing coverage of Walmart’s Get on the Shelf contest, I’ve just had the pleasure of interviewing Joseph Berto, President of Equi-Tee Manufacturing. What product did you submit to Walmart’s Get on the Shelf contest? Kitty Clean Automatic Litter Box Scoop Where’d the idea come from? We make sifting tools for other industries ranging to manure forks for cleaning horse stable to bunker rakes for sifting golf course bunker debris. When we go to shows and Expos, clients always remark that they would like a smaller one for cleaning cat litter boxes. We finally…

  • Collars2Switch Dog Collars

    Dane Carlson
    27 Jan 2012 | 1:38 pm
    I recently had an opportunity to ask a few questions of Linda from Collars2Switch one of the contestants in Walmart’s Get on the Shelf contest. What product did you submit to the contest? The Collars2switch dog collars with switchable designs. You can peel off one, put on another without removing the collar and tags from your dog. Where’d the idea come from? I came up with it as I talked with some friends one day. What’s your day job? Preschool teacher What difficulties did you have creating the product? It was really pretty simple, there was testing to see what the best…

  • Storage Lockers for Dogs

    Dane Carlson
    27 Jan 2012 | 11:42 am
    This Hundehiet (“Dog Den” in Norwegian) sit unassumingly outside of a grocery store in Oslo, Norway. For just about $1.75, you can keep your dog safe and dry in a doggy-storage-locker while you shop. As I see it, the locker solves a number of problems that shoppers with pets-in-tow might have: Shoppers won’t be tempted to take their pooch inside of the grocery store. The dogs will be kept safe from thieves who might be tempted to make off with a lonely dog tied up outside the store. The pooch will kept out of the elements, and protected from the rain, snow and blistering…

  • FTC Shuts Down Fake News Sites Selling Acai Berries

    Dane Carlson
    27 Jan 2012 | 11:28 am
    FTC: Six online marketers agreed to settlements with the Federal Trade Commission that will permanently halt their allegedly deceptive practice of using fake news websites to market acai berry supplements and other weight-loss products. As part of its ongoing crackdown on bogus health claims, the proposed settlements will require that the six operations make clear when their commercial messages are advertisements rather than objective journalism, and will bar the defendants from further deceptive claims about health-related products such as the acai berry weight-loss supplements and colon…

  • Infographic: History of the BBB

    Dane Carlson
    27 Jan 2012 | 11:25 am
    The Better Business Bureau is 100 years old this year, and to celebrate, they’ve made an infographic of their accomplishments. The top of the graphic is below, and the full version is available here.
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    Donna Maria's Indie Business Blog

  • “Things I Am Thankful For”

    Donna Maria
    24 Jan 2012 | 8:40 am
    Sometimes, things that happen in life cause you to sit back and take stock of how many blessings you have. Something happened to me recently that caused me to focus intently on how thankful I am. I am most surely thankful for more than ten things. I am also thankful all the time. But today is different. Today, I am SO thankful. Here are the top ten things I am thankful for. Friends and family. In my life, there is sometimes a thin line, if any, between friends and family. My family is great. My friends are great. And sometimes, they are one in the same. My friends are amazing. I am humbled…

  • The Happiness Advantage: Principles One and Two

    Donna Maria
    18 Jan 2012 | 10:48 am
    Author Shawn Achor says that the happiness advantage, “Asks us to be realistic about the present while maximizing our potential for the future.” I love this statement because it encourages us to realistically acknowledge our present circumstances without allowing them to predict our future ones. In other words, we do not have to put on rose-colored glasses in order to feel hopeful about the future, and — most importantly — to act on that hope to produce the results we want. Last week, we read about Principle #1: The Happiness Advantage and Principle #2: The Fulcrum and…

  • What Martin Luther King Jr. Would Say About Today’s Small Business Owner

    Donna Maria
    16 Jan 2012 | 8:45 am
    I‘m no scholar. And it’s a pretty bold thing for me to say that I know what Dr. King would have said about anything at any time. He was a brilliant man, and I mean no disrespect with the title of this post. My observations of Dr. King’s life, work, and words, some of which are depicted in today’s Google Doodle shown here, do lend themselves to a few conclusions, however, and one of them is that, if Dr. King were alive today, he would have a thing or two to say about small and independent business owners. Here’s how I think he’d put it: Write your own…

  • My #IndieMeetup Welcome Video

    Donna Maria
    14 Jan 2012 | 10:17 pm
    In case you missed it, here is my 3-minute video welcoming everyone to today’s #IndieMeetup. It was recorded live at #IndieMeetup Charlotte at Amelie’s French Bakery. The first thing you’ll notice is that the audio and video are not synced, but I don’t care. It was an awesome day! According to the Indie Business Meetup page, 100 Indies in 29 cities participated today! According to Tweet Reach, our last 50 #IndieMeetup Tweets reached 37,876 people. Along with my directors nationwide, who co-hosted today’s historic event with me, I want to thank everyone who…

  • Entrepreneurial Women Are Changing The World

    Donna Maria
    13 Jan 2012 | 1:05 pm
    Since I quit my job in 1995 to open a retail store, and later launch the Indie Beauty Network, I have known that small business ownership would eventually become the norm for women. My professional life today is built around this truth, as I empower women and their family members to embrace the entrepreneurial opportunities that are so abundant today. I am thrilled, and not at all surprised, to see these statistics. One of the most telling pieces of information is the fact that between 2002woman-owned businesses increased by 20.1%, compared to 5.5% for men. That means women are starting…
 
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    Signal vs. Noise

  • Basecamp Next's caching hardware

    David
    27 Jan 2012 | 8:45 am
    From the very start, we wanted Basecamp Next to be fast. Really, really fast. To do so we built a russian-doll architecture of nested caching that I’ll write up in detail soon. But for now I just wanted to share where all this caching is going to live as we just installed it at the hosting center. It kinda reminds me of what pictures of a drug raid look like when they lay out all the coke and cash on the table, but this is what 864GB of RAM looks like: Cost of the loot was $12,000.

  • Three years later, Mr. Moore is still letting us punt on database sharding

    David
    27 Jan 2012 | 8:23 am
    Three years ago, I wrote about how improvements in technology keep allowing us to punt on sharding the Basecamp database. This is still true, only more so now. We’ve grown enormously over the last three years but RAM keeps getting cheaper and FusionIO SSD’s keep getting faster. If anything, it seems like recent advances in SSD technology are accelerating and it’s ever more unlikely that we’ll need to shard Basecamp. Basecamp remains a perfect candidate for sharding. Isolated accounts, no sharing between them. Yet the cost in increased complexity is constant while the…

  • REWORK passes 200,000 copies sold!

    David
    26 Jan 2012 | 12:43 pm
    We just got our royalty statement from Crown and are pretty excited about the fact that we’ve sold over 200,000 copies of REWORK now. About three quarters of the sales have been hardcover books with audio and ebook splitting the remainder. Thanks to everyone who helped us get here by buying and recommending the book. We are very grateful for your support in getting the word out.

  • Basecamp Next: A peek at early iterations of the Projects screen

    Jason F.
    26 Jan 2012 | 12:06 pm
    We’ve been working on Basecamp Next since March 2011 and we’re getting close to the public release. The private beta is now in full swing. Early iterations on the Projects screen We thought it might be fun to share some of the early design explorations for one particular screen, the Projects screen. Basically, the projects screen is a list of your projects. You can create new projects there as well. We explored hundreds iterations of the screen – from small tweaks to fundamental shifts in the feature itself. Only a fraction of the explorations are shown in the video below.

  • Give me spark

    David
    26 Jan 2012 | 9:14 am
    Some of the best decisions and designs at 37signals have emerged from intensely contested debates. Not just between Jason and me, but from anyone in the company. When sparks fly, some truly great ideas come to light. The catch is that the heat must arise around the decision itself. Debates go off track when personal biases or old grudges come into play. So long as each party sticks to the merits, adding some fire will only unearth new angles and concerns. This energy is so important to how 37signals operates that I consider it every time we make a hire. Is this person willing to fight for…
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    Small Biz Survival

  • Quick! Open up the Brag Basket!

    Becky McCray
    27 Jan 2012 | 12:43 pm
    The Brag Basket is our tradition of sharing. Together, we build something meaningful. The basket is always free and open all weekend, this one Jan 27-29, 2012. Have some good news this week? Put it in the Brag Basket. Don't hold back because of that word, "brag." When you hold back, you hide your good news and accomplishments that might inspire others. Even though I call this the Brag Basket, it's not really about bragging. It's about sharing. What can you do in the Brag Basket? introduce yourself share some great news from this week congratulate a friend laugh about something wonderful that…

  • Gilford Flooring

    Becky McCray
    23 Jan 2012 | 11:36 am
    I'm speaking at Gilford Flooring's GAP Dealer conference, on March 9, 2012. My topic is Getting Down to Business with Social Media. I'll be posting resources for Gilford's folks on this page, as we get closer. So for now, consider this a placeholder and a reminder that I'm a speaker on rural, small business topics and what urban business can learn from small town business.

  • Review: The official guide to QuickBooks 2012

    jnswanson
    23 Jan 2012 | 6:12 am
    I’m not a QuickBooks user. I don’t run a small business. But I’m a family member, the family member that understands computers. I’ve spent time with parents and in-laws trying to troubleshoot and explain and update and install. Recently, a family client wanted to update the QuickBooks version used to run a family business. Since I had installed the previous version, I was asked. I didn’t realize how long ago I installed the previous version. They were running QuickBooks 99. Perfectly good, of course, but things have changed since then. About the same time, I was offered the…

  • We build the Brag Basket together

    Becky McCray
    20 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am
    The Brag Basket is our tradition of sharing. Together, we build something meaningful. Basket makers working together.Photo (CC) by Steve Lospalluto The basket is always free and open all weekend, this one Jan 20-22, 2012. Have some good news this week? Put it in the Brag Basket. Don't hold back because of that word, "brag." When you hold back, you hide your good news and accomplishments that might inspire others. Even though I call this the Brag Basket, it's not really about bragging. It's about sharing. What can you do in the Brag Basket? introduce yourself share some great news from this…

  • Lessons Learned from Jellyweek

    AC
    19 Jan 2012 | 12:06 pm
    By Andrea Cook There are over 14.5 million self-employed independent professionals throughout our country. Working hard to provide jobs, solve problems and succeed day in and day out, without burning out, these individuals are some of our most bravest, boldest and innovative leaders in our country's workforce. Yet, many independent professionals work from home, isolated with little- to no personal interaction throughout their forty-plus hour work week. Even introverts and especially extroverts need a little wiggle and jiggle in their work day.  Self-employed professionals together…
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    Marketing Practice

  • Fogg Deo : No Gas , Only Deo

    Harish B
    27 Jan 2012 | 10:20 am
    Brand : Fogg DeoCompany : Vini CosmeticsBrand Analysis Count : # 507It is raining deodorants in the Indian market. The new player in the Rs 1000 crore cluttered market is the brand Fogg from Vini Cosmetics Ltd. The brand is running its launch campaign in various media. The highly cluttered Deo market is full of brands which promotes themselves as a tool to attract girls. The quality of the ads has become so pathetic and stereotyped that many brands project themselves as aphrodisiacs. A hunk, swimming pool, foreign girls in minimal clothes, the guy sprays the deo and all girls ran…

  • Brand Update : Cadbury Eclairs Moves Up the Value Chain

    Harish B
    21 Jan 2012 | 12:23 am
    2011 was an eventful year for Cadbury's Eclairs. The year saw the brand trying to move up the value chain by launching a new variant Cadbury Rich Brownie Eclairs. The move is significant because the brand has done an upward line stretch since the new variant is priced at Rs 2/-.Cadbury's Rich Brownie variant is a significant move in the Rs 950 crore candy market where the most popular price point is Rs 1/- and  50 paise. The marketers were reeling under margin pressure because of a rise in the input costs at one hand and the price sensitive consumers at the other end. The problem was…

  • Marketing Funda : Determinants of Brand Extension Success

    Harish B
    15 Jan 2012 | 10:18 am
    Professor Franziska Volckener and Professor Henrik Sattler of Institute of Marketing and Retailing, University of Hamburg, published a very insightful article  titled Drivers of Brand Extension Success in Journal of Marketing in 2006 which spoke about critical success factors that drive brand extension success. The authors through extensive empirical research distilled five factors that determine whether a brand extension will succeed in the market place. The study which was conducted in German FMCG industry gives valuable insights for marketing managers across the world.The…

  • Force One : Be The Force

    Harish B
    10 Jan 2012 | 1:41 pm
    Brand : Force OneCompany : Force MotorsBrand Analysis Count : # 506Force Motors which is well known for its commercial vehicles like Tempo Travellor, Trekker etc has made a significant entry into the SUV market in India. The company recently launched an SUV Force One in the Indian market.Indian SUV market is now appearing lucrative to auto majors. Indian car market is skewed to small cars. The market is dominated by small cars. SUVs were a niche. But recent trend is that consumers are purchasing more SUVs despite the poor infrastructure conditions and rising fuel prices. According to…

  • Brand Update : Katrina is the new face of Titan Raaga

    Harish B
    3 Jan 2012 | 10:54 pm
    Titan Raga has got a new face in Katrina Kaif. In continuation with its celebrity endorsement centered brand strategy, Titan signed the reigning Bollywood Diva Katrina Kaif as the brand ambassador for its sub-brand Raaga. The brand is currently running the campaign featuring the brand ambassador.Watch the ad here : Katrina Titan RaagaTitan Raaga which was born in 1992 was able to carve out a space for itself in the Indian watch industry. The brand is targeting the Sec A/B segment with a value proposition combining elegance and quality. Regarding the brand communication, there is nothing…
 
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    Business Blogs

  • 3 Ways to Improve Your Copy in Less Than 60 Minutes

    Melanie Rembrandt
    25 Jan 2012 | 1:10 pm
    Are you an entrepreneur handling every aspect of your new, small business? If so, you are probably writing all of your marketing materials and Website copy. While you may not be able to afford a professional, search engine optimization (SEO) copywriter yet, there are some things you can do to improve your copy… and they won’t cost you anything but a little time. Ready? Here are… 3 Ways to Improve Your Copy in Less than 60 Minutes: 1.    Change all of your passive verbs to active verbs. Check your copy to see if you are writing in the past tense. (“Our customers saved money.”…

  • Are you Pinterest-ed?

    Rachel Blaufeld
    24 Jan 2012 | 10:37 am
    Last summer, I was working with a client and she was bubbling over with excitement about Pinterest.  While 6 months ago, Pinterest was relatively unknown to many people, as of last month it is now a TOP 10 social media network.  That’s right - TOP 10. Are you Pinterest-ed yet? Pinterest is basically a visual bulletin board of what ‘pinners’ like… Users create ‘boards’ for individual categories (ex: home storage, yummy foods, books, cool products, funky restaurants) and ‘pin’ pictures of related items to the board.  The pin then links to the original site where the photo…

  • eBay, Amazon, Mobile, e-Commerce, and Stripping.

    Kevin Harmon
    19 Jan 2012 | 8:53 am
    Hi gang, John Lawson is a nationally known e-commerce and social media expert.  You can find him speaking at conventions all over the world and on colderice.com and if his name sounds familiar it’s because he was a winner of Startupnation’s own Home Based 100 contest a few years ago. I’ve known John for a long time and we both thought it was high time we sat down and discussed my new position at BHFO, e-commerce, eBay, Amazon, business books, and of course, stripping. So grab some coffee, pull up a chair, and enjoy!  Just click the link below to see the full 28 minute…

  • Are You Moving Too Fast with PR and SEO?

    Melanie Rembrandt
    18 Jan 2012 | 5:49 pm
    Today, the world of public relations (PR) and search engine optimization (SEO) runs at the speed of light. You need to write, optimize, send, and monitor press releases quickly to keep up with news and the competition. In addition, your site needs to have the right SEO keywords and coding in place to be noticed by your target market online. It can be a whirlwind of activity. But be careful… Don’t Move Too Fast with Your PR and SEO Efforts. As you rush to get everything done in a timely matter, there are a few things to keep in mind: Take a moment before starting. Once your discover that…

  • 30 Ways to Make Your Business Stand Out From the Crowd

    Wendy Kenney
    15 Jan 2012 | 4:21 am
    Let’s face it, starting a business can be very easy, but staying in business can be very difficult given that our customers have too many choices on where to spend their hard-earned cash.  So the question I posed to small business owners was “How do you make your business stand out from the crowd so that people will choose to spend their dollars with you?”  Here are 30 of the best responses that I received from businesses located all over the world!  I hope there’s a few that resonate with you. 1. Give ‘Em What They Want For us, at The Burger Dive, it was all…
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    Mobile Marketing Watch

  • MMW Exclusive: AOL Turns to Mobsmith to Drive Mobile Display Ad Sales

    Michael
    27 Jan 2012 | 12:02 pm
    On Friday, we learned that Mobsmith – a leading turnkey mobile advertising platform for advertisers and premium publishers – has been tapped by AOL to drive mobile display ad sales in all AOL markets nationwide. Mobsmith provides AOL with mobile advertising technology capable of serving premium mobile ad units including dynamic ads based on location and demographic targeting, and rich media ads. Mobsmith says its mobile ad technology enables AOL’s sales teams to instantly create, manage and optimize rich media mobile display ads for thousands of their national and local…

  • Twitter Sparks Controversy With Censorship Effort

    Michael
    27 Jan 2012 | 11:46 am
    Microblogging giant Twitter is at the center of controversy today following the announcement of a new policy that will allow Twitter to effectively block or remove content. “As we continue to grow internationally, we will enter countries that have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression,” Twitter announced on its official blog. “Some differ so much from our ideas that we will not be able to exist there. Others are similar but, for historical or cultural reasons, restrict certain types of content, such as France or Germany, which ban pro-Nazi…

  • Distimo Report Puts Spotlight on Apps Already in The Spotlight

    Michael
    27 Jan 2012 | 10:46 am
    A new report published Friday from Distimo provides an overview of the effects when an application is featured in the Apple App Store for iPhone, Apple App Store for iPad and Google Android Market. One of the key findings of the report shows that the average revenue rose by 41% in the Apple App Store for iPhone when looking at those applications that were already among the 100 highest grossing applications in any category, on the first day of the sale. Moreover, Distimo’s report finds, the revenue during the whole sale increased by 22%. In the Apple App Store for iPad those figures were…

  • Millennial Media Rolls Out New User Engagement Tool for Mobile Apps

    Michael
    26 Jan 2012 | 12:02 pm
    On Thursday, the mobile advertising gurus at Millennial Media raised the curtain and rolled out the red carpet for a new solution for advertisers to drive usage and engagement within their branded apps. The new “App Engagement Program,” the company says, will allow brands to re-engage users who have previously downloaded their app, and use mobile display ads to drive them back to specific destinations inside the app. Advertisers who use the new solution will also gain “unique conversion metrics, and the ability to re-target consumers with relevant messaging.” With the App…

  • Infographic: Seven Deadly Sins of Mobile Marketing

    Justin
    26 Jan 2012 | 11:38 am
    The folks over at Text Marketer have published a new infographic that explains how to run a successful SMS campaign by avoiding the so-called “7 deadly sins of mobile marketing.” Covering everything from the right calls-to-actions to proper testing, segmentation, and even the downfalls of developing a “pointless app,” the infographic uses original, primary research with references to eConsultancy and the Information Commissioners Office out of the U.K. The full infographic is embedded below.  Let us know what you think and whether you agree or disagree with these…
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    Branding Strategy Insider

  • Brands Live In The Mind

    Thomson Dawson
    26 Jan 2012 | 11:10 pm
    Brands are not things; rather brands are a representation of a highly valued idea that resides in the minds of consumers and stakeholders alike. Brands represent a set of unifying principles that guide an organization’s behavior and its manner of delivering experiences customers highly value above the available alternatives in the marketplace. Strong healthy brands maintain an intrinsic value to customers that over time translates into tangible financial value for the brand’s owners.  Consumers care about what a brand represents to them on the highest emotional level. The physical…

  • Consumer Behavior: From Trading Up To Trading Off

    Derrick Daye, The Blake Project
    25 Jan 2012 | 11:10 pm
    The opposite of trading up is not trading down. In fact, there is no opposite of trading up; shopping behavior is more nuanced than that. When shopping hit the skids after the financial crisis, there was a lot of talk about a new normal of frugality, as if the only thing possible after a decade-plus of trading up was a generation to come of nothing but trading down. It’s clear now that those prognostications were flawed, not to mention overly pessimistic. This is not to say that consumers aren’t buying less. Indeed, they are. The drop in discretionary consumer spending from the…

  • Achieving Brand Success In Developing Markets

    Derrick Daye, The Blake Project
    24 Jan 2012 | 11:10 pm
    Almost 20 years ago, I first set foot in developing China, and into the early boom years of that country’s remarkable transformation. As the first Marketing Director for Procter & Gamble China, over the next 3 years I saw the incredible vibrancy, growth and opportunity of a developing market firsthand. Since then, I’ve led organizations with businesses in virtually every major developing market around the world. While no two markets are precisely the same, they share many important features when it comes to Marketing success or lack thereof. So, it’s natural to reflect: what have I…

  • The Life Span Of Brands

    Thomson Dawson
    23 Jan 2012 | 11:10 pm
    Like people, brands don’t live forever.* They’re born into the marketplace, grow and become successful, then iconic, and then stale as week old bread. The driver underpinning all these phases is unrelenting and rapid change. Seemingly, the forces driving our global economy are getting harder for brand owners to keep up with. Brands are dynamic. Brands have their cycles and they run their course. What’s difficult for brand owners and managers to grasp is when to continue to invest precious capital into a tired under-performing brand or move on.  This is particularly true if the brand…

  • Branding Lessons For Entrepreneurs

    Brad VanAuken, The Blake Project
    22 Jan 2012 | 11:10 pm
    It is never too early in the process to understand who your brand’s customers are, what motivates them and how to reach them. Doing this at the end of the product development process is usually too late. You will have developed a more unique and compelling solution if it was based on these insights earlier on in the process. Your solution needs to deliver greater value (that is more functional, emotional, experiential or self-expressive benefits for less money or effort) than competitive offerings for it to break through and gain share. Make sure you understand what your brand’s unique…
 
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    Men with Pens

  • Damn Fine Words Writing Contest: The Winners!

    James
    22 Jan 2012 | 10:53 am
    Today we’re announcing the winners of the Damn Fine Words writing contest… but boy, was it EVER tough to choose just two submissions. 25 people fought hard to win a chance to get into the Damn Fine Words writing course and learn effective techniques that would change their life. Some posts were straightforward. Some were thoughtful. Some touched our hearts. It wasn’t an easy choice. But after great deliberation and many discussions, the judges and I narrowed the many submissions down to two lucky winners. Lynn Hess and Rena Tucker, you’ve each won a free membership to…

  • How Achieving Your Goals Kills Your Motivation

    Agent X
    19 Jan 2012 | 12:00 am
    Heard you need constant improvement to become a master? Heard you need those 10,000 hours of practice? It’s hogwash. A goal of ‘constant improvement’ won’t lead to success. I learned this when I signed up for Damn Fine Words, James Chartrand’s writing course. Signing up excited me. I was excited because I was taking action towards my goal of ‘constant skill improvement’ so I could further build my business. The first half of the course taught me a lot. This was the most valuable part – a complete writing system, an approach that could be used to take any…

  • How to Find Time to Write: A Casual Conversation with Laura Vanderkam

    James
    17 Jan 2012 | 12:00 am
    You’re invited to a very exclusive event. How to find the time to write. That’s one of the biggest complaints I hear from busy businesspeople, freelancers and entrepreneurs. (Even writers complain they can’t find the time to write!) There aren’t enough hours in a day. There’s so much going on. You’re barely keeping up. You’re just trying to stay afloat and get through the day. It’s overwhelming. You have too much work. Too many obligations. Too much to do. Time to write? Forget it! But you need to find the time to write. Writing is integral to…

  • Do You Have Useless Website Content?

    James
    16 Jan 2012 | 12:00 am
    Your website content may be utterly useless. Sure, it’s interesting. It’s often funny. It’s accurate and informative. But it’s probably repetitive. Your website content most likely repeats several sentences throughout your site. Worse, it might even repeat sentences on the same page. Your customer only needs to be told once that you’re a green company, or a hot copywriter, or that you specialize in lawyer-oriented websites. Every word should contribute to convincing your client and telling him something new. Otherwise, you risk frustrating your reader. You don’t want to bore him…

  • How to Stop Writing Boring Blog Posts

    Agent X
    13 Jan 2012 | 12:00 am
    It’s been done tens of millions of time: a blog post is written. Someone has an idea to share with the world. Someone has a beef and they want to rant. Someone writes an inspiring poem. Because of the glut of so many posts, blog posts have become boring. When I scroll through my reader, my eyes glaze over. I long for something exciting. Something different. Something that makes me reach to comment, that makes me laugh out loud. I’m looking for those killer blog posts. I know they exist. Start with Better Titles Only 20% of people ever click on your title, and competition for readers’…
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    All You Need Is A Good Idea!

  • IF YOU WON’T TAKE MY WORD…

    Jay Heyman
    26 Jan 2012 | 6:39 am
    Image by John Kratz via Flickr For longer than I can believe, in my book, my blog, and my presentations, I have been telling you how important good ideas are. How creativity and innovation and the unexpected will help you build your brand, stand out from your competition, and even probably be fun. But for those of you who have read the above paragraph as “blah, blah, blah,” after hearing my message so often, let me add the input of three disparate business people, whom you might be more apt to listen to. The quotees(?) have nothing in common, except their shared high opinion of the…

  • READ ANY GOOD BUNS LATELY?

    Jay Heyman
    23 Jan 2012 | 6:24 am
    The Los Angeles Times, among other publications and blogs, talks about Wimpy, a South African 500-restaurant chain. To promote its new Braille menu, it created burgers with words in Braille spelled out on the buns with sesame seeds. Each bun had a description such as “100% pure beef.” Diners at three Braille organizations were given 15 of the burgers. And in case you are curious how much impact 15 burgers can have, Wimpy claims 800,000 people have heard about their menu through Braille publications and organizations. In addition, the YouTube video below has been viewed so far by over…

  • WE ARE ONLY HUMAN

    Jay Heyman
    19 Jan 2012 | 6:28 am
    Image via Wikipedia I occasionally nitpick about, and point out typos in ads. But I do realize that stuff happens. It certainly happens to me, though I do try to be extra attentive. And while I won't usually confuse "their," they're and "there," when it comes to finer grammatical points, I am sure I often mix my metaphors, split my infinitives and in general mortify my old PS 99 principal (not "principle") Fletcher. I have no excuse, so naturally I will offer one. I write solo and usually on deadline. And the truth is, I am usually delighted to just get…

  • TAKE THE CURRENT WHEN IT SERVES

    Jay Heyman
    16 Jan 2012 | 6:45 am
    Image via Wikipedia A very fancy-shmancy blog title indeed. Shakespeare, in fact. Which is part of a quote (full quote below) that basically means there is a time to take action, and if you hesitate, and wait and wait and wait, the opportunity will disappear and you will be the poorer for it. Believe it or not, the reason this quote came to my mind was a whole wheat everything bagel. A couple of years ago, after cutting one in half prior to toasting, I was scooping it out. (That’s what my wife insists on; she claims will get rid of a large amount of the calories and not reduce the taste.) I…

  • MARKETING DOESN’T GET MUCH SIMPLER THAN THIS

    Jay Heyman
    12 Jan 2012 | 6:15 am
    Image via Wikipedia Our favorite take-out Chinese restaurant suddenly closed. No warning, no notice. The metal gate was down, and when you peered inside, the refrigerator and other equipment was gone. Since it was our go to take-out, we felt bad for the owners. But we also had to select a replacement. Granted, since we are talking Manhattan, there are many choices. But which one would it be? The replacement decision was made easier when I passed by the closed store this morning. Very simply—and cleverly—a nearby competitor had put a bunch of their menus on the chain that locked the door.
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    Starting Your Own Business with Successful Entrepreneur Erica Douglass

  • One (Common) Marketing Tactic That Can Ruin Your Business…

    Erica Douglass
    24 Jan 2012 | 5:48 pm
    Scott McNealy, former Sun Microsystems CEO, and Larry Ellison of Oracle announce a closer partnership in 2006, which led to Oracle acquiring Sun in 2009. There’s one (unfortunately common) marketing tactic out there that can actually take down your entire business. This is the true story of how I watched it unfold at a Fortune 500 company… Back in 2000, the company that I worked for, Cobalt Networks, was acquired by Sun Microsystems. I interviewed, and was accepted for, a position in Sun’s marketing department, working on Sun.com. As part of Sun’s marketing department,…

  • Why I (Almost) Quit Blogging Entirely

    Erica Douglass
    28 Dec 2011 | 11:15 pm
    You probably know me as one of those people who’s a straight shooter. I don’t think entrepreneurship is easy, or that everyone should do it. But I do believe it’s rewarding, and that more people should do it. That’s why I’m here, and that’s why I write this blog. And here’s the (shocking) story of how I almost gave it up entirely. Earlier this year, I could feel things were coming to a head with erica.biz and me. My relationship with this blog wasn’t healthy. I have a fantastic audience full of fans and supporters, and the time had come to…

  • One Million Dollars, The Hard Way

    Erica Douglass
    20 Oct 2011 | 4:42 pm
    Me, when Cobalt got bought out by Sun in 2000, with my employee number and a fake bar code marked on my arm. There are a lot of readers on this blog–perhaps you–who recently started reading. Lately I realized that as a new reader, you may not know much about me, who I am, or my history. You probably know that I “sold a business for $1.1 million at age 26″, since that’s in my sidebar. But what happened before that? I grew up in a small farm town in Indiana. I first got online in 1995. My parents had given me a computer, but everything else I had to buy on my own.

  • Turn Off the Noise and Start Creating

    Erica Douglass
    12 Oct 2011 | 4:01 pm
    “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.” -The Serenity Prayer Let’s talk about current events. There’s a lot going on in the news right now. The 99% (aka Occupy Wall Street) movement. A backlash against big corporations, government bailouts, politicians who promise to change things and then don’t do anything, and a lack of jobs in our country. Listen to the protests, and you will be instantly sucked in. It seems everyone has a side; a story to tell. Now, you must make…

  • My 30-Day No Email Trial: The Results

    Erica Douglass
    22 Aug 2011 | 4:27 am
    In early June, I embarked on a radical experiment: I gave up email for 30 days. Here are my results… When I started the trial, I felt completely overwhelmed by email, and I just wanted a way out. I was waking up every morning to an incessant barrage of PR people, sales letters, chain emails, people wanting me to write about their product, companies wanting me to promote them without compensation, and–generally–a bunch of junk. Not “spam”, really, because it was sent by real people (sadly.) But a ridiculous pile of useless crap that wasn’t easily filtered.
 
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    Up and Running

  • How to Negotiate with Prospective Investors

    Alan Gleeson
    26 Jan 2012 | 12:46 pm
    Image via CrunchBase Raising finance is a time consuming process and can also be quite stressful (particularly as time progresses). There may be some date in the future where your current trading position is no longer sustainable (which has brought you to the table in the first place). It is worth remembering that you need to recognise that the more desperate your situation, the more vulnerable you will be, which will typically result in poor decisions. Hence the sooner you can commence the process the better. Similarly, if the investment is for growth capital, as opposed to capital to keep…

  • 5 Quick and Easy Info Sources About Angel Investment

    Tim Berry
    25 Jan 2012 | 11:30 am
    If you’re looking for angel investors, then I have a resource list for you. This is a tiny fraction of good resources, more a “start-here” list than a good list. Start with gust.com’s knowledge section. Gust.com (pronounced like a gust of wind) is a platform for angel investment, grouping together several hundred angel investor groups and thousands of angel investors. The knowledge section there includes a great collection of useful short videos from experts, and a blog (on which I’m proud to say I post often). And gust.com is free, by the way, at least free for…

  • 21 Reasons You’ll Fail at Marketing

    Carolyn Higgins
    24 Jan 2012 | 12:39 pm
    I don’t know what it is about Marketing, but everyone on earth seems to think they can do it. And yet I see so many people NOT doing it or wasting thousands of dollars and not getting results.  I see business owners try the same things over and over,  wasting more money, more time, and more energy. If I had 1/10th of what business owners waste on stuff that doesn’t work, I’d be the most successful marketing consultant on the planet.  And yet, so many business owners would rather go it alone and try and fail and try again and fail again rather than reach out and get professional…

  • The Benefit of Market Research

    monique
    23 Jan 2012 | 6:52 pm
    Market research is a very important step for all startups as, amongst other things, it helps you understand whether your offering is likely to generate demand. Once you have a clear sense of who your customers are, the following represent some additional things to think about: Where are these customers? How many customers are there? What do they require from your product or service? How you intend to reach them? In looking to answer these questions focus on these overall understanding you are trying to develop with relation to your clientele and market: Understand where your customers are. If…

  • Friday Infographic: McMetrics

    monique
    20 Jan 2012 | 5:50 pm
       
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    GMSV

  • Google’s week: Apple beats Android, plus privacy-policy woes

    Levi Sumagaysay
    27 Jan 2012 | 12:57 pm
    In this episode of Google Troubles, a couple of glaring developments this week: • Google is losing momentum in the all-important smartphone battle. Apple became the world’s largest seller of smartphones last quarter, according to a couple of recent reports. The iPhone maker’s...

  • On the censor ship: Twitter policy, North Korea threat, Europe and ACTA, Hawaii Web-surfing bill

    Levi Sumagaysay
    27 Jan 2012 | 11:38 am
    Let’s take a trip on the censor ship. Twitter leads the way. To censorship, or transparency about censorship? After the San Francisco company announced yesterday that it will censor tweets on a case-by-case, country-by-country basis, disappointed tweets and reactions abound. After all,...

  • Quoted: AppleCares

    Levi Sumagaysay
    27 Jan 2012 | 9:12 am
    “What we will not do — and never have done — is stand still or turn a blind eye to problems in our supply chain.” — Tim Cook, Apple CEO, in an email to employees obtained by 9to5Mac, responds to a couple of recent New York Times articles that paint a damning portrait of the [...]

  • Off topic: Literacy and wealth, ‘American President’ speech in Australia, toy protesters, puzzles galore, pizza-topping calculator

    Levi Sumagaysay
    27 Jan 2012 | 7:46 am
    A look at America’s most literate cities, which aren’t necessarily the wealthiest. D’oh, says Australian cabinet minister after he was caught giving a speech that sounded suspiciously like one from “The American President.” Lego men and other toys holding protest signs...

  • FBI looks to monitor social media; proposed bill would track Hawaii Web surfers

    Levi Sumagaysay
    26 Jan 2012 | 12:02 pm
    Privacy issues are like weeds — they keep popping up. • The FBI is looking for a company to build a system that can help it monitor social networks, according to New Scientist. Among the capabilities the FBI wants out of a system: automated search and filtering of news and “publicly...
 
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    BizSugar / Published News

  • The Reality of Virtual Workers; An Interview with UK Accountants, Richard Place Dobson

    xcelbusiness
    27 Jan 2012 | 5:47 pm
    This interview looks at the reality of using a virtual worker to work remotely. Both the employer and employee are interviewed here.18 Vote(s)

  • White House: SOPA a Serious Risk; Opposition Gains Victory

    stephen1983
    27 Jan 2012 | 7:50 am
    January 13, 2012 - Those opposing the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) gained a considerable victory after SOPA author Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX) announced the removal of the domain-name system (DNS) blocking provisions of the bill. "After consultation with industry groups across the country I 17 Vote(s)

  • Perseverence – Never Give Up

    amabaie
    27 Jan 2012 | 7:22 am
    I was inspired by American Top 40 Countdown. You might have heard of the band Lady Antebellum (Yes, it is a band, not a person). Nevertheless, there is a lady in the band: Hillary Scott. Hillary failed twice at American Idol...21 Vote(s)

  • Top 5 Reasons Why Digital Textbooks Are The Wave Of The Future

    crozon
    27 Jan 2012 | 6:44 am
    With the launch of the newest app for the iPad, iBooks 2, Apple has set out to reinvent the textbook. You remember those big, cumbersome tomes of paper that are usually outdated before the printing press even has a chance to warm up? Well they've now moved into the 21st century.20 Vote(s)

  • Could Your Website Be Embarrassing You?

    stephanieward
    26 Jan 2012 | 3:46 pm
    And if it's been a while since you took a close look at your website I bet there are some areas that can be cleaned up and improved. Which will not only make you feel better, it will increase the probability that you will attract more clients. And that's the whole point, right?24 Vote(s)
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    Young Entrepreneur - Small Business & Entrepreneur Community » Blog

  • Amp up Your Revenue Now – with Video

    Tim Gray
    27 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am
    Think you need to be a big time player to deploy e-commerce video on your business’ website? Think again. Adding e-commerce video online is no longer the domain of top retailers. Shrinking costs and increasing benefits of using video is moving many smaller businesses to give the flexible and entertaining platform a shot. In fact, 73 percent of online retailers in 2011used video on product pages, a 55 percent increase from 2010, according to research firm eMarketer. However, uploading a hackneyed, homemade project onto your website isn’t likely to improve your ROI, and might even scare…

  • 10 Do-or-Die Tactics for Facebook Success

    Matthew Toren
    26 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am
    A couple years ago, having a Facebook page devoted to your business would have been enough. Simply existing on the site had the ability to set one business apart from the rest. Times have changed, though. Boasting over 900 million accounts – both personal and business, Facebook has now gotten to the point where it feels cluttered at times. How can you break through the clutter and make your target audience aware of what you have to offer? Below are 10 tactics that will help your business achieve success on Facebook. 1. Create a Profile That Works Make sure your profile is completely filled…

  • 6 Tips to Get People to Look Past Your Age and See an Expert

    Guest Author
    25 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am
    You want to make the big deals and the big bucks. However, your hurdle is the fact that your looks and voice haven’t matured as much as your ambition has. You have the disadvantage that your potential clients and business partners think you’re a young cub, rather than a king of industry. Here are some tips to make you the known expert in your industry and not the “kid” in the conference room. Become a virtual real estate tycoon Become the Donald Trump of your market by owning the entire first page of Google. How?  When you publish expert articles in multiple outlets with authority,…

  • Time Management – No, But Really This Time

    Michael Costigan
    23 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am
    We all want to do more things in less time. It’s a common theme throughout all of corporate America, and it even extends into professions like healthcare, education, and civil service. We can’t rely on the institution we’ve placed ourselves in to help us accomplish this goal. Rather, I believe we must rely on multiple paradigm shifts in our own life. No longer can we say, ‘Oh, I’ll do that tomorrow’, or ‘Staying up an extra hour won’t mean much tonight’. 2012 is a new year, a new opportunity to do new things with our lives, and more importantly, our personal lives. If…

  • Holding Strong: How Working with a Holding Company Benefits You

    Guest Author
    20 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am
    Most start-ups know they can’t go it alone.  They hire consultants, bring in interns, and look into developing relationships with other companies who can increase their chances of success. Because of their desire to prove they can make it on their own merits, many entrepreneurs opt to work with agencies.  Although it’s appealing, developing this kind of relationship would be a mistake. Agency vs. Holding Company Agencies allow entrepreneurs to maintain complete ownership over their companies.  This is a plus, but it’s a catch-22: while agencies don’t take ownership over their…
 
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    Business Owners

  • Tony Clement - Canada's best years are ahead of us

    27 Jan 2012 | 8:10 am
    The best years are ahead of Canada. These positive words were part of Tony Clement's speech yesterday at The Empire Club, Toronto, just yesterday.Clement has applied government resources towards helping business in a consistent and positive manner; this is noted and appreciated. Here is an excerpt from his speech well worth the read.:Speech by Tony Clement, President of the Treasury Board of Canada, to the Empire Club of CanadaThursday, January 26, 2012Toronto, OntarioA leading American historian and senior advisor to former U.S. secretary of state Condoleezza Rice has finally admitted the…

  • Angry Birds Attack the Leadership of RIM

    25 Jan 2012 | 8:00 am
    RIM is getting whacked for its leadership reshuffle. The market remains unimpressed.Running even a profitable business is no guarantee that last year's performance will be repeated. Customers need to be convinced again. Retailers need to be encouraged. employees need to be motivated. Alliances need to be maintained.Margaret Wente writes harshly about the RIM leadership and gives a scathing indictment to the two billionaires. She probably has a point and someone should have been telling these two to focus on their business and check out apps.Back in 2007, Mike Lazaridis and Jim…

  • Where was RIM's Board of Directors?

    24 Jan 2012 | 3:39 pm
    RIM leadership may have got arrogant but they also gave a great deal to the Canadian entrepreneur scene. Jim Balsillie was generous enough to give me an interview in 1999 for my book, e-Volution: How to use the Internet to grow your business. He has done his strategy very well - something I see rarely done by Canadian owner/founders.All this talk we are hearing from the USA about how "private equity destroys jobs" and "capitalism is evil" completely by passes the fact that humans create businesses and destroy businesses. The best businesses rarely go beyond a founder's life cycle and both…

  • Lessons from the recession for business owners

    23 Jan 2012 | 8:00 am
    When I worked at a strategist for a bank and wrote thespeeches for the CEO, who was also the founder, he would confuse me with his insistenceon always bringing up complacency. As a young MBA with my career before me, I could not see wasting time on such a mundane topic which seemed more of a downer and something your mother would say. As I look back, I realize he was wise with his observation that success brings complacency and complacency brings failure.Lessonfrom the recession: Run your company during boom times as if times were lean.We have heard many leaders bemoaning that their…

  • Barry McKenna on how Canada can be competitive

    19 Jan 2012 | 12:22 pm
    How to get the Canadian economy to grow is on everyone's priority list. There were 65 recommendations made by Red Wilson's panel set up to make recommendations.My time in private equity has shown me that "Growth and innovation" is an attitude.Canadian business owners have managed to tuck in behind the American economy and grab a good enough market share, but not build its own global winning companies.Here is an excellent article by Barry McKenna in the Globe and Mail discussing the problem on business innovation further:Putting Canada on a more competitive footing will likely mean…
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    Big Marketing For Small Business

  • 15 YouTube Marketing Tips for Your Small Business

    Guest Author
    24 Jan 2012 | 2:03 pm
    Video Marketing on YouTube is a must for small businesses and startups in 2012. YouTube videos are longtail pieces of marketing content that can drive organic traffic to your website for many years to come. Here are 15 tips to know about marketing on YouTube. 1. Anyone Can Do a Video The best part of YouTube Marketing is you do not need to hire models, buy fancy equipment, or have a baller studio. Most of the “highest viewed” videos are shot by a simple cell phone or webcam. Another option for those who are camera shy is to use Powerpoint or a similar program to make the presentation.

  • How to Use Digital Marketing to Promote Your Small Business

    Rajan Sodhi
    23 Jan 2012 | 7:00 am
    The Internet is the great equalizer, allowing a small business to effectively compete with the 800-pound gorilla in their space. But, there are some fundamental ways to go about setting yourself up for success. Here are five affordable tips to promoting your small business using digital marketing: 1. Build a Quality Website, Use WordPress The best place to start is to launch a website for your business, but not just any website. Create one that is clean, easy to navigate, has good content, and is optimized for search engines to crawl and rank – WordPress is a great place to start. Use SEO…

  • How to Use YouTube for Marketing

    Guest Author
    7 Dec 2011 | 4:44 pm
    Have you ever seen the Old Spice commercials? Chances are if you have, you’ve seen them on YouTube. The Old Spice commercials first premiered as a television campaign, quickly turning viral once they appeared on YouTube. Viewers sent the links to their friends, rapidly spreading them throughout the Internet. Eventually, the view count for Old Spice commercials reached over 110 million views. Although most associate YouTube with homemade videos and music videos, many companies and businesses are turning to YouTube as an alternative means to social marketing, and it’s working. Because…

  • 10 Ways to Amplify Your Email Marketing Ripple Effect

    Guest Author
    3 Nov 2011 | 4:17 pm
    Is your email marketing program fizzling? Here are 10 ways to improve your email marketing strategy to drive higher response and engagement. 1. Deliverability, verifiability, and bounce reduction. Permission-based lists and clean data have the best chance of getting response. Make sure your email solution has high deliverability rates and can track message activity (deliveries, bounces, clicks) or you’re just wasting marketing dollars. 2. Aim before you send. Email marketing starts with targeted, clean and compliant lists. Build your email lists based on specific attributes and behaviors of…

  • The Wrong Way to Use Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn in Your Marketing

    Guest Author
    3 Nov 2011 | 12:31 pm
    According to Facebook‘s blog, there are over 800 million users on the site. According to Alexa’s rankings, Twitter is the third highest rated social media site, with Facebook being the first and YouTube being the second. Many online marketing experts agree that social media can play a major role in small business marketing. However, many (if not most) small businesses are using social media the wrong way for marketing. Here are three common mistakes being made that you can avoid: 1. Brand Confusion When launching a new business, it is common (though not wise) not to have your…
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    Small business news - CNNMoney.com

  • Men's underwear leaves the Stone Age

    27 Jan 2012 | 10:27 am
    FORTUNE -- The days of over-sized jeans sagging from the derrieres of men everywhere are no more. Skinny jeans, tailored pants, and fitted oxfords are de rigeur, leaving little room for excess fabric in the undergarment department. Boxers or briefs used to be the only question men needed to ask themselves, but today, the options have grown. Five years ago, Tom Patterson was a medical-device sales rep by day and an avid-viewer of CNBC's The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch by night. "All of the featured products or services ... were created out of personal frustration," recalls Patterson. "I found…

  • $34,000 in debt, wants to start a business

    27 Jan 2012 | 9:10 am
    Michele Heyward has a big heart. When friends or family struggle financially, she is always there to help with a mortgage or car payment or clothes for the kids. Recently she has been spending more than $1,800 a month on others.

  • Chinese New Year makes U.S. biz uneasy

    25 Jan 2012 | 3:53 pm
    As China celebrates the New Year by ushering in the Year of the Dragon, U.S. small companies with exposure to the country are doing more hand-wringing than rejoicing.

  • Behind an expat's wine startup success

    25 Jan 2012 | 8:33 am
    FORTUNE -- Language and cultural differences make it hard to be an expat entrepreneur under any circumstances. It's doubly hard if the main market for your product plunges into a wrenching economic crisis. And it's even more difficult if your costs are in a country that suffers incredibly high inflation. That's the position in which Michael Evans has found himself during the last few years. The Mendoza, Argentina-company he co-founded, Vines of Mendoza, was selling turn-key "vineyard estates" largely to Americans, whose disposable income evaporated following the 2008 collapse of Lehman…

  • Furniture maker lands coveted spot at State of the Union

    24 Jan 2012 | 8:32 pm
    Bruce Cochrane relaunched his family's furniture company in Lincolnton, N.C., last year, because he wanted to create jobs for Americans instead of setting up shop in China to take advantage of the cheaper labor.
 
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    Chief Home Officer Home Office, Home-Based Business, Remote Work, Telework & Cloud Computing

  • Guest Post: Fortify Your Workspace During Home Office Safety & Security Week

    Jeff Zbar
    9 Jan 2012 | 10:24 am
    You may work in an office tower downtown, in an executive suite in the suburbs, or in some other traditional workspace. But if your office is a home office – whether as a home-based business owner or a teleworker – it’s vital that you protect your space, your computer, your network and your data. Ignore this at your own peril. Fail to protect your space, and your hardware — and any data it holds — could be stolen. I wouldn’t want to be around for that client conversation. Leave your wifi unsecured, and a hacker could find his or her way in. Data stolen so…

  • One Home Office Man’s Belated iPhone Migration

    Jeff Zbar
    5 Jan 2012 | 6:05 am
    I bought an iPhone recently. After about half a century on a BlackBerry Pearl – whose case was battered and whose trackball had lost its ability to track – this home office entrepreneur picked what long had been the Forbidden Fruit. I really liked my Pearl, and especially appreciated its pintish size that made it nearly invisible in my pocket. It was a badge of honor — carrying something those who know me know I’ve carried for so long. But it was aged and dying a slow, undignified death. Most of all, it had little capacity to meet my real motivation: My 12-gigabyte-and-growing…

  • Guest Wisdom: June Walker’s Year-End Home Office Tax Planning

    Jeff Zbar
    21 Dec 2011 | 11:29 am
    Whether you run a home-based small business or a Fortune 500 corporation, year-end is tax time. June Walker, the tax pro to the independent professional, has some great tax tips — regardless of what side of year-end you may find yourself. She calls it the December 31 Rule — and it’s the source of some often-missed deductions. They’re excerpted below from her Five Easy Steps booklet. As June writes, “The following excerpt from my publication, Five Easy Steps, may help you with some last minute tax deductions…. For Credit Cards: Every item charged to your…

  • Home (Office) for the Holidays: Keeping Kids Focused & Outta Your Business

    Jeff Zbar
    12 Dec 2011 | 12:49 am
    It’s the last day of school before winter break. If you listen closely, you can hear from across the hills and neighborhood, the cries of home office working parents and corporate office denizens lamenting their shared misery: “WHAT AM I GOING TO DO FOR TWO WEEKS WITH THESE RASCALS OUT OF SCHOOL?!” Here in the home office, where I’ve worked since before our 20-year-old daughter was born, I’ve had ample chance to device systems and methods to keep the little imps out of my hair (and keep from pulling said hair from my scalp) as I try to work and they seem intent…

  • Name Your Home Office Peril: Fire, Flood Threaten Small Business

    Jeff Zbar
    11 Dec 2011 | 6:59 pm
    Extreme weather, from flooding to wildfires to other natural disasters, has become an issue on the minds of many — especially small business owners. Even accidental fire and flood can cause permanent damage. Many every day events put every business at risk of loss of files, documents or precious, irreplaceable data. Sentry Safe Guardian Storage Box In this guest column, Bill Buchko, a product manager at SentrySafe for the Fire-Resistant Safe and File business, highlights the vulnerabilities home officers and small business owners face — and how to try to prevent them. According to…
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    Small Business Daily News, Blogs, Commentary

  • Why Women Business Owners Still Struggle, Facebook Shopping and More

    Rieva Lesonsky
    27 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am
    By Rieva Lesonsky Have you missed any of my posts around the Web this week? Read on for a quick roundup. Why do female small business owners have more trouble getting financing? The answer could be traced back to the scarcity of women on corporate boards. Get the connection in my post on American Express OPEN Forum. Have you tried Facebook ads and, if so, did they work for you? Find out what other business owners think about advertising on Facebook in my post on  Huffington Post Small Business. How about selling products on Facebook? Few businesses have tried, but new data show consumers…

  • Scared to Start a Business? Don’t Be

    Rieva Lesonsky
    26 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am
    By Rieva Lesonsky If you’re on the fence about whether to start your own business, some data from a new study might help convince you to make the move. I think it always helps to hear from real people about decisions you’re considering. And recently, The Hartford surveyed some 2,000 real entrepreneur in its Small Business Success Study. The study focused on small business owners’ outlook in today’s challenging economy. Despite the many hurdles they face, the entrepreneurs who were polled were very optimistic. In spite of the current economic environment, 51 percent projected…

  • Adventures in Retail

    Maria Valdez Haubrich
    25 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am
    Did you know retail supports one in four U.S. jobs? According to the National Retail Federation, the retail industry employs 42 million Americans nationwide and they recently announced a contest to celebrate you–the small business retailer. Tell your retail story by video and you could win $25,000! The “This is Retail” contest is part of NRF’s Retail Means Jobs campaign and is aimed at raising awareness of the retail industry’s significant economic impact. Here’s how to enter: Tell your retail story in a video no longer than two minutes. Make sure your video…

  • How to Handle Irate Customers

    Karen Axelton
    24 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am
    Have you ever struggled to deal with an angry customer in the best way for your business? In today’s guest post, customer service expert John Tschohl shares his advice for handling the situation in a way that benefits both your business and the customer. Most of us have been there at one time or another and most likely don’t want to ever go back.  Whether it was over the phone or in person, and regardless if a product was flawed, a delivery was late or a charge was inaccurate, dealing with an irate customer isn’t fun in any situation. How you deal with that customer will determine…

  • Does Your Small Business Need Marketing Help? Staples Is Offering $250,000 in Free Advertising to Five Winning Businesses

    Rieva Lesonsky
    23 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am
    By Rieva Lesonsky Seven out of 10small business owners are optimistic about the future, according to the 6th annual Staples National Small Business Survey. But more than half (52 percent) wish they had a bigger marketing budget. To help, Staples has launched the Staples “Give Your Small Business the Push It Needs” contest. Five small businesses will win up to $50,000 each in free television advertising in their home market. (SmallBizDaily is working with Staples on this promotion.) To enter the “Give Your Small Business the Push It Needs” contest, just submit a 15-second video about…
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    Lip-Sticking

  • Facebook for Places from Mari Smith

    Yvonne
    27 Jan 2012 | 9:38 am
    Professional Facebook expert, Mari Smith, shares insight into the way businesses can use Facebook Places. Do you use this tool? How is it working for you?

  • Chevy's got a Super Bowl App and a big Game Time Sweepstakes

    Donna DeClemente
    25 Jan 2012 | 8:34 am
    By Guest Blogger, Donna DeClemente, Donna's Promo Talk For anyone that is a true football fan, last Sunday was by far one of the most exciting NFL conference championship game days you can have. Yes, it will take a while for Raven fans to get over the missed chip-shot field goal and the 49er's to wonder what if they didn't turn over the ball in overtime. We're now moving on to Super Bowl XLVI with a big rematch between the Patriots and the Giants. As I said in my last post, I'm betting on Eli Manning and the New York Giants to be this year's champions. The Super Bowl has now become the most…

  • How Much Do You Love To Write?

    Yvonne
    21 Jan 2012 | 7:00 am
    Guest post by Blog Manager Robbi Hess As an entrepreneur you wake up every morning with an itch to get in front of your computer and start writing, right? You're looking forward to jumping into your social media updates, writing a blog post or two, putting together a proposal or even composing business correspondence. Raise your hand if you love it. Hhhmm I am not seeing too many hands. Do you find writing to be a chore? Just not something that you enjoy because you don't know what to write about, you stress about grammar and punctuation or is it simply the blank screen that makes you…

  • Women and Health: Designing Your Second Half of Life

    Yvonne
    20 Jan 2012 | 10:39 am
    by Yvonne DiVita Yes, there is a 2nd half to life for women. It comes around age 50. Unlike our mothers, who considered 50 'old', today's women know that 50 can be enlightening, invigorating, freeing, and full of expectation. We disdain the rocking chair on the porch. If we knit, it's because we need a blog post! If we cook, it's because we have a passion for taste - and love sharing. If we're married, we're happier than our mothers were (because we have a friendship as well as a marriage), and if we're not married, we're content and full of the wonder of life as it beckons us with…

  • “Teach us,” is the cry of the women

    Mary Schmidt
    20 Jan 2012 | 9:45 am
    By Guest Blogger, Mary Schmidt Marketing Troubleshooter This is a quote from the Global Hope Network International's web site about a village in Afghanistan the group is helping become self-sustaining.   Qala e Nadar is a small village framed by rugged mountains on one side and less than fifteen kilometers from Kabul, the capital city of Afghanistan on the other. Overlooked and forgotten, Qala e Nadar is small and too close to the city to merit help. Thirty years ago, the traditionally nomadic community settled on this dry, arid and barren plain. There is no accessible school, no local…
 
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    OnStartups

  • Startup Tribes: Tips on Roles and Recruiting

    Dharmesh Shah
    27 Jan 2012 | 10:22 am
    The following is a guest post from John Greathouse. John is an entrepreneur and investor.  He currently blogs at Infochachkie where he provides practical startup advice. You may not realize it, but your adVenture's Core Team, the senior executives who make the key decisions which drive the company's strategic direction, is akin to a primitive tribe. Primitive tribes and your startup both entail a small number of people banded together to battle an uncaring, hostile world. Like the tribe, your company's survival is always in question and never guaranteed. Success depends upon everyone…

  • Startup Branding: A Practical Guide for Entrepreneurs

    Dharmesh Shah
    20 Jan 2012 | 11:40 am
    The following is a guest post by Mike Troiano. Mike is a former New York ad man turned venture-funded entrepreneur, now a Principal at Boston-based Holland-Mark. You can follow him on Twitter at @miketrap, and connect with him elsewhere through About Me 1. What does startup branding really mean for an early-stage company? Is it just picking a name and a logo? "Brand" is one of those words everybody uses and nobody really understands, so I'll start with a definition. It's important for entrepreneurs to understand that their "Brand" is the collective emotional response to their product or…

  • 7 Lessons On Startup Funding From a Research Scientist

    Dharmesh Shah
    16 Jan 2012 | 11:43 am
    The following is a guest post by Ty Danco. Ty is an angel investor and startup mentor. Read more of his thoughts at tydanco.com My wife isn't in business, but she is wise in the way of funding. Just as I have experience on both sides of the funding table (as an entrepreneur and as an angel), so does she. As a research scientist, she gets her own grants and also reviews grants from others. While she doesn't talk in startup lingo (pivots, minimum viable product, etc.), she has taught me that many of the issues we face as entrepreneurs have a corollary in science. Here's what I've learned from…

  • The Big List: The Best and Worst Startup Stuff In 2011

    Dharmesh Shah
    2 Jan 2012 | 10:17 am
    The following is a guest post by Ty Danco.  Ty is an angel investor and startup mentor. Read more of his thoughts at tydanco.com.  Or, check out his recent article "What To Do If You Don't Have An Idea" It's time to review the past year, so without apology for personal taste, here's my list of the best (and a few of the worst) of 2011. Best Startup Book of 2011: Mastering the VC Game by Jeff Bussgang of Flybridge Capital I keep a loaded Kindle copy of this book on my iPad, and I'm constantly showing it to startups raising money. The money chapter: When the Dog Catches the Bus:…

  • 13 Ways To Think About And Crush Your Competition

    Jason L. Baptiste
    27 Dec 2011 | 10:55 am
    A few weeks ago, there was an article that came out called "Google Currents, Onswipe's Nightmare?". I'm also preparing for our first board meeting with newly elected independents and one of the points we are talking about happens to be competition. As you start to grow competition becomes a healthy thing to think about. Here's how I think about competition as a cofounder and CEO of a growing venture backed startup: Don't Worry About Google Almost every growing startup comes to a point where they have to worry about "what if Google does it." If it is a market worth getting into, then Google or…
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    The Content Marketing Revolution

  • McDonald’s Social Media Goes Wrong? Not a Chance

    Joe Pulizzi
    26 Jan 2012 | 6:49 pm
    You’d have to be living in a cave not to be aware of the now historic McDonald’s Twitter campaign launched a few days ago. If you’ve been out of it for a while, here’s the CliffsNotes version: McDonald’s promoted a Tweet using the Twitter hashtag #McDStories that went like this: ‘When u make something w/pride, people can taste it,’ – McD potato supplier #McDStories http://t.co/HaPM5G9F‘ (source). The link is a video  of McDonald’s potato supplier Frank Martinez and includes a heartwarming story about his life as a potato farmer.

  • Tablet Content Marketing: Crazy Stats and Time to Move

    Joe Pulizzi
    25 Jan 2012 | 6:14 am
    If you are not up on the latest statistics on the tablet, here are some to chew on: Apple reported first quarter earnings, selling over 15 million iPads during the quarter.  This is a 111% increase from the previous quarter. In just under two years, Apple has now sold over 55 million units. According to Pew Internet’s latest findings, the share of Americans who own a tablet computer nearly doubled from December 2011 to January 2012.  The number of Americans now owning at least one tablet device is now at 29%. Tablet: The Curl-Up Device Historically in marketing, we have talked about…

  • 2 Examples of How Non-Profit Content Marketing Should Work [and grab a tissue]

    Joe Pulizzi
    18 Jan 2012 | 10:10 pm
    Joshua with his LEGO bricks at age Six As many of you regular readers know, my oldest son Joshua was diagnosed with autism at two years of age (Joshua is now 10). At the age of three, he could barely speak.  Today, Joshua would be considered “high-functioning” autistic, which means that, if you don’t look closely, you may not notice he actually is a child with autism. To be honest, Joshua is one of those amazing gifts in life that just keeps giving.  We are so blessed to have him in our lives. [NOTE: To give just a bit back to all those who've helped Joshua along the way,…

  • Content Marketing and the War of Attrition

    Joe Pulizzi
    17 Jan 2012 | 6:35 pm
    There are a lot of reasons why content marketing doesn’t work for some companies. If we were making a list, they would include: A lack of understanding reader/customer needs Focusing on the wrong metrics and objectives A soloed approach to content marketing Poor execution Bland storytelling Lack of authenticity Creating information that, simply put, is not helpful or engaging Sales pitches disguised as content And the list goes on… But the biggest culprit (and it’s not even close) is a lack of consistency, and, in some cases, a content stoppage. Research from IBM in 2010…

  • 10 Content Marketing Books to Help Sell the C-Level

    Joe Pulizzi
    12 Jan 2012 | 6:16 pm
    Just ended a pretty impressive Content Marketing Institute webinar hosted by Joe Chernov, VP of Content Marketing for Eloqua and Rebecca Lieb, Analyst for Altimeter.  During the Q&A session, Joe talked about how to sell content marketing to the C-level through some amazing books.  Below are some recommendations from Joe (and some that I would recommend as well) for the marketing pro that needs more content marketing budget. The New Rules of Marketing & PR I consider this David Meerman Scott book mandatory reading for all marketers.  This best seller, now published in over 25…
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    Mario Sanchez Carrion

  • The Law Of Unintended Consequences

    27 Jan 2012 | 9:37 am
    I've spent this week working in Mexico City, doing a lot of field work and therefore dealing with the city's huge traffic problem.  It is not unusual to take two hours to go somewhere that on a Sunday morning would take just 20 minutes. My driver explained that a few years ago the city government, trying to curtail pollution, issued a regulation forbidding cars older than eight years from circulating one day of the week.So, what happened? People bought newer cars. However, older cars lost value and started selling so cheap that others started buying them to use them just on the one day…

  • Wine, Cheese and Starbucks

    25 Jan 2012 | 9:35 pm
    At the beginning I thought it was a joke, but yesterday the news confirmed it: Starbucks is planning to sell wine, beer and cheese in some of its stores.  Even if the move is limited to just a few locations, the impact on the Starbucks brand can be significant. Even though Starbucks has been trying to move away from coffee for quite some time (they even removed the word "coffee" from its logo) the truth is that the Starbucks brand is first and foremost about coffee.  There's probably a real need for a Starbucks-like atmosphere where instead of coffee you could enjoy wine, beer…

  • Going Through The Motions

    24 Jan 2012 | 9:12 pm
    I hopped on a plane this morning and once again went through the pointless ritual of the safety video.  Passengers go about their business, reading the paper, checking email or catching some sleep while the video rambles on.  Flight attendants know that nobody is paying attention, but go through the motions nevertheless (truth be told, they have no choice: it's a legal requirement).   In life and in business it's also common to find people just going through the motions. They do it out of habit, indifference or laziness, or a mix of the three.  How can we know? If the best…

  • One

    23 Jan 2012 | 6:35 pm
    Yesterday RIM, the maker of Blackberry mobile phones, announced the resignation of its two co-CEOs. I'm not suggesting, by any stretch of the immagination, that having two CEOs is the reason for all of RIM's woes, but it couldn't have helped. If you want to establish accountability and get things done, put ONE, and only one person in charge. Leadership by committee is never a good idea. Image credits: arrayexception Permalink | Leave a comment  »

  • The Special Occasion

    22 Jan 2012 | 6:28 pm
    Today I was thinking of how sometimes we postpone enjoying certain things in order to save them for a special occasion (perhaps we could call it reverse instant gratification). I'm not talking about real, legitimate special occasions like a graduation, an anniversary or some other important milestone, but rather those "special occasions" that exist only in our imagination and that are just excuses to needlessly postpone enjoyment. For example, that nice bottle of wine that I bought several months ago and still haven't opened, or the high-end camera that would add so much value to my trips,…
 
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    Fresh Sales Strategies Blog

  • Dealing with Oops! Moments: Sales Lessons from Rick Perry

    26 Jan 2012 | 7:27 am
    This not meant to be a political statement. It is simply commentary about what a candidate did - and what we, as sellers, can learn from it. When Texas Governor Rick Perry entered the presidential race, he immediately soared to a front-runner status. But, it didn't last long due to his performance during the Republican debates.For those of you who don't follow American politics, during the recent debates Perry stated that he'd eliminate three federal departments. When asked which ones, his mind went blank. He came up with two, but the third eluded him. For 55 seconds, he wracked his brain,…

  • [Audio] 3 Big Sales Problems I See Today

    22 Jan 2012 | 11:04 pm
    Recently I was interivewed by the Sales Lead Management Association about some of the biggest problems I see today that are having a negative impact on sales -- and what can be done about them What was my key focus? - Management's failure to understand changing customer/behavior.- Lack of sufficient digital assets to attract & nuture prospects.- Improper training & tools for salespeople to help them succeed in the new sales environment.   You can listen to the download the interview below. Download this episode (right click and save)

  • [Video] How to Get More Prospects in Your Pipeline?

    12 Jan 2012 | 9:05 am
      As sellers, we want to keep as many options open to us. We want to be able to pursue business with anyone who has the potential to buy from us. But doing this actually has a boomerang effect and reduces your sales effectiveness. Here's what you need to do to get more hot prospects in your sales pipeline: You must focus, focus, focus. Focus on certain types of customers. Put together a campaign and go after law firms. Or, think about what the school districts might need. Or how about mid-sized manufacturing firms. The more focused you are the better your message resonates. You can also…

  • [Video] What If You Couldn't Get Any New Customers?

    4 Jan 2012 | 6:45 am
    Today's video is designed to get you thinking. Seriously thinking. If you're on a sales team, talk about it together. If you're on your own, explore the ramifications. What you discover may have a huge impact on your success this year. And when you're done, please add your thoughts & comments below. Your ideas may stimulate us all to think at a higher level. Check out the video now >> Video Script: If you've been in the sale profession for any length of time, you probably have a whole laundry list of assumptions about what it takes to be successful. But our marketplace is undergoing…

  • Shocking 2012 Sales Prediction

    29 Dec 2011 | 8:21 pm
    There's no pussyfooting around it. I feel pretty strongly that I'm right on about this. My prediction? In 2012, we will see the total demise of nice salespeople. And here's why. Today's crazy-busy decision makers have absolutely no time nor interest in working with sellers whose main focus is on building relationships & providing great service.  Instead, they want to work with savvy professionals who bring them high value on a regular basis. To avoid extinction in 2012, sellers need to: Sharpen their personal expertise in areas relevant to their customers. Proactively bring them…
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    B2B Lead Blog

  • The Lament of the Inside Sales Team: Data, Data Everywhere, but Who’s Ready to Buy?

    Mark Wicka
    27 Jan 2012 | 12:26 pm
    TweetAs the MECLABS Research Partnership analyst team, my colleagues and I speak with professionals who attend our events (like the next month’s MarketingSherpa Email Summit in Las Vegas), purchase our publications, and want more information about how MECLABS can help grow their business. So every day we hear about the challenges they’re facing. One issue that surfaces all too often is optimizing databases: When you have a database of thousands upon thousands of names, how do you help your team easily and effectively prioritize who to contact? Nearly every company I talk to does some kind…

  • Nine Simple Tactics to Drive a Higher Return on Trade Show Investment

    Pamela Markey
    15 Jan 2012 | 1:49 pm
    TweetIn his most recent post, Dave Green pointed out how marketers invest most of their budget on trade shows even though it ranks fourth in effectiveness. He went on to explain how to get a better return on your trade-show investment through lead scoring. Now I’m going to share nine tactics that will drive those lead scores – and your ROI – even higher: Do thorough research. Find out which attendees fit yourUniversal Lead Definition If you have access to the registration list, analyze it. Look up registrants on LinkedIn. Develop a list of targets you want to seek out during the…

  • OpenView Names Top 25 Sales Influencers for 2012

    Brian Carroll
    15 Jan 2012 | 1:48 pm
    TweetI received some news today that leaves me both humbled and honored. OpenView Labs named its top 25 sales influencers for 2012, and I am among them. This is especially meaningful for two reasons. First, I have tremendous respect for the people who have joined me on this list; I’m in great company. Learn more about them here: Top 25 Sales Influencers for 2012. Second, OpenView Labs takes a scientific approach to selecting its top influencers. OpenView Labs leverages the Klout True Reach metric to calculate social media influence. They also examined blog activity, and other more…

  • How to Use Lead Scoring to Drive the Highest Return on Your Trade-Show Investment

    J. David Green
    29 Dec 2011 | 8:49 am
    TweetIn the 2012 B2B Marketing Benchmark Report, 1,745 marketing organizations revealed that trade shows took up the biggest chunk of their marketing budget – over 21%. Yet, they only ranked fourth in marketing effectiveness, under websites, SEOs, and emails. I suspect that part of the ROI problem may be due to improper prioritization. Smart marketers apply some type of lead scoring to leads generated from website, SEO, and email initiatives. They need to do the same with trade shows. I recommend ranking trade show leads using the point-system outlined below – the higher the ranking, the…

  • From a Challenging Marketing Past to the Most Promising Marketing Future: Top Takeaways from the 2011 B2B Roundtable Webinars

    Brian Carroll
    29 Dec 2011 | 8:22 am
    TweetI can’t stress this enough: when it comes to marketing, if we’re not constantly learning, we’re going to find ourselves left behind faster than ever. Some people say I’m an expert in B2B lead generation because I wrote a book on it, but you know what? I am astonished by what I didn’t know then compared to what I know today. This past year has been especially illuminating thanks to the brilliance of smart marketers who are expanding and perfecting the lead-generation concepts I wrote about years ago. This year’s B2B Lead Roundtable webinars are testament to that. In February,…
 
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    HomeBiz Resource

  • Annoying Website Design Mistakes You Must Avoid

    GOBs972
    27 Jan 2012 | 5:30 am
    Some websites have horrible and awful designs that you may often encountered. Such situation actually makes you to shout. If it is certainly happens so you should never think that you are the only person of suffering this problem. Today a large number of users are using internet and almost every user is fed up with such irritated mistakes of website designers. It has been more than a decade that the complexity and density of websites is increased. However the technology has covered almost the every part of this world but still users have to face many unwanted mistakes in many websites. Such…

  • How to Boost Your SEM Using Keyword Research and Analysis

    GOBs972
    26 Jan 2012 | 7:36 pm
    SEM Keyword Research and Analysis Search Engine Marketing, hereafter referred to as SEM, consists of paid search results, which are known as adwords, and organic, which means specific key words and phrases. The latter are commonly referred to as Search Engine Optimization, hereafter referred to as SEO. In addition to SEOs and adwords, SEMs also use pay per click, hereafter referred to as PPC, advertising and article submissions in order to target specific markets and show up on the first page when and individual uses a search, mega and meta-search engines. As an example of how businesses…

  • Why Great Contents Need Great Promotion

    GOBs972
    26 Jan 2012 | 9:04 am
    Why great content need great promotion? To get all your articles read in the internet, you have to make articles that talk about hot topics at the present days. The content of the article should provide information which is tough to find. Best ways to look for some great content for the articles is by making good research. You have to read what the other writers write about and do online. You can also find offline research tips that will help you find a compelling content for the article. Here, let us talk about some tips on how you can have a great content and eventually acquire goods…

  • Seniors & Technology: Not So Slow to Adopt

    GOBs972
    26 Jan 2012 | 5:16 am
    Technology is not just for the young. Nearly 20 million people over the age of 65 are using the Internet, an increase of 55 percent over the last five years. Senior women are outpacing their male counterparts by about six percent in terms of regular Internet usage, although people over the age of 65 still make up less than ten percent of all active Internet users in the world. The numbers still show significant growth for a generation some younger users mistakenly think is not willing to accept or learn to use new technology. More Seniors Online A recent YouTube clip illustrates this point.

  • How to Choose the Type of Web Hosting You Need

    GOBs972
    25 Jan 2012 | 4:37 pm
    Navigating the waters of web hosting for the first time can be somewhat overwhelming. The number of web hosting companies alone can make the choice difficult. Couple that with all of the feature options, and you are left with a monumental task. For the moment, however, we will leave the matters of choosing a hosting company and hosting features to another day, and instead focus on the types of hosting that most web hosts typically offer. Those include shared hosting, virtual private servers (VPS), and dedicated servers. Shared Hosting A shared hosting account does just what the name implies.
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    Small Business Conversations on the Network Solutions Blog

  • How to Promote Your Content for Lead Generation

    Monika Jansen
    24 Jan 2012 | 2:58 pm
    Lead generation has long been an important task in marketing departments, but the strategy for developing qualified leads has changed dramatically in recent years. Consumers are spending more time researching products and services online before they become sales ready, but it’s still up to you to communicate with them as early as possible. Content marketing works [...]

  • 5 on Friday: On Tap with Social Media Marketing

    Debra Braschel
    20 Jan 2012 | 2:45 pm
    If you’re looking for ways to maximize your social media marketing efforts, then you’ll appreciate the insights in this week’s 5 on Friday. Our featured experts share marketing tips and consumer expectations that can help you engage more effectively with your social audience . . . and help your business get the bottom-line results you’re [...]

  • Eye on Marketing: Business-Building Tips from a Social Optometrist

    Debra Braschel
    18 Jan 2012 | 10:21 am
    In this video interview with Dr. Alan Glazier—owner and founder of the Shady Grove Eye & Vision Care practice in Rockville, Maryland; an inventor; and a Network Solutions customer—Shashi Bellamkonda asks the doctor about the social media marketing efforts that have helped to drive his business forward. Dr. Glazier shares insights on marketing his practice, [...]
 
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    Online Marketing Success Blog - Internet Riches - e-Riches 2.0 by Scott Fox

  • How to Improve Your Website (and Sales)

    Scott Fox, eRiches 2.0 and Internet Riches Author
    26 Jan 2012 | 3:49 pm
    Improving sales from your website isn't that hard, but only IF you know what to do. IF you know what's missing it's easy enough to change the design a bit, add some calls to action, upgrade your copywriting, or optimize your SEO.  These are all small changes that you can make to your site yourself, but only if you know where to start... But you're probably too close to your site, or maybe you don't have the training in design and usability and SEO that can help you upgrade your site to increase sales yourself. What can you learn from this Sample Expert Website Review…

  • Google Plus for Business by Chris Brogan - Video Book Review

    Scott Fox, eRiches 2.0 and Internet Riches Author
    18 Jan 2012 | 2:08 pm
    Google+ for Business Video Book Review: Google's new social network is a growing opportunity for you if you're looking to brand yourself online. For help getting started on G+, Chris Brogan has a new book about how to use Google+ for your business that I review and recommend in this video. [click here if you can't see the video or watch it on YouTube here] Google+ for Business – My Review of Chris Brogan's new book Google+ is the latest social network to threaten to change the world.  In fact, the sub-title of Chris Brogan's new book is "How Google's…

  • 8 Ways to Invest Your Time for Maximum Return this Holiday Week

    Scott Fox, eRiches 2.0 and Internet Riches Author
    21 Dec 2011 | 7:18 am
    It's going to be a quiet week.  Maybe you even have the week off from work. So what are you going to do? You won't be surprised if my suggestion is to invest some of that holiday free time in your online business, will you? The quiet time of the holidays is a great time to move your business forward.  You can take advantage of other people slowing down to accelerate your plans!  (Thanks to Chris Brogan for posting about this a couple of years ago to clue me in.) 8 Ways to Invest Your Time for Maximum Return this Week So, here are  small projects that you can do…

  • Exclusive ClickBank Interview: Making Money from Information Product Downloads (Free Podcast & Transcript)

    Scott Fox, eRiches 2.0 and Internet Riches Author
    20 Dec 2011 | 6:52 am
    Even with small niches you can make money by solving problems. The most profitable niches are often those that you would not find in the Yellow Pages. You make money by packaging up the story behind an obstacle you’ve overcome, that little technique you worked out to make your own life or office run better, that problem you helped your family fix - those sorts of solutions are what other people are looking for online.  And with the connectivity of the web, Google can deliver all those wannabe problem-solvers directly to your product sales pages. Learn Why Information Products are Easy…

  • Is the Internet BROKEN? E-commerce Website Redesign Video Advice

    Scott Fox, eRiches 2.0 and Internet Riches Author
    13 Dec 2011 | 6:52 am
    Broken. That's what many new e-commerce website owners think when their sites don't make them as much money as they hoped. But often the problem is not the Internet but the design of their websites.  For example, it's hard to make money online when your e-commerce store doesn't use an e-commerce website design.  Especially if your site is "too pretty" and doesn't use a typical e-commerce shop layout, customers may be distracted from buying anything at all! E-commerce Website Review Video - SiouxPottery.com These are some of the problems I found with a…
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    FreelanceFolder

  • Three Easy Tips to Help You Effectively Estimate Project Time

    Laura Spencer
    27 Jan 2012 | 7:50 am
    Do you know how much time your next project will take? As a freelancer, you should at least have an idea. If you’re freelancing, you must be able to effectively estimate the time each of your projects will take. If you can’t do this you won’t know how much to charge for your work or how to best schedule your time. Estimating is one of the core freelancing skills, yet it is one that many freelancers struggle with. If you have trouble in this area, you’re not alone. In this post, I’ll give you three easy tips to help you improve your estimating skills. I’ll…

  • How to Deal with the Unique Challenges That Freelancers Face

    Laura Spencer
    25 Jan 2012 | 9:40 am
    Sure, everyone faces some challenges from time to time. But, due to the unique nature of freelancing perhaps freelancers are a bit more susceptible to some challenges than others. If you’re properly prepared, though, you can handle most freelancing challenges that come your way while minimizing your stress. In this post, I’ll outline some of the common challenges that freelancers face. I’ll also discuss how to handle those challenges that are most unique to freelancing. Types of Challenges There are basically three common types of challenges that freelancers face: Personal…

  • Making Mondays Work for You

    Lexirodrigo
    23 Jan 2012 | 10:53 am
    Are you one of those people who always get the Monday Blues? Do you have to drag yourself out of bed? Do you feel sluggish and unmotivated all day Monday? And does every thing seem to go wrong on this day? The Monday blues are common. In fact, a study by the firm Mercer found that 35% of all sick leave is taken on a Monday. In another study, more than 25% of people surveyed said the thought of going back to work on Monday morning was enough to ruin their weekend. These studies were done among employees, and you’re a freelancer. But I’ll bet if you could take Mondays off, you…

  • How to Set Personal Boundaries When You Work From Home

    Laura Spencer
    20 Jan 2012 | 10:41 am
    Do you crave a balance between your work and your personal life? Most freelancers do, but the challenges of working from home can sometimes make life/work balance seem unattainable. You may feel like you are constantly being pulled towards both family and work commitments–a bit like being in the middle of a tug-of-war. One answer that can help you achieve better balance between your work and personal life is boundaries. In this post, I’ll explain how boundaries help freelancers. I’ll also list some of the areas where you should consider establishing boundaries in your own…

  • How to Find and Apply Vision to Your Freelancing Business

    Lexirodrigo
    18 Jan 2012 | 10:49 am
    Fortune 500 companies, non-profits and other “serious” businesses have them. Should your freelancing business have one too? A vision, that is. A vision is simply a statement (several paragraphs, actually) of where you’d like your business to be in the next x number of years. Apparently, a vision is really good for any business, including yours. The Benefits of Having a Vision A vision helps you plan ahead. It provides a compass with which you can direct your freelancing business. Without a vision, you wouldn’t have anything to guide you in making decisions. Outside…
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    The Global Small Business Blog

  • Ever Thought About Going Global?

    27 Jan 2012 | 8:19 am
    In case you have been living in a cave, stretch, dust yourself off and come out into the light (the living).Read:  Small Business Ideas for 2012:  Why Not Go Global?Posted by:  The Global Small Business Blog

  • The Good and Bad About Globalization

    26 Jan 2012 | 4:14 am
    What's the impact globalization has on our world?It is true that the impact of globalization is visible and affects largely the politics and the economy of the country but its effect on the mindset and the culture is noticeable gradually in the way people think and react. It's like the Iceberg theory wherein what we do and say are at the tip and what we think and believe is at the base. The base is not visible but manifestations at the top are conspicuous. It applies here as well where people do not change abruptly but may be after a decade the change starts showing and seems radical.Learn…

  • Economic Success Is Dependent Upon Global Collaboration

    25 Jan 2012 | 6:03 am
    That's what former President Bill Clinton says.Delivering the keynote address at the 101st National Retail Federation Big Show, former President Bill Clinton did not shy away from the challenges that businesses face in this economy. In his speech, entitled "Embracing Our Common Humanity," Clinton spoke about the inequality, instability and unsustainable way of life which makes up the world today.Learn more here.

  • Researching Your Export Markets

    24 Jan 2012 | 7:08 am
    Check out the first-part of a six-part course on global trade Wednesday at the Rabobank Regional Business Center.The three-hour session, “Researching Your Export Markets,” starts at 8 a.m. in the center that serves as headquarters for Coachella Valley Economic Partnership and the iHUB, 3111 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way, Palm Springs, California, 92262.Learn more here.Illustration credit:  RRBC Facebook

  • What To Do During An Internet Blackout

    23 Jan 2012 | 7:02 am
    Creative America, the entertainment community united against content theft, will tell you what to do during an Internet blackout.  Learn more here and be sure to spread the word.Illustration:  Creative America logo
 
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    Custom Software

  • Act: Confirm your kill - Business intelligence with military tactics

    Software Expert
    20 Jan 2012 | 8:36 am
    The most important aspect of taking action is tracing the follow-through, measuring the result and then creating an efficient and effective feedback loop. With faster feedback come faster observations, faster orientation, faster decisions and faster action; in short a faster OODA loop. The faster you can make intelligent decisions the better positioned your company will be to compete. Keep a tight, documented connection between actions and consequences, and then keep that data in front of decision makers in actionable form.   As referenced in my previous post, “We react to…

  • Decide: Your most courageous decisions are your most informed.

    Software Expert
    16 Dec 2011 | 10:21 am
    "We react to what's in front of us, whether it truly matters or not." Tony Schwartz, Harvard Business Review Blog Know what is most important, and keep that front and center at all times. Your success comes from being one step ahead of the competition and, at the same time, being prepared to react to changing circumstances. Well-informed and agile decisions are essential to your leadership and your team’s success. How do you split your time between two areas of your business that are not performing well? What should be the top priority for your scarce resource?

  • Orient: Don't fly blind - Your data at-a-glance and flagged for action with SharePoint 2010

    Laura ten Bloemendal
    9 Dec 2011 | 8:31 am
    You’re busy. The faster you can make informed decisions, the better. Every moment you spend poring over charts and numbers is a moment that could have gone to changing your business for the better. Even with the absolute best data available, if it’s not in a form that gives you immediate insight into what to do, you are losing valuable time. You should always know exactly where to get the latest, best information. And that data should immediately guide a decision. Situational awareness drives decisions that mean the life or death of your business. A good dashboard is essential to…

  • Observe: Good Data = Good Decisions - Beat the competition with Custom Applications and SharePoint 2010

    Laura ten Bloemendal
    28 Nov 2011 | 9:15 am
    If you look at the way you gather and maintain information about your business, and it involves multiple users entering data by hand, a complicated excel sheet with variants owned by different people, or a highly trained engineer chugging through data for days to create a report, then you could get better quality data faster. Your competition probably already is. In our last post we talked about how to compete in the fast-paced energy market by making faster, better decisions all the way down the line. With our own Air Force captain on staff, we look at speeding up and improving your…

  • Decision Making Optimization – An Air Force Perspective on Custom Software and SharePoint Consulting

    Laura ten Bloemendal
    22 Nov 2011 | 3:24 pm
      Fast, good decisions can make or break your company. If you don’t have actionable data all the way down the line, then your business processes are inefficient, and you are losing money. Your company needs to get the right data to the right people, at the right time and in the right form. Make good decisions from the field to the corner office by keeping the flow of information both accurate and accessible for the people who need it. We get a lot of inquiries from people who are either running out of time or running out of money, because they are spending huge amounts of man…
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    Art Biz Blog

  • 19 Art Documentaries You Shouldn’t Miss

    Alyson Stanfield
    27 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am
    With so many good documentaries about art available, it’s time to update my list. Add them to your queue, watch them online when you can, or find clips on YouTube. These are too good to miss. Tops on My List The PBS series art: 21. A pioneering series on artists making art today. Don’t miss a single episode. How to Draw a Bunny  – The mysterious art, life, death of Ray Johnson. I haven’t seen it in a long while, but it made an impact and is still at the top of my list. The Woodmans – I watched this in 2011 and had to move it toward the top of the list. The…

  • If Everyone is an Artist

    Alyson Stanfield
    26 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am
    Joseph Beuys famously said “Everyone is an artist,” referring to his belief in a universal human creativity and the power of art to bring about revolutionary change. Beuys Felt TV performance. Photo by Lothar Wolleh. Lately, many thinkers have been using the word “artist” to describe someone who acts as a force of change – who does something different to shake up the status quo and make us look at life and work in new ways. Read Seth Godin’s definition of art. Read his book Linchpin to see how he uses “artist.” Godin is so influential (I am a…

  • 15 Steps to Take After Completing Your Artwork

    Alyson Stanfield
    25 Jan 2012 | 4:00 am
    On the heels of last week’s post about the importance of systems link to last week, here’s a system framework inspired by a question from Kerry Thompson. What do you do after you’ve finished a work? ©2011 Kerry Thompson, Café Friends Nursery. Acrylic on cotton canvas, 61 x 77 centimeters Finish the Details The work shouldn’t be considered complete until you do the following with the physical piece. Sign it!
 Sign your art wherever you can, and however you do it best. Add the date on the front, back, or underneath – where and when it’s appropriate for your medium. 
Many…

  • You Are in Charge

    Alyson Stanfield
    23 Jan 2012 | 9:21 am
    There are six principles of no-excuse art marketing that guide my teaching and my book. The first principle, I believe, is the most important. It states: You are in charge of your career. You have control over words, prices, artwork, and your image. People will take as much from you as you give them, so guard this power to remain in charge of your destiny. Accept 100% responsibility for your actions and make no excuses. It might seem as though your power is in the hands of galleries, curators, granting agencies, collectors . . . anyone but you! But all of these people have only as much power…

  • Twitter Tweekly via @abstanfield

    Alyson Stanfield
    22 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am
    #Photographers How important are the national portfolio reviews? What do they do for your career/biz? .@wtek challenges all #artists to make a bowl on Super Bowl Sunday – 2/5. Accept? hammermarks.wordpress.com/super-bowl-cha… Holy Cow! How to Succeed at Selling to a Niche Market twrt.me/2216b2 via @ArtsyShark Physical media has stronger emotional impact than e-marketing ow.ly/8q3RR via @marciasmantras How to use Pinterest in your art marketing via @meganauman ow.ly/8pNdY Got your G+ vanity URL yet? ow.ly/8vb0E It looks like this: gplus.to/abstanfield Amazing intvw re de Kooning show.
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    Meryl's Notes Blog at meryl.net by Writer Meryl K. Evans

  • The Joy of a Good Verb

    meryl
    24 Jan 2012 | 9:50 am
    Welcome to meryl’s notes blog (this here place you’re lookin’ at) in Plano, Texas. We’re honored to be a stop in Pesi Dinnerstein’s WOW! Women On Writing Blog tour. We’re giving away a copy of A Cluttered Life: Searching for God, Serenity, and My Missing Keys! [affiliate] Read on to see how you can win. About Pesi Dinnerstein: Pesi Dinnerstein (a.k.a. Paulette Plonchak) has written selections for the best-selling series Small Miracles, by Yitta Halberstam and Judith Leventhal, and has contributed to several textbooks and an anthology of short stories.

  • Assumptions

    meryl
    19 Jan 2012 | 9:39 am
    One Halloween while helping my mom pass out candy, I saw a kid in a cute Bugs Bunny costume. The costume was made out of nice material instead of the weird smelling plastic mask and the stiff vinyl bodysuit. See Exhibit A for an lovely example of a vinyl Darth Vader costume. What’s up with my reaction in the photo? I wasn’t happy someone took my picture before I could get my mask on. I can’t recall exactly how the cute Bugs Bunny costume looked except that it wasn’t the vinyl most of us wore those days unless we were lucky enough to have a parent who could sew or pull…

  • Is a Blog Right for Your Business Update

    meryl
    11 Jan 2012 | 8:50 am
    Image from sxc.hu user typofi Although I wrote Is a Blog Right for Your Business? in 2007, people still mention the article or contact me with questions after reading it. Blogging has changed a lot since then, but one paragraph remains true. Some people like to read blogs, others like to read newsletters, still others like to rely on feeds and some read a few or all of them. No matter the method the information is distributed, each medium has one thing in common: content. Having a blog connects your newsletter, your website and your business with all of these readers. More people probably ask…

  • One Wrong Way to Get Business

    meryl
    3 Jan 2012 | 3:44 pm
    Michelle Rafter posted a letter of introduction (LOI) from a writer who took an ego trip. Instead of an ego trip, I heard from an accountant who must be taking a trip to find blockhead clients. The email introduction implies she thinks writers don’t have business sense. The email makes a bad first impression coming from a free email service provider using “free_lancer01″ in the address and “abc efg” in the display name. (Maybe the “D” key didn’t work.) Not only that, but she sent it to two others, one of which was someone I knew. Here’s…

  • Is Content Finally Getting Respect?

    meryl
    29 Dec 2011 | 9:27 am
    After a successful four-city tour, Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs returned for three-city encore tour. The Dallas Museum of Art was one of those stops. I received an email from my cousins in Austins who planned to come to town for the exhibition. We set it up, reserved the tickets and had a memorable experience. (Yes, I remember my sons complaining. This cropped photo had my family, but only my daughter and husband cooperated.) It had been over eight years since I last visited the museum for the Georgia O’Keeffe exhibition. When I finally visited Modern Art Museum of…
 
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    Capital Solutions Bancorp Blog

  • Avoid Tax Time Headaches with These Record Keeping Tips

    Capital Solutions Bancorp
    23 Jan 2012 | 8:33 am
    Many small business owners fear the thought of an audit. However, you don't have to quake in your boots as much if you keep thorough and organized bookkeeping records. The number one rule for bookkeeping: Have a record for everything that flows in and out of your business. You'll be prepared to answer any auditing questions and provide the required paperwork when billed for additional tax.read more

  • 9 Things You Can Do to Be More Successful in Business

    Capital Solutions Bancorp
    4 Jan 2012 | 11:07 am
    Most of us hope for a happy New Year. But what does that mean when it comes to business? For most, it's a year without problems. We both know that isn't going to happen. Problems are part of business. The sooner we accept that, we faster we can focus on getting better at what we do.read more

  • The Best and Cheapest Way to Beat the Competition

    Capital Solutions Bancorp
    30 Dec 2011 | 11:45 am
    Four words: make your customers happy. That's it. Your customers already know you, which puts you ahead of everyone. However, they will leave if your customer service suffers, your prices fall out of alignment with the industry or your product / service fails to do what customers need. You maximize the acquisition cost for your current customers by keeping clients for another month. The longer you keep customers past the break-even point of acquisition, the greater the profit.read more

  • Lower Your Year-End Tax Bill

    Capital Solutions Bancorp
    28 Dec 2011 | 10:12 am
    As we reach the end of year, some small businesses are scrambling to find ways to lower their tax bills. Here's a roundup of articles on how to save on your taxes.read more

  • Grow Your Business: Top 10 Posts of 2011

    Capital Solutions Bancorp
    22 Dec 2011 | 12:19 pm
    How did your business do in 2011? Did you grow? Stay the same? Staying the same in 2011 is almost as good as growing in 2010. Based on conversations, many successful companies that grew every year reported seeing no growth this year. Regardless of what happened in 2011, you have a clean slate and these top 10 posts will help you grow in 2012.read more
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    survivalware.wordpress.com

  • Winning at the Game of Business: Financial Management as a Competitive Weapon

    survivalware
    19 Jan 2012 | 10:55 am
    This is a free webinar coming up in a week.  I think’s it going to be a good one.  Here’s the announcement from SurvivalWare describing the webinar, and a link to register if you’d like to attend.  (In the interests of full disclosure, I am one of the presenters).         Philip Campbell, author of ”Never Run Out of Cash” kicks off the presentation with some sound advice about how to whip your company’s finances into shape.  He preaches the virtues of a Monthly Confidence Package for investors, lenders, and key members of your…

  • 10 Most Common Startup Mistakes

    survivalware
    9 Jan 2012 | 3:45 pm
    Nick ran across this one in the Huffington Post Small Business America.  I think I’ve made all 10 – some more than once.  Interesting enough, the Number 1 Startup mistake is “Ignoring That Cash Flow is Blood.”  We at SurvivalWare couldn’t agree more! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christopher-hytry-derrington/10-of-the-most-stupid-mis_b_784522.html#s184077 Check out this video from Philip Campbell – his 4 simple rules for building Cash Flow projections you can trust: Philip Campbell’s 4 Simple Rules for how to create cash flow projections

  • A Brighter Future – Maybe

    survivalware
    29 Dec 2011 | 3:15 pm
    This was the title of an Article in today’s Wall Street Journal in the Small Business section (page B5 of the print edition).           Some interesting tidbits: They estimate the number of American small businesses at nearly 30 million.  There are a lot of us out there! Companies loosen their purse strings – a little: Many of the outlays will be geared toward improving sales without hurting cash flow.  That means investing in technology to reduce overhead, and increasing productivity through work-force training and development.. Sounds to me like there…

  • Career Bureaucrats at OMB Analyze Loan Deals for DOE

    survivalware
    23 Dec 2011 | 9:54 am
    This was meant to be published in September.  At the end of the day, not too surprising an outcome. Solyndra is still in the news as a congressional committee holds hearings into how such a thing could happen.  The last line in an article that appeared in today’s Washington Post (“Lawmakers assail Solyndra loan decision – Administration officials defend efforts to rescue failing solor company” pg A15, 9/15/2011) gives a clue.  “At the end of the day, OMB staff used their best expetise.” The way the process works for the $38.6 billion loan guarantee…

  • What is Financial Modeling?

    survivalware
    19 Dec 2011 | 2:38 pm
    Definition of Financial Modeling  Wikipedia defines financial modeling as the task of building an abstract representation (a model) of a financial decision making situation.  I prefer a more inclusive definition:  financial modeling is the task of building a financial model, or the process of using a financial model for financial decision making and analysis.  I would agree that a financial model is an abstract representation of a financial decision making situation.  By abstract representation, we really mean a mathematical model, and to be practical, a computer based mathematical…
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    Biz Crusader

  • Focus on what you can control in 2012.

    John Park
    2 Jan 2012 | 12:36 pm
    Movie ticket sales hit a 16-year low in 2011. The theater industry attributes higher prices and the prevalence of new platforms to view movies.   I certainly believe this is true and I am certain that these factors played a key role.   However, I was surprised to learn that the industry did not mention what role customer service may have played in this outcome. To be specific, I am referring to the lack of or declining customer service in movie theaters. Civilized decorum and the almost cliche concept of “Silence is Golden” has become increasingly absent in the theaters.

  • Words cannot describe this man’s achievements.

    John Park
    5 Oct 2011 | 8:40 pm
    Steve Jobs died today. I did not know him. I’ve never met him. And yet, I find myself profoundly sad about his death. It’s hard to find the words. There’s too much to say. I know many will try. I am just one of billions he has made an impression on through his innovation and technology. He changed my life for the better. As a businessman, I can’t thank him enough. Rest in peace Mr. Jobs. You did well in your short 56 years. Thank you!

  • It’s Dying. Accept it.

    John Park
    2 Oct 2011 | 1:45 pm
        I just received a Groupon email letting me know that I could subscribe to Vogue for $8.  If I took advantage of this offer, I would receive in the mail 12 beautiful, full color issues of Vogue for just $8.  After Groupon takes their 50%, Vogue gets $4.   A few months back, I visited the web site of a notable advertising industry publication.  To subscribe, I would have to pay over $50 a year.  I passed.  Instead, I just decided to opt in to their email newsletter.  About a week ago, I started to receive the physical copy of the publication in the mail for free.  I didn’t…

  • Should we prevent failure at any cost?

    John Park
    1 Oct 2011 | 10:42 am
    During my life, I have learned quite a bit from failure.  I consider these invaluable life lessons that have made me better. Is society working too hard to prevent failure? Corporate bailouts. Trophies for every kid at the end of a losing season. Countries borrowing to save entitlements. Living with Mom and Dad forever… What lessons are to be learned if we prevent failure at any cost?

  • Who Feeds Your Children? Who Can Feed Your Children?

    John Park
    25 Sep 2011 | 1:54 pm
    I have business executives asking me all the time about time management and priorities.  As a business executive myself, believe me when I tell you that this is something I am working on as well. Having said that, here is how I try to prioritize my to do list on a daily basis. FIRST:  Take care of everyone that feeds you and your children.  (existing clients and customers) SECOND:  Take care of everyone that can potentially feed you and your children.  (sales and prospects) THIRD:  Everything else. Don’t have children?  Substitute with anything or anyone that is of great value to…
 
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    Connie Bensen

  • You’re Invited to Celebrate Community Manager Appreciation Day with us! #CMAD

    conniebensen@gmail.com (Connie Bensen)
    18 Jan 2012 | 10:57 pm
    When I say that it’s the third annual Community Manager Appreciation Day … they look at me like Really? REALLY?!!! Yes, really! And the question is, who started that? My answer, Jeremiah Owyang did. (with a straight face). And I believe that we should have a day! It’s not a Hallmark recognized day yet, but organizations should appreciate these committed people who tirelessly work to make things better externally and internally. It’s not easy job! So, I pondered what could I do for everyone? Last week I was in a meeting listening to Susan Beebe brief us on the Google+ Hangout that Dell…

  • Community Manager Training Course

    conniebensen@gmail.com (Connie Bensen)
    23 Dec 2011 | 12:26 am
    It’s been exciting to see the evolution of the Community Manager role and how it is becoming mainstream across organizations ranging from start-ups to the Fortune 50 and with no matter as to profit or non-profit. People have been avidly interested in pursuing this type of role and want to know how they can gain the necessary skills. Back in June of 2008 I offered 2 training programs to meet that need. It went great until I got sucked into the tech startup world and social media monitoring. Since then I have continued to mentor and scale the reach here through my blog. Periodically people…

  • Put Some Bling in Your Blog for Improved SEO

    conniebensen@gmail.com (Connie Bensen)
    16 Sep 2011 | 7:44 pm
    Whenever I get a request to speak, I’m always humbled and honored by the invitation. But when I found out that the audience was crafters, I was thrilled because this is the very group that I was part of when I started on the path to my present career. I thoroughly enjoyed creating a niche community at DigiScrapInfo.com for digital scrapbookers to assist them in organizing their supplies & photos. For three years I translated digital marketing techniques for this very passionate group of entrepreneurs that are also busy moms and grandmas. Jess from BlogHer had requested a class on…

  • Next Stop – Community Strategist Role @Dell

    conniebensen@gmail.com (Connie Bensen)
    26 Aug 2011 | 8:48 pm
    Last week I tweeted this photo of my car being loaded on a truck destined for my next social engagement. On Monday, August 29th, I will start the next chapter in my career. I will be joining forces with Bill Johnston and the global community team at Dell in a new role as Sr. Manager, Community Strategy and Execution. Needless to say, I am very excited to be joining a team and company that is committed to becoming a social business. In looking back, this appears to be a natural next step. Long ago (around 2008) I had a conversation with Sean McDonald and we pondered how to evolve the benefits…

  • 7 Tips to Improve Measuring Your Social Media Marketing Efforts

    conniebensen@gmail.com (Connie Bensen)
    3 Jul 2011 | 6:41 pm
    Marketing Sherpa recently published an article on improving Facebook measurement tactics. Adam Sutton included a number of quotes in which I was speaking in a general context beyond Facebook. Here are the tactics and how I see them being applied to social media marketing in general across all channels: Need to start with concrete goals & tactics Before you decide on metrics, it’s imperative that you decide on the objective. In creating the strategy, then it will be necessary to outline the goals and tactics required to achieve them. The goals will be tied to business objectives and…
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    Dawud Miracle @ dmiracle.com

  • Why You Want Your Business To Forever Be Unfinished

    Dawud Miracle
    17 Jan 2012 | 7:38 am
    I want to share a business secret with you. It’s a secret that you may know already – a least mentally. Yet it’s a secret that often separates highly successful businesses from the less successful ones. Are you ready? Okay… No matter how well developed your business is; no matter how many years you’ve been doing it, how many customers you’ve served, how much money you’re making – your business will forever be a work in progress. I heard this years ago from a colleague and fluffed it off with the usual, “yeah, of course!” But I was…

  • How Do You Measure Success…and Why You Should

    Dawud Miracle
    7 Jan 2012 | 11:38 pm
    How do you define success in your business? It’s a question I ask every client – and most of the prospects I ever speak with. The interesting thing for me is how often the people I speak with don’t have a specific answer. Sure, we can come up with just about anything on the fly. Yet it’s not difficult to tell the difference between established, well-thought-through business goals and those that we sort of find when we need to talk about such things. Having a way to measure the success of your business, however, is one of the most vital parts of running a business. It…

  • Small Business Owner: Do You Know When To Ask For Help?

    Dawud Miracle
    19 Dec 2011 | 3:10 pm
    I’ve always been a do-it-yourselfer. I’ve taught myself a great many things by taking this attitude. When I bought my first house, I completely gutted it – down to the timbers in most rooms. In other places, we removed and moved walls. For instance, I created a large, walk-in closet in our huge bedroom where there was once a little coat room. When it came to moving plumbing, rerouting and adding electrical, drywall, replacing subfloor, moving my toilets and bathtub drains – I basically did it all. And in most cases, I took to each project never having done it before.

  • Why You Need To Invest In Your Business

    Dawud Miracle
    12 Nov 2011 | 11:22 am
    Are you investing in your business? I’m not just talking about time. Of course you’re investing time, right? If you’re not, then you’re likely not very successful. But what about money? Are you investing money into your business? Over the past decade, I’ve worked with hundreds of small and medium-size business owners. Some have been startups with funding while others have had large marketing and PR budgets. But I’m not talking about those businesses. I’m talking about small business owners. I’m talking about corporate trainers, business and…

  • Small Business Advice: Are You Enlightened?

    Dawud Miracle
    28 Sep 2011 | 12:17 pm
    I was reading from Lao-tzu’s Tao Te Ching last night when I ran across an interesting quote: He who knows others is wise; He who knows himself is enlightened. The passage made me stop and contemplate my own life. How well do I know myself? I went down that path for a bit of time; looking at my aspects and considering what I might be blind about. Naturally, I soon turned to business. I thought about how much of marketing is focused on the consumer or the client. I wondered what I might learn about my business if I applied Lao-tzu’s words to marketing. So I rewrote the passage to…
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    Infused Web | Print | Design

  • How To Create A Custom URL For Your Facebook Page

    admin
    20 Jan 2012 | 2:08 pm
    If you have created a Facebook Page for your business, you want to make sure you set up a custom (vanity) URL for your page. The custom URL that you create has the potential to shorten the long-ended default URL such as “facebook.com/pages/business-name/123456780/….” that is auto-generated when you initially create your business page. For branding purposes, it is best to create a short URL that matches your business name and you’ll want to avoid lengthy URL’s if possible. The goal is to match the custom URL with your business identity to make it easily remembered…

  • Launching It Out of the Park with Diamond Pro Athletics Website & Social Web Presence

    admin
    2 Nov 2011 | 2:41 pm
    Along with the recent opening of its new Professional Indoor Baseball and Softball Training Facility, Diamond Pro Athletics located in Lutz, FL (just to the northwest side of Tampa), has launched it out of the park by teaming up with Infused Web for its new identity, website and social web presence. Diamond Pro Athletics features Professional Instruction, Group Combines, and After-School baseball and softball sports programs for the serious athlete conducted by instructors with Big League, Minor and College level experience. Former Big Leaguers on the Diamond Pro Instructor roster include…
 
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    The AppGap

  • My Lotusphere 2012 Notes: Summary Listing of All Posts

    Bill Ives
    25 Jan 2012 | 2:50 am
    Here is a listing of my notes on Lotusphere 2012 that have been posted so far. I was very pleased to be back again after last year with support from IBM. I have a few more to do and will add them to this list rather than do a new post. Here is a complete listing of my notes from last year’s Lotusphere 2011. Lotusphere 2012 Notes: Opening Session Lotusphere 2012 Notes: Monday Morning Press Q&A Lotusphere 2012 Notes: Mobile, Bring Your Own Device Lotusphere 2012 Notes: IBM as a Social Business Lotusphere 2012 Notes: Customer Conversation – Russell’s Lotusphere 2012 Notes: Opening…

  • Lotusphere 2012 Notes: Innovation Lab Tour

    Bill Ives
    19 Jan 2012 | 9:45 am
    This is another in a series of my notes on Lotusphere 2012. I am very pleased to be back again after last year with support from IBM. These notes cover the “Innovation Lab Tour,” hosted by Irene Greif, IBM Fellow and Director, IBM Center for Social Business. I was impressed by the extensive set of projects displayed. I have seen the innovation lab on several occasions on site and thought that was the strongest set so far. Here are some of the highlights. These are less than half of what I saw but these are the ones I had the most personal interest in.  I am going to do a longer follow up…

  • Lotusphere 2012 Notes: IBM as a Social Business

    Bill Ives
    16 Jan 2012 | 1:22 pm
    This is another in a series of my notes on Lotusphere 2012. I am very pleased to be back again after last year. These notes cover the Monday session at IBM Connect, IBM as Social Business with Carl Sormilic and Mark Heid from the CIO office. Carol Sormilic, a VP in the CIO office at IBM spoke first. Carol is part of Business Transformation and It within IBM.  She is responsible for HR related tools and the tools for employees to do their jobs, such as collaboration tools. She lived in Southberry CT and worked there but now has been working in China for the past year.  The Connecticut…

  • JackBe Presto Takes Self-Service Business Intelligence Mobile

    Bill Ives
    9 Jan 2012 | 2:14 am
    I have covered JackBe several times and watched their evolution from a mashup provider to using their technology to support a new wave of business intelligence (see for example, JackBe’s Presto provides Real-Time Intelligence with a Focus on the Business User). What originally started as an enterprise mashup platform has now evolved into a real-time business intelligence platform that connects directly to live data sources and delivers information through Enterprise Apps and Dashboards as needed by business users. I recently spoke with Chris Warner, VP of Marketing and John Crupi, their…

  • SpringCM Offers Enhanced Support for Salesforce.com and Enhances Its Mobile Capabilities

    Bill Ives
    2 Jan 2012 | 3:43 am
    SpringCM provides a cloud based enterprise content management platform. It was founded in 2005 and I have covered it before on this blog (see SpringCM Goes Beyond Content Management). I recently spoke with Roger Bottum of SpringCM on their latest moves. SpringCM is set up to put content into the work process. They are also putting content wherever you need it with an enhanced mobile capability that now includes a version specifically designed for the iPad. This is a smart move as mobile enterprise apps are now on the rise with tablets and smart phones passing desktops and laptops in usage.
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    Rise of the Innerpreneur

  • Michelle Currie: Janaury 2012 Innerpreneur Spotlight

    Tara Joyce
    27 Jan 2012 | 6:31 am
    Michelle Currie Meditative Drumming Teacher Meditative Arts Follow Michelle on Twitter | Become Meditiative Art’s Fan on Facebook I am: a Science nerd perfectionist turned meditative drum chick! My passion is for: Coming up with innovative ways to play big, lead from the heart, live fearlessly, and weave mind-body-spirit together. My business helps you: to think less and breathe more through African drumming and mindfulness. My biggest challenge is: Negotiating with the workaholic part of my personality! I make a difference by: Aligning you with your inner rhythm(s) in order to live a…

  • Talking About… Pricing From Personal Conviction

    Tara Joyce
    25 Jan 2012 | 12:42 pm
    Months ago, my dear friend Adam King and I sat down to talk. We’ve been having these skype talks for years now, sharing candidly with each other our expansion in life and business. The last time we sat down to chat however, Adam had an agenda. He wanted to interview me and talk more in-depth about Pay-What-It’s-Worth (Value) pricing for a project of his. It’s a topic that we have explored together many times over the years and I was excited for the conversation. Adam has recently published a book called The Year of Zen, through which he shares his learnings and expansion,…

  • Asking My Mentor About… Nourishing My Body

    Tara Joyce
    23 Jan 2012 | 11:49 am
    This is the fifth installment of Christine and my Peer-to-Peer Mentoring series. On her blog, I answered her question: “Currently I keep an updated CV on file. While I’m proud of my profile and professional history, I’d like to put together a jazzed up version. I’m thinking of doing a website resume- what are your thoughts on the effectiveness of this plan and how would you proceed creatively?“ My Question to My Mentor: “While I love how focused I am on my work, I often find that my focus is so focused that I forget to eat. I am healthy and well-nourished…

  • What Was/What Is/Looking Forward

    Tara Joyce
    2 Jan 2012 | 4:50 pm
    As the new year unfolds before me, I’ve spent time reflecting on the year that passed, and how I will grow in 2012. What was in 2011… What were some of your favourite moments? Being with Daniel (my husband) looking out over the lights of downtown Toronto from 50 stories up while a snow storm blew outside Meeting Jack (my dog) for the first time Taking Jack to the park for the first time Signing my first car lease Landing on Big Island (Hawaii) What challenged you? My confidence Being a true partner Not caretaking My performance anxiety Being a loving and supportive to myself Breaking…

  • Joyeuses fêtes à tous!

    Tara Joyce
    24 Dec 2011 | 12:23 pm
    Thank you for your love and support this year! all my love, Other articles that might tickle your fancy: What Was/What Is/Looking Forward A Magical Time of Year Getting Closer to the Truth of Me The 2 Determinants and Derailers of Your Business Success Give to Haiti What is Yours On Loan Be my fan on Facebook and learn more about the book I've started writing on Pay-What-It's-Worth-Pricing.
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    WordPress.com News

  • Chrome Users: Try the WordPress.com Extension

    Christopher Finke
    27 Jan 2012 | 1:54 pm
    Want to receive WordPress.com notifications instantly, even when you’re not on WordPress.com? Add the new WordPress.com extension for Chrome and as soon as you get a new follower or a new like on one of your posts, a notification will appear in your browser: Simply click the icon to view your latest WordPress.com notifications: Start following new blogs without visiting WordPress.com The Chrome extension also makes it easy to follow sites from your WordPress.com account by displaying a Follow button whenever you’re browsing a site that has an RSS feed. Clicking the Follow button…

  • Your Stats Have a New Home

    Andy Skelton
    26 Jan 2012 | 10:46 am
    Are you addicted to checking your site stats? You are not alone. The stats dashboard has always been one of the most popular admin screens. It’s gratifying to know that people are visiting your place online. With the WordPress.com front page evolving into a one-stop shop for posting, exploring, following and reading blogs, it seemed natural to put your blog stats there, too.  Stats are becoming more and more about interacting with your readers and other bloggers. You’ll still see your summary stats and chart on your main dashboard, and the full stats page in your dashboard will…

  • Reblogging is Back!

    Erica Johnson
    22 Jan 2012 | 1:27 pm
    As we mentioned last week, you can like and reblog posts directly from your reader, which displays a stream of all the updates published on all the blogs you follow from your WordPress.com account. We’ve also brought the reblog button back to the toolbar that appears at the top of the screen when you’re logged into WordPress.com. Note that you’ll only see the like and reblog options while you’re looking at individual posts. For example, you’ll see this on the left side of your toolbar while viewing http://en.blog.wordpress.com/2012/01/20/read-blogs: And your…

  • New Theme: Newsy

    Philip Arthur Moore
    20 Jan 2012 | 12:18 pm
    It’s been an extra big week in the news ’round these parts, so much so that the launch announcement of our latest premium theme seems like an extra extra good way to headline our Friday. Newsy is a versatile business and news-friendly theme that offers up to ten different layouts, four footer columns, custom link and accent colors, and a custom site header. Brand and content-focused editorial teams will love publishing with this theme. Newsy: Home Page Designed by Themify, Newsy comes with an impressive set of Theme Options that afford you a great deal of flexibility with how you…

  • Read All Your Favorite Blogs in One Place

    Erica Johnson
    19 Jan 2012 | 6:04 pm
    If you feel like it’s a chore to keep up with all your favorite blogs, you can now read posts from all the blogs you follow (even the ones that aren’t on WordPress.com!) in one convenient place on the WordPress.com home page: Your reader displays all the posts across all the blogs you follow in the order they were published, with the most recent content appearing at the top. You’ll see an excerpt of the introduction to each post, the first image in the post, and thumbnails of any other images that the post contains. You can even like and reblog WordPress.com content directly…
 
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    The Entrepreneurial Mind

  • Some Trends for 2012

    25 Jan 2012 | 9:43 am
    So what can small businesses expect for 2012? My general advise continues to be cautious!  While we are seeing some of the small business surveys showing optimism increasing and more importantly employment improving slightly, I worry that we have been lulled into a mode of thinking that the worst is over.I believe that we are simply in the eye of the storm.  I hope that the storm is dissipating, but I fear that the back wall of the eye will hit us sometime later this year.  It may come as a result of the European debt crisis or it may come as a result of the looming Chinese…

  • Luck and Serendipity

    16 Jan 2012 | 5:36 am
    While entrepreneurial success is tied to careful feasibility assessment, business modeling and planning, never underestimate the role that luck plays in an entrepreneurial journey.I am not suggesting that aspiring entrepreneurs just sit and wait for an opportunity to come to them like a bolt of lightning out of the blue. As the Roman philosopher Seneca pointed out long ago, luck is the crossroad of preparation and opportunity.Preparation comes from the development of what I call the process skills.Entrepreneurs have a better chance of success if they learn fundamental business skills, such as…

  • More Money is not Always a Good Thing

    2 Jan 2012 | 9:09 am
    One of the biggest mistakes I made during my days as an entrepreneur was raising too much money.Because our business was successful, we had investors eager to offer us money. But by taking money when we really did not need it, we found that it created more problems than benefits.When taking money from outside investors, you give up part of the control over your business."One of the reasons most people start a company is so they don't have a boss," says Jake Jorgovan, co-founder of Rabbit Hole Creative, a high-tech graphics and marketing firm. "If you take out funding, then you have an…

  • Some Lessons from 2011

    29 Dec 2011 | 5:49 am
    Jeff Wuorio shares a collection of 2011 lessons learned from various entrepreneurs that he posted at Business on Main.Here are two of my favorites:"The biggest lesson I learned in 2011 was for our business to question our beliefs. We all have preconceptions about what our customers want, how best to market to them, how best to support them and so on. But if we set aside those preconceptions and brainstorm new solutions, we can come up with unexpectedly good new ideas."-- Michael Kaiser-Nyman, Impact Dialing"I've learned this year not to take on too much work. I have an 18-month-old little boy…

  • Taking on the Big Boxes

    27 Dec 2011 | 10:02 am
    Don't think you can win taking on the big box retailers?  See how the Toy House in Jackson, Michigan has found a way to compete and hold off the category killer at this video clip from Business on Main.  Note that the key is finding a different value proposition than the big box retailers that customers find to be one that trumps simply slashing prices.
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    The Small Business Watchdog

  • Amid Regulations Debate, White House Seeks Cuts

    egulbran
    26 Jan 2012 | 10:35 am
    The Obama Administration claims it can save businesses $10 billion over five years. Businesses and Republicans give the White House review an “incomplete” By John Tozzi Since the early 1990s, gas stations have had to equip pumps with nozzles to capture fuel vapors that escape from tanks as drivers fill up. The government mandated the vapor-recovery systems, which can cost station owners more than $100,000 dollars to install and $3,000 annually to run, to keep harmful pollutants out of the atmosphere. However, most new cars and trucks have tanks that also prevent fumes from…

  • Rehberg’s vote on Clean Water Act empowers polluters

    egulbran
    24 Jan 2012 | 11:05 am
    Rep. Denny Rehberg voted last year to undermine the Clean Water Act. He claims to have done so to empower states and to save businesses from hidden taxes incurred by their forced compliance with federal regulations. Unfortunately, the lack of overarching controls would empower only polluters, and Rehberg’s efforts would have the ironic effect of undermining local control. Ordinary people who traditionally use waterways for recreation or who count on the tourist and fishing industries for their livelihoods would have little say. Unlike politicians, Burlington Northern and Marathon Oil…

  • Capitol Hill Connection for the Week of January 23, 2012

    rlkrafft
    23 Jan 2012 | 11:53 am
    Each week while Congress is in session the Office of Advocacy will post a highlights schedule of congressional hearings and committee markups that we think will be of interest to stakeholders in the small business community. For further information on the hearings in question please contact the relevant congressional committee. THIS WEEK The House and Senate are both in session this week.  They will meet for a joint session for President Obama’s State of the Union address on Tuesday evening.Also Tuesday, conferees from both chambers will meet for the first time to work out differences over…

  • What glum Americans are missing about our standing in the world

    egulbran
    20 Jan 2012 | 1:37 pm
    By Tim Roemer, Published: January 19 The writer, a former U.S. representative from Indiana who served on the Sept. 11 Commission, is a senior vice president at APCO Worldwide. When I went to serve as U.S. ambassador to India in 2009, I hoped to learn more about that country’s vibrant democracy and our shared values. I gained an additional benefit while overseas: I learned that America is still deeply admired around the world and the place where many people want to live out their dreams. Consequently, I have been appalled by the gloom of those predicting that America’s greatest days are…

  • How to create new jobs, spur innovation – The Hill’s Congress Blog

    egulbran
    19 Jan 2012 | 9:31 am
    How to create new jobs, spur innovation – The Hill’s Congress Blog. On the surface, last month’s economic indicators introduce a dose of positivity into the market: the private sector added 200,000 jobs and the unemployment rate dropped to 8.5 percent, its lowest point since February 2009. But take a closer look and you’ll see that small businesses are still struggling to catch up, as tight access to credit continues to hinder business expansion. The precipitous drop in home prices has made it very difficult for small businesses to use home equity mortgages as a source…
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    AllisonNazarian.com

  • I Have No Idea

    Allison Nazarian
    27 Jan 2012 | 6:53 am
    “I was gratified to be able to answer promptly. I said I don’t know” ~ Mark Twain At some point, I was told I was smart. So I became a Smart Girl. Which was cool, and certainly better than a Stupid Girl, but being a Smart Girl means that you have to be, well, smart. All the time. Living up to the Smart Girl title was a 24/7/365 job. Well, at least it was for me. Not because I wasn’t smart – I was, and it was an accurate title. But  I was so Type A and such a perfectionist that I had to be all-smart, all-the time. It became impossible for me to believe that…

  • Sorry You Don’t Like My Truth

    Allison Nazarian
    26 Jan 2012 | 6:21 am
    Not everyone is going to want to hear what you have to say. Not everyone will care about your story, Not everyone will read your words. Not everyone will hear you, really hear you, or see you, really see you. Not everyone will give a damn about any of it. Not everyone is going to like your truth. And that is OK. That shouldn’t deter you, nor should it stop you. You may even disappoint some of “them.” Actually, you will very likely disappoint some of them. Sometimes more than some. They will let you know that, too. They’ll question it, they’ll question you. Then…

  • Nothing Personal

    Allison Nazarian
    25 Jan 2012 | 6:28 am
    It is #2 of the beautiful, brilliant Four Agreements: Don’t Take Anything Personally. Yet, we do. We so do.  We make entire movies in our heads about what someone did, or didn’t do, or said, or didn’t say, or meant, or may have meant, or didn’t mean….and so on. We obsess over what they must be thinking or what they really meant. We act as if they are as focused on us as we are focused on us. But…these movies are fiction, stories. They are not in actuality related in any way to the true story. Not to our truth, and certainly not to others’, either.

  • Bacon and Freedom

    Allison Nazarian
    24 Jan 2012 | 8:07 am
    When I was a kid, I was not allowed to eat bacon. No ifs, ands or buts. Why? Because it was against my religion. Literally. And, yet, I saw other friends, whom I knew were of the same religion, eating bacon freely. It didn’t make sense, but I followed the rules. Who knows why they were allowed, why they were free to eat bacon, and I wasn’t. Was more expected of me? Were there different levels of religion? Did God look at me differently? Or did their parents simply not care as much as mine did? Sure, there were other foods — sausage, ham, shrimp, lobster, for instance —…

  • Grumplicious

    Allison Nazarian
    23 Jan 2012 | 6:33 am
    This morning I woke up grumpy. Not cheery. Not bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Not ready to face the day. Not chipper. No butterflies and birdies circling my head.  Grumpy. Grumbling about my mediocre (at best) night’s sleep, stressed about my deadlines today, pissy about how I ate over the weekend, at the ready to snap at the first person who might make the wrong comment to me. Oy. I’m annoyed I forgot to make the kids’ lunches last night. I feel like I spent half of yesterday washing other people’s dishes. Somehow, amazingly, I woke up to more dishes. There…
 
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    The Way of the Accidental Entrepreneur Blog

  • The Incredible Lightness of an Empty Basket

    Molly
    22 Jan 2012 | 9:46 pm
    There's a basket in my office where I put things I'm not quite ready to deal with or that I plan to use in the near future. I toss in notes from a teleclass, like the one Susan Harrow did for us last fall, intending to enter them into Evernote. I store bank statements until I get around to reconciling them. I stash outlines for Profit Alchemy. You get the picture. Most of the time, I'm satisfied to let things collect in the basket. But eventually, usually when the basket is about three-quarters full, it becomes a psychic irritant. When I see it, I feel heavy. Almost guilty. Definitely out of…

  • Healing the Heart Ache of Screwing Up

    Molly
    15 Jan 2012 | 7:23 pm
    It happens. You forget to show up for a class you're supposed to teach. (Yes, I have done this.) You lose track of a bill and get socked with a late fee. (Guilty.) You send an email that you think is merely succinct, and it comes across as hurtful. (Yup. Done that, too. And notice how I couldn't resist a bit of justification.) In a thousand ways large and small, we hurt ourselves or others in the course of work, and it feels awful. (Well, sometimes you're resilient and highly evolved, which is great. This post is about the times you aren't.) Screw ups in work can feel especially crummy It…

  • Artists: Creativity and Business Take Courage

    Molly
    12 Jan 2012 | 12:12 pm
    Seth Godin writes that artists do their work, not in safe places, but out on a limb. I agree. And artists need to bring that same courage--and creativity--to promoting and selling their work. Because business is not alien to art, it's essential.

  • Deep connection: How to get your clients to tell you what they really want

    Molly
    8 Jan 2012 | 8:18 pm
    A while back I wrote that it's essential to know what your clients want from their point of view. I said that it's not "Do what you love, and the money will follow," but "Do what you love and what serves others, and the money will follow." (You'll find the earlier post here). Several readers wrote to ask how, exactly, to get clients to tell you what they want. What do you do when you ask them, and no one responds? Here's what I teach my students about learning what clients want. It's taken directly from the Profit Alchemy course. You can learn more about that program at the end of the…

  • Success, soul, and the daring adventure

    Molly
    2 Jan 2012 | 7:45 pm
    Quick take Risk is woven into the fabric of self-employment. It issues pointed, if not always polite, invitations to self-awareness. Self-employment places you at the intersection of intention, instinct, choice, and desire. In the marketplace, your hopes and fears meet the hopes and fears of the world. At this intersection, you risk wealth and well being on many levels. If you have the fortitude to look steadily at the truth about your choices, you will learn much about yourself and about building wealth. With time, attention, and some manner of faith to sustain you, you will discover your…
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    PaySimple Blog

  • 8 steps to launch an email marketing newsletter

    Matt Rushing
    27 Jan 2012 | 10:03 am
    Executing an effective communication strategy is vital in today’s connected world.  Sure, you want to communicate special promotions and other marketing messages that will increase your customers’ interest in your product or service, but to be successful, you should also provide objective, interesting content they can enjoy and put to use. An email newsletter is a great form of communication because it allows you take off the sales hat for a moment and talk to your audience in a different way.  Not only does it help your brand, but crafting a newsletter is a soothing drill for YOU as…

  • What’s in a logo

    Evan B.
    26 Jan 2012 | 10:45 am
    I see a lot of logos and brand personalities in my job.  Heading up the partner management team, I not only get to work with the brands of major corporations, but also get to see them apply those brands to new products and create new logos for them.  These companies have spent a lot of time and resources perfecting their logo, which are seen internationally and represent the core of their brand. But what are small businesses to do about a logo?  You obviously care about how your company is viewed and remembered by customers.  So do you hire an expensive brand agency to craft your…

  • Will working from home become the new norm?

    Andy Greenhaw
    25 Jan 2012 | 10:54 am
    Everything these days seems to have gone online: marketing, meetings, online billing, customer service, networking and even invoicing.  But a new trend is emerging that may someday evolve into the new norm: working online from home. According to the Employment Review from Elance reports, the number of businesses seeking to hire independent contractors who work remotely doubled in 2011.  And 83 percent of businesses surveyed said they plan to let half their employees work from home over the next 12 months. Virtual work is on track to becoming a more than $500 million industry, as the report…

  • Do you use ACH processing? The National ACH Association wants your feedback.

    Andy Greenhaw
    24 Jan 2012 | 10:20 am
    If you’re a business or agency that uses ACH Processing to send or receive payments, then the National ACH Association (NACHA) would like your input. (PaySimple ACH users – this is you!) NACHA, the governing body for the ACH Network, wants to ensure that it is responsive to the needs of its users, so the input provided in this survey will guide its strategic planning for the association into the 2013 to 2015 period.  If you’re an ACH user unfamiliar with NACHA, it is the organization that makes and enforces most of the rules and regulations around ACH payments, including authorization…

  • Entrepreneurship explodes across the planet

    Andy Greenhaw
    24 Jan 2012 | 8:54 am
    More entrepreneurs now exist across the globe than the entire population of the United States. According to the latest annual survey from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) from Babson College, 388 million entrepreneurs have sprouted up across the planet.  The survey also estimated that 165 million are between the ages of 18 and 35 years old.  And 163 million are young women. GEM projects that 65 million of these entrepreneurs will each create 20 jobs, for a grand contribution of 1.3 billion jobs to the planet.  It also estimates that 69 million will offer innovative products and…
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    The Shoeboxed Blog : Inside the Box

  • Shoeboxed Now Available on HP Web-Connected Printers!

    Jake Brereton
    26 Jan 2012 | 1:14 pm
    You can now scan receipts and business cards directly into your Shoeboxed account from any web-connected Hewlett-Packard (HP) Printer! Shoeboxed has partnered with HP to ensure that staying organized is now easier and faster than ever. With two new free apps from Shoeboxed, available on any web-connected HP Printer, you can now scan receipts and business cards directly into your Shoeboxed account from the convenience of your home or office. In addition, you can generate and print expense reports and contact lists directly from your printer! As always, once scanned, Shoeboxed will data extract…

  • New, Faster HTML5 Viewer Implemented

    Jake Brereton
    12 Jan 2012 | 1:51 pm
    Shoeboxed is now using a new HTML5 viewer on shoeboxed.com, meaning your receipts, business cards, bills and other documents will load faster than ever on browsers that support HTML5. In addition, this new HTML5 viewer allows users to continue to enjoy full Shoeboxed functionality from their iPad, iPhone or other mobile device. Simply navigate to shoeboxed.com and log in to your account as you normally would. Don’t worry: If your browser is not HTML5 compliant it will default to using a Flash viewer and you can continue staying organized without any disruption. If you have any feedback…

  • Improved E-mail Receipt Filter Released!

    Jake Brereton
    10 Jan 2012 | 9:10 am
    We’ve improved our e-mail receipt filtering algorithm by 160% so that now when you have e-receipts from online stores sent directly or forwarded to your Shoeboxed e-mail address we’ll be able to easily determine which items are receipts and which are coupons and other materials you don’t want in your account. Any receipts we receive will be immediately entered into your Shoeboxed account while everything else (e.g. coupons, spam, newsletters, surveys etc.) will be filtered into a special folder on your account dashboard for you to review at a later date. With your Shoeboxed…

  • 4 Steps to Starting a Successful Small Business

    Jake Brereton
    9 Jan 2012 | 1:04 pm
    David Bakke is based out of Atlanta. He runs a side business reselling popular products online, and also writes about personal finance on Money Crashers, a blog that covers budgeting and money management topics as well as the best new bank account promotions. One of the very best ways to generate income in your daily life is to start your own business. Yes, you can focus on saving as much money as you possibly can, but to truly expand your financial horizon, you must generate income. However, that is much easier said than done. I pondered the concept of starting my own business for a long…

  • Organizing the World: The Faces of Shoeboxed part X

    Carolyn Mierl
    6 Jan 2012 | 8:56 am
    With Shoeboxed there has never been one “best” way to use our service to stay organized. And after scanning millions of receipts and business cards since 2007, we say that from years of firsthand experience! Shoeboxed takes enormous pride in serving clients from around the country and across the globe, all of whom use our service in a myriad of ways to fulfill a whole host of organizational needs in both their personal and professional lives. With that in mind, Shoeboxed is both pleased and honored to launch a series that spotlights our wonderful users, their success stories and…
 
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    Understanding Marketing

  • 18 Ways Your Social Media PR Is Failing

    John Sternal
    24 Jan 2012 | 7:56 pm
    It’s easy to start going down the road of doing social media PR but then get off course. Here are 18 ways your social media PR is failing and some explanations of how to do a course correction: 1: Connect With Reporters - Social media PR is highly effective when the laws of social media are applied. This means you have to follow key reporters in order to build effective relationships with them. You can’t engage with people who aren’t in your network. 2: Openly Pitch Reporters - Once you’ve started following those reporters, it’s important to focus on building the…

  • 5 Small Business PR Pitches Week Of Jan. 23

    John Sternal
    22 Jan 2012 | 7:25 pm
    Here are five small business PR pitch ideas entrepreneurs can use during the week of Jan. 23 to get media exposure for their companies. Each of the five small business PR pitch ideas explains the story background and offers some different ways entrepreneurs can build story pitches that will interest reporters. The following ideas are part of UnderstandingMarketing.com’s PITCH series helping small businesses build publicity ideas that create headlines. 1: Weather - One of the hottest stories of the week will be the weather patterns across much of the country. Okay perhaps…

  • 9 Ways Small Business Can Get Election PR

    John Sternal
    17 Jan 2012 | 7:18 pm
    Entrepreneurs looking to get small business public relations coverage in the news media may want to think about jumping on the GOP debate and primary bandwagon. We’re getting hot and heavy into the campaign season and year, which means all the candidates are trying to hitch their wagon and talking points to local businesses with a story to share. You could be one of these local businesses that gets mentioned during the debates or included in a newspaper/Internet news story. And while some entrepreneurs have mixed views on the value placed in participating, the point of this website is…

  • 5 Small Business PR Opportunities Jan 15-21

    John Sternal
    15 Jan 2012 | 7:32 pm
    Here are some of the biggest news stories impacting entrepreneurs seeking small business public relations during the week of January 16-21. The following stories are part of the UnderstandingMarketing.com “PITCH” series, helping entrepreneurs and small business owners generate Publicity Ideas That Create Headlines. 1: Martin Luther King Jr. Observance - Always a very significant holiday for everyone to remember the work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., this day offers minority business owners a chance to talk about their mission and journey in becoming a small business owner.

  • “PITCH” Series Boosts Small Business PR

    John Sternal
    11 Jan 2012 | 9:34 am
    New “PITCH” Series Helps Entrepreneurs Get Small Business Public Relations Coverage. “Publicity Ideas That Create Headlines” Entrepreneurs creating their own small business public relations pitches for the media sometimes need a little help seeing the opportunity. UnderstandingMarketing.com, an online resource that offers small business marketing and public relations advice, announces it has started “PITCH” – Publicity Ideas That Create Headlines. PITCH is a series where specific PR pitch opportunities will be published each week and month, giving small business…
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    Business Pundit

  • 100th Year Anniversary of the BBB

    Ryan
    27 Jan 2012 | 8:07 am
    Believe it or not, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) has been around for 100 years. Their latest infographic provides a highlight of their biggest events from the first BBB in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1912 to the release of their app in 2011. In 1930, BBBs developed Truth in Advertising Standards, something most consumers can appreciate. According to the inforgraphic, Harry S. Truman said of BBBs, “They have gone to work to clean out the shady areas in the commercial world.” Eleanor Roosevelt said in 1951, “it’s a service I think we’ve all taken for granted.” In 2010 they helped…

  • Google: From Grad School to $150 Billion Company

    Gerri
    25 Jan 2012 | 12:13 pm
    Share A lot of tech companies often start out with the most humble of beginnings – in this case: Google. Now standing as one of the most powerful companies in the world, their journey has been chronicled since the conception of “Backrub” – the first search engine for the world wide web. The interactive infographic you’re about to see sheds some light into the world of Sergey Brinn and Larry Page’s brainchild we’ve all come to know, love, and respect. Created by Online PhD

  • 10 Business Ideas that Immediately Crashed and Burned

    Gerri
    23 Jan 2012 | 11:19 am
    Share    We all know and accept that failure is a natural part of the business cycle.  Bad ideas will be rejected by the market, and good ideas will flourish and lead to a more prosperous and efficient economy.  Hell, even perfectly good ideas that outlive their usefulness will slowly die ignominious deaths no matter how marketable they were a few years ago.  But some business ideas are so catastrophically awful, so based on warped views of what the market wants, that they fail quickly and often in spectacular fashion.  And we’re not just talking about your local artisanal cheese…

  • 10 of the Most Quickly Ditched New Year’s Resolutions

    Gerri
    19 Jan 2012 | 11:41 am
    Share   With 2011 now several weeks behind us, the time comes for us to look ourselves in the mirror and honestly assess our New Year’s Resolutions.  This is likely the time when we’re all thinking “f*ck it, a few extra pounds isn’t that bad, going to the gym is so hard.”  Don’t worry, you’re not alone.  Studies show that somewhere in the neighborhood of 4 out of every 5 resolutions set forth are quickly broken.  We are all failing spectacularly at improving ourselves—but don’t worry, it’s called ‘Life.’ If it gets you down,…

  • MBA Rankings

    Ryan
    14 Jan 2012 | 4:39 pm
    Choosing a college is a big decision at any level, but choosing the right Masters of Business Administration (MBA) program can be crucial to your career. Whether you want the degree because you’re eyeing a high-powered position or you’d simply like to develop your leadership, management and entrepreneurial skills, you can’t afford to settle for second-best. Your competition won’t, especially now that the MBA has become one of the most popular degree programs in the nation.  The obvious way to stay ahead of the competition is to base your decision on MBA program rankings – but how…
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    Small Biz Bee

  • From Peer to Manager: 3 Steps to Going From One of the Gang to the Boss

    smallbizbee
    26 Jan 2012 | 5:27 pm
    “Congratulations. You’ve been promoted.” All of your hard work has paid off. All of those long hours you spent in the office did not go unnoticed, and you’re rising through the ranks. So what’s next? You know that making the transition from employee to manager will take some work.  However, you’re also making the transition from peer to manager, which poses an additional set of challenges that you didn’t anticipate. Prior to my current position as Vice President of Consero Group LLC, the events services company that I co-founded last year, I had the good fortune to be promoted…

  • Claim Your Competitive Edge: Always Be First

    smallbizbee
    26 Jan 2012 | 12:10 pm
    Lot of ways to make your small company competitive and gain a lead over the other guys battling it out for your clients. One of the best techniques is, when you have an innovation or strategy to offer consumers, be sure you arrive first. You’ll gain a competitive advantage that will be tough to overcome unless your product or service is a failure. The One That Got Away As a young guy in my 20s, I’d been going to the beaches in Maryland every summer season looking for useful things to do, like party and pick up chicks (that is girls or women for the mature yet unwashed masses).

  • Cut Costs with Video Conferencing

    smallbizbee
    25 Jan 2012 | 4:59 pm
    Business travel expense can take up a huge amount of a company’s annual budget. Travelling to attend meetings, seminars and trade events can prove a costly procedure, especially when accommodation, food and salary are all included. Although much of this travel is necessary for the development of a business, it’s not only the company’s budget that is under threat but the environment as well. Planes, trains and motor vehicles all release harmful emissions and fumes into the atmosphere, spelling disaster for plant, animal and human life alike. Cars alone discharge around 4 tonnes of…

  • Why Improving Your Business Signage Is a Must (As Explained By An Award-Winning Orange County Signs Maker)

    smallbizbee
    25 Jan 2012 | 11:12 am
    Having an attention-getting sign is critical for your local businesses – no matter the industry.  Your business signage identifies your business and location and it establishes your business image. Your business signage is the core of your brand identity strategy, whether it is proudly mounted on the building, on your booth or display at a trade show, or on your company vehicles. It’s also the most cost-effective advertising you can do.  The Small Business Administration says, “…signs are the most effective, yet least expensive form of advertising for the small business.” …

  • Personal branding: How to Look Back on your Work History to Create a Killer Resume

    smallbizbee
    24 Jan 2012 | 12:03 pm
    Building your personal brand to a form that appeals to employers will help you get hired and get paid more when you do get hired. Your employers will percieve you as being a better asset for the company and will see you as indispensable. The first thing employers see about you is your cover letter and resume, which is why I am going to explain how to go over two aspects of your resume to improve your personal branding. Work history “Work history” does not mean dusting off your resume, nor updating your LinkedIn page; it means looking back at the jobs you’ve had, the projects you’ve…
 
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    Triple Pundit: People, Planet, Profit

  • Should News Corp’s Anti-Climate Stance Impact its CSR Rating?

    CSRHUB
    27 Jan 2012 | 4:10 am
    Is corporate activism an accurate - or needed - part of the CSR ratings picture? When companies are active in political issues, such as pursuing a negative stance on climate change, how much is this part of their overall picture of corporate sustainability?

  • Where Sustainability Reporting is Headed: A Preview of the E&Y and GreenBiz Survey

    Cindy Mehallow
    27 Jan 2012 | 4:08 am
    While at the GreenBiz12 Forum in New York earlier this week, I got a sneak preview of the findings of the new Ernst & Young and GreenBiz Group survey of trends in sustainability reporting.

  • Coal-Fired Closures: More Plants Biting the Dust

    Bill DiBenedetto
    27 Jan 2012 | 4:07 am
    First Energy will close six coal-fired plants this year in another victory for anti-coal groups.

  • Is There a Better Way to Stop Global Warming?

    RP Siegel
    27 Jan 2012 | 4:06 am
    Most efforts to slow the impact of global warming have focused on reducing carbon emissions, because it is the largest component and, according to the EPA, the most dominant and the fastest growing greenhouse gas. But CO2 is only one of several greenhouse gases. A team of scientists suggest that an easier and possibly more effective approach, at least in the short term, would be to focus on methane and soot.

  • Why Biodiversity Loss Deserves as Much Attention as Climate Change

    Akhila Vijayaraghavan
    27 Jan 2012 | 4:05 am
    Biodiversity loss is probably a challenge that is often ignored as climate change looms. Currently the world is losing species at a rate that is 100 to 1000 times faster than the natural extinction rate, further, it is currently seeing the sixth mass extinction. The previous mass extinction occured 65 million years ago, and was caused by [...]
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    Zero-G Creative

  • Online Lead Generation in 5 Easy Steps – Part 2 of 3*

    Erik Wolf
    25 Jan 2012 | 5:37 pm
    Online lead generation steps 1 and 2 are included in part 1 of this series Sometimes you CAN judge a book by it’s cover. Like if the book has an airbrushed picture of Fabio on a stallion, it probably isn’t going to read like Faulkner. After you have bought your web properties and installed the right CMS, you can start to hone in on the look and feel of your website.   3. User Friendly Design   Much like nipples, everyone has an opinion when it comes to website design. Before you let all of your individual biases into the equation, take a step back. First and foremost, ask…

  • 5 Steps to Successful Online Lead Generation*

    Erik Wolf
    20 Jan 2012 | 8:05 am
    Online lead generation is a lot like the produce department at your local grocery store: we all check fruit and veggies for slight bruising and color, but normally these factors don’t relate to the quality of the fruit. As a result, farmers compost millions of pounds of perfectly good food every year just because it’s unattractive. We’ve heard the phrase don’t judge a book by it’s cover since childhood, but we don’t have the time to read every book either. Luckily, you don’t need to read a book to learn whats important about generating leads online. You just need to read this…

  • Want more good customer reviews online? Here are three tips to make it happen

    Erik Wolf
    13 Jan 2012 | 1:52 pm
    For many business owners, maintaining good ratings and positive reviews on sites like Yelp, Kudzu and Angie’s List is a “necessary evil” of doing business. And it’s not difficult to see why these services make business owners uncomfortable: they are hard to influence and impossible to control in any kind of meaningful way. I have three tips though that can help business owners get those great reviews they want. 1. ASK! Seriously. Why wait around for others to pick up the ball on this? Your customers aren’t mind-readers and many would be very happy to take five…

  • ONLINE MARKETING TUTORIAL: How Anyone Can Determine the Real-World Value of their SEO Initiative

    Erik Wolf
    6 Jan 2012 | 6:24 am
    Regardless of what your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) company is reporting, it’s always good to double check and see how SEO is actually effecting your site and real world performance. So while you might not be able to see through the fog of SEO strategy and jargon, you can build a bridge from reality to SEO-land in just two easy steps. 1) What keywords are driving your traffic? Everyone with a website should, first and foremost, have Google Analytics installed on the site. It’s easy to setup and free to run. Yes, there are other premium and specialty analytics tools available but even…

  • 4 Keys to Online Marketing Success in 2012

    Erik Wolf
    31 Dec 2011 | 8:02 am
    Small businesspeople who struggle with online marketing need not fear… Just about anyone can be successful promoting their business over the Internet with the right approach and the right attitude. Here are four tips to help you find success in 2012: 1. Dedicate Yourself If you aren’t being successful in your online marketing efforts today, be prepared to break those losing habits and quickly. Consider changes to your website, think hard about what you can do every week to help yourself and schedule the time to get it done. If you can’t make that sort of commitment, set…
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    SoloSavvy Blog for Solo Entrepreneurs

  • Quit Your Job and Live Your Dream 2012

    Tonya Shadoan
    27 Jan 2012 | 8:30 pm
    It’s another day at the office.  You drag yourself out of bed only to countdown the minutes until you are off work. Believe me when I was a school teacher, I would stare at the clock dying to get out of the school at 3:03.  I couldn’t wait to come home to work on what I really loved to do.  That particular year I tried to balance work(paycheck) and my true passion—building my women-prenuer business in the event industry.  I made a huge shift and went part-time so I could concentrate on growing my hobby into a real business.  Finally with struggle I made the leap and QUIT my day…

  • Solopreneurs: There is no Glass Slipper!

    Suzanne Evans
    27 Jan 2012 | 8:30 am
    Solopreneurs – There Are No Cinderella Stories! In college basketball, the term, “Cinderella Story,” is often used for the underdog who comes out of nowhere to win the prize. It is a romantic idea about rising from the ashes and winning the prince or prize. Ponder what it takes to win a championship or bring home a gold medal. How many early morning training sessions? Pulled muscles? Wins? Losses? How much money saved? How much money spent? How many heartbreaks? Days when you couldn’t go on? Days when you knew you could do it? It’s amazing what goes into a WIN!

  • Linked In Basics: How To Use Linked In to Promote Your Online Business

    Michele A Scism
    26 Jan 2012 | 8:30 pm
    When I start talking to clients about Linked In — they usually resist because they think that Linked In is for people who work for big corporations or who are looking for a job.  I’ve found that Linked In is an excellent way to get more traffic to your site, reach a target audience and increase your conversion rate. If you don’t know how to use LinkedIn and take advantage of its potential business-growing platform, you’ll be happy to hear it’s easy. First, make sure all of the headlines on your pages tap into the power of SEO marketing. From your profile page on, make every…

  • For Getting Clients, a Follow-Up System is Critical

    Jennifer Davey
    26 Jan 2012 | 8:30 am
    If you use advertising or marketing to promote your business, you’re probably aware that response rates tend to be rather low with many types of advertising. Ten percent is a good response rate, but five percent is more realistic. And with the average close rate at around one percent, only a small percentage of leads are converted. That’s why small-business owners should focus not just on advertising and marketing but on following up on leads. After all, your advertising and marketing just gets people’s attention; convincing clients to actually work with you is the hard…

  • Supercharge Your Small Business Marketing Efforts

    Jessica Swanson
    25 Jan 2012 | 8:30 pm
    “You grow most in your areas of greatest strength. It sounds odd, but you will improve the most, be the most creative, be the most inquisitive, and bounce back the fastest in those areas where you have already shown some natural advantage over everyone else—your strengths.” - Marcus Buckingham Here’s a little something that you might not know about me. I hate math. In fact, I really, really hate math. And, not only do I hate math, but I’m horrible at it as well. I’m one of those moms you hear about that can only help her kids with their math homework through 4th grade. After that,…
 
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    SoftwareCEO - Latest Forum Threads

  • optimizing payment model for online educational software

    24 Jan 2012 | 7:35 pm
    Hello, My company produces an educational software program, which till now has been sold in desktop version only (typical retail $39.99 to 58.99). The desktop version has sold about 100K copies over the last 10 years - it is quite popular with students, homeshcooling parents and schools. With desktop sales slowly (but unfortunately consistently) declining, we have created an online /mobile version of the sofware, and we are trying to find an optimal way to charge for it. I would appreciate very much your comments on the following 3 possible setups. Visitors are funneled to all setups via free…

  • Independent Consultant selling services on the side

    20 Jan 2012 | 3:55 pm
    Hello all, What should we do about a consultant that is going around us to sell his services to our clients? We are a software company that provides on-site training for our customers via salaried support staff from within our office, plus outside (independent, non-salaried) consultants who were prior customers of ours. This setup has been working very well for years and years. We now have a wrinkle, however. One of our consultants has been offering his consulting services to our customers, and billing them directly, for a lower cost than we would have billed them. Of course he puts more $ in…

  • IP licensing

    19 Jan 2012 | 1:32 pm
    Licensing gurus: Appreciate if any one can give me some insights into the following situation: We are "cash-strapped" startup (which startup isn't?, initially). We recently got a patent issued from USPTO. We have been engaging a major online services company which provides services to a mutual customer (for us the customer is still a beta-customer) for over a year. Finally, they offered to license our technology but not our code or integration into our platform for some security reasons. It is very clear that they are interested in IP but not our s/w and probably for this reason they have…

  • Strategy for Software Dummies - Part 15

    17 Jan 2012 | 2:27 pm
    The title for this series of posts is inspired by the extensive series of instructional/reference books, which serve as non-intimidating guides for readers new to the various topics covered, or for readers who need a solid brush up. The title doesn’t imply that software CEO’s are Dummies ; only that there is a need for a new type of “strategy framework” that produces more than fluff and which can be completed in a very short time . This post is the first of the last five posts in this series where we will elaborate on the price of management misalignment . You can find…

  • CEO Survey: Where do the majority of your initial customer inquiries come from?

    17 Jan 2012 | 12:21 pm
    [Read more]
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    Small Business Blog

  • Update Copyright Notice

    5 Jan 2012 | 12:47 pm
    Is the copyright notice on your website up-to-date? Don't let an outdated copyright date make your site look outdated or abandoned.

  • Resolutions That Will Never See the Light of Day

    22 Dec 2011 | 11:27 am
    Resolutions are nothing more than a wish list (or maybe a laundry list) of bad habits and shortcomings we'd like to change. But everyone knows that most resolutions are forgotten faster than they are made. So, instead of making resolutions of our own, here are a few resolutions we'd like to see others make.

  • Labor Law Poster Changes for 2012

    15 Dec 2011 | 11:51 am
    Are your labor law posters up to date? 12 states have new required changes to labor law postings. In addition the federal government has a pending requirement to display a poster informing employees of their rights under the NLRA.

  • What does 2012 hold in store for small businesses? What trends will affect small business growth and prosperity in the new year?

    7 Dec 2011 | 2:01 pm
    According to research just released by The Guardian Life Small Business Research Institute, 2012 probably won't be a walk in the park for most small businesses. Here are six actions they say small businesses may need to take to prepare to face the new year.

  • Changing Site Design

    1 Nov 2011 | 11:10 am
    We're changing the look of the BusinessKnowHow.com website. We're doing it little by little, so you'll find some pages look different. See which pages have the new design.
 
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    retaildoc.com

  • Why and How To Do A Physical Inventory On A Shoestring Budget

    bobphibbs
    27 Jan 2012 | 11:10 am
    Merchandise on the floor can look pretty but it is your money sitting there. While you can do an inventory of your store any time, traditionally it is the last weekend of January when your SKUs are potentially lowest.Three reasons to perform a physical inventory:Counting your inventory isn’t just for insurance reasons, but a major determiner of your store’s health.You can get buy-in from your employees that, once completed, will mean less out-of stocks and having more of the best sellers.You are also bound to find items you didn’t know you even had.I’m sharing a system…

  • Where To Find Customers For Quickserve Restaurant [Retail Consultant Results: Case Study]

    bobphibbs
    25 Jan 2012 | 7:34 am
    The Los Angeles Times called on me for several business makeovers as a retail consultant. This blog highlights one aspect from one of those business makeovers on targeted marketing for your location.The challengeA husband and wife were looking to grow their all natural sausage sandwich sales in an upscale strip center. The owners were frustrated by the long lines at fast-food joints on either side of theirs.The windows, walls and menu at their stylish eatery were plastered with nutritional analyses that proved the private-label links made with ground turkey, chicken, spices and cheese…

  • If Target Can Target, Why Not You?

    bobphibbs
    24 Jan 2012 | 8:25 am
    Target last week made news with a joint letter from their Merchandising Chief and Chief Executive to their vendors.According to the WSJ, “Target is reaching out to vendors to help craft a more competitive pricing strategy as it seeks to battle rivals and the lower-priced online market.”In that letter, the retailer says it is not going to let online-only retailers use its stores “as a showroom” for their products. The result is an undercutting of Target’s prices “without making investments, as we do, to proudly display your [the vendors’] brands,” the…

  • Retail Consultant Results: How to Attract Customers to Your Retail Store [Case Study]

    bobphibbs
    18 Jan 2012 | 12:00 pm
    As a retail consultant, I get a wide variety of challenges to help retailers make more sales, attract more customers and become more profitable. I’m sharing ten case studies from some of the largest fortune 500 companies to some of the smallest mom and pops with lessons on your physical location, merchandising, branding, marketing and of course, retail sales training – all of which you can use in your stores. First up, leveraging your location. The situationAron Lieberman of Rockland Window Fashions purchased a historic home in a prime neighborhood to showcase his products.After…

  • Should You Offer Incentives to Bricks and Mortar Employees to Embrace the iPad?

    bobphibbs
    12 Jan 2012 | 7:57 am
    Third in a series of posts on technology and humanity in retail sales trainingNancy, one of your best customers, comes into your store to view your new spring shoes.Your number one salesperson, Bill, works with her to find just the right shoe, just the right style, just the right color.Just one thing…When they find the perfect shoe, you are out of Nancy’s size.  Now it used to be OK for Bill to just say, “Sorry,we’re out, but you might try online” leaving  Nancy frustrated and headed home to her computer to try to find it at another store.But nowadays, as soon as those words,…
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    The Mogul Mom

  • Pull Back the Curtain On Your Home Business

    Heather Allard
    27 Jan 2012 | 8:52 am
    “Where’s Mommy?” my son asked. “Where do you think she is, Brendan? She’s at the computer,” my husband replied in an annoyed tone. I overheard this exchange between my son and husband two years ago (when my son was three) and had a huge realization. While I was working on the computer—writing new posts, planning my editorial calendar, invoicing advertisers, responding to email and social media—my family had no idea what I was doing. To them, it looked like I was just farting around on Facebook, or worse; neglecting them. But I wasn’t. I was working. Hard, too.

  • A New Housekeeping Strategy: Cocktails + Cleaning

    MogulMomTeam
    25 Jan 2012 | 6:39 pm
    Could you and your spouse use a little quality time together? Could your house be a bit more spic and span? Then we’ve got a winning housekeeping strategy for you. It’s called cocktails and cleaning. Here’s what you do. Put the kids to bed. Turn on some funky music (keep it low—don’t want to wake the kids) and get a duster, some Pledge and a cocktail. You get your housework done, connect with your partner and have a few giggles. The best part? You’ll have a freshly cleaned living room the next morning instead of a hangover! Here are some terrific cleaning tips to get…

  • Save Money with Not So Extreme Couponing

    MogulMomTeam
    24 Jan 2012 | 11:07 pm
    If your kids eat four times their own body weight each day, you know how tight your weekly grocery budget can get. Why not save a little money with coupons? No need for extremes here, just some simple savings. You can find grocery and food product coupons in: Inserts in your local Sunday paper Online coupon sites like DailyGroceryCoupon.com that offer free, printable coupons for grocery items Coupon books from your favorite grocer, like Whole Foods. Other savings sites offer coupons and discount codes for general merchandise like clothing, electronics, toys and more: RetailMeNot.com –…

  • Take Ideas from Concept to Consumer with Quirky

    MogulMomTeam
    23 Jan 2012 | 11:08 pm
    Bringing a product from idea, to production, to market is costly, time consuming and just a little stressful. I mean, how do you know people will actually buy it? How do you price it and deliver it to the right consumers? What if you only have a teeny-tiny (or non-existent) budget? How do you conduct market research, start production and price it right? Enter Quirky.com. Quirky is a platform that makes invention accessible by eliminating the barriers and challenges of bringing one single product idea to life. Here’s how it works: Creative people submit an idea for a new product…

  • The Tax Form You Probably Don’t Know About

    MogulMomTeam
    22 Jan 2012 | 11:08 pm
    This post is brought to you by our friends at Outright.com, the easiest way to manage your business finances online. Hey mogul moms, there’s a new tax form in town and it’ll be hitting your mailbox soon. It’s the 1099-K, also known as the PayPal 1099 or Amazon 1099. So, what is this form and how does it affect you? Well, back in 2008, Congress supected that the rise of ecommerce selling was causing quite a sizeable tax gap (income earned vs. income reported), as people made money through sources like eBay and Amazon but – perhaps – didn’t report that income. So, Congress…
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    Business Insider

  • CARTOONS OF THE WEEK: Newt The Outsider And Newt The Insider

    Eric Goldschein
    28 Jan 2012 | 4:00 am
    We have a ton of new cartoons this week, and the star of the show has to be Newt Gingrich, he of the open-marriage and the status of both a Washington insider and outsider. Other hot topics from the past few days include the arguments over online piracy and continued trouble in the Eurozone — particularly in Italy.  Our favorites from this batch include an actual pirate ship, a graph made of urine and the role of Islamic mathematics in WMD's. See the rest of the story at Business Insider Please follow Business Insider on Twitter and Facebook.See Also:50 Million Americans Still…

  • Experts Are Terrified By Greece And Its Debt Problems

    AP
    28 Jan 2012 | 1:48 am
    NEW YORK (AP) — Remember Greece? It's been two years since a financial crisis erupted in the birthplace of drama, and the final act is still unfinished. A second week of talks in Athens ended Friday with no deal between the country, the European Union and private holders of Greek bonds. Remarkably, even after the crisis became such an international worry last year that the leaders of France and Germany were actually referred to as "Merkozy," the European debt bomb could still explode, with Greece as the fuse. Economists and investors see a Greek default as the biggest test of the world…

  • Google: Users Are 'Delighted' With Our Search Changes (GOOG)

    Matt Rosoff
    28 Jan 2012 | 12:36 am
    A couple weeks ago, Google started blending social information from Google+ into search results. The blogosphere's reaction to this change, which Google called Search Plus Your World, was swift, loud, and mostly negative. Twitter complained that Google was unfairly favoring its own social network over competitors, then a programmer at Facebook seemed to prove it. Worse yet, the results seemed to be less relevant in a lot of cases, leading a number of people to declare Bing the better search engine. But in all the noise, what do users think? According to Google search fellow Amit Singhal, who…

  • New Email Suggests BP Hid The Truth About How Big The Oil Spill Really Was

    AP
    28 Jan 2012 | 12:06 am
    NEW ORLEANS (AP) — On the day the Deepwater Horizon sank, BP officials warned in an internal memo that if the well was not protected by the blow-out preventer at the drill site, crude oil could burst into the Gulf of Mexico at a rate of 3.4 million gallons a day, an amount a million gallons higher than what the government later believed spilled daily from the site. The email conversation, which BP agreed to release Friday as part of federal court proceedings, suggests BP managers recognized the potential of the disaster in its early hours, and company officials sought to make sure that…

  • Marco Rubio Just Locked Up The 2016 Republican Nomination

    Grace Wyler
    27 Jan 2012 | 8:17 pm
    GOP Golden Boy Marco Rubio revealed the magnitude of his star power today, delivering an impassioned speech on immigration that showed exactly why he is the true heir apparent of the Republican Party. Addressing a crowd of hundreds at the Hispanic Leadership Network Conference in Miami, Rubio laid out a sweeping vision for immigration reform and challenged his party's presidential candidates to adopt positive positions on the hot-button issue. The speech was masterful, laced with powerful emotion, humor, and an impressive defense of free enterprise and the American dream. Here's an excerpt:…
 
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    HBR.org

  • Congressional Judgment: Built to Lapse?

    Tom Davenport and Brook Manville
    27 Jan 2012 | 5:40 pm
    President Barack Obama spoke this week in the State of the Union message about creating "an economy built to last." Who could argue with this admirable goal? It's one all Americans should be able to get behind. But unfortunately, there's a major obstacle to making progress toward it: the judgment capacity of the US Congress. The two of us have been thinking a lot in the past year about how some organizations manage to be decisive—and wise—consistently over time. Our book, Judgment Calls: Twelve Stories of Big Decisions and the Teams that Got Them Right, comes out in March. Perhaps…

  • What Google's Larry Page Doesn't Understand

    Maxwell Wessel
    27 Jan 2012 | 4:06 pm
    Google has been self-destructive recently. Last weekend, Google was exposed by engineers from Twitter, Facebook, and mySpace for interfering with their search results. Instead of apologizing and vowing to protect the sanctity of search, this week Larry Page announced that Google will soon integrate its products even further. On March 1st, Google will change its privacy agreement to allow the company to collect and unify user data across all its web properties. There is no opting out. Whether you want it or not, Google will be consolidating the data about what you search for, what you read in…

  • Transform Your Employees into Passionate Advocates

    Rob Markey
    27 Jan 2012 | 9:49 am
    Employee happiness is becoming a hot topic among CEOs and in boardrooms, and it's about time. The current issue of Harvard Business Review, which includes a series of articles focused on employee happiness, is just one more sign of the growing recognition that happy, engaged employees are more productive and generate better outcomes for their companies. But there's also a risk in all this attention to "happiness." Happiness for its own sake is not the right outcome to seek. If you want happy employees, you can just pay them more. You can give them more time off. You can give them free lunches…

  • Finding Great Ideas in Emerging Markets: The Idea in Practice

    Nathan T. Washburn and B. Tom Hunsaker
    27 Jan 2012 | 9:42 am
    For the past two and half years, we have been interviewing executives in multinationals around the world about their biggest challenges. One recent interview stood out. Tomas* is a regional vice president in Santiago, Chile He works for a European company with operations throughout the globe. When we met, he expressed deep frustration with his home office in Germany. Executives there had repeatedly shut down his attempts to develop a modified product for the Latin America market. Despite the negative response, Tomas kept trying. He explained to us why the product needed to change, why the…

  • Retail Revolution: We Ain't Seen Nothing Yet

    Jeffrey F. Rayport
    27 Jan 2012 | 9:30 am
    Last week, I moderated a "Super Session" at this year's annual National Retail Federation "Big Show." Seated with me on stage at one end of a long and cavernous room in New York's Javits Center, my panelists were Jennifer Hyman of Rent The Runway and Doug Mack of One Kings Lane. To say that Boeing could have built its next 787 Dreamliner in this space would be no understatement. I suspect that the nearly 4,000 registrants attending our "intimate" session would have agreed. The panel made one thing clear: just when any sensible person might have concluded that e-commerce business models had…
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    Big Marketing For Small Business

  • 15 YouTube Marketing Tips for Your Small Business

    Guest Author
    24 Jan 2012 | 2:03 pm
    Video Marketing on YouTube is a must for small businesses and startups in 2012. YouTube videos are longtail pieces of marketing content that can drive organic traffic to your website for many years to come. Here are 15 tips to know about marketing on YouTube. 1. Anyone Can Do a Video The best part of YouTube Marketing is you do not need to hire models, buy fancy equipment, or have a baller studio. Most of the “highest viewed” videos are shot by a simple cell phone or webcam. Another option for those who are camera shy is to use Powerpoint or a similar program to make the presentation.

  • How to Use Digital Marketing to Promote Your Small Business

    Rajan Sodhi
    23 Jan 2012 | 7:00 am
    The Internet is the great equalizer, allowing a small business to effectively compete with the 800-pound gorilla in their space. But, there are some fundamental ways to go about setting yourself up for success. Here are five affordable tips to promoting your small business using digital marketing: 1. Build a Quality Website, Use WordPress The best place to start is to launch a website for your business, but not just any website. Create one that is clean, easy to navigate, has good content, and is optimized for search engines to crawl and rank – WordPress is a great place to start. Use SEO…

  • How to Use YouTube for Marketing

    Guest Author
    7 Dec 2011 | 4:44 pm
    Have you ever seen the Old Spice commercials? Chances are if you have, you’ve seen them on YouTube. The Old Spice commercials first premiered as a television campaign, quickly turning viral once they appeared on YouTube. Viewers sent the links to their friends, rapidly spreading them throughout the Internet. Eventually, the view count for Old Spice commercials reached over 110 million views. Although most associate YouTube with homemade videos and music videos, many companies and businesses are turning to YouTube as an alternative means to social marketing, and it’s working. Because…

  • 10 Ways to Amplify Your Email Marketing Ripple Effect

    Guest Author
    3 Nov 2011 | 4:17 pm
    Is your email marketing program fizzling? Here are 10 ways to improve your email marketing strategy to drive higher response and engagement. 1. Deliverability, verifiability, and bounce reduction. Permission-based lists and clean data have the best chance of getting response. Make sure your email solution has high deliverability rates and can track message activity (deliveries, bounces, clicks) or you’re just wasting marketing dollars. 2. Aim before you send. Email marketing starts with targeted, clean and compliant lists. Build your email lists based on specific attributes and behaviors of…

  • The Wrong Way to Use Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn in Your Marketing

    Guest Author
    3 Nov 2011 | 12:31 pm
    According to Facebook‘s blog, there are over 800 million users on the site. According to Alexa’s rankings, Twitter is the third highest rated social media site, with Facebook being the first and YouTube being the second. Many online marketing experts agree that social media can play a major role in small business marketing. However, many (if not most) small businesses are using social media the wrong way for marketing. Here are three common mistakes being made that you can avoid: 1. Brand Confusion When launching a new business, it is common (though not wise) not to have your…
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    Free Small & Medium Business Magazines and Downloads from alltop.tradepub.com

  • Desktop Virtualization: The SMB's Answer to Office Productivity

    27 Jan 2012 | 4:20 pm
    While having the latest technology increases productivity, remaining competitive requires a significant capital outlay. By reducing hardware costs, desktop virtualization can allow a greater portion of IT budgets to be allocated to IT projects that help companies grow and expand their businesses.Request Free!

  • Seeing the Big Picture: A Corporate Guide to Better Decisions through IT

    27 Jan 2012 | 11:20 am
    Information can be one of the most powerful competitive tools available, or it can bog your company down. Small and midsize companies that can successfully align IT with their business objectives will be the ones to stay ahead of the competition by having access to the right information at the right time, allowing for better, faster decisions.Request Free!

  • Aberdeen Analyst Insight Paper: ERP & BI: When 1+1=3

    27 Jan 2012 | 2:00 am
    Prompted by volatile markets and a troubled economy, the need to contain or reduce cost is key for small to medium size enterprises. In the pursuit of cost reductions and in the struggle to sustain and grow revenue and profits it becomes more and more important to preserve the level of visibility that becomes elusive as SMEs grow in both size and complexity. SMEs are turning more and more to both ERP and BI solutions to gain visibility and control.Request Free!

  • Moving Your Business to the Cloud with NetSuite and Google Apps

    24 Jan 2012 | 5:20 pm
    Whether through native security tools and group policies, Postini, or other third-party tools, Google Apps has a robust set of features that bring enterprise security to organizations of all sizes. But can these tools really stand up to enterprise demands?Request Free!

  • Cloud Invoice Management and the SMB

    16 Jan 2012 | 4:50 pm
    It is easy to think of small and midsize businesses (SMBs) as wholly distinct from their larger counterparts. Between July and August of 2011, Aberdeen surveyed over 100 accounts payable (AP) professionals from businesses of all sizes, to better understand the challenges they face and their strategies for future success. This Insight focuses on the 74 SMBs within that group, describing what they have in common with respondents from larger businesses -- and where their experiences differ. Given the different volumes of invoices and payments these groups handle, how are they reacting and what…
 
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    NASE Staff Blog

  • Reclassifying Independent Contract Workers As Employees?

    27 Jan 2012 | 11:54 am
    Posted by Keith Hall - Are the workers in your business Independent Contractors or are they really Employees, instead?  For most of us it is easier to simply call them independent contractors instead of employees because the presumption is that the paperwork is easier.  No withholding, no payroll taxes, less hassles.  The problem is that the classification of your workers is not a matter of choice.  You can’t just choose for them to be independent contractors because it is easier.  Your worker’s classification is determined by the underlying facts and…

  • Small Biz State Of The Union & Campaigns

    26 Jan 2012 | 12:27 pm
    Posted by Kristin Oberlander -Politicians are running for office all over America, that much is certain. It's a somewhat quiet week for the Republican candidates for president, since the Flordia primary isn't until next Tuesday, January 31st. The talk this week has been surrounding President Obama's State of the Union address. The NASE weighed in the night of with a response from President and CEO Kristie L. Arlsan and also the next day in a statementby Katie Vlietstra, our Director of Government Affairs. We also noticed one small-business owner that is pressing Republican candidates on…

  • How Can The NASE Help You With Your Taxes? Plus, Facebook! [Video]

    19 Jan 2012 | 9:14 am

  • Can I Take A Loan From My 401(k)? [Ask The Experts Q & A]

    11 Jan 2012 | 11:59 am
    Q: I read something several months ago about taking a loan from your 401K retirement plan. If you were at least 55 years old, you were not required to pay this back and there was no penalty for this. Is that true? A: From a technical standpoint you still must repay the loan. If you don't repay the loan, regardless of how old you are, then the loan becomes a distribution. The tax treatment and potential penalties for such a distribution will then be dependent upon your age. The key point is whether a 10% penalty will apply to the distribution. If you are over 59 and 1/2 then no…

  • Study: Federal Regs Cost Businesses Billions In 2011

    9 Jan 2012 | 11:02 am
    Posted by Kristin Oberlander - Businesses spent $231 billion and more than 133 million paperwork hours to comply with federal regulations in 2011, according to a study release by the American Action Forum. The study also found that it would take 66,730 employees just to file federal paperwork (assuming a 2,000 hour work year). The NASE has been an advocate for simplification of the tax code for many years. To find out more about our stance, please check out these links: NASE President & CEO Kristie L. Arslan comments upon how lawmakers look to reduce the tax gap "often at the…
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    Women Entrepreneurs GROW Global

  • Zimbabwe Female Entrepreneurs Face Funding Challenges

    Laurel Delaney
    23 Jan 2012 | 2:41 pm
    When it comes to obtaining credit from financial institutions, the perception is quite dismal from Zimbabwe women entrepreneurs a recent survey shows. Yet, according to the study “An Analysis of the Enabling Environment and Potential for Women’s Empowerment” by Dr. Charity Manyeruke on behalf of the Women Alliance of Business Associations in Zimbabwe (Wabaz), a significant segment of female entrepreneurs have not attempted to obtain funding from financial institutions. The negative perception might be getting in the way of at least attempting to make things happen.  Even…

  • When It Comes to Giving, Measure What Matters

    Laurel Delaney
    13 Jan 2012 | 4:33 pm
    When giving money, give to nonprofits that measure what matters to you.  That’s advice from Mary Ellen Iskenderian (pictured), President and CEO, Women’s World Banking. Watch video here:  big think interview Posted by:  Laurel Delaney Filed under: Economic growth, Enlighten Me!, Finance, Gender challenges, Social Entrepreneurship, World entrepreneurship Tagged: big think, Laurel Delaney, Mary Ellen Iskenderian, measure what matters, Women's World Banking

  • Women Are Essential to the Revival of the U.S. Economy

    Laurel Delaney
    8 Jan 2012 | 4:12 pm
    As Kay Koplovitz (pictured) points out: Women hold 80 % the purchasing power for consumer goods in the U.S., a sector accounting for a critical 70% of the U.S. economy. So we already know that women are essential to the revival of the U.S. economy. Women are also a rising powerhouse in building the economy as founders of high growth companies.  Find out why by reading the entire article: Women:  The Emerging Market in High Growth Businesses Illustration credit here. Posted by:  Laurel Delaney Filed under: Economic growth, Gender challenges Tagged: emerging market, hight growth businesses,…

  • Season’s Greetings From Women Entrepreneurs GROW Global!

    Laurel Delaney
    28 Dec 2011 | 8:24 pm
    © Laurel J. Delaney, 2011 Wishing you a Happy Holiday season and a New Year filled with hope and promise. Filed under: Miscellaneous Tagged: happy holidays, hope and promise in 2012, Laurel Delaney, Season's Greetings, women entrepreneurs grow global

  • Ease the Environment To Bring More Women Into Entrepreneurship

    Laurel Delaney
    23 Dec 2011 | 3:49 pm
    How to empower women?  Declare 2013 as “Women Entrepreneurship Development Year.”  And in the case of Nepal, ease the environment to bring more women into entrepreneurship. Minister for Industry Anil Jha said he is positive about the proposal. He said, “I am also positive about necessary amendments in policies that would ease the environment for women entrepreneurs.” Suresh Kumar Basnet, president of Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) requested the government to seriously implement policies to bring more women into entrepreneurship. Learn more here. Illustration credit: …
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    Forbes - Entrepreneurs

  • Most New Businesses are Small Businesses

    Scott Shane
    28 Jan 2012 | 4:05 am
    If you hear about someone founding a company, odds are pretty high they are also starting a small business.  That's because almost all companies are started small.

  • Does Apple Really Care?

    Steve Denning
    27 Jan 2012 | 9:54 pm
    Does Apple Really Care? NYT article documents depth and breadth of social problems in Apple's supply chain

  • Good and Better IRS News For Abuse Victims

    Peter J Reilly
    27 Jan 2012 | 9:35 pm
    It is a real tragedy that someone can escape an abusive marriage, only to find themselves being pursued by the IRS for the abuser's tax debts.  How does it happen ? Filing a joint return will usually result in a married couple having a lower federal tax than the total of two married filing separate returns (The total of the two returns as single might be even lower, but that is not an option if you are married).  It is rare for couples or their tax advisers to seriously consider filing separately even for the last year of a marriage.  I believe that this is a…

  • Forbes Update: Our New Model For Journalism And How It Benefits Our Audience

    Lewis DVorkin
    27 Jan 2012 | 8:20 pm
    see photosThomas BroeningClick for full photo gallery: Forbes Covers 2010-2011 (This is the In Brief column I wrote for the current issue of FORBES, dated Feb. 13, 2012.) What I always find so refreshing about FORBES is our clear and consistent mission. We're about entrepreneurial capitalism. I've felt for quite some time

  • Hooking Up With Gen Y - Challenge for Business

    Peter J Reilly
    27 Jan 2012 | 7:20 pm
 
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    Big Red Tomato Company

  • How to read business books in less than 15 minutes

    Matthew Needham
    23 Jan 2012 | 11:00 pm
    Business books are a cheap way of improving your business education without a large time commitment or financial outlay. For many years I’ve been a big fan of buying business books. In fact I’ve got shelves stacked high with them in my office and even some boxes of them in my parents garage. Some of them I’ve actually read. Books are cheap, easily portable and potentially full of profitable ideas. But there lies several problems: 1. Overbuying because they are cheap 2. Books take time to read and discover the profitable ideas 3. You never have them to hand when you need them…

  • Weekend Round Up January 21

    Matthew Needham
    20 Jan 2012 | 11:00 pm
    Welcome to Weekend Roundup. This is a collection of some great posts that I’ve come across over the previous week. I don’t go into major depth on each one, but encourage you to check them out if they sound interesting: Mark Cuban’s 12 Rules For Start Ups Article from Entrepreneur.com lists Mark Cuban’s 12 rules for starting a business together with some other links to some sage advice from the billionaire sports owner. 10 Books Every Entrepreneur should read from 2011 - pretty much what it says on the tin. 10 Books from 2011 you should make sure you read. Having read…

  • Weekend roundup January 14

    Matthew Needham
    13 Jan 2012 | 11:30 pm
    Welcome to Weekend Roundup. This is a collection of some great posts that I’ve come across over the previous week. I don’t go into major depth on each one, but encourage you to check them out if they sound interesting How to get 1 million visitors in ONE year - Steve Scott shares his one year goal to get one million visitors to his website in 2012 and explains how you can do it too. How to conduct (and master) a webinar interview (Video/podcast) with Lewis Howes who shares his secrets in launching FB Influence mainly on the back of holding Webinars. Marketing Grader by…

  • 52 Business Books to Read in 2012

    Matthew Needham
    5 Jan 2012 | 11:00 pm
    I could take the time to read a fiction book, but I don’t. I would rather read websites, newspapers, magazines, looking for ideas and concepts that I can use. I spend time in bookstores because one idea from a book or magazine can make me money. Mark Cuban How to Win at the Sport of Business: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It Personally speaking, the best investment I have ever made has been in improving my own education. Consistently I’ve found this to be one of the best ways of making more money.  The more I invest in myself the more money I make. Over the years the best way I’ve…

  • One lesson you should learn from annual reviews

    Matthew Needham
    27 Dec 2011 | 11:00 pm
    Over the next few weeks you will read blogs, newspaper articles and endure hours of TV coverage talking about the year that’s just about to end/gone and what the writer or presenter has learned over the previous 12 months. Welcome to the season of the annual review. If you want to save yourself a lot of time, I can  reveal  to you exactly what these annual reviews will  have  discovered – some things will have gone well and other things have not gone so well.  There will be analysis of why things worked out the way they did and maybe the odd photograph from some far flung…
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    The Rise to the Top

  • The 7-Figure Sex Expert: How David Wygant Became Known as an Expert on Dating, Relationships, and Sex

    David Siteman Garland
    26 Jan 2012 | 9:22 am
    Today on The Rise To The Top: The #1 Non-Boring Business Show: A good ole “living case study” today on the show. David Wyant, who has been referred to as a “real life Hitch”, reveals all the behind-the-scenes details of how he’s built a 7-figure online business through his expertise of dating, relationships, and sex. Get ready for some wild stories, actionable tips, and more, as we discuss everything from building credibility and building a name for yourself, to turning your expertise into products. I use RISE partner Wistia for video hosting because they rock.

  • How She Got Started: The Barefoot Executive Carrie Wilkerson on Launching Her First Product and Building Her Credibility

    David Siteman Garland
    24 Jan 2012 | 7:54 am
    Today on The Rise To The Top: The #1 Non-Boring Business Show: You probably know today’s guest, Carrie Wilkerson, as the massively successful “Barefoot Executive” who has created an empire around helping work at home professionals. Her empire includes Barefoot Executive TV, her book The Barefoot Executive (affiliate), live events, training, and more. She has raving fans and customers that number in the multiple thousands. But, how did she get started on the path to success? In today’s interview, Carrie reveals how she began, came up with her brand idea, built up her…

  • What Separates Top Internet Marketers, Bloggers & Mediapreneurs From The Rest Of The Herd

    David Siteman Garland
    19 Jan 2012 | 6:34 pm
    Boom. What do you think?

  • How Ramit Sethi From IWillTeachYouToBeRich.com Monetized After Giving Away Content for Years on His Blog

    David Siteman Garland
    19 Jan 2012 | 8:50 am
    Today On The Rise To The Top: The #1 Non-Boring Business Show: One of my most requested guests of all time. The creator of I Will Teach You To Be Rich, New York Times Best-Selling Author (affiliate), and amazing Internet entrepreneur – Ramit Sethi – is in the house and spilling the beans on all kinds of secrets, including how his blog got so popular, how he monetized by launching his first product (and what he learned from it), his rigorous research process, and much more in this super naked interview. I use RISE partner Wistia for video hosting because they rock. Check ‘em…

  • Want to Stick Out from the Pack? Internet Legend Yanik Silver Shares His Secrets of Differentiating by Astonishing

    David Siteman Garland
    17 Jan 2012 | 8:16 am
    Today on The Rise To The Top: The #1 Non-Boring Business Show: So, one of the big questions I always here over and over again is “How do I stick out?”. Meaning, how can my brand/blog/show/product stick out from everyone else out there? I tracked down the man, myth, legend who has done exactly that (in a very crowded space), Yanik Silver, and today on the show he is giving us all kinds of actionable advice on how we can all differentiate by astonishing – based on his experience and not fluffy theory. Enjoy! I use RISE partner Wistia for video hosting because they rock. Check…
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    New articles | Biznik

  • Stuck In A Rut? SEO Copywriters Share 5 Newsletter Topics

    26 Jan 2012 | 5:25 pm
    The most successful marketers in history will tell you that your greatest asset is your mailing list! If you're having trouble coming up with fresh and interesting topics, here are a few concepts to spark some creative ideas.

  • Is PUBLIC RELATIONS a Bad Word?

    26 Jan 2012 | 2:47 pm
    Does the term public relations scare people off? Most people are frightened by things they don’t understand. Public relations is an unknown, a scary term -- and scary is bad. How do today’s PR practitioners rectify this?

  • 7 Essential Sales Pages Needed on Every Web Site

    26 Jan 2012 | 11:11 am
    Determining what to include on a web site can be overwhelming. There are a number of pages that generally appear on every site. Here are 7 essential sales pages needed on every website that has products and services for sale:

  • Computer Brain Overload & Effective Ways to to Recooperate

    26 Jan 2012 | 12:01 am
    Are looking for ways to decompress your mental fatigue, this article provides step by step instructions on how to clear gridlock form your mind with acupressure.

  • Is Giving Vital to Business Growth?

    25 Jan 2012 | 9:56 pm
    I’ve always been a softie for helping out families in needs during the holidays. But recently two good friends of mine stirred me up and had me rethink my holiday ritual. Why wasn’t I making this an all year practice?
 
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    Mimiran

  • The Value of Time for SMB Owners

    webmin
    19 Jan 2012 | 10:20 am
    People often start a business to pursue a passion and to have more control over their lives. Unfortunately, the business often ends up taking control instead. The owner has less time with family, rather than more, and even when not at work, work is always present. The passion fades, the owner feels stuck, but doubles down and works even harder because business is not supposed to be easy, right? What to do? Here’s some advice that may seem counterintuitive. RAISE YOUR PRICES. But if you raise prices, you might lose customers, right? That’s certainly possible, and possibly certain,…

  • 3 Ways to Boost Profits in 2012

    webmin
    11 Nov 2011 | 12:32 pm
    Cut costs without hurting sales. Raise prices (nominally, by raising list prices, or effectively, by reducing discounts) without hurting sales. Ummm, ummm.  What’s the 3rd one?  Costs… prices… and the 3rd one, let’s see… No sir, no sir.  And the 3rd one, I can’t.  Sorry.  Ooops.

  • You’re Not Getting Enough Price Objections

    webmin
    9 Nov 2011 | 6:18 pm
    Many business owners and sales reps hate price objections.  They view price objections as some kind of faux pas that they should have avoided, an awkward situation, best resolved quickly (and often with huge damage to profits).  Do you like price objections?  When was the last time you heard one?  (I recently spoke to the new CEO of an established business who said they haven’t heard a price objection in 2 years, so they know their pricing is screwed up.) If you don’t like price objections, you could be accidentally killing your business.  If no one ever objects to your…

  • Pricing Battle Plan for Services

    webmin
    27 Oct 2011 | 11:50 am
    Last week, we looked at how preparing a pricing battle plan increases your sales and profits while decreasing your stress.  This week, let’s look at another example, a service business with about 10 professionals.  To protect the guilty, we’ll call it Smiley Services, which helped companies with various process and legal issues.  Service companies often have some interesting pricing challenges, and Smiley had them all: Customers tend to focus on hourly rates, rather than total project cost, let alone value for money. It’s easy to offer deep discounts to get people off the…

  • What’s your pricing battle plan?

    webmin
    20 Oct 2011 | 10:48 am
    How many businesses build a cool product, then figure out what to charge for it?  How many companies decide what to quote on a proposal after they’ve written the proposal?  If you make your pricing decisions then, you are at your most emotional and least rational point, and likely to mis-price (usually underprice) your offering. Have a pricing battle plan ready, so that in the heat of the moment, you can simply execute your plan.  Small business owners who have done this report less stress, faster deal closing, and higher margins.  Why?  Let’s look at two examples, one today…
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    What Works for Business - Business.com

  • The Best and Worst Business Credit Card Issuers

    Guest Author
    27 Jan 2012 | 7:00 am
    The credit card landscape has changed significantly since the Credit Card Act  took effect in February 2010. Overall, this piece of reformatory legislation increased transparency and consumer rights in the general-use (personal) credit card space, curing many of the ills that pervaded prior to the Great Recession. Perhaps it’s most important provision brought debt stability to personal credit cards by prohibiting issuers from increasing interest rates on existing debt unless a cardholder becomes at least 60 days delinquent on payment. The CARD Act does not pertain to small business credit…

  • How to Green Your Office

    Guest Author
    24 Jan 2012 | 7:00 am
    Do you want to make your office a greener and more efficient place but just aren’t sure how to start? Greening your office can be a lot easier than you think. Check out some ideas below to get started: Print on opposite side of recycled paper Did you know that about 71 million tons of paper and paperboard are used in the United States each year? So instead of tossing out those extra reports after the meeting, why not flip them upside down and put them back in the printer to be used one more time. Change to an eco-font that uses less ink To cut down on printing costs and ink cartridge…

  • Think Big: 5 Lessons Small Business Can Learn from Big Business

    Guest Author
    20 Jan 2012 | 7:00 am
    Having worked with businesses of all sizes, I’ve seen tactics work as often as I’ve seen them fail. Big businesses and corporations have usually grown to their current stature because of intelligent decision-making, endurance, and a willingness to think outside the box.  Small businesses may have more modest budgets and markets, but they can still learn a lot from their larger comrades.  1. Strategy is king - It’s easy for companies to get caught up in putting out fires.  It’s harder to force yourself to focus on long-term strategy, but this is where you should be devoting most of…

  • The Search Engines, Social Networks and Your SEO

    Guest Author
    16 Jan 2012 | 10:12 am
    It seems like every few weeks one blogger or another is heralding the death of SEO, usually citing social media marketing as the murderer. Is SEO changing? Most definitely. Is social media marketing having an effect on how websites create and manage SEO campaigns? You bet. But is SEO really dead? Far from it. Social media and SEO are not in competition with each other, as so many site owners seem to think. In fact, the two disciplines are joining forces to form social SEO, which takes the best of both campaigns and leverages them for a strong online marketing campaign.   Bing, Facebook…

  • If You Build It, They Will Come: Building Your Website to Maximize SEO

    Guest Author
    12 Jan 2012 | 7:00 am
    Businesses invest a lot of time and effort in creating a Web site that reveals their expertise, as well as their brand. Building a professional, informative Web site with a high-end design ensures that customers will have confidence in your company.  But what good does that do if no one ever finds your Web site? It’s critical that your Web site and search engine optimization work together. In the big picture, what’s the return on investment for a site that looks great but has very little traffic?  A ghost town of a Web site isn’t going to bring your target audience in, and your growth…
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    MyWifeQuitHerJob.com

  • How To Prevent Comment Spam From Crashing Your WordPress Blog And Taking Down Your Server

    Steve
    18 Jan 2012 | 10:18 am
    First off, I just wanted to clarify that this article is NOT about how to detect and flag comments as spam. The WordPress plugin Akismet already does a pretty good job of screening out and filtering traditional comment spam. Instead, this post is about how to prevent comment spam and other rogue activity from crashing your server and taking down your blog. Photo By BoxChain As I mentioned in my article on best posts of 2011, the traffic to my blog has doubled in the past year. And unfortunately during that time, the amount of spam comments has increased by an order of magnitude as well. Just…

  • Income Report: How Our Online Store Performed In 2011

    Steve
    11 Jan 2012 | 9:19 am
    The new year has already begun which means that it’s time to report the annual numbers for our online store. Just yesterday, my wife closed the books on our financials and I’m proud to announce that we had yet another record year with double digit growth! I know that I say this every single year, but my wife and I are continually amazed by how our little online shop continues to grow. Seriously folks, while our store does cater to the wedding industry, our niche is actually quite small. But apparently, we haven’t yet saturated the market for wedding hankies and we’re…

  • The Best Posts Of 2011 | MyWifeQuitHerJob.com

    Steve
    29 Dec 2011 | 11:25 pm
    It has been quite a year for MyWifeQuitHerJob.com and I just wanted to thank everyone for continuing to support my blog. Compared to last year, traffic has more than doubled and the number of subscribers to my newsletter has almost tripled! Honestly, I never thought that my blog would ever become that popular and I’m very thankful to have reached this point after 3 years of hard work. In addition to the increases in subscribers and overall traffic, revenues for MyWifeQuitHerJob.com have also increased by over 5x largely thanks to my Create A Profitable Online Store course which launched…

  • How To Avoid Negative Reviews And Bad Publicity For Your Online Store

    Steve
    14 Dec 2011 | 10:44 am
    It’s rare for my wife to hold a grudge against anyone or anything. So the conversation below took me completely by surprise the other day when she and I decided to do some Christmas shopping online together. Photo By nffcnnr Me: Let’s go pick up everyone’s gifts at “The Big Convenient SuperStore” (Not the real name). Wife: I will never shop at that store again. Me: Huh? Why not? It’s so convenient and cheap. We can get all of our shopping done at one place. Wife: I ordered there a few years ago and had a bad experience. Can’t remember the full story…

  • Why My Online Store Needs A Mobile Website And How To Tell If You Need One Too

    Steve
    7 Dec 2011 | 9:51 am
    This past week I read an article on TechCrunch about how retailers weren’t ready for iPad shoppers this past holiday weekend. Now I don’t know much about the author or her ecommerce background, but I strongly disagreed with the post. The main premise was that most of the top online retailers missed out on a lot of sales because they neglected to have an iPad app or an iPad optimized site ready for holiday shopping. Photo By Old Shoe Lady First of all when I go shopping on my iPad, the last thing I want to do is to have to download an app in order to shop efficiently. The iPad…
 
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    flyte blog: small business web marketing blog

  • Web Marketing Influence: Scarcity

    Rich Brooks
    16 Jan 2012 | 7:36 am
    Things that are scarce are perceived as more valuable than things that are plentiful. How can you use this to improve your web marketing and social media? In the final tenet of Robert Cialdini’s Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, he examines scarcity. Like reciprocity, commitment & consistency, social proof, liking and authority before it, scarcity has an undue influence on us due to our desire for shortcuts. We have been trained that things that are rarer have more value than things that are common. Therefore, to make things appear to have more value, marketers can promote or…

  • Web Marketing Influence: Authority

    Rich Brooks
    13 Jan 2012 | 6:15 am
    People are trained to follow authority figures. How can you establish your authority in your web marketing and social media activity? We’ve discussed the power of reciprocity, commitment, social proof and liking in Robert Cialdini’s Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, so far. Now it’s time to look at the power that authority holds over us. Like social proof, authority gives us a short cut in dealing with the complexity of the modern world. We listen to our doctors about health care issues, professors about scholarly matters, and talking heads on TV for everything from…

  • Web Marketing Influence: Liking

    Rich Brooks
    11 Jan 2012 | 9:53 am
    We like to do business with people we like. So, how does that impact your web marketing and social media activities? You like me! You really, really like me! In Robert Cialdini’s book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, he talks about the tenets of influence. So far we’ve seen reciprocity, commitment & consistency, and social proof in action, and now we move on to liking. It’s no surprise that we’re influenced by people we like…what’s surprising is the degree to which we’re influenced by people we like, or even those who leverage the names of…

  • Web Marketing Influence: Social Proof

    Rich Brooks
    9 Jan 2012 | 7:00 am
    When we are uncertain of how to behave or react, we look to others to guide our reaction. This is a powerful tool for web marketing and social media. The first two tenets of Robert Cialdini’s Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, are reciprocation and commitment & consistency…two items that are hard-wired into us. The next tenet is all about external forces: Social Proof. From laugh tracks to tip jars, we are influenced by the actions and reactions of others. This is especially true when we’re unsure of how to behave in a given situation. In Cialdini’s chapter…

  • Web Marketing Influence: Commitment and Consistency

    Rich Brooks
    6 Jan 2012 | 7:51 am
    People are hard-wired to be consistent, especially when they’ve publicly committed to a belief. How does that impact your web marketing & social media? In chapter 2 of Robert Cialdini’s masterful Influence: The Psychology of Persuation, we learned that people have a knee-jerk reaction to responding in kind (or better) to favors…a trait referred to as reciprocity. Now, in the next chapter, we learn that we also wish to be seen as consistent. Cialdini has a wealth of examples of this in his chapter, but one example that stuck with me is the story of people who agreed to…
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    Entrepreneur Pulse | Innovation & Your Entrepreneurial Future

  • Social Sharing Trends of 2011

    Billy
    24 Jan 2012 | 8:09 am
    An interesting look at 2011 and the social sharing craze. 2012 will likely be even more about sharing… sharing and connecting, and not only with others in more ways than one via new devices, integrations, and more. This infographic was snagged up from Tech Cocktail here.  Check it out and read what they have to say… good insights.

  • Smooth way to deal with interruption, from a violinist

    Billy
    23 Jan 2012 | 6:59 am
    Interesting video that shows a violinist spinning an annoying interruption (cell phone) into an amusing and entertaining situation…

  • Facebook IPO will be big…

    Billy
    19 Jan 2012 | 12:16 pm
    Facebook forthcoming IPO will be huge, there is little doubt about that.  Below you will find an interesting info-graphic describing some of the details surrounding the IPO and the company. I find it interesting that the estimated value of Facebook ($100B)  is greater than Disney ($61B), Amazon ($88.3B), and McDonalds ($95.6B), all of which have significantly higher revenues (Disney has revenues of $40B as opposed to Facebooks $4B, 10 times!) although margins are much higher with Facebook (Disney’s net income is still well above Facebook’s total revenue). I’m not saying…

  • Work Extremely Hard

    Billy
    7 Dec 2011 | 9:11 am
    From Hugh MaCleod @ GapingVoid.com

  • Open-source Cancer Research

    Billy
    5 Nov 2011 | 4:06 pm
    Interesting video regarding  a small cancer research lab that is utilizing open-source sharing and crowd-source sharing to speed up the development of cancer drug treatment production including the research to start several pharmaceutical ventures. Interesting stuff…
 
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    CurrentMom

  • All In a Day's Work

    Karen Paul-Stern
    26 Jan 2012 | 7:00 am
    Truth Thursday One of the things I like the most about parenting teens and tweens is that I remember being their age. As such, I feel like I have a better sense of the needs, desires and anguish of their...

  • Finding the Dragon Within on Chinese New Year

    Katherine Lewis
    24 Jan 2012 | 8:47 am
    Truth Tuesday Growing up a mixed-race child in lily-white upstate New York, I wanted nothing more than to blend in with my peers. If people asked, "what are you?" I would claim, "I'm just like you!" This despite the Chinese...

  • Gadgets Galore -- Easy Panini

    Emily
    23 Jan 2012 | 11:30 am
    Meal Monday I am what is known in business school case studies as a late adapter (see Luddite). I cannot be convinced (no matter how hard my husband tries) to give up my traditional date book that I mark in...

  • A Little Perspective

    TNH Guy
    20 Jan 2012 | 4:38 am
    Fatherhood Friday Having a newborn to go along with our almost-three year old and eight year old has been quite an adjustment. New routines, lots of sleep-deprived people in the house, tough to make plans beyond tomorrow, etc. We have...

  • Modern Family

    Karen Paul-Stern
    19 Jan 2012 | 7:00 am
    Truth Thursday Being a product of the 1970s, I can sing the theme songs to any number of mind-numbing, puerile television shows, as can most Americans who are around my age. Gilligan’s Island. Green Acres. Petticoat Junction. Family Affair. F...
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    Diamond Website Conversion » Blog

  • Catering to the Differences Within Your Target Market

    Marty
    27 Jan 2012 | 2:47 am
    Scrutinize any group of people closely enough and you’ll be able to identify drastic differences in personalities and approaches to various activities. Your target market is no different. You may have done a stellar job identifying your target market, but can you say you really know them? Or do you just treat them all as “average” consumers? Let’s take a look at the four personality types, as described by Bryan Eisenberg in his book Always Be Testing,  that emerge from shopper behavior in order to understand your target market better. Spontaneous This person likes to buy quickly and…

  • The Conversionator V3 N4: Brand Management

    Donna Roberts
    25 Jan 2012 | 2:55 am
     Blog Traffic Tactics, and Brand Building for Beginners  This week’s edition includes a number of useful tips covering brand management and protection, website tune-ups, increasing blog traffic, brand building for those just getting started in social media, and optimizing your content to really speak to your audience: - If you’re looking for ways to keep your brand secure, Branding Personality’s 10 Cool Ways to Protect Your Brand Name Online shares 10 tips to help manage and protect your brand - When is the last time you took a good look at your own website? Seven Ways to Whip…

  • Procrastination: Conversion’s Kiss of Death

    Donnie Bryant
    23 Jan 2012 | 2:29 am
    There’s a psychologically-rooted reason the words “I’ll be back” from customers are the kiss of death for your website. It’s the reason that you have to sell prospects when they’re “hot;” Any delay can be costly. For reasons that will become clear in a moment, please check out this video: This is the trailer for the newly-released book You’re Not So Smart (which, for the record, I haven’t read yet). I don’t think this book is aiming at business education or conversion training, but I have to ask the question: What are the…

  • The Conversionator V3 N3: All Things Pinterest

    Donna Roberts
    18 Jan 2012 | 3:14 am
    If you haven’t heard about it yet, Pinterest is a virtual pinboard that lets people organize and share all the things they find on the web and it is growing fast: traffic is up 40 times in the last six months and it is now one of the Top 10 social networking and forum sites. There is a lot of Pinterest potential for brands and companies and this week’s edition is focused on helping you get started: - Pinterest etiquette clearly states that it’s not a platform for self-promotion so brands need to approach the site a little differently. Open Forum’s Pinterest for Brands: 5 Hot Tips…

  • Four Steps to Increasing PPC Conversions

    Marty
    16 Jan 2012 | 4:23 am
    You either love ‘em or you hate ‘em. They can boost your website conversions significantly or cost you a truckload of money with little to show for it. I’m talking about PPC ads, of course. The difference between success and failure in terms of conversion is an understanding of what it takes to create PPC ads that will ultimately motivate people to act. Let’s take a look at the four basic components of a conversion-boosting PPC campaign. A Well-Designed Ad Your title and copy must work together to differentiate your offer from every other PPC ad on the search results page. Before you…
 
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    Profitable Growth

  • With All the Business in Technology, Where’s the Technology in Business?

    Andy Birol
    16 Jan 2012 | 1:04 pm
    Business people are fascinated by the benefits, profits and potential of technology. Just visit any tech event and witness the financiers, service providers and the media networking with techies to discover “the next business thing.” But despite all this “technology-transfer”, why isn’t there more technology in business? After 15 years of consulting with more than 430 firms and presenting to or interviewing another 10,000 business leaders, I’m dismayed by how little technology actually makes it into most mainstream, medium and small businesses: Most inventories are…

  • Get Your Loving at Home; He’s No Hugger!

    Andy Birol
    18 Dec 2011 | 10:06 pm
    Have you ever wondered what would happen if you cut out all extra service and personal touches from your business?  Would customers still come if you were excellent but detached? My recent shoulder surgery was an in-your-face experience of how this works. After enduring shoulder pain for a year, an MRI confirmed that my rotator cuff was ripped apart. I found Pittsburgh’s best surgeon, and after a 15-minute consult, he booked me. 90 days later, I arrived for the surgery, and was quickly processed, IV’d, gurneyed and staged for the operation.  No visit from the surgeon, little small talk…

  • Lessons Learned from Marcellus Part 4: Insights After 6 Month’s Focus on Shale

    Andy Birol
    18 Dec 2011 | 9:16 pm
    Not until the summer of 2011, did the Marcellus opportunity begin to make sense to me. Knowing nothing about gas drilling, energy policy or how big energy companies function, I grew increasingly frustrated by all the attention that Marcellus was attracting. Then I recalled my Economics 101 professor’s simple message; the impact of one dollar spent in the economy is multiplied 3-10 times as it passes from each buyer to another seller. And with a trillion dollars of spending on natural gas in Western PA, the multiplier effect is mind-boggling! Every business that can do business downstream of…

  • Five Keys to Sustaining Your Advanced Consulting Business

    Andy Birol
    18 Dec 2011 | 8:57 pm
    After 14 years of consulting and relocating my business to Western Pennsylvania, many of you have asked, “What keeps you going, Andy?” In advance of my introducing an “Advanced Consulting Mastermind Group” with Michael Couch and the Pittsburgh Consulting Community on January 31st, here’s a preview of my keys to keeping your consulting business healthy and wealthy. 1. Sustain and nurture your professional passion. Constantly learn about your clients’ challenges and help them succeed on their terms. a.    Live to learn, but advise with detached passion. Stay devoted to your…

  • Assess Corporate Culture When Choosing Your Next Customer

    Andy Birol
    12 Dec 2011 | 3:03 pm
    It is standard practice to qualify a prospect on the basis of time, need, authority and money, but why not by corporate culture as well? We all find it easier to work with some companies just as we prefer working with some employees more than others. In fact, as a result of outsourcing, with more and more work going to suppliers instead of employees, perhaps the supplier-customer relationship should (and will) start to mimic the employee-employer relationship. If this is so, then as suppliers, we should start to assess our prospect’s corporate culture just as we did when deciding to accept…
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    CityVoter

  • 3 Easy Steps to Help Transition to Facebook Timeline

    CityVoter
    26 Jan 2012 | 8:48 am
    Facebook announced on Tuesday that Timeline will roll out to all users in the upcoming weeks. We posted on our contests’ Facebook pages about this mandatory change, and the feedback that we received was very mixed. There were numerous comments from Facebook users (and our voters) voicing their dislike for the new Facebook Timeline. Most were upset because they do not like the layout and want a choice on whether or not they enable Timeline. Others thought it looks too much like MySpace and even said they would “quit” Facebook and make the shift to Google+. Although Timeline will…

  • The Last of the 2011 Contests Come to an End

    CityVoter
    20 Jan 2012 | 12:56 pm
    Even as 2011 was winding down, things were still in full swing at CityVoter with 3 big contests! Voting closed just before the New Year for Cleveland’s FOX 8 HOT LIST, WMBF’s Best of the Grand Strand in Myrtle Beach and the A-List on WISN.com in Milwaukee. WMBF’s Best of the Grand Strand and Cleveland’s FOX 8 HOT LIST winners have officially been announced, and the last batch of winners for the A-List on WISN.com were announced today! The 2011 WMBF Best of the Grand strand contest received just fewer than 40,000 votes. That is over 6,000 more than the 2010 contest, and we believe part…

  • Insights from Rochester Deli, Inc.: A 3 Time A-List on WISN.com Winner

    CityVoter
    17 Jan 2012 | 7:00 am
    The 2011 A-List on WISN.com contest in Milwaukee was our biggest year yet with over 116,000 votes in only 3 short weeks! The sandwich market in Milwaukee is saturated with many tasty shops as evidenced by the 39 nominees this year. We decided to find out how with all this competition Rochester Deli, Inc. was able to win the category in 2011 for the third year in a row. It probably starts with the fact that Rochester Deli, Inc. is family owned and operated since 2004. The deli is not shy when it comes to social media and is very active on Facebook and Twitter. They focus most of their social…

  • 3 Tips for Your Small Business’ Blog

    Guest Post
    13 Jan 2012 | 2:30 am
    This is a guest post by Janet Aronica. Janet is the Head of Marketing for Shareaholic, a company that makes content sharing tools. You can follow Shareaholic on Twitter @Shareaholic and read the Shareaholic blog to get daily blogging tips Between all of the tasks that go into running a business – payroll, making the employee work schedule, and oh, yeah, talking to customers – it may seem hard for a small business owner to imagine having the bandwidth for blogging. How could you have time for writing when your hands are already full? But making the time for blogging will have…

  • How to Deal with Comments- Both Positive and Negative

    CityVoter
    9 Jan 2012 | 10:56 am
    You want to feel the love, and we hope that most of the feedback you get online is positive. However, we know not all comments will be praise, and it is important to have the tools to turn negative comments into a success by showing your other customers that you care about concerns. Read on to learn tips on how to deal with both flattering and unflattering comments. Thank the do gooders. Someone (other than your mother) commented on your blog/status update! While this may be something to celebrate, don’t just stare at the comment in wonderment and do nothing about it. Thank them for…
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    Blog@PixelCrayons™

  • Steps to Integrate Buddypress with WordPress Multi-sites

    admin
    25 Jan 2012 | 4:28 am
    when you opt for a multi site WordPress Development, you get an option of converting a regular looking WordPress blog into an amazing network of blogs, managed by a single admin back end process. Though it was previously a random feature to include the option of multi site WordPress blog, now it has been included [...]

  • 7 Valuable Check Points for Creating Effective FAQ’s

    admin
    18 Jan 2012 | 1:57 am
    Frequently Asked Question (FAQs) is one of the most important tools that help you build user-friendly website. The tool is unavoidable when you provide rich information about any subject on your website. When a user opens your website, he may not be interested in the lengthy user guide or a long list of instructions, which [...]

  • Tips Before Integrating Shopping Cart Software to Online Store

    admin
    13 Jan 2012 | 12:36 am
    It was a dream come true experience for a lazy yet passionate shopper when the online shopping stores were revealed to the world. The enthusiasm towards ecommerce website development has been brought up with phenomenal success stories of ecommerce platforms like eBay and Amazon etc. today with easy shopping cart integrations, any plane website can [...]

  • Psychological Impact of Website Designs

    admin
    9 Jan 2012 | 12:31 am
    When it comes to creating a web design, psychological impact matters a lot. There are different elements in a web design like color, size, images etc. these different elements affect the psyche of people in different manners. Moreover, there are certain standard psychological responses that people tend to give on seeing a particular color etc. [...]

  • Know The Ecosphere of Facebook Commerce

    admin
    3 Jan 2012 | 12:04 am
    When it comes to social commerce, it has been estimated that it will reach $30 Billion in the next five years. The question that arises here is how this became possible? If we take Facebook commerce in consideration, it just amounts to liking product pages. However, there are seven dimensions in total that drive Facebook [...]
 
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    BizBlog

  • Marketing Mix for Small Business; Using Social Media in your Marketing Plan!

    Biz Central
    27 Jan 2012 | 3:44 pm
    This week we take a little different approach, we give you many lists to improve your business through Marketing Mix for Small Business. Maximizing Marketing Plans for small business can do wonders for your bottom line! Using Social Media, it’s a snap, and mostly costs only time, brain power and having a Marketing Stragity!

  • Twitter for Small Business

    Biz Central
    17 Jan 2012 | 2:12 pm
    Twitter for Small Business Tools for Social Marketing Using Twitter for Small Business to Generate Calls and Loads of FREE Advertising By Chris Romero and Thomas R. Reich Ever Wonder what Small Business Tools are contained within Twitter for small business?  How can you mine FREE Advertising out of a Social Media Network and create [...]

  • Now is the Time to Set up a Small Business

    Biz Central
    10 Jan 2012 | 9:32 am
    Those who made the move to start a company in 2011 along with therest of the small businesses in the United States accounted for more that ½ of the private sector GDP and 70% of new jobs created in 2011.

  • BizCentral USA’s SEO for Small Business part 2 SEO for Small Business

    Biz Central
    12 Dec 2011 | 11:38 am
    We discussed the different advantages of Search Engine Optimization for Small Business in Part 1. Now let’s learn a few tricks that can make this whole process a little more enjoyable. When you know some of the processes involved, the whole concept of how the internet works, can become clearer.

  • SEO for Small Business – Keyword Strategy and Search Engine Optimization Tips for Understanding Who You Are!

    Biz Central
    7 Dec 2011 | 1:23 pm
    Today the rules have changed, but the game is the essentially the same! An innovative company must get an article featuring a unique product or service read by as many “Unique Impressions”, who are actually looking for that product or service, as possible. However, today the Public Relations agent and the hard copy publication salesman is replaced with Search Engines and SEO for Business - Keyword Strategy!
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    The Work at Home Woman

  • Successful Life & Time Management for Work at Home Mompreneurs

    Holly - The Work at Home Woman
    27 Jan 2012 | 11:00 pm
    By Golda Smith Being a work at home mom is amazing. Let’s face it; you have the best of both worlds… a 30 second commute to your office and the pleasure of spending as much time with your children as you want. Sadly, the biggest mistake that many mompreneur’s make is that they try to [...]

  • Why Sports is Good Training for Entrepreneurs

    Holly - The Work at Home Woman
    26 Jan 2012 | 11:00 pm
    By Cynthia Kocialski I noticed that many successful entrepreneurs played sports. Does sports training matter to budding entrepreneurs? What skills do athletes learn that would benefit a new business owner and entrepreneur? The Intent to Win In sports, the link between progressing in a sport is directly related to your track record of winning. Athletes [...]

  • Do You Have All the Money You Need?

    Holly - The Work at Home Woman
    25 Jan 2012 | 11:00 pm
    By Tami Gomez What does matter? The FEELINGS you bring up as you say the words. Today I’d like to introduce you to a different kind of affirmation, and I dare say it is the THE most powerful type of affirmation you could ever do. It works well, and it works FAST. I call it a “feeling [...]

  • Eliminate This One Factor from Your Day and Watch Your Business and Family Time Grow

    Holly - The Work at Home Woman
    24 Jan 2012 | 11:00 pm
    By Holly Reisem Hanna I remember when I was pregnant with my daughter; I was at a Chinese restaurant waiting for my take-out, when I observed this woman furiously texting away while her young son tugged on her sleeve trying to get her attention. Over and over again he tugged and asked her to look [...]

  • Finding Passion for Your Work

    Holly - The Work at Home Woman
    23 Jan 2012 | 11:00 pm
    By Barbara Seifert, Ph. D., CPC To be successful, you have to have your heart in your business and your business in your heart.   Thomas Watson The New Year is a great time to reevaluate and reassess where you are in your professional life.  Whether you work for someone or you own your business, you [...]
 
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    Leader Networks blog

  • Community Managers, Unite!

    23 Jan 2012 | 9:22 am
     Happy Community Manager Appreciation Day (#CMAD)!  As I sat down to write a blog post dedicated to celebrating community managers - this fantastic, rewarding and often misunderstood profession, I realized that there are few professions (and professionals) as impassioned as a Community Manager.  Left-brain, right-brain, artist, scientist, pioneer, organizational change agent - the job is all that, and more.  So, in lieu of trying to write about my appreciative thoughts today, I have gathered a few of my favorite blog posts about being a Community Manager from my blog…

  • The Social Mind: A New Research Project

    13 Jan 2012 | 7:32 am
    Interrelationships between individuals, organizations, thought leaders and influencers are evolving in new and previously unforeseen ways thanks to the advent of social media networks. This paradigm shift represents a major communications innovation in all markets, and is radically changing the way people and organizations engage and behave online. In order to explore this topic, and give back to the industry,  Don Bulmer and Peter Auditore and I are conducting a new study as Fellows of the Society of NewCommunications Research (SNCR) .    The Social Mind research project is…

  • Online Community Decision: Public, Private or Hybrid?

    11 Jan 2012 | 8:21 am
    Your organization has decided to develop an online community to serve your customers. Congratulations! This is an important step towards building a social business. As the team gathers in the conference room with whiteboards, markers and lots of coffee, you start by talking about other online community examples the organization might want to emulate, or those that have caught your fancy. Features, content, look and feel are usually a major part of this discussion. But chances are you haven’t considered a fundamental but critical question: will the online community be public, gated or a…

  • The 20 Minute Social Media Professional

    6 Dec 2011 | 8:20 am
    “I don’t have time to participate in social media” is a common cry heard within enterprise. The concern is that social media has a steep learning curve and is a time vacuum preventing more essential work from getting done. In other circles where social media is more widely used, those who haven't started are sometimes in a pickle.  They don't know where to start and won't ask for help, worried about exposing that they haven't developed this professional skill yet.  Fear not...while we are led to believe that everyone and their uncle is using social media with great skill and…

  • Social Snacking Feeds Online Community

    30 Nov 2011 | 7:02 am
    Social snacks are digital tidbits of information, ideas and personal presence which offer a quick taste of an online community's content and personality. An effective way to build awareness of a community, these virtual treats get distributed via the burgeoning ecosystem of online tools that support millions of short, sharing interactions daily. Sometimes an online community can get overly focused on internal processes such as moderation, content development, member acquisition and engagement, and lose sight of the vast virtual world outside their domain name boundaries. Looking outward and…
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    Small Business Daily News, Blogs, Commentary

  • Why Women Business Owners Still Struggle, Facebook Shopping and More

    Rieva Lesonsky
    27 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am
    By Rieva Lesonsky Have you missed any of my posts around the Web this week? Read on for a quick roundup. Why do female small business owners have more trouble getting financing? The answer could be traced back to the scarcity of women on corporate boards. Get the connection in my post on American Express OPEN Forum. Have you tried Facebook ads and, if so, did they work for you? Find out what other business owners think about advertising on Facebook in my post on  Huffington Post Small Business. How about selling products on Facebook? Few businesses have tried, but new data show consumers…

  • Scared to Start a Business? Don’t Be

    Rieva Lesonsky
    26 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am
    By Rieva Lesonsky If you’re on the fence about whether to start your own business, some data from a new study might help convince you to make the move. I think it always helps to hear from real people about decisions you’re considering. And recently, The Hartford surveyed some 2,000 real entrepreneur in its Small Business Success Study. The study focused on small business owners’ outlook in today’s challenging economy. Despite the many hurdles they face, the entrepreneurs who were polled were very optimistic. In spite of the current economic environment, 51 percent projected…

  • Adventures in Retail

    Maria Valdez Haubrich
    25 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am
    Did you know retail supports one in four U.S. jobs? According to the National Retail Federation, the retail industry employs 42 million Americans nationwide and they recently announced a contest to celebrate you–the small business retailer. Tell your retail story by video and you could win $25,000! The “This is Retail” contest is part of NRF’s Retail Means Jobs campaign and is aimed at raising awareness of the retail industry’s significant economic impact. Here’s how to enter: Tell your retail story in a video no longer than two minutes. Make sure your video…

  • How to Handle Irate Customers

    Karen Axelton
    24 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am
    Have you ever struggled to deal with an angry customer in the best way for your business? In today’s guest post, customer service expert John Tschohl shares his advice for handling the situation in a way that benefits both your business and the customer. Most of us have been there at one time or another and most likely don’t want to ever go back.  Whether it was over the phone or in person, and regardless if a product was flawed, a delivery was late or a charge was inaccurate, dealing with an irate customer isn’t fun in any situation. How you deal with that customer will determine…

  • Does Your Small Business Need Marketing Help? Staples Is Offering $250,000 in Free Advertising to Five Winning Businesses

    Rieva Lesonsky
    23 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am
    By Rieva Lesonsky Seven out of 10small business owners are optimistic about the future, according to the 6th annual Staples National Small Business Survey. But more than half (52 percent) wish they had a bigger marketing budget. To help, Staples has launched the Staples “Give Your Small Business the Push It Needs” contest. Five small businesses will win up to $50,000 each in free television advertising in their home market. (SmallBizDaily is working with Staples on this promotion.) To enter the “Give Your Small Business the Push It Needs” contest, just submit a 15-second video about…
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    The Small BizNest

  • Ex-Google Lawyer Says New Google Search “Bad For Internet”

    John Joyce
    12 Jan 2012 | 10:02 am
    Oh, and did I mention that he currently works for Twitter? “We’re concerned that as a result of Google’s changes, finding this information will be much harder for everyone,” the company said in a statement. “We think that’s bad for people, publishers, news organizations and Twitter users.” If you haven’t heard about the new Google+ Your World, check out this article over at Venturebeat.com.  I’m not really sure this is a big deal at the moment, as Google+ adoption as slowed considerably, but, if it continues to gain mindshare, we could see another antitrust suit…

  • Remembering Danny Lewin on 9/11

    John Joyce
    11 Sep 2011 | 12:04 pm
    Ten years ago today, I was getting ready to board a plane from Vancouver to Calgary when the first plane hit the world trade center in NYC.  After all flights in North America had been grounded, and I left the airport with my colleague, Matt McSweeney, we called Akamai headquarters to make sure all our co-workers were safe.  That’s when we learned that Akamai’s brilliant founder, Danny Lewin, was on flight 11. Ironically, Danny’s theory of solving speed and reliability issues on the internet was proven by an event that also took his life. News outlets and government…

  • Order Business Cards and Get A FREE Domain Name

    John Joyce
    23 Aug 2011 | 10:30 am
    MOO and Network Solutions have teamed up to bring a great offer to small business owners here in the US.  If you purchase MOO Business Cards or MiniCards between now and September 4th, you’ll get a free domain name from Network Solutions. It doesn’t get much easier than that.  MOO alllows you to create high-quality, unique Business Cards or MiniCards where you can showcase yourself or business with a unique image on the back of each card.  Take advantage of this offer now.

  • Want Some Cool Free Stickers to Promote Your Business?

    John Joyce
    29 Jun 2011 | 10:45 am
    I have been a bit lax in writing here at The Small BizNest since joining the MOOCrew but figured I could make up for it by offering some freebies to you all.  MOO has developed some great new sticker products that allow businesses of all types to add some creativity to their offline marketing efforts.  MOO round stickers and labels are printed on thick, durable vinyl with a glossy finish. There are four stickers/labels printed on a perforated sheet, so you can tear and share one or more at a time, or use an entire sheet to show off 4 of your different designs at once.  The sticker sheets…

  • 3 Things To Consider Before Launching A Groupon Campaign

    John Joyce
    14 May 2011 | 9:44 am
    Today’s hot Internet property is Groupon, the social media coupon marketer many small businesses are adding to their marketing mix. Many small businesses have benefited from the Groupon’s ability to generate foot traffic and introduce them to new customers. But be forewarned: a Groupon campaign can be a monster that quickly sends you thousands of customers regardless of your inventory levels or readiness to process them. So, before you make the decision to augment your marketing efforts with a Groupon campaign, you have to do your homework. [read more..]
 
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    MLM Blog - Network Marketing Blog

  • Neways Restructures Debt Without Bankruptcy

    ty@tribble.org (Ty Tribble)
    26 Jan 2012 | 6:15 am
    Neways kept itself out of bankruptcy, but at what expense? This will be an interesting one to watch.  You can be sure that these private equity firms will be looking to get their money back and sometimes that can happen at the expense of the distributors associated with the company. Let's hope this is a step in the right direction for the company and it's distributors. SPRINGVILLE, Utah, Jan. 19, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Neways Enterprises, a worldwide leader in dietary supplements and personal care products, announced today that it has completed a comprehensive out-of-court…

  • Robert Dean Jr. Joins Momentis? 6th Company In 3 Years.

    ty@tribble.org (Ty Tribble)
    25 Jan 2012 | 12:41 pm
    Several sources are telling me that Robert Dean Jr. has joined Momentis, an MLM energy company. Momentis is likely Dean's 6th MLM company in under 3 years as he jumps from company to company, working deals to pay off his massive settlement with Tahitian Noni. A quick update: In yesterday's mini-expose' on Robert Dean Jr.' deals we reported rumors that Dean may have been terminated from Limu.  But according to Troy Dooley, Dean has not actually been terminated, but possibly suspended. My best guess is that Limu is getting their ducks in a row for a lawsuit and the fine line between…

  • Robert Dean Terminated From Limu Company?

    ty@tribble.org (Ty Tribble)
    24 Jan 2012 | 5:18 pm
    Two sources are telling me that Robert Dean has been terminated from the Limu company.  This follows on the heals of his public split with Visalus and before that EvolvHealth and before that Monavie and before that Tahitian Noni.  Update 1/25/2012: Troy Dooley reports that as of right now,  Robert Dean Jr. has not been terminated from Limu but rather suspended.  I suspect that this is a legal maneuver by Limu in preparation for a lawsuit.  It is pretty clear that Robert Dean Jr. has left Limu for Momentis. All of this in the last 3 years.  Sometimes, there are…

  • Evolv Health Gobbles Up Another MLM: cPRIME

    ty@tribble.org (Ty Tribble)
    24 Jan 2012 | 4:38 pm
    Trey White's Evolv Health has snatched up another Network Marketing company as cPRIME joins the EvolvHealth Corporation. Previously Evolv merged with Xowii. Evolv has also been in the news recently as several top leaders from Max International have left Max to join Evolv. This growth strategy is interesting and could prove effective.  I always wondered why a cash rich company like Amway didn't spur their growth in the U.S. by purchasing smaller but growing MLM companies. Evolv has come a long way since it's "Water Launch" a couple of years ago, but the cPRIME product might be a step…

  • Isagenix Lawsuit: Did The Company Steal Weight Loss Plan?

    ty@tribble.org (Ty Tribble)
    19 Jan 2012 | 6:28 am
    LOS ANGELES, Jan 17, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- A lawsuit alleging Isagenix International, a multi-level marketing company based in Chandler, Arizona, intentionally interfered in and destroyed a competing diet supplement business, has been set for trial on March 26, 2012 by the Ventura County Superior Court. The claims against Isagenix were filed by two affiliated Ventura, California based infomercial production and manufacturing companies, Nature's Pure Body Institute and Incubation, and their owner, Ken Wright. The lawsuit has been pending since May 2008. Parties involved in the lawsuit…
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    Everything Small Business Journal

  • Data Privacy Day 2012: What Businesses Can Do

    admin
    25 Jan 2012 | 12:48 pm
    Data Privacy Day is an annual international celebration designed to promote awareness about privacy and educate people about best privacy practices. On Thursday, January 26, they will be sponsoring a Data Privacy Day event, “The Intersection of Privacy and Security,” featuring the Honorable Julie Brill, Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission. Although it falls on a Saturday this year, the National Cyber Security Alliance will be celebrating with events throughout January and into February. There will also be a live-streamed Facebook event, accessible here, and live panel…

  • Social Media Management & Analytics with Statf.ly

    admin
    25 Jan 2012 | 8:20 am
    Social media management and analytics company Statf.ly launched in the fall of 2011, has added new quick-switch multi-profile management and unlimited reporting to its growing feature set. The multi-profile dashboards will meet the growing social media needs of agencies and companies with multiple brands. The Statf.ly interface is designed to be intuitive, powerful, and affordable, enabling team collaboration, unlimited report generation with data point annotation, real time search for both Twitter and Facebook and social data storage for up to 1 year. “We added quick-switch multi-profile…

  • Tips to Remember When Relying on a Remote Workforce

    admin
    23 Jan 2012 | 8:00 am
    The advent of cloud computing and the advancement of mobile communications technology has put the spotlight on the entrepreneurial advantages of running a strictly virtual business. But such maneuvers are not without their risks, and at the top of the list of concerns e-entrepreneurs ought to have are ones that concern the employment of remote workers. While studies indicate that “stay-at-home” employees are happier and more productive, there are unique obstacles and incentives to hiring remote workers that must be addressed if you expect to get the most out of switching to a…

  • Being A Good Citizen Can Be Good Business

    admin
    20 Jan 2012 | 8:00 am
    A growing number of corporations are finding that good works and good business can go hand in hand. Whether they are volunteering, helping fund community-based projects or working to strengthen public-private partnerships such as United Way, more companies are taking Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) seriously and investing in communities where they are located. Here are some examples: U.S. Bank works closely with United Way and its partners in communities across the United States to provide financial education, affordable housing and more. United Way is U.S. Bank’s largest grant…

  • Solid Planning May Save You from Disaster

    admin
    19 Jan 2012 | 8:00 am
    Despite the many risks small businesses face, many remain unprepared to handle the unexpected. One way they can minimize their risks is to create a Business Continuity Plan. Scary Numbers Only 6 percent of small-business owners say they’re not at all confident about being adequately protected against a disaster, according to a survey conducted by Travelers at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce America’s Small Business Summit. That same survey found that 44 percent of small businesses are operating without any type of business continuity plan, a plan designed to keep the business operating after…
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    The International Association of Self-Employed Communication Professionals

  • Take a Bite of the Apple

    Barbara
    20 Jan 2012 | 6:12 pm
    Marketing Strategies from the Master Apple’s fierce following is what’s kept them afloat during the worst economy in decades. Can you create the same thing? Apple has a cult following. Their marketing has embraced the powers of scarcity (they only serve “their’ people) and social proof (“Their” people rave about them). It started nearly 30...

  • Your Niche – 3 Criteria to Be Sure You’ve Got the Right One

    Barbara
    13 Jan 2012 | 4:53 pm
    Do you have a set of criteria for your clients? Your services are not right for everyone – and everyone is not a good client for you. Remember that sign on some of the rides at Disneyland that said you had to be “this tall to ride” on it. Not only did it make sure...

  • Optimize Your Social Media

    Barbara
    9 Jan 2012 | 5:36 pm
    Social Media (SoMe) is such a cost-effective and powerful too for Solo Pros that it's a Must-Have for your marketing toolkit, but are you using it correctly?

  • 5 Tips For Managing Overwhelm and Overload

    Barbara
    2 Jan 2012 | 4:50 pm
    Are you feeling a little over cooked? There can be so many things shouting for our attention it can make your hair stand on end. Having so much STUFF coming at us all the time can make you feel really tense. It can be a source of some of the paralysis that so many solo...

  • Take Time To Give Thanks For Your Business

    Barbara
    26 Dec 2011 | 6:35 pm
    It’s been a rough year. Isn’t it nice to know that when you’re a Solo Pro you NEVER need to worry about being laid off again? I think sometimes we forget to be grateful for the fact that we’re self-employed. While the ‘corporate bound’ are shaking in their cubes worrying the ax might fall at...
 
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    Toilet Paper Entrepreneur » Blog

  • Questions That Need To Be Asked Every 90 Days In Business

    Mike Michalowicz
    27 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am
    When entrepreneurs first get started, they usually ask a lot of questions. Everything from how to get started to the best way to hire employees pops up. These questions are imperative in helping to get them on the right course and get them started. But something happens not long after that – they get comfortable, and they stop asking questions. By not asking questions your business may be suffering, especially if you are not asking the right questions!   Self Evaluation Most entrepreneurs fall into a trap of doing the same thing over and over. This can be problematic because if…

  • Ways To Motivate Any Employee

    Mike Michalowicz
    26 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am
    Compiled by Mike Michalowicz, Author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur

  • Why Investors May Be A Bad Idea

    Mike Michalowicz
    25 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am
    Sometimes investors are good, most of the time, they may actually hurt your business. Here are a few reasons you may want to learn to bootstrap your business by financing yourself... Another video by Mike Michalowicz, Author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur

  • Traits That Kill Entrepreneurs And Your Business

    Mike Michalowicz
    24 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am
    Compiled by Mike Michalowicz, Author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur

  • Prevent Your Clients From Going To The Competition

    Mike Michalowicz
    23 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am
    One of the biggest fears of every entrepreneur is competition. After all, play your cards right and the customers will spend their money with you; play them wrong and you will lose your customers to your competition. Rather than fear the competition, what if you use it as motivation to learn about how to keep your clients coming to you? It can be done. You just need to be a little more proactive about making sure that it happens.   Sam Walton, of Walmart fame, once said “There is only one boss: the customer. And he can fire everybody in the company, from the chairman on down,…
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    Springwise

  • Slovenian library creates surprise book packs based on genre

    Springwise
    27 Jan 2012 | 10:10 am
    Last year we saw both people and dogs loaned out by libraries, but it would seem there’s still plenty that can still be done with books as well. Aiming to introduce more fun into library loaning, The National and University Library of Slovenia recently ran a program offering mystery packs of books to their customers. Those visiting the library, based in the centre of Ljubljana, had the option to check out one of an assortment of mystery packages containing three books wrapped in brown paper. A sticker on the front of each package signified which literary genre the books inside belonged to,…

  • Augmented reality poetry book can only be read via webcam

    Springwise
    27 Jan 2012 | 6:59 am
    We’ve already seen augmented reality used to superimpose text on top of chocolate-bar wrappers and newspaper ads, but now we’ve come across an example of the technology being used in the publishing industry. Between Page And Screen is a printed book of poems that relies entirely on augmented reality to convey its words. The Between Page and Screen poetry book has no text printed on its physical pages. Rather, each page is covered with a stark black and white geometric shape and a web address leading to the book’s website. To read the book, readers must visit that site and…

  • At Bahrain auto shop, customers can exercise while they wait

    Springwise
    27 Jan 2012 | 3:52 am
    The UK’s Autofarm Porsche dealership may drive customers to the mall so that they can pass the time shopping while their car is being worked on, but Bahrain’s National Motor Company takes this concept a step further. Not only does the company’s brand-new Sehla-based service center offer free wifi and shuttles to local destinations, but it also houses a state-of-the-art gymnasium. Founded in 1988, National Motor Company (NMC) is one of the leading automotive distributors in Bahrain, representing Honda, Chevrolet, GMC, Cadillac, and Hummer. Early this year the company opened a…

  • Mobile app adds an element of gaming to home energy metering

    Springwise
    26 Jan 2012 | 10:22 am
    There are few aspects of life that can’t be enlivened by a little friendly competition, and home energy metering is no exception. Enter German GreenPocket’s namesake smartphone app, which “helps consumers share their carbon footprint in a competitive and entertaining way on Facebook”. Based in Cologne, GreenPocket is a software provider focusing on the visualization and interpretation of smart metering energy consumption data. As a complement to its smart metering and smart home solutions, the company recently launched a social metering app to sustain consumers’ interest…

  • With every half-sized restaurant meal, a donation to fight hunger

    Springwise
    26 Jan 2012 | 6:04 am
    Pay-what-you-can pricing is one way for a restaurant to help fight hunger during tough economic times, but recently we came across a different approach that aims to combat obesity and waste as well. It’s called Halfsies, and it’s essentially a program that’s designed to help consumers eat less at restaurants while helping to feed the hungry and minimize the amount of food that gets thrown out. Halfsies is “a social initiative offering restaurant-goers a choice that provides a healthier meal portion, reduces food waste, and supports the fight against hunger,” in the…
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    Monica O'Brien

  • Pressing Delete

    Monica O'Brien
    13 Jan 2012 | 5:13 pm
    On Monday, January 16th, I’m pressing delete on any online profiles or websites that don’t match my current goals. One of those places is this blog and all the posts on it. While blogging has given me a lot over the years, it’s not a good fit anymore. To move forward, I have to press delete. I’ll still be available at my Tumblr and my new email list, The Daily(ish). If you are already subscribed to my mailing list, you’ll automatically start receiving The Daily(ish) in your inbox, starting Monday. I’m transferring your subscription automatically because…

  • Silver Smoke Blog Tour Round-Up + Contest

    Monica O'Brien
    29 Dec 2011 | 10:57 am
    Over the holiday season I ran a blog tour for Silver Smoke, my first novel… I don’t typically write about my fiction work on this blog, but I thought it may be of interest since there is a fun, exciting contest involving a brand new Kindle Fire! The blog tour and the contest to win a Kindle Fire (and other Kindles) is still taking place, so if you want to enter, you can do so by Dec. 31st. (Instructions are posted at all the blog tour stops, linked below.) Also, as part of the promotion, Silver Smoke is a free download on Kindle for a few days. The book currently has 22 amazing…

  • Download Social Pollination on your Kindle

    Monica O'Brien
    26 Dec 2011 | 10:29 am
    Just wanted to let you know that if you own a Kindle you can download Social Pollination for free until Dec. 29th. (You can also read it via any device that uses the Kindle app.) I wrote Social Pollination in 2009 at the height of the social media revolution. Some of the text is a bit outdated, but the concepts still stand. If you want an introduction to social media or internet marketing, this may be worth checking out. You can download it here: http://www.amazon.com/Social-Pollination-Companies-Winning-ebook/dp/B0030EG3EA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1324916439&sr=8-2 If you enjoy the…

  • How to make money from your ideas

    Monica O'Brien
    6 Dec 2011 | 12:19 pm
    Improvisation is common for an ENTP. We find our way as we go, and while it always looks like a huge mess to onlookers, it usually works out just fine for us. So it’s no surprise that I can’t follow a recipe to save my life, but that I am, for the most part, able to create fun, tasty meals. Like this chunky chili I made earlier this week. But actually, that’s not a picture of the chili. It’s a stock image, because I forgot to take a picture of the chili and then we ate all of it. So I improvised with the picture. But that’s close to what my chili looks like.

  • Inbox slaves take note

    Monica O'Brien
    8 Nov 2011 | 8:14 am
    I used to answer emails, tweets, Facebook messages, and more in real-time. About six months ago, I just stopped answering them so quickly. And thankfully, people stopped sending them. The world didn’t end, I didn’t lose clients, and I didn’t lose friends (real or online). One day, I decided that having so many unanswered emails in my inbox was ridiculous. I answered all my emails, clear down to inbox zero. And then I took a walk with my dog. Here’s what happened: when I got back less than an hour later, almost every single person I had just sent an email to had replied…
 
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    Meylah

  • 5 Ways to Connect With Your Creative Community

    26 Jan 2012 | 9:07 pm
    Are you connected to your creative community?  It's one of the best way to grow your business.  Connecting with fellow creatives is not only fun, it can also put a little boost in your sales with increased awareness and exposure.So, here are 5 ways to connect with your creative community:1. Make your blog your community hub by blogging on a regular basis, displaying photos of your work and responding to comments when necessary.2. Be vocal and grow your community!  Get involved and take part in a discussion on your favorite blog, fan page or group forum.  You'll get to know others and they…

  • Systems Are A Creative Business' Best Friend

    19 Jan 2012 | 1:15 pm
    As a creative business owner you likely want to spend the majority of your time doing what you love most—being creative! And there is nothing creative about some of those pesky business details like financials, marketing, or time.Creating systems that you enjoy will help the pieces of your business that encourage growth that much easier. If you are like me the thought of excel sheets, cash legers, or press releases is such a turn off you simply don’t use them. Below I have outlined four areas to try new systems including ideas that have been fun and useful for my business.MoneyAreas of…

  • Keep Track of Your Inventory & More with Stitch

    19 Jan 2012 | 12:57 pm
    Have you heard of Stitch?  Stitch is an online tool that is built for small business owners and artisans to manage inventory, contacts, orders, expenses, and more.We met the folks who built Stitch this past year at the Conference of Creative Entrepreneurs in San Francisco and in addition to an impressive online tool, they might just be the nicest people around!Here are just a few reasons why you should consider using Stitch for your business:Inventory Management:  Build and manage your entire product catalog and inventory with a few simple clicks.Order Fulfillment & Invoices: Stitch is more…

  • 3 Financial Tips for Small Business Owners

    19 Jan 2012 | 12:32 pm
    There's been a lot of talk about taxes this time of year...and, rightfully so.  It's the time to start getting organized to help your business get on track for the year ahead.Here are 3 quick and easy financial tips for all small business owners to implement this year:1. Keep Your Receipts All In One PlaceGet your business finances in order for the year ahead by creating a place to store your paperwork.  This can be a binder, a drawer, a folder or just about anything else you can think of to collect and save all of your receipts and financial paperwork for the upcoming year.2. Manage Your…

  • Setting Short & Long Term Goals For Your Business

    17 Jan 2012 | 2:33 pm
    We all start January with a fresh canvas on which to paint our possibilities for the new year.   As creative entrepreneurs, we’re lucky in that we can spend time in January hitting our internal “refresh buttons” & building on everything we created in the past year.Setting goals can be really challenging; it’s easy to under-estimate your ability or way overshoot the mark.  It can also be unsettling to put it all down on paper—it’s one thing to decide on a goal, but a completely different animal when you have to figure out how you’re going to make it happen.So, today, we’re…
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    i-netpreneur

  • 5 Ways to Work and Exercise In Your Office

    cyrus
    21 Jan 2012 | 4:16 pm
    Running an internet business can be quite challenging. Some people spend too many hours each day trying to keep their business afloat. If you are spending most of your time behind a desk and are not moving your body to get the blood flowing, you are putting your health in danger. Here are 5 exercise equipment you can add to your office to exercise and work at the same time.LifeSpan TR1200-DT Treadmill Desk: a treadmill with a large work-surface. You get to fit your monitor, keyboard, and other gadgets on this. You can burn a lot of calories with one of these treadmills in your office.FitDesk…

  • 3 Cool Keyboard Shortcut Guides for Twitter, Facebook, and Google+

    cyrus
    13 Jan 2012 | 8:35 pm
    Many of us spend hours on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ on a daily basis. These sites have easy to navigate user interfaces. But you could get a more convenient experience on them by using the shortcut keys available for them. These 3 guides show you how you can use keyboard shortcuts to get things done on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+:Google+ Shortcut Keys: covers the basic shortcut keys available for Google+. You can use this to navigate through Google+ posts and do all kinds of other neat things faster. Twitter Shortcuts: covers the key combinations you can use to create a new tweet,…

  • 5 Awesome App Mockup Apps for iPad

    cyrus
    6 Jan 2012 | 8:46 pm
    The iOS app development business can be quite lucrative. If you have a killer app idea and the drive to implement your plan the right way, there is no reason you can’t make it big in this business. Of course, there is more to developing apps than knowing coding. You are also going to have to focus on the design part of the process as well. These 5 mockup apps for iPad help you with that:App Cooker: a complete app that helps you develop your idea, create mockups, and price your app the right way. This is perfect for beginners and advanced users alike.Blueprint for iPad: one of the most…

  • 5 Tips To Get Started with Pinterest for Business

    cyrus
    30 Dec 2011 | 9:12 pm
    Most businesses are now serious about using Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to generate leads and traffic for their websites. But those are not the only sites you should concern yourself with. Pinterest is an exciting community that is growing fast and can provide your business with that extra push it would need to get to the next level.Not everyone has had a chance to use Pinterest for business already. Here are 5 steps you should take to position your business for success on Pinterest:Build a complete profile: Pinterest is not an open community at the time of this writing. You should take…

  • 4 Cool Websites To Build Links With

    cyrus
    23 Dec 2011 | 8:41 pm
    Most webmasters understand the power of getting links from authority sites. Without a decent link building strategy, you are going to have a very difficult time climbing the rankings. There are sites webmasters can use to gain quality links for their websites. Here are 4 exciting websites you can use to build links with for your website:The ComLuv Network: many webmasters use CommentLuve to reward their commenters. That gives you the chance to gain quality links by commenting on these sites.My Blog Guest: guest blogging is a great way to build quality links for your business. This is a…
 
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    Jeff Korhan

  • Google+ for Small Business: An Interview with Chris Brogan

    Jeff Korhan
    26 Jan 2012 | 12:37 pm
    In this interview, New York Times bestselling author Chris Brogan offers insights into the power of Google+ for small businesses. Google+ is an emerging social network that promises to challenge Facebook – especially in regards to its benefits for businesses. While Google+ is only a fraction of the size of Facebook, it is indeed backed by Google – the corporation that controls 2/3 of all search on the open web. Search results are and will be increasingly influenced by what is shared on the social networks. However, much of the sharing on Facebook is completely invisible to Google…

  • Innovate or Die – The Race to The Top

    Jeff Korhan
    22 Jan 2012 | 8:30 pm
    Imagine a web with perfect search capabilities – one in which consumers have access to everything they want to know about your business and others just like it. Knowing that, would you operate differently than you are today? You can hope your prospects will not discover other sources that are cheaper or better than yours, or you can accept that the day will soon come when they will know all that you do – and more. Competition is something that keeps business owners and marketers up at night. They bemoan that some are trashing their markets by offering pricing at which nobody can…

  • Facebook Contest Engages Small Business

    Jeff Korhan
    20 Jan 2012 | 7:57 pm
    Once in a while you come across an opportunity that is a no-brainer – such as receiving FREE stuff. Facebook wants to help small businesses, and they believe the best way they can accomplish that is introducing you to the benefits of Facebook advertising. FREE Facebook Advertising So, they have launched a contest, one that will earn you up to $150 of FREE Facebook advertising just for signing up and attracting at least 100 new Facebook fans before the contest closes on April 1st. If you are especially ambitious, you may wish to go for the opportunity to be one of ten small businesses…

  • Creating Addictive Marketing Content

    Jeff Korhan
    18 Jan 2012 | 10:03 pm
    One of the distinguishing qualities of successful marketers is they are passionate students of human behavior – more specifically, buying behavior. Human beings have innate tendencies that lead to actions – some favorable, and others not. Addictions are unfavorable behaviors that can develop very innocently. For example, exercise is a positive action that people take to improve or sustain their vitality. Yet, even exercise can become an obsessive and unhealthy addiction, one that can lead to fatigue and a number of other imbalances. What you are really interested in is not…

  • Presentation Skills for Marketers

    Jeff Korhan
    17 Jan 2012 | 8:02 pm
    Successful marketers know that presentation skills are just as important as the message – maybe more. The reason for this is every message is subject to interpretation, and the better it is presented the more likely the audience will draw from it the necessary elements that are going to be of value to them. Media used to be the domain of specialists. Some had expertise in radio, television, newspapers, and other forms of print. Now we are surrounded by media – which means anyone in business needs to develop the skills for using it well. This also means that every small business is…
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    New Business Partnership

  • Creating A Business Partnership – What’s The Rush?

    4 Jan 2012 | 1:47 pm
    I haven’t blogged in a while but I ran into a situation with a client that has inspired me to get back to the keyboard. A long-term client recently developed an opportunity to form a business partnership that will help take their product into a brand new vertical. It’s very exciting and that excitement was infusing life and energy into their overall business outlook. The economy had really taken a toll on them the past three years. I convinced everyone involved to complete my workbook, “Creating Great Business Partnerships. A Workbook For Success”. They were in the process of doing so…

  • Forming A Business Partnerships – The Dangers of Self Delusion

    9 Nov 2010 | 12:12 pm
    “Perception is a clash of mind and eye, the eye believing what it sees, the mind seeing what it believes”. ~Robert Brault What is it about the human psyche that when our beliefs or desire to believe are so strong, we can turn a blind eye to that which may ultimately harm us? Even when facts to the contrary are staring us in the face! I see this so often when observing the behavior and attitudes of individuals who are contemplating entering into a business partnership. They believe that this person is the right partner for them or they want it to happen so badly, they refuse to invest the…

  • Business Partnerships – Why They Fail

    20 Oct 2010 | 1:17 pm
    “By the time a partnership dissolves, it has dissolved.John Updike How do you convince people to take preventative measures when they have no pain in the moment and the pain is only a possibility sometime in the future? That is the million-dollar question! All too often I get calls from business partners that truly frustrate me. It usually goes something like this: “My business partner and I are having problems and we were hoping you could help us”.  So far so good. Once I start probing however, it becomes apparent to me that first, this could have been avoided and second, it’s…

  • Business Partnerships – The Family Business

    12 Oct 2010 | 4:31 pm
    “If minutes were kept of a family gathering, they would show that “Members not Present” and “Subjects Discussed” were one and the same.” ~Robert Brault You can’t choose your family, but you can choose whether to go into business with them. In continuing our discussion on “Business Partnerships — Are They All Made The Same?” I’d like to turn the focus to the family business. Family businesses can simultaneously be richly rewarding and extremely challenging. A family business faces the same business issues as any company and family members deal with the…

  • Business Partnerships – Joint Ventures & Strategic Alliances

    30 Sep 2010 | 5:11 pm
    “Joint undertakings stand a better chance when they benefit both sides.” — Euripides A couple of weeks ago I asked the question, “Are all business partnerships made the same?” In this blog, I’d like to discuss joint ventures and strategic alliances, two commonly used business partnership structures. First a reminder of how I’m defining the two: Strategic Alliance – a formalized relationship between two parties to pursue a specific endeavor or set of objectives while remaining separate entities. Joint Venture – a strategic alliance where the two businesses create a…
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    Hudsonhorizons.com RSS Feed

  • Google Changes Privacy Policy; Learns More about User’s Personal Information

    27 Jan 2012 | 4:16 pm
    If you thought Google's new ‘Search Plus Your World' feature was a violation of users' privacy, Google's revised privacy policy will impact almost all of its services, including the search engine, YouTube and Gmail. This action will give Google more access about its users' internet behaviors. Scared yet? The intentions behind Google's policy changes Google's idea with the new p You can read the full store at Hudson Horizons Web Development Blog Google Changes Privacy Policy; Learns More about User’s Personal Information

  • Obama and the White House Get Social

    26 Jan 2012 | 9:45 am
    It seems that everyone is leveraging the power of social media these days. Businesses have been utilizing social media to create a buzz about their brands and to better connect with their customers, while celebrities, politicians, and other influential figures (as well as average people) have already utilized the social platforms to share personal thoughts. As the social media bandwagon continues to grow, the most influential figure in the United States, President Barack Obama, is leveraging the power to create interaction about his recent State of the Union speech.

  • Why I Love Working in Social Media

    20 Jan 2012 | 11:19 am
    As a professional in social media, I will confess there are moments of my workday where I want to just throw in the towel. But for each instance that those thoughts cross my mind there are double the instances where I can revel and embrace what I do. Careers in marketing or public relations are demanding, fast pace, and stressful-it is a known fact. Now add social media into the mix, when disconnecting or taking a break just isn't an option for us; overwhelming is only a slight understatement. So why at the end of the day can I say that I love my job and being in the social industry? Social…

  • Anonymous Strikes Again; Department of Justice, FBI and Others ‘Tango Down’

    20 Jan 2012 | 10:24 am
    Hacktivist group, Anonymous, has launched a retaliatory cyber-attack in response to an FBI shutdown of Megaupload.com, a file-sharing website that allowed users to upload and download files from a site-generated link. Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) In the heat of the SOPA/PIPA war, Anonymous' largest internet attack in its histor You can read the full store at Hudson Horizons Web Development Blog Anonymous Strikes Again; Department of Justice, FBI and Others ‘Tango Down’

  • Karotz: The Social Media Smart Rabbit

    19 Jan 2012 | 3:41 pm
    The 2012 Consumer Electronic Show (CES) brought us many different technologies that consumers can be excited about for the future. From smartphones to laptops, tech gurus and curious onlookers were not disappointed. But a unique introduction to the fold was a little tech-savvy rabbit that looked like nothing more than a ‘cute' paperweight. As viewers looked on, U.K.-based company, Violet, revealed the many features of Karotz - the first ever hardware device with the ability to connect to your social media profiles.
 
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    Web Design | Indianapolis | Social Media | Marketing Strategy

  • You Can’t Save Everyone

    Allison
    27 Jan 2012 | 6:14 am
    No matter what business you’re in, from dentistry to landscaping to marketing, there’s one fact you have to confront: you can’t save everyone from making their own mistakes. No matter how much you want people to succeed, some people will insist on ignoring your good, well-intentioned advice, and they will fail as a result. Hopefully it’s only a minor stumbling block in their path, but sometimes the consequences can be catastrophic: a patient who didn’t heed doctor’s orders and died, or a company that wouldn’t listen to sound marketing advice and had…

  • It’s In the Numbers: 4 Strategies for Blog Success

    Lorraine
    26 Jan 2012 | 5:31 am
    Do you have an idea for a great blog post?   Today I am going to suggest you think about the numbers to help make it successful. Word Count – Finding a balance is tough. Posts that are too long (1,000 words or more) lose all but the most committed readers before the end.  Posts that are too short (less than 250 words) don’t offer enough content or key word density to attract the attention of the search engines. So what’s the magic number? I typically shoot for between 300 – 500 words. I don’t let word count drive my post, but a quick look at the number in the…

  • Indianapolis Social Media: Way More than 46

    Allison
    25 Jan 2012 | 6:46 am
    If you’re a member of the Indianapolis social media community, you’ve probably heard of the Social 46. Commonly seen in conjunction with the #SB46 hashtag, these 46 locals were selected by the Super Bowl Host Committee in conjunction with Klout to help spread the word about Indianapolis’ first ever Super Bowl. These individuals were given swag, including merchandise and tickets to local Super Bowl-related experiences and events, and asked in exchange to tweet about all of the exciting happenings in Indy. Great idea, right? Engage influencers, get buy-in from locals, get the…

  • Marketing in Handcuffs with Muhammad Yasin:

    Lorraine
    24 Jan 2012 | 2:38 pm
    To do marketing well is always a challenge. To do it in a heavily regulated industry can seem impossible at times. But with a little creativity and a lot of hard work, you can overcome regulatory hurdles to create innovative marketing that gets results. We’ll be joined by Muhammad Yasin, social media strategist for HCCMIS, a travel health insurance company. Learn how you can make regulations work in your favor. Do you have any comments or questions? Post them here or send it to us on Twitter, or call in during the show at (805) 285 -9865. Remember to use the hashtag #MTFW on Twitter,…

  • I Don’t Like Football, But I Love the Super Bowl

    Lorraine
    24 Jan 2012 | 5:06 am
    My husband loves football. He is from Texas, a die hard Cowboy’s fan, he has also learned to love the Colts.  Great, twice as much football on Sunday afternoons. For him, Super Bowl Sunday is a national holiday.  For me, it’s an advertising event, time to watch the best Madison Avenue has to offer.  It is also a day to test my creative cooking skills.  Can I match the food to the teams competing? So when Super Bowl fever began to catch hold in Indy, I didn’t get it.  I thought, it’s just a game.  But I was wrong. Hosting a Super Bowl is about economic and…
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    The Thriving Small Business

  • Websites for Small Business – 3 Goals for Small Business Websites

    Patricia
    23 Jan 2012 | 3:18 pm
    The following guest post was written by Jennifer Smith who is a journalism student at Saint Louis University. Upon graduation, she hopes to travel the world while producing compelling content for the masses. When she isn’t writing, you can find Jenna with her nose in a book, or her headphones in to block out the rest of the world.   You can reach Jennifer at jennaleesmith1@gmail.com. A growing number of small businesses are based exclusively online. These businesses, whether in the technology, e-retail, or social media sectors, are — by definition — cognizant of their…

  • 5 Barriers to Achieving Business Goals

    Patricia
    11 Jan 2012 | 12:09 pm
    Organizations that use strategy and goals to move the business forward are dependent on how well goals are achieved to fulfill strategic direction.  Having a structured performance management process is the most important part in setting goals and achieving them.  Accomplishing strategy is dependent on the ability to achieve business goals. Well written SMART goals lay out the framework and accountability for goal completion and managing performance.  However, there are barriers inherent in many organizations that limit the ability to achieve goals and ultimately strategy.  If…

  • 2012 IRS Standard Mileage Rate

    Patricia
    12 Dec 2011 | 11:50 am
    We’re coming to the close of 2011 and people are starting to ask what the IRS mileage rate will be for 2012.  The reimbursement rate had an unusual midyear change in 2011 to adjust for rising gas prices and increased by 4.5 cents to the current 55.5 cents.  The IRS recently announced that the Standard Mileage Rate for 2012 will remain the same at 55.5 cents per mile.  This standard mileage rate  is used for calculating deductible costs associated with business automobile expenses as well as charitable, moving or medical miles. Employers reimburse business related mileage for…

  • Sample Employee Performance Goals

    Patricia
    5 Dec 2011 | 7:49 am
    Providing a well structured performance management process is the most effective way to accomplish organizational goals.  This management of performance should be based on goals set at the organizational level and driven down throughout the organization. Employee performance goals help employees see a straight line between what they are doing and how it affects the performance of the organization, it helps them understand how what they do makes a difference and affects the bottom line. Let’s go through an example of an employee performance goal. The first step is to make sure each of the…

  • Will the 2011 Social Security Payroll Tax Cut End – How to Prepare Employees For the Possibility

    Patricia
    29 Nov 2011 | 8:22 am
    American employees enjoyed an unexpected 2% pay increase in 2011 when the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010 implemented a temporary Social Security payroll tax cut in January 2011.  The payroll tax cut reduced the social security tax for working Americans from 6.2 to 4.2 percent – a 2 percentage reduction in the tax rate.  This was a welcomed pay increase for millions of Americans. We are now almost a year later and there is lot of rumbling going on in Washington about whether or not this tax cut should be extended into 2012.
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    Think Traffic

  • Kicked, Beaten Down, Back Up Against the Wall, Now You Have Nothing to Lose

    Corbett Barr
    26 Jan 2012 | 7:30 am
    You started a website or blog because you thought it would be an easy way to make lots of money. Or maybe you knew this would take work, but you now realize your approach was all wrong. You thought you had it all figured out from the beginning. It’s OK, go ahead and admit it. There’s no shame. Own up to how naive you were. You’re not alone. We’ve all been there. And, sadly there are plenty of greedy shysters and assholes out there who are happy to prey on you and everyone else who doesn’t know any better. They’re assholes and someone should call them out on…

  • Amazing Case Study: How Sarai Mitnick Attracts 380k Pageviews a Month and Built a Business Around a Sewing Blog

    Caleb Wojcik
    24 Jan 2012 | 7:45 am
    A common misconception is that you can only make money blogging when you write about blogging or making money online. We disagree. We’ve featured bloggers who use blogs that matter to do some incredible things: Shannon Whitehead and Kristin Glenn used their blog to raise $64,246 on Kickstarter to start a new clothing line. Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus use their blog to simplify people’s lives and share their creative writing. Jeff Goins used his blog to land a book deal. (If you know of any other amazing stories of people that have used blogs to make a living,…

  • 81 Topic Ideas for Starting a Blog that Matters

    Caleb Wojcik
    19 Jan 2012 | 7:45 am
    On Tuesday we launched a brand new course: How to Start a Blog That Matters. To coincide with the launch, we’ve compiled a huge list of the topics suggested by all of you for our Million Dollar Blog Project, but weren’t the one we chose. There are websites about nearly everything imaginable, but that doesn’t mean that they are all good. At Think Traffic, we believe that anyone that puts in the right amount of focused effort can build an audience online, even if it is about an extremely obscure topic. Don’t know what topic to start a blog that matters about? Here are…

  • How to Start a Blog that Matters

    Corbett Barr
    17 Jan 2012 | 8:15 am
    Thinking about starting a blog or reinvigorating an old one? Today we’re launching a new course called How to Start a Blog that Matters that can help. This course is meant for three groups of people. This course might be for you if: you’re thinking about starting a new blog, from scratch, or you’re unhappy with the results you’ve gotten from a blog you recently launched, or you’re doing OK with your blog, but want to re-brand and re-launch it to take things to the next level In any case, the course is a step-by-step 90-day action plan for starting a blog that…

  • How to Be a Better Writer & Get a Book Deal Without Trying (with Jeff Goins)

    Caleb Wojcik
    12 Jan 2012 | 7:45 am
    We just recently stumbled across Jeff Goins, who blogs at Goins, Writer, and were impressed by how many big name people read and share his work. Then we heard he got 1,000 subscribers to his blog during the week he launched The Writer’s Manifesto earlier this year. Then we saw that he was also just featured as one of the top 10 blogs for writers by Write to Done. We knew we wanted to hear from him about his multi-year journey towards his “overnight success”. In this video interview you’ll learn how to get a book deal without writing a proposal, why first drafts are…
 
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    GannettLocal Blog

  • You Never Know What You’ll Find

    Lisa Owen
    27 Jan 2012 | 9:10 am
    Good Night iPad When you typically walk into an office space, you have a pretty good idea of what you are going to see; rows of cubicle, computers, printers, and a little bit of personality scattered throughout. When you walk into GannettLocal’s offices, you never know what you are going to find. Not only do we love to infuse our work spaces with our own personality, as evidenced by these pictures…. But you may also see things we have received from clients and the small little touches that convey our personality, typically in a fun, and sometimes geeky fashion. Rock Paper Scissors Lizard…

  • Would you want to Hangout with the President?

    Lindsay Gulisano
    24 Jan 2012 | 11:03 am
      Maybe you do, maybe you don’t. But, regardless of your political affiliation or views on President Obama, it’s hard to deny his accessibility and apparent understanding of how to connect with the socially savvy. He doesn’t seem stuffy or old-fashioned and he understands the importance and power of social media, unlike many other politicians who seem like they would probably have a hard time checking their own email. With the State of the Union speech approaching, the Obama administration has announced yesterday that the President himself will be hosting a Google+ Hangout on…

  • Social Media Helping You Park

    Maria Konopken
    23 Jan 2012 | 3:20 pm
    If you follow me on Twitter (@mariakonopken), Facebook postings, or simply talk to me in my offline life, it is no secret I am a huge sports fan especially when it come to the Arizona Cardinals. And while my team will not be making the trip to Indianapolis for the big game, nearly 150,000 people will be descending on the city to see the New York Giants take on the New England Patriots. It can almost go without saying of those 150,000, most have never been to Indianapolis, let alone a Super Bowl. And while this chaos is nothing new to the NFL, this year they are taking a different approach by…

  • Putting the Personal Touch Back in Customer Service

    Michael McEuen
    20 Jan 2012 | 9:58 am
    The dawn of the internet removed the barriers of information seeking, uniting global commerce, and leveling the playing field for many small businesses.  While these aspects thrived, I believe personalized customer service took a backseat – trading handshakes and business cards for form fills and call centers. The social network Google+ is all the rage in tech news currently gaining a 90 million user base and incorporating the product into Google’s search engine and product suite.  While adoption of the network is slow, finding only whispers and rare glimmers of social sharing, the…

  • What Color are You?

    Paul Escobedo
    18 Jan 2012 | 11:58 am
    The Color Run started in 2009 and has been running strong ever since. This isn’t your typical 5K run. This will be the most colorful run of your life, happening on Saturday, January 28 at Tempe Beach Park. The event is for all ages, no matter what speed you run at. The Color Run supports different local charities depending on the location of the run and for the run here in Arizona they have teamed up with Banner Health’s Cardon Children’s Medical Center. I signed up for the run because I could use the exercise and the event supports a great charity. I didn’t know that several…
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    Small Business Tips, News, Issues at Montreal Financial

  • Essential Facts about Shareholder Loans for Incorporated Small Business Owners

    Ronika
    26 Jan 2012 | 9:48 pm
    There are three primary ways in which you, as an owner-manager, can withdraw funds from your corporation.  You can pay yourself a salary, you can declare a dividend or you can borrow money from the corporation.  When you borrow money from your own corporation the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has put into place strict rules as to when you have to repay the loan.  This is essentially to ensure that the owner-manager does not avoid paying taxes indefinitely.  The basic rule for shareholders loans is that they must be paid in the fiscal year following the year in which the loan…

  • Should you register for GST/HST and QST and What it Means to Be Zero Rated

    Ronika
    18 Jan 2012 | 11:17 pm
    One of the first tax questions you will be faced with as a small business owner or self employed worker is whether you need to register for GST/HST & QST.  The answer in most cases is that if you anticipate that your annual gross revenues (total sales) are going to exceed $30,000, then you should register for GST/HST and QST UNLESS you are considered to be providing a zero rated or tax exempt product or service, in which case you are not required to register. A more detailed analysis of whether you are required to register for GST-QST

  • Top 6 Signs Your Small Business Might Need a New Accountant

    Ronika
    15 Jan 2012 | 4:36 pm
    I met with a small business owner recently who had just purchased a retail business and was looking for a new accountant.  It seems that the current accountant was reviewing her books on a quarterly basis, preparing financial statements and doing the year-end tax returns – all typical accountant stuff.  The problem was that the accountant, while charging this small business a fairly significant amount of money, was not really adding any value to their business.   The bookkeeping, which was done by the previous business owner, was still being entered manually in…

  • How to Update Wave Accounting for the 2012 QST Rate Increase

    Ronika
    23 Dec 2011 | 9:14 pm
    As of January 1st, 2012 the Quebec Sales Tax (QST Rate) which had gone up from 7.5% to 8.5% on January 1, 2011 will now increase to 9.5%.  The effective sales tax in Quebec will go up from 13.925% to 14.975%.  Since QST is calculated on the net amount + GST, the rate is not 14.5% but 14.975% .  In other words the effective QST rate is 9.75%.  Business owners will need to update their invoicing and accounting systems accordingly to ensure that the rate is properly reflected. If you are using Wave Accounting, the update to the rates is fairly straightforward, with one little…

  • 12 Tax Tips for the Self Employed

    Ronika
    22 Dec 2011 | 12:41 am
    The self-employed lifestyle holds great promise when you first embark upon it, however you quickly find yourself doing things that you would never have dreamed of.  You are expected to take on role of salesperson, market researcher, accountant, lawyer and social media expert, while not getting paid for any of it.  Your available funds do not allow for outsourcing and at times you are not even aware of what you don’t know.  Luckily the internet provides a wealth of tips and tricks to make these tasks a little easier, and with a little discipline, some aspects of your…
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    The Sales Lion by Marcus Sheridan

  • Most Emails Stink as a Sales Tool. Here’s Why…

    Marcus Sheridan
    26 Jan 2012 | 7:22 am
    Somewhere in the world, right this very moment, a sales person is getting ready to blow another opportunity. How is this happening? Well, chances are the individual is writing an email that looks just like this: Dear Mr. Jones, I’m emailing you to confirm our appointment this Friday. Please let me know if you have any questions or needs. Sincerely, Boring Sales Person Yep. That’s it. Another terrible email going out to a prospect to ‘remind them’ of the sales appointment. Here’s another awful one that someone else in the world is typing as you read these words:…

  • How Long Does It Truly Take For A Business Blog To Grow Big?

    Marcus Sheridan
    23 Jan 2012 | 10:01 am
    Over the past year I’ve talked to hundreds of business owners and bloggers about success in this field, and inevitably everyone asks the exact same derivative of this question within the first 10 minutes of conversation: “OK, assuming we do all of this stuff, how long with it take for our blog to grow, produce results, and make sales?” Ahhh yes, a dang good question indeed. Despite what any ‘SEO hack‘ might tell you, the only answer to this question is, “It all depends.” And possibly more than anything, it depends on a very important indicator that I like to call ‘CSI’,…

  • When It Comes to the Future of Social Media, We’re All Clueless

    Marcus Sheridan
    19 Jan 2012 | 8:18 am
    A few years ago MySpace was the rage. Today, although still popular, many laugh at the ‘antiquated’ platform. Tomorrow, the creation of Tom Anderson and Chris DeWolfe will likely have gone the way of the dinosaur. Such is the world in which we live. _______________________________________________________________________ The same year MySpace was being developed (2003), some nerdy college kid named Mark Zuckerburg developed his own little platform, and called it ‘Facebook’. A few years later, it exploded. Today, the platform remains strong, but its seemingly daily ‘developments’…

  • 7 Ways to Be a Blogging Rebel and Turn Your Industry Upside Down

    Marcus Sheridan
    16 Jan 2012 | 10:22 am
    There is one rule I’m 100% certain of when it comes to blogging, be it business or personal: We all want to be noticed, seen, and respected. Some folks act like they don’t care about these three words but I honestly feel it’s a bunch of bull. Why? Because if we didn’t really want to be seen we wouldn’t have an online blog in the first place for the entire world to see. I freely admit that like everyone reading this, I want to be viewed as a thought-leader in my field. (Why are we embarrassed to admit this btw??) Whether it’s swimming pools, inbound marketing, blogging, etc—I…

  • How to Be Your Own Webmaster and Unleash Your Entrepreneurial Spirit Again

    Marcus Sheridan
    13 Jan 2012 | 8:53 am
    I got an email the other day from a client that made me smile. Here it is: Marcus, Check it out man! I’ve turned my home page from two columns to three columns and now the layout is perfect. I’m getting good at this stuff man!! Jason Ahhh yes, my client Jason is now experiencing what I call ‘The Paintbrush Effect’. The Paintbrush Effect What is the paintbrush effect? Well, look at it like this: Most business owners are artists when it comes to their field. They know how to talk about, teach, and present their product/service extremely well. For years, they’ve been deeply involved in…
 
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    Ventureneer - Small Business

  • 3 Rules for Surviving as a Brick-and-Mortar Store in a Cyber World

    Geri Stengel
    23 Jan 2012 | 11:20 pm
    With online stores offering how-to videos, discussion groups, and a homey, we’re-among-friends shopping experience, how can small brick-and-mortar businesses compete? read more

  • New Paradigm for Customer Service: Information, Sharing, and Being Yourself

    Geri Stengel
    16 Jan 2012 | 11:20 pm
    Talking to Gen Xers and Gen Ys lately, I realize how dramatically e-commerce is changing retail business and customer service. Opening up a store used to require renting space, furnishing the store, and working arduous hours. The last is still true but not the first two. Businesses are thriving without a physical location. In fact, many are able to exist because they skip the fixed costs and upfront investment of a brick-and-mortar store. read more

  • A Social Enterprise Learns, Grows From Its Mistakes

    Geri Stengel
    11 Jan 2012 | 11:20 pm
    Editor’s note: To help social entrepreneurs anticipate and avoid some of the problems of starting a social-good business, Ventureneer is doing a series of blogs about the progress of Greenway Grameen Infra, a social enterprise in India. When last I wrote about Greenway Grameen Infra, its non-polluting stove, fuel efficient stove for rural homes in India was just on the market and hopes were high that 50,000 units would be sold by March 2012. read more

  • Are Government Contracts a Way UP for Women Entrepreneurs?

    Geri Stengel
    9 Jan 2012 | 11:20 pm
    Government contracting is a big chunk o’ change for businesses both large and small. Last year federal government contracts alone -- never mind state and local -- gave $477 billion to private businesses. And 5% of those contracts are supposed to go to women-owned businesses. read more

  • The Grinch Really Did Try to Steal Christmas This Year!

    Geri Stengel
    19 Dec 2011 | 11:20 pm
    Wow! The Grinch really did try to steal Christmas this year … from small businesses at least … but in life as in fiction, he failed. read more
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    Matt About Business

  • Do You Really Need to Build a Business Website?

    Matt Mansfield
    27 Jan 2012 | 12:00 pm
    NOTE: the Weekly Link Roundup is beneath this post. At least once a week, I get asked the question, “Do I really need to build a business website?” It may seem strange to many of us who make our living working and consulting online, but yes, there are still many business folks, especially small business folks, who ask this question in 2012. Like many, my answer to that question used to be, “Of course!”, but lately I realized that I’ve been answering the wrong question. What folks are really asking is, “Why am I building a website?” You see, when folks…

  • Why Pinterest is Your Business’ New Best Friend

    Matt Mansfield
    20 Jan 2012 | 10:00 am
    NOTE: the Weekly Link Roundup is beneath this post. If you’re like most small businesses, you’ve likely focused a lot of your social media efforts on the big three: Facebook, Twitter and, especially if you sell B2B, LinkedIn. A few weeks ago however, I found myself wondering why Pinterest, the latest social networking site, kept popping up all over the place. Whether it was a blog post, a newsletter or even a mainstream business press article, I kept seeing the Pinterest name and yes, being the online hound that I am, I got really curious about all the buzz. You see, I had signed…

  • The Art of Online War (infographic)

    Matt Mansfield
    13 Jan 2012 | 11:00 am
    NOTE: the Weekly Link Roundup is beneath this post. Sun-Tzu wrote his classic, “The Art of War” over 2000 years ago. Since then, his lessons have been applied to many areas of endeavor including leadership and business. Do the lessons from the “Art of War” apply to business on the web today? I think so and to show you how, I’ve re-interpreted 6 of the lessons from the book for the Internet age. Do you agree with my interpretations? If not, what’s your view? I would love to hear your comments below! To download a more printable version of the infographic…

  • The Real Reason You Should Move to the Cloud

    Matt Mansfield
    6 Jan 2012 | 10:30 am
    NOTE: the Weekly Link Roundup is beneath this post. I’ve got a big secret. It’s not a scary or creepy one, but it underlies everything I do when it comes to work and the web and it’s the main reason why I have, and you should, make the move to the cloud. You see, a lot of people out there believe that I’m a gear-head; that technology just comes easier to me than it does to them. In fact, if I had a nickel for every client, friend and family member who started a question with, “Since I’m not a techie like you…”, I’d be retired on a beach…

  • Top Small Business 2012 Predictions and Trends (Infographic)

    Matt Mansfield
    29 Dec 2011 | 8:00 pm
    Tis’ the season to talk about small business 2012 predictions and trends and, this year, the online blogging community is delivering in spades. Not that I’m complaining, mind you. I find predictions and trends posts fascinating for two reasons: I love the preview of what’s to come, and I love comparing this year’s predictions and trends to last year’s to see how the current year has changed the way we all think about doing business online. The sheer number of predictions and trends posts makes it hard to pull out the top topics – the areas on which to focus…
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    The Shoeboxed Blog : Inside the Box

  • Shoeboxed Now Available on HP Web-Connected Printers!

    Jake Brereton
    26 Jan 2012 | 1:14 pm
    You can now scan receipts and business cards directly into your Shoeboxed account from any web-connected Hewlett-Packard (HP) Printer! Shoeboxed has partnered with HP to ensure that staying organized is now easier and faster than ever. With two new free apps from Shoeboxed, available on any web-connected HP Printer, you can now scan receipts and business cards directly into your Shoeboxed account from the convenience of your home or office. In addition, you can generate and print expense reports and contact lists directly from your printer! As always, once scanned, Shoeboxed will data extract…

  • New, Faster HTML5 Viewer Implemented

    Jake Brereton
    12 Jan 2012 | 1:51 pm
    Shoeboxed is now using a new HTML5 viewer on shoeboxed.com, meaning your receipts, business cards, bills and other documents will load faster than ever on browsers that support HTML5. In addition, this new HTML5 viewer allows users to continue to enjoy full Shoeboxed functionality from their iPad, iPhone or other mobile device. Simply navigate to shoeboxed.com and log in to your account as you normally would. Don’t worry: If your browser is not HTML5 compliant it will default to using a Flash viewer and you can continue staying organized without any disruption. If you have any feedback…

  • Improved E-mail Receipt Filter Released!

    Jake Brereton
    10 Jan 2012 | 9:10 am
    We’ve improved our e-mail receipt filtering algorithm by 160% so that now when you have e-receipts from online stores sent directly or forwarded to your Shoeboxed e-mail address we’ll be able to easily determine which items are receipts and which are coupons and other materials you don’t want in your account. Any receipts we receive will be immediately entered into your Shoeboxed account while everything else (e.g. coupons, spam, newsletters, surveys etc.) will be filtered into a special folder on your account dashboard for you to review at a later date. With your Shoeboxed…

  • 4 Steps to Starting a Successful Small Business

    Jake Brereton
    9 Jan 2012 | 1:04 pm
    David Bakke is based out of Atlanta. He runs a side business reselling popular products online, and also writes about personal finance on Money Crashers, a blog that covers budgeting and money management topics as well as the best new bank account promotions. One of the very best ways to generate income in your daily life is to start your own business. Yes, you can focus on saving as much money as you possibly can, but to truly expand your financial horizon, you must generate income. However, that is much easier said than done. I pondered the concept of starting my own business for a long…

  • Organizing the World: The Faces of Shoeboxed part X

    Carolyn Mierl
    6 Jan 2012 | 8:56 am
    With Shoeboxed there has never been one “best” way to use our service to stay organized. And after scanning millions of receipts and business cards since 2007, we say that from years of firsthand experience! Shoeboxed takes enormous pride in serving clients from around the country and across the globe, all of whom use our service in a myriad of ways to fulfill a whole host of organizational needs in both their personal and professional lives. With that in mind, Shoeboxed is both pleased and honored to launch a series that spotlights our wonderful users, their success stories and…
 
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    Improve My Business

  • Eliminating road traffic - a guest post

    Mary
    17 Jan 2012 | 3:45 pm
    McDonald Consulting Group recently hosted students from Texas State University’s Job Shadowing program.  Here is a guest post from one of our interns, Osvaldo Hernandez - and the reason he was late this morning! ———————– Unfortunately this morning, I and surely countless other first timers traveling through Austin, have now experienced the dreadful amount of traffic that [...]

  • 5 reasons delegation fails

    Mary
    10 Jan 2012 | 6:57 am
    From Ron Edmonson, here are 5 reasons that delegation fails - enjoy! 5 reasons delegation often fails: There was no accountability provided in the delegation process. When someone receives a project, they need to be given a timeline for completion. They need a system of follow up, measures of accomplishment or benchmarks towards completion. A predetermined win [...]

  • Welcome to the 21st century, you Neanderthal

    Mary
    2 Jan 2012 | 7:32 am
    background:  It’s 1979.  I’m sharing an office, and a phone, with a co-worker.  A vendor calls up for my office mate, Gary, who’s not in.  I say that he’s not there, and ask if I can take a message.  The caller asks where he is, and when he’ll be back.  I say I don’t know [...]

  • How to escape from e-mail hell

    Mary
    27 Dec 2011 | 2:26 pm
    Many folks complain about how e-mail takes up all of their time - it interrupts them, prevents them from getting concentrated work complete, and sucks up all their time. I used to be no different - until I got fed up with being in e-mail hell, and figured out a way to get out of it. [...]

  • Shorter Days = Less Energy?

    Mary
    12 Dec 2011 | 4:18 pm
    as we approach the shortest day of the year (Dec 21), we notice that it’s dark so much longer - maybe going to work, or coming home, or both - and therefore it may be hard to be active.  Here are some quick tips to get you over the hump: - Get enough sunlight.  Try and [...]
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    Entrepreneurial Daddy

  • Three Words That Will Destroy Your Manhood (And How To Avoid Them Forever)

    andy@entrepreneurialdaddy.com (Andy Fogarty)
    11 Jan 2012 | 9:05 pm
    “Unable to perform”  These are three of the worst words a man can be labeled with. “Disfunction”, “Can’t rise to the challenge”, “Not a real man” are all equally as bad These labels are devastating, and no man is safe (no matter your age or fitness level). They’re not only crushing to your ego, but they’ll break down every relationship in your life – personal and professional. Fortunately, there is a way to avoid being labeled like this. In fact, you’ll gain more wealth, love, and respect than ever before as a…

  • Free Webinar: How To Get People To Tell You The EXACT Product They Want & THEN Get Them To ‘Pre-Buy’ It *BEFORE* You Create It

    andy@entrepreneurialdaddy.com (Andy Fogarty)
    6 Jan 2012 | 10:20 am
    Confession time – Have you ever worked incredibly hard on a product, put your whole heart and soul into it, and known it had the power to help thousands of people? Then have NO ONE buy it? …or have stories like that kept you from creating and offering your first product to the world? This is a terrifying place to be. You’ve put so much energy into laying the foundation of your business and planning everything perfectly, but you know that you don’t have a real business until you’re actually selling something. What you need is a way to read the minds of your…

  • Better Sex Through Career Building (or Why You Should Put Your Career 1st and Your Family 2nd)

    andy@entrepreneurialdaddy.com (Andy Fogarty)
    20 Dec 2011 | 10:00 am
    What if I told you should put career building before your family? That despite what others tell you, your wife wants you to focus on your career (or your business) first. Then her and the kids. What would you do if I proved that by doing this you’d be happier in your work, making more money, and enjoying a life with much better sex? You’d listen to what I say. That’s what you’d do. Well… It’s time to listen Focusing on career building isn’t hard for you. You’re a man, and that’s what men do. We’re driven by the work. Its in our DNA.

  • On Becoming The Father You Wish You Could Be

    andy@entrepreneurialdaddy.com (Andy Fogarty)
    5 Dec 2011 | 4:36 pm
    You can still be a great father if your marriage didn’t work out. You can still be a great father if your business is making the money it should. You can still be a great father if you don’t have a plan. You can still be a great father if you live 1,735 miles away from your 11 year old son. You can still be a great father if you’re scared. You can still be a great father if you feel like you’re doing it wrong. You can still be a great father if you “have to” work 60 hours a week. You’re still their hero even if you only get to see them 4x a year.

  • (Cheat Sheet) How To Ensure You Become A 6-Figure Father In The Next 365 Days

    andy@entrepreneurialdaddy.com (Andy Fogarty)
    11 Nov 2011 | 2:55 pm
    This is the second trait of the 8 Must Have Traits To Become A 6-Figure Father In The Next 365 Days series. If you missed the first trait, you can get it here. Click here to view the embedded video. Here’s a cheat sheet I went ahead and created a 6-Figure Snapshot cheat sheet for you. You can download it here. Use this cheat sheet to create what your 6-Figure Snapshot will look like at the end the next month, year, or two years. If this is your first time doing this, I recommend creating two. A month long snapshot and  a one year snapshot. Start with your one year snapshot. When you…
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    smallbusinessfinanceforum.com

  • A Business Paradox: What’s Your Brand Really Worth? by @TeaSilvestre

    Tea Silvestre
    27 Jan 2012 | 10:36 am
    Your brand. It’s a lot more than just your business name or logo. It’s how you’re perceived in the minds and hearts of your customers and prospects. And guess what? Your brand may actually be worth something. Have some equity. Some actual monetary value that -- should you ever decide to sell your business -- would help make up the total value of your company. The challenge (or paradox) is that while your brand does have some sort of value, it’s very hard to pin down.   How do you figure out the value of your brand?Let’s look at how purchases are made. When you shop for…

  • Is Your Biz Cash Low? Use Bartering to Grow!

    Nicole Fende
    25 Jan 2012 | 11:54 am
    Does the idea of bartering conjure up images of a swap meet? Perhaps it brings back memories of grade school lunchtime; wheeling and dealing PBJ's and oatmeal cookies. Do you believe that bartering "just doesn't work"? Are you convinced only wannabe's, noobs and criminals barter? Think again! Barter is a fantastic way to grow your business when cash is tight. It's time to set the record straight on barter, and how you can use barter to prosper. Debunking the bad reputation of bartering Bartering is Different Than Paying Cash Alternate Title: It's all in your head! Why is bartering different…

  • Happy Holidays & A Profitable New Year!

    Nicole Fende
    25 Dec 2011 | 11:00 am
    Goodbye 2011 - Hello 2012Thank you for a wonderful 2011. I hope you laughed, learned and profited in the past 12 months. I know my life and business were more fulfilling because of each of you. 2012 is bound to present it's own challenges and rewards. Some think the economy will continue to flounder, others optimistically predict that we will finally see serious growth. I'm excited to tackle the challenges, and help you reach your goals in the new year. To enable you to grow your profits I've been hard at work creating new products and services as well as making the current ones even better.

  • The Other Bottom Line – Becoming a Kiva Sponsor

    Nicole Fende
    14 Dec 2011 | 10:48 am
    One of the things I love about this time of year is the spirit of giving. The desire to care and provide for others, even when you don't know them personally. There are toy drives for needy children. Care packages for our troops overseas. The ubiquitous red kettle and bell advertising the Salvation Army's fundraising efforts. These are all wonderful things, efforts that are truly making a difference. Yet it is not enough. What about the other 11 months of the year? What about those who seek to make better lives for themselves yet have literally zero resources to do so? The Numbers…

  • How the Space Between Your Ears Will Make or Break Your Profits – Part 1

    Nicole Fende
    8 Dec 2011 | 11:13 am
    Mindset is still the hot topic du jour, and for good reason. There is a lot to be said for the difference between positive and proactive, versus negative and fearful thoughts, and the direct impact your thoughts can have on your business. I don’t reside in the “name it and claim it” camp, because as a performance psychologist, I understand the science behind attitude, belief systems, confidence and the outcomes they can drive. Time to Fill Up that Space with the Right StuffIn my first two guest posts this year, I covered why you should be thinking about the finish line when setting…
 
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    Adventures of a New Business Owner

  • Starting or updating an SEO campaign – Ask yourself these questions

    Trey
    12 Jan 2012 | 2:09 pm
    In my article, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – How to Improve Your Rankings, I covered several different areas you should focus on to improve your search engine ranking results, but one of the areas I do not touch on is the planning stages. In this blog post I am going to cover several questions you should ask yourself before you either start or change your search engine optimization (SEO) program for your small business. 1.  What is your goal and strategy?  Obviously you would like to increase your rankings, but in what areas specifically?  Who is your target market?  Do you…

  • Recent data security article where I was quoted

    Trey
    5 Jan 2012 | 1:08 pm
    This data security article appeared in the December 2011 issue of Counselor magazine.  The article, Strengthen Data Security, offers several tips on how businesses can improve their data security.  Several data security experts are quoted, and since I happen to be one of them, and it is an excellent article offering good advice, I wanted to post it for my blog readers.  Just click on the following image to read the article in PDF format, and as always if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to comment below. Recent data security article where I was quoted is a post from:…

  • Social media networks add some enhancements: LinkedIn and YouTube

    Trey
    16 Dec 2011 | 2:29 pm
    Recently LinkedIn and YouTube have made some enhancements that will be beneficial to your small business social marketing program.  LinkedIn Events LinkedIn has recently revamped their Events tool, and you can use the tool to search for events to attend or to post events your company will be hosting.  You can search for events via subject, location, industry, etc.  If you are posting an event you are hosting, remember to be specific and add all the details.  In addition you should promote via LinkedIn, other social marketing networks, and your traditional marketing avenues.  LinkedIn…

  • Small business data security – Network Admin

    Trey
    6 Dec 2011 | 2:17 pm
    Even the smallest of small businesses will generally have some type of network so it is imperative you take steps to secure your network.  I covered network administration data security procedures in my 5 Step Data Security Plan for Small Businesses article, but in this blog post I am going to dive a little deeper.  Depending on the size of your small business, you may find all or just a few of these tips helpful, and even if you use a third party to administer your network, you can review these security procedures with them. Network Design – In order to ensure you are properly…

  • Google gives a little peak under the hood as they disclose some search algorithms

    Trey
    17 Nov 2011 | 6:42 am
    Google recently released a blog post and video detailing ten recent search algorithms.  Now just to be clear, Google is not doing this to be nice and help you understand their system better.  They are facing an antitrust investigation among other things.  Of course this disclosure is just a small sampling (10 of 500+ changes) so it is not going to allow you to jump to the top of the search engine results, but it will give a better idea of what Google is looking for when crawling and reviewing websites.  Here is a quick review of some of the more relevant items. Google is more likely to…
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    ReachLocal Blog: How To Reach Local Customers Through Internet Marketing

  • Introducing the New ReachLocal Website

    23 Jan 2012 | 12:05 pm
    Today at ReachLocal, we’re proud to announce our brand-new website to the world. We’re thrilled to see  how our new site will help everyone from existing clients and staff to investors, prospects, and potential employees.  As a company, we have a lot to share and celebrate, not the least of which is our clients’ success – and how we are helping them market their business online and reach new customers each day. Ultimately, that’s what we’re in business to do, and that’s why we launched the site with the new tagline “We Know Online…

  • Want to Work at One of 2012's Best Places? Check Out Jobs at ReachLocal

    11 Jan 2012 | 1:22 pm
    Recently, we were thrilled to announce that ReachLocal was named one of Glassdoor’s Best Places to Work in 2012. Glassdoor created this list based on 150,000 employee reviews submitted in the last year.  And we are honored, because that means this Employee’s Choice award truly represents how ReachLocal employees feel about working here. We’re also excited to announce we’re hiring! If you’re ready to upgrade your career this year, follow @reachlocaljobs on Twitter, and take a look at our available jobs – searchable by location, position title, and…

  • Set your DVR: The Dwyer Group to Appear on "UnderCover Boss" Jan. 22

    4 Jan 2012 | 4:12 pm
    Last month, we were honored to receive our second consecutive win as Vendor of the Year by The Dwyer Group. For ReachLocal, this was a tremendous honor as we were selected by a poll of more than 1,000 franchisees for our outstanding execution of localized marketing. Now, as the popular CBS reality show Undercover Boss gets ready for a new season, the show will feature Chairwoman and CEO of The Dwyer Group, Inc., Dina Dwyer-Owens on Sunday, January 22 at 8 pm EST. Celebrating its 30th anniversary last year, The Dwyer Group is home to some of the most familiar home services franchise brands,…

  • ReachLocal Reaches Out: 2011 Volunteering and Community Service

    28 Dec 2011 | 4:07 pm
    At ReachLocal, we’re passionate about all things local. So when it comes to reaching out to our local communities during the holidays, many of us know it’s our time to shine. Take a look at how some ReachLocal offices have been busy donating their time, resources and seasonal cheer to local neighbors in need. This year, ReachLocal Dallas was busy with a number of efforts, including: assembling and distributing personal care kits to distribute to a local shelter, hosting a canned food drive, and contributing to a toy drive for the Salvation Army. ReachLocal Austin volunteered at…

  • Top 10 Online Marketing Posts of 2011

    23 Dec 2011 | 9:42 am
    2011 has been a big year full of new technologies, techniques and tactics in the ever-changing online marketing space. As you prepare to enter a new year full of new opportunities for your business, take a look at some of the most popular Reachlocal blog tips of 2011 and think about how you can apply these strategies in the new year: 1) Don’t Just Build a Website – Build a Web Presence. Today, there are many ways a consumer can find your local business online. Some consumers will visit a trusted review site or local directory before a search engine. Others may ask their…
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    Women Unlimited

  • Diary of a start-up: baby steps

    Louise Turner
    27 Jan 2012 | 3:20 am
    It’s been four weeks since I walked out of the office building in the centre of Leeds that had been my workplace for the previous eight years. I was a senior communications officer for a government agency and had spent my time in various regional and national roles for the organisation, ranging from managing the media to embedding our approach to community engagement. As you can see, I’m not really qualified to impart pearls of wisdom about successfully running a business, but I can share with you my start-up journey – warts and all – so you can avoid some of the mistakes I make and…

  • Marketing Strategy: New Year, new plans…

    Deborah Rowe
    26 Jan 2012 | 3:59 am
    …or maybe just a tweaking of the old plan would be a good start. It’s definitely that time of year when we review our lives, loves and business, although to some people they are all one and the same thing. However, that aside, January is a good time to review your plans for the year and your marketing plan for the business deserves a review along with the rest of it. In an ideal world we should be looking at it in December so that, come January 1st, we are ready to go… Admittedly in tough economic times it is more difficult to be strategic, and think beyond the next year, but…

  • Should start-ups consider collaborations?

    Viv Oyolu
    25 Jan 2012 | 3:58 am
    The beginning of the year is always a good time to assess what worked well (or didn’t) the year before, and consider different income streams for your business. If you are just starting out, then I would say consider all options ahead of laying out your plans. Regardless of how dire it appears economically, this is still the time to set up a business or continue if you have already set up – you just have to be flexible and open-minded. So in the spirit of being open-minded and flexible, I wonder how many start-ups have considered going into collaboration or partnership as a one-off or…

  • One life

    Julie Hall - Editor
    24 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am
    Today, I just wanted to share with you an inspiring poem that I came across  that I really enjoyed. I hope it speaks to you in the way it spoke to me One Life One song can spark a moment, One flower can wake the dream One tree can start a forest, One bird can herald spring. One smile begins a friendship, One handclasp lifts a soul. One star can guide a ship at sea, One word can frame the goal One vote can change a nation, One sunbeam lights a room One candle wipes out darkness, One laugh will conquer gloom. One step must start each journey. One word must start each prayer. One hope will…

  • Like this? Then Pass it on.

    Sarah Arrow
    23 Jan 2012 | 3:44 am
    If I get another chain email from my mother I’ll block her email address. There. I’ve said it and I’ve said it out loud. I don’t like them but I can see why some people do, and I can see why these styles of emails are passed on. Let’s see if we can get that share-ability factor working for you… In this post I am writing about those things that speak directly to my mother: If you know what motivates potential customers to pass your content on, you have a much better chance of getting them to keep doing so in the future. This means more traffic, a higher profile and more chance…
 
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    Small Business Advertising Strategies

  • Party Advertising – 7 Party Advertising Tips

    admin
    13 Jan 2012 | 8:22 am
    Here we are going to discuss the effectiveness of Party Advertising. Building business contacts can often feel like a humdrum and mundane task to do, especially when using the traditional approaches to it, such as commerce events, referral groups and online websites. Networking should be first about building trust and then common interests where you can both profit. Those traditional approaches give very little time or opportunity to do that. So why not think outside the box and look for more effective methods to establish business contacts like a party. Holiday parties for industry and…

  • Social Networking Advertising – Crucial Social Networking Advertising Strategies

    admin
    5 Jan 2012 | 7:20 am
    Today we want to talk about some social networking advertising stratigies and advantages. Online businesses are always faced with the challenge of communicating effectively with their consumer, while constantly engaging their interest. One of the best avenues used lately by businesses, is the use of social media websites like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc to reach out to a wider audience. But since these are “unchartered waters”, most online businesses are yet to figure out on how to capitalize on this useful marketing resource. Here are some of the basic advantages and methods of…

  • Advertising Trends – 7 Trends In Advertising For 2012

    admin
    29 Dec 2011 | 1:02 pm
    Brace yourself for the 2012 Trends In Advertising . The year 2011 had undergone some amount of changes on the digital front of advertising; Microsoft acquired Skype, Google developed its own social networking website dubbed Google+, Twitter and Facebook gained more relevancy as advertising platforms and Congress sought measures to increase disclosure by companies offering location based services. As we head into the year 2012, we are likely to see more radical changes. Here is my list of predictions which we should look forward to in the coming year: 2012 Trends In Advertising #1: Automated…

  • Small Business and SNS: Google+ Advertising Strategy

    admin
    28 Dec 2011 | 3:31 am
    When it comes to establishing an online presence, you cannot have too much publicity and Google+ Advertising Strategy is something you should be aware of. Google has recently launched social networking medium known as Google+, which business can utilize in their online advertising strategy. According to a survey done by search engine optimization firm BrightEdge, 61% of the top one hundred brands have already launched their own Google+ account. This would seem to indicate that it has already started to receive some amount of interest and should be looked at as a valuable resource. But, since…

  • Small Business Tips: Advantages of Groupon for Small Business

    admin
    20 Dec 2011 | 9:17 am
    This is about the advantages of Groupon for small business. Groupon has been garnering a lot of bad publicity recently, concerning its ability to deliver success to its customers. According to a report done recently by Yipit, a daily deals aggregator, Groupon’s revenue experienced a decline of 20%, in the first month of June as compared to the previous month. There was also a general decline in the number of deal sites available on the internet, with 38 deal sites closing their doors but with 36 new deals sites coming online. This leads many to assume that small businesses should stay away…
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    The Small BizNest

  • Ex-Google Lawyer Says New Google Search “Bad For Internet”

    John Joyce
    12 Jan 2012 | 10:02 am
    Oh, and did I mention that he currently works for Twitter? “We’re concerned that as a result of Google’s changes, finding this information will be much harder for everyone,” the company said in a statement. “We think that’s bad for people, publishers, news organizations and Twitter users.” If you haven’t heard about the new Google+ Your World, check out this article over at Venturebeat.com.  I’m not really sure this is a big deal at the moment, as Google+ adoption as slowed considerably, but, if it continues to gain mindshare, we could see another antitrust suit…

  • Remembering Danny Lewin on 9/11

    John Joyce
    11 Sep 2011 | 12:04 pm
    Ten years ago today, I was getting ready to board a plane from Vancouver to Calgary when the first plane hit the world trade center in NYC.  After all flights in North America had been grounded, and I left the airport with my colleague, Matt McSweeney, we called Akamai headquarters to make sure all our co-workers were safe.  That’s when we learned that Akamai’s brilliant founder, Danny Lewin, was on flight 11. Ironically, Danny’s theory of solving speed and reliability issues on the internet was proven by an event that also took his life. News outlets and government…

  • Order Business Cards and Get A FREE Domain Name

    John Joyce
    23 Aug 2011 | 10:30 am
    MOO and Network Solutions have teamed up to bring a great offer to small business owners here in the US.  If you purchase MOO Business Cards or MiniCards between now and September 4th, you’ll get a free domain name from Network Solutions. It doesn’t get much easier than that.  MOO alllows you to create high-quality, unique Business Cards or MiniCards where you can showcase yourself or business with a unique image on the back of each card.  Take advantage of this offer now.

  • Want Some Cool Free Stickers to Promote Your Business?

    John Joyce
    29 Jun 2011 | 10:45 am
    I have been a bit lax in writing here at The Small BizNest since joining the MOOCrew but figured I could make up for it by offering some freebies to you all.  MOO has developed some great new sticker products that allow businesses of all types to add some creativity to their offline marketing efforts.  MOO round stickers and labels are printed on thick, durable vinyl with a glossy finish. There are four stickers/labels printed on a perforated sheet, so you can tear and share one or more at a time, or use an entire sheet to show off 4 of your different designs at once.  The sticker sheets…

  • 3 Things To Consider Before Launching A Groupon Campaign

    John Joyce
    14 May 2011 | 9:44 am
    Today’s hot Internet property is Groupon, the social media coupon marketer many small businesses are adding to their marketing mix. Many small businesses have benefited from the Groupon’s ability to generate foot traffic and introduce them to new customers. But be forewarned: a Groupon campaign can be a monster that quickly sends you thousands of customers regardless of your inventory levels or readiness to process them. So, before you make the decision to augment your marketing efforts with a Groupon campaign, you have to do your homework. [read more..]
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    BizBest

  • Defining Vision, Values and Strategy for Your Business

    Daniel Kehrer
    15 Jan 2012 | 2:24 pm
    Many growing businesses struggle with three well-known concepts that are commonly confused and misunderstood: vision, values and strategy.  Business-building entrepreneurs often talk about their vision in the same context as strategy and values.  But they are separate and distinct things that – if improperly mixed – can sabotage the very goals they seek to articulate.  Think of them as powerful prescription medicines that keep the business healthy but can be deadly if combined the wrong way.The first thing to remember about values is that they don’t change.  Values are part of your…

  • Earning Social Currency for Your Small Business

    Daniel Kehrer
    11 Jan 2012 | 8:10 pm
    In a world where social media marketing gains power by the minute, earning “social currency” for your local business is critical to success.  In short, social currency is what your business earns when customers and prospects share information about your business via social media. That might be a simple thought, recommendation, review, blog post, tweet, photo, video or other piece of content.Whatever it is helps put your name and your “brand” (if you have one) in front of potential buyers. The point is that they are sharing something about you, and that’s (almost) like money in the…

  • Social Media Marketing on Main Street is Skyrocketing

    Daniel Kehrer
    11 Jan 2012 | 8:07 pm
    The revolution has officially begun. Local business owners – once skeptical about the business and marketing benefits of social media – are going social in record numbers. “To them it’s the Holy Grail,” says Kip Cassino, Executive VP at Borrell Associates and author of the just-released research report “Main Street Goes Social.”According to Cassino, social media marketing offers local businesses an easy way to sidestep expensive local media advertising channels and deliver their offers directly to potential customers.In the latest survey of more than 4,000 small firms conducted…

  • 10 Small Business Predictions for 2012

    Daniel Kehrer
    30 Dec 2011 | 10:22 am
    Technology shapes how small businesses survive and thrive, and 2012 will see record numbers of small businesses harness the power of technology and especially new online productivity tools to grow their businesses. Jerry Nettuno, founder and CEO of Schedulicity, which is one of those online tools, shares his small business predictions for 2012: 1.      Daily deals dive: The daily deal space exploded last year, but 2012 will see deal shrinkage of 30% or more. Rapid contraction will leave just a couple of “big guys,” some vertically positioned players and a long tail of locals finding…

  • 7 Ways to Reinvent your Business for Bigger Profits

    Daniel Kehrer
    30 Dec 2011 | 10:13 am
    For small business owners, there’s a “new normal” out there, and it doesn’t look a whole lot like the old normal.  If your business seems to be on a treadmill of too much debt, too many operating expenses and too little growth, it may be time to take “lean and mean” to a new level.Everything you do should be subject to scrutiny and revision, including your mission statement, business and marketing plans, budget, sales and expense expectations and more, says business makeover specialist Patricia Sigmon, president of LPS Consulting (www.lpsconsulting.com), which creates…
 
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    Firefly Coaching

  • Stop Buying Attention and Get it For Free

    Stephanie Ward
    20 Jan 2012 | 2:25 am
    This short video (less than 2 minutes) describes the concept of building an audience which is explained in the book REWORK by Jason Fried and David Hansson. When you have an audience people give you their attention and you don’t have to buy it. Click here to view the embedded video. Share your clever thoughts on this topic below in the comments section. Stop Buying Attention and Get it For Free is a post from: Firefly Coaching Stop Buying Attention and Get it For Free is a post from: Firefly Coaching

  • 3 Ways Not to Market Your Business

    Stephanie Ward
    6 Jan 2012 | 3:57 am
    On a recent trip while strolling the streets of Hong Kong I was confronted multiple times by extremely aggressive tailors. They were shouting out the kind of clothes they would make for me and thrusting their business cards in my face. At first I politely said ‘No thank you’ which I quickly learned did not end the intrusion and may have actually encouraged them. I found their methods harassing. I can’t imagine anyone who would want to do business with someone who uses that kind of approach. Now don’t get me wrong, I doubt very seriously you’re as aggressive as the tailors in Hong…

  • Networking in 5 Minutes a Day

    Stephanie Ward
    15 Dec 2011 | 12:34 pm
    Networking happens in person and also virtually. You can make new connections every day without leaving your house. Watch this short video (less than 2 minutes) to find out how. Click here to view the embedded video. Share your thoughts on this topic below in the comments section. Networking in 5 Minutes a Day is a post from: Firefly Coaching Networking in 5 Minutes a Day is a post from: Firefly Coaching

  • Could Your Website Be Embarrassing You?

    Stephanie Ward
    2 Dec 2011 | 4:59 am
    You know how you feel when you think about cleaning out a kitchen drawer or the hall closet. You dread it, you put it off and finally you break down and force yourself to do it. Once it’s done, what follows is nothing short of magical. You feel fantastic, so happy that you’ve done it. You’re proud of your work and feel much lighter. You think to yourself, why did I wait so long to do that. Wish I would have done it ages ago. And you realize it wasn’t such an awful task after all. Your website is even more important because unlike your kitchen drawer, which most visitors to your home…

  • How to Use Google Alerts to Know What People Are Saying About You

    Stephanie Ward
    18 Nov 2011 | 2:00 am
    It’s critical for you to know what’s being said about you, and your business, online. You also want to follow trends and know what is happening in your industry. Well Google Alerts will allow you to do all of this at no cost. Watch this short video (less than 2 minutes) to find out more. Click here to view the embedded video. Share your thoughts on this topic below in the comments section. And if you like it, I’d love it if you would share it on social media. How to Use Google Alerts to Know What People Are Saying About You is a post from: Firefly Coaching How to Use Google…
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    Smart Simple Marketing - Practical Strategies for Creating a Highly Successful Service Business

  • Common Pitfalls That Are Killing Your Business (Despite Your Best Efforts)

    Sydni Craig-Hart
    27 Jan 2012 | 9:00 am
    Love it or hate it, marketing is a necessary part of creating a successful business. If you happen to reside in the "hate it" camp, it could be because you feel like marketing means you have to be pushy, sales-y or fake. We've all had the experience of having someone try to "sell" us and it doesn't feel good. Fortunately, such tactics are not necessary to enjoy a profitable business. And that is certainly NOT the Smart Simple Marketing way. To me, marketing is simply a matter of sharing solutions with people who are already looking for them. You and I both face a number of problems each day,…

  • How To Become Your Own Boss: Free Online Workshop

    Sydni Craig-Hart
    27 Jan 2012 | 7:00 am
    PRESS RELEASE In "6 Keys to Taking Charge of Your Business and Life in 2012," Sydni Craig-Hart and Jennifer Ford Berry are offering a free, one hour training program to learn how to transition from employee to business owner. Emeryville, CA (PRWEB) January 27, 2012 - Expert marketing coach and consultant, Sydni Craig-Hart, and master organizer and author, Jennifer Ford Berry, are teaming together to provide a simple step-by-step system for transitioning from being an employee to an empowered small business owner. In “6 Keys to Taking Charge of Your Business and Life in 2012,” attendees…

  • How to Stand Out From Your “Competitors” Online – SSM “Take 10″ Episode #3

    Sydni Craig-Hart
    27 Jan 2012 | 12:18 am
    Blogging about your business is an excellent way to drive traffic to your website and attract high-quality leads. You can get even more mileage out of your blog posts, and create massive online visibility for your work, by re-purposing your content into other formats. This strategy will have you showing up EVERYWHERE and standing heads taller than your "competitors" (I prefer to think of them as colleagues) when a prospect goes online looking for the solutions you have to offer. Click on the play button above to listen in as Denise Wakeman, Founder of The Blog Squad, explains how! Email this…

  • Tapping Into Your Marketing Power Zone for Better Results (SSMS Episode 80)

    Sydni Craig-Hart
    25 Jan 2012 | 9:00 am
    Do you feel overwhelmed by the multiple ways you can market your business? Or like you're shying away from some opportunities or methods that others seem to flock to? There's a simple solution to this problem. When you focus on your strengths, you'll find it easier than ever to draw clients to you like a magnet. In this week's episode I share exactly how you can stay in your power zone for more profitable marketing results! Email this to a friend? Share this on Facebook Tweet This! Share this on LinkedIn Subscribe to the comments for this post? Clip this to Evernote Stumble upon something…

  • Be More Successful in Your Business, Even If You Have A Short Attention Span

    Sydni Craig-Hart
    24 Jan 2012 | 11:23 am
    If you have ever said (or thought)  "I don't have time to market my business", this quick 4 minute audio will completely change your perspective and give you simple strategies you can implement TODAY! It's all about focus. Even if you have an attention span the size of flea (like I do!) you CAN focus, market effectively every day and increase your profits. Check it out: Here are the major take aways:      Email this to a friend? Share this on Facebook Tweet This! Share this on LinkedIn Subscribe to the comments for this post? Clip this to Evernote Stumble upon something good? Share it on…
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    Subscribe to the Success Center!

  • 5 Online Branding Tips for Small Business Success

    rod@rodkirby.com (Rod Kirby)
    25 Jan 2012 | 7:00 am
    Branding your business is one of the most important things that you can do to succeed. Your brand, which can essentially be known as your reputation, is the means by which consumers will get to know your business. If your brand is portrayed in a positive light, your business will reap the benefits. Let’s take a look at some strategies to help you brand your business online! Online Branding tip #1 – Research your Audience When it comes to branding your business, one of the most important steps is researching your target audience. Your target audience will affect all of your branding…

  • The Christian Entrepreneur’s Secret to Financial Success in 2012

    rod@rodkirby.com (Rod Kirby)
    23 Jan 2012 | 9:43 am
    What's the Key to Financial Success? A wise man once said “success is goals, and all else is commentary.” I believe that success in personal finances is all about setting goals and achieving goals. Truly, goal setters are goal getters! Mark McCormack in his book, The graduates of the MBA program at Harvard were asked: “Have you set clear, written goals for your future and made plans to accomplish them?” It turned out that only 3% of the graduates had written goals and plans. 13% had goals, but they were not in writing. A Full 84% had no specific goals at all, aside from…

  • Are You Asking the Right Questions to Help You Succeed in 2012? [Part 1]

    rod@rodkirby.com (Rod Kirby)
    18 Jan 2012 | 7:00 am
    Any Questions? To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination and marks real advance in science.  ~Albert Einstein Questions, as Albert Einstein relates so eloquently in the statement above, help us frame our thinking and define our problems. We can rarely think of an answer outside of the way we’ve framed the question, so it stands that the questions we ask – particularly those we ask ourselves – will drive our thinking and our behavior. In my last post I shared tips on aligning your goals with your values. This time…

  • 12 Easy Steps to Writing Killer Blog Posts [Infographic]

    rod@rodkirby.com (Rod Kirby)
    11 Jan 2012 | 1:19 am
    Want to Writer Killer Blog Posts? Small business blogging isn’t dead, but your blog can become “dead in the water” if your posts don’t deliver for your readers.  If your blog posts are too long, confusing, hard to follow, or not well thought-out, you can lose opportunities to convert readers into buyers. What is a Killer Blog Post? A killer blog post is one that gets shared across social networks, leads quality discussions in your comments section, and ultimately generates business leads. It consists of; A Killer Idea which gets people interested in your post,…

  • Keep Your Business Blog Alive with these 6 Types of Posts

    rod@rodkirby.com (Rod Kirby)
    9 Jan 2012 | 10:48 am
    Rest in Peace Blogging . . . There’s a lot of debate about whether or not the golden age of blogging is dead. Robert Scoble doesn’t think it’s dead, simply evolving. And Mathew Ingram of Gigaom thinks that traditional “blogging” may be on a decline but personal publishing is healthy because of the many platforms people use to share the world around them [think Facebook, Google+, and Tumblr]. I agree with both points of view when it comes to personal publishing, but as it pertains to professional publishing, blogging is alive, doing well, and still relevant. Just…
 
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    Women Entrepreneurs - The Secrets of Success blog

  • Sorry...There's No App For That

    27 Jan 2012 | 8:46 pm
    by Doreen Rainey Raytheon invented the first microwave oven after World War II from radar technology developed during the war. Named the 'Radarange', it was first sold in 1947. And thus, 1-minute... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

  • Beauty and Lifestyle Consultant Tayelor Kennedy on Women Entrepreneurs Radio™

    25 Jan 2012 | 7:44 am
    Tayelor Kennedy ~ Beauty and Lifestyle Consultant Tayelor loves beauty and fashion! She also loves shopping and hase no problem spending hours in the cosmetics department.  She's a writer,... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

  • 8 Ways to Turn Your Passion into Profits

    23 Jan 2012 | 7:43 am
    by Ali Brown As entrepreneurs, one of our most important duties is keeping our minds open to fresh moneymaking ideas. Holding regular brainstorm sessions can uncover fresh spins on our original... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

  • Consistency Is Your Key to Business Success

    20 Jan 2012 | 9:54 pm
    by Barbara Saunders All Solo Pros know that success doesn’t happen without effort. Sometimes we can limit our success simply by misunderstanding what it’s going to take to get there. With all... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

  • Business Coach for Women Entrepreneurs Annika Martins on Women Entrepreneurs Radio™

    18 Jan 2012 | 5:50 am
    Annika Martins is a professional business coach. She works with women entrepreneurs who will accept nothing less than the lifestyle and business of their dreams. She defines her coaching programs as... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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    Image Design Blog

  • Chanel - Making of Spring 2012 Campaign Video.

    John Simoudis
    19 Jan 2012 | 9:28 am
    Visit me at: www.simoudis.com Twitter: @simoudis Facebook: Simoudis Photography

  • Madonna's Masterpiece video from WE.

    John Simoudis
    18 Jan 2012 | 1:34 pm
    Madonna learned a thing of two from Herb Ritts in her day. Visit me at: www.simoudis.com Twitter: @simoudis Facebook: Simoudis Photography

  • The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo -- Opening Sequence.

    John Simoudis
    12 Jan 2012 | 1:03 pm
    &amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;If you&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;gt; For those who have missed the amazing opening sequence of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Very Bondesque. Designed by…

  • Perfect Web Typography Video from Tim Brown

    John Simoudis
    11 Jan 2012 | 9:12 am
    Visit me at: www.simoudis.com Twitter: @simoudis Facebook: Simoudis Photography

  • A video made using 288,000 jelly beans.

    John Simoudis
    3 Jan 2012 | 10:48 am
    Visit me at: www.simoudis.com Twitter: @simoudis Facebook: Simoudis Photography
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    Grind & Thrive

  • I’ve Felt Like Giving Up! What About You?

    Torrey
    17 Jan 2012 | 1:38 pm
    Have you ever felt like giving up? Just saying "the heck with this" and throwing in the towel? I have and I do. It gets tough when you're working your butt off trying to build something that people respect and fulfills you. Sometimes I wonder why I put so much work into booking compelling guests that have a wealth of knowledge to share with me and you while not earning a dime. I do feel fortunate to get the opportunity to converse with some wise people that share their thoughts, successes and failures with me. Believe me, that's a pretty cool feeling when a guest says…

  • Talent, Passion & Hustle: A Conversation With Singer Choklate

    Torrey
    12 Jan 2012 | 11:14 am
    How does a passion move a someone from nursing to music? How does pure hustle move this person from being under the radar to three critically acclaimed albums and sharing stages with the likes of Raheem DeVaughn, Eric Roberson, Bilal and Dwele? Today's conversation is with singer/songwriter Choklate, a talented young lady I've been a fan of for a while. As an independent R&B artist, I wanted to converse with Choklate about her background and how passion plays a role in her music.  There's tons of awesome lessons in this convo! Choklate and I chat about: When she…

  • I Need Your Help

    Torrey
    9 Jan 2012 | 12:25 am
    Happy Monday guys! Got a couple of quick updates/announcements for ya below: Seeking Intern/Assistant (unpaid) With it being a new year, I've got a LOT of big stuff planned and not enough hands! So need a little help. I'm looking for an unpaid assistant/intern to join the Grind & Thrive team. Someone who is comfy with social media tools, smart, hard working, in-the-know re: current events/entertainment and who can commit 10-15 hours/week. If this is you or you know someone, email torrey@grindandthrive.com letting me know why you make a good fit. Facebook Page Change I'm in the…

  • The Beginner’s Social Media & Online Apps Toolkit

    Torrey
    7 Jan 2012 | 12:13 pm
    Want to be a trendsetter or successful entrepreneur and think using social media is the way to get that accomplished? I'm sure you do but don't want to spend a ton of time and money doing it. I'm in the same boat with you. This post will provide you with a suggested list of social media tools to consider using for improving your relationship with your communities through digital means. 90% of these are tools I either have used or currently use. It's important to remember that although the tools are great, it better to have a strategy and understand what your goals and…

  • Hearing “No”: Making It A Positive Instead Of Pissing Me Off

    Torrey
    4 Jan 2012 | 3:41 pm
    If you’re someone that has big ambitions (as I do), then it's probable you hear some form of  “no” a lot more than “yes”. Especially when you are just starting out. As someone who reaches out to a ton of people to share their wisdom and story on Grind & Thrive, I hear "no" more than you would believe. I'm still working on getting used to hearing to word "no." Frankly, it pissed me off. I'm always looking for ways to remain motivated through the "no's." I've heard…
 
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    Small-Business

  • The Wisdom of Jeff Bezos, Part 1

    dhornik
    13 Jan 2012 | 9:31 am
    On a plane flight the other day I was catching up on an issue of Wired Magazine that had sat in my backpack for several weeks (as an aside, Wired continues to be my go-to airplane reading — it is so well written, well designed, well researched, always entertaining — I definitely qualify as a Wired fan boy). In December's issue there was a great article on Bitcoin. What an amazing story of markets run amuck (reminded me a bit of our current gold and oil markets). There were a dozen Steve Jobs tributes, as interesting for what they said about Mr. Jobs as what they said about…

  • Texting is Killing Real Business Communication

    mzwilling
    13 Jan 2012 | 7:30 am
    Whether it’s a business or personal interaction, multiple studies show that as much as 50-65% of the communication is nonverbal. That means that people who are addicted to text messaging and email may be sending only half the message, and receivers often misinterpret even that half. Yet the use of text messaging for business purposes continues to grow, in concert with more of Gen-Y entering the workplace, and a continuing increase in the global rate of texting by everyone. This total rate for 2011 has been estimated at 7 trillion, or nearly 225,000 text messages sent every second, according…

  • Episode #162 Lee Rhodes and Dan McLaughlin – Jan 10,2012

    bmoltz
    10 Jan 2012 | 10:00 am
    Lee Rhodes, Entrepreneur of the Year talks about, well how she did it (and got an investment from Amazons Jeff Bezos). Dan McLaughlin discusses how he is trying to become a golf expert following Malcolm Gladwells advice. This episode is sponsored by Sages Accountant Network and Microsoft Small Business. Lee Rhodes | Glassybaby | Steve Bezos | Dan McLaughlin | Small Business Read Original Post

  • How to Buy Don Draper’s Sunglasses

    awise
    8 Jan 2012 | 9:03 am
    It was my birthday yesterday, and I decided to buy myself a gift: Don Draper’s sunglasses. First, thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday. Now, deciding it was okay to treat myself, I went searching for Mr. Draper’s sunglasses at the Millennia mall in Orlando. It’s one of the larger malls in America, and has all the requisite high-end shops: Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdales, etc. After an hour of looking, I decided to give up and just Google it. Mad Men Sunglasses Apparently, true to Mad Men form, the glasses are actually from the 1950s. The glasses Don wears are…

  • Early Customer Feedback Can Lead to a Death Spiral

    mzwilling
    29 Dec 2011 | 7:30 am
    For most new high-tech products, the first customers are always “early adopters.” The conventional wisdom is that early adopters are the ideal target for new products, to get business rolling. I see two pitfalls with any concerted focus on early adopters; first, the size of this group may not be as large as you think, and secondly, their feedback may lead you directly away from your real target market of mainstream customers. The term “early adopters” relates to the people who are eager to try almost any new technology products, and originates from Everett M. Rogers’ Diffusion…
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    Micro business Perspectives

  • MBR: An organized inbox, must-have apps and a very sweet history lesson

    Jason Keith
    27 Jan 2012 | 10:52 am
    Happy Friday! This week’s Micro Business Roundup brings you tips on how to tame an unruly inbox, an interesting look at the State of the Union and essential apps for entrepreneurs. Plus, don’t miss our bonus link to a delicious history lesson! Five Ways to Tame Your Inbox — Although it might sound like a [...]

  • Is relaxation the key to creativity?

    Jason Keith
    26 Jan 2012 | 3:35 pm
    For this week’s edition of Micro Business Tips Thursday we asked our Vistaprint Facebook community where they did their best creative thinking, and as usual, we received a number of great responses. It was tough to choose just one to highlight, so instead, we’re featuring a few. The overall theme we noticed? Comfort. Whether it’s [...]

  • 3 reasons LinkedIn makes sense for small business

    Jason Keith
    25 Jan 2012 | 8:00 am
    This post originally appeared on Boston.com’s Small Business Blog. Facebook and Twitter have long been the darlings of the social media world. Pinterest is starting to gain traction, while sharing sites like Tumblr, About.me and others have carved out a specific niche of users. One of the sites that’s often left off the list, but [...]

  • The Low Down on Group Buying

    Jason Keith
    23 Jan 2012 | 9:15 am
    In the latest edition of Micro Business Tips Thursday we looked to our Facebook community to provide responses to a small business-related question. This time, we were curious about group buying — we wondered if any of our fans had used it, and if so, if it was successful for their small businesses — and [...]

  • MBR: Target’s plan to embrace small business?

    jeffvistaprint
    20 Jan 2012 | 11:25 am
    We are now a few weeks into 2012 and preparing plans and goals for what we want to accomplish this year. Are you planning? Do you plan month by month or look long term?  This week’s edition of the Micro Business Roundup  covers a variety of topics that can help prepare your business for the year [...]
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    Constant Commentary articles

  • Facebook Wants to Pay You to Place Ads, and Other Hot Topics

    DaveCharest
    27 Jan 2012 | 7:30 am
    Ever wonder if you should try Facebook ads? Looks like now would be a great time.   Experts agree that it’s time to start thinking long-term and move beyond just "Likes" and followers.   Could your online reputation hurt your business? A new report says yes!   All this and more in this week’s hot topics. 

  • What's Your Passion? Use Facebook to Share It

    BlaiseLucey
    25 Jan 2012 | 12:21 pm
    It breaks my heart every time I see a question posted to a business or organization’s Facebook Page that goes unanswered, with that lonely question mark dangling, doomed to be ignored. Around 95% of Facebook posts on brand pages suffer a similar fate. Some businesses and organizations may be unsure of what to post, some may not know how to post, and the vast majority certainly don’t have the time to reply to every comment that comes their way.A Facebook Page that's been abandoned by its creator isn’t a pretty thing, and it certainly won’t attract any new fans. In fact, it can give…

  • Going for the Goldleaf: Meet Constant Contact’s 500,000th Customer!

    BlaiseLucey
    25 Jan 2012 | 9:17 am
    Goldleaf Framemakers of Santa Fe has been around for 24 years, but President Martin Horowitz explains that the process his business uses to hand-craft each frame dates back to the Renaissance.   “We start everything from scratch here,” he says. That means carving basswood to make a frame that’s just the right fit, to carefully mixing gesso from rabbit-skin glue, calcium carbonate, and warm water, before sanding it and applying it to clay coats that are generally yellow, but have highlights ranging from red to blue to black.   The process is known as water…

  • Email Marketing: The New Networking for Entrepreneurs

    BlaiseLucey
    24 Jan 2012 | 9:28 am
    When you’re trying to promote your own business, people often say that it’s all about connections.   Unfortunately, the advice tends to stop there. How do you meet people? Networking opportunities come in all shapes and sizes, from the workshop to the convention, but the most frustrating part can be keeping track of who you talk to and what those people do.   This is precisely the problem with which Jill Singer, founder of Jill Singer Graphics, recently wrestled.   “I’m involved with so much networking, and many people I meet are also networking all the…

  • Results Are In: The Top Tool to Help with Social Media Marketing

    Caroline_Shahar
    23 Jan 2012 | 7:30 am
    New tools to help with social media marketing are popping up everywhere. But many small businesses and nonprofits just don’t have the time to keep up and research all the options. Don’t you wish you had someone to tell you about the tools that are proven to be really easy and useful? We get it! That's why last week we asked our Facebook fans, “What tool(s) do you use to help with your social media marketing on Facebook, Twitter, etc.?” Now, the results are in.
 
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    UBC - a place of mind

  • Submit to The Garden Statuary!

    27 Jan 2012 | 11:26 pm
    Enjoy writing? Have an essay you’re proud of? Want to showcase your photos, art or music? We accept all these and more at The Garden Statuary, UBC’s English undergraduate journal. Deadline for submissions is February 17th — check out the website for more details on submission guidelines and/or to see what we do! I, for [...] Continue reading →

  • Night by Tony Judt

    27 Jan 2012 | 10:05 pm
    Night by Tony Judt: In a deeply personal and vivid account, Tony Judt describes what it is like to live with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or Lou Gehrig’s disease, a degenerative condition of the brain and spinal cord nerve cells that control voluntary muscle movement. He delves into the toll of living with the condition and the things we take for granted during our health. As he summarizes, “there is no saving grace in being confined to an iron suit, cold and unforgiving.”

  • BASKETBALL (W) HEAT 57 T-BIRDS 81 L

    27 Jan 2012 | 9:33 pm

  • UBC women's hockey drops the first of two in Edmonton

    27 Jan 2012 | 8:13 pm
    EDMONTON - Third-year forward Alannah Kedra scored a pair of goals to help the No.7 ranked University of Alberta Pandas' hockey team to a 4-0 win over the visiting UBC Thunderbirds, Friday night at Clare Drake Arena in Edmonton.

  • UBC leads swimming championships

    27 Jan 2012 | 8:04 pm
    EDMONTON - The defending Canada West men's and women's swimming champions, the UBC Thunderbirds, lead both standings after Day 1 of the conference championship hosted by the University of Alberta at the Kinsmen Sports Centre in Edmonton.
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    Pajama Productivity

  • Barter Your Way to Biz+Life Brilliance

    Annie
    25 Jan 2012 | 6:31 am
    Bartering: Where one hand paints the other ... or washes. Or whatever. Anyway. You can’t get something for nothing. It’s a trite old saying and it’s absolutely true. Everything has a cost. And when you’re a start-up, a newly-hatched digipreneur? Honey, you KNOW about those costs. Everything has a price and it’s almost always way more than you thought it would be, thought it should be. And then, there’s this: No matter how carefully you budget, no matter how much research you do, there’s not just a money-cost involved in a purchase. There’s the…

  • 101 Easy-Breezy Ways to Get Your Creativity On

    Annie
    29 Nov 2011 | 6:30 pm
    Release the first-graders! Creativity is fed by curiosity, mindfulness, and change. / Photo credit: June Collins. Looking for cheap, easy ways to unleash the creativity tsunami you just know is building up inside you at this very moment? You’re in luck. It’s Word Carnival time, and this month’s topic is “Creativity.” And I’ve been inspired … well, sort of. Don’t worry. I’ll explain that cryptic statement at the very end of this post. But first, let’s establish a few ground rules. ‘Cause you know me. I love me some ground rules.

  • CommentLuv Premium Launching Soon – Here’s How to Grab a Free Copy

    Annie
    13 Nov 2011 | 12:33 pm
    Show your readers some luv! I use the CommentLuv plugin on this blog and recommend it for most of my clients’ blogs, too, because it’s a nice, easy, and free way to encourage comments and give a little back to the people who actually take time to engage in a conversation on a site. Well, the CommentLuv developer Andy Bailey is getting ready to launch what promises to be a super-charged premium version of this plugin, and I for one cannot wait. There is a great giveaway going on at the Traffic Generation Cafe Blog, your ultimate hub for all things web traffic, where you can win…

  • Header Contest Results!

    Annie
    11 Nov 2011 | 2:05 pm
    11/11/11. What an auspicious date! It shall henceforth be written in the Great Big PJ Productivity Book of Awesomeness as a holiday for all productive peeps to celebrate: HEADER DAY!  Thank you to all who entered the contest and helped me pick a header for this site, and an extra HUGE llama-tastic hug and special thank-you to the immensely talented evan austin of Graphics by evan austin for the four candidate headers. The results of the poll were really interesting and reflect a razor-thin race between three of the choices. Here are the results: Click on the image for the full-sized…

  • Take Two: The Two-Minute Rule & How It Supercharges Productivity

    Annie
    10 Nov 2011 | 11:11 am
    Now, I’m a fan of simple. The simpler the better, as far as I’m concerned — especially where it concerns productivity and business systems. ‘Cause there just comes a point when this brain, which increasingly resembles Swiss cheese some days, simply cannot take any more complex routines or complicated procedures, y’know? So, that might explain why I’m such a fan of the two-minute rule. What Is The Two-Minute Rule? First things first: let us give credit where credit is due. I learned this piece of awesomeness from David Allen’s seminal productivity…
 
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    Marketing and Advertising with Chris Newton

  • What your business can learn from an Italian immigrant and a Jewish copywriter...

    Christopher Newton
    10 Jan 2012 | 7:34 pm
    To start off the year, let me share a 'rags to riches' story with you that underlines a ‘survival strategy’ for tough times (and the good times too).Many years back an Italian man migrated to Australia with not much more than the clothes on his back and his skills in cutting hair, and he opened a men's hairdressing salon in the CBD.This salon was so successful it soon grew to six to eight stylists working for him at one time and after many years, he was able to retire and pass the business over to his son.  But here’s the interesting bit.  Even in his retirement, he would sit…

  • 7 'Profit Turnaround' initiatives to make 2012 a success for your business...

    Christopher Newton
    13 Dec 2011 | 6:41 pm
    It's that time of year again when we look at our lifestyle and businesses, and resolve to improve on the previous year. Here are some suggested New Year 'resolutions' for your business in 2012, along with some links to HOW to make them happen. 1.) I will map out my strategies and drive my plan proactively, instead of reacting Before you look at anything else for your business in 2012, step back and take a look at the big picture. What do you want to achieve? Where are the areas of growth for your business? Marketing? Where do you start? How does a 72.8% lift in sales sound? Then map out the…

  • 12 Golden Rules to Effectively Handling Enquiries

    Christopher Newton
    14 Nov 2011 | 6:10 pm
    The more I show clients how to handle enquiries from new prospects over the phone, the more I find myself coming back to the same dozen 'sobering' truths … truths that help you understand the mindset of the caller.These truths may at first appear negative.  They’re not.  They are simply a realisation that everybody – including your prospect - sees life through their own ‘eyes’.  And having an insight into how they ‘see’ (and feel) can help us to better relate to their needs.  So let’s consider the following:1. The enquirer, regardless of what they say,…

  • Do your profit cogs have teeth missing?

    Christopher Newton
    8 Nov 2011 | 7:53 pm
    I sat across the desk from a business owner who has a great business concept.  His business should have been doing a whole lot better than it is.  I could see this wasn’t because of any ‘financial meltdown’.   It was because some of the ‘cogs’ in his business that should have been producing profit, weren’t ‘meshing’.  And faulty cogs in a business chew relentlessly through profits that should be in the bank.Now, I love bringing things down to their lowest common denominator.  So I pulled out my pen and asked him for a piece of blank paper…

  • "To say the meeting got off to a slow start would be an understatement..."

    Christopher Newton
    30 Oct 2011 | 8:45 pm
    Many years back, I had travelled to Munroe, Wisconsin in the US, to visit the headquarters of The Swiss Colony.  This company is one of the legends of mail order and online catalogue marketing, and still mails tens of millions of catalogues every year.  After some perseverance, I had secured an appointment with the head of marketing and his team to learn how they do what they do, explaining I was researching for a business venture back home.To say the meeting got off to a slow start would be an understatement.  Perhaps they wondered WHO this guy from the antipodes was, and why…
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    outright

  • HELL AFTER DEATH

    outright
    19 Jan 2012 | 3:49 am
    HELL AFTER DEATH terlahir dari pinggiran kota cianjur,yaitu ciranjang. HELL AFTER DEATH terbentuk sekitar akhir tahun 2010 tepat nya 09_11_2010. HELL AFTER DEATH mengusung genre SLAMMING DEATH METAL meskipun kelahiran band kami masih terbilang baru,tapi kami akan terus untuk maju,dan insya allah takan pernah bubar dengan formasi ini. formasi HELL AFTER DEATH : Kungzz Hellafterdeath-voc#1 Dendy Maulana-voc#2 Iduy fvckin slam-guitars Edho Tragedy-sundanessedeathmetal-guitars Arif Dwi Afriansyah-bass Dhoory Hellafterdeath-drum HELL AFTER DEATH dengan formasi 6 orang. awal mula terdirinya band…
 
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    Small Business Bliss

  • New Twitter design – a video tour

    Martina
    27 Jan 2012 | 2:56 pm
    The good news is that Twitter has not changed much in terms of functionality with their new design – it’s mostly just a matter of a new look and a new interface. Several important Twitter functions can now be found in a different place, so it is a little confusing and takes some getting used to. OLD Twitter design… Old Twitter Design     …VS. the NEW Twitter design New Twitter design Given that, I thought I’d do up a quick little video to tour you around the new Twitter design, and hopefully make it easier for you when you go to use it. I’ll be covering:…

  • How to keep your small business out of trouble with trademark clearance research

    Martina
    18 Jan 2012 | 3:58 pm
    This is a guest post by Jeffrey Fabian of  TrademarkIntel™ When choosing a brand name for your new small business or product line, it’s easy to fall in love with a name and feel the impulse to start stamping it immediately on anything and everything you can get your hands on. While this is decidedly the fun part of branding, it can also get you into a lot of trouble and create headaches down the road if you don’t take the necessary steps to make sure that your chosen trademark isn’t already in use by somebody else. Long story short, trademark infringement is serious business, and…

  • Hate your blog? 5 ways to make blogging fun again

    Martina
    10 Jan 2012 | 5:34 pm
    Any small business owner with a blog knows the feeling of struggling with the whole content creation thing. Maybe you’re plum out of  ideas. Or you’re in a busy time for your biz and totally swamped with work. Or you’re just plain not feeling your blog right now. The thought of writing another post makes you want to poke your eyes out. This is totally normal. You’re not a professional blogger; you’re a small business owner. But you know blogging is important for your small business and that you need to keep at it. So why not change things up a little? Break out…

  • A marketing tutorial courtesy of my local municipal elections

    Martina
    13 Dec 2011 | 8:30 pm
    Recently here in Vancouver, we had local municipal elections. And sure enough, my experience researching the candidates and making my decision on who I was going to vote for held some very important marketing lessons that any small business owner can benefit from. Who knew that politicians could help guide us in our online promotions? First off, some qualifiers. I don’t have TV. I don’t receive any local newspapers. I’m your classic internet only target market. There’s a lot of us out there. And I think we’re growing stronger and stronger in numbers. So, in order to find out more…

  • Reflections on the entrepreneurial journey

    Martina
    7 Dec 2011 | 12:24 pm
    Recently, a mentor of mine sent me a note congratulating me on my progress with my business. It was a good reminder to take a moment and reflect on my journey. All of us entrepreneurs should do this once in a while. So, let’s do a super short  little meditation shall we? Whether you started your biz yesterday, or have been an entrepreneur for years, this is an exercise for anyone. My beautiful friend Rya (yoga teacher and trainer extraordinaire) did a similar moment of reflection before a power yoga class in Whistler a few weekends back. I’ve adjusted it with a biz focus. Sit…
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    creativecommons.org

  • Who Loves Doctors?

    ask@michaelhartzell.com (Michael Hartzell)
    25 Jan 2012 | 7:09 am
    You will refer your own doctor but as a general rule won't walk into just any doctor's office to get treatment.  You don't trust doctors as a general rule.  If you did, you would walk into any office.  Do you know what March 30th is? You are usually willing to share with your inner circle that you are not physically well, ill, hurting and encumbered.  When it comes time to go to a doctor for a check-up and fix; "I don't like going to the doctor" is a frequent response. Does it matter what March 30th is? When you get the doctor bill, there is a confounding period of…

  • If You are Looking for Referrals

    ask@michaelhartzell.com (Michael Hartzell)
    24 Jan 2012 | 4:53 pm
    It only makes sense that when someone receives something awesome and wonderful, they will want to brag about it and share it.  To get a referral it only makes sense that the person who is giving a referral can only do so if they have personally experienced or seen first hand the awesomeness and amazing product or service.  To risk one's reputation and give attention to another by giving a referral should be considered the most generous gifts one can give another. If all this is true, then which is more important if you are looking for a referral? Talk? Do? If you talk, sell,…

  • Magic Trick With Hands

    ask@michaelhartzell.com (Michael Hartzell)
    23 Jan 2012 | 11:27 pm
    I am about to do a magic trick right before your very eyes.  Without you realizing it, I am going to make something important to you disappear.  First you will see it, then you won't.  No doubt, if you are an entrepreneur, you will "know" how I did it.  No... my hand is not in your pocket or your wallet.  I am not going to steal your candy bar. It will be painless and there is no hypnotism involved.  (You can talk to the Mentalist if you are looking for hypnotism) Since this trick requires your direct participation, I ask you to take your hand off your mouse for…

  • How to Negotiate a Better Deal

    ask@michaelhartzell.com (Michael Hartzell)
    23 Jan 2012 | 7:04 am
    Learning how negotiate with video, business success tips and the only guide to negotiating you will ever need.  Conflict resolution and negotiating a better deal can be handled with shear force of will, being honest and hoping for the best.  True? Not true.  Negotiation from a position of strength instead of as a victim increases the chance of closing a deal, getting a better rate, a lower price or bonus items.  You might even get your car washed or lawn mowed.  There are quick negotations which happen each day as the entrepreneur needs something NOW but gets…

  • How to Optimize a Press Release for Inbound Marketing

    ask@michaelhartzell.com (Michael Hartzell)
    22 Jan 2012 | 10:17 pm
    Press releases are news which become a part of daily routines.  How to optimize a press release no longer needs to be a mystery.  A large list of free press release websites is ready but only after you have watched the video below.  Since press releases are considered 3rd party edited content, many believe them to have a better authority than a blog.  This puts them on a high priority list since they are also searchable in the search engines.  If you have not yet taken the advantage of using press releases as part of your marketing plan, this video will help you…
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    Finance and Business

  • About Debt Alliance

    suwandi
    25 Jan 2012 | 4:00 am
                      About Debt Alliance Basically, debt alliance is a refinancing and is to accumulation all loans (personal, mortgage, or cards) in a fresh mortgage accommodation to a best aeon of Basically, debt alliance is a refinancing and is to accumulation all loans (personal, mortgage, or cards) in a fresh mortgage accommodation to a best aeon so as to abate the account fee to pay. The reunification of debts appears as a band-aid for those who accept assorted loans, by alms a account abridgement of up to 50%, but the final debt increases due…

  • Consider Taking Advantage Of Balance Transfer For Savings In 2012

    suwandi
    23 Jan 2012 | 6:23 pm
    Balance transfer credit card can be an able solution, appropriately used, for accumulation absolute debts and alienated a aerial APR on an absolute card. However, barter should be acquainted of what to apperceive afore applying for a card, as able-bodied as what problems antithesis alteration cards will not solve. Barter should be acquainted of whether or not the antithesis alteration card’s anterior amount increases over time, abandoning out the allowances of the antithesis alteration agenda offers in the aboriginal place. They should additionally be acquainted that antecedent bad…

  • Knowing the Numbers of Credit Score

    Admin
    2 Jan 2012 | 7:26 am
                        Knowing the Numbers of Credit Score Few financial decisions are taken without any control of your credit history. Unfortunately for some people, this information still uncontrolled overflows of problems. Most creditors do not look at that, just look at the numbers and that defines whether to agree the next step. For those not familiar to understand how the credit scoring table is simple, a list of good credit and bad credit represented by numbers. Ignore those numbers makes the blind person to walk when trying to buy a car,…

  • Learning for Acclaim Array

    Admin
    1 Jan 2012 | 10:02 am
    Learning for Acclaim Array The Accuracy about Your Acclaim Annual There are abounding misconceptions about acclaim array out there. There are barter who accept that they don’t accept a acclaim annual and abounding barter who anticipate that their acclaim appraisement aloof does not absolutely matter. These sorts of misconceptions can aching ones’ affairs at accepting assassin for some jobs, at accepting acceptable absorption rates, and alike bassinet affairs of leasing some flush apartments. The accuracy is, if you accept a coffer annual and bills, again you accept a acclaim…

  • Avoid Mistakes When Get Auto Allowance

    Admin
    16 Dec 2011 | 9:49 am
    Avoid Mistakes When Get Auto Allowance Buying auto allowance can be a complicated process. Abounding car owners, abnormally those insuring their aboriginal car accomplish cher mistakes. These generally aftereffect from actuality scantly acquainted on how to access allowance companies and brokers. First of these is the abortion to analyze assorted behavior available. While abounding types of advantage exist, one allegation never jump to quick abstracts back affairs any policy. Instead, you allegation anxiously appraise quotes based on assorted factors and argue if annihilation becomes unclear.
 
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    Surefire Social

  • Local Business Marketing – What is a Hashtag, Really?

    Chris Marentis
    26 Jan 2012 | 10:09 pm
    I was at a lunch meeting the other day, and I overheard a local business owner mention that he’d never used a hashtag in his tweets, which surprised me as much as it didn’t. It surprised me because hashtags have been proven to help several local businesses build and grow their sales and leads. At the same time, I wasn’t surprised because even with our own clients, hashtags seem to cause some confusion. It’s as if local business owners understand that hashtags could add value to their online marketing efforts, but at the same time, their confusion around the topic is a hindrance to…

  • Understanding Local Business Search Part I – Geo-Targeting & Local Keywords

    Chris Marentis
    25 Jan 2012 | 10:27 pm
    Local business marketing has many differences to the marketing of national or international businesses. As most people turn to the Internet these days to search for products, services and stores, an online presence is just as vital for a local business as it is for a multinational or chain store. However, local businesses can face a problem when it comes to search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing. Appearing on search results for a customer on the other side of the country, or even on the other side of the Atlantic, is not going to benefit a local business; likewise, not appearing when…

  • How can Social Media Benefit Your Local Business??

    Chris Marentis
    20 Jan 2012 | 5:51 pm
    We often post blogs that emphasize the idea that social media is a must in today’s world of business. And quite frankly, it’s because it is. There are a ton of success stories where social media has been valuable to local businesses around the world. Below we’ve listed several of the benefits that add value by category to help you understand why you should be using social media for your local business (if you’re not already!). Client Relations and Customer Service With social media, it’s easy to build and foster relationships with current and potential clients to keep current…

  • 9 Small Biz Trends for 2012: Online Search, Discovery & Optimization

    Chris Marentis
    20 Jan 2012 | 2:25 pm
    If you’re a small business owner who’s looking to maximize your online presence in 2012, then you should be aware that search and discovery for small businesses is increasing in importance to create a consistently profitable business. And to sustain success, or become successful, via the World Wide Web, a small business will need to focus on the following trends for 2012 in way of search, discovery and optimization: #1: Diversity of traffic. Google continues to run strong as it dominates online search.  However, it’s ever changing. Thus this dominance that Google has is both good and…

  • Local Business Website Optimization Part II – Site Speed

    Chris Marentis
    13 Jan 2012 | 1:33 pm
    I said it last week in my post, Local Business Website Optimization Part I – Content Strategy, and it’s so important that I’ll say it again: As more research becomes available, incorporated with first-hand experience, it’s clear to me that search and discovery should be the emphasis of any local business online marketing strategy. It can literally make or break a business in today’s online world, because the businesses that get it can soar; while those who don’t, well, you don’t want to be one of them. And to be found online, you must have an optimized website. Last week, I…
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    The Entrepreneurs Club of America

  • The Entrepreneur’s Defining Moment

    26 Jan 2012 | 9:57 am
    January 27th, 2012 Author: Kip Marlow When you ask Christopher Hanks, co-author of School For Startups about the single most important trait of an entrepreneur he mentions the word passion.  However, his answer is with a twist.  If someone has a passion for sports and wants to start a sporting goods store, that’s not what he means. Passion is really developed when there is a defining moment in a business life.  It could be being downsized from a corporate job, or vowing that you never want to work for someone again.  These can be defining moments that can turn your…

  • An Entrepreneurs Tip: Stress and Those Pesky Mirror Neurons

    26 Jan 2012 | 9:18 am
    January 26th, 2012 Author: Kip Marlow When you yawn, they yawn.  When your blood pressure goes up, theirs does too.  Let’s face it, as an entrepreneur you are contagious.  Managing your stress as a business owner will manage your employees stress as well. In a recent Entrepreneurs Club Radio interview, Dr. Lori Stevic-Rust talks about the mirror neurons in our brains that can cause actions in other people.  If your management style is in the “high stress mode”, your employees will be highly stressed as well. Will they be productive?  Not a chance! In this short…

  • HOW CEOS CAN CONTROL HEALTH CARE COSTS IN 2012

    23 Jan 2012 | 2:24 am
    January 24th, 2012 Author: Glenn Levar, Shared Time Human Resources Management Group health care plan costs rose just 6.1 percent on average in 2011, but CEOs looking for certainty about the financial impact of health care reform will have to wait until June when the Supreme Court is expected to rule on the legality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The 2011 increase in health care plan costs is less than the 6.9 percent increase in 2010, but it is still in line with similar increases since 2005, according to a study of 2800 employers from Mercer. How the court rules…

  • Entrepreneurs Education: A Paradigm Shift

    20 Jan 2012 | 3:27 am
    January 21st, 2012 Author: Kip Marlow There are hundreds of books and textbooks on entrepreneurship, and we can read them all and learn something.  However, there is no substitute for learning from “real world” successful entrepreneurs. Gary Schoeniger and Clifton Taulbert, both successful entrepreneurs, have co-authored Who Owns the Ice House? , a book about eight life lessons from a very successful business owner. Also, they authored an extensive companion on-line course targeted to high school and community college students, featuring “real world” successful entrepreneurs.

  • The New Patent Law: The Patent Examiners Jobs Act

    20 Jan 2012 | 3:15 am
    January 23rd, 2012 President Obama signed the new bipartisan patent law into effect in September, 2011.  It is one of the most far reaching changes dealing with intellectual property in decades. The law was designed to “harmonize” our patent process with that of Europe.  The most important modification involves the move to proceed to a “first to file” system versus the old “first to invent” system.  When competing for a patent, the small business owner and entrepreneur need to file quickly and often.  Speed to the patent office now is essential. Is this good…
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    The Bottom Line

  • Best of Outright Weekly Round-Up: 1099 Due Date Edition

    Jennifer Escalona Dunn
    27 Jan 2012 | 5:30 am
    It’s almost 1099 deadline time! Have you sent your 1099′s out to your contractors? If not, you may want to take a look at them again. Why? Read on… Also, what did you think of the State of the Union address? If you’re like other small business owners, you may not have been completely happy with it. Also below find some great posts and a solid tip on why you should get out of the office soon! Tax Watch If you’re sending out 1099s this year, there’s one sure fire way you can anger all your recipients at once: revised 1099s! Nothing is more infuriating than…

  • Automating Your 1099′s: Outright’s Advice

    Sarah Snyder
    26 Jan 2012 | 6:39 am
    It’s that time again, friends. You have until Jan. 31 to file your 1099s. As in they must be at least postmarked and sent to recipients by that time to avoid penalties. Who has to deal with 1099′s? If you paid a contractor $600 or more during the calendar year 2011, you are required to fill out information form 1099 and send it to him or her as well as to the IRS. (Check out all about form 1099 right here.) Just in time, may us introduce FileTaxes.com, an online 1099 services that thousands use to cross their T’s and dot their I’s. The service even offers its services…

  • How Storage Wars Gets it Wrong: A Real Storage Locker Buyer’s Perspective

    Danni Ackerman
    25 Jan 2012 | 6:27 am
    Over the past year a reality tv show called Storage Wars has taken off and created quite a stir in the delinquent storage locker buying business. If you’ve somehow managed to stay unaware of Storage Wars and it’s spinoffs, the show is about what happens when the person who rents a storage locker does not pay his or her rent. The contents of these lockers are then auctioned off in what is the storage facility’s legal method of regaining their locker unit to re-rent. This particular show (there are several different ones), follows the antics of a handful of regular characters…

  • How To Use Social Media To Grow Your Business

    Courtney Dirks
    24 Jan 2012 | 6:26 am
    Social media is here to stay and it can be a great tool for both personal and professional growth as well as a wonderful tool to benefit the community.  Today, we want to focus on how to use social media to grow your business. Social media offers a new medium for interacting with your employees, partners and customers.  Using tools like Blogging, Facebook and Twitter, you can connect with anyone from anywhere at any time, making communication much more efficient. Here are six ways to use social media to grow your business and set you up for long-term success: Start slow. Get used to one…

  • Six Ways to Automate your Etsy Shop

    Justine Smith
    23 Jan 2012 | 12:10 pm
    Between crafting your products, keeping up with convos and adding new products, your Etsy store keeps you busy. Sometimes, there is so much to do! While you may be tempted to handle everything yourself, it won’t be long before burn-out sets in or you become frustrated at juggling too many tasks at once. There are many aspects of running your business that can be done automatically, saving you precious and valuable time. We all know that having more time is a good thing! Let’s look at the automation features available for making your shop run more smoothly, with less help from you.
 
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    Wayne Liew Dot Com

  • Business Hazards 101 and How to Avoid Them

    Jay Reese
    17 Jan 2012 | 7:42 pm
    Businesses can come with a wide range of potential hazards. Business owners need to take precautions against hazards so that the potential injuries or problems are avoided and employees are working in a safe environment. By taking measures to avoid hazards, business owners are effectively making their workers safe and secure against future problems. Physical Injury Hazards Business owners should always take measures to avoid hazards that can potentially cause physical injuries. This might include something as simple as slip hazards from electrical wires in the office to injuries that might…

  • 10 Ways to Make Your Social Media Campaign Fail

    Wayne Liew
    8 Jun 2011 | 7:34 am
    You were probably pretty fired up when social media first came along. It was an exciting new approach, a lot of buzz was circulating about it, everybody was eager. But now one of the key questions a lot of folks are asking themselves right now is: “If social media is such a powerful tool, why did my first campaign fail?” We analyzed the most common mistakes people make when they run a social media campaign and created this checklist to see where you might be going wrong. You didn’t measure the results of your campaign. Interestingly, this is an all-too-common problem. You set the…

  • Mike Samson, Co-Founder of crowdSPRING on Community Building and NO!SPEC Campaign

    Wayne Liew
    1 Jun 2011 | 9:36 am
    If you missed the first part of my interview with Mike Samson, co-founder of crowdSPRING, where he talks about how crowdSPRING successfully raised $3 million in angel funding and shares some important tips that every entrepreneur will find useful down the road, click on the link below to get started. Mike Samson, Co-Founder of crowdSPRING on Raising Angel Funding [Part 1] In this second part of the interview, Mike shares with me the secret of building two communities on crowdSPRING and keeping both of them in balance. Towards the end of the interview, Mike also explained the stance of…

  • Mike Samson, Co-Founder of crowdSPRING on Raising Angel Funding [Part 1]

    Wayne Liew
    25 May 2011 | 10:13 am
    crowdSPRING should not be new among web designers but most of us don’t know the founding story behind the site, which is one of the largest crowdsourcing marketplaces on the Internet. In fact, as a small business owner or an entrepreneur, you must at least pay a visit to crowdSPRING. Here’s why: Every business needs a refreshing design or copy, whether it is your business logo, letterhead, website, product designs, newsletters, whitepapers or even a brand new banner for a marketing campaign. crowdSPRING, utilizing the power of its designer communities, allows you to adopt only the best…

  • 10 Tips to Run an International Business Cheaply

    Wayne Liew
    13 Oct 2010 | 10:26 am
    Setting up and running an international business is getting easier by the day. In fact, all entrepreneurs and small business owners should start running their business with a global perspective. With globalization and democratization of most international markets, sourcing products and services from another country as well as selling goods and providing services to a foreign consumer market never had such low barriers. However, depending on the nature of your business operations, your small business that frequently interacts with foreign suppliers, service providers, customers or business…
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    Small Business Online Marketing at Kutenda

  • 6 scientifically proven ways to get up to 500% more engagement from your Facebook fans

    Jeb
    26 Jan 2012 | 2:55 pm
    Last September, Facebook debuted the ‘Subscribe‘ feature as a way for journalists to allow people to subscribe to their public updates on Facebook. Yesterday Facebook released some data to show how well the new program is working for writers and other media figures. What’s that’s got to do with you? A lot actually. The takeaways from the study apply to ALL marketers and brands on Facebook, even ones not using the Subscribe feature. Here’s what boosts engagement, according to Facebook’s own data: Ask questions. In an earlier study, Facebook found that…

  • What we’re reading…

    Jeb
    24 Jan 2012 | 1:30 am
    Here are the latest articles we’ve saved to our Instapaper account: How to Become an Effective CEO: Chief Emotions Officer | FourHourWorkweek.com In Tech, Starting Up by Failing | NYTimes.com Successful Sales Management: Trust Me, I’m a Salesman | Steve Reeves Why Brands Like Puma and GE Are Flocking to Instagram | AdAge.com How to Write a Thank-You Note That Matters | Inc.com A Word to the Resourceful | PaulGraham.com 97 Ideas for Building a Valuable Platform | ChrisBrogan.com Open Rate Madnezz | BenSettle.com Progress Killer #3: Don’t Try to Go it Alone | Copyblogger.com A…

  • The most underrated talent in business is…

    Jeb
    23 Jan 2012 | 3:07 pm
    According to Copyblogger, it’s good manners. Look at the people whose businesses do well over the long run, and you’ll find people who are good at getting along with other people. They might be opinionated, brash, or outspoken. (They might also be quiet, reserved, and introverted.) But they know how to make connections, and they know how to take care of their friends. So true. Paul Graham made a similar point last week. See also: How to Write a Thank-You Note That Matters | Inc.com

  • Simple text formatting tips that will make you MUCH more persuasive

    Jeb
    23 Jan 2012 | 1:59 am
    A couple of weeks ago, we blogged about how to create killer landing pages that convert visitors into new customers. We listed some tried-and-true elements that seasoned copywriters have used for decades (in sales letters and then later in landing pages) to drive engagement and boost sales. One of them was to use “liberal amounts of text formatting, esp. bold, italics and ALL CAPS.” We’ll say it again: use liberal amounts of text formatting, esp. bold, italics and ALL CAPS. Maybe you’re skeptical that something as simple as text formatting can make you more…

  • The gray morning did Internet Explorer 6 no longer load The Google…

    Jeb
    20 Jan 2012 | 1:10 pm
    Mike Lacher recounts an epic tale ‘in which I fix my girlfriend’s grandparents’ wifi and am hailed as a conquering hero.’ Lo, in the twilight days of the second year of the second decade of the third millennium did a great darkness descend over the wireless internet connectivity of the people of 276 Ferndale Street in the North-Central lands of Iowa. For many years, the gentlefolk of these lands basked in a wireless network overflowing with speed and ample internet, flowing like a river into their Compaq Presario. Many happy days did the people spend checking Hotmail and…
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    The MOD Blog: Internet Marketing for Small Business

  • Photo or logo for your Facebook Ads: An unscientific experiment

    Christy Lui
    20 Jan 2012 | 11:50 am
    This month I've been running a little experiment with Facebook Ads for a local client. It's their first foray into Facebook Ads, so we always like to experiment with a few things to see what works best. We ran two ads to the same market, with the same text. We wanted to know if an ad with their logo would perform better or worse than an ad with a pretty picture of their product. Here are the two ads: As you can see, the top one is definitely prettier. Yet which do you think performed better? Believe it or not, it was the ad with the logo - almost 2:1. So what was going on here? First, what's…

  • Fighting Marketing Fatigue

    Christy Lui
    22 Dec 2011 | 9:49 am
    We recently had a conversation with a new nonprofit marketing client who was about three months into a big marketing push. They were worn out and overwhelmed with all the decisions that had to be made with website design, social media, direct mail, and posters that they wanted for their campaign. We also often hear from clients that "people get too much email already" and "what more do I have to say on my blog/Facebook page/twitter feed?" With all the options we have for marketing these days, and the sheer effort it takes to consistently reach out to people and make your message heard, it's…

  • SEO tips for business Facebook pages

    Kate Winckler
    21 Dec 2011 | 11:08 pm
    Your website needs to be optimized for search engines so people can find your business or service. Did you know that social media sites are also indexed and ranked by the search engines? You can improve your search results by optimizing your business Facebook page. If you’ve done some keyword research, or worked on basic SEO for your website, you can use the same information to easily optimize your business Facebook page. Here’s a few basic tips: 1. Start with keyword research: There are paid tools that we use at MOD Internet Marketing, such as WordTracker and SEO Moz, that help…

  • What the New and Improved Twitter Means for You

    Kate Winckler
    12 Dec 2011 | 12:24 pm
        Twitter is now rolling out some changes to it's look and functionality. (Free Iphone and Android apps are available for download now, and you will get a Direct Message from Twitter when the rollout is ready for your desktop account.) Twitter says the goal of the redesign was to make the user experience richer, while still keeping things simple. Read through all the new features on Twitter's website here. For more indepth analysis, check out MediaBistro's take on the new Twitter here. There's definitely a new look and feel to the Twitter layout. The four icons above now…

  • Tips for Writing a Great Fundraising Letter

    Kate Winckler
    2 Dec 2011 | 8:52 am
    It's that time of the year, when appeal letters are flying through the mail like snowflakes. If you're writing a letter this year for your non-profit or charity, here's a 6 ways to help your marketing letter make the most impact. 1. Use "I"and "You," but mostly "You" in writingHow you would write a letter to another individual? Using I and You provides human interest and is a powerful way to engage your readers.2. Base your appeal on benefits, not needsDonors give in order to get something in return, either good feelings or a tangible gift. The intangible benefits are children educated or…
 
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    StepByStepMarketing.com

  • Surprise Marketing Trend: Do Customers Want Less from Your Products?

    Diana Pohly
    27 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am
    A recent survey of 1,000 health-conscious consumers conducted by Mambo Sprouts Marketing turned up some interesting findings about the way consumers are thinking at the start of year 2012. Mambo Sprouts, which creates marketing programs targeted to consumers of natural and organic products, found that those customers make buying choices based on what is left out of products, not what is included. “Consumers are as concerned about what’s not in their products as what is,” the survey found. For example, they want hormone-free meats, gluten-free pastas and breads, and…

  • Love It or It’s Free: How to Write Compelling Guarantee Offers

    Diana Pohly
    26 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am
    The phrase “Satisfaction Guaranteed or Your Money Back” sounds commonplace today, but it is one of the most compelling guarantee offers in the history of marketing. It was created in 1875 by a traveling salesman named Aaron Montgomery Ward. With the power of that guarantee behind him, he founded Montgomery Ward, the department store and catalog retailer that was in business from 1872 until 2001. Engagement is more than just a marketing buzzword — it’s the critical component to the success of every marketing endeavor you launch. Ensure that your next campaign produces great…

  • B2B Customer Profiling: Do You Know Who Your Internal Customers Are?

    Diana Pohly
    25 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am
    If your company sells products or services to other companies, there is more to customer profiling than identifying the people who make the decision to buy from you. To be sure that you can continue selling to their companies in the long term, it is also important to know the people within their organizations who actually use what you sell. Those end-users are often called “internal customers.” “This group of customers is the most often overlooked and neglected of the customer types,” writes HR consultant Chuck Hebert in a recent post on the Management 4-1-1 blog. He…

  • Case Study: 100% Satisfied — How a Canadian Auto Body Shop Achieved Perfect Customer Satisfaction Ratings Over Two Years

    Diana Pohly
    24 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am
    When customers need the services of an auto body shop, they are usually upset and concerned. After all, they were probably in an accident. They are also anxious about the cost and the quality of work that will be done. That makes it all the more remarkable that the Maaco Collision Repair & Auto Painting franchise in Regina, SK, has achieved perfect customer satisfaction ratings over the last two years. In surveys that were administered by CSi Complete, 100% of customers said they would recommend Regina Maaco to their family and friends. Want to run a more customer-centric organization?

  • Attention, Emotion, and Product: A Winning Trio that Gets Customers to Click and Buy

    Diana Pohly
    23 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am
    Ronald T. Robinson is a Canadian copywriter who developed this simple structure for effective radio ads: Step One — Acquire and maintain the attention of the audience. Step Two — Develop and sustain an emotional response. Step Three — Introduce your service or product. I think you will agree that attention, emotion, and product belong in any ad. But what if you are writing copy for an ad that will run on a website? Because online ads need to trigger an action in just a few seconds, those three steps need to be telescoped into just one process like this: Your customer sees your ad, has…
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    Marketing Without A Net

  • How To Barter Using LinkedIn

    Ilana Rabinowitz
    24 Jan 2012 | 7:39 pm
    Most people think of LinkedIn as an online resume service, but the social nature of this platform makes it a much richer and more powerful tool than most people could ever imagine.It is useful to anyone in business or with anything of value to offer, who understands the value of a network.That’s a much larger group than job hunters! Now, before we dive into the details of combining two seemingly unrelated activities like using a “job hunting” site and bartering, let’s take a look at each one separately.  Bartering As a consultant or entrepreneur, you offer your talent for an…

  • Steve Jobs And The Great Art Dilemma

    Ilana Rabinowitz
    16 Jan 2012 | 6:24 am
    I am about halfway through the Steve Jobs biography, although I must say I peeked at the end,  because I heard that Walter Isaacson gave Jobs a chance to speak for himself at the end. While every biography is only one person’s piecing together of a story, one thing does seem clear. Steve Jobs was not nice person. In his mind,  (and this is why I felt it necessary to read Jobs own account at the end) Jobs felt that he did what he needed to do to make people step up to the job and to get incompetent people out of the game.  Everything had to lead to the vision he had in his mind for the…

  • The Best Podcasts For Marketers

    Ilana Rabinowitz
    9 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am
    Trying to keep up with the latest wisdom in marketing means reading a lot of books, blogs, attending conferences, following the twitter stream and more. But listening to podcasts is what I find personally to be most inspirational.  It’s a time commitment—these podcasts are often 30-60 minutes long–but hearing ideas go back and forth between interesting, smart people in a spontaneous way is a great way to learn. The value packed into these podcasts is incredible.  Advice, interviews with great leaders, marketers and business people in general are all free.  These podcasts have…

  • Did You Have A New Year’s Resolution About Using Technology?

    Ilana Rabinowitz
    3 Jan 2012 | 3:40 pm
    Three New York Times stories in the last few days may look unrelated, yet they are intimately connected. One was a story of how the F.D.A is finding that attention deficit drugs are in short supply and millions of children and adults who depend on them are unable to find these prescriptions.  In 2010 51.5 million prescriptions were written for attention related prescriptions. A second story called The Joy of Quiet by Pico Iyer, was subtitled “trying to escape the constant stream of information.” In a third story, Nick Bilton  wrote about how he almost missed a beautiful vacation…

  • Why The Beware The Online “Filter Bubbles” Ted Talk Won’t Change The World

    Ilana Rabinowitz
    1 Jan 2012 | 7:10 am
    A couple of weeks ago when the Ted Talk called Beware Online “Filter Bubbles” was first delivered, I saw a lot of positive chatter about it on Twitter. Then I saw it listed by The Huffington Post as one of the top talks of 2011 today so I listened. Of course to anyone involved in social media, it was not news that Facebook’s Edgerank algorithm decides which of your friends’ updates you see based on how often and the extent to which you interact with them, and Google’s news is delivered with similar nods to your predispositions.  So if your interests go to pop culture and…
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    Dawn's Work at Home Blog

  • Blog Contest for all of my Blog Readers

    27 Jan 2012 | 11:58 pm
    I am running a contest on my personal blog.  It is open for all of my readers of all my blogs, you are all invited.  Awesome scrapbook software giveaway.  It is a fun software to design to your scrap book, it is a lot of fun with really cool features.  This contest is completely free-no purchase to win.  The winner will not need to enter any credit card information so there is no strings attached.  I have been having a lot of fun with this software myself! Go ahead and check out the contest details and join today- Blog Contest, Software Giveaway.  The free…

  • Wednesday's Online Business Mistake-Too Many Distractions

    25 Jan 2012 | 10:00 am
    It is Wednesday again? Yes, I guess it is.  Time for another Wednesday's Online Business Mistake.  Today we will talk about distractions.  I know I have talked briefly about them in the past, but they are too common! I still get distracted easily here but I am able to recover from distractions much easier now then I did in the beginning. When you have an online business, many times you are running this business from your home.  Working at home is wonderful but you can be distracted much easier.  There are some things that are beyond your control (such as family…

  • Wednesday's Online Business Mistake-Affiliate Marketing

    18 Jan 2012 | 10:48 am
    Wednesday here again! This time goes by fast.  For this week I would like to talk about my mistake in  Affiliate Marketing-this is also a common mistake.  Many people have made a lot of money with Affiliate Marketing.  It is also a way to earn without spending any money.  It can be profitable and the only thing you would have to pay for is advertising if you chose to. Affiliate Marketing is promoting somebody else's product.  It can be an easy income if you know how to advertise effectively.  You don't need a product, you are promoting somebody else's.

  • Market Your Business to be Memorable

    15 Jan 2012 | 12:21 pm
    Do your customers remember you? When potential customers think of a product your business offers, do they think of you? Well they probably don't unless you give them a reason to remember you.  When you are marketing your business, you need to do something that is memorable.  You want your customers or potential customers to remember you when they think of the product and not a competitor.  If you just advertise with a simple message that is kind of generic, people probably won't remember you.  Make sure you stand out from the crowd, many business have competitors and you…

  • I Won the Daily Contest at RedGage

    15 Jan 2012 | 9:41 am
    I talked about RedGage in a couple of posts back.  You can earn a little extra money uploading your pictures and sharing your useful links.  It is a fun site with a nice community and it is completely free to join. I have been there a week now and got an email earlier that stated: Congratulations you are the daily contest winner! Nice. They have a daily contest where the winner wins $25.  It is a nice little bonus from a site that is so easy to use, free to use and is fun to share pictures with! I love this site. Would you like to earn a little extra money uploading your…
 
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    Blog

  • Best Email Marketing Newsletter Design To Optimize Click Through Rate

    21 Jan 2012 | 8:02 pm
    Best Email Marketing Newsletter Design To Optimize Click Through Rate A few weeks ago I did a test with my Profitworks newsletter to test a theory I had. The theory was really more of an idea than a theory, as I thought changing the design of my newsletter might increase the open rate and click through rate. Part of me also thought it might also reduce the click through rate. I knew one would probably do drastically better but I did not a strong hunch as to which one. My thought was if I could learn how to drastically increase click through and open rates, my email marketing efforts would be…

  • Tips & Advice For How To Create A Slogan For Your Brand That Will Attract Customers

    14 Jan 2012 | 5:45 am
    Tips & Advice For How To Create A Slogan For Your Brand That Will Attract Customers For my clients I usually create slogans or tag lines to use in their marketing materials. I have a pretty good idea of how to make an effective slogan but had never really done any extensive research on what makes an effective slogan. This blog article summarizes what I have learned about slogans after doing some research.

  • How To Get More Customers - What Can Be Learned From Looking At The 10 Biggest Companies In The World

    7 Jan 2012 | 5:45 am
    How To Get More Customers - What Can Be Learned From Looking At The 10 Biggest Companies In The World An excellent way to become great at something is to look at someone who is already great and see how they did/do it. So this week I am going to look at the 10 biggest companies in the world and see what I can learn about how they were successful at getting new customers. I have to admit this was a super fun blog post to write and I found the company history and stories to go with each company very interesting.

  • Use Google Plus To Bring Traffic To Your Website By The Boat Load

    24 Dec 2011 | 5:29 am
    Use Google Plus To Bring Traffic To Your Website By The Boat Load Google plus is quickly growing. As of October 2011 it already had over 40 million users and is the fastest growing social media site ever. If you are not familiar with what Google plus is, think of it as a Facebook on steroids. It has an abundance of additional features and functionality compared to Facebook and is also integrated into other Google products like gmail, youtube and of course google search, to name just a few. So what does this have to do with generating new customers for your business? Well Google plus is…

  • Dale Carnegie Book - Principle #9

    20 Dec 2011 | 6:01 am
    Dale Carnegie Book - Principle #9 The Dale Carnegie book How To Win Friends & Influence People has taught me some great principles that have been very helpful in improving my efforts to get customers for my clients. The book gives some great advice that can be used to improve your sales execution efforts. This video blog is the ninth in a series that covers each of the 30 principles in Dale Carnegie's book. This video highlights principle #9 - "Make the other person feel important and do it sincerely".
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    The Business Beacon

  • What’s Your Story?

    pambauer
    11 Jan 2012 | 1:12 pm
    In most businesses when things aren’t going as planned the typical path is to apply more analysis, focus more on results and work harder to get those results.   The approach is usually to improve our processes or content and then sit back and expect things to get better.  We send our people to new and improved training programs or the latest and greatest seminar.  We update our manuals and bring in the experts to help us with implementation. It’s this kind of thinking that has led to business models that we are now finding hard to sustain.  We like to think of life as linear and…

  • What if You are a Jerk But Don’t Know It?

    pambauer
    20 Dec 2011 | 10:19 am
    (This is an article that was written by my friend Bob Whipple the CEO of Leadergrow, Inc in February.  I think it is brilliant so with his permission I am posting it here.  Enjoy!) by Robert Whipple: MBA, CPLP It seems impossible, but you could actually be a jerk. You may think you are a perfectly normal, fun-loving person that other people just love to be around, but you could be dead wrong and not even realize it. People might have low respect for you because of any number of bad habits or insensitive things you do or say. Let’s have a little fun with this analysis and see where it…

  • 4 Signs that you may be a micromanager

    pambauer
    28 Oct 2011 | 12:51 pm
    # 1– You have a hard time beginning projects.  You procrastinate endlessly.  This could be because you feel that you are the only one that can get it done the way it needs to be done.   And there just aren’t enough of you to go around; so better not begin this particular project right now. # 2 – You are a perfectionist.   A perfectionist tends to micromanage; because they really believe they are the only ones that can do “It” the way “it” needs to be done.  No two people see things exactly the same; so perfection is a matter of perception; and it can’t be delegated. …

  • 3 Reasons Employees Leave Small Businesses

    pambauer
    3 Oct 2011 | 2:37 pm
    35% more likely to leave small business vs 29% of employees working for big business Open Forum recently shared an info graph that was done by Monster Intelligence Insight of Monster.com in 2011.  It showed employees were much more likely to leave a small business than a big business.  While there isn’t any one list that addresses this problem; here are some of the reasons for job dissatisfaction within the small business employee community: Lack of Feedback – Small Business people tend to think their employees know how they are doing in the job simply because they haven’t been…

  • Procrastination Video – What it is…What it isn’t…. and how to overcome it!

    pambauer
    24 Sep 2011 | 6:40 am
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    Internet Marketing Strategies And Tips

  • The Rating Blog ñ A Top Ranking SEO, Internet Marketing and Online Business Blog

    admin
    26 Jan 2012 | 10:12 am
    If one wants to reach dizzy heights in Internet marketing in a genuine and time tested manner then The Rating Blog should invariably be such a personís place of online business pilgrimage. The Rating Blog is the favorite of the best search engines of the cyber world and, being a highly SEO acclaimed blog, it is frequently visited by some of the expert talents of online business from whom an online business dabbler can take valuable advice. This blog is attractive in its content and interaction with its visitors. It consists of the following sections: the Blog, The Online Business Handbook,…

  • The Profitable Relationship Between Internet And Network Marketing

    admin
    19 Jan 2012 | 10:13 am
    Since the advent of the Internet but more significantly the advent of business on the internet, network marketing has had an incredible face lift. Many years ago, it seems, people who became involved in Network Marketing were normally introduced through a friend or a relative or invited by a complete stranger to, what must have seemed like cult meetings. Fast-forward to today and the opportunity of growing a global network marketing business has never been more possible. Nowadays literally anyone with a computer and access to the internet is a potential prospect. It’s also possible to…

  • The not-so-beautiful aspect of Niche Blueprint

    admin
    12 Jan 2012 | 12:43 pm
    The not-so-beautiful aspect of Niche Blueprint review While this course can genuinely make you money if you’re willing to invest a lot of time and effort, much of the information can be got freely online, with a bit of searching. A lot of the information is not entirely unique and, at some point, it sounds much like most of the other internet marketing courses. Even the tools are not that unique. Admittedly, the ‘Discover Niches’ tool is fairly useful, but there are equally useful tools out there if you’re willing to do the hunt on some decent internet marketing forums. In comparison…

  • The Power Of Internet Video Marketing

    admin
    12 Jan 2012 | 10:13 am
    Youíve probably seen TV shopping info ads. Even if you didnít end up buying the product advertised on TV, you must admit that seeing a demonstration of the productís performance can be very persuasive and can induce many TV shoppers to part with their money. Demo videos are truly powerful, and the good news is, you can make use of this power in the internet. You can market your company or products using internet videos. Why Use Internet Videos for Internet Marketing Internet videos are fast becoming the trendy way of advertising your products to potential customers. All you need to do is…

  • The Purpose Behind Internet Marketing Business Reviews

    admin
    3 Jan 2012 | 10:13 am
    Starting your own Internet business can be a very daunting task but thankfully there are ways to make the process run a little smoother. Internet marketing business reviews are a great tool to find out which businesses are profitable and which ones to stay away from. With all of the scams and empty promises out there, it can be quite difficult to make an educated decision. A large number of online business fail within the first few months of operation. A good reason for this is that people aren’t choosing the right type of businesses and also may not have done all the proper research…
 
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    Executive Street

  • A Second and a Half

    Joe Evans
    28 Jan 2012 | 2:00 am
    These days, organizations need all the help they can muster to maintain a slim second and a half lead over the competition and navigate Read More

  • On Boarding Can Mean More To Company Than New Hire

    Steve Cohen
    27 Jan 2012 | 11:32 am
    “On Boarding” is the structured way a company brings newly hired employees into their “fold.” Many organizations have orientations meant to orient newly hired employees. Read More

  • Gimme a Hand! How Do I Get My Hands Around This IT Outsourcing Thing?

    Rick Blaisdell
    26 Jan 2012 | 5:47 pm
    There aren’t many business functions that have as many conflicting stories of successes and failures as the outsourcing of information technology. Interest is fueled by Read More

  • [Infographic] Hiring on the Minds of CEOs, Survey Says

    Vistage Staff
    26 Jan 2012 | 4:56 pm
    The employment picture in 2012 is looking pretty bright. Companies have kicked off the year by hiring more as the economy shows some strong signs Read More

  • How to Build An Innovation Leader

    Robert Brands
    26 Jan 2012 | 11:09 am
    Every organization needs an Innovation champion. This very important role requires exceptional people skills and communication skills, and the ability to be a master consensus Read More
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    Business Networking Blog

  • Social Media Week - NRG events

    Dave Clarke
    27 Jan 2012 | 6:03 am
    Social Media Week - NRG events in London   "Twitter is cool and essential" - is it? "Facebook is a must for business" - really? Social Media Week in London is nearly upon us (second week in February).  We are actively involved and are working with key players in our community to explain where the web is going, what you can do now and how we can connect to each other better. Monday 13 FebMaking Video Rock  -  workshop with Lee Smallwood, Nick Francis and Steve Trister.Why should you use video to boost your company’s profile?Do you get nervous when the little red light…

  • It really is OK to talk to the people you know

    Dave Clarke
    25 Jan 2012 | 5:12 pm
    I met someone at a recent event who asked for some tips to make his networking effective. He said he did a lot of networking, but was not really getting anywhere. I asked him which groups he belonged to. He explained that he was not a member of any groups. He said he made a point of attending events where he did not know people and would therefore make new contacts. When I asked why he did that he said he had been on a networking skills training course. During the course he was taught that he should aim to make new contacts whenever he had a networking opportunity.   Some people think…

  • How To Get Your Online Networking Working Video

    Dave Clarke
    17 Jan 2012 | 5:49 am
    The rapid growth of online social networks has led many to claim that the rules have changed. Research shows that the opposite is true.   In a talk at the Cardiff NRG Group on 11 January 2012 I shared what we can learn from the research and my own online & offline experiences. I went on to explain the 3 things you have to get right to be successful in a future where your networking is both online and offline. Watch the 20 minute video here: Good Networking! Dave Clarke     

  • The little things that make the difference

    Dave Clarke
    5 Jan 2012 | 7:11 am
    In a recent blog post the Internet Psychologist, Graham Jones, explained why many New Year resolutions have no chance of success. Goal setting only works for a minority of people and even they may set themselves up to fail. You can read Graham's full post here.   I have heard many people express a desire to get better results through networking. Many of their resolutions are about achieving this by doing something different rather than by doing it differently. There is a subtle difference which I will explain.   Their 'doing something different 'often involves attending more…

  • Happy New Year And A Tip For Your Resolutions

    Dave Clarke
    30 Dec 2011 | 9:48 am
      As you get ready for 2012 you may be thinking about some New Year resolutions. If you do share them with people you may want to heed the advice of Derek Sivers in this short TED Talk. Rather than sharing the goals you may be better off sharing the actions that you need to take to achieve your goals.   Enjoy the New Year celebrations and have a great 2012.   Happy New Year! Dave Clarke      
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    Wayne Liew Dot Com

  • Business Hazards 101 and How to Avoid Them

    Jay Reese
    17 Jan 2012 | 7:42 pm
    Businesses can come with a wide range of potential hazards. Business owners need to take precautions against hazards so that the potential injuries or problems are avoided and employees are working in a safe environment. By taking measures to avoid hazards, business owners are effectively making their workers safe and secure against future problems. Physical Injury Hazards Business owners should always take measures to avoid hazards that can potentially cause physical injuries. This might include something as simple as slip hazards from electrical wires in the office to injuries that might…

  • 10 Ways to Make Your Social Media Campaign Fail

    Wayne Liew
    8 Jun 2011 | 7:34 am
    You were probably pretty fired up when social media first came along. It was an exciting new approach, a lot of buzz was circulating about it, everybody was eager. But now one of the key questions a lot of folks are asking themselves right now is: “If social media is such a powerful tool, why did my first campaign fail?” We analyzed the most common mistakes people make when they run a social media campaign and created this checklist to see where you might be going wrong. You didn’t measure the results of your campaign. Interestingly, this is an all-too-common problem. You set the…

  • Mike Samson, Co-Founder of crowdSPRING on Community Building and NO!SPEC Campaign

    Wayne Liew
    1 Jun 2011 | 9:36 am
    If you missed the first part of my interview with Mike Samson, co-founder of crowdSPRING, where he talks about how crowdSPRING successfully raised $3 million in angel funding and shares some important tips that every entrepreneur will find useful down the road, click on the link below to get started. Mike Samson, Co-Founder of crowdSPRING on Raising Angel Funding [Part 1] In this second part of the interview, Mike shares with me the secret of building two communities on crowdSPRING and keeping both of them in balance. Towards the end of the interview, Mike also explained the stance of…

  • Mike Samson, Co-Founder of crowdSPRING on Raising Angel Funding [Part 1]

    Wayne Liew
    25 May 2011 | 10:13 am
    crowdSPRING should not be new among web designers but most of us don’t know the founding story behind the site, which is one of the largest crowdsourcing marketplaces on the Internet. In fact, as a small business owner or an entrepreneur, you must at least pay a visit to crowdSPRING. Here’s why: Every business needs a refreshing design or copy, whether it is your business logo, letterhead, website, product designs, newsletters, whitepapers or even a brand new banner for a marketing campaign. crowdSPRING, utilizing the power of its designer communities, allows you to adopt only the best…

  • 10 Tips to Run an International Business Cheaply

    Wayne Liew
    13 Oct 2010 | 10:26 am
    Setting up and running an international business is getting easier by the day. In fact, all entrepreneurs and small business owners should start running their business with a global perspective. With globalization and democratization of most international markets, sourcing products and services from another country as well as selling goods and providing services to a foreign consumer market never had such low barriers. However, depending on the nature of your business operations, your small business that frequently interacts with foreign suppliers, service providers, customers or business…
 
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    Word Chef | Tea Silvestre - Marketing Consultant, Writer

  • Harleena Singh, Freelance Writer

    Tea (the Chef)
    27 Jan 2012 | 6:34 am
    Harleena Singh, Freelance Writer Meet Harleena (or Leena, as she sometimes calls herself) of FreelanceWriter.co. Yep, you guessed it — she’s a professional freelance writer. And a pretty prolific one at that. Leena is here today because she just won’t stop sharing Word Chef stuff. And because she’s consistently generous with her Follow Friday love on Twitter. Q: How long have you been in business? A: Officially, I started my freelance writing business about 2 years back, but I have been freelance writing and blogging as an amateur for many years. About a year back, I…

  • Build Your Brand and Your Business Without Cash (A True Story!)

    Tea (the Chef)
    25 Jan 2012 | 4:31 am
    When I first started my consulting practice I used a combination of just three funding sources: savings, credit cards and a little thing called barter. Bartering can be great fun — especially when you find someone who has what you need and who needs what you have, right? Most of us in business are familiar with how bartering works. But did you know you can also use it to strategically build your brand and your business? Here’s how I did it (and a few lessons I learned along the way). Fill Your Client Base with Ideal Customers If you know who your ideal customers are (and you…

  • Feed Me a Story

    Tea (the Chef)
    23 Jan 2012 | 3:52 pm
    Stories are food. Feed everyone and be willing to let them feed you. Remember humans love stories — it’s hardwired into how we learn and grow. Why did you start your business? That’s a story. Who are your best customers (and what makes them the best)? That’s another story. How does your product work? That’s an entirely different story. But in order for us to hear them as stories, you need to show us with a narrative. You’ve got to utilize characters – heroes and villains (hopefully, you’re the hero, not the villain!). But most of all, you must touch our emotions. Your…

  • Cathy Miller of Simply Stated Business

    Tea (the Chef)
    21 Jan 2012 | 1:36 pm
    Cathy Miller of Simply Stated Business Cathy found me via a list that one of my Word Carnival colleagues had put together (thanks Sharon Hurley Hall!) and we connected on Twitter. She’s a business writer who specializes in white papers, case studies, and the health care industry. Over the last few months, Cathy’s been giving me way more than my fair share of Follow Friday love (#FF for you Twitter newbies). What can I say? Word Chef readers are some of the most generous folks on the planet! That’s why we created the Wordie Hall of Fame! Let’s get to know Cathy better,…

  • Brand Turnaround: An Interview with Karen Post, the Branding Diva

    Tea (the Chef)
    13 Jan 2012 | 7:32 pm
    Karen Post, the Branding Diva and author of "Brand Turnaround" Karen Post, aka the Branding Diva, has a great new book called “Brand Turnaround: How Brands Gone Bad Returned to Glory…and the 7 Game Changers that Made the Difference.“ I spoke with her earlier this week on the Word Cafe podcast. Here are the highlights. Note: Karen’s also graciously agreed to help judge the Tastiest Small Biz Brand Awards later this month. You can listen to the full interview on BlogTalkRadio.    TS: You’re always such a big advocate of doing things right. How did…
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    awovi - coaching | consulting | accounting for SMEs

  • On Mary Portas, Queen of shops review plus 3 more tips for retailers

    Griselda K Togobo
    27 Jan 2012 | 8:09 am
    The high street has changed. I used to go out simply to shop but not anymore. Visiting the high stree is now a social activity done when I get bored of being indoors and online. I imagine that I’m not the only one doing this. So why are retailers still ONLY selling when most people [...]

  • Reciprocity – The Cardinal Rule in Business Growth

    Griselda K Togobo
    20 Jan 2012 | 9:52 am
    I could just as accurately have titled this post the cardinal rule in life because I believe the principle applies to all areas of our lives. My cardinal rule to growing your business is based on reciprocity – “Give and it shall be given unto you”. The psychology behind this concept is very powerful. Whenever [...]

  • 3 tips to make every penny work for you

    Griselda K Togobo
    14 Jan 2012 | 3:55 am
    It’s never a great idea to waste money but the current market makes it even more important that your able to account for every penny spent. Coming from an analytical background, I’m always interested in the numbers behind the business. I always want to measure the effectiveness of any activity I engage so that I [...]

  • Don’t let the media mess with your mind

    Griselda K Togobo
    5 Jan 2012 | 5:31 pm
    The media is doing a brilliant job of messing with people’s minds this January. They are predicting Armageddon for businesses this year. They say it will be all doom and gloom for businesses in 2012. Austerity measures, increasing unemployment, euro crisis, etc etc. Wait a minute, the media said mostly the same things about 2011 [...]

  • One bad habit that is leaking your business money

    Griselda K Togobo
    14 Dec 2011 | 5:43 am
    One bad habit that is leaking your business money. Lets start with a little story. My family visited the most amazing Italian restaurant recently. We had such a wonderful experience that we kept talking about the restaurant for weeks. We even vowed to go back there before the end of the year. We were that [...]
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    DollarVersity

  • Tim Thomas, What Were You Thinking?

    Eric J. Nisall
    24 Jan 2012 | 7:37 am
    Sports like hockey, football, baseball, basketball, soccer (fútbol for those outside the US) and others are about team, and trying to succeed as such.  It’s the perfect combination of individual talent coming together to fill specific roles which leads to success and eventually championships.  Among the four major team sporting leagues, the winning of a championship is punctuated by the parade down the streets of the winning city to celebrate with the fans, followed by the traditional visit to the White House to be recognized by the sitting President himself (or herself as the case…

  • User Beware: Coupons May Cost You More Than They Save

    Eric J. Nisall
    23 Jan 2012 | 7:13 am
    You’ve seen them.  They come in a variety of forms and sizes: from the big cardboard mailers Bed Bath & Beyond sends out to the credit card like design used by Office Depot to the standard old thin-stock magazines that come in the weekend paper.  I’m talking about coupons, which are seen as a way to save money on anything from grocery items to restaurant meals, office supplies, clothing and personal services.  Some people have even made a side hustle of collecting and selling coupons on the web, while a few have even developed methods of using coupons to get stores to…

  • Organize Your Office And Improve Business In Many Ways

    Eric J. Nisall
    20 Jan 2012 | 7:20 am
    Not many people give being organized a second though.  It simply doesn’t fit into their already hectic routines.  Usually, papers are tossed anywhere, equipment placed wherever an empty space can be found, huge messes accumulating to be dealt with at a later time.  The problem, however, is that when this “later time” arrives, it seems like an insurmountable task to get everything orderly.  What’s worse is that bills tend to be late and invoices left unsent, clients can’t be seen due to lack of space (or sheer embarrassment).     Unfortunately, such…

  • Are Credit Scores Still Relevant?

    Eric J. Nisall
    18 Jan 2012 | 5:37 am
    There is no doubt that recent history has turned many people off to debt and credit.  For some that involves holding off on a property or car purchase until you have the entire amount to pay in cash and to others it could mean closing & cutting up your credit cards forever and swearing by a complete cash-only lifestyle.  Some simply choose to drop off the grid for fear of “big brother”.  Whatever the rhyme or reason, this leaves a very big question that begs answering: is good credit still important?   The answer to that question isn’t very simple.  …

  • Suze Orman Teaches You How NOT To Handle Criticism

    Eric J. Nisall
    12 Jan 2012 | 4:57 am
    In case you don’t follow business or personal finance news, financial “guru” Suze Orman recently announced the launch of her new prepaid debit card.  This article has nothing to do with the card itself.  If you want to know more information on it, you can head over to the DollarVersity Facebook page where I’ve been collecting the reviews from my fellow personal finance bloggers.  No, instead, this is about how Ms. Orman reacted to criticism directed her way regarding this new product, and how she may have done some serious damage to her brand in doing so.    If…
 
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    Choosing the Truth

  • Lessons from 2011 – Lesson 1: Letting Go

    Jerry
    6 Jan 2012 | 2:20 pm
      For those of you who don’t know, I’ve been doing a new podcast with my good friend, Jackie Dotson (AKA Captain Awesome).  Jackie is an all-around badass business therapist, and doing the podcast with her has been a lot of fun.  Click here to check it out…it’s called “The Powder Keg of Awesome”. I’d love to hear your feedback on the show and to have you call in to share some ideas, if you’re so inclined…the call-in number is listed on the show’s page. Anyhow, the reason I bring it up is that this past Wednesday, the show was…

  • The Value and Necessity of Thinking for Yourself

    Jerry
    19 Dec 2011 | 8:00 am
    “If I told you what it takes to reach the highest highs, you’d laugh and say, ‘Nothing’s that simple.’ But you’ve been told many times before, Messiah’s pointing to the door, and no one had the guts to leave the temple.” – from “I’m Free” by The Who I’ve used those lyrics from The Who before; I guess you could say they hold a kind of special place in my heart.  I think what makes them so special to me is the sentiment they express: that most of us, given the chance, wouldn’t have the guts to leave the temple, no matter how compelling the evidence.  Why?

  • Andy Rooney, the Truth, and You

    Jerry
    7 Nov 2011 | 12:35 pm
    “That’s what a writer does. A writer’s job is to tell the truth.” – Andy Rooney I was reading an article about Andy Rooney’s death earlier this week, and I came across that quote.  Rooney, best known for his curmudgeonly opinion pieces at the end of episodes of “60 Minutes“, is one of my heroes.  Granted, I haven’t worked my way through all 1,097 of his show-enders, but what I’ve seen consistently is a man who wasn’t afraid to speak his mind.  He didn’t hold back. Sometimes he offended people, sometimes he caused an…

  • What Does It Mean to Choose the Truth?

    Jerry
    2 Nov 2011 | 2:26 am
    There seem to be a lot of opinions about what qualifies as the truth these days. Politicians of every stripe, religious leaders and zealots, philosophers and scientists all clamor for attention as they hold up their ancient teachings or current opinions or latest discoveries as “the truth”, the one and only way to believe. It can be pretty confusing to digest, and even harder to actually do anything with it all. Fortunately, that’s not the kind of truth I’m talking about when I speak of choosing the truth. It’s not universal truth I’m interested in;…

  • So Long, “Motivation 101″…Hello “Choosing the Truth”!

    Jerry
    31 Oct 2011 | 2:35 am
    Boy…where to start? So much has happened in the last 90 days, I really don’t know what to talk about first. So I’ll start by explaining the title of this post. Over the next few days, you’re going to see some changes to this blog, starting with the name. When I started blogging back in 2006 (holy shit, has it really been that long?), my intention was to talk about business, specifically about customer service and sales. The name of the blog came from an idea I had for an audio program (which I eventually created and you can download for free here), and it was…
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    Entrepreneur Blog

  • I need money for my small business

    VolkerSchaefer
    6 Jan 2012 | 12:57 pm
    It´s the first and most important thing we need for our small business: money!   As an entrepreneur you can get some from your family and friends but after it you need some good sources for fresh money.   This week I found an excellent article about this topic on Entrepreneur.com   The list is not complete, there are some missing but it gives you a good list of ideas if you are a new entrepreneur or need money the first time.   So here is the article: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/222540?cm_mmc=Newsletters-_-BOTW-_-010612-_-TopSourcesofSmallBusinessFinancingin2012

  • Why MOST Entrepreneurs FAIL. 6 minutes to learn how to AVOID these traps. Not taught in Business School.

    VolkerSchaefer
    17 Oct 2011 | 11:19 am
    Bob Parsons made a new episode on his video blog and again it is really great.   I found some traps that I got caught with my first company.   But watch it and learn for free:   Incoming search terms:powered by wordpress intitle:blog small business failure - org - edu - gov - info - ca

  • Four Alternatives to PowerPoint for Your Next Presentation

    VolkerSchaefer
    1 Oct 2011 | 2:11 pm
    Another excellent article on Entrepreneur.com!   I am personally using Google Docs presentations more and more but I never heard the other tools before:   SlideRocket   Prezi   Slideboom   Read this article: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/220317   To your massive success   Volker Schaefer

  • Five Overlooked Legal Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make – Entrepreneur.com

    VolkerSchaefer
    8 Sep 2011 | 8:54 am
    Today I got this awesome article from entrepreneur.com about the five overlooked legal mistakes entrepreneurs make.   The mistake No.1 is also my mistake No.1 – I am proud of my handshake quality but I had already a lot of extra work because there was no written contract about what exactly is part of the deal.   And I wouldn´t have some cancellations if I had a written contract.   But also the troubles with partnerships already happened to me.   Read this article http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/220224 and tell me what´s you experience about it.   To your…

  • Why successful people NEVER use these email accounts. PLUS 9 other BIG do’s & don’t's.

    VolkerSchaefer
    22 Aug 2011 | 3:51 pm
    Watch this awesome new episode of Bob Parsons Video Blog   And here is the link if the embed video is not working on your browser:   http://www.bobparsons.me/video/226/why-successful-people-never-use-email-accounts-plus-other-big-do-not.html     Which email account do you use for your business?   To your massive success   Volker Schaefer Incoming search terms:bob parsons email addressbob parson dont use email adressesbob parsons dont use emailsemail bob parsons
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    Loftis Consulting Business Blog

  • What Newt Gingrich Can Teach Your Business About Turning Around Negative Reviews

    Loftis Consulting
    23 Jan 2012 | 8:00 am
    Newt Gingrich, a Republican running for his party’s nomination to run for the President of the United States was thought to be down and out  just a few months ago. This was due primarily to two reasons: Poor public image Low funds Today, Newt has been able to turn around those two roadblocks and be successful in the South Carolina republican nomination race in a very short period of time. As a business owner, there are some things to be learned from this political story. You can use the same tools as Mr. Gingrich to turn around the less than positive reviews about your business and…

  • Chance to Win Free 2012 NFL Player’s Party Tickets

    Loftis Consulting
    2 Jan 2012 | 1:44 pm
    My client, Target Entertainment Properties (TEP), launched on Tuesday, December 27 the first NFL Players Association (NFLPA) branded toolbar. For a limited time only, TEP in partnership with the NFLPA is offering the opportunity for one fan and a guest to win tickets to attend the NFL Players Party in Indianapolis (which also includes airfare for two, hotel accommodations, ground transportation and two tickets to the NFL Players’ Smocks and Jocks Event). To enter, for a chance to win, fans simply need to download any NFLPA Community Toolbar or PLA Lifestyle Mobile App. For official…

  • What Does a CFO Actually Do?

    Loftis Consulting
    26 Dec 2011 | 8:00 am
    For many small to mid-size privately held businesses, there may be some confusion on what a CFO, Chief Financial Officer, actually does and how a CFO could help grow their business.  This article will help define what a CFO can and should be doing for your business to make it more profitable in the short-term and long-term. What Is a CFO? The CFO is responsible for establishing and maintaining a strong financial foundation and strategic direction for the business in all economic climates.  Also, the CFO oversees the accounting function but does not actually do the accounting work.  Listed…

  • How to Effectively Manage Cash Through Your Banking & Client Relationships

    Loftis Consulting
    19 Dec 2011 | 8:00 am
    Many business owners do not do the proper due diligence prior to opening a banking account for their business. A lot of times the owner just opens up an account where their personal account is set-up but does not investigate what their business needs actually are.  Understanding your banking and client relationships will help you effectively manage your small business cash flow. There are two main things you should be looking for in a bank: The banking services that you need are available, are offered at a reasonable price and with excellent customer service. Short-term credit is available…

  • Transforming Your Small Business into a Data-Driven Organization

    Loftis Consulting
    12 Dec 2011 | 8:00 am
    Guest blogger, David Johnson, writes about the importance of key performance indicators for maintaining and growing your business. The unrelenting pace of 21st century commerce has resulted in a flood of data that threatens to overwhelm small businesses.  Every company generates a vast quantity of data on sales, marketing, production, ordering, and every aspect of operations.  Most companies are doing nothing with this data, and the failure to make use of it is expanding what is for many small businesses their biggest competitive disadvantage.   Today it is essential for companies to…
 
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    NewBizBlogger

  • Q&A Friday Ep.9: [Podcast] What Can You Do When Your Business Is In A Rut?

    Michele
    20 Jan 2012 | 8:00 am
    This weeks question is a very interesting topic because as entrepreneurs and business owners we often get to a point where we get stuck in a rut in our business. It could be we are not satisfied with it’s progress, we’ve reached a plateau, or even worse, moving backwards. In this podcast, I briefly share my thoughts on what you can do to help get your business out of a rut. Is it a proven strategy? Of course not. But I know in my own business, often times my biggest success came when I went against the grain … when I changed the paradigm. Here are some of the topics…

  • Twitter Tools: Make A Social Media Impact Efficiently

    Jeff K Gross
    18 Jan 2012 | 8:00 am
    Twitter is a very under-utilized tool for making a real social media impact. Too many people view it as a very limited way to connect with people. Rather than thinking limited, why don’t we swap out that word for efficient. Ponder how much information is passed back and forth across the web on a minute-by-minute basis. How much of that information is either fluff or complete garbage? What is Social Media Impact? Social media platforms like Twitter are an excellent place to really grab a large segment of people. Various directories provide users by interest that will allow you to compile a…

  • Q&A Friday Ep.8: How To Change Your Reality In The Moment

    Michele
    13 Jan 2012 | 8:10 am
    Being able to change your reality in the moment as a entrepreneur is so very important – and I’ll tell you why. How we operate our business is determined by our perceptions of what is going on in the moment. This becomes our reality. Our perceptions of our reality can work for us or against us… of course we want to shoot for the former scenario. This video covers what you can do in an instant to change your reality in the moment. Hopefully this is something you will practice and over a course of time will master your perceptions AND your reality. Here are some of the tips…

  • How to Make the Perfect Website

    Carolyn
    5 Jan 2012 | 8:00 am
    In just about every modern industry, a business owner must have a website, a landing page for prospective clients, investors, or consumers to learn more and cash in. Knowing the importance of a webpage, you should ask yourself: “Am I proud of my website?” Sadly, many entrepreneurs have provided the public with websites that are faulty, unreadable, esthetically displeasing, or incompatible with mobile devices. If you’re cringing with guilt, you may want to read up on these tips to make a perfect website. Who knows? A new website design could bring business rolling in: Rethink your…

  • Taking A Short Hiatus from NewBizBlogger.com

    Michele
    8 Dec 2011 | 8:00 am
    I just wanted to send out a quick notice that I will be taking a short hiatus from writing for this site for a few weeks. I expect to start up again with my Q&A Friday sessions in January 2012. In case you are wondering why, I have three words for you: reflect refocus recommit I have had a great run with NewBizBlogger.com and I intend to continue it. However, after much reflection on what has worked and not worked in my business this past year, the time has come to make some changes. I will refocusing my efforts on some other projects that I’ve really been eager to get going; one being…
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    Capterra Blog - A blog about business software

  • Topping the Charts: The 20 Most Popular EMR Solutions

    Katie
    25 Jan 2012 | 1:43 pm
    Last month, Capterra released our very first infographic, The Top 20 Most Popular Marketing Automation Solutions, to answer one of the most common questions software buyers ask us: “What are the most popular options?” The goal of the infographic was to highlight the big players (not necessarily the best fit for any particular business) while also directing marketers to our comprehensive Marketing Automation directory where they could see just how many diverse options are really available (187 to date). So this month, we wanted to explore a different software industry for our second…

  • It’s A New Year for Marketing!

    Besa
    5 Jan 2012 | 10:50 am
    New Year’s Eve: always one of my favorite nights of the year.  As I sipped champagne and counted down the final minutes of 2011, a few things came to mind: Wow, this dress is tight.  Do I need to do the whole “lose those last 5lbs” resolution for the 5th year in a row? I should really drink champagne more often. Dude, I’m going back to work the day after tomorrow. Which led me to… how can I make 2012 an insanely awesome year for Capterra marketing? Fast forward to the next day as I stared across the room at my gym shoes and decided I’d rather sit on the couch with my laptop than…

  • 6 Proven Steps to B2B Social Media Lead Generation

    Katie
    4 Jan 2012 | 2:39 pm
    Over the past few years, marketers have been practically hit over the head with the topic of social media. Get a Facebook page! Start Tweeting! Engage with customers! These commands are in every marketing blog, magazine, or newsletter that you read nowadays. Yet many B2B businesses (especially smaller, lesser-known brands) are still skeptical about whether they can generate any business through social media. One of the most common rebuttals I hear from B2B marketers is, “My prospects may be on social media, but they’re there to connect with their friends; they’re not using Facebook at…

  • How Our Leads are NOT Like Birthday Party Games

    csprick
    12 Dec 2011 | 2:33 pm
    Do your lead generation strategies feel like a nightmarish game of pin the tail on the donkey? Or perhaps you’re having flashbacks to being blindfolded, spun around until you’re dizzy, and swinging wildly at nothing with the hope of breaking open a piñata? While we once were entertained at the idea of fruitless efforts, those games just don’t seem so amusing anymore. Likewise, nobody enjoys making hundreds of sales pitches to uninterested buyers. Purchased email lists are like a very un-fun game of pin the tail on the donkey–you’re groping around in the dark…

  • Most Popular Marketing Automation Software Solutions

    Mike
    8 Dec 2011 | 11:54 am
    We talk to many software buyers who begin the process by wanting to know the top ranked or most popular software products.  For Capterra’s entire 12 year history, we have always advised against this.  “Ignore the rankings” we tell them.  “It depends on the specific needs of your company.” But today, we launched our first infographic: The Top 20 Most Popular Marketing Automation Software Solutions. So why a change in heart?  Why a popularity index now?  Two reasons: There are more data points than ever before. Private software companies are more often disclosing stuff like their…
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    Simply Business Coaching

  • Take One Action Each Day – How Hard Can It Be?

    LouiseBJ
    25 Jan 2012 | 2:46 am
    I thought that setting the target of just one action to achieve each day for my business would make life super simple and be easy to achieve. OK so I was wrong! The concept seemed easy enough when I first read about it several years ago in Mark Forster’s wonderfully titled and insightful book: Get Everything Done and Still Have Time to Play (aff link), but on the occasions when I try it (usually to kick-start productivity or when I feel myself procrastinating and generally faffing around too much), I find it surprisingly difficult to do. The idea is that this is an exercise to help build…

  • 5 Ways to Get More Done when you Work from Home

    LouiseBJ
    18 Jan 2012 | 2:39 am
    Two of the things I love most about working from home are that I don’t have to join in the rush hour traffic any more, and my wardrobe is no longer filled with boring office suits! However, there can also be challenges if you work from home, or spend a lot of the day on your own. You may have come across the following: Stay Focused on Work-Related Tasks If you run a business that provides your main income then you will need some self-discipline, sometimes quite a lot! The freedom to do what you want, when you want is wonderful – but it can be easy to get carried away! You may find…

  • Have you ever wished you were in the CupCake business?

    LouiseBJ
    11 Jan 2012 | 2:45 am
    I know I have, except with my sweet tooth I’d probably end up eating far too many of my own product, strictly in the name of quality control you understand! And then there’s the fact that I’m really not very good at baking … hmm, perhaps I’d better stick to business coaching after all. The problem when you’re the owner of a business that provides services, whether that’s coaching, training, or some other consultancy, is that trying to explain the results clients can expect to see from working with you can feel a bit like describing a colour, using only words. At least that has…

  • Keeping 2012 Simple

    LouiseBJ
    4 Jan 2012 | 2:43 am
    Like many people I did some reflecting over the festive holiday break, as well as lots of planning for the new year ahead. Isn’t it lovely and exciting to be opening a brand new chapter, to see all those clean and waiting pages in the diary? I’m not a believer in making resolutions as experience has shown me that the optimism fizzing away happily on new year’s eve can quickly go flat when the realities of day to day pressures arrive, rather like the champagne bubbles. One of the reasons I’ve found for this is we tend to make too many resolutions, far more than can realistically be…

  • Are you working smart in your business?

    LouiseBJ
    21 Dec 2011 | 2:53 am
    Many coaches, trainers and other consultants who rely heavily on being paid for their time, are finding work harder and harder to come by. If you can relate to this, then you may have also seen your income levels dropping alarmingly and are probably experiencing a few sleepless nights wondering when the economic tide will turn. As we get to that time of year when the festive holiday break actually gives you time to step back from your business, you may want to think about supplementing your consultation fees with extra income streams by building a better business model for yourself. And when…
 
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    RizzoTees Blog

  • Why Twitter Is Awesome

    Chris Reimer
    27 Jan 2012 | 10:41 am
    It’s your 21st century education. Fact: You guys collectively make me smarter. You’re my crazy think tank / insights generator. So… thank you. — Olivier Blanchard (@thebrandbuilder) January 27, 2012

  • Four Great January 2012 Blog Posts to Read

    Chris Reimer
    26 Jan 2012 | 5:21 pm
    Playing the role of Internet DJ, here are four great blog posts worth reading. 1.) Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg says that social media is a bright spot in the challenged world economy. “This is about growth, jobs and empowering people.” App makers, advertisers, small businesses and civic groups are all using Facebook to promote their work and connect with people. And Facebook is the number two driver of web traffic (guess who’s #1). 2.) Author and friend John Morgan offers 10 reasons we won’t support your business. So much of it seems like common sense, but alas, it is…

  • Google Plus Has a Problem

    Chris Reimer
    20 Jan 2012 | 5:23 pm
    I like Google+. I think they’ve built a nice service, certainly eons ahead of Buzz. But Google+ has a problem. It’s called “173 > 3.” Not enough people are using it. I think competition is healthy (keep Facebook honest), so I sincerely hope G+ gains a stronger usership. Note that I did not say more “users,” which is a metric social platforms often cite. It is irrelevant how many people have signed up for the service. All of those people with Google+ accounts are currently over on Twitter and Facebook. Larry Page recently said Google+ has 90 million…

  • RFT 2012 Point+Clique Web Awards Finalists

    Chris Reimer
    19 Jan 2012 | 6:08 pm
    The Riverfront Times has released their 2012 Point+Clique Web Awards finalists. I am humbled to have been nominated in the category of “Best Use of Twitter to Promote a Personal Brand.” I am also chuffed that our Save Pratzel’s campaign was nominated for “Best Use of Social Media for a Civic Campaign.” Falk Harrison won a BMA-TAM award for this work, and we’d be thrilled to be honored again. Congratulations to all the finalists. We are up against some stiff competition. I am hoping and praying that the winners receive supercool circuit board sculptures like…

  • Two Anniversaries of Note

    Chris Reimer
    19 Jan 2012 | 2:53 pm
    Several things of note: 1. Sorry for all the background noise. It was loud in City Coffee, and since I was a little self-conscious about doing a video, I didn’t speak loud enough. 2. Sorry for the up close shot. I suppose my forehead IS that big. I am celebrating two anniversaries today – one traditional, and one less so. I started at Falk Harrison one year ago today. Thank you for keeping me on board for an entire year! I am so happy to be here and hope to get even more done in year two. And thank you to David Siteman Garland, otherwise known as The Rise To The Top. Two years ago…
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    SBALoans-123.com

  • Checklist for Expanding into International Markets

    Guest Author
    24 Jan 2012 | 3:23 pm
    The Internet has made it easier than ever for even small businesses to expand into international markets; however that doesn’t mean that it’s easy to trade on a global stage.  If you want to succeed internationally, you’ll need to do your homework first, and understand the many challenges that international businesses face.  Here’s a short checklist to help you avoid the most common international trading pitfalls: Check time zones:  When you’re networking at international events, the idea of working with a company based on the other side of the ocean seems…

  • Why You Should Protect Your Assets By Forming an LLC

    cherrell
    20 Jan 2012 | 10:13 am
    Limited liability companies (LLCs) came into the focus of American business people in the late 1970s. Prior to that, most business entities were limited to the sole proprietor, partnership or corporate structures. European companies were the first to enjoy a business structure that limited the liability of the partners who held ownership interest in a company, and later Latin American business enterprises adopted and expanded the concept to include individuals who were interested in protecting their assets from creditors, court litigants and overburdening taxation. The use of an LLC as an…

  • Switching insurance brokers

    Guest Author
    19 Jan 2012 | 11:58 am
    If you have been with a particular insurer for some time, you may benefit from switching to a different insurance broker and company. However, there are pros and cons to switching, and lower premiums aren’t the only factor to consider. If you secured a good deal on your insurance policy some years ago, it may be the case that you haven’t questioned it since. The payments go out of your account automatically every month, meaning that you don’t have to worry about it again. Although the knowledge that you are covered brings peace of mind, staying with the same insurance broker and even…

  • 5 Financial Steps To Starting A Business

    cherrell
    18 Jan 2012 | 10:29 am
    Of all the considerations that must be taken prior to starting a small business -like the business plan, marketing and advertising, personnel, etc.- the financial aspects are the most important. This doesn’t mean that finances should be considered first; in fact, the very first step an entrepreneur should take is to carefully think about the business idea at hand and make an assessment of the strengths that will carry her or him into the often merciless world of commerce. Once that has been accomplished, financial considerations may follow. Since every business is different, the…

  • How to Make Money Blogging

    Guest Author
    18 Jan 2012 | 10:05 am
    Blogging is an excellent way to make money–you can work from home, set your own schedule, and because start-up and maintenance costs are minimal, you can begin to turn a profit almost immediately. If you want a blog that will bring in the green, read on. Here are some easy ways you can make money blogging. Promote Your Business Whether you have a new business or an established one, chances are you’re always on the lookout for new customers. Why not blog to promote your business? Blogging allows you to explain to potential customers just what it is that you have to offer them. You…
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    Blue Kite Marketing» blog

  • How Social Media Can Help You Generate More Business

    Laura
    23 Jan 2012 | 5:30 am
    This is a common scenario… Someone hears that social media can help drive traffic to their website or help them generate more business. So, they rush out and set up accounts on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Then, panic sets in – what on earth are they supposed to do once you get there? How will this help their business? Good question. One that many fail to answer before they dive in. Daera Cshikoe asked me this question on Twitter earlier this week as he’s teaching a class about internet marketing: “I’ve been hired/promoted recently, am thinking to utilise social…

  • How to Set Yourself Up for Success in 2012

    Laura
    9 Jan 2012 | 6:00 am
    When I came back from taking a few days off from the holidays, I hate a hard time getting my butt in gear. While I was excited about planning for the New Year and sinking my teeth into some great client projects, I just had trouble diving right in. Why? I wasn’t starting with a clean slate. I had too many things distracting me and getting in the way. For me to start off on the right foot and prepare myself for 2012, I found that there were a few things I needed to do to get in the right mindset for the year. Here are some things I did (and I encourage you to do) if you want to get the year…

  • Reading Roundup: Habits, Readiness and Failure

    Laura
    6 Jan 2012 | 5:30 am
    There’s been a lot of optimism on the web this week. After all, since we’re just days into the New Year there has been a lot of talk about resolutions, goals and fresh starts. Feels nice, doesn’t it? There’s so much good stuff out there, it’s enough to make your head spin, so I’ve picked out five of my favorites from the week that you just can’t miss! Without further adieu, here’s this week’s Reading Roundup: 20-Life Changing Habits That Will Make Your 2012 the Best Year Ever – How’s that for a headline?! And the content is just as good. Instead of talking about all…

  • How to Build a Content Plan For Your Blog

    Laura
    4 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am
    If you have a blog, chances are good that you’ve been knocked off your blogging schedule a time or two. After all, it’s just too easy to let your business, family and other commitments get in the way. But, you want 2012 to be different, right? If so, then it’s time to get your content plan in place for your blog now. For former journalists like me, we call this an editorial calendar. But, this doesn’t have to be a scary and complex document that schedules every post for the entire year. Instead, let’s look at this as a basic framework to help you stay on track and have a well of…

  • Three Guiding Principles for 2012

    Laura
    2 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am
    Right after I graduated from college, I remember posting a list 10 principles on the bathroom mirror in my apartment. They were guideposts for how I wanted to live my life. I think this mentality is really helpful for your business too – especially when you tie it in to your goals and plans. Last year, I developed a list of three guiding principles to help me reach my business goals. This is similar to Chris Brogan’s three words idea. I wanted to share my guiding principles again with you this year. Not only will this help keep me accountable, but I want to encourage you to do the…
 
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    Barry Moltz

  • Episode #164 Tim Berry, Jennifer Warawa, and Adrian Dayton – Jan 27,2012

    Business Insanity Talk Radio | Blog Talk Radio Feed
    27 Jan 2012 | 9:00 am
    Tim Berry, business planning expert and founder of Palo Alto Software. Jennifer Warawa of Sage discusses the important role accountant play in a small business and the top reasons small businesses should use accountants. Adrian Dayton exposes how some lawyers are actually using social media effectively. This episode is sponsored by Microsoft Small Business and Sages Accountant Network.Tim Berry | Jennifer Warawa | Adrian Dayton | Small Business | Business Plans

  • Episode #163 Gene Marks, Jon Yates and Dave Peck – Jan 20,2012

    Business Insanity Talk Radio | Blog Talk Radio Feed
    20 Jan 2012 | 9:00 am
    Scheduled Guests: Gene Marks, small business expert, Jon Yates, consumer advocate from The Chicago Tribune and author of "Whats Your Problem", and Dave Peck, Social Media expert who discusses what every small business needs to do "Before They Engage!". This episode is sponsored by Sages Accountant Network and Microsoft Small Business.Dave Peck | Small Business | Jon Yates | Gene Marks | social media

  • Episode #162 Lee Rhodes and Dan McLaughlin – Jan 10,2012

    Business Insanity Talk Radio | Blog Talk Radio Feed
    10 Jan 2012 | 10:00 am
    Lee Rhodes, Entrepreneur of the Year talks about, well how she did it (and got an investment from Amazons Jeff Bezos). Dan McLaughlin discusses how he is trying to become a golf expert following Malcolm Gladwells advice. This episode is sponsored by Sages Accountant Network and Microsoft Small Business.Lee Rhodes | Glassybaby | Steve Bezos | Dan McLaughlin | Small Business

  • Episode #162 Lee Rhodes and Dan McLaughlin – Jan 10,2012

    Business Insanity Talk Radio | Blog Talk Radio Feed
    10 Jan 2012 | 10:00 am
    Lee Rhodes, Entrepreneur of the Year talks about, well how she did it (and got an investment from Amazons Jeff Bezos). Dan McLaughlin discusses how he is trying to become a golf expert following Malcolm Gladwells advice. This episode is sponsored by Sages Accountant Network and Microsoft Small Business.Lee Rhodes | Glassybaby | Steve Bezos | Dan McLaughlin | Small Business

  • Episode #161 Rieva Lesonsky and Matt Dixon – Jan 06,2012

    Business Insanity Talk Radio | Blog Talk Radio Feed
    6 Jan 2012 | 9:00 am
    Rieva Lesonsky of GrowBizMedia predicts what the year will be like for small business owners. Matthew Dixon, managing director of the Corporate Executive Boards Sales and Service Practice talks abou his HBR article Stop Trying to Delight Your Customers. This episide is sponsored by Microsoft Small Business and Sages Accountant Network.Zaarly | Rieva Lesonsky | Matt Dixon | small business | Marketing
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    NGAP

  • Best Tips For Credit Repair After Bankruptcy

    vanko
    27 Jan 2012 | 6:16 pm
    Engaging in credit repair after bankruptcy is one of the ways you go about getting your financial well being back on track. However, there are few things you need to do in order to pursue your goal of financial health. Here are a few tips that will help you go about getting back on [...]

  • Springfield Illinois Housing Market 2007

    vanko
    27 Jan 2012 | 6:14 am
    The consistency in the number of home sales within the local housing market should be the envy of the state and nation. Considering that 2003, 2004, and 2005 were seller’s markets, and 2006, 2007 were buyer’s markets; look at the consistent number of home sales as reported by member brokers to The Capital Area Association [...]

  • Energy Deregulation Opens Doors for New Entrepreneurs

    vanko
    26 Jan 2012 | 6:09 pm
    As marketers across the country continually search for new opportunities, one stands out among the rest. The recent deregulation of energy in Texas, New York and Illinois has sparked opportunities for individuals to jump on the bandwagon of energy distribution. This type of home business has extremely high potential and can make financial independence a [...]

  • Do You Know Where You Fail in Your Internet Marketing Strategy?

    vanko
    26 Jan 2012 | 6:07 am
    A throng of people is attracted to the fragrance of garlic bread and roasted meats and coffee. It is as if an imaginary arm has nudged them inside the door of a corner restaurant. Once inside, the warmth is inviting and the aroma has reminded them of hunger. A delicious daze has been satisfied, and [...]

  • Car Insurance for a New Car

    vanko
    25 Jan 2012 | 6:00 pm
    There are many items you can choose with car insurance such as liability only, comp and collision, roadside service, and much more. You can even choose the deductible or amount of the coverage you need for specific aspects of car insurance. When you look at a new car there are a few things [...]
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    Free Enterprise

  • Should Small Businesses Barter Online?

    Stephanie Rabiner, Esq.
    27 Jan 2012 | 7:03 am
    There's a growing online community engaged in small business bartering. Entrepreneurs strapped for cash and lacking capital can trade goods and services, propping up their businesses without exchanging funds. The community separates itself into barter exchanges, which are usually for-profit businesses. "Barter dollars" are earned when a trader provides a good or service. Those dollars can then be used to purchase a commodity from another trader. This system could be great for some businesses, but is it right for you? It depends on what you need and what you're offering. If you're looking for…

  • Small Firms Dodge $198B in Federal Taxes

    Stephanie Rabiner, Esq.
    26 Jan 2012 | 11:02 am
    There's a lot of talk about the tax gap -- how can someone who earns $42.6 million only pay a 14% tax rate? And what about those big businesses taking advantage of tax loopholes? But the reality is small companies and the self-employed are the biggest tax dodgers in the nation -- and they're not even doing it legally. The IRS tracks the taxes owed but not paid -- the official tax gap. In 2006, that gap was at $385 billion. The self-employed and small companies accounted for $198 billion of those unpaid funds. A perusal of the IRS's newly released tax gap estimates breaks that number down in…

  • Disney Ends 60-Year Ban on Beards

    Cynthia Hsu, Esq.
    26 Jan 2012 | 7:02 am
    Disney's beard-ban is no more. Starting February 3, employees at the company's Florida and California theme parks can now have facial hair. It's a historic move for the company which has long been known for strict dress code policies. There will still be some restrictions. Facial hair cannot exceed a quarter of an inch. Disney still forbids visible tattoos, body piercings (except for ear piercings on women), "extreme" hairstyles or colors, and soul patches. Women used to be required to don pantyhose with skirts. They were also barred from wearing tank tops until 2010. Female employees can…

  • OSHA Offers Free Consults to Small Businesses

    Stephanie Rabiner, Esq.
    25 Jan 2012 | 8:03 am
    It's true that you have a legal duty to ensure workplace health and safety. And it's true you'll be cited and penalized by the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) if you don't. But for a small business, OSHA regulations can be both unwieldy and costly. Between inspections and improvements, business owners often don't know where to start. Luckily, there are some programs to help -- including a free on-site consultation provided by the Administration itself. In fiscal year 2010, the program visited approximately 30,000 businesses. Free consultants offered confidential,…

  • Job Discrimination Complaints Hit All-Time High

    Andrew Chow, JD
    25 Jan 2012 | 7:03 am
    A sluggish economy and an increasingly diverse workforce led to a record number of EEOC job-discrimination complaints last year. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission received 99,947 workplace-discrimination complaints in fiscal year 2011, the agency reported Tuesday. That's up slightly over 2010. The uptick in overall discrimination claims may correspond with a weak job market, an EEOC spokesman told MSNBC. And the trend may continue, the agency suggests in a new draft planning document that's up for public review. "During more difficult economic times, the EEOC may see an increase in…
 
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    BuzzBooster Marketing Advisors: Shahar and Nash

  • Marketing to boomers: some facts

    buzz@buzzbooster.com (Buzz Booster)
    26 Jan 2012 | 3:27 pm
    Today in America, the average car buyer is 56- a boomer, the average head of the household is 52- boomer, MAC user 54- boomer, American Express credit card holder 57, 57 is also the age of the average business owner. Real money is in the hand of boomers and so is decision making. Definition of Boomers according to Wikipedia: A baby boomer is a person who was born during the demographic Post-World War II baby boom and who grew up during the period between 1946 and 1964. In general, baby boomers are associated with a rejection or redefinition of traditional values; however, many commentators…

  • YouTube Changes, Irresistible Promise, Live Streaming; BuzzBoosterTV #45

    buzz@buzzbooster.com (Buzz Booster)
    25 Jan 2012 | 3:19 pm
    More YouTube changes coming in the social media space, how to create an irresistible promise in your business to become a client attraction magnet, and a cool tool for livestreaming are just a few things hosts Shahar and Nashlah will talk about this week on BuzzBooster TV! Having trouble viewing this video? Try the Quicktime Version. Want audio-only? Click here.

  • Marketing to boomers: Are you missing the mark?

    buzz@buzzbooster.com (Buzz Booster)
    24 Jan 2012 | 3:17 pm
    Are you mimicking old dumb marketing agencies and ignoring your best potential customers? Smart businesses should develop marketing programs to reach baby boomers and do it in an intelligent way. Are you asking why? Well more than 30% of Americans are over 50 and the influential over-50 segment has $2.3 trillion in annual spending power and today controls 50% of all discretionary income. That is 2.5 times the spending power of 18-24 age group. Did you see that the word influential is highlighted? This is a generation that has disposable income to spend and invest even in though economic…

  • Extreme Income Explosion Summit in Salt Lake City

    buzz@buzzbooster.com (Buzz Booster)
    15 Jan 2012 | 5:38 pm
    Save these dates: May 3rd, 4th and 5th Extreme income explosion summit is happening on these dates in Salt Lake City. In these 3 powerful days you will: See how to create an extreme income explosion in your business without gimmiks Make the decision to create wealth Marketing methods that really make a difference All it takes is just a simple decision! To register! BuzzBooster marketing advisors and Decisive minds are bringing a life changing event to Salt Lake City Some of the speakers you will be able to meet and spend time with are: The BuzzBoosters Shahar and Nashlah Michele Scism Bob…

  • YouTube Facts, Social media marketing

    buzz@buzzbooster.com (Buzz Booster)
    15 Jan 2012 | 12:57 pm
    via Lowell Area Consultant says it is more evident today than ever, the 21st century is a visual world and YouTube is a the center with 490 million users. Online video is on of the best tools when thinking about social media marketing and small business marketing. Every business should be using more online videos. They also should be looking at the possibility of producing web shows and have them streamed to traditional tv through the over the top boxes.
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    » | Swipely

  • Two Simple Ways To Enhance Online Marketing With More Voices

    Bonnie C., Associate Editor, SwipelyWorks
    27 Jan 2012 | 7:00 am
    TweetRemember, no small business owner is an island. To say a small business owner is “busy” might be the understatement of the year. We know the demands on your time never stop and marketing is a lot to handle. To … Continue reading →

  • Untraditional Businesses Making a Hit on Fab.com

    Amanda MacArthur, Managing Editor, Swipely
    26 Jan 2012 | 7:00 am
    Tweet If you’re in the business of building expensive things, or selling unique vintage goods only available by location, then you know that there was a time when having a good product was sufficient enough to stay in business. In … Continue reading →

  • How To Build Your Website Like a Convenience Store

    Patrick H, Contributing Editor, SwipelyWorks
    25 Jan 2012 | 7:00 am
    TweetYou want to get to your shop early this morning to work on few things before you open. You realize that you’re almost out of gas so you pop over to your nearest convenience store to fill up. As you’re … Continue reading →

  • Crowdfunding for Small Businesses with Lucky Ant

    Bonnie C., Associate Editor, SwipelyWorks
    24 Jan 2012 | 4:09 pm
    TweetNew Buzzword: Crowdfunding You may have heard about a website call Kickstarter, which has recently become quite a popular example of crowdfunding. It’s a website platform that has helped a lot of artists and arts organizations raise money by marketing … Continue reading →

  • Pizza Marketing: 6 Delivery Services Your Customers Wish You Knew About

    Amanda MacArthur, Managing Editor, Swipely
    23 Jan 2012 | 7:00 am
    TweetTo properly please your customers, you need to be where they want you to be. If they want to throw a party and need 100 buffalo wings at 10pm, it’d be great to be able to take that order and … Continue reading →
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    Jackie Purnell - Respectfully Disobedient

  • How Well Do You Know Your Audience?

    Jackie
    25 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am
    Ding Ding Ding…the bell rings on round three of the PLAN. Have no clue what I’m waffling about..go here first…then here.  Those will bring you up to speed. While the first two parts of the process have been all about you, now its time to get focused on those you serve. Ladies and Gentlemen…its time to meet your Audience! From the starting blocks, you pick your mark and target your content to suit. Problem is…in those lonely early stages its really hard to gauge if you’re hitting the bulls-eye or not. So you tend not to worry too much about who’s…

  • Is Your Website As Good Lookin’ As You Are?

    Jackie
    17 Jan 2012 | 5:00 pm
    This month we’re breathing in…exhaling, and asking, what makes a good website? In the last post we took a look at the PLAN concept, beginning our journey with the purpose of your website.  Hint if you haven’t read that…its the best place to begin. Today, we’re stepping into phase two.  Website design, or the look of your site…yes this is where it gets fun for those creative types, and probably causes a migraine for those less inclined. Website Design – DIY or Designer? So, do you take the DIY route or hand it over to someone else? That my lovely is…

  • What Makes A Good Website?

    Jackie
    10 Jan 2012 | 5:00 pm
    I can’t tell you how often I get asked, what makes a good website? Now what constitutes “good” is very subjective, we all have different tastes. But I think we can all agree that certain principals need to be followed when setting up a website to make sure you’re not putting your good time to waste. After all who would want to visit a site like this Yes this is a homepage of a real site.  I swear, even in my wildest dreams I couldn’t have dreamed up this monstrosity…shessh! So lets break it down so we can save the eyesight of future generations. THE PLAN I…

  • A Tool To Remove Repetitive Tasks In Your Online Business

    Jackie
    3 Jan 2012 | 5:00 pm
    Lets kick of 2012 with a cool new online business tool which was a tad late for inclusion in the recent launch of the Disobedient Directory, and too good to wait until the next edition. Introducing Ifttt, an acronym for, If This…Then That. I came across a reference to this online business tool early last month, which I’ve since discovered has been in beta testing for the best part of last year, before launching to the world in September 2011. Well, in the last couple of weeks I’ve been checking it out and all I can say is….Holy Toledo Batman, it’s Frickin…

  • A Walk Down Memory Lane & My Christmas Present To You.

    Jackie
    20 Dec 2011 | 5:00 pm
    Photo Credit: ExtraKetchup I’m no stranger to the world of technology, I remember very clearly when computers entered the workplace. Yes, I actually started back on DOS based systems with the magical flashing c: prompt. When the only laptop device, was a tray you ate your dinner off in front of the TV. When my workstation monitor was the size of a large microwave, and the processor was the the equivalent of a 4 foot square aquarium standing proudly on the floor next to the desk….It even burbled like an damned aquarium…I kid you not! When daily backups took well over an…
 
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    Small Business Marketing Ideas | UPrinting.com Small Business Blog

  • Target Markets and Stereotypes: Why Experience ISN’T Everything

    Arthur
    26 Jan 2012 | 7:33 pm
    Marketers are often accused of perpetuating stereotypes, some of them negative. Those accusations are arguably true.  However, I’d go a step further and argue that a good marketer is understands which stereotypes actually have something to them and do in fact, point the way to real trends. A better marketer would be able to discover “stereotypes” no one even realized existed. c/o koalogist.tumbler.com   Merriam Webster defines stereotyping as “something conforming to a fixed or general pattern; especially a standardized mental picture that is held in common by members of a…

  • Why Purchase Order Financing Makes Sense for Startups

    Arthur
    24 Jan 2012 | 7:03 pm
    c/o sitbetter.com Raising capital is a problem all entrepreneurs need to deal with even before they can get started. It’s not just about raising enough cash for plant assets like space, equipment, and other big-ticket purchases. Startups as a rule-of-thumb need enough capital to cover operating costs including utilities, maintenance, salaries and expenses related to the cost of their products and services, for up to a year. There are typically two ways you could generate capital – take a loan from a bank or some other financing channel, or from investors. It’s likely your business will…

  • Altruistic Blogging- The Key to Small Business Success

    Guest
    20 Jan 2012 | 5:20 pm
    Starting a blog is a simple way to reach out to customers. However, maintaining a blog in a way that builds lasting relationships with your readers is where most business bloggers fail.  Guest blogger Scott Hersh gives us some insights on how to avoid this common pitfall.- Arthur Most blogs fit into one of two categories, selfish and altruistic.  Although a blogger and their readers may never meet outside of cyberspace, the general rules of etiquette apply to the blogger-reader relationship much as they do in a real life relationship.  Developing a healthy blogging relationship requires…

  • The Worst Is Not Over: Why PIPA Will Kill Small Business

    Arthur
    18 Jan 2012 | 10:52 pm
    The recent shelving of HR. 3261, better known as the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) is undoubtedly the best news for US-based small businesses since the beginning of 2012. It would be hard to exaggerate the magnitude of the effect SOPA’s implementation would have been on not just on online commerce, but on all the freedoms that we have taken for granted. And with PIPA in the works, the fight has just begun. c/o bestofneworleans.com Many of our customers are small businesses with websites of their own. If PIPA passes and if future incarnations of SOPA are not killed outright, the vast…

  • Office Distractions: Part Two – Simple Ways To Stay Focused At Work

    Arthur
    13 Jan 2012 | 2:23 am
    In the first part of this series, we discussed how distractions at work are costing businesses, as well as why you should take account of it. You don’t need to have Michael Scott for a boss to know just how bad it can get: You  can’t have a discussion about office distractions without bringing up multitasking. As far as dealing with inevitable multitasking goes, we have to -yet again- discuss goal-setting. You have to determine what’s important and what’s not and set your priorities from there. Then it’s a matter of ignoring everything outside the list.   Keep Things…
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    DigitalSherpa.com

  • Three Great Apps To Help You Plan/Create Content

    Chris Vaughn
    23 Jan 2012 | 10:02 am
    “There’s an app for that” is a phrase we’ve all heard more times than we probably would have liked to. “Need to make a grocery story list..” - There’s an app for that “What color should I paint this room?” – There’s an app for that “Who should I vote for?” – There’s an app for that There’s an app for everything nowadays, and in many cases, there doesn’t need to be “an app for that”. However, when it comes to running a business, we should jump at any opportunity to become more…

  • How To Set Up Google Alerts

    Chris Vaughn
    18 Jan 2012 | 3:17 pm
    Tired of repeating the same searches for things you like to follow? Google Alerts are sent to you when Google finds new results that match a particular search term You can use Google Alerts to monitor anything on the Web. For example, use Google Alerts to: Monitor your name and identity on the Web Monitor what is being said about your business or competitors Follow news stories Follow any person or brand of interest

  • How Much Is Facebook Worth? Social Giant to Release IPO in May

    Chris Vaughn
    17 Jan 2012 | 8:29 am
    Courtesy: Mashable Since its inception, Facebook has been owned and manage privately by a group of shareholders, and have been discreet when it comes to disclosing much financial information. According to technology news source AllThingsD, Facebook will change that in May when it releases its IPO. (Initial Public Offering) For those who don’t quite know how that works, an IPO is essentially the first sale of stock by the company to the public. This requires strict oversight from the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission), who will ask for quarterly financial reporting, detailing a…

  • Starting A Blog For Your Business in 2012 – Part 5: Conclusion and ‘What’s Next?’

    Chris Vaughn
    16 Jan 2012 | 7:50 am
    In this series, I encourage businesses to start a blog in 2012. Part 1 – Early Challenges Part 2 – Getting Started Part 3 – Setting Up Your Blog Part 4 – Publishing and Sharing Content, Traffic Monitoring ——————————————————————- If you’ve followed this series, I hope you appreciate how important setting up a blog is for your business. Blogging has transcended its early cliches (an online “diary”) and has become an essential…

  • Starting A Blog For Your Business in 2012 – Part 4: Publishing and Sharing Content, Monitoring Traffic

    Chris Vaughn
    15 Jan 2012 | 2:32 pm
    In this series, I encourage businesses to start a blog in 2012. Part 1 – Early Challenges Part 2 – Getting Started Part 3 – Setting Up Your Blog If you’ve been following this series and have made it this far, congratulations! You’ve put in the necessary legwork to start a blog and create new opportunities for yourself in 2012. What’s next? Publish Content Google appreciates a website that is publishing content consistently. Creating more content has two real advantages: More content creates more traffic opportunities through sharing and social networking. The more…
 
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    Peace & Profit

  • Are Your Buddies Bad for Business?

    admin
    27 Jan 2012 | 8:40 pm
    Who are you hanging out with? Quick: write down the names of the 5 people you spend the most time with, and then write down the qualities–good and bad–that you associate with them. Does this strike you as a great list of people? Do you feel good when you’re around them? Do they inspire you and challenge you to be the best version of yourself? Do they lift you up and support you? You need to take stock of your top five people regularly, because guess what: You become an average of these five people, over time. Meaning that you take on their qualities, for better or worse. If…

  • Is Your Business an “Unkind Environment”?

    admin
    24 Jan 2012 | 11:46 am
    It breaks my heart to hear friends and family tell me about their stressful, de-humanizing experiences at work. When you consider that the average person will spend between 90,000 to 100,000 hours or more at work during their lifetime, it’s sad to think that so many people have a negative experience of those hours. Obviously, this takes a huge toll on an individual’s life. And what about the companies these people are working for? The bottom line is, unhappy employees are bad for business. Much has been said about hostile working environments. If an employee feels physically…

  • 6 Business Tips from Mary Poppins

    admin
    13 Jan 2012 | 2:54 pm
    Mary Poppins was one of my favourite movies when I was a kid, and I still think Mary offers a lot of wisdom to live by: Feed the Birds: share your wealth with others. Use your business as a vehicle for making contributions to your community, by training your staff to be visionary leaders, sponsoring local events and organizations, and donating generously to causes you believe in. Go Fly a Kite: all the success in the world doesn’t matter if you can’t enjoy it with loved ones. When I opened my first store, I worked around the clock and barely took care of myself. I adopted a dog from my…

  • Your 6 Most Important Things

    admin
    11 Jan 2012 | 4:18 pm
    There are about 5 kajillion different methods and systems for improving productivity. My favourite? It takes about 5 minutes, and the ability to write or type a list. Oh, and it will literally CHANGE YOUR LIFE. I apologize for the all caps there–I don’t want to shout at you, but I cannot overstate the magnificent, transformative quality of this technique. It’s not sexy, it’s not flashy. But it is one of the most effective ways I know of, to take you from where you are to where you want to be. I touched on this in 10 Ways to Wake up Excited to Go to Work and I want to fully…

  • Innovation Vs. Systems: Seth Godin’s Linchpin & Michael Gerber’s E-Myth

    admin
    6 Jan 2012 | 3:12 am
    Two fantastic books, two very divergent views. And I believe the key to massive success is to apply them both. Gerber’s approach has revolutionized many a business in the past couple of decades, encouraging entrepreneurs to think big, create businesses they can grow and scale easily. It’s the McDonald-ization effect, creating operations that provide adequate–not exceptional–products or services, at the lowest possible cost to the business owner. The goal is to standardize everything, use solid systems, and then let other people run the show while you’re off on vacation or…
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    MLM Success with Mary & Dean Unleashed

  • Success in MLM – The First Steps

    Mary & Dean R Black
    27 Jan 2012 | 7:37 am
    Looking to achieve success in MLM? Good for you! The desire to succeed is a very important start, but it’s only the beginning. To truly succeed, you’ll need to do a lot more. Here are some guidelines to get you started on the right path. Success in MLM Tip #1 – Get Organized Most people starting out in MLM skip this step altogether. Don’t make that same mistake. Getting organized from the beginning when things are small will be much easier than trying to play catch up later on. You’ll want to get organized both physically – like with your office, files,…

  • Generate Passive Income in Your Sleep

    Mary & Dean R Black
    26 Jan 2012 | 6:14 am
    Have you ever experienced the joy of waking up in the morning to find that your business is just a little bit bigger than it was when you went to sleep? I have. It’s a feeling you won’t soon forget, especially the first time it happens. You can learn to generation passive income even while you sleep if you follow a few simple guidelines that have been proven time and time again to work. Network marketing, or MLM, is such an amazing opportunity for the average person because with time and effort anyone can build a successful business capable of creating passive income for a very…

  • YouTube Video Marketing – Explode Your Online Business

    Mary & Dean R Black
    25 Jan 2012 | 6:18 am
    Thinking about starting or expanding a YouTube video marketing strategy? It could be the smartest thing you ever do to grow your online business. YouTube is huge, yet the market for promoting and building your online business is relatively untapped. Unlike Facebook and Google,  it can be much faster and easier to get your videos ranked on YouTube. Ranking on the first page for a particular key word is what gets your message in front of the most people. Getting your message in front of the most people will allow you to lead more prospects into your marketing funnel. And that’s exactly…

  • MLM Lead Generation

    Mary & Dean R Black
    24 Jan 2012 | 5:53 am
    If you’re reading this article, you’ve probably joined or are considering joining a network marketing company and now you’re trying to decode MLM lead generation strategies that will actually work. Good for you! There are several ways you can go about building your MLM business. Most often, the first thing your sponsor will tell you to do is make a list of the people you already know – your warm market. Then they’ll encourage you to start contacting them to share your new business and ask if they’d like to join. That’s a great way to get started. Your…

  • Learn Internet Marketing With Your Current MLM Company

    Mary & Dean R Black
    19 Jan 2012 | 6:10 am
    If you’re looking to learn internet marketing and take your MLM business online for the first time or if you’ve been online for a while, you might be wondering if you can successfully use this strategy with your current MLM company. Most people are not part of a team of internet marketers. Only about 8% of network marketers do any marketing online so it can be tough to find the right people to learn internet marketing from. The first thing you want to do is talk to your upline sponsor and find out if they have any experience with internet marketing. If they don’t, that…
 
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    BizDharma.com

  • You are more capable than you think you are

    Himanshu Chanda
    11 Jan 2012 | 12:36 pm
    Reflecting upon what can you achieve? Though we all want to be successful in every endeavour we try to accomplish; we know we might fail. We might fail to achieve our targets and goals that we have set at various points in our life. There can be many reasons for this failure. The worst though would be our inner voice that you cant do it! Because that is something which can take a lifetime to work upon. Since we have crossed the 1st week of the new year (incase if you were in touch you know how to accomplish exceptional results this year) I believe the first step to rock with your career,…

  • A layman’s guide to building exceptional things

    Himanshu Chanda
    27 Dec 2011 | 3:10 pm
    Lets add a WOW to everything we do Most of us always dream about doing something exceptional in our life span. This wishful thinking is not a sin. If you seriously consider, we as a race are supposed to evolve with time. However even with all these thoughts we still find ourselves at the end of the year standing at the same place as we were last time. Wishing a rocking new year to our self when we know nothing exceptional happened the previous year. Wishful thinking is not  a sin, but not acting on one defintely is. While I am no guru in ensuring your success with mere blog posts (believe me…

  • If I could wipe out one department from every company it would be …

    Himanshu Chanda
    29 Nov 2011 | 1:59 pm
    Companies thrive because of their people. The brains behind their awesome products and the hands behind their indefatigable services. While every company, as it grows bigger, tends to grow complex there are times when we just follow suite and not try to see things in the real light. This is kind of a personal post. What I intend is not to malign any person or department but highlight how futile our system has become. As titled I would like to present what will I kill, if I have to remove one complete department from every company on this planet. Sounds pretty freaking but I derive this from…

  • What David Ogilvy and Steve Jobs can teach you about Marketing and Sales

    Himanshu Chanda
    23 Nov 2011 | 2:42 pm
    Steve Jobs and David Ogilvy - The Masters in their Art Many of us have weird definitions of Marketing and Sales with our own sweet little understanding. This post is not about what I think Marketing or a Sales process has to be. It is something beyond what we already assume. Have you seen ads on TV? Dumb question. Which one of these ads is creative as per you? Think one or two of them which you can recall. Do you believe if a man in flesh and bones just like you makes this creative, he still might go wrong in understanding what the masses will feel about the creative? You bet. Hence I tried…

  • Best Interview Questions to ask while recruiting for your startup, business or organization

    Himanshu Chanda
    2 Nov 2011 | 2:52 pm
    Whether you are Interviewing candidates for your company, project, charity or Startup you always tend to get mixed results. While some might seem more proficient in work, they might not score in academics. While some might answer almost all your questions confidently, you still have a hunch that this candidate might not be the right one for your startup? Hunches and gut feels like these are common. Recruiting someone for your company is a responsible job. Not only will the candidate get paid by the organization, he will also form part of defining your organization’s or teams culture.
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    Big Brand System

  • Stop Begging and Start Giving: Why Perks Work to Build Your Email List

    Pamela Wilson
    25 Jan 2012 | 7:35 am
    Years ago, sitting on the cashier’s counter of any local business, you’d find a clipboard with “Join Our Mailing List” scrawled across the top.You filled in your name, mailing address and phone number in exchange for finding out about their special customer-only sales, or priority notification when high-demand merchandise arrived.Those days are gone. Now, everyone wants to build an email list, not a snail mail one.It makes sense: email is more cost effective, faster and easier to create than printed postcard or letters. But what kind of business should have an email list?Why Collect…

  • 18 Warning Signs You’ve Ignored Your Brand Long Enough

    Pamela Wilson
    19 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am
    Do you have that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach?That suspicion that your brand isn’t measuring up, but you’re not sure why, or what to do about it?The first step to all significant change is identifying the problem. Use the list below as a guide, and have hope: there’s help here at the Big Brand System, and more help coming in the near future.Read through this list. When you get that sinking feeling, make a note.Don’t ignore the message! It’s an area that needs attention, and if you make it a priority this year, you’ll see results — and get rid of that…

  • The Marketing Starting Block: How to Step Off Right and Win the Race

    Pamela Wilson
    11 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am
    “There’s so much to do. Where do I start?”Whether you’re running a race, or marketing your business, the first step is always daunting. You look ahead and see nothing but the work that needs to be done, and the progress you’ll have to make. You can’t see the finish line at all. You might not even see the starting block.This post is about the starting block exclusively. Because if you get your marketing off to the right start, the whole race will be easier, and you’ll increase your chances of winning it.Adjust Your AimThe marketing starting block is all about pushing off into…

  • The Valuable Brand Asset You Can Develop This Year

    Pamela Wilson
    4 Jan 2012 | 5:00 am
    A big part of what I share here at the Big Brand System is to help people to learn to see things they’re not accustomed to noticing.Unless you were born with vision problems, you don’t need to learn to register images. You opened your eyes a few moments after you were born and started taking in the world around you.But designers — and people who want to learn to apply design principles to their marketing materials — need to go beyond just registering images. We need to interpret them.It takes practice, but if you know what you’re looking for, you’ll start seeing the concepts…

  • Self Reliance and the Art of Marketing Independence

    Pamela Wilson
    28 Dec 2011 | 5:10 am
    I’m breaking all the rules here, but I feel like I owe it to you.You see, all the marketing rules say I should cultivate an air of mystery about my upcoming projects, and drum up excitement to a fever pitch just before I release something.And I’ll do those things, I promise. But in the meantime, I want to let you know what’s coming in 2012 from the Big Brand System.Because I know you’re in “planning mode” this week. This break between one year and the next is a natural time to think about how you’re going to manage the tasks ahead of you.Chances are, you’re flying solo,…
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    Entrepreneur Podcast Network

  • Conversions As Conversations With Valeria Maltoni

    Mitch Joel
    27 Jan 2012 | 9:06 am
    If you’re thinking about online communities, conversations and the true power of Social Media, you need to be following Valeria Maltoni.

  • Going From Blogger to Author with Barbara Barnett

    Eric Dye
    24 Jan 2012 | 8:41 am
    Barbara Barnett, co-executive editor for Blogcritics, an Internet publication, where she writes on everything from politics to technology to all things pop culture joins Enterprise Radio to talk about how she went from blogger to author.

  • Speak Like A Novelist Writes

    Dr. Bill Lampton
    23 Jan 2012 | 7:34 am
    Dr. Bill Lampton of Speech Coaching Radio advises that when you prepare your next speech imagine how an acclaimed novelist would get the message across compellingly...listen in...

  • Five Things You Must Do Before Arriving at an Event

    Eric Dye
    21 Jan 2012 | 11:10 am
    On this epidode of The Strategy Show, host Liz Lynch talks about five things you must do before arriving at an event or conference.

  • Charles Black of iWatchLife

    Eric Dye
    20 Jan 2012 | 3:44 pm
    Charles Black, the CEO of iWatchLife joins Enterprise Radio. Charlie has over 14 years of experience in start ups & was by mere observation he saw the need and acted accordingly. Listen to this insightful interview...
 
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    Bulldog Drummond - Uncommon Sense

  • Redesign the Report Card

    admin
    27 Jan 2012 | 12:00 pm
    We are fans of GOOD’s most recent challenge: ‘Redesign The Report Card‘. This contest challenged designers to redesign the education system’s report card so that it’s visually appealing, informative, inspirational, and gives context to student achievement: Uncommon Sense in action.

  • Ten Tips for Merging Business and Passion

    admin
    25 Jan 2012 | 12:00 pm
    I’m fascinated by the different types of people I meet in the business world and the way that their personalities show up in what they do. I’m drawn to people who have a quiet inner confidence that is expressed in their interactions and their output. I am comforted by their sense of self. They know who they are and they operate with a kindness of spirit that makes shared time and conversation pleasant. They exude confident energy to everyone they come into contact with. Matthew Larson is the Chief of Product Design for Matuse, one of the surf industry’s most exciting new…

  • The Innovators

    admin
    23 Jan 2012 | 12:00 pm

  • When We All Think Alike

    admin
    19 Jan 2012 | 10:47 am

  • Think Different

    admin
    19 Jan 2012 | 10:47 am
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    Entrepreneur Insights

  • February Learning Event

    Renée Rouleau
    3 Jan 2012 | 9:06 pm
    A Great Marriage is Everyone’s Business Live with RealLove Coach, Author, and Speaker, Dr. Greg Baer Tuesday, February 7, 2012 4:30 Registration Workshop begins at 5:00 and lasts until 8:00 with a romantic dinner to follow Successful entrepreneurs know that being great in business can only get you so far and doesn’t always bring with it true happiness. While many entrepreneurs may be able to solve their business challenges, the same may not always be true for challenges in their marriages or relationships with their significant other. Truth is, improving the relationship with a spouse…

  • A letter from EO Dallas President Chris McKee

    Renée Rouleau
    2 Jan 2012 | 8:25 pm
    EO Dallas Members, As we look toward this new year, I wanted to take a few minutes to recap where we’ve been over the last seven months since the current EO-Dallas Board took over, and what’s in store for the first half of 2012. When I addressed everyone back in May to lay out our significant initiatives for 2011-12, I let everyone know that we had an ambitious agenda with a fast pace.  Initiatives included: Launching of the EO-Dallas Entrepreneurship Lecture Series (ELS), with the goal of attracting top quality speakers and presenting a variety of learning formats. A revamped membership…

  • EO Dallas greets new members!

    Renée Rouleau
    20 Dec 2011 | 9:04 pm
    Please Warmly Welcome These New Members! Jason Bevan Wesley Dawson Larry DeWitt Justin Jones Jason Johnston Andrew Welker Tony Wright Thanks to chapter members Chris Arnold, Dave Lesh, and Jeremy Brandt, who nominated some of these new members.  A special thanks also to Joe Gallini of Gallini and Lester (Strategic Member Resource).  

  • Member Profile: Greg Coon

    Renée Rouleau
    5 Dec 2011 | 7:02 pm
    Greg Coon Eyecon Video Productions My life…I am married to Julie. We have a 12 year old daughter, Sydney and an 8 year old son, Brenden.  EO member since…I became a member in 2007. My company is…My company is Eyecon Video Productions based in Plano. We are a full service professional video production company that helps clients from pre-production and scriptwriting to shooting, editing and distribution. We regularly produce marketing, training, corporate and web videos in addition to television commercial and programming. We recently acquired digital studio technology that allows our…

  • Recap of the December Annual EO Dallas Holiday Party

    Renée Rouleau
    5 Dec 2011 | 6:59 pm
    EO Blog:  Holiday Party By Sam Lam I am still recovering from the festivities of the annual EO Holiday Party.  It was the best learning event of the year.  I was taught how to wrangle snakes and jump through fire.  Okay, maybe not but it was crazy cool.  Held at the House of Blues Foundation Room, the event had a myriad of activities that included henna tattooing (I still have my ying-yang symbol on my left hand), Tarot card reading, a photo booth with live snakes, hand rolled cigars on the terrace, and my alcohol-addled brain cannot recall much else owing to the gracious open bar with…
 
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    EpicLaunch

  • Things to Ask Yourself About Your Online Business in 2012

    Karol
    22 Jan 2012 | 11:00 pm
    This whole resolutions craze that’s going on this time of the year starts to make me sick. And okay, I admit, I had my share in this too. As a matter of fact I’ve written at least three resolution posts already, and now I’m kind of writing a fourth one. Anyways. The New Year shouldn’t be about promising yourself all the great things you’re going to do during the next 12 months. The main problem here is the question of: how do you know what is truly worth doing and what isn’t? If you’re an online business owner then among your resolutions a thing like “develop a new product”…

  • Why You Must Make Meaning to Make Money

    Lee Downen
    19 Jan 2012 | 11:00 pm
    Why do you want to be an entrepreneur? This is not a rhetorical question, so answer it before reading further. If your main reason for wanting to be an entrepreneur is to make lots of cash, not have a boss breathing down your neck, or to become famous, then I advise you to seek another line of work. Those motivations are usually not enough to pull you through when your business goes south and you have to grind hard to survive. The statistics on entrepreneurs, according to a Harvard Business School paper entitled “Performance Persistence in Entrepreneurship”, show that…

  • An Interview With Michael Seibel: Cofounder of Justin.tv & Socialcam

    Ben Lang
    17 Jan 2012 | 11:00 pm
    Today we are presenting an interview with Michael Seibel, Co-Founder and CEO of Justin.tv and Socialcam. You can view his CrunchBase Profile here. Michael earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from Yale University, where he focused his studies on American government. While at Yale, he served on the executive committee of Focus on New Haven, Black Student Alliance, Yale Political Union and The New Journal. How and where did you get the idea for your companys? Justin.tv – my friend/co-founder justin kan’s idea – he was trying to figure out what startup to build…

  • CES Roundup: The Biggest Stories From CES 2012

    Stephen
    17 Jan 2012 | 5:40 pm
    CES ended last week and I was lucky enough to be there and cover it all. Here are the biggest reveals and the most innovative companies that this year’s CES had to offer. TVs From Samsung and LG It goes without saying, but LED TVs are the future. And two of the biggest TV companies, Samsung and LG, revealed jaw-dropping 55-inch TVs. And the best part is that they were super thin (LG’s was just 4mm thin). But Samsung’s TV does stand out for the fact that it will feature an app store with more than 1,000 apps. These TVs are going to be up for sale very soon and will…

  • An Interview with Omer Perchik: Founder of Any.DO

    Ben Lang
    11 Jan 2012 | 8:06 am
    Today we’re presenting a nice and short interview with Omer Perchik, Founder of Any.DO. This productivity app has been all over the news lately and racked up over 500K downloads in its first month. How and where did you get the idea for your company(s)? One of my friends had a semester @ UPenn and I wanted to go for a visit. The whole proccess of issuing a visa was just too complex. Coming to think about it, many of the daily things we do could be easily automated. Who’s one person you’ve always looked up to? Never had just one person. People I’m currently looking up to…
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    Web Marketing Therapy » Blog

  • Wild Web Woman Marketing Geek Speak

    Lorrie Thomas
    27 Jan 2012 | 5:56 pm
    Happy Friday!  Darla Bea Smith, one of WMT’s Wild Web Women sent me a funny recap today of some of our web jargon – I had to share! If you wanna walk like a wild web woman, you gotta talk like a Wild Web Woman!  Hope this is a healthy dose of Friday comic relief (and fun insight to our behind-the-scenes marketing work lingo) amazeballs! – said when something is unbelievably cool work-wise (word credit: Nicki Gauthier) totes amaze - said when something is unbelievably cool work-wise (Jennie Jacobs) F-Yeah - said when something is unbelievably cool work-wise (Lorrie Thomas…

  • Web Marketing Therapy – Not Just For Therapists

    Jennie Jacobs
    24 Jan 2012 | 8:03 pm
    We get asked a lot where the Web Marketing Therapy name came from….it’s not just marketing for therapists! Since we are all about proactive communication at the agency, I wanted to take this opportunity to clarify the “WHY” of our name. The true nature of our name Web Marketing Therapy stems from our deeply rooted belief in the power of helping professionals and organizations help themselves.  Our name was a result of years of listening to client feedback.  We were told things like: We feel like you just did therapy on our marketing! You just took all the overwhelm…

  • Tuesday Top Blog Posts Breakdown

    Nicki Gauthier
    24 Jan 2012 | 12:15 pm
    Today is Tuesday Top Blog Posts Breakdown and to kick it off – we will review the top blog posts for 2011. Enjoy. (In random order below.) My Fave Pics for 2011 Marketing Therapy – Nail Your WHY Social Media Marketing Content Do’s and Don’ts Personal Branding Tips – First Impression Session Are Twitter Auto Welcome Messages EVER OK to Use? Thank You Steve Jobs Launching Today Lorrie Thomas Teaches Online Marketing Fundamentals on lynda.com Netiquette Tip: Tweet Responsibly Social Media Marketing Tips Boost your SEO and PPC with free Wonder Wheel! Free Four-Part Web Marketing…

  • Marketing Ego Boost – Golden Client Success

    Lorrie Thomas
    23 Jan 2012 | 5:18 pm
    Helping our small businesses get BIG with web marketing rocks our Web Marketing Therapy world. We received this amazing email today from one of our sparkling clients, Calla Gold, Santa Barbara Jeweler.  She hit her 100th blog post mark (way to ring in the Chinese New Year!!  Dragon marketing effort indeed!) When she shared her success with us, it melted our marketing hearts and kick-started the week on a magical foot! The email below is a healthy example of celebrating success, having an attitude of gratitude and boosting our egos as marketing advisors, trainers and support people!! …

  • Boss Lady Request: Share Blog Tips

    Nicki Gauthier
    23 Jan 2012 | 11:54 am
    Last week, the *Boss Lady asked me to make a list of blog tips to review with the wild web women team. I was happy to do so because training and blogging are definitely on the “Things I Love To Do” list and a marriage between the two is double the fun. Here are the blog tips that I prepared for my wild web ladies and I am super stoked to share them with you: #1. Blog Title - Try to keep the blog title length to 6 or under keywords. #2. Blog Post First Sentence - Try to keep the blog title “matchy matchy” with the first sentence of the blog post. #3. Anchor Link Text…
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    n0elle.com | Communication and Business Thoughts for Creative Entrepreneurs

  • Friday’s Findings

    Marie Noelle Marineau
    27 Jan 2012 | 9:34 am
    Friday’s Findings are back! At least for this week So this week, I’m sharing some great posts I’ve read lately!!! On Heartmade Blog, Mayi Carles made a video where she shares the Worst Sidebar Mistakes she saw and How to Fix Them!  You’ll find great ideas for your sidebar + Mayi’s videos are always so funny!!! On Meylah, you can read the 5 Ways to Connect With Your Creative Community. I don’t think you’ll learn anything new, those are basics… but you should make sure you take all the opportunities you can! On Oh! My Handmade Goodness,…

  • Why I’m not or I stopped following you on Twitter

    Marie Noelle Marineau
    25 Jan 2012 | 9:43 am
    I love Twitter. I guess you already know that. Maybe you follow me. Maybe I follow you back, maybe I don’t. It’s not that I don’t like you… but sometimes, you are annoying me OR I don’t have a clue about who you are. I’m probably not following you if you didn’t take 2 minutes to write a decent bio… two words isn’t enough. I’m probably not following you if you don’t have a profile picture… you look like a fake/spam account. I’m probably not following you if you follow 10 000 person but only 20 persons follow you…

  • Most Popular Posts and Pages of 2011

    Marie Noelle Marineau
    29 Dec 2011 | 7:13 am
    We’re almost in the new year but I can’t forget 2011 yet… This blog started in 2011 (oh, and my son was born in 2011 too)… If you’re not following me since day 1, today is your lucky day! I looked at my Google Analytics and I’ve listed the most popular posts and pages of 2011 for you! Top 5 Blog Posts #5 : What Is the Real Cost of Selling on Etsy? (June) #4: 1001 Little Ways to Save Our Planet (August) #3: Should You Write an Ebook? (May) #2: Are You Making a Smart Use of Social Networks (July) #1: Book Review: The Art of Possibility (July)   Top 5…

  • Start Your Creative Business Today: What You Need to Sell Online

    Marie Noelle Marineau
    27 Dec 2011 | 7:37 am
    First, you might want to read: Start Your Creative Business Today (to get some ideas to start your creative business) and Start Your Creative Business Today: What You Should Do Before Launching Your Business Selling your products in a fair or in a store is almost the same thing as selling them online… NOT. Your competition is crazy online and your main office is now your home! However the major difference is that you’ll have to ship your products to your customers. To be prepared to start selling online, there are some things you should get: Packaging supplies You’ll need…

  • Best Resources to Help You Start Your Business in 2012

    Marie Noelle Marineau
    20 Dec 2011 | 7:30 am
    It’s the most wonderful time of the year! It’s also the time to think about 2012… If you dream about starting your own business, 2012 might be THE year to do it. I’ve listed the best resources to help you start your own creative business in 2012. I really wish you’ll succeed and please, let me know when it’s open! ***A little hint about MY 2 new projects for 2012: the first one is something you can wear everyday (yes, I said WEAR), the second one will help Canadian businesses to serve their customers in the 2 official languages or any international…
 
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    The Rise to the Top

  • The 7-Figure Sex Expert: How David Wygant Became Known as an Expert on Dating, Relationships, and Sex

    David Siteman Garland
    26 Jan 2012 | 9:22 am
    Today on The Rise To The Top: The #1 Non-Boring Business Show: A good ole “living case study” today on the show. David Wyant, who has been referred to as a “real life Hitch”, reveals all the behind-the-scenes details of how he’s built a 7-figure online business through his expertise of dating, relationships, and sex. Get ready for some wild stories, actionable tips, and more, as we discuss everything from building credibility and building a name for yourself, to turning your expertise into products. I use RISE partner Wistia for video hosting because they rock.

  • How She Got Started: The Barefoot Executive Carrie Wilkerson on Launching Her First Product and Building Her Credibility

    David Siteman Garland
    24 Jan 2012 | 7:54 am
    Today on The Rise To The Top: The #1 Non-Boring Business Show: You probably know today’s guest, Carrie Wilkerson, as the massively successful “Barefoot Executive” who has created an empire around helping work at home professionals. Her empire includes Barefoot Executive TV, her book The Barefoot Executive (affiliate), live events, training, and more. She has raving fans and customers that number in the multiple thousands. But, how did she get started on the path to success? In today’s interview, Carrie reveals how she began, came up with her brand idea, built up her…

  • What Separates Top Internet Marketers, Bloggers & Mediapreneurs From The Rest Of The Herd

    David Siteman Garland
    19 Jan 2012 | 6:34 pm
    Boom. What do you think?

  • How Ramit Sethi From IWillTeachYouToBeRich.com Monetized After Giving Away Content for Years on His Blog

    David Siteman Garland
    19 Jan 2012 | 8:50 am
    Today On The Rise To The Top: The #1 Non-Boring Business Show: One of my most requested guests of all time. The creator of I Will Teach You To Be Rich, New York Times Best-Selling Author (affiliate), and amazing Internet entrepreneur – Ramit Sethi – is in the house and spilling the beans on all kinds of secrets, including how his blog got so popular, how he monetized by launching his first product (and what he learned from it), his rigorous research process, and much more in this super naked interview. I use RISE partner Wistia for video hosting because they rock. Check ‘em…

  • Want to Stick Out from the Pack? Internet Legend Yanik Silver Shares His Secrets of Differentiating by Astonishing

    David Siteman Garland
    17 Jan 2012 | 8:16 am
    Today on The Rise To The Top: The #1 Non-Boring Business Show: So, one of the big questions I always here over and over again is “How do I stick out?”. Meaning, how can my brand/blog/show/product stick out from everyone else out there? I tracked down the man, myth, legend who has done exactly that (in a very crowded space), Yanik Silver, and today on the show he is giving us all kinds of actionable advice on how we can all differentiate by astonishing – based on his experience and not fluffy theory. Enjoy! I use RISE partner Wistia for video hosting because they rock. Check…
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    Front Office Box

  • What Do You Call A Salesman You Can Trust

    stevensreeves
    17 Jan 2012 | 5:37 am
    What do call a salesman you can trust (or saleswoman of course), if you can find one? Sales people are paid to persuade you to buy stuff you don’t want. They get a commission when they can, and fired when they can’t. Like journalists they tell you what you want to hear, and not what you don’t. When it turns out you bought a pig in poke, there’s no point in complaining. The law is on the sellers side – Caveat Emptor – Let the Buyer Beware. How could you trust somebody who’s interests are exactly the opposite of yours? You shouldn’t, right? You…

  • The CEO Close – What Is It. How To Use It

    stevensreeves
    12 Jan 2012 | 12:54 pm
    Close the sale like your CEO would. This technique is friendly, fun and best of all functional – as in it works – unlike most of the tricks you’ll hear about. There’s a popular myth about Closing The Sale. In sales folklore, the ability to close deals is the superstar’s secret sauce. Somehow the superhero isn’t intimidated by the customer, or the competition, or the price. He knows he can drop the right world, put on the right smile, and magic the buyer’s signature onto the order. Such mystique makes ordinary mortals shiver at the thought of the Close…

  • Your Sales Playbook

    stevensreeves
    9 Jan 2012 | 2:01 pm
    Your sales strategy is simply a playbook – what the sports coaches call the predetermined moves you’ll make in particular circumstances set by the opposition. For a sports playbook you need to understand and stay within the rules of the game. You need to research the opposition’s past performances, seeing how they exploit weaknesses. You need to organise your own resources to counter the other team’s moves. And you need to play to your strengths when its your turn with the ball. Selling is no different. Of course it isn’t a game. It’s more serious than…

  • Coaching Sales Management

    stevensreeves
    8 Jan 2012 | 1:24 pm
    Where can sales managers go for training? And where can they access coaching – in the philosophies, strategies, processes and tools they need to get the most out of their sales team? Usually, the best sales people get promoted to sales manager. They know a lot about selling, obviously, but rarely know much about management. That’s where the challenge starts. There are plenty of training courses in management, and probably even more in selling, but not in sales management. And sales management is different. The sales management job mostly involves bridging the cultural divide…

  • Making Business Plans Make Sense

    stevensreeves
    5 Jan 2012 | 1:09 pm
    Business Plan Spreadhsheet Does your business plan make the usual mistake – focussing too much on money, and not enough on market? Do you add up the numbers without really understanding the  assumptions? Most people do. Do you set the rules about what you will, and won’t do, before you start the plan. Most people don’t. In which case, the business plan loses all relationship with what’s going to happen, and any value as a management tool. It’s relegated to fairy tale status. Your plan might satisfy an investor at start up, but will it survive the first review?
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    SEO Solutions

  • Real Estate SEO

    Will Byrd
    25 Jan 2012 | 8:28 am
    SEO for Realtors and the Real Estate Industry If you’re a realtor then you probably been struggling for a couple of years.  This bad economy means that you’re probably looking at many ways to get your listings in front of as many interested buyers as possible. Real estate websites are typically templated, cookie-cutter sites that are not SEO friendly. 90% of people begin their search for real estate online so you must be able to reach that market effectively. This means being able to attract people from all over the country who may be interested in moving to your area plus…

  • Managing Your Online Reputation

    Will Byrd
    13 Jan 2012 | 9:09 am
    Managing Your Online Reputation   These days whether you have a brand or you’re an individual, managing your online reputation is very important. Before the days of the internet people would often have to rely on the opinions of the people they trusted before making any major purchases or decisions. Being trusted online if you’re promoting any kind of product or service is vital. The general public is far more informed where it comes to making purchases and maintaining a good reputation online will mean bring you more trust, and therefore more sales. So how can search engine…

  • Being Local Search Friendly

    Will Byrd
    19 Dec 2011 | 1:59 pm
    Tips to Making Your Website Local Search Friendly It doesn’t matter what you’re looking for locally most people have given up looking in that big yellow book.  Most older people’s eyesight is no longer up to it and besides I could rarely find anything I was looking for anyway. These days if you’re looking for something local 90% of people turn to a search engine. The results show you far more than a printed book ever could. You can get driving directions, hours of operation, special offers, coupons and even pictures and videos of the business.   Ten million…

  • Why WordPress?

    Will Byrd
    14 Dec 2011 | 8:53 am
    Why WordPress ?    There’s still some argument about who the daddy of blogging is, but since the first Web logappeared in 1997 over 100 million people have joined the revolution. Blogging platforms were tough to use at first but have quickly progressed into an effective way for people to communicate and market products. In the beginning, blogs were often attached to websites, they were not the separate entities they are today with their own domain names. WordPress is Free WordPress took over from Movable Type in 2004 as being the most favored web logging platform. There were…

  • Social Networking Metrics and Social Media

    Will Byrd
    9 Dec 2011 | 8:53 am
    Social Networking using Google’s Event Goals and/or the Klout System For marketing purposes social media can no longer be ignored.  It is an excellent method of engaging with an audience.  Although the use of social media has now taken on the role of a legitimate business marketing tool, it has to be treated the same way as one would a blog or website – it must be carefully set up and data must be collected and analyzed.  It may be a “free” platform but if your business spends hundreds of man-hours participating on social media, spends money on third…
 
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    Grow Your BusinessGrow Your Business

  • Apps for Entrepreneurs Challenge Winners Announced by SBA

    John A. Lizotte
    27 Jan 2012 | 11:04 am
    by Sean Greene, SBA Official Recently, the SBA asked how we could use apps to put customized tools directly in the hands of entrepreneurs and small business owners. We reached out to entrepreneurs themselves to help find the answers through a nationwide competition with $20,000 in total prizes.  Here are the winning apps: First Place: SBA Gems– Find loans, grants, permits and more. Developer – Somesh Kumar, Fremont, California Second Place: CapitaList– Find federal databases for licenses, awards, proposals and websites. Developer – Muneeb Akhter, Springfield, Virginia Small…

  • 2011 Small Business Profiles for the States and Territories

    John A. Lizotte
    26 Jan 2012 | 11:06 am
    The economic condition of small businesses in the United States is captured in the Small Business Profiles. The profile shows that small businesses are key players in the U.S. and state economies, and highlights their performance on employment, business turnover, owner business demographics, finance and income.  This annual publication provides information for the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. territories and United States. A copy of the state profiles  is located at: http://www.sba.gov/advocacy/848/41391

  • Important Federal Tax Dates for February 2012

    John A. Lizotte
    20 Jan 2012 | 9:03 am
    Wed 1 Deposit payroll tax for payments on Jan 25-27 if the semiweekly deposit rule applies. Fri 3 Deposit payroll tax for payments on Jan 28-31 if the semiweekly deposit rule applies. Wed 8 Deposit payroll tax for payments on Feb 1-3 if the semiweekly deposit rule applies. Fri 10 Deposit payroll tax for payments on Feb 4-7 if the semiweekly deposit rule applies. Fri 10 Employers: Employees are required to report to you tips of $20 or more earned during Jan. Fri 10 File 2011 Forms 940, 941, 943, 944 and/or 945 if you timely deposited all required payments. Wed 15 File a new Form W-4 if you…

  • Do you need a website to market your small business?

    John A. Lizotte
    19 Jan 2012 | 1:24 pm
    Are you thinking about starting your online business in 2012, or adding an online presence or webstore to your existing business? As my way of saying thank you to my readers, and in trying to start 2012 off in the right direction, I’ve worked with DreamHost to set up a fantastic discount for you! I host four of my sites (including this one) on DreamHost, and I’m very happy with them. I’m comfortable recommending them to you. DreamHost offers some great features like unlimited disk storage, unlimited domains, unlimited bandwidth, unlimited email/users, one-click software…

  • Making Government Work Better for Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners

    John A. Lizotte
    19 Jan 2012 | 11:49 am
    by Karen Mills, SBA Official Today was an important day for America’s small businesses. President Obama asked Congress for the authority to reorganize and modernize government and he elevated my position as the SBA Administrator to Cabinet-level status. These actions are a reflection of the importance he places on small business, economic growth, and job creation. He asked Congress for the authority that Presidents from Hoover to Reagan have had to reorganize and modernize the federal government. This authority lapsed in 1984, but, today, the federal government needs to be updated to…
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    Andreea Ayers

  • How to use your competitors to grow your business

    andreeaayers
    27 Jan 2012 | 7:59 am
    Every business has competitors, it’s a fact of life, but you can transform yours into a business advantage by knowing more about their businesses. Watching their new products, marketing approach and sales tactics will give you an insight into how they run their businesses and maybe even some fresh ideas. Remember, just because your competition [...]

  • Five tips for Facebook success

    andreeaayers
    27 Jan 2012 | 7:00 am
    The key to a successful Facebook page to keep your fans coming back. Engaged users visit more frequently, comment more often and are more likely to share your posts with their networks. Planning your approach to Facebook will help you stay on track and be more interactive with your visitors. To help you make your [...]

  • How to See the 1099K Tax Form as a Good Thing

    andreeaayers
    23 Jan 2012 | 5:40 pm
    This guest post is brought to you by Outright.com, the easiest way to manage your business finances online. Business owners everywhere moaned in unison upon learning they might be receiving the 1099K, a new tax form straight from sites like PayPal and Amazon. They just knew that this would be the thing that derailed them [...]

  • Finding a showroom for your product

    andreeaayers
    18 Jan 2012 | 11:21 am
    Showrooms are one stop shops where retailers find new products for their stores. Working with a showroom puts the power of an established company behind your brand, and gives you access to wholesale clients that might otherwise be difficult to connect with on your own. Working with a showroom is similar to working with a [...]

  • Let your entrepreneurial spirit shine

    andreeaayers
    17 Jan 2012 | 3:00 am
    Did you know that every four minutes, a woman starts a new business in this country. More than 400 women-owned businesses are created every day — that twice the rate of men. Hybrid Her is an online space dedicated to helping women let their entrepreneurial spirit shine through. Voted one of Forbes Woman’s Top 100 websites for [...]
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    The Metropreneur Columbus

  • Columbus Chamber shares small business New Year’s resolutions

    Michael Dalby
    27 Jan 2012 | 7:00 am
    As we kick off 2012, it’s important to reflect on the previous year and set achievable goals for the next 12 months. For individuals, these New Year’s resolutions often focus on lifestyle changes, like a healthier diet or increasing physical activity– all meant to produce a better “you” by the year’s end. Businesses, like individuals, [...]

  • Pitabilities plans to expand in 2012

    Evelyn Ebert
    26 Jan 2012 | 7:00 am
    Jim Pashovich of Grove City had operated a small food cart in the ’80s and ’90s, but the industry became too unpredictable and he could not see any opportunities for growth. He went into real estate, but eventually found himself lured back by the excitement  and versatility of mobile food. Pashovich liked that trucks are more [...]

  • BringShare helps businesses measure, evaluate online marketing investments

    Melanie McIntyre
    25 Jan 2012 | 7:00 am
    You could say BringShare came on the scene in a big way. The company −which offers an Internet-based tool that helps marketing professionals, entrepreneurs and businesses measure and evaluate their online marketing investments− launched at the prestigious DEMO conference in Silicon Valley in September 2011. “We were the first Ohio company to ever be invited to [...]

  • TechColumbus awards $350,000 to seven companies

    Melanie McIntyre
    24 Jan 2012 | 7:00 am
    TechColumbus awarded TechGenesis grants totaling $350,000 to seven local pre-seed companies during the last half of 2011. Those companies are: • Acceptd LLC, which has developed a Web-based prescreening tool designed to streamline the admissions process for fine arts colleges and programs. • Cell Gull Ltd., which has developed an application that offers an advertising solution [...]

  • Square changing the way entrepreneurs, small businesses get paid

    Melanie McIntyre
    23 Jan 2012 | 7:00 am
    Since Square became available to the public in October 2010, it has revolutionized the way entrepreneurs and small businesses get paid. For the uninitiated, Square allows anyone with its card reader and/or  iPhone, iPad, or Android application to accept credit card payments. The fee structure is straightforward: 2.75 percent per swipe and 3.5 percent plus [...]
 
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    suemcdonald-online.com

  • Happy Chinese New Year

    Sue
    22 Jan 2012 | 5:58 pm
    Happy Chinese New Year (中国新年快乐)! This is the year of the Dragon and it is going to be a great year for all who want to take action and move forward with their business online. Don’t think of your site as a blog, start thinking of it as a business that you are going to receive the money flowing from it. If you think of it as a business, you will approach it differently. Admittedly, it is a lot cheaper than running a business off line but is a growing business that needs input from you and others to make it successful. Well now that I have mentioned your business online, there has…

  • Stop SOPA

    Sue
    18 Jan 2012 | 5:42 pm
    What is SOPA? Well the basic idea of SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) is to stop pirate sites selling counterfeit physical products like fake watches, designer clothes, electronics etc. This bill is currently with the US congress and, if passed, would allow the US Government to add certain sites to a blacklist and this would prevent access to anyone in the US to these sites. It will not only have ramifications in the US but potentially world wide. The intention of such a bill is good but if passed it could be a disaster. We all know that there is theft and fake goods on the internet and it has…

  • Google Updated

    Sue
    10 Jan 2012 | 11:07 pm
    For the latest news on Google.  On Tuesday 10 January 2012 Google updated its search engine to include personal info from Google+. This has been a total change for Google because now when people now type in for a search, Google will include personal information. This update is called “Search, Plus Your World.” The Google robots are going to incorporate any data from Social Networks and from the public internet sites when it carries out its search. They are promoting their Google + and they want to become stronger competition with Facebook. They are losing huge market share to Facebook.

  • Secure Your Blog

    Sue
    7 Jan 2012 | 8:00 pm
    Is your WordPress site secure? I am asking this because so many people do not back up their site and worse still do not have a secure password. When you first set up your WordPress site you select a user name. This name cannot be changed. If your password is not secure when you log in, I would suggest you change it immediately. I find it difficult to believe that people do not use a secure password. If you are one of these people, change it now. Go to your dashboard and go down to click on “Your Profile.” Go to the bottom of the page and you will see where you can change your password.

  • Take Action!

    Sue
    5 Jan 2012 | 11:00 pm
    What we all need for this New Year is to make the right decisions and take the action to accomplish our dreams. If we do this, that means we are not making any excuses or procrastinating. Do not doubt yourself and have no fear that what you are doing will get the results you are wanting. We can all, from time to time, allow some form of doubt to creep in but that is allowing yourself to slip into a negative frame of mind. If you find that you doubt anything, including your own ability to be successful, take affirmative action. Action is the key to success. If you attempt something and you…
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    Barbara’s Blog

  • State of the Union versus the State of Small Business

    Barbara Weltman
    26 Jan 2012 | 9:29 am
    On January 24, the President delivered his State of the Union address. He expressed interest in removing regulatory hurdles impeding small businesses (as well as large ones). He also offered a mixed message about taxes: on the one hand, he wants to expand relief to small businesses, while on the other hand, he reiterated his desire to raise taxes on taxpayers with income over $250,000 (remember most small business owners report their share of business income on their personal returns because of pass-through tax treatment and many fall within this category). Overall, in my opinion there was…

  • Audit Exposure — There May Be Nothing You Can Do About It

    Barbara Weltman
    19 Jan 2012 | 3:00 am
    With the tax season for 2011 returns now underway, I’ve been giving thought to audits. Much is made by many tax advisors about “audit-proofing” your return. The fact is that your actions may have very little to do with whether or not you are audited. Of course, actions you take on the return can affect audit selection. For example, if you fail to report income that had been reported to the IRS on a 1099 return or on a Schedule K-1, the IRS computer-patching program will identify your return and generate a letter (“correspondence audit”) to you. But even if all the care that’s…

  • Tax Gap Grows and Small Business Is Blamed

    Barbara Weltman
    12 Jan 2012 | 3:00 am
    According to the IRS’ annual enforcement report, the tax gap — the spread between what the government thinks it should collect and what it actually collects — grew to $385 billion in 2006 (up from $290 in 2001). The report claims that $122 billion of the tax gap, or nearly one-third, is attributable to unreported income from small businesses on Schedule C (for sole proprietors and one-member LLCs) and Schedule F (for farmers). However, the numbers for 2006 were for activities from more than five years ago and may not be reflective of what is happening today. The reasons: New merchant…

  • New Year’s Resolutions — Forget About It!

    Barbara Weltman
    5 Jan 2012 | 3:30 am
    How many times have you promised yourself at the start of a year to lose weight, save money, eliminate debt, get organized, or undertake some other transformation that’s important to you? If you’re like most people (myself included), resolutions usually don’t work.  According to a FranklinCovey survey some years ago, four out of five people eventually break their New Year’s resolutions, with one-third doing so by the end of January. Plan instead Rather than simply making a resolution which you’re likely to break, create a plan that you can follow throughout the year. Whether the…

  • What the Temporary Payroll Extension Means to You

    Barbara Weltman
    29 Dec 2011 | 3:00 am
    On December 23, the Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 was signed into law, extending through February 29, 2012, the two percentage point reduction in the employee share of Social Security taxes for FICA purposes. A similar reduction applies to the employee equivalent portion of self-employment tax for self-employed individuals. What employers must do You must implement the new payroll tax rate as soon as possible in 2012, but no later than the end of January. If you over-withhold any Social Security tax in January, you must make an offsetting adjustment to employee pay no…
 
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    Firmology Small Business Innovation News

  • How to Get Your Product on Walmart Shelves

    Philip Nowak
    19 Jan 2012 | 11:30 pm
    Tired of your small business getting crushed by Walmart?  If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. @WalmartLabs, Walmart’s social, mobile and retail eCommerce innovation division, has launched an online contest called Get on the Shelf, where small business owners and entrepreneurs can enter their product for the opportunity to literally get on Walmart shelves. What’s the prize? Spot on Walmart store shelves Featured placement on Walmart.com Marketing support Advise on scaling up to meet Walmart demand How do you enter? The submission process is simple.  All you need…

  • What Kind of Entrepreneur Are You? [INFOGRAPHIC]

    Philip Nowak
    17 Jan 2012 | 8:16 pm
    BizSugar, the small business news sharing and discovery site, published a fun infographic on entrepreneurs and their startup management style. BizSugar’s infographic celebrates the entrepreneur and their contributions to the global economy.  In 2005, entrepreneurs contributed 9.9 billion hours of uncompensated time to launch their businesses.  Think that’s a waste?  Think again.  Between 1977 and 2005, startups contributed an average of 3 million jobs per year, while existing firms lost 1 million jobs per year. Three key points we found interesting: 110 million people between…

  • Small Business Resources You May Have Missed This Past Week on Firmology November 27, 2011

    Philip Nowak
    27 Nov 2011 | 7:06 am
    Get Firmology on Your Amazon Kindle Great news!  You can now get Firmology on your Amazon Kindle.  Whether by Kindle, email, RSS feed or the Firmology.com homepage, our goal is to deliver Firmology content anyway you want to receive it, so making Firmology available on the Kindle was an easy decision. Firmology content will be available on the following Amazon Kindle devices: Kindle, Kindle Touch, Kindle Keyboard, Kindle DX, Kindle (1st Generation) and Kindle (2nd Generation).  Firmology isn’t available on the Kindle Fire yet, but we’re sure that Amazon will activate our site…

  • Get Firmology on Your Amazon Kindle

    Philip Nowak
    26 Nov 2011 | 3:34 pm
    Great news!  You can now get Firmology on your Amazon Kindle.  Whether by Kindle, email, RSS feed or the Firmology.com homepage, our goal is to deliver Firmology content anyway you want to receive it, so making Firmology available on the Kindle was an easy decision. Firmology content will be available on the following Amazon Kindle devices: Kindle, Kindle Touch, Kindle Keyboard, Kindle DX, Kindle (1st Generation) and Kindle (2nd Generation).  Firmology isn’t available on the Kindle Fire yet, but we’re sure that Amazon will activate our site on that device in the near…

  • 10 Black Friday Gadget Deals for Small Business Owners

    Philip Nowak
    24 Nov 2011 | 9:13 pm
    Now that Thanksgiving dinner is over, you’re probably sitting on your couch planning your Black Friday shopping list while watching football or the Lady Gaga Thanksgiving special.  Besides gifts for your loved ones, don’t overlook all the amazing deals available out there for your small business. Here are 10 Black Friday Gadget Deals for Small Business Owners to help you get your business shopping list started: Smartphones 1) $.01 smartphones at Amazon including the brand new Motorola Droid Razr, Samsung Galaxy S II and Blackberry Torch 2) AT&T has several smartphones for…
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    Renia Grows

  • Living well!

    reniacarsillo
    26 Jan 2012 | 1:50 pm
    My last post required a little proof that I am taking my own advice. So I wanted to show you all that while my phone was off yesterday I enjoyed a beautiful Florida afternoon.

  • It takes guts to live well

    reniacarsillo
    18 Jan 2012 | 6:43 am
    Happiness. Living with purpose. Following your heart. No matter what you call it, the truth is most of us talk about it, but few ever live it. Even if we have the chutzpa to go after what we want, that commitment will be challenged by the people in our lives on nearly a daily basis. [...]

  • 9 reasons you bug me: guest post from Lisa Jordan

    reniacarsillo
    12 Jan 2012 | 12:27 pm
    This is a guest post by my friend and colleague, Lisa Jordan, of Accent American, Inc. I laughed, rolled my eyes, and got a little red-in-the-face while reading this and thought you might too. If you enjoy this as much as I do please  follow Lisa on Twitter.   Now I know nobody’s perfect, but [...]

  • Career Path Improvement Workshop

    reniacarsillo
    4 Jan 2012 | 8:30 pm
    Thank you Donna for asking me to be a part of this great program! Are you unemployed, job hunting or seeking to advance? This free, open to the public, morning workshop will provide direction in your career path and help you hone your skills. Three local experts will provide tips and resources to put you [...]

  • Starlight and teamwork

    reniacarsillo
    3 Jan 2012 | 10:33 am
      A couple of days ago I wrote about my personal theme and mission for 2012. It seemed self-explanatory to me: I want to shine, in all my glory, and not apologize for it. However, since a number of my friends and colleagues have since asked what exactly this phrase means to me I’ll explain. [...]
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    Company Founder

  • The Importance Of Differentiation And Adding Value

    Paul Morin
    26 Jan 2012 | 9:29 am
    The Importance Of Differentiation And Adding Value There are many ways to add value and establish differentiation in a given situation.  Some are just more differentiated and “valuable” than others.  Why do you think it is that the top salesperson at a company often earns more than the CEO?  It is for this very “value-added reason”.  The value-added of a top salesperson is easy to identify and quantify.  It’s how much of the company’s product or service they sold over a certain period of time.  And in many companies that are a bit more sophisticated in their measurement of…

  • Do You Embrace Change?

    Paul Morin
    22 Jan 2012 | 6:44 am
    Do You Embrace Change? I have found that it is quite useful to embrace change, to be a person who seeks out the new and different. As the saying goes, “There is one constant in life, and that is change”. Of comfort to those who dread change should be another saying, “The more things change, the more they stay the same”. How do you approach change?  Many I’ve known try to avoid change at all costs.  They’re even willing to perpetuate policies and approaches that no longer make sense, just so they will not have to deal with change.  Logically, we know this does not make sense,…

  • The Future Is Bright. Focus On Solutions.

    Paul Morin
    28 Dec 2011 | 6:34 am
    The Future Is Bright.  Focus On Solutions. Despite all the gloom and doom we constantly hear in the daily news, the future is bright. Regardless of what we may believe about global politics, national politics, local politics and struggling economies on all geographic scales, it is of little use to focus on gloom and doom. What I learned at a young age, by virtue of some great mentors and just paying attention to what was going on in the world, is that no matter how horribly the media and my fellow human beings paint the scenario, it is hardly ever that bad for someone who is willing and able…

  • Stagnation Is The Most Dangerous Challenge You Face

    Paul Morin
    17 Dec 2011 | 4:52 am
    Stagnation Is The Most Dangerous Challenge You Face I’ve worked with entrepreneurs and been an entrepreneur almost my entire career.  Although it can be a tough road at times, I would not trade it for anything. As an entrepreneur and advisor, I am often confronted with concern about failing.  Over the years, I have learned that the only true failure is stagnation.  If you stagnate, inevitably you will get run over or passed by.  It’s an unwritten rule of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. So if stagnation is the enemy, what can you do about it? First, make sure you remain aware of the…

  • Want To Improve? Choose Tougher Opponents.

    Paul Morin
    6 Dec 2011 | 6:48 am
    Want To Improve?  Choose Tougher Opponents. Do you want to improve at some aspect of your business, in a sport you do, or in some other part of your life?  For most, if not all, of the people reading this article, the answer will be an unequivocal “YES”!  I know this because most of my readers and clients are people who are trying to grow their businesses and/or trying to improve in one or several other areas of their lives.  In short, they are go-getters. With this “go-getter mentality,” why is it that it’s sometimes hard to get better, even when we want it so bad?  In short,…
 
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    FixCourse - Proven Online Customer Acquisition Strategies

  • 7 Shortcuts for Jump Starting Your Content Marketing

    Brad Smith
    26 Jan 2012 | 7:47 am
    Getting people’s attention (and keeping it) is the most difficult part of marketing. That’s why companies spend billions on advertising every year. But people today act differently. Instead of passively waiting for advertisements, they go actively searching for them online. They may check Facebook to see what their friends are up to, or Google to look for something specific. People have a problem. And they want to find a solution for that problem. Even if that means looking for a distraction from work. So you need to create content that solves your customers problems. Image…

  • The 3 Worst Social Media Metrics (And What You Should Measure Instead)

    Brad Smith
    23 Jan 2012 | 9:00 am
    Social media is hard to measure. It’s tough to tell how well you’re doing, or how to analyze an employee’s production. Don’t even bring up ROI. You’ll just give yourself a headache. Unfortunately, some people still insist on it. If they don’t get a straight answer immediately, then they just stick an intern on Twitter. But that’s not the worst part. No, the worst part is measuring the wrong things to begin with. If you pick the wrong targets, then you’ll get terrible results in the long run. And you’ll have wasted precious time, money, and…

  • How to Virally Grow Your Facebook Fan Page

    Brad Smith
    18 Jan 2012 | 8:00 am
    Facebook introduced the “People Talking about This” metric a few months ago. Initially, many were skeptical of how useful it would be. As it turns out, it’s actually one of the best metrics you can use to gauge your Facebook marketing. This one number tells you how effective your Facebook Marketing is on a weekly basis. And it’s the key to virally growing your Facebook fan page. Why? Your “Viral Reach” is closely tied to how many people are “Talking about You”.   So the more people that “talk about you”, the more your Facebook…

  • Why Social Media is the New Public Relations

    Brad Smith
    16 Jan 2012 | 8:00 am
    Most people misunderstand the benefits of social media. It’s not about “embracing your audience”, “joining the conversation” or “being authentic”. For businesses, social media is much more valuable. When you do it right, the potential is limitless. Image courtesy of

  • How to Grow a Thriving Twitter Community in 15 Minutes per Day

    Brad Smith
    13 Jan 2012 | 8:00 am
    Twitter can be a powerful networking tool, or a complete waste of time. It’s all in how you use it. Here is how you can grow a thriving Twitter community in less than 15 minutes a day. Image courtesy of Brajeshwar  1. Follow the Right People Building a large follower count isn’t hard. There are automated-following programs, and people who will auto-follow you if you follow them. So it’s easy to build a faux-follower count. Here’s one example list. I don’t recommend this. You should really focus on building organic follower growth over time. So only follow…
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    Time To Startup!

  • Choosing a Tax-exempt Status for Nonprofit Companies

    Joey Donovan Guido
    27 Jan 2012 | 9:57 am
    Nearly everyone’s heard of the infamous 501(c)(3) tax-exempt formation. But did you know that there are other no less than 32 tax-exempt options for nonprofits? To follow is a listing of four of the most popular ones — including 501(c)(3) — along with a brief description of what makes each of them unique … 501(c)(3) [...]

  • Top Benefits of Forming a Nonprofit Company

    Joey Donovan Guido
    26 Jan 2012 | 10:41 am
    Thinking about forming a nonprofit company? You probably already know that they’re specifically formed for purposes other than operating a profit-seeking business. But you might not be aware of all the benefits associated with being a nonprofit organization. To follow are the top advantages of forming a nonprofit company. We hope they help you gain a [...]

  • The Basics of Forming a Nonprofit Company

    Joey Donovan Guido
    24 Jan 2012 | 2:17 pm
    Forming a nonprofit company can be confusing. There are steps that must be taken on both the state and federal level — some of which require an expert’s understanding of  incorporation forms. This is especially true when it comes to 501(c)(3) registration. But before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s take a look at the basics [...]

  • Incorporating a Business? What You Need to Know to Ensure Your Limited Liability Protection

    Joey Donovan Guido
    20 Jan 2012 | 12:12 pm
    When you’re incorporating your business, whether it’s a Limited Liability Company (LLC), S corporation (S corp), or another business formation, there are at least two things you’ll need to do to properly set up your company. Filing incorporation documents within the state you’re doing business in is critical. Even if you choose to incorporate in Delaware [...]

  • Turning Your New Year's Resolutions into Reality

    Joey Donovan Guido
    19 Jan 2012 | 2:21 pm
    Did you make any business or personal New Year’s resolutions this year? If so, bear with me while I ask a redundant question: Do you want your resolutions to become reality? Of course you do. But in order to do so, you’ve got to transform your resolutions into actual goals. To follow are four major steps that will help you create [...]
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    News

  • Green technology firm TEG for sale

    27 Jan 2012 | 10:29 am
    Green technology firm TEG has put itself on the market after potential bidders made their interest known.

  • Thamesteel plant in administration

    27 Jan 2012 | 4:35 am
    The Thamesteel plant in Sheerness, Kent, has entered administration, leaving 300 steelworkers at risk of losing their jobs. The £100 million turnover business is one of the largest private firms

  • Buyer sought for Fetch TV owner, IP Vision

    27 Jan 2012 | 4:06 am
    British digital technology company, IP Vision – which manufactures the Fetch TV digital receivers and movies on demand service – has fallen into administration. Administrators from UHY Hacker Young have been appointed to find a buyer for the com

  • Fountains Group goes into administration

    26 Jan 2012 | 7:09 am
    Fountains Group, a major council contractor, has gone into administration this week. According to the BBC, 450 people have been made redundant as a result. However, most of the

  • Yorkshire software firm Atlantic Global in a US takeover

    26 Jan 2012 | 5:04 am
    West Yorkshire-based software firm Atlantic Global has agreed to a £5.2 million takeover by a US firm after putting itself on the ma
 
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    pbSmart Essentials

  • SEO: Tips for Improvement

    pbSmartAdvice
    27 Jan 2012 | 4:00 am
    Attracting visitors to your website is a vital step in acquiring new customers. That begins with where you appear in the search results on Google, Bing or Yahoo. And that, in a nutshell, is why search engine optimization (SEO) is a critical part of any marketing strategy. There are a few key ideas to keep in mind when thinking about your business’s SEO performance. The first is your relevant keyword universe. In other words, consider your products and services, and the customer needs you fill. Then, think about terms customers would use in their searches to satisfy those needs. Maybe…

  • Lead Generation: The Battle for New Clients

    pbSmartAdvice
    26 Jan 2012 | 4:00 am
    As a business owner you know that growing your customer base is essential to increasing your profitability. And in a competitive market, the businesses that manage their lead generation most effectively are the ones who come out on top. Remember that your sales prospects can come from many different sources. For instance, you could collect them at a conference or trade show. Another great way to generate leads is by hosting an online event, like a webinar — you can collect email addresses through the webinar registration form. The advantage is that you already know those people were…

  • How Email and Direct Mail Can Work Together

    pbSmartAdvice
    25 Jan 2012 | 4:00 am
    Studies have shown that you need to reach out to a potential customer up to seven times before they take action on one of your messages. So if you’re always using the same marketing channel to connect with your mailing list, you are probably not getting noticed. For example, what if you send seven emails, but some of your customers never check their accounts?That’s why you should use a variety of marketing channels in your campaigns. You’ll increase your chances of using the right channel to connect with the right customer. Here we will focus on two top-performing marketing…

  • Direct Mail: 5 Tips for Better Campaigns

    pbSmartAdvice
    24 Jan 2012 | 4:00 am
    The average consumer may receive dozens of email and text messages per day, but only get a few letters in the mail. Which means that postal mailings can still be a great way to get your business noticed. Deliver magazinerecently reported that 15 percent of all consumerswho received a catalog and 12 percent of all consumers who received a letter, postcard or flyer made a purchase on a company’s website. With that kind of ROI, direct mail may be the missing part of your marketing mix. 5 Ways to Get Your Direct Mail Piece Noticed and Earn More Sales: 1. Send a bulky mailer: If you send your…

  • Social Media and Email Marketing: Improving ROI

    pbSmartAdvice
    23 Jan 2012 | 4:00 am
    Combining social media with your email marketing can help you reach a larger audience, grow your email list and engage more customers. Many small business owners and marketers, however, are unsure of how to integrate them with their email marketing. The 2011 Social Media Marketing Industry Report revealed that, although 93 percent of marketers are using them for marketing purposes, one of their top questions remains, “How do I integrate and manage all of my social media marketing activities?” 3 Ways to Integrate Social Media with Your Email Marketing   1. Share your emails with your…
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    Adrian Swinscoe

  • Skepticism is rife and trust is not easily won but your people can help

    Adrian
    24 Jan 2012 | 12:04 pm
    photo credit: opensourceway Earlier today Edelman, the global PR form, launched the results of it’s 2012 Trust Barometer. According to Edelman: “This year’s survey is bigger than ever before, with 30,000 people questioned in 25 countries. The Barometer reveals the state of Trust in business and institutions.” I’ve written about this survey before in Your [...]

  • The Greatest Customer Service Strategy

    Adrian
    20 Jan 2012 | 8:51 am
    photo credit: elyse patten Following on from my last post and the theme that it started to explore, I would like to present to you a guest post from Jon Gordon. I’m very excited and this is a bit of coup for me as Jon is a Wall Street Journal and international bestselling author of [...]

  • The link between customer experience and employee engagement: More art than science

    Adrian
    18 Jan 2012 | 12:17 pm
    photo credit: canonsnapper A couple of days ago I was asked to go and speak to a large financial services firm about engagement, both customer engagement and employee engagement and the link between the two of them. What was and is interesting is the rising consciousness amongst many firms of how connected employee engagement is [...]

  • Customer loyalty schemes don’t create loyalty

    Adrian
    14 Jan 2012 | 8:46 am
    Just before Christmas I saw an article on the Econsultancy blog: Loyalty schemes don’t create loyal consumers, says Ipsos MORI. The post was based on research conducted by The Logic Group and Ipsos MORI and suggested that: Customer loyalty schemes don’t necessarily drive loyalty; That customers want something ‘special’ in exchange for their loyalty, where [...]

  • To create a better customer experience and longer relationships in the mobile market means going the extra mile

    Adrian
    10 Jan 2012 | 2:35 am
    This is a guest post from Brian Carroll, CEO at Arantech that illustrates what the mobile telecoms companies could be doing to help improve customer retention and a mobile customers experience. Mobile operators have to cater for a wide range of customers’ needs; everything from high-end users requiring access large amounts of data, to casual [...]
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    EnMast

  • Why You Need a Budget & How to Build a Budget for Your Small Business

    Devan
    26 Jan 2012 | 8:01 pm
      A budget is one of the most important tools for your business. Brad Farris, Small Business Advisor and Managing Editor here at EnMast, talks about why you need a budget for your business, what you can do with a budget, and how you can get the most out of it. In these videos, Brad tells you where you can get an eBook on budgeting, a business budget Excel template, and get access to a video series that guides you step-by-step on building a budget for your small business. 3 Reasons Why You Need a Business Budget   Why Having a Budget for Your Small Business is so Important  …

  • Be grateful — it’s good for you

    Brad
    11 Jan 2012 | 6:46 am
    January, with its focus on new beginning and resolutions, might be the least grateful time of the year. We are focused forward on what we want to become, and what needs to change or be different. We’ve just finished celebrating, so let’s put all that behind us and move on. I guess I’m a bit out of sync. This January, I’ve been thinking a lot about things I’m grateful for, and it turns out, being grateful is really good for me! Here’s a summary of some findings about the efficacy of gratitude: In an experimental comparison, those who kept gratitude journals on a weekly basis…

  • Say what? Learn to be a better listener

    Brad
    11 Jan 2012 | 6:06 am
    When I was first learning to sell, one of mentors taught me to “mirror” the client and mimic their every move. If they put their hands behind their head, I would put my hands behind my head. If they crossed their legs, I crossed my legs. This “mirroring” was supposed to lead to an improved rapport between the client and me. I thought this was pretty much hogwash — until I tried it. Turns out, I had better rapport with the client — not because I was in tune with their body positions, but because this mirroring really fooled my brain into being a better listener.

  • Download ‘Ask Your Budget’

    Brad
    8 Jan 2012 | 3:38 pm
    Click the button below to download the EnMast-Budget.zip file. This compressed file contains both the PDF eBook and the XLS budget template. Links to all 8 videos are listed in the eBook PDF file, no need to download those! Important Note: We are planning to make occasional updates to the book and the template file. If you’d like us to keep you up to date with those changes please enter your email address in the box below. Get Ask Your budget updates Email Address Close

  • YOU NEED A BUDGET. This eBook and these video tutorials will help you get one.

    Brad
    6 Jan 2012 | 4:01 pm
    There is no tool more important for running a business than a budget. But budgeting gets a bad rap. It seems tedious and time-consuming. And how can anyone predict the future anyway? So many business owners are reluctant to create a budget – it’s another thing to add to their to-do list and they don’t think it’s worth the time or effort. If this is you, too – keep reading. When I work with business owners on creating and using budgets, they soon see why they need a budget, and they wonder how they operated without one for so long. Doors start to open that weren’t open before.
 
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    The Small Business Blog

  • State of the Union furthers Small Business Misperception

    26 Jan 2012 | 7:28 am
    The State of the Union address is always one of the most scrutinized events of the year, poured over by ever group to find nuggets that might affect them. Small businesses are no different. In the days leading up to the address, there were even surveys done to find out what small businesses wanted to hear from the speech. While that's still up for debate, what isn't is that there is still a very clear disconnect between the government's perception of small business and what the actual profile of the majority of small businesses really are.

  • Are political candidates "using" small businesses?

    18 Jan 2012 | 7:30 am
    By now you're probably weary of the (over) coverage of the Republican Presidential nomination race. With the candidates touring through New Hampshire this past month, there's been an increased focus locally on the candidates, what they stand for, where they stand in the polls and what they are doing nearly every waking moment. As candidates continue to tour the country, all have made it a point to not only talk about how they plan on supporting small business owners, but are physically visiting a number of them along the way. Make no mistake, capitalizing on the "small businesses power the…

  • 3 reasons LinkedIn makes sense for small business

    11 Jan 2012 | 7:04 am
    Facebook and Twitter have long been the darlings of the social media world. Pinterest is starting to gain traction, while other sharing sites like Tumblr, About.me and others have carved out a specific niche of users. One of the sites that's often left off the list, but shouldn't be, is LinkedIn. That's because for the most part, LinkedIn has been looked at as a networking site for consultants and job seekers only. And to some extent, that's true. But did you know that LinkedIn has 135 million members and is adding an average of two new accounts per second?

  • Do small business owners need Tim Tebow like optimism?

    4 Jan 2012 | 8:00 am
    Optimism is a tricky thing to measure, but that doesn't mean companies aren't willing to go to great expense to try. With small businesses this is no exception. There are scores of surveys, polls and sentiment trackers that work diligently to measure whether or not the small business population is actually optimistic at a given time. Typically, the majority are optimistic - about their prospects, their businesses, their employees and whether or not they like running their business. But the question is, what does the general optimism level of the overall small business population even tell us?

  • Small Business Saturday: Boon or Bust Locally?

    21 Dec 2011 | 5:02 am
    When examining the impact of Small Business Saturday, a "holiday" created by American Express as a way to recognize small businesses and promote the idea of "shopping small," there's no doubt that it has been a promotional success. The amount of exposure, both from a media and social media standpoint, it (and Amex) gained could only be described as overwhelming. Locally, nationally, within governments and across mainstreets, the buzz around SBS was palpable. But what did it actually mean to the small businesses who were targeted to reap the benefits?
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    Clockbuilder Media

  • The Shocking Truth About Diving Into Social Media

    Clockbuilder Media
    11 Jan 2012 | 7:17 pm
    “Just do it” is àpropos. Unfortunately, that’s only 50% of the battle. The shocking truth about diving into social media is that it takes a lot of effort. Claiming your real estate on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Goggle +, will give you brownie points for being able to say “we’re hip because we’re there too”, and it’s pretty darn simple  and you should certainly do it. But if you take the “presto we’re done” route, you’ve missed out on the real opportunity to leverage your presence by failing to do the hard work at…

  • 5 Warning Signs That You Chose The Wrong Social Media Platform

    Clockbuilder Media
    2 Jan 2012 | 10:25 am
    Are you feeling like you finally got with the times because you signed your business up for a few social media accounts? By all means, give yourself a pat on the back. However, if your business is not yet feeling the love with its new online persona, it could be because you’re ignoring the 5 warning signs that you chose the wrong social media platform. It’s possible you may have picked the wrong place(s) to hang your shingle in the cloud, but if you learn to recognize the signs that you chose the wrong social media platform, you can turn your despair around and get your…

  • How To Steal From Porsche: 10 Social Media Lessons For Your Business

    Clockbuilder Media
    15 Dec 2011 | 7:41 pm
    10 Social Media Lessons For Your Business Disclaimer: I’ve been a car nut since I’m a little kid. I still have my matchbox cars (though my kids play with them), and one of my favorite articles of clothing is an old sweatshirt that says “still plays with cars”. And yes, I’ve wanted an old Porsche 911 for as long as I can remember. Read and enjoy. Can your business learn anything by stealing from Porsche? You bet. Porsche’s brilliance is yours for the taking. Check this out: 350 hp @ 7,400 rpm 0-60 mph: 4.6 seconds Top Track Speed: 179 mph Even if you…

  • 12 Things You Can Do With Twitter For Your Business

    Clockbuilder Media
    7 Dec 2011 | 7:34 pm
    Twitter for your business? Say what? Today we put together a list of 12 things you (probably) didn’t know you could do with Twitter for your business. It’s really no longer for celebrities or people touting what they just ate for lunch.  Actually, it still is for some segments of the population, but don’t let that stop you from using it for your business, or even for using it for some very useful, non-business related tasks. Although ‘Twitterspeak‘ takes a little getting used to, once you’ve gotten over that hurdle, you’ll realize it’s just…

  • Kick-Start Your LinkedIn Profile

    Clockbuilder Media
    5 Dec 2011 | 8:16 pm
    Do you need to kick-start your LinkedIn Profile? What does your profile look like? We previously wrote about the benefits of getting started with LinkedIn, and considering that it’s the number one network for business professionals, it’s worth investing your time to set up a profile. But if all you have up there is your name and a few job titles, you’ve wasted your time with it. You’re also likely to start thinking that it isn’t doing anything for you, and you’d be 100% right. Tend to your garden You should also think of your LinkedIn profile like a garden.
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    Market Business Online

  • Small Business Email Marketing Biggest Killer Mistake?

    Shefiu
    20 Jan 2012 | 5:39 pm
    For any business, optimising sales should be high on the agenda. Recently a small business owner in my area was chatting with me about his email marketing producing low returns. Then I dropped the bombshell why he has crippling sales volume.  But what is the missing piece in the jigsaw?  I thought I should share it with you.In a nutshell, the biggest email marketing mistake to make as a small business owner is “lack of effective Follow Up system”.(And I will be providing some useful tips later).That’s right!  Without having a powerful email ‘Follow Up’ system and strategy…

  • How To Reduce Bounce Rate And Gain More Customers!

    Shefiu
    16 Jan 2012 | 10:54 am
    One major route to gaining more customers is to reduce bounce rate on your website. Unfortunately, it’s something several businesses fail to achieve online and why they struggle as a result.  For that reason, this post is about addressing the issue, so that you can highly boost your conversions. A bounce is when someone visits a single page on your site and quickly exits without visiting other pages. The longer visitors stay on your site, the more you reduce bounce rate and the higher your conversions.   Now here’s a key question……What is generally considered a very…

  • Why Google Places Citations Are Essential For Your Local Business

    Shefiu
    1 Jan 2012 | 11:49 am
    To achieve high ranking positions in Google Places for local search engine terms, Google citations are required.  This article is about highlighting why citations are essential for your business and how they can help you acquire top rankings in local search results.But firstly, what are Google Places citations?Citations are votes (in form of links) from across the web that are directly credited to your Google Places page.  In other words, they are a mention of your business name, address and phone number by other sites on the internet.  It’s important that you accurately include your…

  • 7 Profitable Blogging For Business Key Strategies

    Shefiu
    23 Dec 2011 | 1:32 pm
    In terms of blogging for business, there is one major question that springs to mind.  And that is can you exactly acquire instant and sustainable long term profits?   The fact remains there are many local and small businesses around not blogging.  Some are not even aware of its huge potential to boost their bottom line. With that in mind, I’m about to reveal 7 profitable tips.But before I go any further, blogging for business is not just about generating profits.  You also need to know  How To Write Good Blog Content and create a site in the first instance.But how do you go about…

  • What Is QR Code And How Can It Benefit Your Business?

    Shefiu
    16 Dec 2011 | 9:11 am
    The great thing about marketing online is the flow of new opportunities that continue to emerge for business growth. QR code is another emerging marketing method now gathering serious momentum online.   So, what is QR code and how can you benefit from it as a local or small business owner?The above abbreviation stands for ‘Quick Response code’.  This is basically a two dimensional barcode with  information embedded inside it.  And anyone that has a smartphone with a camera can scan the barcode to access the stored information in a few seconds. For instance, the scanning effect can…
 
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    Entrepreneur Solo

  • The Battle For Spanish Society

    Entrepreneur Solo
    26 Jan 2012 | 3:13 pm
    Spain is at a crossroads, a place where the next moves forward could determine a lot of future outcomes for better or worse. Spain is in a fully blown crisis both of the economy and also of confidence. Spain needs change and that change cannot come too soon. However Spain also has good raw materials. When you have good raw materials you just have to to put them together well into something that is worth it. Spain has those raw materials in my opinion but can it mix them together well, I am not too sure of that.

  • Keeping Productive in the Car: Podcasts and Preneurcast

    Entrepreneur Solo
    24 Jan 2012 | 9:02 am
    Being a small businessman (That means having a small business not being under five foot tall) means that there is often a temptation to continually work. Unfortunately I succumb to that temptation, I generally work. One of the places that I often do work is in the car. Now I am not sending e-mails. I am not texting, although I have been known to do it at traffic lights for example. What I tend to do is to listen to podcasts. Having an iPhone means that I can put the podcast on in the car and from that I can listen to whichever one I want. One of my most listened ones is by Dom Goucher and…

  • 2010? Good Riddance!

    Entrepreneur Solo
    23 Jan 2012 | 3:10 am
    The last month has been lost in the ether for me. Because of fiestas, lots of news coming from the left field, visits, idiots who have placed us in an unenviable position through irresponsibility and a host of other things I cannot wait to turn the page and get into 2011.

  • High Speed Rail In Spain and Business: An Update

    Entrepreneur Solo
    23 Jan 2012 | 3:10 am
    I wrote an article recently on Blokes on the Blog about high speed rail in Spain because in the UK, where plans have been announced to start building a new high speed rail line from London to Birmingham, there is a bit of debate going on about it. Here in Spain it is an unqualified success apparently and a beacon of light in the world for those countries wanting to emulate the success. However there are caveats. Take a look at the article below and also more information below that.

  • Preparing a Road Trip

    Entrepreneur Solo
    19 Jan 2012 | 5:09 am
    My daughter is getting older and flying the nest this week, or rather driving away from the nest and it is me doing the driving, on her way to University in the UK. So a road trip is in order just for her and me, all the way through Spain, over the Pyrenees into France, through Bordeaux an up the west side of France and Paris because it is a bit more interesting than the motorway straight from Barcelona to Paris and then over the channel or possibly under the channel by the Chunnel.
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    New Customer Workshop

  • NCW Ep 3 – What VisitBucksPA Can Teach Us About Social Media Marketing

    Joe
    24 Jan 2012 | 7:17 pm
    In this episode I talk to Paul Bencivengo, Marketing & Communications Director for Visit Bucks County (@VisitBucksPA), the official tourism promotion agency for Bucks County PA. Visit Bucks County is doing a great job leveraging social media platforms like Foursquare, Facebook, Twitter and new channels like Pinterest to reach their audience.  Paul and I discuss [...]

  • 5 Shocking Reasons Why Traditional Marketing is Dead

    Joe
    23 Jan 2012 | 7:32 am
    We talk a lot about the value of building great content to attract your customers. It’s not just lip service. There really is no better way for small businesses on a tight budget to compete with larger corporations. This infographic from Hubspot  illustrates the shift from traditional marketing to inbound marketing. Consumers have turned against [...]

  • Don’t Be an Email D-Bag

    Joe
    31 Dec 2011 | 2:03 pm
    I’m sorry for the harsh title but frankly, I’m miffed. Why am I so miffed? Time Inc. A few years ago I subscribed to This Old House Magazine and decided that I wanted to receive emails from them. In May of this year I decided to unsubscribe to their emails. I clicked the unsubscribe link [...]

  • Infographic Illustrates How Shopper Psychology Applies to Social Commerce

    Joe
    27 Dec 2011 | 4:40 pm
    Psychologists define six rules of thumbs that they can apply to the behavior of shoppers. This infographic shows how these rules apply to social commerce. How do you tap into these psychological triggers in your store? I’d love to know in the comments.

  • 7 Social Media Blunders You Don’t Even Know You’re Making

    Joe
    27 Dec 2011 | 1:27 pm
    Social media channels like Facebook and Twitter are great tools for connecting with your customers. Like any tool, if you want great results you need to use them properly. To help, I’ve compiled a list of common mistakes people make while using social media channels. Small business owners always have too much to do and [...]
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    De Young Media | Strategic Marketing

  • Have Some Fun With Your Blog For Business

    Adam
    27 Jan 2012 | 7:31 am
    More often then not, blogging for business is all about keywords and SEO and positioning yourself or your company as someone that understands the needs of your customers, but sometimes, it’s ok to let loose. Usually I let myself do this on Fridays. After all, people want to do business with people, not stiff companies [...]

  • How Google Search Plus Changes Search Engine Optimization

    Adam
    26 Jan 2012 | 7:29 am
    If you have an account on Google Plus, you may have noticed lately that when you are searching using Google, results from your G+ account are showing up in your searches. This is a new feature that Google has rolled out called Search Plus, where they take what your friends have shared, what you have [...]

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    Adam
    25 Jan 2012 | 7:24 pm
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