Small Business News, Tools and Articles

Get the Word Out!

StartupNation Blog — Get the Word Out! Once you do your research and contact media members with targeted pitches, there are several other things you can do to build buzz about your business. ^

National Retail Federation Innovation Conference Loves Mobile Tech

Mobile Marketing Watch — National Retail Federation Innovation Conference Loves Mobile Tech The first-ever National Retail Federation Innovation & Marketing Conference, taking place in San Francisco this week, is all a-buzz about mobile. ^

Open buying and open selling

Seth's Blog — Open buying and open selling If I can sell you something without a sales call or expensive ad campaign, I can sell it cheaper.If you want to buy a business development relationship but you're not willing to negotiate, do contracts and invest a lot of time, you're going to get a lesser deal.It seems like a paradox, but it's not.Firefox is free, largely because it doesn't cost anything for them to 'sell' it to you. ^

How to Change the World — Although not necessary, once you’ve configured your e-mail, you can follow the other instructions on your control panel to configure your domain to use Google Docs (which is a suite of online word processing and spreadsheet apps) in addition to Google’s Calendar, Chat, and Sites services. The entire process will take less than thirty minutes of your time although you may have to wait up to an hour between some steps while Google’s servers verify that you own and control your domain name. ^

The Secret to Turning Your Business Into One You Can Sell

Small Business Trends — The Secret to Turning Your Business Into One You Can Sell I used to own a market research firm, and we’d do just about anything for a buck. ^

5 Benefits of LinkedIn For Bloggers | Online Media Gazette

bizSugar / Hot Topics — Online Media Gazette LinkedIn isn't just a tool for businesses to expand their brand on, but individuals like bloggers can benefit a lot if they spend some time on it. ^

Are You Brave Enough to Work for Social Change?

HBR Editors' Blog — But there was an unofficial, existential thread running through several of the keynote speeches — namely, finding yourself through public service. Philanthropist and businessman Raymond Chambers sat with The Economist's Matthew Bishop in a couple of easy chairs at center stage (inviting, of course, hundreds of their closest entrepreneurial friends) and held an "informal" discussion about the ways Chambers has applied many of the business principles he honed in the world of private equity to cre

Are You Brave Enough to Work for Social Change?

HBR Editors' Blog — But there was an unofficial, existential thread running through several of the keynote speeches — namely, finding yourself through public service. Philanthropist and businessman Raymond Chambers sat with The Economist's Matthew Bishop in a couple of easy chairs at center stage (inviting, of course, hundreds of their closest entrepreneurial friends) and held an "informal" discussion about the ways Chambers has applied many of the business principles he honed in the world of private equity to cre

Starbucks’ video case study: Building Meaningful Customer Engagement

GasPedal — Starbucks’ video case study: Building Meaningful Customer Engagement Come to BlogWell: How Big Brands Use Social Media on April 7 in Cincinnati to hear Dell, Duke Energy, Procter & Gamble, Hilton Worldwide, AT&T, Tyson Foods, Rogers Communications, and General Mills share case studies in corporate social media. You’ll learn how to get started, get past roadblocks, and make your social media program phenomenal [...]

Tablet Computers Now With Touch: Boosting Productivity of Mobile Professionals

Smallbiztechnology.com — It's an ultra-thin, multitouch-enabled convertible tablet that provides an interactive experience for businesses in health care, education, sales and more. What's neat about this tablet PC is that it has touch capabilities, similar to what you'd find on a smart phone (such as the iPhone). ^

The Importance of Small Business and Jobs

The Entrepreneurial Mind — The Importance of Small Business and Jobs The importance small businesses for both job creation and job loss in our economy is highlighted in a new study from the SBA Office of Advocacy.  Through much of the 1990s and and into the 2000s, small businesses accounted for 65% of new jobs created in the economy. ^

Growth and Exit

The Entrepreneurial Mind — Growth and Exit Jason Del Rey has a great interview with Josh James at Inc.com about his growth of Omniture and eventual sale to Adobe.  A very honest reflection -- well worth the read.(Thanks to Belmont alum Bradley Martin for passing this along). Jason Del Rey has a great interview with Josh James at Inc.com about his growth of Omniture and eventual sale to Adobe.  A very honest reflection -- well worth the read.(Thanks to Belmont alum Bradley Martin for passing this a

Win A Free Pro Account At Magntize

Small Business Trends — Win A Free Pro Account At Magntize Can you really get something for nothing these days?  The good news is that, yes, you can.   The great group of guys over at Magntize have offered Small Business Trends readers the opportunity to throw their name into the hat for a chance to win a complimentary pro account at Magntize.  Magntize is a site that helps you to introduce yourself to the world.  As the guys at Magntize say, “Sure we all have blogs and accounts with various social networking sites. ^

Small Business News for March 4, 2010

Small Business Trends — Small Business News for March 4, 2010 There’s plenty to watch in today’s small business news roundup from Small Business Trends. ^

Adenyo to Expand Internationally with New $26.9M

Mobile Marketing Watch — Adenyo to Expand Internationally with New $26.9M Mobile marketing company Adenyo just announced that it has snagged $26.9 million in new funding to accelerate its international growth. ^

Introducing the Email Marketing Enlightenment Discussion Group

StartupNation Blog — In partnership with StartupNation, Infusionsoft will host a dedicated discussion group on the latest email marketing practices, strategies and tips that will help your business or startup use email marketing the right way. ^

Hair Salon Sees 70% Reduction In No-Shows With SMS Reminders

Mobile Marketing Watch — Hair Salon Sees 70% Reduction In No-Shows With SMS Reminders It’s always nice to come across use-cases for SMS beyond the basic confines of marketing, and a perfect example is the increased usage of the medium for appointment reminders. Headrush Hair Salon, an up-scale and high-traffic salon in the U.K, enlisted the help of TextMagic to introduce SMS reminders to cut down on no-shows and reduce [...]

Are You Happy, Or Just Remembering Wrong?

Planning, Startups, Stories — Here’s the TED summary: Using examples from vacations to colonoscopies, Nobel laureate and founder of behavioral economics Daniel Kahneman reveals how our “experiencing selves” and our “remembering selves” perceive happiness differently. ^

Entrepreneurs, Is Your Time More Valuable?

YoungEntrepreneur.com Blog — Entrepreneurs, Is Your Time More Valuable? For an entrepreneur, every minute matters. If you’re not attending to your business, then you’re not growing as fast as you might want or need to. ^

Building Your Referral Engine – Free Webinar with the Referral A-Team

Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing — Building Your Referral Engine – Free Webinar with the Referral A-Team Building Your Referral Engine – Free Webinar with the Referral A-TeamThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing Building Your Referral Engine – Free Webinar with the Referral A-TeamThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing As part of the Make a Referral Week 2010 Education Series I am highlighting the power of referrals and word of mouth marketing with a live event featuring the some of the brightest authors, speakers and thought le

Uh-oh! Seven Steps to Deal with an Unhappy Client

Freelance Folder — Seven Steps to Deal with an Unhappy Client It can happen to the best of us: a client is disappointed with the work we turned it. ^

Open buying and open selling

Seth's Blog — Open buying and open selling If I can sell you something without a sales call or expensive ad campaign, I can sell it cheaper.If you want to buy a business development relationship but you're not willing to negotiate, do contracts and invest a lot of time, you're going to get a lesser deal.It seems like a paradox, but it's not.Firefox is free, largely because it doesn't cost anything for them to 'sell' it to you. ^

McKinsey on The Internet of Things

Small Business Labs — McKinsey on The Internet of Things The McKinsey Quarterly's article The Internet of Things (registration required) does an excellent job of summarizing the topic. ^

Sales Tip of the Day: STIR IT UP

The Selling Sherpa — Sales Tip of the Day: STIR IT UP Chances are you attend regular meetings of some organization in your marketplace, whether it is a Chamber, service organization (like Rotary, Lions, Kiwanis), professional association or leads group. Do you sit at the same table with the same people every time?? ^

Competitive Intelligence 2.0, The Social Media Monitoring Advantage

bizSugar / Hot Topics — Competitive Intelligence 2.0, The Social Media Monitoring Advantage Competitive intelligence 2.0 is just the latest benefactor of Web 2.0 technology. ^

Small Business News for March 3, 2010

Small Business Trends — Here is our latest roundup of the news articles and blogs we’re reading and what’s important, from Small Business Trends. Policy Will small business really be better off with another layer of government regulation? ^

What's Your Business Telling You?

Entrepreneur.com: Latest Articles — What's Your Business Telling You? How to make sense of the information you already have

The New Double Bottom Line

Entrepreneur.com: Latest Articles — The New Double Bottom Line The L3C designation is helping entrepreneurs start for-profit businesses with non-profit souls.

15 Small-Business Tax Deductions

Entrepreneur.com: Latest Articles — 15 Small-Business Tax Deductions Tracking expenses consistently and accurately can help you shrink your tax bill.

Linking Passion and Career: The Perils of Nonprofit Recruiting

Knowledge@Wharton — Linking Passion and Career: The Perils of Nonprofit Recruiting The conventional wisdom on the campuses of elite universities used to be that the nonprofit sector could never compete for top job seekers against big-name firms that promised a meteoric career path. ^

Saying Goodbye: New Exit Strategies for Today's Venture Capitalists

Knowledge@Wharton — The bountiful returns of the dotcom years are long gone and venture capital (VC) firms are now struggling to exit their investments via initial public offerings or mergers and acquisitions. ^

'Badge' Value: Finding and Promoting Products That Inspire Customer Loyalty

Knowledge@Wharton — 'Badge' Value: Finding and Promoting Products That Inspire Customer Loyalty Alex Panos and his colleagues at TSG Consumer Partners, a San Francisco-based investment fund, believe that consumers will always be interested in products that enhance their lives, even if it means paying more than they have in the past. ^

Cents and Sensibility: Why Marketing to Multicultural Consumers Requires a Subtle Touch

Knowledge@Wharton — Cents and Sensibility: Why Marketing to Multicultural Consumers Requires a Subtle Touch In an era of globalization and fluid national borders, advertising that appeals to cultural and ethnic identity has become a vital part of the corporate marketing arsenal. ^

Brazil's Gold: How Rio Won Its Olympic Bid

Knowledge@Wharton — Brazil's Gold: How Rio Won Its Olympic Bid Last fall, after losing previous bids, Rio de Janeiro -- Brazil's second-largest city -- won the approval of the International Olympic Committee to host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. ^

E-textbooks: The New Best-sellers

Knowledge@Wharton — E-textbooks: The New Best-sellers While some students may be using notebooks or netbooks to read textbooks these days, some experts predict that within the next 10 years, most U.S. college students -- and many high-school and elementary-school students as well -- will probably be reading course materials on an electronic device instead of in a paper book. ^

Sales Tip of the Day: SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO

The Selling Sherpa — How do you answer the question, “should I stay or should I go?” I will typically consider three things: Does the subject of the event address a problem my customers are facing? Does the subject of the event address an idea I want to pursue but have not had time to research? Is the speaker or featured presenter someone I want to make a connection with? If the answer to any of these is yes, I’ll go. ^

02 Media: SMS Marketing Still Superior to Mobile Apps

Mobile Marketing Watch — 02 Media: SMS Marketing Still Superior to Mobile Apps Although mobile apps are clearly all the rage, Shaun Gregory, the managing director of O2 Media, says it’s important not to place apps ahead of sound mobile marketing practices when it comes to utilizing the mobile space most efficiently in the promotional process. Gregory advised firms to avoid the temptation of becoming wholly preoccupied with creating [...]

Niche Social Networks

Small Business Labs — The 10 include social networks for mustache lovers, vampires (or fans of vampires) and 8 other niche social networks. ^

Black Ops Social Media Marketing

bizSugar / Hot Topics — It pulls me back to my early days in the intelligence community… Okay, maybe not quite the same-I never had to kill quite so many people to accomplish my objectives. ^

2 Ways to Create Influence and Persuade Others for Salespeople

bizSugar / Hot Topics — 2 Ways to Create Influence and Persuade Others for Salespeople Real influence, the real ability to persuade others, is based on the foundational attributes of success. ^