Small Business

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• Nine Marketing Tips for Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber MondayJoe Manna
  Large retailers can count on Black Friday to turn their books from red to black, and online retailers have Cyber Monday to cash in afterward. This year, though, we also ...
  Customer Acquisition, Customer Engagement, E-Commerce, Google, Marketing Tips, Small Business, Social Media
• Four Questions to Ask Yourself Before Starting a BusinessStephen Johnson
  Many people are bullish about growth prospects now that the Great Financial Crisis seems largely behind us. But a lack of planning and preparedness will sink many of ambitions to ...
  Customer Acquisition, Google, Market Research, Marketing Tips, Small Business
• Three LinkedIn No-Nos
  "People use LinkedIn to connect with coworkers and industry peers, get business advice, and even find new jobs," writes Diana Freedman at HubSpot. "It's a great place for businesses to ...
  LinkedIn, Marketing Tips, Personal Branding, Small Business
• Four Reasons to Revive the Bulky Direct Mail Piece
  "Just a few years ago, I could count on receiving a mailbox-full of direct mail nearly every day, including the crown jewel of direct marketing, the BIG direct mail piece," ...
  Copywriting, Direct Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Small Business
• 12 Small-Business Marketing Phone Tips for the 12 Days Till ChristmasKevin Baker
  During the holiday season, how do you reconcile the high-pressure needs of your small business with your family's desire to roast chestnuts on an open fire? Having a virtual phone ...
  Direct Marketing, Marketing Tips, Small Business, Technology, Telemarketing
• What Zappos Can (Still) Teach Us About Customer Service
  In the last few years, Zappos has become as famous for its stellar customer service as for the shoes, apparel and accessories it sells. And on a recent visit to ...
  Customer Service, Small Business, Word-of-Mouth
• What You Can Learn From the Gap's Logo Debacle
  Not long ago, Gap sparked a social-media firestorm when it quietly unveiled a redesigned logo. People not only disliked the bargain-basement aesthetic—they hated it. And, writes Umair Haque at Harvard ...
  Logos, Marketing Smarter, Small Business, Social Media
• Small-Biz Search Ad Growth Slows in 3Q10
  Small-business advertisers spent on average $2,373 on search advertising in the third quarter of 2010, up 43% from the $1,658 spent in the same period a year earlier, and up ...
  Customer Behavior, PPC Campaigns, Research Summaries, Small Business
• How to Change When It's 'Change or Die'
  In a post at Harvard Business Online, Bill Taylor reflects on the influential article "Change or Die," published five years ago by Fast Company. "It was a bracing reminder of ...
  Creativity, Marketing Smarter, Small Business
• Protect Profitability: Start Each Day With a Mission Statement
  "Many business owners have dutifully written their vision and mission statements, working hard to craft statements with impact and importance," writes Marla Tabaka at Inc. "But what happens to those ...
  Creativity, Small Business, Vision Statements
• How to Outbid Bigger Competitors on Google AdWords
  You might think that your small business—say, one with an annual Google AdWords budget of $50,000—has no chance when bidding against larger companies with much deeper pockets. Happily, that just isn't ...
  Keywords, Marketing Tips, Search Engine Marketing, Small Business
• Small Biz Report: Social Media Adoption Levels Off
  As small businesses continue to navigate the economic recession, their adoption of innovative marketing technologies such as social media has leveled off, while expectations among those who use social media ...
  Forecasts, Research Summaries, Small Business, Social Media
• How to Become a Newsmaker
  When you're ready to position yourself as a media resource, says blogger Nettie Hartsock, you can hire publicists who pitch your expertise to journalists—or you can start making news at ...
  Blogging, Small Business, Thought Leadership
• Bambi vs. Godzilla: How to Work With Very Big ClientsMatthew Stibbe
  Who said small firms can do business only with other small firms? If you can get your foot in the door, working for Fortune 500 companies is the smart way ...
  Case Studies, Hiring Outside Resources, Marketing Tips, Small Business
• Thoughts About Being a Thought Leader
  Don't make the mistake of assuming thought leadership springs automatically from content marketing. "Thought leadership is not created with one, two or three pieces of content," writes Ardath Albee at ...
  Content Marketing, Small Business, Thought Leadership
• Four Ways to Impress Customers With Social Responsibility
  "It's a global trend," writes Geri Stengel at MarketingProfs. "Consumers want to buy from, employees want to work for, and other businesses want supplies from, socially responsible enterprises." So how ...
  Customer Relationships, Marketing Tips, Small Business
• Social Media Use Growing Among Microbusinesses
  Nearly eight in 10 of the nation's smallest companies (79%) say marketing is a major success factor for their business and nearly one-half (46%) of such firms, or microbusinesses, say ...
  Research Summaries, Small Business, Social Media
• How to Build a Content Time Bomb
  When we write for company blogs, we tend to focus on timely information that's meant to be read sooner rather than later. But Rohit Bhargava suggests the creation of "content ...
  Keywords, Small Business, Targeting, Web Content
• Five Reasons Why Social Media Is Right for Small BusinessMike Krause
  When it comes to social media, the one thing that small and midsize businesses want to know is this: Is it worth it? Yes, it is. Here are five quick ...
  Marketing Tips, SEO, Small Business, Social Media
• Three Brilliant Lessons From Gilt.com
  "To say that Gilt.com is on fire may be something of [an] understatement," says Rohit Bhargava at the Influential Marketing Blog. "The site, which features daily special sales of luxury ...
  Creativity, E-Commerce, Small Business, Web Content