Small Business Ideas, Advice and Resources

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Just Say No to Hourly Rates
The majority of people in service businesses - and especially people who work independently - establish an hourly rate. But this is rarely the best way to position yourself in the market or the best way to get paid what you're worth. Read more >>

Face the Dragon
As a sales professional, you face a dragon when you meet with decision makers in the organizations you prospect and present to. If you don’t deliver, your competition might be able to steal the business away from you. Here are five strategies to consider when you face your dragon.

Your Small Business In 2009
Like my entire family smushed into my parents' spare bedroom this time last week, so, too, can small businesses expect their space to crowd with more startups in the coming year. Read more >>

How "Fit" is Your Customer Service Department?
Have you ever considered the fitness level of your customer service department? Just like with personal fitness, there are many components to managing the well-being of a customer service department. Read more >>

How to Resolve Business Partnership Issues
Even the best of business partnerships go through rough times. But what if your partnership has issues you think can't be resolved? Here are some of the most common problems business partnerships face and ideas for how to deal with them.

The 7 Worst Communication Blunders of 2008
From former stars to presidential wannabes, here's a roundup of 2008's communication blunders. Details >>

9 for '09: 9 Ways to Brave a Scary New Year
With daily headlines on bailouts, bankruptcies, and a broken-down job market, workers everywhere are bracing themselves for 2009--afraid for what's next. Here are 9 ways to brave a scary '09 at work, home, and beyond.

5 Ways to Take Command of a Partnership Gone Bad
If you're in a business partnership or a longstanding working relationship that isn't working, ask yourself these questions. Then, if you need to change or end the partnership, follow these five steps.

Hard Times, Creative Measures
When the going gets tough, resilient working women get going. They think out of the box. Meet four females who fit the bill.

Learn to Recognize Ponzi Schemes
Ponzi schemes have been around for over a century, but small businesses still sometimes fall victim to them. Here's what you need to know in order to recognize them.

Top 10 Tips for Effective Sales
We’re all crossing our fingers these days and hoping for a better economic environment. However, even during these tough times, effective salespeople are acquiring new customers and making sales. How? Here are the top ten tips for effective sales that will bring you success regardless of the state of the economy.

Why No Online Presence Could Mean the Death of Your Business
Taking your business online not for you? Before you make this decision, be sure you know the facts about buying trends for the future. If you don't, your business may wind up somewhere you'd never want it to be. Read more >>

Yellow Pages 2.0
When contemplating the best ways to advertise online to your local market, don't let your fingers walk past a tried-and-true resource that has been at your disposal long before you were born. Read more >>

7 Tips for a Successful Business Partnership
Business partnerships take on a variety of forms. They may be a long term formal legal commitment or a simple short term venture to test a market concept. Use the following seven strategies for a partnership that starts strong and stays strong.

Why Taking Care of Yourself is Good for Your Business
You work and work until something happens and you stop for a while. Maybe you get sick or a personal emergency happens. Whatever it is, outside circumstances force you to take a break. Sound familiar? Here are three reasons why you should take a break to take care of yourself if you want your business to thrive.

8 Ways to Get More from Your Existing Customers
Are you leveraging your existing customer database? If you're not, you're losing out on a cost effective source of potential new business. Here are eight ways you can get more business from your current customers.

Avoid Becoming a Holiday Burglary Victim
Santa may not be the only one slipping into your home and business this holiday season, for this is also the high season for burglary against individuals and businesses. Find out how you can protect yourself from thieves this holiday season.

Go Ahead And Have Your Office Holiday Party
A day after widespread layoffs, my former company went ahead with its preplanned summer BBQ. Biting into my burger that hot day several years ago, I couldn't help but wonder if cancelling the event could have saved someone's job. So here we are less than three weeks away from the holidays. Anyone in the mood to party with co-workers?

How to Be a Top-Earning Coach or Consultant You know your stuff. You are an undisputed expert in your field. The few customers you've helped sing your praises. But that's the problem. There are still too few customers. What's the single most important thing you can do to build your business and grow your profits? Click here for details >>

Steps to Finding the Right Business Partner
Having a partner presents a complex mix of interpersonal and business issues, and both need to be addressed for it to work. Here are the steps you should take when considering business partners.

How to Measure Your Social Media Advertising
The benefits of advertising in social media (like MySpace or Facebook) are many, but measuring its impact on your business is difficult. In this excerpt from Advertising 2.0, find out how to balance metrics and insight for social media advertising success.

Accept Credit Cards: Merchant Account Benefits for Your Business
Accepting credit cards in your business comes with many benefits, not the least of which is convenience for your customers. It can also save you time and money, and provide you with much improved cash flow. Here's why having a merchant account is good for business.

7 Survival Skills for the New World of Work
In an economic downturn, employers need to be even more careful with their hiring decisions. And recent graduates from some of the best schools may not have the skills that matter most in the new global knowledge economy. From the author of The Global Achievement Gap, here are seven survival skills that employees need in today's workplace.

Recession Aside, You Still Need To Advertise
Gimme an R… Gimme an E… Hey, have you heard? We're officially in a recession -- and have been for, oh, about a year now. Cutting your budget may be inevitable, but cutting your advertising should not be. Here are ten free or low-cost advertising ideas.

How to Beat a Sales Slump
The feeling you get when you know your sales are diving can be overwhelming and can set even the most seasoned salesperson into panic mode. Here's some good news: It is possible to dig yourself out of a sales slump and turn things around. Read this advice to find out how.

ADA Changes - What Employers Need to Know
On September 25, 2008, the President signed the ADA Amendments Act. The Act makes important changes to the definition of the term "disability" by rejecting the holdings in several Supreme Court decisions and portions of EEOC's ADA regulations. Find out what those changes are and how they affect you as an employer.

How Ego Gets in the Way of Customer Service
Dealing with customer concerns, problems and issues is a fact of life when you sell a product or service. Some situations start as minor difficulties but quickly escalate into huge drawn-out battles. Unfortunately, many sales people unknowingly cause situations to escalate.

Watch Out for Shoplifters During the Holiday Season
The holiday season between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day is one of joy and happiness -- even with a suffering economy. Unfortunately, this time of year also brings out the thieves, robbers and crooks. Read more >>

Last-Minute Considerations As We Slide Into Cyber Monday
Cyber Monday is nearly upon us. If you run an online store, you should have your holiday promotions ready to go. Here are a few last-minute tips.

9 Alternatives to a Traditional Business Loan
Having trouble getting a business loan? Whether your business needs capital to grow, meet payroll, or to just simply survive, there are numerous alternatives for your company when banks say "no." Here are nine alternative sources of capital that you may not have considered.

7 Simple Ways to Boost Your Holiday Sales
It’s that time of year again, so how do you ensure that your e-commerce store receives its share of the Christmas shopping extravaganza pie? Here are seven tips that can help.

8 Ways To Ward Off Meeting Monotony
You don't have to be a math whiz to figure this one out: If time equals money, then how much moolah are we wasting sitting through endless meetings?

5 Smart Holiday Marketing Tips
Why develop a marketing campaign just for the Thanksgiving to New Year period? It’s simple. From now until January 1, the “buyer mentality” prevails. Buyers are ready to make purchases at any time, not just while shopping. Study these five marketing strategies and adapt them to your business.

Advertising and Brand Building with Social Networks
In this excerpt from Advertising 2.0, learn about how social networks work and how advertising works within two of the most popular social networks today. Details >>

FMLA Final Rule Published
The U.S. Department of Labor has published a final rule to update the regulations under the 15-year-old Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) — a measure that will help workers and their employers better understand their rights and responsibilities, and speed the implementation of a new law that expands FMLA coverage for military family members. Read more in this overview of the new FMLA rule >>

Is Your Envelope Killing Your Direct Mail Response?
If your direct mail pieces are not getting the interest you want, you may want to think about the packaging you send your direct mail in. A boring package could be your problem. Read on to find out how dimensional mailers can dramatically improve your direct mail response.

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