Image memes may be a passing fad, but they've been hot long enough for marketers to consider taking advantage of their popularity. Not sure what a meme is? Read this: http://www.qualitylogoproducts.com/blog/7-things-marketers-should-know-memes-faq/

How do you make use of a Web phenomenon…

Over the past two years I have interviewed over forty successful entrepreneurs.  My criteria for an interview subject is that they must have built and sold at least one successful business.  Many of them have been serial entrepreneurs – having created more than one business and learned many lessons along the way.

As I’ve talked to these people it has become apparent that they all share certain traits that ultimately lead to their success.  If you want to succeed at your business (of…

Running and growing a small business is pretty fun. Paying taxes for that business is not. Thankfully, accounting software can help make the process a little less painful by tracking your accounts payable and receivable, your payroll, your inventory and all of your banking activity for you. However, with so many different types of software available on the market, it can be difficult to choose which accounting platform is best for your business. To help you make an informed decision, here’s…

Signs.com is kicking off their Business Hours Giveaway today. The giveaway is eligible to the first 5000 business owners that claim a free window decal for store hours. Signs.com works with many small businesses and is trying to give back as well as help small businesses in the tough economic climate that still exists in many parts of the United States.

Full details can be found in the press release found…

So your small business is thriving. You’ve doubled your number of employees in one year, you’ve opened up three new brick-and-mortar locations and your online store is doing better than ever. You’re ready to take things to the next level, and now you find yourself asking that all-important question – to incorporate or not to incorporate?

Incorporating a business can be a good idea for some entrepreneurs, but it certainly has its drawbacks as well. Consequently, it’s important that…

One day a gentleman visited his good friend who owned a busy advertising company. It had been months since he visited his friend's office.…

For any location-based business, such as a restaurant or retail store, the key is foot traffic. You need to get people in the door to make sales.

But how do you reach customers? Who are they? And where are they located?

Technology has made the process of researching local restaurants or retail stores easier than ever for your potential customers. Building a customer profile is no longer something only major national brands can afford. Any business – whether a regional chain, a…

There is this misconception floating around that marketing a business online is hard- hard to figure out, hard to do, and hard to maintain. If the business involves off-line services or is a brick and mortar entity, then these misconceptions may be magnified by the power of ten. It's a fact that many small businesses seem to be avoiding Internet marketing, and…

For the past few years BlackBerry has become a punchline in the wireless world. As new and advanced smartphones started to hit the market, BlackBerry continued with business as usual, creating more phones with the same old system. Two years ago, about two years too late, it finally committed to…

A smart phone is a small business owner’s best friend. It’s your lifeline to the business world, your office away from home and if used correctly, it can help you with every aspect of your job – from balancing your budget to managing your website’s back end. To get the most utility from your smart phone, though, you need to use the right apps. And while some developers offer costly, comprehensive app “suites” specifically designed for small business, such as…

Time is your most valuable resource as a freelancer, and it always seems that there’s never enough. With several online tools to choose from, freelancers and other soloprenueurs are increasingly turning to time-tracking apps to record their billable hours. But there are some other, less obvious ways to use time-tracking data to improve the way you run your business. Here are five of the best.



#1: Avoid Overbooking Yourself

Freelancers often use their…

Every smart business owner knows that search engine-optimized blogging is the foundation of good marketing. Content creation increases both your website’s traffic and its worthiness in the eyes of the almighty Google. What most business owners don’t realize, however, is that keeping your blogging platform secure is just as important as blogging itself.

At the moment, roughly half of the top 100 blogs on the Technorati index use…

What are the five most important types of contracts for a small business? The (short) answer to this and every other legal question is: it depends.

The top five contracts for someone in construction might differ than a CPA or a dentist. That said, let's look at some of the more basic agreements that small businesses typically run into.

1. Non-Disclosure Agreement. Also known as “NDA”, this agreement simply binds someone to keep a secret. NDAs can be very useful if…

Before you can understand how content marketing plays a role in the three stages of the B2B buying cycle, it’s important to make sure that you know exactly what content marketing is, and at what stage in the Internet Marketing process it needs to be used.

The simplest definition is that it is content that a business creates and shares in order to promote a service that they…

So your startup is doing well. You’re attracting new business, you’re generating revenue and what began as a five-person operation quartered in your garage is now ready to double in size. And that means one thing – it’s time to look for new office space.

Renting or purchasing new office space is an exciting moment in any business owner’s career. Your business has moved up a tier and you finally have something material to show for it. However, looking for new digs can also be a tricky.…

Reviewing bids from multiple developers? Be sure you’re comparing apples to apples. I recently started a discussion about the differences between fixed-price bids and estimates; but there are other factors to consider when selecting a partner for your web project, and we wanted to touch on some of those as well.

If you want a website for your business, you’ll be faced with a lot of choices like building it yourself, asking a friend…

If you’re an entrepreneur either looking to move into your first office or simply looking for a change of scenery, co-working spaces can be a fantastic option for you. They are often a little more expensive than renting an office in the traditional manner, but there are a number of reasons why they can be a great office space option for your small business. Peter Ames of Office Genie, a UK marketplace for desk and office space, picks four of the best.

Space is often available right…

When a client hits your 'hairy edge', the point where you're over their needy or demanding nature, it's time to say buh bye.  It's better for them and you.



But how do you fire a client when you like her and feel guilty because you know it's partly your fault for taking her in the first place.  It doesn't have to be a black and white decision.  You can take baby steps towards fixing your working relationship.



Here are 3 steps for getting asking for change with a…

If you want your startup to succeed, you’re going to have to motivate your employees. It’s one of the basic tenets of business.  There are several schools of thought on how best to do this.  What I’ve learned from growing companies like TicketPrinting.com, though, is that it doesn’t matter what you do to motivate your employees as long as you follow four basic rules.

1)      Offer Feedback.  As a startup CEO,…

If you have a local family business that’s been around for a while but has now gotten into trouble or sales are slowing, chances are good that your success came from providing a high level of service and advertising locally via the Yellow Pages and through word of mouth courtesy of your long term clientele.



Unfortunately, we live in a world where change is happening faster and faster, and lots of small family businesses are getting left behind and…