Services Tailor Apps for Small Businesses (Programs Are Seen as Good Marketing Tools for Regular Customers, but Less Useful in Attracting New Clients)

Barbara Heinrich says she isn’t computer-savvy, but last month the owner of Local Motion, a clothing boutique in Minneapolis, went online and built her own mobile-phone application. It was worth a try, she figured, considering how cheap and easy it was to do and how addicted to iPhone apps young people like her daughter were. [...]

Squeezing Web Sites Onto Cellphones (Businesses Try to Shift Online Communities, Consumer Forums to Places Tailored for Wireless Users)

When a group of engineers at National Instruments Corp. modified a 1988 Oldsmobile so it could be controlled by an iPhone, the company was quick to share the project on its online forum for customers. A spouse “might not care about it, but our community eats it up,” said Deidre Walsh, community and social media [...]

Business Can Use Twitter to Predict Sales

There’s a new tool that can help companies predict sales for the coming weeks, or decide whether to increase inventories or put items on sale in certain stores. Social-media sites such as Twitter have made it increasingly easy to find out what consumers think and want without the limitations and bias associated with older market-research [...]

Marketers Find Web Chat Can Be Inspiring

International Business Machines and a handful of other major marketers, including casino operator Harrah’s Entertainment and software giant Microsoft, are experimenting with developing ad campaigns based in part on what consumers are chatting about on the Web. For decades, advertisers have relied heavily on sometimes-dated consumer surveys and focus groups to provide grist for their [...]

Hershey’s Arrested Development

Buried within Hershey’s (HSY) Web site is a section that invites consumers to pitch their own ideas for new products. “We are seeking innovative concepts,” it reads. “What’s your big idea?” Hershey could certainly use the help. The innovation cupboard at the $5.1 billion chocolate maker has grown bare. In the mid-2000s, Hershey regularly launched [...]

Small Business Get Free Advice

CitySquares Online Inc. saw sales start to decline dramatically in late 2008 as some of the local-search-engine provider’s customers could no longer afford its advertising services. So the small business turned to its board of six volunteer advisers—experts in areas such as sales, marketing, finance, entrepreneurship and venture capital—who suggested expanding the Web site beyond [...]

Three Best Ways to Win a Corporate Client

In this challenging economy, Corporate America is hunkering down and limiting spending on products or services that don’t address critical needs. That’s made it more difficult than ever for small businesses to attract and land corporate accounts. They’ve had to do even more prospecting – more calls, more networking, and more seeking of referrals, says [...]

Three Best Ways to Improve Your Online Reputation

These days, a great danger lurks just a few clicks away: the online review. By Googling your company’s name, anyone can read and track your business’s performance – including missteps, poor service or less-than-stellar products. Protecting your company’s reputation is now a 24-hour vigil. Negative reviews – whether they’re merited or not – can turn [...]

Three Best Ways to Win a Government Contract

More small businesses are looking to make the federal government a client, since it’s a smart way to diversify sources of revenue when regular clients aren’t biting. The U.S. government is the largest buyer of goods and services in the world, spending $500 billion last year. And that’s not including the additional $787 billion in [...]

To Benefit From 2009 Tax Incentives, New Equipment Must Be Rolling By End of the Year!

Let’s face it – we’re all thinking about ways to save money – from eating out less to delaying that major home or auto purchase – belts are tightening everywhere. Your business is no different!. Opportunity Knocks -Save With the 2009 Tax Incentives The new and improved Internal Revenue Section 179 is one of the [...]