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Small Business Brief
Weekly Newsletter - Date
Hi All!
Here is this week's edition of our newsletter.
Keep in mind that what you are currently looking at is a template. Although it has the current news up until today's date, my actual opening remarks for this week are only available in the newsletter once it is delivered.
Just let me know if you have questions or comments.
See you next week!
Linda Riley
Editor - Small Business Brief
linda @ smallbusinessbrief.com
Be sure and drop by our Small Business Ideas Forum. It's a friendly community where we share knowledge, find help and encourage one another.
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Recent Conversations In Our Small Business Ideas Forum |
Creating a Powerful Sales Presentation
successfuloffice.com - The quality of your sales presentation will often determine whether a prospect buys from you or one of your competitors. However, experience has taught me that most presentations lack pizzazz and are seldom compelling enough to motivate the other person to make a buying decision. Here are seven strategies that will help you create a presentation that will differentiate you from your competition.
Successful Business Strategies
workoninternet.com - Having started two businesses, I have learned about small business planning and strategies for success. Here are my suggestions:
How To Avoid These Common Affiliate Mistakes
workoninternet.com - Affiliate marketing can be really hard, especially when you are a newbie. Affiliate marketers are also human beings. They are liable to make mistakes once in a while. Every marketer makes mistakes and if
Here are the most common mistakes that affiliate marketers make. Together with these mistakes are the lessons learned.
10 Insider Tips for Retail Success
entrepreneur.com - Learn some of the ins and outs of successfully running your own retail location from a tween clothing and accessories retailer.
Fakes!
pcworld.com - Counterfeit hardware is making its way to online merchants and to stores near you. And poor performance isn't the only risk: Bogus parts can be hazardous to your health.
People Skill and the 4 Basic Types
ezinearticles.com - Do you have the people skill needed to handle difficult people? Best selling author, Peter Urs Bender has come up with four basic personality types. Based on the fact that you really can’t understand someone who’s being difficult, until you can see the world through his or her eyes, here are the four basic types.
Ten Tips for Increasing Sales on eBay
allbusiness.com - Whether you're a brand-new eBayer or an old hand, these 10 tips can help increase interest in your auctions and can translate into more sales.
Building an Online Shopping Cart
monstercommerce.com - Like any venture, there are many steps to launching a successful online shopping cart. When planning your business, one of the most important considerations is the development of your shopping cart. How will you e-commerce enable your site? Will you have a programmer develop the online shopping cart from the ground up or will you implement an asp shopping cart software online store equipped with pre-programmed e-commerce functionality?
The Definition of Marketing. Has It Changed?
websitemarketingplan.com - With the continued proliferation of the Internet, the meaning of the word "marketing" also seems to proliferate. Cyberspace has opened up a whole arena of new marketing technologies, techniques, and twists. Amidst the online exuberance, it seems each online marketer or salesperson changes the definition of marketing to suit his or her preference.
Which is Better: New customers or repeat business? - Part 1 of 2
businessknowhow.com - Every management authority on the circuit says that loyal customers and their repeat purchases are the cornerstone of your long-term successful business. The reason is obvious: it is less costly to get your existing customers to buy more than it is to find new ones. The lower cost of sale leads gives you higher operating margins, which you can then invest in other business building activities, and so it goes.
Why Digital Publishing Is the Ultimate Internet Business
gothrive.com - Opportunities abound on the Internet, but one opportunity stands head-and-shoulders above all of the rest for home-based entrepreneurs. That opportunity is in digital publishing.
How to Select a Legitimate Home Business
allmerchants.com - With an increasing amount of scams on the internet posing as legitimate home businesses it is becoming more and more difficult to find a business opportunity that is not going to take your money and run.
Excuses Can Make or Break You
ireprint.info - If you want to do something in life, there is no doubt that you will find a way. If on the other hand you don't want to do something, you will always find an excuse. At times you want to achieve something in life, but are cluttered by your own negative excuses telling you why you cannot achieve what you are after.
Loan Interview
smallbizlending.com - What follows is a listing of questions typically asked in a loan interview.
Impressing Your Customers Is Easy With 3 Guaranteed Tactics
workoninternet.com - Customer satisfaction isn't one single act, but a group of actions that work together to make their experience a pleasant and satisfying experience. Provide good service in these three areas, and they'll be back... time and time again.
What's Hot: Do-It-Yourself Meal Preparation Businesses
entrepreneur.com - The kitchen is where all the action's at with these deliciously simple do-it-yourself meal preparation businesses
Tying it all together
btobonline.com - With the endless fragmentation of media channels and long selling cycles typical in b-to-b, marketers are as challenged as ever to find and keep customers. One strategy that continues to gain steam is integrated, consistent messaging to customers across channels over a set period of time.
Surfing simplified
realtor.org - If you’re looking for ways to protect your computer from viruses, many of which depend on Microsoft’s Internet Explorer to create an infection, consider switching to a browser other than IE. As the dominant browser software in the market, Explorer is the easiest target for hackers.
Thirteen Simple Ways to Bring Order to Your Inbox
pcworld.com - Whether you're a grizzled e-mail vet or you just got your first account, these 13 tips for Microsoft Outlook 2003, Outlook Express 6, and Mozilla Thunderbird 1.5 will help you make the most of the medium. (Note that many of the tips will also work in older versions of the programs.)
Competing Online
impactarticles.com - There are more than a hundred websites; in fact the number of website is exploding exponentially. If there were only a hundred Web sites, you might think they would each get a lot more attention, but that’s not the case. If there only a hundred web sites, no one would bother surfing the Web at all. It’s the large number of sites covering a large range of topics that has caused hundreds of millions of people to go online.
HOME::Internet-and-Businesses-Online/Domain-Names
ezinearticles.com - It's one of those frustrating things that can happen when we're setting up an online business. The business idea, the name, and the details for all the other steps fall into place. Except…the perfect dot com domain for our site is already taken.
Costs of Incorporating
allbusiness.com - Many small-business owners incorporate their businesses to protect themselves and their shareholders from liability. That way, their personal assets are safe from business creditors or lawsuits against their firms. Before you incorporate, however, you should consider the costs of doing so. Here´s a look at the major costs and how they can vary with circumstances.
Projecting Cash Flow
americanexpress.com - Cash flow problems often catch small business owners by surprise. An accurate cash flow projection can protect entrepreneurs against this situation.
Effectively Monitor The Progress of Your Email Communications With Mail Tracking Tools!
smallbusinessbrief.com - I am sure you would not be surprised that not every email that you send is received or read by the intended recipient. There are many reasons for these lost communication nuggets including Spam filtering, overloaded inbox, forwarding rules or simple avoidance. The solution is email tracking!
Promotional Marketing Products - Selecting the Perfect Item
smallbusinessbrief.com - People are known to shop on impulse- buying an item just because it is on sale, or purchasing something because it looks great in the store. When shopping for promotional items, you really can't succumb to impulses. Instead, you must carefully decide on an item that will help meet your objectives.
How To Build Business Credit
smallbusinessbrief.com - Having their own business is something many millions of people dream of doing. Many do, of course, but so many others never quite get around to it. One of the factors that may discourage people from getting that business off the ground, is a lack of start up capital; and another may be the risk of losing their own money.
Having Trouble Finding Items to Sell on eBay? Here's a Great Solution
smallbusinessbrief.com - If you're having a problem finding items to sell on eBay, you might want to consider a strategy called consignment selling.
Start a small business in the next growth industry
small-biz-advisor.com - The Internet was the plastics of the late 90’s… so what is it today? Well, I can’t give you a one-word answer, but I can boil it down into two: Luxury Services.
What tools do I need before putting together an Internet marketing plan?
allbusiness.com - If you want to have an online presence, you need several basic technology tools at your disposal to guarantee that you will be successful with your Internet marketing plan. Without the following in place, it will be difficult to successfully market your business on the Web:
Setting Up a Home-Based EBay Business
smallbusiness.yahoo.com - Many businesses have gotten their starts from people cleaning out their attics and selling their surplus belongings on eBay. Even if you have never been to the eBay Web site, you may be able to turn can turn your clutter, crafts, hobbies, or interests into money by selling them on eBay.
Thank God The Blog Craze Is Almost Over
ducttapemarketing.com - Blogging as a business fad seems to be passing - and that's a good thing.
Developing a Business Idea
americanexpress.com - Conventional wisdom says that your big idea for a small business will gradually develop into the exact replica of what you imagined when you came up with the idea. The reality for many business owners is that the first idea only serves as the kernel for the one that will eventually fly.
The Most Important E-Mail Marketing Tactic of All
inc.com - E-mail is well-regarded in the marketing world for its low cost, ease of use and exceptional measurability. But e-mail marketing also possesses another, often-overlooked strength. If you know how, e-mail makes it easier to ensure your campaigns are successful and well received nearly every time. What's the secret? Testing.
The Bill's In the Mail
entrepreneur.com - Offer customers flexibility with a "Bill Me Later" payment option.
IRS Streamlines Extension of Time to File for Business Taxpayers
businessknowhow.com - The Internal Revenue Service has simplified the process for business taxpayers filing for an extension.
How To Raise Your Fees
businessknowhow.com - There is a delicate balance between the fee you need to charge for your products and services, and the fee that people are willing to pay for them. But with gasoline, heating, shipping, health care, and other costs rising, there comes a time when you must raise your rates in order to remain profitable.
10 Things You Should Be Monitoring On Your Website
smallbusinessbrief.com - Every business needs to know how it is doing. That's the idea behind exit surveys, customer feedback forms, suggestion boxes and other devices. Without feedback from the customer, monitoring inventory, expenses, revenue and other benchmarks, a business can take a quick slide down a slippery slope, without the owner ever seeing it coming – or being able to stop the slide.
5 Ways To Generate Leads From Your Web Site
smallbusinesssuccess.biz - Use the following five tactics to generate a list of qualified prospects.
Protect Your Business
pcmag.com - Small businesses have less to protect, but that doesn't mean less to lose: A single attack can cost them everything.
Fighting ID Theft and Fraud
wallstreetandtech.com - As criminals dream up new and more-sophisticated schemes to steal and profit from personal data, consumer confidence in e-commerce, including online financial services, is taking a hit. Be prepared: Online users expect the financial industry to take action.
Law and Orders
entrepreneur.com - Build your eBay business on a strong legal foundation to keep the bids coming.
Holding a Web meeting? 5 pitfalls to avoid
microsoft.com - Before you jump into a Web conference, let's review some of the most common Web conferencing errors, and discuss what can be done to prevent them.
Taking on a New Employee
bizhelp24.com - When taking on a new employee, it is required that you complete the necessary forms concerning the employees' income tax and national insurance contributions. For some, this may be a regular task and therefore the process is straight forward.
How To Write A Compelling Display Ad To Sell Whatever You Want
ezinearticles.com - How come you're seeing certain ads over-and-over again? Why are they working. and why do some display ads deserve to be nothing more than bird cage lining.
6 Steps to Effective Small Business Credit Card Management
about.com - With the growing popularity of small business credit cards and ever changing interest rates, now is the time to learn the 6 steps to effective small business credit card management.
How To Craft Stronger, More Compelling Offers That Will Boost Response Rates
mailingknowhow.com - If you want to improve the response rate to your direct mail the answer may be as simple as making a better offer.
The Disability Discrimination Act and Your Web Site
smallbusinesssuccess.biz - If you have a web page or website, the UK Disability Discrimination Act 1995 probably isn't at the top of your bedside reading pile; however, it is something you should be aware of as it may have a big effect on your on-line business.
Got Voice Mail?
smallbusinessbrief.com - If your company uses an automated system to process calls make sure it provides the best customer service by following these suggestions:
3 "No Sweat" Tactics That Ban Customer Buying Objections
smallbusinessbrief.com - There are a lot of excuses floating around about why people don't buy. Maybe you've heard some of them: it's too expensive, it's not at the top of my "must have" list right now, or even when a deals too good to be true... it's too good to be true. Customer objections are more easily overcome than you might imagine. Let's take a look at 3 simple ways to wipe out those objections.
Make Money Selling CDs on eBay
articleblast.com - Being an active eBayer, I am often being asked about products to sell. A common question is "Where can I purchase products such as new release CDs, DVDs and Video Games for Playstation and X box at a great price for resale"?
Find An Outsourcing Company & Watch Your Business Grow
about.com - Surviving today’s business environment has become more challenging than ever. If you are a small business owner, it is highly unlikely that you possess all the skills necessary to build your company, grow your business and dominate your marketplace. Using an outsourcing company is one way for companies to manage uncertainty and ground their business in any environment – bull or bear.
How to Choose a Web Host - Frequently Asked Questions
digital-women.com - In this article you ll be provided with helpful information about how to choose a web host. There are several things to look for when choosing a reliable web host. Below, you will be provided with frequently asked questions and the answers to common questions.
“Why does small business website design taking so long?”
workoninternet.com - You have an established offline business and you feel the time is right to take advantage of the internet and the opportunities it presents. You want to be online a.s.a.p. to maximize exposure, not to mention you have ordered new stationary with your domain name on it! Your web designer then informs you the project will take 12 to 14 weeks!
How can content help promote your site?
bytestart.co.uk - One of the best ways to attract visitors to your site is by providing related sites with quality editorial relating to your subject area. Not only will this give you a chance to promote your service or business, but it can also indirectly aid your search engine promotion efforts via link popularity.
Top 10 Questions about Business Plans Answered
woopidoo.com - A business plan is a written summary of everything you already know about your business and the industry it is in, and the future you expect to create with that business.
Spotting an Internet Virus or Scam
bizhelp24.com - Spotting an Internet/e-mail virus can be very difficult, particularly to those of us that have very little computer knowledge. Consequently, those people new to the Internet and e-mail may be considered more vulnerable to virus', although it is still common for businesses with years of experience to fall victim.
The Art of Website Maintenance
ezinearticles.com - Maintaining a website is just as important as building it in the first place! Unfortunately, most designers put much more effort into the initial design and launch of a website than they do in keeping the content fresh and keeping the site growing to best serve all visitors.
How important are customer referrals in Internet marketing?
allbusiness.com - In online marketing, as in traditional marketing, customer referrals are the goal. Your business will succeed to the degree that your customers refer you to other customers.
What Legal Rights Do You Have Once You Own a Domain Name?
smallbusiness.yahoo.com - Before you claim a legal right to your domain name, make sure that you have a basis for your claim. Simply registering a domain name does not protect you if another company files a trademark infringement claim - if they hold a legal trademark, you can lose your domain name and even find yourself liable for the owner's legal costs.
Newspaper Ads
entrepreneur.com - The oldest form of advertising is still an effective way to reach a large number of people. Find out if it's right for you.
Starting a Direct Sales Company
smallbusinessbrief.com - The goal in starting a direct sales company is the same for each and every entrepreneur, which is to build a profitable business that earns a regular income. How to accomplish this can be confusing, especially with the large number of direct sales opportunities available to you.
10 Steps To A Safe, Smooth Running PC
smallbusinessbrief.com - These ten steps will help you increase your computer's security. From discovering viruses to learning how to avoid them, this article is a must read.
How To Post Your First Ebay Auction in Five Simple Steps
smallbusinessbrief.com - Ebay is the internet's largest marketplace, and it's an excellent place for buyers to find what they want at bargain prices, and for sellers to find buyers. If you haven't posted an auction on ebay before, It’s fairly simple to post your first auction on eBay. Just do the following five steps.
How To Get Free Radio Advertising
smallbusinessbrief.com - "P.I." stands for per inquiry. This is a kind of advertising most generally associated with broadcasting, where you pay only for the responses you get to your advertising message. It's very popular - somewhat akin to bartering - and is used by many more advertisers than most people realize.
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