Small Business Brief

Weekly Newsletter - March 31, 2009

"Fetching the Best Small Business News & Information"

 

Hi All!

It's been a while but here are this week's small business articles from around the web.

Have a great week!

Robert Clough
News Hound


And the Money Comes Rolling In
Source: http://www.inc.com
Markus Frind works one hour a day and brings in $10 million a year. How does he do it? He keeps things simple.



30 Apps for Doing Business on Facebook
Source: http://mashable.com
Think LinkedIn is the only place for business? Facebook is growing rapidly and it's becoming a destination for businesses and business professionals alike to establish a presence. Here are over 30 Facebook applications to help promote, network, communicate, collaborate and accomplish more with your business.



What to Do if Your Business Is Failing
Source: http://www.businessweek.com
Even if you're 100% sure your company is going to crash in the next six months, you'll learn more from staying on board than you will from running. You'll also earn the respect of your peers and you'll learn exactly how people break down and lose their cool. Most of all, you'll realize who you are and who your real friends are.



Using LinkedIn as a Small Business Owner
Source: http://donteattheshrimp.com
The number one question I'm always asked about LinkedIn is "Can it help my business grow?" The answer is yes. This month is our second month working with a new client, that came to us through LinkedIn. How did it happen? The answer is "Answers."



Mining Twitter for Business Leads
Source: http://www.ducttapemarketing.com
People are asking questions, complaining, and searching for stuff in every corner of the world on twitter and these people are often more than happy to hear from someone who can provide an answer locally. With a little practice you can set-up a series of tweets that might turn up leads for your business every single day.



"Buy Local" Campaigns Help Save Small Businesses
Source: http://blogs.wsj.com
Fed up with seeing local small businesses being ravaged by the economic downturn, some people are taking matters into their own hands. They're trying to reverse the fortunes of mom-and-pop stores by becoming more organized in "buying local."



Pricing: How Low Can You Really Go?
Source: http://www.inc.com
Tempted to cut prices? You're not alone. With slumping sales, many businesses have been quick to offer discounts. But price cuts raise some tough questions: Will deep discounts cheapen your brand? Once you cut prices, can you raise them again? How do you deal with narrower margins? Here are three companies that made big pricing changes and the results of those decisions.



Email Preheaders Work, So Make Them Work For You
Source: http://www.lyrishq.com
Email marketers who put call-to-action links in the preheader often claim that their click-through rates shoot through the roof. And Outlook 2007, Gmail and the iPhone use the preheader as teaser text in the inbox, providing an extra piece of information that helps readers decide whether to delete your message or give it a quick peek.



Abusive customer? Time to get tough
Source: http://www.usatoday.com
Our place of business has a customer who is a real pain. Unhappy with something that happened with regard to his account, he has become increasingly belligerent. He calls and yells at me and others. He threatens to take his business elsewhere and so on. How should we handle this guy - placate him, fire him, or what? I should note he makes us a lot of money.



How Changing a Button Increased a Site's Annual Revenues by $300 Million
Source: http://www.uie.com
It's hard to imagine a form that could be simpler: two fields, two buttons, and one link. Yet, it turns out this form was preventing customers from purchasing products from a major e-commerce site, to the tune of $300,000,000 a year. What was even worse: the designers of the site had no clue there was even a problem.



Twitter To Go: How one local coffee shop used Twitter to double their clientele.
Source: http://blog.mrtweet.net
When J.R. Cohen, Operations Manager for CoffeeGroundz (@coffeegroundz) Cafe in Houston, Texas first heard about Twitter from one of his customers, he was puzzled but intrigued. Today, he credits Twitter with almost doubling his clientele and with opening his eyes to a whole new way to build Community.



A Critical Goal for a Successful Website - Repeat Visitors
Source: http://www.ayoswebdesign.com
How many times does a customer have to visit your website before he purchases? Repeat visits to your website by your customers are the most important factor to increasing your conversion rate. To illustrate let's examine a user shopping for a digital camera.



How Would You Like to Make $6 Million Sitting on Your Couch?
Source: http://www.inc.com
What started as a service for San Francisco pet owners little more than six years ago has grown into a nationwide franchise with 200 locations and a network of more than 3,800 pet sitters servicing pet owners in 1,800 cities. This past year, Fetch! ranked No. 964 on Inc.'s list of the fastest-growing private companies in the nation, bringing in $6.25 million in revenue. Oh, did we mention he works from home?


Forum Discussions

A list of popular small business forum topics from the last week.


SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION
SEO Interview Questions
SEO Companies: White vs Black Hat
Can You Communicate With Google
Website Traffic: Quality Vs. Quantity
ONLINE MARKETING
404 Page Reminder
Why Advertising Is Failing On The Internet
SOCIAL MEDIA
Do You Use Twitter For Business
COMPUTER SOFTWARE
Undo Option For Sent Mail In Gmail
OTHER SMALL BUSINESS ISSUES
Hiring Employees vs Sub-Contractor
PREVIOUS WEEK
Small Business Forum Update For March 18, 2009
Copyright © 2009 K. Clough, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
17531 Hamilwood Dr. Houston, TX 77095