What Should I Blog About Today? 100 Topics for Your Small Business Blog
Source: http://smallbiztrends.com
There are TONS of things for a small business owner to blog about and share with their audience. Help cure that age-old "what should I blog about today?" question with this list.

Automatic Affiliate-Link Insertion Service Gets Google Backing
Source: http://www.readwriteweb.com
The interesting new twist that VigLink introduces to the affiliate marketing game is that you don't even have to know that you're linking to a merchant to make a commission. It's almost like having an agent. If a visitor from your site makes a purchase, VigLink keeps track and collects the commission for you, taking a percentage for itself.

The Alexander Graham Bell Guide to Changing the World
Source: http://www.copyblogger.com
Alexander Bell didn't change the world by coming up with an original idea. Alexander Bell didn't change the world by taking action and getting to the patent office first. No, Alexander Bell changed the world by hitting the road with his idea and telling anyone who would listen. He used the buzz to land investors, build a company, and get people to buy telephones across the globe. He understood that what matters isn't who thinks of an idea first. It's not even who takes action first. It's who spreads the idea the farthest.

80 Ways To Use Twitter As A Small Business Owner
Source: http://smallbiztrends.com
It's pretty common. A small business owner comes to us looking for help promoting his or her business. We suggest using Twitter as a way to find new leads, build relationships and as an overall way to cost effectively market their business. The small business owner then turns around, tilts their head and responds, "Twitter? What can Twitter do for me?". Well, I'll tell you. Here are 80 ways a small business owner can use Twitter to build and market their business.

5 Tips for Authentic Online Connection
Source: http://www.sproutpublishing.com
I know so many people that wonder why they're not achieving the results they desire. Running an online business is about injecting massive amounts of your own personal vibrancy into the content you produce. Otherwise it's just going to get lost in the crowd of generic, lemming-like material that doesn't pack the punch that it should.

Always Be Testing: 8 Services For Usability Feedback
Source: http://www.readwriteweb.com
As companies look to their peers and audiences to help define product features, there's a greater need for scalable testing platforms. Here's a summary of eight useful services that will help put you on the path to product greatness.

Finding Places "Near Me Now" Is Easier And Faster Than Ever On Google
Source: http://googlemobile.blogspot.com
"Near me now" makes it fast and easy to find out more about a place in your immediate vicinity, whether you're standing right in front of a business or if it's just a short walk away. For example, you may want to know what other customers think about a restaurant before you go inside. Plus, it makes searching for popular categories of nearby places really simple. Imagine you emerge from the subway station and you want to grab a coffee, but you don't see a coffee shop around you. You can simply search for nearby coffee shops by using "Near me now".

Who's Foursquare Mayor of Your Local Business?
Source: http://blogs.business.com
Hundreds of business owners are now offering special deals and discounts to their "mayors" and would-be mayors. In essence, they are using Foursquare as a way to reward some of their best and most loyal customers. For example, Spud Bros restaurant in Boulder, CO, posted an offer on Twitter for a free meal to the first person who became Mayor of Spud Bros via Foursquare. Other local businesses are offering freebies and discounts based on the number of times a customer checks in with Foursquare while at their location.

How I Came to Love Google Wave
Source: http://www.chrisbrogan.com
I went from a guy who hated Google Wave to telling Kodak's CMO on stage yesterday that Google Wave would be the one app I'd ask to salvage if I could only save one app running today. So how? Why? What's that about? There are two things I'll do with this post: explain what "the light" is to me on Google Wave, and then talk about this thing we do with new technologies.

Know Thy Enemy: Free Service to Track Competitors
Source: http://www.readwriteweb.com
Competitious is a free service that allows users to collaborate on numerous projects for tracking industry competitors. You and your team can gather and collect news clips, build feature comparison matrices and keep an eye on traffic trends.

10 Search Engines Powered by Twitter
Source: http://www.searchengineguide.com
Real-time search has been a major focus of many startups and search giants such as Bing and Google. Real-time social search engines make more sense than the traditional methods of searching for information. Here are the top 10 search engines for Twitter that are making their way to the future.

Dragon Slaying 101: How to Use Heroic Language to Battle Boring Copy
Source: http://www.copyblogger.com
Certain words can turn dry topics - like writing, personal finance, small business and marketing - into something that makes you feel a frisson of excitement. You can almost hear the rallying notes of a battle horn, and see the sun glinting from swords.

How I Retooled My Great-Grandad's Hardware Shop
Source: http://online.wsj.com
Brett Satterfield, 27 years old, knew it wouldn't be an easy task to modernize his family's hardware store, Rollier's. The shop, started in 1922 by his great-grandfather, needed technical upgrades - and a fresh way to compete against the likes of big-box stores such as Lowe's, Home Depot and Wal-Mart. But he decided to take on the challenge of increasing the store's online presence. In doing so, he found a way to win new customers from across the country.

Should You Reserve Ad Budget for Sponsored Tweets?
Source: http://www.readwriteweb.com
Social media is likely to be factored into your ad budget for the new year, but the problem is deciding which format best suits you. Highly controversial, tech influencers like Chris Pirillo and Robert Scoble are being paid to tweet periodic product endorsements. The question is: Are sponsored tweets worth it?

New Service Helps Small Businesses Avoid ACH Fraud
Source: http://smallbiztrends.com
The company provides one central system that businesses can use to collect payments from their customers, make payments to their vendors and deposit payroll funds into their employees' bank accounts. Payments and deposits can be set up on automated schedules, as one-time direct debit or credit transactions, or as batch uploads from existing payment systems. Another big advantage, ACH Federal says, is that there's no software or hardware to buy. The system is Web-based, so all information is stored online.

The Big Secret To Success? Run With What You Have
Source: http://www.thelaunchcoach.com
Don't try to get things perfect, just get them out there. Half of your plans are wrong anyway, but you won't find that out until you start trying. Get your feet wet, test your ideas and see what works and what doesn't, what the market wants compared to what you offer, and see where that takes you.

Creative Block #1 - "I'm Not Creative"
Source: http://lateralaction.com
A creative person is a person who creates things. You either create something or you don't. Period. The great thing about this definition is that there's nothing stopping anyone having a go for themselves, to see if they too can create something extraordinary. Including you.

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