Small Business Trends

Every year Edelman releases its Trust Barometer report (Executive Summary) to measure consumer confidence in business and, if we’re taking a cue from Chris Brogan and Julien Smith, identify the biggest ‘trust agents’ helping them to make their decisions. This year the findings are getting some people wondering about the overall impact on social media.

Social media has always “worked” because people trusted the advice and recommendations of people ‘like them’ ...

Washington (PRESS RELEASE – February 7, 2010) — SCORE launches online resources to help small businesses secure government contracts at www.score.org. New articles, tools and events will be featured in this resource center for small businesses. SCORE, American Express OPEN and Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP) with Give Me 5: Education and Access for Women in Government Contracting will sponsor the section.

SCORE CEO Ken Yancey says, “Small businesses are looking to grow their sales ...

I’ve always loved jingles. I’ve always wanted one for my web site. I found one that I thought was perfect for Ancestry.com once. I sung it to myself every time I heard their name.

So I was inspired by a small business that started over the holidays. People like case studies about how small businesses succeed with social media. Here is an example of a business that was started with social media. It was ...

Dallas,Texas (PRESS RELEASE – February 2, 2010) — Supporting its ongoing commitment to nurture the growth and success of small business, AT&T today announced another free one-hour webinar aimed to provide small business owners with the knowledge needed to run a successful business. As part of a series of instructional webinars and training courses available on AT&T’s small business Web site, www.att.com/SmallBusinessInSite, the upcoming webinar, “Social Media Strategy for Small Business,” will feature noted small ...

Framingham, Massachusetts (PRESS RELEASE – February 1, 2010) – Whether it’s “sleepworking” (2008 survey results) or “deskfasting” (2009 survey results), results of the 4th Annual Staples National Small Business Survey continue to uncover that small business owners are working harder than ever. New trends this year highlight that small business owners admit to spending so much time at the office or thinking about business that more than half of the respondents (61 percent) say ...

The next couple of months have some great events, conferences and webinars for growing small businesses and entrepreneurs. The following list of events is brought to you twice a month as a community service by Small Business Trends and Smallbiztechnology.com. -

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CurrentMom 2010 Conference Feb. 1-3, 2010, Fort Lauderdale, FL

CurrentMom 2010 is the ...

Did you make your sales quota this month? If not, did you blame the slump on a slow economy?  If so, then you don’t realize that the real reason for the failure is you.

So asserts Dave Lakhani in his latest book, How to Sell When Nobody’s Buying.

Now anyone who recalls the rant of Blake, Alec Baldwin’s hyper-aggressive, always-be-closing character in the movie Glengarry Glen Ross, ...

Redwood City, California (PRESS RELEASE – January 30, 2010) – BillShrink (www.billshrink.com), the independent free online service that gives personalized money-saving recommendations on household bills, now expands its savings advice to businesses looking for the right credit cards to meet their spending needs.

BillShrink for Business’ new business credit card feature is designed to help small businesses navigate the current economic climate. Acknowledging that businesses often have different cash-flow and credit needs from individuals, the ...

Remember those TV ads for clap-on, clap-off light switches and key chains..? You clapped your hands and on went the light or beep went your key chain. You clapped your hands again and off went the light and your key chain stopped beeping.

Are you looking at social media in the same way? Clap your hands and on goes your social media ‘campaign’. Clap your hands again and it’s turned off.

Clap-clap  and you ...

There’s a lot to consider when redesigning your Web site. Are you simply updating the look? Do you need to improve search-engine friendliness? Are there accessibility issues you’re trying to address? Whatever the redesign is aiming to accomplish, you want to make sure you get it in the first shot. There’s nothing sadder than a business that invests time and money into a redesign only to find out it doesn’t meet ...