Features
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Marketing Trends for 2011
April 18, 2011
A new year means new goals, new successes and new opportunities. How will you embrace the evolving trends and execute them to bring the greatest achievements for your marketing? Recently, we looked at the trends for 2011, including mobile computing and mobile devices. Now let’s look at what social media and integrated campaigns mean for marketers in 2011!
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8 Easy Ways To Make Your Customers Love You
April 14, 2011
Everyone knows you can’t have a business without customers. However, one of the worst mistakes any business can make is focusing its marketing efforts on attracting new clients while neglecting past and current customers. Here’s what you can do to show your clients how grateful you are for their business.
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Albany Mall Bucks National Trend
April 13, 2011
Average mall vacancy rates in the top 80 U.S. markets reached 9.1 percent in the first quarter, the highest level in 11 years according to real-estate research company Reis Inc. Communities across the U.S. are grappling with an associated decrease in sales tax revenues and more importantly the loss of an important gathering place. Not so in Albany where the Albany Mall continues to thrive.
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Lead Generation & Social Media
April 13, 2011
Social media certainly has had an impact on the way people communicate. Rather than soliciting a list of companies by the phone, social media has given sales teams a new approach. This new process involves capturing a prospect's attention by engaging them with useful information and providing compelling content as to why that prospect would benefit from the sales representative's business.
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10 Personality Traits That Kill Entrepreneurship
April 12, 2011
Having a great business idea is only half the battle. You also need to be an effective leader. Even some of the most innovative entrepreneurs can be hindered by insecurity or impatience. Here are some red flags to look out for.
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Still Trudging Through and Trudging Some More
April 11, 2011
Today's economic conditions make economists wish they had more hands and while making the common people more frustrated in their attempts to figure it out. Oil and food are rising in price, but the economy seems better in some ways with some reports of improving employment. GDP is still rising, but some industries are still suffering. Dr. Joe explains why just staying busy is not enough and that it's what you're doing that really matters.
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Talk to Me! How to Use Voice Software to Create Incredible Customer Experiences
April 06, 2011
As a business owner today, you have multiple communications tools at your fingers. Contact forms, your website, Facebook, Twitter, text… and did I mention email? But there will always be a time when you need to talk to your customer. Pick up the phone. Chat. Follow up, Or even to resolve an issue.
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All Six Recovery Indicators are Now Positive
April 05, 2011
All six of our recovery indicators are in positive territory for the first time since the start of the recession. There were some movements in the indicators from the Institute for Supply Management non-manufacturing indices, the biggest being non-manufacturing imports, which is now at 50, or neutral.
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Have We Lost a Generation of Small Business Owners?
April 04, 2011
We’re down more than 1.1 million. That’s how many fewer self-employed Americans there are today than when the Great Recession began. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics figures, there were 589,000 fewer incorporated self-employed people and 569,000 fewer unincorporated self employed people in December 2007 than in February 2011. Perhaps most remarkably, on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, we have 753,000 fewer self-employed people.
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4 Trends to Take Advantage of Now
April 01, 2011
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Distance Doesn't Matter
March 30, 2011
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Does Your Small Business Have a System?
March 25, 2011
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“I Can’t Eat an iPad”
March 24, 2011
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“I Can’t Eat an iPad”
March 21, 2011
While he loves computers, when it comes to dinnertime, Dr. Joe still prefers food. Seems the Fed would prefer we think otherwise. As far as understanding inflation at its core, a good meal can go a long way if you have the money for it.
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Distance doesn’t matter
March 20, 2011
A decade ago – when business journalists were “discovering” the Web - one of the most-hyped headlines was that every company could now sell world-wide. Like most over-heated rhetoric, the concept that distance no longer matters came and went with some notice and little real change. Most companies discovered that – while selling over great distances was indeed easier than before – fulfilling and servicing was hard enough to make it unprofitable.
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Are You a Bubblehead?
March 18, 2011
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Why It’s Time to Kick Your Green Initiatives Up a Notch
March 18, 2011
Results of the second-annual Sustainability & Innovation Survey of global corporate leaders by MIT’s Sloan Management Review and Boston Consulting Group suggest that green practices are taking firm root in the business world. Nearly 60 percent of the 3,000 businesses surveyed said they are increasing their investment in sustainability.
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10 Ways to Continue the Conversation with Customers
March 15, 2011
For too many small business owners, once a customer leaves your shop or your service is completed, the conversation ends. But it doesn't need to stop there. If you can continue those threads of dialogue online through e-mail, newsletters, and social media, you have a better chance of building stronger ties to your customer base.
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What I learned about marketing from renting a condo at Panama City Beach
March 14, 2011
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Resolutions for the Merger & Acquisition Minded Executive
March 13, 2011
As businesses close their books on another eventful year, say the M&A specialists at New Direction Partners, ‘tis the season to be thinking proactively about 2011 and forming clear plans for making the most of the strategic possibilities it will bring.
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Small Biz Success Index
March 11, 2011
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What is social media?
March 10, 2011
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The Employment Data Frosting Looks Great, But the Cake is Awful
March 09, 2011
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Why Small Projects Don't Indicate How You'll Perform on Big Projects
March 09, 2011
Many businesses make a big mistake when it comes to judging how much work volume they can comfortably handle on an ongoing basis. Do you know what your limits are, without turning your company upside down and compromising on quality, or in other areas?
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What is social media?
March 09, 2011
Social media is a genre of online resources for connecting users with a sphere of influence, and exchanging information and ideas via real-time conversations. Social media can take many forms.