Source: Buzz Small Business Magazine

Obama wants small business tax, investment breaks
The legislative package, which will be part of Obama’s 2013 budget proposal later this month, also would include a new 10 percent tax credit for small business that add jobs or increase wages in 2012.
Boston.com

Identifying prospects for your global business strategy
What do you know about your global prospects? Jim Blasingame reveals information about global prospects for developing a strategy to grow your business outside of the U.S.
The Small Business Advocate (audio)

Demand for Small Business Loans Most Since 2005
Banks reported the greatest increase in demand for loans from small companies since 2005, the according to the Federal Reserve’s survey of senior loan officers out today. That may be good news for job growth later in the year.
BusinessWeek

5 Tips For Managing Overwhelm and Overload
Just like we have power strips that absorb energy surges to protect our computers, we need to install acircuit breaker on our brains to absorb some of the overwhelming data coming in all the time.
The International Association of Self-Employed Communication Professionals

Big Banks’ Small Business Lending: Do The Numbers Really Add Up?
So it’s no surprise that Bank of America, Chase, Citibank and Wells Fargo were eager to release seemingly impressive small-business lending figures for 2011. Problem is, many of those loans may be going to businesses that aren’t that small.
Huffington Post

Can a brand be genuine on Twitter?
Self-promotion is just plain tacky in the age of social media.  You just can’t tell people how awesome you are, you need to show them.
The Washington Post

Why You Need to Compartmentalize Your Life when Building a Business
When you start a business, you will likely wear many different hats, and in many cases wear all of the hats. You might be in charge of marketing, sales, legal, HR, operations, finance, accounting, IT etc. And you might add on top of all that a personal life of some degree.
Youngentrepreneur.com

Japan Small Business Confidence Rises In January
Confidence among Japanese small scale businesses rose for the first time in four months in January, a survey conducted by the Shoko Chukin Bank showed Tuesday.
NASDAQ

Branding for the small business
Far too many business owners feel that they are too small to worry about branding, don’t understand it entirely or they think they don’t have the time or resources to invest in it.
Crain’s Chicago Business

JPL to Host High-Tech Small Business Conference
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., will host the 24th annual High-Tech Conference for Small Business on Tuesday, March 6, and Wednesday, March 7, at the Westin Los Angeles Airport Hotel.
Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Managing a Small Business: How to Inspire Employee Loyalty
A big part of successfully managing a small business is inspiring loyalty and getting the most out of employees.
International Business Times

27 Small Business PR Ideas For February
Here are 27 ways entrepreneurs can seek out small business PR opportunities during the month of February.
Understanding Marketing

How To Raise Money To Start Your Small Business
There are many ways you can raise the money you need to start your small business. Don’t give up until you’ve exhausted every single opportunity in existence, and you’ll be happy you did.
Noobpreneur.com

India offers opportunities, but there are pitfalls to avoid
As the second-fastest growing market in Asia, with more than one billion people, India is considered by many small business owners fertile ground offering a variety of opportunities.
Washington Post

Postal service offering classes for marketers, small business owners
The United States Postal Service recently announced it will host Grow Your Business Day, designed to help small and medium-sized businesses create affordable direct mail pieces for integrated marketing campaigns.
123Print.com

5 Simple Steps for Promoting Your Blog
Here are five steps that will help you promote your blog, differentiating it and creating awareness. With the steps here, you’ll be able to maximize the daily traffic that comes to your website.
Earningdiary.com

What Makes A Good Website?
Now what constitutes “good” is very subjective, we all have different tastes. But I think we can all agree that certain principals need to be followed when setting up a website to make sure you’re not putting your good time to waste.
Respectfully Disobedient

Export loans rise, SBA reports
The Small Business Administration is making a big push to help small companies who get export loans, and companies in Central Florida are seeing the fruits of those efforts.
Orlando Sentinel

Behind the Brand
In these videos, host Bryan Elliott examines brands, innovators, authors and small businesses by engaging them in conversation about their passions, their challenges and how it is these personalities have achieved such a high level of success.
Get Busy Media

Location can make, break new business
Potential small-business owners are faced with many decisions; from how to obtain capital to which bookkeeping software is right for the business. Choosing the right location should be a priority early on.
San Angelo Standard Times

“Organize Your Home Office” For A Workable Office Space
Many small business owners work from home, but very few of these same owners would be comfortable inviting a prospective client to see their home office.
Small Business Trends (book review)

Insurance for small business in case the unthinkable happens
In addition to disability insurance, other types of coverage for small business owners and partners include life, partnership or buy-sell, critical illness, and key person.
The Tri-City News

Writing a business plan
The prospect of writing a business plan for a new start-up business or a young / small business that is looking to expand is something that sounds daunting. The good news is, it doesn’t have to be a struggle
The Guardian

Bill Would Create New Small Business Tax Break
Two Republican lawmakers are hoping a new bill will give small businesses the same tax deductions as big corporations when they donate excess products to charity and nonprofits.
Inc.com

What is Your Twitter Strategy for Following Someone?
Are you on Twitter? How do you use it? How do you decide who to follow?
Keep Up With The Web

Bring Customers to Your Door with Andromo App Maker for Android
Small business owners can now create Android apps that drive customers right to their door, thanks to the interactive map feature found in Andromo App Maker for Android.
PRWeb (press release)

6 Ways to Improve Your Focus at Work
Staying alert and productive all day, every day seems like an insurmountable task. With instant access to e-mail, YouTube and Facebook, the challenge becomes that much greater.
American Express OPEN Forum

Small Businesses Got $3.5B in Lending from Jobs Act Fund
The Small Business Lending Fund has helped issue $3.5 billion in loans to businesses by providing capital to qualified community lenders, according to the US Treasury.
eCreditDaily.com

Using social media to promote good public relations
Can you prevent bad PR? Jane Jordan-Meier joins Jim Blasingame to talk about why you must include social media in your crisis management plan, plus how to handle negative online comments, aka, user generated content (UGC).
The Small Business Advocate (audio)

30 Ways to Make Your Business Stand Out From The Crowd
Let’s face it, starting a business can be very easy, but staying in business can be very difficult given that our customers have too many choices on where to spend their hard-earned cash.
StartupNation.com

Small business confidence continues upward trend
For the fourth time since September, and for the second month in a row, small-business optimism has risen, according to the National Federation of Independent Business Optimism Index.
USAToday.com

Top Ten Small Business Trends for 2012
Small Business Labs comes out with their annual Top 10 Small Business Trends list.
Small Business Labs

Overcoming 4 Google + issues for small businesses
The social network is now a must-have tool, but many small business owners are finding it difficult to create an engaging, active network of potential customers.
MiamiHerald.com

President Obama Elevates SBA Head to Cabinet, Sends Mixed Signals
President Obama announced on Friday that he was elevating Karen Mills, Administrator of the US Small Business Administration, to be part of his Cabinet.
Small Business Trends

3 Ways to Freshen Up Your Social Media Strategy in 2012

Using what worked in 2011 and what didn’t, now is a great time to revisit your social media plan and make some fresh goals for the year.
MyBeak Social Media

Lucrative Small Business Idea for 2012: Mobile Advertising
Mobile market is huge and the growth rate shows no sign of slowing down.
Noobpreneur Business Blog

4 Tactics of Successful Small Businesses in 2012
Marketing Firm AccurateLeads discloses key elements successful small businesses are implementing in 2012 to stay at the top of their industry.
PR Web (press release)

Building a Business is Time Well-Spent
Currently, my business is 18 months old and I admit to putting in over 60 hours a week, if not more. So what is an entrepreneur doing when we’re working all of those hours?
Strella Social Media

Reviewing the products and services your business uses in 2012
How should a small business go about reviewing its search marketing needs for the year ahead?
Dynamic Business

Three ways to improve the online perception of your company in 2012
The following three suggestions are quick, easy, and effective ways to improve the credibility of your company’s online presence in 2012.
Bplans.com

Does your marketing communicate your values? Tom Asacker joins Jim Blasingame to discuss how to make sure you go to market with a strategy that will successfully communicate your values.

Source/Listen: The Small Business Advocate

I recently caught up with Gene Marks, who is an opinionated small business management columnist, author, speaker, and business owner. He writes weekly online columns for both The New York Times and Forbes, as well as bi-weekly columns American City Business Journals. His latest book is called In God We Trust: Everyone Else Pays Cash (CreateSpace, 2011). Gene is also a board member of the National Speaker’s Association. In this interview, Gene unleashing his entrepreneurship wisdom, including how to delegate tasks, if a business plan is important or not, and how to get media attention.

Source/Read More: Forbes

A brand is a living, breathing perception of your business. Suzanne Tulien joins Jim Blasingame to discuss why you should always consider how your business is perceived by customers, who increasingly are co-owners of your brand.

Source/Listen: The Small Business Advocate

It is the world’s biggest online platform for sharing presentation. Think of it basically as a YouTube for presentations. Although, it goes much further than just PowerPoint slides. You can upload documents, PDFs, video and webinars as well. With 90 million views monthly, SlideShare presents itself as a huge opportunity to broadcast your work.

Source/Read More: SEOhatch

The purpose of a brand is to create a strong connection with customers. Jonathan Salem Baskin joins Jim Blasingame to discuss how technology is helping to raise the value of authenticity in the marketplace, which is good news for small business.

Source/Listen: The Small Business Advocate

The challenge for the Chief Marketing Officer is to create marketing and brand building that is both exceptional and efficient in the face of country, product, and functional silos. To study that problem, I interviewed more than 40 CMOs and asked about silo issues and what works to address those issues and reported the results in the book Spanning Silos: The New CMO Imperative.

Source/Read More: Harvard Business Review