It was mid-2011 and, while Larson had managed to stay above water during the recession, things were slow. A friend and fellow business owner suggested she try Groupon, a national site that allows business owners to market low-priced deals on goods and services to a wide audience.

Source: Ocala.com

To help you do just that, below are seven tips for how to use Gmail smarter. Because if you think Gmail is great on its own, you don’t even want to know how powerful it is once you supercharge it.



Source: Small Business Trends

Why After Three Years I Dropped Mailchimp as My Newsletter Service for Aweber
I’m willing to give up a free service and pay for another because saying Mailchimp performs the same function as Aweber is like saying your Ford Escort performs the save function as my Maserati…
RyanHanley.com

Small Business Share of Economy, Job Growth Shrinks
It’s no secret that the years since the financial crisis have been tough on small business. What’s more surprising, though, is that their role in the US economy had already been diminishing for years before the Great Recession.
BusinessWeek

T-Mobile Caters to Small Business with New Services
Bouncing back after its proposed acquisition by AT&T crumbled, T-Mobile is aggressively courting small business customers with a variety of services.
PCWorld

Small Business Majority Opinion Poll: Small Business Owners Say Access to …
Opinion polling released today by the Small Business Majority shows 90 percent of small business owners believe access to credit is a problem and that loans are harder to get now than four years ago.
San Francisco Chronicle

Being candid with employees is essential to performance
Managers have a responsibility to be candid. Judith Glaser joins Jim Blasingame to talk about the power of candor when dealing with employees and why it is a management responsibility.
The Small Business Advocate (audio)

Five small business technology trends for the year ahead
Dr. Hugh Bradlow, Telstra’s chief technology officer, delivers his five predictions for the 2012 small business technology landscape.
Dynamic Business

The Nightmare of Sales Tax for Everyone
An Internet sales tax has long been a hot-button issue in Congress and industry. But as more businesses embrace e-commerce to sell their goods, states struggle to bring in revenue in a struggling economy and political candidates talk tax reform, it’s a button that keeps getting pushed.
The Street

How Success Cost a Small Business Owner His Health Insurance
Small business is iconic in America. For years, big business has cleverly used small businesses to be messengers for campaigns financed by corporate America.
Huffington Post (blog)

Entrepreneurial Tightrope: Outsourcing, interns can be handy
What’s a small business to do regarding finding and holding on to help? This has been a challenge for small business owners for a long time. Outsourcing and hiring interns can be helpful.
USA TODAY

Small business hours can be hard on customers…
In a day and age, when more families have multiple incomes, it gets harder and harder to find time to eat and shop. When people do somehow manage to find the time, it can often be later in the day, or on Sundays.
Buffalo Rising

Small Business Accounting: Tips, Tricks and Advice from TaxMama
From day one, small businesses should get their accounting act together and apply crucial tips and tricks, said tax expert Eva Rosenberg
International Business Times

Social Media Trends for Small Businesses
Anita shares how social media impacts small businesses. You’ll discover which small businesses are slow to adopt social media and where social media brings the best results.
Social Media Examiner (video)

Hiring for attitude, not experience
Studies show experience alone is not the best criteria in hiring. Herb Greenberg joins Jim Blasingame to discuss tapping into non-traditional talent – hire for who the person is, not just what they’ve done.
The Small Business Advocate (audio)

Small business owners turning to the Square to accept credit card payments
The small business owners are using a device called the Square to accept credit card payments from customers. The wireless device attaches to iPads…iPhones…and Droids…and works with a free app.
KFDM-TV News

Small Business Software Review: Fishbowl Inventory 2012
To be clear, Fishbowl Inventory 2012 is a small business asset management system — that is to say an inventory management system — that automates inventory functions and processes.
Small Business Computing

How to Get Facebook Fans
But how do you find, keep, and engage these fans? Manger has some advice about this perennial Facebook dilemma.
American Express OPEN Forum

Small Business Exporting Advice on Foreign Operations
For small business exporters, it is therefore crucial to receive advice and support from business partners. Two of the most important relationships they will likely form are with a freight forwarder and a foreign distributer…
International Business Times

Small Business Strategic Planning: a Process for Success and Survival
The small business strategic planning process has two essential elements: devising a strategy and changing it when necessary.
International Business Times

‘Small’ IT Market Attracts Big Companies
The small-business help desk is going corporate, with initiatives from companies like Apple Inc. bringing new competition to independent consultants who typically handle the IT needs of US start-ups and small companies.
Wall Street Journal

Small Business Efficiency Expert Now Offering Free Resource to Help Business Owners Find Those Longed-for Extra Hours in Their Day

So many business ideas falter and business owners fatigue due to inefficient processes eating up valuable time. That’s why director of small business efficiency company The Heart Of, Nikki White, has created a comprehensive Effective Business Mindmap to guide business owners through re-thinking where they spend their limited hours.
PRWeb (press release)

Cloud Computing is Far More Than Just Technology
Cloud computing may be cutting edge technology, but the majority of people using it in the future won’t be tech junkies. So don’t treat them as such.
GetApp.com

A Guide to Small Business Survival

Small business blogger survival guide. A big part of surviving as a small business blogger involves being a social animal. Here David Leonhardt gives every small business blogger some great resources to keep you, your business and your blog alive.
Business Insider

Why Online Reputation Matters to Small Business
You’re a small business owner. Most of your customers are the people who live within 25 miles of your storefront. Why does it even matter what the Internet has to say about your brand? That has no impact on your bottom line.
Small Business Trends

5 Ways to Use Other People’s Content in Your Marketing
You need lots of content, you know that, but you also know that content creation is one of the more time intensive marketing activities you have to tackle.
Duct Tape Marketing

Cyfe Bundles Small-Business Web Services in One Dashboard
Running a small business with any kind of Web presence involves tracking information from multiple online services such as Google Analytics, Facebook, and MailChimp. The new website Cyfe populates a dashboard with widgets for commonly used Web services, gathering your important data in one place.
PCWorld

Small business success defined by lifestyle: Academic
The definition of success among small firms depends on whether they are motivated by growth or lifestyle, an academic says, but both have the potential to be profitable.
StartupSmart

Seventh Annual Small Business Summit Extends Strategy Award Nomination Deadline to February 10^th
Is YOUR small business doing great things? Are you looking for some well deserved recognition for your hard work? If so, then nominate your company or one that you admire for the 2012 Small Business Strategy Award, sponsored by the 2012 Small Business Summit. Winners will be announced on March 6, 2012 in New York City’s Metropolitan Pavilion.
Market Watch

Using small business marketing to highlight your company’s selling points
In order to get ahead in a less than stellar economic climate, it’s important for small enterprises to play up their strengths in their business marketing campaigns. For some, this might involve advertising that their products are locally made.
AmsterdamPrinting.com

National Veterans Small Business Conference coming to Cobo in June
The US Department of Veterans Affairs is expected Wednesday morning to announce plans to bring the National Veterans Small Business Conference and Expo to Detroit’s Cobo Center in June.
Crain’s Detroit Business

BB&T Payment Solutions offers free data security webinar for small business owners
BB&T Payment Solutions is offering a free educational webinar designed to help small business owners navigate, understand and protect their businesses from security pitfalls.
MarketWatch

13 Social Platforms Your Small Business Should Consider Using
Google + – I’m still not fully convinced this platform is ready for your small business, but keep an eye on it. There are some great features on there, but the biggest drawback in my mind is: where are the people?
Business 2 Community

How To Embed YouTube Videos and Podcasts To Keep Readers on Your Blog
Using multimedia like video, audio and presentations are a fantastic way to promote products and get your point across to your audience.
Basic Blog Tips

3 reasons SMBs should care about Internet censorship
Summary: There is a lot more at stake than ‘just’ freedom of expression, so the small business community — especially those with a technology bent — need to stay abreast of this issue.
ZDNet (blog)

Five Profitable Businesses You’ve Never Thought Of
How are you going about making money? What if you could make money with some of your craziest ideas? Here are five of my favorite off-the-wall businesses.
Business Opportunities Weblog

Building a Business is Worth the Time
Make no mistake. Creating your own small business is hard work. But as you’ll see, there are rewards. Here are some tips, tools and trends to think about while taking the time you need to build your small business.
Small Business Trends

Why You Need Google Rating Stars and How to Set Them Up
There are WordPress plugins that will make ratings widgets appear on your posts and pages and allow  users to rate or vote on your content.  This shows engagement on your site, and if you’re lucky, those ratings will get picked up by Google and other search engines.
DDIY.com

No easy road: Running a small business takes time, time, time
Running a small business can be a tough proposition in a good economy, much less a difficult one. Three local, successful small business owners give their views on what it takes.
MyWebTimes.com

The Hidden Costs of Social Media
Marketing tactics including networking are an important part of marketing your brand. However in one way or another you need to ask the question of what is the return you are getting for your efforts.
M4B Marketing

Four tax-related New Year’s resolutions for a small business owner
Many small business owners are looking over their yearly ledgers and see a substantial tax liability. Spending money on new equipment, massive upgrades and employee bonuses might not be feasible for small businesses.
Redlands Daily Facts

Tips to help get cash for your small business
Around half of small companies can’t persuade their bank to cough up the cash they need to start up or expand. Many are refused because the banks are cautious, even though they should be helping kick-start the economy.
Mirror.co.uk

The Big List: The Best and Worst Startup Stuff In 2011
It’s time to review the past year, so without apology for personal taste, here’s my list of the best (and a few of the worst) of 2011.
OnStartups.com

3 Things You Should Know About Small Business
Streamlining government agencies is good for small business.
TheStreet.com

Managing Finances for Business Success
According to the US Small Business Administration, only one out of every two new start-ups survives after the first five years of business. That means that half fail, many times due to financial missteps.
Sacramento Bee

Women Professionals Rate 6 Biggest Mistakes Made When Marketing to Women
Women small business professionals from three countries were polled to find the top 6 mistakes made by businesses when marketing to women.
San Francisco Chronicle (press release)

Ralph Lauren, Danny Meyer and Whole Foods Offer Business Advice at NRF
Standing out from big business presents a large challenge to many small-business owners, but those who are able to do so can experience large returns.
BusinessNewsDaily

3 Successful Small Business Cause Marketing Campaigns
When a large business rolls out a cause marketing campaign the consumer can’t escape it–there is a barrage of print, TV and web ads, but how is a small business to get the word out?
American Express OPEN Forum

Small Business Group Launches Campaign Opposing Obama’s Plan To Wind Down Federal Small Business Programs
Today the American Small Business League (ASBL) is launching a national campaign to educate the media, the public and members of Congress about the negative ramifications of President Obama’s plan to combine the Small Business Administration with the Department of Commerce, which will ultimately lead to the elimination of federal small business programs.
SunHerald.com

Emerging Social Media Sites to Attract Users
If you think social media sites like Facebook and Twitter are sticky, today’s emerging sites might as well be liquid cement.
Entrepreneur

U.K. small business confidence plummets
Small business confidence in the UK plummeted in the final quarter of 2011 amid anaemic consumer spending and growing concerns over the economy, a survey showed Monday.
MarketWatch

Small Business’ Remain in Limbo over “Obamacare”
Until the US Supreme Court rules on the constitutionality of the healthcare reform law, small businesses are left wondering what they need to do about their employees’ healthcare…
Helicopter Association International

What You Need to Know About Google Apps for Business
Google is serious about small business apps. Last year, the company renamed its Google Apps Premier office product suite Google Apps for Business.
Entrepreneur

5 Content Ideas for Small Business Online Press Releases
In the latest featured article on PR Newswire’s small business resource center, the PR Toolkit, guest author Chris Sturk, managing editor of Mequoda, offers five easy content ideas for online press releases that will make audiences – and potential customers – take notice.
MarketWatch (press release)

Will Obama move help small businesses?
Small business is not to be trifled with. President Barack Obama’s announcement last week of a proposal to temporarily elevate the Small Business Administration to Cabinet rank is a move in the right direction.
CNN

Need money? Small-business borrowing is finally up
According to the Thomson Reuters/PayNet Small Business Lending Index, the overall level of lending to small businesses late last year hit its highest level in four years.
Crain’s Chicago Business (blog)

How much should you pay yourself?
Like most small business owners, Mr. Quinn’s approach to paying himself has become more sophisticated over time.
Globe and Mail

Infographic: Start a Home Business – Where Home Businesses Go for Startup Dough
39% of business owners with no employees started their business with less than $5000 in startup capital, according to the US Small Business Administration.
San Francisco Chronicle (press release)

5 Merchant Processing Services for Small Business Owners
The use of credit cards is a great way to increase your customer base. Credit cards are easily one of the most common forms of payment methods today.
Forbes

What does SBA’s elevation to Cabinet mean for small business?
Last week, the President announced details of a proposed federal reorganization of agencies involved in trade and business, including the Commerce Department and the Small Business Administration.
FederalNewsRadio.com

Ten simple ways to generate leads on Twitter
People are pushing out information 24/7 on Twitter for everyone to read so why not take advantage of these 140 character ‘announcements’ to generate leads for your small business?
Globe and Mail

How Small Businesses Keep New Year’s Resolutions
Everyone is familiar with the difficulty of keeping New Year’s resolutions, and small-business owners are no exception.
NuWire Investor

Sure, Adam Carolla can start a podcast and break the world record for podcast downloads by its second year. But you, sir, are no Adam Carolla. Celebrities aren’t clamoring to visit your garage for an interview, and you didn’t have your own radio show for 10 years. Should you even bother podcasting?

Yes, you should — because it’s an easy, inexpensive way to reach your customers and build a platform, and you can do it. You just have to do it differently from the Adam Carollas, ESPNs and NPRs of the world. Here are seven tips from my own podcast experience:

Source/Read More: Mashable.com

Good help is hard to find, and in this economy, it’s often unaffordable. If your small business needs a receptionist for basic appointment booking, you can save a ton of cash and free up your payroll budget with an online scheduling service that lets your clients set up their own appointments on the Web, over the phone, or from their mobile devices.

Online booking services are pretty simple: When customers visit your Web site, a big Book Now button takes them to a scheduling page where they can choose an open slot in your calendar. Once an appointment is booked, it’s in your calendar and theirs. Easy.

Source/Read More: PC World

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