SmallBusinessNewz

Google Talks Small Business Growth And the Internet

Google held in event in Brussels this week, along with small businesses, European Commission officials, European parliamentarians, business associations and others. The event was held to discuss how the Internet can drive growth and jobs. 

Where Are Small Businesses Spending Their Marketing Budgets?

Microsoft is sharing some survey results from BIA/Kelsey about small businesses. The results were presented at the ILM West conference in San Francisco. The main takeaways are as follows:

Small Businesses Not Utilizing Social Media Like They Should

According to a new study, 67% of small business owners won’t invest in social media in 2012. All Twitter is pointing to an infographic illustrating the findings from the study, conducted by Social Strategy 1 and OfficeArrow. The study surveyed 343 execs from companies with less than ten employees. Here are some other findings:

Google Checkout No More. Google Wallet Takes Over.

Google announced that it is dropping Google Checkout, and will be transitioning it to its newer product Google Wallet. Google Wallet was first announced back in May, and was officially launched in September. You can read more about Google Wallet itself here and here.

84% of Organizations Use At Least One Cloud App

Is everything moving to the cloud? According to a recent poll by CDW, 84% of organizations say they employ at least one cloud application. “The most commonly used cloud services are commodity applications typically offered via public cloud, such as email,” a representative for CDW tells us. “However, while many organizations are using cloud-based applications, few have a formal adoption strategy for cloud computing, with small businesses in the lowest percentage at just 21%.”

Using Google+ For Business

Google+ has been a useful business tool since it was launched. Immediately, people started following relevant people and adding them to Circles. People started engaging in interesting conversations and even video hangouts. There is clearly a lot of potential for business from a platform that lets you to connect to customers like this.  This week, Google launched Google+ Pages, which gives businesses even more tools. For one, they come with Google Apps integration.

Google Launches AdWords SMB Partner Program

 Google announced a new partnership program for AdWords advertisers that is designed to help small and medium-sized businesses reach new customers using AdWords. It's called the Google AdWords Premier SMB Partner Program (PSP).  The program connects what Google calls its "trusted and experienced" partners with businesses to create, manage, and optimize AdWords campaigns to help businesses reach more customers and maximize the potential of advertising budgets. 

Google and AmEx Do Small Business Contest for Free Advertising

Google introduced a new program in partnership with American Express called My Business Story. This lets small businesses tell their stories through videos, and leads up to the second annual Small Business Saturday, which is aimed at encouraging communities to spend and support local businesses.

Small Business Optimism Lowest of the Year

There's a new small business owner optimism survey out from Wells Fargo, and it's not the prettiest.  Small business owner optimism for the future has fallen to its lowest point of the year, according to the survey. The survey was conducted early in the month, but future expectations have been dropping since the first quarter. 

Facebook Expected to Give Small Businesses Free Ads

Facebook is giving small businesses free advertising, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.  Word is that Facebook has partnered with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Business on a program that includes giving away $10 million worth of ad credits to various small businesses.