You may or may not recall back in March when I reported on Yahoo Small Business teaming up with Carolyn Kepcher from The Apprentice to offer grants to women entrepreneurs. The grant program was called "Seeds for Success: Empowering Women Entrepreneurs," and would give three women grants including cash, mentorship, and technical services valued over $25,000.
Fitch Ratings is calling for the weakest holiday season in the past twenty years for retailers. This is not surprising given the current state of the economy. The firm notes that retail sales have turned negative in the "back to school" period for the first time since 2001, and are expected to remain negative for the balance of 2008.
There is a small town (that shall remain nameless) that is near where I grew up. It's small, but it has a school system, and plenty of residential areas. In other words, there are enough people there to suggest the need for a grocery store. Yet that is exactly what is lacking from the town.
LinkedIn is the preferred social network of many business professionals. It's not the only one by any means, and some people will tell you it's not the best, but studies show that it is the favorite among business owners. Mike Sachoff recently reported on a study that also found a direct correlation between LinkedIn use and personal wealth. He wrote:
Since email marketing is such a popular method of advertising for small businesses, this study from MarketingSherpa is worth taking a look at. They look at the marketing strategy of some pet supply specialists, who run some A/B testing on a couple of campaigns. They took the following steps:
When it comes to online advertising, two of your options are search engine advertising and display advertising. Another option is to use both. The walls of the holidays are gradually closing in on small businesses, and online advertising efforts should probably be at their highest rank in priority as they have been for the entire year. With that in mind, I wanted to provide SmallBusinessNewz readers with something of a roundup of search and display advertising tips.
Next Monday, November 17h, the New York Times is hosting its fourth annual Small Business Summit at the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers in NYC. I know travel expenses are one of the things many businesses are trying to cut back on, but before you read any further, general admission for this thing is only $99. That's not too bad, especially if you live in the New York area.
The economy has without a doubt left a bad taste in the mouth (and wallet) of many business owners, and a fair number have indicated that they will reduce their marketing budgets just to save some money and continue surviving. I personally feel that this should be done as a last resort only, because marketing is what drives customers to your business, and customers are what drive growth, and ultimately survival.
Businesses are often hesitant to operate blogs and social media personas. They are also wary of how their reputations will be shaped, and this is certainly a concern they should have, but the prospect of negativity being introduced with regards to your business isn't necessarily the gallows pole. In fact, negativity can often breed positive results in the long run.
The holidays are approaching. Regular SmallBusinessNewz readers are probably getting tired of hearing me say that by now.
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