SmallBusinessNewz

How Small Hospitality Businesses can Benefit from Internet Marketing

The internet is a modern day essential for hospitality businesses of all niches and sizes. Without a website, or even social presence, you risk losing out on a large amount of business, as well as excellent marketing opportunities.

Small Business Blogging Tips for Beginners

It’s no secret that companies allocate a great deal of time and effort to develop credible blogs that draw additional traffic to their sites. Unfortunately, small business owners oftentimes find themselves at a disadvantage. They might not have the experience or finances needed to establish a blog that will increase their company’s SEO — or so they think.

Various Reports Send Mixed Signals About The Economy

As Washington seems to be stalled in their talks about raising the national debt ceiling, a couple of new reports shed a glimmer of hope on the U.S. economy.Breaking a string of poor economic news that included the statistic that unemployment rose slightly in June from 9.1% to 9.2%, the U.S. Labor Department issued a somewhat optimistic report today.Of course, optimism needs to be taken with a grain of salt as the news is far from earth-shattering. 

Offline Retail Vs. Online Retail

Although online shopping has seemingly taken the world by storm, offline shopping is still very significant. In fact, the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) recently conducted a study that showed some slightly surprising information regarding consumer behavior offline.

Are You Driving Potential Buyers Away?

Have you ever been in a position in which someone likes you a whole lot more than you like him or her? The interesting thing about these situations is that you are, typically, driven away instead of returning the same level of feelings. Incidentally, many businesses are guilty of setting up a similar scenario in regards to online sales.

Consumer Confidence Falls In July

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index which declined in June, fell further in July.The Index now stands at 50.4 (1985=100), down from 54.3 in June. The Present Situation Index decreased to 26.1 from 26.8. The Expectations Index declined to 66.6 from 72.7 last month."Consumer confidence faded further in July as consumers continue to grow increasingly more pessimistic about the short-term outlook," said Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center.

Print Advertising Not Dead Yet

It is no secret that the Internet has tremendously impacted the advertising industry. Online ad spend is continuing to increase each year. However, that does not mean that print advertising is over. In fact, there is actually a lot potential left in offline print campaigns.

Part 2: Holiday Trends for 2009

As evidenced in our previous article on the first 5 holiday trends for 2009, the economy is still greatly impacting both consumers and retailers. Unfortunately, the next 5 trends from Phil Rist of BIGresearch and Ellen Davis of the National Retail Federation send the same message.

Part 1: Holiday Trends for 2009

It's hard to believe that it's already time to start holiday shopping. According to the recent National Retail Federation's 2009 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions survey, it looks like the early bird may get the only worm. The survey, conducted by BIGresearch, found that consumers are aggressively looking for bargains this year. In addition, retailers are greatly cutting back on their inventory due to weak demand. In other words, it's going to be a push-and-pull battle between retailers and consumers.

Consumers Don't Always Want to Be Your Friend

The Global Web Index from Lightspeed Research recently shared some information about how Americans view brands. The findings offer some insight that businesses may want to consider when plotting their strategies for social media, blogging, and general interactivity with customers online.