SmallBusinessNewz

Traffic Spikes Pose Challenges For Small Businesses' Sites

The classic TV show The Twilight Zone often dealt with people getting what they wanted, only to be unable to handle it.  [Spoiler ahead]  Recall the episode in which a disgraced jockey became a physical giant, then couldn't accept a chance to race again, for example.  And similarly, it seems many small businesses' sites couldn't survive a traffic spike.Neustar, in partnership with Decipher, conducted a survey of 300 IT workers at small businesses before reaching this conclusion.  The stats were pretty definitive, too.

Verizon Launches Author Series For Small Businesses

Verizon said today it is launching the Verizon Author Series to connect accomplished authors to small businesses.Every month from April through December (with a break in August), one featured author will offer advice, tips and insights to businesses.Each author will host a live webinar on the Verizon Small Business Center and take part in a live Twitter event (#bizbooks) for one hour to engage with businesses or fans.

Blekko Partners With MerchantCircle On Small Business Search

 Blekko, the search engine that is using human curation to reduce spam in search results, and MerchantCircle, an online network of local business owners, announced a partnership today to remove spam for users searching for small business resources.   MerchantCircle's community of 1.6 million members will help improve small business search results by curating the new slashtag "/smallbusiness" so that it returns results from trusted resources that are free of spam.

Intuit: Small Business Cloud Usage At 38 Percent In The UK

"The cloud" has become an increasingly common term over the past year or so, with all sorts of people and companies discussing the benefits of accessing information online rather than storing it locally.  And it looks like they've been doing more than talking, too, as a new study shows that many UK small businesses have begun taking advantage of cloud technology.

Intuit And Salesforce Focus On Small Businesses

Intuit and salesforce.com have formed a partnership aimed at making it easier for small businesses to manage customer information and financial data. A recent survey by Intuit found that more than one-half of small businesses perform CRM tasks manually or with software not designed for the job; 28 percent use pen and paper, while another 28 percent manually enter data on spreadsheets. These results signal a need in the market for integrated solutions.

ZoomInfo Launches Business Email Contact Tool

 ZoomInfo a business information provider has launched a new plug-in that finds active business contacts in users' email and automatically uploads the information to the ZoomInfo B2B directory. Salespeople, small business owners, jobseekers and others who install the plug-in receive free, ongoing access to the entire ZoomInfo Database of millions of B2B profiles.

Customer Reviews Impacting Small Businesses

Online customer reviews and social network sites have a larger impact on the reputation of a small business than its own website , according to a new report from Marchex.Marchex analyzed the search results from approximately 150 small businesses and found that more than 80% of search results did not point to the websites of these small businesses.

Home-Based Businesses Continue To Grow

 Even with the difficult conditions that have characterized the U.S. economy over the past three years, the number of home-based businesses and corporate home offices has continued to increase, according to a new report from IDC.

Small Business Owners To Add More Than 3 Million Jobs In 2011

U.S. small business owners plan to add nearly 3.8 million jobs this year, according to the latest Small Business Success Index, released by the Center for Excellence in Service at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business and partner Network Solutions.When asked about their hiring plans for 2011, 28 percent of small business owners said they expect to increase staffing by an average of two full-time employees.

Small Business Nonprofit Launches New Website And Membership

The National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE) , a a nonprofit representing America's smallest businesses is introducing a new annual membership and redesigned website offering more resources and services. "The NASE is constantly looking for ways we can become a more vibrant partner with America's self-employed," said NASE President Robert Hughes.