SmallBusinessNewz

Customer Relations Built to Last

Customer relations can be sticky. The business motto "the customer is always right" isn't always true. Even so, that motto must apply if you want to build a strong relationship with your customers.

Are You Filling A Need?

The wisdom of the movie 'Robots' comes across when Rodney Copperbottom says, "see a need, fill a need."

New Trend Optimizes Supply Lines

A full stockroom is only good insofar as you're able to actually move all of the products to the sales floor.  Businesses may be focusing on this fact as a new report indicates that retail container traffic is dropping this year.

Selling Online? Don't Forget Taxes.

Keeping in the spirit of watching out for the IRS, you might be interested to know that President Bush is about to sign new legislation that will require PayPal and other online payment services to report annual gross receipts to the IRS. As Martin Vaughan at the Wall Street Journal reports, online sellers are facing new tax rules.

SCORE Notes Milestone With Eight Millionth Entrepreneur

Some nice poetry has been written about the path less traveled, and small businesses tend to be somewhat unique.  We'll set those facts aside for a moment, though, because SCORE is celebrating an impressive statistic involving eight million entrepreneurs.

Video Helps, But Use It Wisely

The potential of video in social media for building and enhancing customer relationships should be balanced in its use.

The Line Between Bad Customer Service and Being Reasonable

Where is the line between being reasonable and failing to provide good customer service? That's a question that is hard to answer. A SmallBusinessNewz reader named Jason commented on one of my recent articles about how often the customers will just try to take advantage of your generosity as you try to provide good customer service.

NSBA: IRS is Targeting Your Business

Is the IRS targeting your business? Yes, according to the National Small Business Association (NSBA). The NSBA wants to educate small business owners about proposals that congress and the IRS are promoting, and has provided a forum for them to learn as well as speak out on the matter.

Creating Word-of-Mouth Communication

Long before paid advertising and promotions were around, word-of-mouth communication existed. It was powerful from day one and is still the most powerful publicity method.

Business Travel Becoming Less Common

Traveling can be nice, leading to neat new places and profitable relationships.  It can also be a hassle, with bad hotels and worse meetings making everything look like a waste of time and money.  This second perspective seems to be worth adopting as energy costs continue to rise.