Business blogs are great. Not only do consumers get information on company's marketing campaigns, successes, and industry news, but also insight on the company itself. Blogs used correctly will draw people in, and create a great business-customer relationship. Those blogs which fail at creating this relationship and are used incorrectly could prove detrimental to your business. There are a few simple things that your business blog can do stop your blog up for business failure. Do you want to run your business into the ground? Don't Include RSS Feeds "Who cares about making it convenient for those who are following you? If they want to find your blog, they will. What's the use for an RSS feed?" RSS feeds are a great way for your loyal readers to receive updates immediately each time your blog is updated. These people could include employees, customers, potential customers, competitors, or random people on the internet looking to gain in... [Read Full Article]

Tax time for small businesses is typically very stressful. With the April 15 deadline approaching, now is the time (if you haven't already) to get started on preparing your taxes. While researching for this week's tax tips and blog, I came across many tax tips that I didn't know about. Check out my Top 10 Tax Tips! File Your Tax Return for Free - The IRS Free File program provides free federal income tax preparation and electronic filing for eligible taxpayers through a partnership between the IRS and the Free File Alliance LLC, a group of private sector tax software companies. Free tax preparation and filing via online software is available to anyone with a 2009 Adjusted Gross Income of $57,000 or less. If that’s you, head to the IRS website and choose from a list of approved tax preparers, and get started. If you aren’t sure which preparer to use, ans... [Read Full Article]

Government & PoliticsSmall Business Incentives Face a Hard Road in CongressPresident Obama’s incentives for small business to create jobs appear to be foundering at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue. Those proposals — tax credits for hiring and investment and initiatives to spur lending to small firms — all face strong resistance, and not all of it comes from the Senate. Each chamber has embraced separate elements of the administration’s agenda, and, for the moment, none of those elements overlap.Government & PoliticsU.S. Salary-Increase Budgets Hit 25-Year LowChanges to salary structures... [Read Full Article]

Everyone makes mistakes. For businesses, mistakes can be the deciding factor for staying in business or closing their doors forever. Many novice small business owners make the same mistakes within the first year of opening their business that causes them to have to close down. Find the top five mistakes and what you can do to prevent them below.Mistake #1) Putting Your Heart & Soul Into Your Business, But NOT Your HeadIt takes  great deal of passion to start a small business. In fact, many small businesses are a result of a passionate idea or organization. It is important to have the strong feeling to get the business off the ground. Unfortunately, that is not enough. As much passion and drive you have for your business, it is important to also think about other factors for your business, especially your finances. Passion doesn’t pay the bills. You need to have a plan from the get-go to be able to determine if you business is simply a passion-driven ide... [Read Full Article]

Sometimes known as the Millennials, Connecteds and Unreachables, Generation Y is compromised of individuals in their 20s and younger, or born in 1982 or later. They are an important generation to understand because they are comprised of 71 million Americans who spend over 200 billion dollars annually. They're taking over the Baby Boomers as the largest percentage of the working world. Gen Yers are hard to reach as a whole, yet one of the largest markets to make purchases. The best way to market to Generation Y is to not market to them, instead, establish a connection.As a Gen Yer, I can tell you that we are a very unique group to understand, and an even more complicated group to know how to market to. Gen Yers are a product of Baby Boomers, and we were raised in a different way than any other generation. Baby Boomers raised us to be optimistic, live our lives first and work second, and that we can do and be anything we want to. Ta... [Read Full Article]

Management and OperationsIdentify New Consumer NormsThe recession has changed how customers shop, possibly forever. Entrepreneur.com Management and Operations Resolving Employee Complaints Before They Hit the Internet The question is what to do about employee complaints about the workplace. It's more than a matter of damage control. Trying to repair the harm to internal morale, recruitment efforts, and corporate reputations after the fact is not as effective as preventing the damage in the first place. ManageSmarter.com Management and Operations [Read Full Article]

Government, Politics, and the Economy Is It Too Early to Start Thinking About a Rebound? It may not feel like it yet in your town or in your industry, but there are indications that things are getting better. NYtimes.comManagement and OperationsHow to Not Go Out of BusinessStart by studying how your best customers interact with your brand and its competitors, then brainstorm ways to address any shortcomings. BusinessWeek.com Management and Operations [Read Full Article]

Tips from November 16, 2009 The Small Business tips today discuss proper hiring practices. Take time to hire, if you need to hire immediately. Plan for at least 2-4 weeks for the hiring process. Taking your time ensures you have hired the right candidate for the position and didn't hire without much thought. Know what YOUR business needs. Someone with an impeccable resume and work history who does not fit the criteria you have for yourself for the position won't work for what you need for your business. Think and choose carefully. Take into account your company's culture. Make sure they will be a fit for your workplace skill-wise, as well as with the employees. Camaraderie is important, especially if they are going to be part of your business team.  Take at least a two step process to eliminate candidates. Do phone interviews with 5 candidates, and narrow it down to 2 or 3 for the final face-to-face interview. ... [Read Full Article]