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]

Government, Politics, and the Economy U.S. Stocks Extend Global Rally on Retail Sales, APEC Pledge U.S. stocks added to a global rally, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to a 13-month high, after retail sales increased more than forecast and Asian government leaders pledged to maintain economic stimulus spending. Bloomberg.comThe Economy6 Steps for Surviving the RecessionThe news today just is not very good. Every time we think we are on the upside of the downturn, we get thrown for another loop, hit with another tax, told it will be just a few more months before all this turns around. BusinessKnowHow.com... [Read Full Article]

Tips from October 29, 2009 The Small Business tips today discuss how to set up a small business event to network in your community. Market your event via flyers, Chambers of Commerce, radio advertisements, mailers, on your website, as well as word of mouth. Create a Facebook invite and notify your friends, family, group members, as well as fans. Send them a reminder message a day before the event. Offer small, free gifts for people at your event, such as pens, magnets, or pads of paper. Have all of your contact information easily readable on it. At the event, collect business cards & give yours out. At the conclusion of the event, send a thank you letter & save their contact information. Daily Overview: Events allow your business to connect with other people and businesses to create relationships and build support. [Read Full Article]

Tips from Thursday, December 18, 2008 The Small Business tips today will be about how to establish a presence in your community. Take customers and put them on an advisory board. Publicize it and listen to what they have to say. Donate things to represent your business. Not just money but perhaps a product of yours to help a cause? Volunteer! Get involved in the community and encourage employees to do so too. It's marketing via involvement. Sponsor a team or event. Don't just offer the money. George Washington is the face on the $, you be the face of the involvement. Daily Overview: Being present is the only way to have a presence. To your community, it's not just about the money. -- I post small business tips on my Twitter account each day, Monday through Friday. This is a reposting of those tips. [Read Full Article]

Social media is leveling the playing field for small businesses. With an effective social media presence, a small business can build their online visibility and ultimately remain competitive with the big boys. In short, social media marketing has completely shifted the way businesses are marketing themselves. But to get the most out of your social media campaign, you have to make sure you’re going about things the right way. If you just blindly rush into social media marketing, you could end up doing more harm to your brand than good. Follow these tips for building an effective social media presence for your small business. Do Your Research- The first step to any marketing campaign is to do your research. With social media marketing, this means analyzing all of the different social media sites to determine which best suits your needs. When studying these sites, take note of what types of stories go hot and what kind of audience uses the site. [Read Full Article]