Although the term “cloud” is seeing increasing use, it’s necessary to clarify what portion of “the cloud” is of interest to a particular audience. For small and medium businesses (SMBs), there are generally two areas of relevance in the evolution of IT services to the cloud. The first is the application layer, commonly referred [...]
By Janet Attard
The single most important thing you can do before you apply for a business loan is to get to know the local resources available to help you. In the United States, there are a wealth of Federal, state and local resources such as the Small Business Development Center (SBDC), SCORE, and economic development agencies that exist specifically to help small businesses grow. continue »
By Winmark Business Solutions
You can still be successful even if you don’t possess every skill needed to run a small business. There are, however, certain qualities that you should possess if you’re to be successful. Let’s take a look at them: continue »
By Winmark Business Solutions
If you don’t want to start from scratch, buying an existing business may be an excellent alternative. Let’s take a look at some of the advantages and disadvantages of buying an existing business. continue »
By Jill Whalen
At the end of the year, many businesses start to think about redesigning their tired old Web site to breathe some new life into it. You may even be in the midst of a Web site redesign right now. If so, the first thing is to make sure you hire a design and development company that knows how to build the infrastructure of the Web site in a search engine crawler–friendly manner. continue »
By Janet Attard
What does it take to start and succeed in business? That’s a question I get asked a lot by startups and by owners of existing businesses that aren’t living up to the owners’ dreams. Although there is no one answer that fits all businesses, there are a number of practices followed by successful, happy business owners. No matter what you sell, you’ll be ahead of the game if you live by these 10 essential rules for succeeding in your own business. continue »
By Winmark Business Solutions
Starting a small business takes a lot of courage. But, as they say, courage doesn’t pay the bills. To be successful — to stay in business — you need more than courage. You need a combination of hard work, skill, perseverance and good old-fashioned luck. continue »
By Winmark Business Solutions
If you’re currently employed, you have first-hand knowledge of what it’s like to be an employee. If you think going into business for yourself will mostly mean doing the same thing, but for yourself, you’re in for a surprise. Small business owners are responsible for the entire business, which involves a lot more than just providing goods or services. It’s likely that all the administrative and managerial duties currently performed by your employer will fall on you. continue »
By Hostway
If you mention other blogs in your posts, you have a great opportunity to get noticed (and linked to) by the other blogger. All you have to do is include a trackback link to other blogs’ posts in your post, and a notification will be sent to the writers showing your link. It’s sure to get their attention and maybe move them to consider linking back to you in return. continue »
By Julie Ann Ross
Social media optimization (SMO) is an important ingredient within your search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM) campaigns. In the past, social networking sites were not much more than an oddity. Today, many have received enormous ranking authority from top search engines. If you are not leveraging these sites to improve your exposure and communicate with your niche consumer, your search engine positions are vulnerable to your competitors. continue »
By Hostway
In an age of high-speed Internet connections, people are used to getting what they want right now on the Web. If your Web site is slow to load, you could be losing customers who simply click away before you’ve even had a chance to impress them with your Web site. continue »
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