During the holiday season, TVs were bombarded with commercials that encouraged consumers to shop small. On Small Business Saturday, even the President and his children took part in the efforts to shop locally. The good news is this year’s massive marketing campaign by American Express, had a better result than the previous year. According to Businesswire, over 100 million shoppers came out and shopped locally on November 26, which was 27 million more than was projected. That is approximately 1/3 of the American population, according to the US population Clock.
That kind of impact is what movements like the recently passed [...]

This news story from The Daily Dose, “YouTube to Give Away $50 Million in Free Advertising for New Video Program,” indicates that YouTube is giving away up to $50 million to entice small-business owners to sign up for a video advertising service called Google AdWords for video. The service is meant to replicate features from Google’s AdWords for search, such as pay-per-click, but for video advertising instead. 

If you’re not already doing so, you might want to consider using YouTube to promote your small business Here are five tips to get your started.
Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery
Before you do [...]

So many businesses are getting into short form copy writing marketing efforts on the Internet that the Web has begun to be saturated with the kinds of short, SEO optimized page articles that entrepreneurs are counting on to get them more visibility online – but as with all kinds of outreach and marketing, a good rule of thumb applies here: when everybody is doing one thing, do something else. The emergence of electronic books is an opportunity for many small business leaders to pioneer different kinds of “literature promotion” of a certain kind of business.

Common Goals
With e-books, a small business [...]

If you’ve been viewing blogs solely as a medium for recreational rants and trivial pursuits, you could be missing out on a savvy marketing tool to increase your organization’s exposure and your bottom line.
Blogs are big business.
Since their evolution more than a decade ago, blogs have been used by everyone from A-list celebrities, to politicians, to business owners in an array of industries.
In fact, Google “business blogs” and you’ll receive more than a million entries as a search result. They are indeed the “new black.”
Though there are as many purposes as there are users, here are the most important benefits [...]

With little working capital working in their favor, small businesses must be clever and strategic in their marketing efforts.
Particularly considering that marketing and advertising represent one of the biggest expenses most businesses will incur. Not only is it one of the biggest expenses; it’s also one of the most important. The R.O.I. (return on investment ) can either make or break an otherwise struggling business.
With this in mind, here are five low-cost ways to create a buzz about your business without going broke.
1. Quality Business Cards—-Just because you’re small in size doesn’t mean you should have a strong image. No [...]

The rise of social media as a marketing platform has led to a number of common questions and misconceptions among entrepreneurs. Because it is such a new venue, and because it is so different from more traditional marketing methods such as direct sales and broadcast advertising, many problems exist when it comes to gauging effectiveness compared to other methods. As startup businesses are usually strapped for cash, coming up with a cost-effective marketing strategy is one of the most important things they can do.
Opportunity Cost
One of the major misconceptions about social media marketing is that it is “free.” For instance, [...]

Do you have a “Timeline” yet?
Facebook released their new “Timeline” layout to the public a few months ago on October 1st, 2011. Facebook has now decided to introduce the Timeline for businesses fan pages. With the introduction of this new layout for fan pages, comes a large list of new marketing opportunities for businesses. Here are a few ways that your fan page can benefit from the introduction of the new Facebook Timeline, which will become mandatory on March 30th, 2012.
Benchmark Posts
The new Timeline enables users to add “Benchmarks.” These benchmarks can be used to post whatever you would like [...]

Looking for resources to help your small business succeed?  You’ve come to the right place!  We have a ton of news, tips, resources all related to helping your small business succeed.
We’ve got a ton of information on here.  In case you missed it, here are some of the top posts on some popular topics:
Institutional Lending:
Lending Spotlight: Chase Business Line of Credit: A quick look at one of Chase’s biggest lending options for small businesses, it could be a great option for you.
Best Business Credit Cards for 2012?  Some Good Deals on Small Business Credit: Learn what makes business credit cards [...]

You know the old Rolling Stones song, “You Can’t Always Get What You Want?” It’s true. However, everyday there is someone in the world who pushes the proverbial envelope to get what they want (not necessarily what they need).
Take the story of Apotheosis. At five foot, six inches he was shorter than the average American male and very unhappy about it. Instead of accepting his fate, he chose to get costly, painful surgeries to add six inches to his height. He’s not alone in his quest. Others have chosen this limb-lengthening procedure for purely cosmetic reasons as well.
Sometimes what people [...]

Pinterest has created quite a buzz in the past 2 months, seeing more interactions than Google+, YouTube, and LinkedIn combined! This social networking website is extremely innovative compared to its competitors. Pinterest is a social network that revolves around sharing content such as pictures and videos. If you are not currently thinking of strategies for using Pinterest to market your business, then you are missing out on large amounts of easy traffic to your businesses website. Here are a few ways to begin marketing with Pinterest and get the ball rolling!
Product Images
Since Pinterest is solely based on sharing content such [...]