Having a strong presence on social media can indirectly help your local SEO by making your business more visible to people in your local area. [Read Full Article]

In the last few days Google has begun to allow custom links to be added to business profiles in Google Places. Up until now, only one website link was allowed to be added to Google Places profiles. One of the biggest rules was the website given in the Google Places profile was to be the best online representation of that company. This will now allow a business to promote other pages such as their Facebook page, Twitter page, LinkedIn page and any other profile page the business owner wants to promote. After you click “More Details” the links display like this: [Read Full Article]

Tips from March 18, 2010 The Small Business tips today discuss SEO (search engine optimization) for blogs. Keep your content fresh. The easiest tip for SEO is to have great content that will get you found without much promoting. The quality of your work and original content will get you found on the top search engines. Keywords - Important words that people will search for search engines, such as Google, Yahoo!, or Bing, are important when creating your blog post. Keywords should be in your title, subtitle, URL, and tags. Posting links to your blog in outside sources provides links back to your website. Unfortunately, this could also be labeled as spam if done incorrectly. Keep posting your blogs on comments to other blogs in your industry, or those that you know personally and professionally. Don't get too carried away, you could ruin your reputation. Social media provides a great way to provide a link for others outside your... [Read Full Article]

The Small Business tips today discuss how to drive traffic to your blog using Twitter.   Complete Your Profile - Fill out your biography, link to your blog, and any other information that others reading your Twitter OR blog could find you at. See the two as compliments of each other. Branding - Utilize the picture and background features. Create a brand for yourself - think of it as an Internet billboard. Create a theme that is consistent between your blog and your Twitter account. Links & Hashtags - Post bit.ly links on your Twitter account each time you create a post on your blog. This can be synched, but for beginners, it is a simple step of copying and pasting the link from your blog to bit.ly, then sending a tweet to your followers. Additionally, use hashtags (#) to brand your business and group your topics with other similar topics on Twitter. Be Visible! If you h... [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]

Tips from December 14, 2009 The Small Business tips today discuss marketing to Generation X via social media. Use social media to promote a new product. Gen X is open to trying new things and value new opportunities, and they will respond the best to free trials. Facebook fan pages need to be communicating with your fans, offering value and at a pace that isn't too intrusive. Gen Xers don't want to be annoyed with pointless and/or excessive updates. You also don't be silent. Find a happy medium. Gen X is also active on Twitter. Tweet trivia to your followers and have a prize, such as a free gift or discounted coupons, to give to the first, correct or creative replies. Write a blog. If you don't have one on your website or don't know how, sign up with a free service like Blogger. Be sure to give your potential readers a way to share your stuff, too. Have the [Read Full Article]

Tips from December 7, 2009 The Small Business tips today discuss marketing to Baby Boomers via social media. Facebook is a great channel for Baby Boomers. They're learning to reconnect with friends, family, and classmates online. Create a fan page, that is simple and user-friendly, for your business to target this generation. Baby Boomers are just starting to get into Twitter. They appreciate basic deals and information with a very simple way to find these deals. Make your tweets very clear to Baby Boomers that you are promoting a deal or special savings. Baby Boomers are influenced by viral campaigns. Create a channel for your business and put videos up on YouTube that Baby Boomers can relate to. Grasp their feelings about living life to the fullest and achieving their dreams. Be patient with Baby Boomers & social media. Make directions as simple as possible; they did not grow up with the technology and must adapt to it. [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]