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]

Government, Politics, and the Economy U.S. Stocks Advance, Extending Global Rally, as Dollar Weakens The global rally is predicted to stick around, as the dollar fell, while oil and copper advanced and Treasuries were little changed. Bloomberg.comManagement and OperationsTen Tips to Help Create More Time in Your DayHave a problem with time management? Learn how to earn the most out of your time, and even add more time to your day to get more accomplished. BusinessKnowHow.com Management and Operations [Read Full Article]

Government, Politics and the Economy Obama: Small Business Promises Kept and Broken President Obama promised to help Main Street where, but has he kept that promise? Here's a look at where he's followed through -- and where he hasn't. CNNMoney.com Survey Suggests Recession to End This Quarter With recent data suggesting that the recession has bottomed-out, the Blue Chip Economic Indicators survey of private economists showed about 90% of the respondents believe the recession will be declared over this quarter. FoxBusiness.com Management and Operations [Read Full Article]

  Government, Politics and the Economy The People's Stimulus It's not what Congress or the President had in mind, but towns are using $2 bills and "buy local" promotions to launch their own stimulus efforts to keep local merchants in business. CNNMoney.com Obama and the Entrepreneur: The Story Behind the Photo When President Obama made his way out of a town-hall event, there was one persistent small business owner pressed him on the issue of taxes. NYTimes.com [Read Full Article]

  Government, Politics and the Economy Little Hope and Less Hiring on Main Street Some may see signs of economic recovery on the horizon, but that news doesn't seem to have made it to the shops on Main Street. According to payroll processor ADP, small businesses shed more than four times as many employees as larger businesses did over the last month. CNNMoney.com Inflation: Are the Fears Overstated? We have been hearing warnings that President Obama's economic policies will lead to a terrible outbreak of inflation, and they may, but an immediate outbreak is improbable. WSJ.com Management, Taxes and Fin... [Read Full Article]

  Government and Economy Obama: Small Business Key to Economy In a speech welcoming winners of an SBA award to the White House's East Room, President Obama acknowledged that small business is responsible for half the nation's private sector jobs and so deserves support from Washington. Google.com/AP Congress Failing American Small Business While they talk a fine game, when it comes to action on supporting what they, themselves, describe as the “backbone of the economy” our legislators seem happier to play possum. HuffingtonPost.com [Read Full Article]

  Government and Economy Obama's Budget: The Picture of Austerity? President Obama defended the $17 billion in cuts he’s making in his record-breaking $3.55 trillion budget, deflecting criticism and trying to make the case that his budget in an exercise in restraint. Politico.com Climate Czar Talks Cap-and-Trade With CEOs White House climate “czar,” Carol Browner, is set to meet with executives from companies seeking more business-friendly rules to the President's proposed cap-and-trade legislation. Bloomberg.com Management and Financial Issues [Read Full Article]

Originally written April 24, 2008 Yesterday was April 23, a quiet day in the Spring of 2008, a nice day; but 23 years ago, April 23 became a day that will live, as FDR put it, in infamy—at least from a marketing and public relations point of view. It was the day Coca-Cola introduced New Coke. It is nothing new to say that you need to protect the image of your brand, but that lesson was driven home with uncommon power—and violence—by the debacle that was New Coke.  Coca-Cola has been around since 1886, when Dr. John S. Pemberton, an Atlanta, Georgia, pharmacist, first produced the syrup for Coca-Cola. He took a jug of the syrup to the nearby Jacobs' Pharmacy, where, according to Coke lore, “it was sampled, pronounced "excellent" and placed on sale for five cents a glass as a soda fountain drink.” In the years since then, Coke went from a syrup mixed with soda water to a bottled beverage that could be easily distributed throughout the region, th... [Read Full Article]