Tips from December 4, 2009 The Small Business tips today discuss women as a target audience. 85% of all brand purchases are made by women. Once they find a brand that the they like and at an affordable price that they TRUST, they will be loyal. Women are flooding social networks, especially women who have young children at home. Market to them by communicating on social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter. Additionally, women are compelled by advertisements they see in newspapers, magazines, or online. 91% of women feel that advertisers don't understand them. Pink, frilly, and foofy is no way to advertise to women. Understand that simply they are consumers who, like all consumers, are looking to get exactly what they want for the price they are willing to pay. Too girly of a strategy is not the way to gain women customers. On average, 25% of products in women's shopping carts are environmentally friendly.... [Read Full Article]

  Government and Economy Taxing Financiers to Close `Unfair Loopholes' President Obama is turning yet again to financiers as a source of tax revenue to plug holes in his budget and what he sees as gaps in the tax code itself. Bloomberg.com Small Business and Middle Class Tax Relief Plan Unveiled The Obama administration has unveiled its long-awaited proposal for approximately $736 billion in tax cuts for middle class families and almost $100 billion in tax cuts for small businesses, all over the next ten years. Forbes.com Management and Financial Issues [Read Full Article]

In a recent paper released by the Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Advocacy, entitled “Looking Ahead: Opportunities and Challenges for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Owners,” author Chad Moutray  identified five opportunities coming in the next decade that small business owners can look forward to. Investment in Technology and Innovation Increasing With strong ties between innovation and business creation, government is recognizing the fact that entrepreneurs with seemingly risky ventures can have a positive impact on local economies. "Economic Gardening" Becoming More Prominent The practice of "economic gardening"(spending money on promoting existing, local business instead of trying to woo large corporations to town) is being seen as a better long term solution to local job creation.International Markets-The Final Frontier Within our current economic situation, the e... [Read Full Article]