Small Business Trends

Social media and entrepreneurship represent the perfect partnership in today’s small business world. Free and easy to operate social media tools have made it possible for almost anyone with an idea and the willingness to work to create their own dream small business. What is it you would like to do? There’s probably already a social media tool to help you do it.

Social Media Startup

A social media startup guide. Ever wondered how effective social media really is at helping you grow your business or start it in the first place? Sian Phillips doesn’t. Not anymore. In this post, Sian recounts how she started her consulting business and already had her first clients by the end of her first week with no other effort than starting a blog and launching accounts on Twitter and Facebook. How’s that for ROI? Tweak Your Biz

Facebook ads revisited. Facebook ads are the latest and greatest online small business advertising and marketing tool since…well, since Google Adsense. We’ve reported on them here at Small Business Trends before, of course, but this post from online marketig consultant Chris Piepho may give the most comprehensive overview of all. Small Business Shift

Building a community for your business with Twitter. Twitter may have just 140 little characters per post, but the impact it can have on your business is enormous. How can you use those 140 characters plus other neat tools to build a community around you brand? Check out this awesome primer that shows how entrepreneurs can use this amazing free tool to change their business operations forever.  Search Engine Journal

Entrepreneurship

Keeping your entrepreneurial focus. Keeping yourself on track whole working to start your company can be one of the hadest challenges you face as an entrepreneur. So many distractions compete for your time, others who, perhaps, would like to harness some of your talent for their vision. Student and entrepreneur Zack Shapiro has these helpful words about creating a “filter” for your entrepreneurial focus that keeps you from spreading yourself too thin.The Startup Student

How many hats do you wear in your small business? We’re guessing if your like a lot of startup entrepreneurs it’s probably a lot. There’s providing your product or service. (That’s the easy part and the reason you got into business in the first place) and then there’s everything else. There’s no way of delegating when you’re a solopreneur meaning you’re the only one in the office and there’s no money for outsourcing. Montreal Financial

Marketing

Don’t let blogging create another stressful aspect of your business. Sure, blogging for your business is important, critical maybe. Getting your message out and engaging with others you find on the World Wide Web can really get results but don’t let your blogging create stress or siphon off energy that should be spent on your core business. Fortunately, busy business blogger Kiesha Easley has a solution that will increase your productivity. bizchickblogs.com

To “like” or not to “like,” that is the question. And a lot of people visiting your Facebook profile today are taking too much time to answer it. Those fans could represent new sales or new referrals or both. So what do you do? There are ways to build up your Facebook following. Let’s look at one strategy. The Torch

Are you abusing social media marketing? There are rights and wrongs when it comes to use of social media…and when it comes to just about every other aspect of business as well. The price you will pay for breaking these rules is a poor reputation with many of your potential customers and perhaps even some negative reaction on the social Web that will keep spreading long after your bad behavior. It seems hard to believe that marketers doing any of the things mentioned in the post above aren’t aware what they are doing is wrong. But it’s best to remember that you reputation is always important online or off so don’t start down this path. KISSmetrics

Search

It’s still about the content. From blogging to social media to SEO for your site, it’s important for online entrepreneurs to keep in mind that every aspect of your business still relies on content. Seems obvious, right? When is the last time you visited a site and was impressed by the lack of content there? Keeping content fresh is the key to your social media ills. MySEMExpert

SEO

How to get found on Google. If a tree falls in the woods, the old saying goes, but no one is there to hear it, did it really make a sound at all? The same can be said of content on your Website or products or services you offer customers if no one ever finds your tiny site in the ocean of Google search results we are all deluged with daily. Fortunately there are ways to improve your Google ranking that aren’t rocket science. inBlurbs