Small Business Trends

LotusJump is a web-based software system that helps you improve your ability to get found online and in the search engines.

It is an automated system that:

• points you to a wide variety of activities that you can do yourself to increase the number of places your business will be found online;
• organizes those activities with a convenient online to-do list so you can structure your work;
• provides automated reports to measure your progress.

How It Works

LotusJump searches through thousands of online venues to identify opportunities where you can get a listing for your website; pick up editorially-earned backlinks; get blog and media coverage; network and/or share content on social media sites; and develop online PR and buzz for your brand.

If you’re thinking of cheap software that automatically submits your website to hundreds of…

If any of you well-behaved small business owners visited the federal government’s Business.gov when it first launched back in 2004, you may remember it as a dull and dreary little web site that was not much more than a collection of links.

The web site was re-launched in February 2009 with a new look, new and snazzier programming, and a new venture into social networking (which I’ll get to in a minute) but, in the end, it remains essentially a collection of links. And, truth to tell, that is because that is what Business.gov was always intended to be.

Business.gov is a web portal operated jointly by 22 different federal agencies, believe it or not, as an online resource portal for small businesses. It has links to federal…

Verizon has lauched a new Small Business Center Web site.  The company has had a website for its small business customers, but this is a new and updated version of the website launched just this week.  (Take the tour.)

At the Small Business Center you can set up a profile using the professional networking module; get access to Verizon products you have subscribed to such as Internet service; find discounts on business products and services; participate in the Verizon Business Link Rewards program (similar to a credit card rewards program); and get access to news and information such as the New York Times Small Business section.   

The centerpiece of the site is the Verizon Collaboration Center, powered by Cisco WebEx technology.  It functions as an online workspace.  A small business team can use it as an intranet…

Earlier this week I got my new HP 2140 Mini computer.  It’s one of those new “netbook” computers, so called because they are small and compact, and designed in large part for surfing the ‘Net and using cloud applications — although they are capable of much more.

This is a brand new model that HP just started to ship.  I mentioned on Twitter that I’d just bought one.  A number people asked about it, so I took some pictures during the grand “unboxing.”  I thought I’d share the pictures, along with my initial observations.

First, some background: this is a small portable computer.  I wanted a netbook because I travel on business about 18 times a year. Since I run Web-based businesses, I can’t afford to be away from my computer for long.  Leaving the computer in the office and taking…

I recently received an HP Df820 8″ Digital picture frame and I love it! I have to admit that I never really wanted a digital picture frame. My house has a rather European and Traditional décor, lots of antiques and a digital picture frame just didn’t seem to fit into any of that.

But there it was — I received it as a gift and I’m not one to turn down gifts. So I kept it. It sat on the floor of my office for a few days — mainly because I thought it was going to be hard to assemble. The box was big, it had some cords and an installation guide — I mean, when was the last time you bought a picture frame…

Success Factors provides a human capital management solution.  What that means is that they provide tools and systems to help employers get the best performance from their workforces. 

Want a tool to align each employee’s goals with your company vision, with a dashboard to help you see at a glance where things stand?  Success Factors has a solution for that. 

Want to set up employee profiles so that remote workers can get to know a little about each other and work together better?  Success Factors offers it. 

Looking for a user-friendly, online way of doing performance reviews?  Success Factors can help with that, too.  For instance, here is a screenshot showing the performance management writing assistant, which helps managers write performance reviews by suggesting wording to describe the employee’s behavior:

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Small businesses are a big deal to some very large companies. Case in point: Hewlett Packard or HP.

This week I am in San Diego attending HP’s Annual Imaging and Printing Conference. The conference is an opportunity for analysts and the press to hear the company’s plans for the upcoming year, conduct one-on-one interviews with executives, and see new products. Typically at these kinds of events new products are announced. And there have been some pretty interesting announcements of products for the small business market.

For today the new product I’d like to focus on is the HP Creative Studio.

The HP Creative Studio is a new website where business people like you can easily locate resources to help you create marketing materials. You will find templates and other…