Small Business Trends

The word “handmade” evokes feelings of warmth, of comfort, of craftsmanship. Earlier this summer, I mentioned some cool niche sites serving the artisan community in my 19 new additions to a large ecommerce list.  Amazon and eBay are certainly well known marketplaces among those looking to sell just about anything, but niche marketplaces and communities are growing quickly. Read More

When you’re on the road, whether locally or internationally, sometimes you just need that little device, gadget or thingamajig to make your work life easier.  These tools are not just for road warriors, but for anyone who appreciates elegant lifehacks.

Here are eight of my favorites:

Breffo spiders are absolutely amazing. Simple, but super cool. Read More

In late 2010, there were more than 3.7 billion searches on YouTube, which is widely regarded as the second largest search engine on the planet (and is owned by the largest). This should put video high on your small business marketing list, and this review of Avid Studio can help you create a professional video.

With today’s top quality and Read More

The Fortune 500, Amazon, eBay and the biggest brands in the world do something most of us take for granted. They ship products–every day, all over the world. But for the small company, shipping is not an easy task, nor is it inexpensive.  If your company sells physical product and is growing, you have probably struggled with warehousing, managing and Read More

Ever since Tim Ferriss wrote The Four Hour Workweek, the small business owner market has been aware of outsourcing and its benefits.  Find a virtual assistant or contractor of just about any flavor and your work life will be easier.

That’s the promise. The reality is a little different. Sometimes it takes a while to find the right person Read More

IMPORTANT UPDATE as of JANUARY 28, 2012:  We have verified that RatePoint, the service reviewed in this article, has abruptly announced the shut down of operations.  

Water spurting everywhere inside your house inspires you to move fast. When this happened a few years ago, we found a plumber in the phone directory, but it took more than a few Read More

If you have ever asked yourself, “How can I get value out of my social media marketing activity?” then this review is for you. I’ve been searching for a comprehensive tool that would allow me to manage both Facebook and Twitter from one dashboard. Roost.com offers this functionality. It is a social marketing platform for small businesses.

We’re all in business to sell something, and ecommerce is always a requested topic when I talk to business owners in person, on Twitter, via Facebook or by email.  We heard your request and we’ve updated the very popular post 49 E-Commerce & Shopping Carts for  Small Business.

Jump to the end of this post if you don’t Read More

Social media is powerful for marketing and creating engagement. For many of us, we go from one account to another, managing the flow of tweets, status updates, Facebook likes and more. Managing your social media efforts is no easy task. Quite recently, I’ve heard from many of you that you want to know about tools you can use to help Read More

Focus. We can talk about it all day, but it’s hard to do with the many things you face as a small business owner wearing too many hats. You can create a grand plan and fancy to-do list, but if you don’t focus on the important stuff and do it–well, then, it’s just a list. Teamly is a new type Read More