There are many service providers that can benefit small businesses today, especially online. Two of those service providers had major announcements this week. And, there are plenty of other important developments, too. Be sure you stay up-to-date with the information that could most affect your business. Let the Small Business Trends editorial team keep you in the know.
Online Services
GoDaddy Files Plan to Go Public, Raise $100 Million. Domain registrar and Web hosting company GoDaddy Inc. filed for a $100 million public offering Monday.
Google My Business: An Easier Way To Manage Your Business Listing Online. Google launched Google My Business, an easier way to manage information about your business and how it appears on Google maps, Google+ and search.
Rock Your Business With These 23 Website Building Tools. You don’t need a big budget to create a rocking small business website or Web presence. There are many inexpensive or even free Web building tools out there.
Social Media
Live Report from Facebook’s First “Fit” Event for Small Businesses. Facebook’s first “boot camp” for small business owners was held. The event took place at Skylight Clarkson Square in New York City and Small Business Trends was in attendance.
Twitter Attack Caused Thousands to Retweet a Single Message. A Twitter attack caused thousands of people’s accounts to retweet a single message this week. But this was apparently only if the original tweet that started the trouble was viewed through TweetDeck, a popular application used to manage Twitter accounts.
Pinterest Beta Tests Do-It-Yourself Promoted Pins for Business. Following the lead of other social networks like Facebook and Twitter, Pinterest is ramping up its marketing features.
Analytics
Ever Wish You Had the Same Data As Amazon? Terapeak Says You Can. When deciding how to set your prices or maybe even what to sell in the first place – it would be great to have more information.
Lumiary Lights the Way for Marketing Your Online Business. Meet Lumiary, the company that says it will pull in all of your marketing stats and analytics, and save you a lot of time overall.
Taxes
Estimated Tax Payments: Your Questions Answered. Estimated income tax payments are a fact of life for most of us who run our own businesses. Unlike those who are employed and receive paychecks where taxes are withheld by the employer, most business owners and the self-employed will be required to periodically send an amount called “estimated tax payments” to the IRS.
IRS Adopts Taxpayer Bill of Rights. The IRS this week announced the adoption of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights. According to the IRS, the document is intended to provide American taxpayers with a better understanding of their rights.
Funding
Small Banks Continue to Grab Share In Small Biz Loan Market. Small banks continue to grab a big share of the small business loan market. A recent survey shows small lenders already grant more than half of small business loans.
Angel Investments Update Since the Economic Downturn. Now that the CVR has released its 2013 estimates of angel investing activity in the United States, we’ve provided an updated analysis.
30 Crowdfunding Sites to Take Your Venture to the Next Level. Small business owners frequently do not have the capital to pursue new venues, and crowdfunding is one way to obtain needed funds to bring your innovative business ideas from dream to reality.
Startup
New Magazine Tells of Smart Hustling Small Business Entrepreneurs. Is there a difference between a small business entrepreneur and other small business owners? Ramon Ray, technologist at Smallbiztechnology.com, says he believes there is.
How to Turn Your Home Brewing Hobby into a Business. Michael Langone, the entrepreneur behind HopBox, combined a variety of different skills and interests when launching his home beer brewing business. Langone was studying to become an architect, and didn’t expect to make brewing a career.
How to Turn a $300 Investment into a Design Business. Terrence Kelleman started his business completely by accident. With no previous business or marketing experience, he turned a small investment into a multi-million dollar design business.
Entrepreneurship
These High School Entrepreneurs are Building the Next Google. The next Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs or Larry Page could still be in high school. Three 17-year-old students at Horace Mann School in Riverdale, N.Y. could be among these future tech entrepreneurs.
Michael Dell To Promote Entrepreneurship Globally For UN Foundation. Michael Dell and his company Dell Inc. have been emphasizing entrepreneurship and the innovation it brings over the past year. The company even launched an ad campaign in 2014 celebrating Dell’s roots as a dorm room startup.
Research
Think You’re Lucky? The Power of Optimistic Thinking Could Mean Cash! When National Geographic took to the streets to ask people if they felt lucky or unlucky, little did the people know they were partaking in an experiment of positive thinking – and $20 was at stake.
Uh Oh! Sleep Deprivation is Linked to Unethical Behavior. How much sleep did you get last night? If you work at a small business, it’s probably less than six hours. So did you tell any lies today?
Marketing
New Horizons 123: Video Production, With No Camera. Julie Weishaar, owner of New Horizons 123, is a video marketing consultant working with small businesses to create videos to promote their brands. That may not sound too unusual until you realize that she does it without a camera.
Regulations
This FDA Ruling Could Devastate Small U.S. Cheesemaking Businesses. The U.S. Federal Drug Administration has sent a shock wave through the artisan cheesemaking community by saying that cheese can no longer be aged on wooden boards.
Reading on Vacation Photo via Shutterstock
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I had no idea Twitter was recently attacked.
I like the post about the three teenagers building the next Google. Also curious about the article about the power of optimistic thinking, so will read that.