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Most small businesses still see print Yellow Pages advertising as their most effective way to generate sales leads, but many are also eager to integrate effective internet options into their overall marketing approach, according to a new survey of 1,000 small businesses. Some 63% of small businesses (25 or fewer employees) advertise in a printed Y Read More

Uncertainty about the economy is driving bargain hunting, as money-related issues dominate consumer priorities when shopping online. Price and free shipping stand out as clear favorites - with special promotions or coupons a distant third, according to a national survey conducted in late November.

The survey, conducted by Aegis Group's Synovat Read More

A new study has found that businesses are increasingly looking to social networking and user-generated channels to improve their levels of customer engagement. Ninety percent of respondents to the Annual Online Customer Engagement Report said that a customer engagement strategy was “essential” or “important” to business operations. The research, c Read More

Considering how focused PR people are with having a 'social media strategy,' I'm still a little surprised when I see press releases online that aren't optimized for the web. Come on people — it's not that hard! The first and easiest thing to do is to embed links in the body of your press release. Pick out the key phrases in your press release — yo Read More

It's often been said that B2B selling largely consists of developing a relationship with the customer. Most sales pros think that a customer relationship should like a friendship. Wrong. You can be friends with plenty of people and never get any business from them. So here's a secret that Jerry Acuff, author of The Relationship Edge in Business re Read More

Terry Maness enjoyed being a Horizon Darts investor, but never intended to take an active role in the company. When her husband died unexpectedly nearly three years ago, Maness faced the choice of selling the company, closing it or stepping in to keep her husband's dream alive. “I have no business background at all,” Maness said. “I was completel Read More

The goal of marketing promotions is to stimulate short-term sales. This dictum leads many marketers and small-business owners to reduce prices. However, as Michael Goodman explains, cost cutting is not always the best or most effective way to achieve this goal.

Sound counterintuitive? After all, if the goal is to increase sales, wouldn't cutt Read More

This isn't a new video, but it's one of my favorites by Seth Godin, so I thought I'd share it for those of you who haven't seen it yet. It's about how the best ideas can fail if you don't know how to spread the word -- how to make the idea appeal to early adopters -- how to create an idea that's truly remarkable. Read More

Small and midsize businesses are increasing their use of Web 2.0 tools as information sources, providing greater opportunities to marketers that are trying to reach this audience, according to a new study from market research company Bredin Business Information. It examined which online tools SMBs use, how they use them to receive business informa Read More