Harness the Power of Twitter for Local Marketing
from Chris Smith, Search Engine Land
The Twitter social networking and micro-blogging service was launched only two years ago, but it’s rocketing up in usage numbers quickly, and it seems likely to turn red-hot. Many companies are rapidly cluing into the promotional value, but smaller businesses appear slow to hop on the bandwagon. Here are a few tips on leveraging Twitter to help your locally-oriented business. More

4 Stimulus Plan Tax Perks for Businesses
from SM Small Biz
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (better known as the Stimulus Act) includes a laundry list of tax changes, including four provisions that will be very helpful for many small to medium-sized businesses. Here’s the scoop. More

Military Style Leadership: Armed With Data
from Inc.
Companies repeat mistakes for two reasons: They never identify what went wrong, or, if they do diagnose a problem, they don't institutionalize the solution. Often, managers limit their postmortems to asking for three things that went well and three things that went badly and then initiating a round of applause for Michael, who was here all night making the presentation binders. More

How to Revive Your Work Environment
from Smart Business Magazine
When Tom Stofac accepted the position of CEO at Lutheran Social Services of Central Ohio in 2005, one of his first priorities was getting employees to laugh. Adding laughter to the work environment was part of Stofac’s plan to change the organization’s corporate culture from one based on fear to one based on trust, he says. The revamped culture at LSSCO has led to more productivity from Stofac’s 750 employees. More

Frugal is Back: Do More With Less
from Entrepreneur
As recessionary gale storms blow, entrepreneurs are reining in runaway costs. "Smart entrepreneurs are doing more with less," says Joseph R. Cardamone, president of the U.S. Federation of Small Businesses. "With diminished cash flow and tight credit, only those businesses that operate efficiently will survive this economic downturn, which may last several years." So if you're going to make like a bird and go cheap, these measures can help and range from relatively to totally painless. More

Executives Have No Idea What Customers Want
from Forbes
Consumers say that companies not only don't know their needs, they also don't care. Where executives would give their companies' customer service "B" grades, consumers give them "D" grades. What's even worse is that executives have no idea how this disconnect is affecting their companies' futures. More

Green Lights Save Green
from Stores Magazine
Most of us take power for granted, but retailers are keenly aware that energy is becoming more expensive. One strategy for reducing consumption that makes good environmental – and, increasingly, financial – sense is quite simple: change light bulbs. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, lighting consumes 22 percent of the country’s electricity and “represents a great opportunity for energy efficiency,” says Greg Merritt, director of corporate marketing for Cree, a manufacturer of semiconductors and devices that enhance the value of solid-state lighting, power and communications products by significantly increasing their energy performance and efficiency. More

Online Ads: Does Size Matter?
from BusinessWeek
With the rise in recent years of search advertisements - the little snippets of commercial text that appear next to search results - online display ads don't get much respect these days. While search ads are expected to grow about 9% this year, revenues for pictorial display ads may actually fall. Now, several major Web sites are hoping to rekindle interest in display ads, especially those used for creating a brand impression rather than simply eliciting a click. More