Seven Steps to Stimulus Money
from Entrepreneur
 For small businesses that sell online, the importance of protecting customer data is a given. Unfortunately, the best security and privacy practices in the world are useless unless you first secure the customer's trust. Increasing rates of identity theft and other types of online fraud have left many consumers gun shy when it comes time to pull the trigger on an online shopping cart, especially when a site lacks the reputation of industry giants such as Amazon. Here, several industry professionals explain how to present your small business site as safe and reputable.
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Turning Web Browsers Into Web Buyers
from Inc.
Imagine you owned a grocery store in which roughly half the people who loaded up shopping carts suddenly left them full in the aisles and took off without buying a thing. Most merchants would consider that a crisis, but on the Web, it's the norm. The median abandonment rate is 40 percent for consumer-products companies and 58 percent for service companies. So how do you turn abandoned shopping carts into sales?
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Dodging Landmines Podcast: Keeping Employees Motivated During a Recession
from BNET
With widespread layoffs and budget cuts, it's easy for employees to disengage from their jobs. Learn how to keep your team motivated during these uncertain times with this brief but useful podcast.
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Six Lessons From the Best Marketing Campaign Ever
from Fast Company
Last month an unlikely underdog stunned the marketing world at the International Cannes Advertising Festival. At the show, a single marketing campaign took home a Grand Prix award in three categories simultaneously, something that had never happened before. The unanimous winner was not a Fortune 500 brand with an advertising budget of millions, but a small tourism board promoting a little known island off the Great Barrier Reef. And while tourism and the travel industry may seem far removed from your business, a big part of the reason for the amazing success of this campaign was not what they were marketing, but how they used social media to do it. In that, there are some lessons anyone trying to promote a product or service could use.
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Product Showcase:
&nbs;It's time to Get SERiOUS! The ONLY cleaning product that the does the complete job handling 3 critical concerns! Offer customers GET SERiOUS! Stain, Odor & Pheromone Extractor and their pets will naturally stop soiling and re-marking, the 2 main reasons pets are needlessly given up to shelters by frustrated pet owners - causing you to lose retail dollars throughout your store. Tell ‘em to Get SERiOUS! Click here to learn more
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Vertical vs. General Search: Which is Better for Business Buyers?
from Media Brains
Is more, better? Not when it comes to search. How useful are 36,000,000 search results from the keyword “Call Centers” going to be to a time-challenged BtoB buyer? And advertisers for that term have little chance of reaching their target audience. But that same search in a vertical search engine turns up more relevant - and a more workable number - of results.
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Florida Issuing Permits to Hunt Pythons in the Everglades
from The Marco Eagle
A new program to control Burmese pythons in the Everglades may lead to a bounty against the exotic snakes. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission announced Wednesday it selected a group of reptile experts, based on handling experience and professionalism in the industry, to participate in a trial program. The FWC will issue three-month permits to the experts, allowing them to search out and kill Burmese pythons beginning Friday.
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Supreme Pet Foods Launches the Case for Quality
from Glee
Supreme Pet Foods is calling for an industry standard to guarantee quality and consistency in the production, packaging and marketing of small animal pet food. It has invited interested parties to contribute to the debate it is calling The Case for Quality. Recommendations for a quality standard developed by the company include reaching an agreement on definitions for claims regarding nutritional content and commonly used marketing terms such as complete, complementary and beneficial fiber. It has also suggested the implementation of quality process controls in the production of pet foods.
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Product Showcase: CritterTrail®  CritterTrail® habitats are designed for the health, security and comfort needs of your hamster or gerbil. Innovative features encourage interaction between owners and their pets. CritterTrail® is the only brand with Super Protect™ antimicrobial technology built-in to ensure a cleaner environment. Expandable Fun-nels™ and connectable accessories encourage activity and exercise. More info
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Spectrum Brands Reorganization Plan Confirmed, Then Stayed
from Pet Product News
The United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Texas confirmed Spectrum Brands Inc.’s reorganization plan on July 15, then stayed the confirmation order until July 27 following an appeal by the Official Committee of Equity Security Holders. The committee represents Spectrum’s existing shareholders, who would see their investments wiped out by the plan, which would reissue new stock to debt holders in exchange for reduced debt.
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U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Seeking Submissions for Conference of the Parties
from PIJAC
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published its Notice in the Federal Register describing proposed esolutions, decisions and agenda items that the U.S. may submit for consideration at the next Conference of the Parties of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The Fifteenth COP is scheduled for March 13-25, 2010 in Doha, Qatar. Of particular interest to the live animal trade will be a series of proposed amendments to the list of regulated species. Other areas of interest involve several operational decisions or resolutions implementing the Convention.
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Product Showcase: GoPet Dog-powered Tread-wheels  GoPet dog-powered tread-wheels come in a professional series for dogs up to 22 inches in shoulder height and 120 lbs. Options include a training door and racing mat perfect for the salon, kennel providing hours of fun and exercise helping to eliminate frustration, aggression and boredom. More info
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| Symbol |
Name |
Last |
Change |
| ALO |
ALPHARMA, Inc. |
34.71 |
 0.00% |
| CENT |
Central Garden and Pet Co |
9.96 |
 0.55% |
| CHD |
Church & Dwight Co., Inc. |
51.22 |
0.51% |
| CLX |
Clorox Company |
55.95 |
0.44% |
| CL |
Colgate-Palmolive Company |
69.97 |
1.41% |
| DLM |
Del Monte Foods Company |
8.58 |
 0.13% |
| IAX |
International Absorbents, Inc. |
3.10 |
0.10% |
| JAKK |
Jakks Pacific, Inc. |
12.44 |
0.50% |
| KFT |
Kraft Foods, Inc. |
25.43 |
0.51% |
| ODC |
Oil-Dri Corporation of America |
14.50 |
4.25% |
| OPCO |
OurPet's Company |
0.00 |
0.0% |
| PECD |
Pet Ecology Brands, Inc. |
0.00 |
0.0% |
| PETS |
PetMed Express, Inc. |
14.43 |
0.08% |
| PETM |
Petsmart, Inc. |
20.70 |
0.38% |
| PFE |
Pfizer, Inc. |
14.21 |
0.54% |
| PG |
Proctor & Gamble Company |
51.30 |
1.25% |
| SGP |
Schering-Plough Corporation |
23.21 |
0.61% |
| SPC |
Spectrum Brands, Inc. |
0.00 |
0.00% |
| WOOF |
VCA Antech, Inc. |
24.87 |
0.68% |
For up to the minute stock quotes, click here.
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