The U.S. Postal Service is again in the news debating whether to drop deliveries on Saturday in a cost-cutting measure. If approved it would bring the number of days of mail service down to five, meaning bad news for the direct marketing industry (and for the millions of dogs that playfully guard the house). It would also mean fewer of the familiar big blue mail boxes lining strip malls and street...

As with many of the stories we tell on this blog, some of the greatest entrepreneurial ventures start out as a result of people no longer working in their initial field (needing a fresh start), or unemployed professionals with an idea. Today’s featured entrepreneur is, let’s say, totally chill in Southern California and freezing out the competition by capitalizing on small business social medi...

Branding is ultra important for any small business owner, entrepreneur or even a solopreneur. Some even consider small business branding as the soul of your company since it offers the emotional attachment between a customer and company. I often say branding can reveal the “off the record” conversation two people have with each other when talking about a business. For a small business owner or...

Is your small business a franchise, or are you interested in running a franchise? If so then you don’t want to miss the #smbiz Twitter chat on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2010, from 8-9 pm ET. Join the first #smbiz chat of the new year for a special session focused on running a franchise. Joel Libava, The Franchise King, will be our special guest answering all kinds of questions that pertain to operati...

You’ve heard it before: social networking sites are useful tools for finding and connecting with new clients. But what are the best ways to do that? How can you use LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook to find new clients? In this blog post I’m going to let you in on a few secrets and give you a guide to getting started on these social networking sites. LinkedIn Linkedin is a powerful networking too...

Small business owners and entrepreneurs view marketing and PR differently than at the beginning of 2009. Is it safe to say a year from now small business will have again made significant strides in the kind of marketing they’re doing for the companies? After all, two years ago it was a little strange to think a small business owner would be so focused on social media. But look at all the ent...