Local Business Opportunities http://localbusinessopportunities.com Actionable Ideas and Opportunities to Grow Your Business Wed, 17 Feb 2010 10:45:48 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 en hourly 1 Your Business Is Worthless if It Depends on You http://localbusinessopportunities.com/your-business-is-worthless-if-it-depends-on-you http://localbusinessopportunities.com/your-business-is-worthless-if-it-depends-on-you#comments Tue, 16 Feb 2010 22:23:25 +0000 admin http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/?p=5178 Your Business Is Worthless if It Depends on You

This content from: Duct Tape Marketing

ShareYour Business Is Worthless if It Depends on YouThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing Marketing podcast with John Warrillow (Click to listen, right click and Save As to download – subscribe now via iTunes The title of this post might sound like fighting words for some, I mean, you work and sweat and pour your life into [...]]]> http://localbusinessopportunities.com/your-business-is-worthless-if-it-depends-on-you/feed 0 4 More Reasons to Start Using HootSuite http://localbusinessopportunities.com/4-more-reasons-to-start-using-hootsuite http://localbusinessopportunities.com/4-more-reasons-to-start-using-hootsuite#comments Tue, 16 Feb 2010 17:12:36 +0000 admin http://www.marketingprofessor.com/?p=2187 http://localbusinessopportunities.com/4-more-reasons-to-start-using-hootsuite/feed 0 SMB Owners: Are You Segmenting Customers? http://localbusinessopportunities.com/smb-owners-are-you-segmenting-customers http://localbusinessopportunities.com/smb-owners-are-you-segmenting-customers#comments Tue, 16 Feb 2010 14:00:11 +0000 admin http://smallbiztrends.com/?p=29297 We make marketing blunders when we don’t know who it is we’re marketing toward or when we try to treat all of our customers the same way. The truth is that our customers are not the same. They don’t take to marketing the same way, they don’t want the same things and they’re not equal in what they mean to our business. By segmenting customers into different “buckets” or personas it allows us to create a more targeted experience, while alsoRead More

From Small Business Trends

SMB Owners: Are You Segmenting Customers?

]]> http://localbusinessopportunities.com/smb-owners-are-you-segmenting-customers/feed 0 What’s Happening with SBA Lending – and Do Small-Business Owners Care? http://localbusinessopportunities.com/what%e2%80%99s-happening-with-sba-lending-%e2%80%93-and-do-small-business-owners-care http://localbusinessopportunities.com/what%e2%80%99s-happening-with-sba-lending-%e2%80%93-and-do-small-business-owners-care#comments Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:33:49 +0000 admin http://smallbiztrends.com/?p=29227 What’s Happening with SBA Lending—and Do Small-Business Owners Care?When the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was announced back in February 2009, the SBA received $730 million of federal stimulus funding from the program. Loan demand soon gobbled up that funding, and in December, the SBA received an additional $125 million (I blogged about that extension on Small Business Trends last month).

SBA Administrator Karen Mills told BizJournals.com that the SBA was able to immediately get that money distributed to small businesses. However, the extension runs out at the end of February.Read More

From Small Business Trends

What’s Happening with SBA Lending – and Do Small-Business Owners Care?

]]> http://localbusinessopportunities.com/what%e2%80%99s-happening-with-sba-lending-%e2%80%93-and-do-small-business-owners-care/feed 0 More of the Self Employed Incorporate http://localbusinessopportunities.com/more-of-the-self-employed-incorporate http://localbusinessopportunities.com/more-of-the-self-employed-incorporate#comments Mon, 15 Feb 2010 11:12:43 +0000 admin http://smallbiztrends.com/?p=29222 Although the incorporated share of self-employment declined slightly last year, the trend over the past two decades has been towards increased incorporation.

With all due credit to Steve King, who looked at this topic about a year ago in his blog, I’m offering my own take on it today.

In the figure below, I’ve plotted the incorporated share of self-employment since 1989 using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).  Since 1989, the share of non-agricultural self-employment that is incorporatedRead More

From Small Business Trends

More of the Self Employed Incorporate

]]> http://localbusinessopportunities.com/more-of-the-self-employed-incorporate/feed 0 Viral growth trumps lots of faux followers http://localbusinessopportunities.com/viral-growth-trumps-lots-of-faux-followers http://localbusinessopportunities.com/viral-growth-trumps-lots-of-faux-followers#comments Mon, 15 Feb 2010 10:42:00 +0000 admin tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451b31569e20120a7683c94970b http://localbusinessopportunities.com/viral-growth-trumps-lots-of-faux-followers/feed 0 Five Green Business Trends For 2010 http://localbusinessopportunities.com/five-green-business-trends-for-2010 http://localbusinessopportunities.com/five-green-business-trends-for-2010#comments Sun, 14 Feb 2010 18:06:33 +0000 admin http://smallbiztrends.com/?p=28681 Five Green Business Trends For 2010Small businesses are no longer cutting edge by calling themselves “green.” Big corporations like Wal-Mart and Nike down to the corner café are cultivating a greener image as consumer demand for environmentally responsible products and operations quickly goes mainstream.

What this means:  Businesses genuinely trying to limit their environmental toll must now work harder to authenticate their green practices and convince consumers they’re for real – not just throwing around green lingo.

The next phase of green business evolution will focus onRead More

From Small Business Trends

Five Green Business Trends For 2010

]]> http://localbusinessopportunities.com/five-green-business-trends-for-2010/feed 0 Upcoming Small Business Events, Conferences and Webinars http://localbusinessopportunities.com/upcoming-small-business-events-conferences-and-webinars http://localbusinessopportunities.com/upcoming-small-business-events-conferences-and-webinars#comments Sat, 13 Feb 2010 21:58:39 +0000 admin http://smallbiztrends.com/?p=29096
BlogWell: How Big Brands Use Social Media
February 16, 2009, San Diego, CA

This conference teaches you through case study discussions on social media programs from Starbucks, USAA, Clorox, Intuit, Avery, State FarmRead More

From Small Business Trends

Upcoming Small Business Events, Conferences and Webinars

]]> http://localbusinessopportunities.com/upcoming-small-business-events-conferences-and-webinars/feed 0 Navigating Your Small Business Through Recession http://localbusinessopportunities.com/navigating-your-small-business-through-recession http://localbusinessopportunities.com/navigating-your-small-business-through-recession#comments Fri, 12 Feb 2010 22:18:08 +0000 John Sternal http://www.understandingmarketing.com/?p=3168 http://localbusinessopportunities.com/navigating-your-small-business-through-recession/feed 0 Friday Linchpin Bonus Video: Sunny Bates on passion, fear and balance http://localbusinessopportunities.com/friday-linchpin-bonus-video-sunny-bates-on-passion-fear-and-balance http://localbusinessopportunities.com/friday-linchpin-bonus-video-sunny-bates-on-passion-fear-and-balance#comments Fri, 12 Feb 2010 20:30:00 +0000 admin tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451b31569e20120a8925346970b http://localbusinessopportunities.com/friday-linchpin-bonus-video-sunny-bates-on-passion-fear-and-balance/feed 0