07/01/2015
But some lessons you can not learn until you are actually at the helm of your company. Here are nine surprises you might run into by owning a small business:

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06/29/2015
Recounting the few short years I knew Jimmy made me think deeply about what it means to have a mentor and how that relationship can profoundly change you. Many people wonder how you find a good mentor and how you continue to nurture that relationship. Finding a mentor is difficult, especially for young people, because you are requesting valuable time of someone. There is no clear answer: Nobody can dial up 1-800-Mentor-Me. These friendships tend to grow organically as mine did with Jimmy. But here are a few ways you can turn a chance meeting into a deeper relationship:

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06/15/2015
Deciding what to call your company is probably one of the most fun and exciting aspects of starting a small business. You might have launched this venture by scribbling business name ideas on a bar napkin while hanging out with friends.

But naming your small business is also serious business. Your decision could affect your ability to reach a broader audience and grow. And making the wrong choice could even get you in legal trouble.

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06/12/2015
Big  Data seems to be the phrase on everybody’s lips these days, and without a doubt, it has revolutionized the business world. Companies are getting valuable insights reading into mountains of data collected from all kinds of sources. Using Big Data simply makes sense, but the very prospect can be intimidating, particularly when it comes to small businesses and startups. One recent survey shows that 35 percent of startups are not even considering the possibility of leveraging Big Data or taking into account how much data is being generated every year – such a decision could be disastrous for the future success of a company.

Small businesses may feel that the ability to leverage Big Data is simply outside of their grasp, but Big Data solutions have become much more affordable in recent years. In addition, they are easier to use and oftentimes automated. In other words, small businesses have every reason to get into the Big Data game now as long as they know how best to use it. Here are just a few ways small companies can truly make Big Data work toward further success.

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06/10/2015
Is big data just for big business? For several years, larger corporations have been gathering informative insights from this next-generation approach to data analysis. But now small businesses are finding ways to leverage this comprehensive data analysis for marketing insights.

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06/08/2015
Starting a small business is tough, but growing one — or just keeping it afloat — is even harder.

Even though more than 500,000 small businesses are created each year in the U.S., only half of them survive past their fifth year, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration.

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06/03/2015
Last month, Forbes reported on the best cities for starting a business this year, and much attention is frequently given to the locations working the hardest to attract founders who will create coveted jobs. But which cities are the most hospitable to those who hold those positions?

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06/01/2015
Women playing a bigger role in small businesses is no longer big news, of course. In 2014, there were roughly 9 million women-owned businesses in the U.S., employing nearly 8 million workers and recording nearly $1.4 trillion in sales that year, according to data from the National Association of Women Business Owners.

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05/29/2015
What is a Domain Name Strategy?
The purpose of a domain name strategy is to proactively protect your brand online by reducing the chance for others to use your brand name in their online activities, specifically, in their website URLs.

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05/28/2015
Innovation is usually used to describe ways of adding value to things that already exist. Invention is the creation of something that never existed before. And then there is creativity.

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05/27/2015
From making a financial plan to creating an exit strategy, here are some helpful tips for establishing and running your small business.

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05/26/2015
Walk around any town in Indiana and you can see it: Small businesses are the lifeblood of our state and the engine of our economy. And yet, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is set to implement a rule that would harm Hoosier small businesses.

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06/12/2015
All major wireless operators available in the U.S. offer some international roam, but the volume varies by network. To get an understanding of how your network will fare abroad, or to understand which carrier to choose if you are a regular traveler, you should first understand the two basic major technologies that wireless operators use.

How to Travel With Your Cell Phone Without Breaking the Bank

06/10/2015
Do all small business owners need to pay sales taxes? Yes, the majority of businesses that are sales oriented are required to pay taxes to the home state or other locations where they do business. There are only a handful of states that do not require taxes from businesses - Oregon, Alaska, New Hampshire, Delaware, Hawaii and Montana, for the rest of us, sales taxes are something worth paying close attention to.

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06/08/2015
Loyal customers are precious. Identifying the details and creating a system to make sure they are taken care of is key.

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06/05/2015
Established businesses have one obvious advantage over their younger counterparts: Deep pockets.

Fortunately, what todays small business lacks in budget can be made up for with strategy and a few carefully chosen tools. Here are six smart marketing ideas gleaned from my experience running a company that teaches small firms how to compete with big ones.

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06/03/2015
Entrepreneurs are born idea people, with a seemingly endless supply of light bulbs flashing over their heads. But it takes more than good ideas to find your market niche and to build a successful business. It is even harder to do if you are not familiar with the market thats drawn your interest.

Small Business Tech Report

06/01/2015
A report commissioned by eBay finds that more than 190,000—or 90 percent—of its small and medium-sized businesses used its platform to export in 2014. (Tweet This) To compare, in 2009, fewer than 30,000 were exporting. The findings come from eBay's Public Policy Lab in its 2015 U.S. Small Business Growth Report.

Despite that growth, less than 5 percent of U.S. small businesses overall are exporting, according to estimates from the International Trade Administration.

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05/29/2015
Why you should you blog?

Through posting simple things such as helpful tips, special discounts or the latest industry news you can effectively maintain your customer relationships and give people a reason to visit to your website.

More recently blogging and content marketing has been widely used to enhance SEO strategy. Writing articles around the keywords that you are targeting will help to improve rankings in search engines. Furthermore, if you write unique and valuable articles, other websites will link to your content and as a result; this will increase your website's back-links.

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