Is your business on LinkedIn? Do you have your company page set up to function as effectively as it could? We asked Viveka von Rosen, author of “LinkedIn Marketing: An Hour Day” to give us a few insider’s tips about how business owners can make LinkedIn work for them. Here’s what she told us: ShortStack:... More »Q&A with Viveka von Rosen, aka the “LinkedIn Expert”

I bet you don’t need me to tell you that until your new website is live that you’re losing out on potential business. The cliché is true – time is money. And the big secret to getting the most out of your website is quite a simple one. You need to keep the momentum going... More »A Little Known Way to Get the Most Out of Your Web Design Project Before It Even Starts

Innovation is not a differentiator anymore; Innovation stickiness is. Connected customers in the information age with a ‘web of voices’ expect Innovation to be both faster and surer. For businesses, Innovation is not only about differentiating from competitors but more importantly about gaining value stickiness from customers – immediately and consistently. Time-to-market has a younger... More »Innovation Is Not A Differentiator Anymore; Innovation Stickiness Is

Official analytics have been a long-awaited feature among Twitter users. For years, unofficial Twitter analytics tools, such as TweetStats, have been popping up. While it was possible to piece together a picture of your Twitter efforts by combining lots of tools, it could be a hassle. Well, for those who missed the news last week,... More »Official Twitter Analytics Rolling Out To Users

In a recent post for The Atlantic, Derek Thompson investigates what drives people to read content online. As a writer for a popular news site, it’s of interest to Thompson to find out what people are clicking on and why when navigating through the endless amount of web content available. Though it sounds like a boring study of... More »Popular Content Doesn’t Always Equal Good – Here’s How It Could

Facebook launched Fan Pages way back in 2007. Since then, there’s been a lot of confusion about whether businesses should use: a Fan Page, or a Profile to promote themselves on Facebook. Unfortunately, a lot of businesses have chosen #2 — a Profile. In fact, I’m betting you — yes, you — have at least 5 to 10 Facebook... More »Facebook Profile Or Fan Page — Which Should I Use For My Business?

For years, merchants have been contractually barred from adding a surcharge for credit and debit card customers, even though they must pay a fee for these purchases themselves. While credit card processing fees may seem insignificant, accounting for a mere 3-4% of the sale, the addition of a per-transaction fee up to $0.20 can add... More »New Credit Card Surcharge Rules Mean Big Changes for Small Businesses

Boston based Inbound marketing software company, HubSpot, Inc. announced yesterday the company’s Social Inbox dashboard tool will be capable of integrating with all LinkedIn company pages as of June 17, 2013.  The company’s announcement makes them one of the first official software companies to take on the initiative. The announcement also means content on Social... More »HubSpot’s Social Inbox Leads the Way with LinkedIn Integration

“The universe is made of stories, not of atoms,” poet Muriel Rukeyser famously said. A seemingly ludicrous suggestion in a world where we seek proof that a + b=c. But in truth, our natural instinct to find a correlation between ‘a’ and ‘b’, is precisely why storytelling appeals to us, and indeed, sits at the... More »The Art of Storytelling in Business

So you (or someone you know) keeps struggling with their business. Maybe they’ve tried different mentors and they seem to be doing everything right. And nothing works. Long -term, high-powered gurus rarely help. They do really well after you’ve got traction in your business and you’re well on your way. They’ll recommend things like giving... More »7 Reasons Nothing Seems To Work

Managing social media campaigns takes time and energy, so it’s understandable to want to cut back on that expenditure. With Facebook still reigning over the social empire, it could even be reasonable to think about focusing all your efforts toward just that site, and nixing other profiles and platforms. The truth is, diversification is a... More »Social Media: The More the Merrier

Social media use continues to trend up, with active users nearing 700 million on Facebook, exceeding 300 million on Google+, and hitting 200 million on Twitter at the start of 2013. With these adoption figures, social media marketing is at an all-time high – and so are company expectations. With the transparency social engenders, social... More »3 Social Dos, 3 Social Don’ts