July, 2012

Limited company or Sole Trader?

The Accountancy Partnership has put together an infographic showing the difference between Limited Companies and Sole Traders in a cute but informative way.

Limited companies and sole traders are two of the most popular business models for small companies. Even though both models can provide similar services and products for their customers there are distinct pros and cons for each.

5 SEO Tips for Small - Midsize Businesses

A recent article on the "Technology for Small & Midsize Business" page of InformationWeek.com explores whether SEO is the holy grail of marketing or fool's gold. The piece focuses on small business owners who all have one thing in common: they all ditched their search engine optimization efforts. Why? According to them, they were promised too-good-to-be-true results from SEO experts who were full of empty promises. The truth is, SEO the right way can drive traffic to small businesses which is extremely valuable to companies that exist entirely online and/or have small advertising budgets.

The ‘Moneyball’ Approach to Business Hiring

Expert Offers Tips for Creating Championship Teams

Great coaches take into consideration an athlete’s talent and heart when they’re building a team, but they consider group dynamics, too, says entrepreneur J. Allan McCarthy.

“It’s not just a matter of getting the fastest, strongest and smartest players on your side,” says McCarthy, an international scaling expert and author of Beyond Genius, Innovation & Luck: The ‘Rocket Science’ of Building High-Performance Corporations (www.mccarthyandaffiliates.com).

How Culture Impacts Art and Business

Art is a term that describes a diverse range of human activities, as well as the products of those activities. Art is the appreciation of beauty, reflecting the society the art is produced in. Art isn’t an isolated burst of creativity – it’s a mirror of the beliefs surrounding it. And, of course, in addition to all of these things, art is a business.

Money Lessons From The Facebook Founder

Billionaire Mark Zuckerberg made news recently when he refinanced the $5.95 million mortgage on his Palo Alto, Calif., home with a 30-year adjustable-rate loan starting at 1.05 percent. The question I keep hearing folks ask is, “Why does a billionaire like Mark need a mortgage on his home? Why doesn't he just pay it off with cash? 

Idea Cafe Is Planning a Home Page Redesign Just in Time for Its 17th Birthday

Idea Cafe was designed over 16 years ago with the small business owner in mind and has since then generated a great community of small business owners. Thousands of you are coming to Idea Cafe every day to discover and discuss what matters most in your business life.  

Starting today, we're rolling out a new look of the home page, fulfilling our vision and commitment to help small business owners be more successful in their online adventure.

Small Businesses Owned by Women Fares Better

Small businesses owned by women are faring better than small businesses owned by men, according to Count Me In.

Nell Merlino, CEO of the non-profit organization (which helps mentor and grow female-owned businesses) says women have to stop waiting for the world to change, and instead step out of line and make it happen. She has compiled a list of 5 key tips to help you run a successful business.

The Value of Microblogging

As the Internet has evolved, so has the content that supports its infrastructure.  While blogging started as a mere pastime, it has become a successful industry in itself and is continuing to grow in both popularity and profitability.  Thousands of businesses around the world utilize blogs to enhance their brand's online content and engage their customers, but in recent years, a new type of blogging has gained momentum.

The Changing Face of Marketing on Facebook

Facebook may not yet be in dire straits, but with every weekly news cycle since their initial public offering on the stock market in May, the Menlo Park, California-based social media giant has to be praying for some good news.

In mid-July, the company's stock dipped back below $30, leaving it about a quarter off of its peak value on its first day of trading. The dip had founder Mark Zuckerberg making headlines for slipping off the list of the world's richest 40 people (poor guy, right?).

Marketing Hot Spots on Facebook Timeline

Facebook is becoming a potent Internet marketing service for businesses to expand and help the entrepreneurs – big and small to reach out to a wide ranging crowd, alike. However, since Facebook constantly keeps on updating it to attract more number of users made many online promoters think and work out for unique and feasible solutions or the hot spots which can effectively used to make the promotions of your business page more wide spread.