While social media marketing is a form of promoting your business it needs to steer clear of a traditional marketing message in order for it to be successful. A common mistake many small business owners make it focusing their social media marketing around the products and/or services their business sells.

The semi-finalist voting round has been opened for almost a month now, and the votes are still pouring in. But since its end is fast approaching, we'd love to draw your attention to this important countdown. You have only 5 days until Monday (February 24th) to vote (if you haven't already done so). This is your last chance to support your favorite business idea and help them advance to the final round of the grant campaign.

It’s not always such a good idea to wait until you’ve reached the table to start negotiations. Did it ever occur to you that it might be too late? Negotiations are directly linked to the iceberg theory. It’s obvious that we all want money, services, and goods, but we often fail to get what we want and all those things remain unspoken and unseen, hidden much like the bottom of an iceberg. If you want power, it’s your job to gain access and make use of the parts present at the surface to succeed. It will be a rollercoaster but in the end, it will be worth the effort.

Opening a coffee shop is a lot like opening any other business, requiring a mixture of hard work, business experience and a little luck. However, there are a few things unique to a coffee shop that can help you make it in those early months when you are likely to be less about making money and more about just avoiding going broke! Here are some things to help you make it until the good times roll:

When a new year comes around, most small business owners will try to make adjustments and improvements to their business plans in order to achieve better results.

To create an effective business plan for 2014, you need to have a good understanding of every aspect of your business, ranging from day-to-day operations to marketing. This can be difficult if you do not have sufficient hands-on experience in the various tasks needed to keep your company running.

Have you ever tweeted something to hundreds or thousands of followers, only to hear nothing but crickets? It’s not just you — brands across the country are finding that the biggest source of engagement and interaction comes from a surprising source: non-followers.

The largest trade show in the world, the International Consumer Electronics Trade Show, just wrapped up in Las Vegas. ExactTarget.com reports 1.75 tweets per minute hashtagged #CES2014 during just one day of the big show. That's a lot of chit-chat on the airwaves, so you know trade shows still harness some impressive marketing power.

Creating a more comfortable and inviting atmosphere in your business can help make patrons feel more welcome and at home. When customers feel comfortable they will be more likely to browse your store or use your services for an extended period of time, which is good for business! It is important to standout from other competitors in your area, and one way to do this is to have a more welcoming establishment. Make your customers feel at home in your store and they’ll continue to come back when they need your products or services and maybe even tell their friends and family about your company.

If you are an entrepreneur with poor credit history due to credit card debt, then you are probably assuming it's going to prevent you from opening a small business.

Luckily there are plenty of other financial avenues to take when it comes to finding the startup funds for your future business.

Writing a sales letter is one of the traditional marketing techniques that are still widely used today.

Sales letters have been proven to be an effective way to attract and convert potential customers, and they can contribute significantly to the success of your marketing campaign.