What do taxation, social media and self-development have in common? All three play a big part in this small business news roundup as we look at top small business stories from around the Web.
Tax Repeals & Realities
A controversial 1099 expansion will be repealed. But lawmakers are now complaining they will have a hard time paying for it. The extremely unpopular expansion of reporting requirements placed on businesses that spend money with multiple vendors would have been costly and time consuming, especially for small business. But extra revenue was supposed to cover some of the costs for an equally unpopular new health care law. The Hill
Things you’d better remember at tax time. As tax time rolls around, there are a few things you will definitely want to keep in mind to avoid costly mistakes for your business. If you’re a business owner, Miranda Marquit has some important tips you will want to keep handy. An important part of running your business is making sure that tax and other financial issues are handled correctly. This post lists at least five things you must not forget. AllBusiness
Reforms & Deductions
A tax overhaul for small businesses? How would a proposed overhaul of the U.S. tax structure affect small business and, as the often-touted engine of economic recovery, shouldn’t small business concerns be in the forefront when considering any comprehensive changes to the tax law? At least two lawmakers think the answer is yes and plan to hold bi-partisan hearings to discuss how small business concerns can be addressed. WSJ
10 small business tax deductions you won’t want to miss. Even though these deductions are often forgotten about, any tax deduction can represent an important tax savings that can help your small business’s bottom line. Certainly small business owners must be responsible citizens paying the taxes they owe, but make sure your business is also taking advantage of every break afforded you as well. Huffington Post
Facebook & Twitter
How do you “like” the changes on Facebook? That’s right, recently the social media giant announced plans to tweak some of its most popular (and perhaps overused?) functions. Many small businesses now use Facebook for marketing as well, which gives the recently publicized change added significance to those engaged in FB online marketing. How will the change affect you? E-Marketing Associates
Who are all those phony baloney tweeters out there? Rick LaPoint sorts out fact from fiction where fake twitter followers are concerned. Who are they? How do I know whether they are real? Should I follow them back and WHY are they so popular? If you’re like many business and marketing folks who have taken to the twitterverse in pursuit of real people to do business with, you’ll want to read this post about some of the phantoms that haunt the world of microblogging. Internet Marketing
LinkedIn & Blogging
And speaking of Facebook and Twitter. Guess what two social media channels did not rank highest for acquisition of new customers in a survey recently conducted by HubSpot. Want to know where your concentration should be in terms of social media channels that see the greatest results when it comes to winning new clients and customers? Then look no further. Dawn Westerberg Consulting
Is there a secret to writing great blog posts for your business? If so than this article blows the lid off with some simple intuitive and time honored techniques passed down from some of the best. It’s all distilled into a simple guide designed to make you a better blogger for your business. If you haven’t yet figured out how to translate your ideas into posts that will keep your potential customers coming back for more, here is the perfect starting point. Solo Biz Coach
Personal Finance
Financial planning for your small business. One of the strengths of your small business may also be its chief liability. It is the fact that you alone may be responsible for many of the functions of the business and that, without you, it might be hard for your family to maintain the business and the income it provides. Here are some considerations that may help when planning for the future, good and bad. Open Forum
Self-development
Taking time out. Sometimes the key to more efficiency and productivity is to take time out when needed. In a small business, things can become overwhelming. If you’re the only one who handles most things in your company, be sure you occasionally give yourself a break from the pressure. Taking time out allows you to recharge and helps you be more productive in the long run. Sian Phillips
From Small Business TrendsSmall Business News: Taxation, Social Media and Self-development Roundup
For progressive and tech savvy business-to-business companies, traditional marketing techniques like entire departments dedicated to cold calling potential clients have largely been retired to the trash folder. Instead, these companies are rapidly embracing technologies and practices aimed at increasing productivity, using social media more effectively, and providing engaging and informative content to potential clients. For a deeper look at these trends shaping B2B marketing in 2011, read on.
Quantifying Value Creation
If you’re looking to make your case to another business, come with lots of data, says Keith Pigues, co-author of Winning With Customers: A Playbook for B2B. You’ll need to quantify your value to customers in terms of dollars and cents, something known as “customer value creation.”
"Many organizations are finding that some of the more traditional customer satisfaction or customer loyalty measurement systems like ‘net promoter score’ are falling short when trying to provide a real financial measure to companies to help them understand exactly, 'how much more money am I making doing business with your company verses Company B or C?,'" says Pigues.
To accomplish this, companies are looking to third parties for help. Among them is Chicago-based Valkre, a technology provider that specializes in helping companies customize and match sales solutions to specific customers, implementing marketing strategies that increase a company's online visibility, and creating daily management plans that use mainstream technology.
Valkre founder Jerry Alderman agrees that the next evolution in B2B marketing involves businesses attempting to understand how the services they're offering truly impact the bottom line of their customers. Valkre has created a new metric, called the differential value proposition or "DVP", which measures the amount of increased profit that a customer can bring in by doing business with one company versus another. Unlike net promoter score, the DVP percentage metric was designed for use specifically within the B2B industry.
Targeting Online Identities
Whittling down to the individual buyer will increasingly be the objective in online B2B marketing, even in terms of broad awareness campaigns, says Steven Woods, the Toronto-based CTO of Eloqua. Instead of generalized marketing initiatives, companies are beginning to analyze the online behavior -- also known as digital body language -- of individuals involved in the B2B industry in an effort to pinpoint the specific buyer whose needs best fit the services of the seller.
Through the collection and analysis of data, companies are discovering ways to link varied online "handles" across social networks to a single individual they wish to target for marketing purposes. "The vanguard will see a lot of people in 2011 figure out the identity management challenge and be able to understand ‘you’ across those identities and understand how your activity on Facebook, on Twitter, on LinkedIn, and the various social properties indicates your buying intentions," says Woods.
The goal is to cater marketing content to customers depending on where they are in the buying process. To accomplish this, Tableau Software, a Seattle-based seller of B2B software, uses a method of "scoring" visitors that come to their website. The more that users visit, the more their scores increase, allowing the algorithm to filter them into the programs within the site that speak to their interests. Thus, Tableau targets customers based on their online behavior rather than the demographics provided by their firm or industry.
"The trend of 2011 is that marketers are as interested in delivering relevant content to relevant people, as they are to stopping the delivery of irrelevant content to irrelevant people," says Elisa Fink, Tableau's vice president of marketing. "We don't want to be spammers. Every engagement with a company is really an engagement with a person."
Getting Creative with Content
In terms of the content being delivered, B2B companies are encouraging members of their technology departments to build their personal brand and further the recognition of their company by becoming "expert" bloggers and content creators.
"The winning marketing skill set that is going to be very much recognized in 2011 is not going to be the creative copywriting, artistic skill setm," says Woods. "It's the person who understands numbers, analytics, data, workflow, the operational skill set."
This can be accomplished via the company website, Twitter stream, LinkedIn discussion group, and even the employee’s personal blog.
Woods explains that part of this trend is a move in favor of less polished content and faster production times. In the past, all marketing materials were placed under intense scrutiny before anything was put online to represent the company. Now, personal engagement is en vogue, whereby the members of a company with active knowledge about products can engage in two-way conversations with clientele on the fly.
"[The content] might even have spelling mistakes in it. If it's a video, it might just be a very quick, ‘hey, here is how I tackle this problem, here is how I view the latest merger in the industry, or view this latest technological development,’" says Woods.
Some B2B institutions are also beginning to explore new approaches to their chain of command within marketing initiatives. In larger B2B companies, the IT department typically reports to the operations department because that's where the most money has traditionally been invested. According to Alderman, that is now changing. He points to a major player in the industry taking the approach of having their IT department report to their marketing department. By doing this, information regarding a business' technological holdings and services can be more accurately and efficiently marketed to potential clients.
As the Web 2.0 advances into a new decade, B2B marketing strategies will also continue to develop. Indeed, there are an increasing number of digital platforms, like social media, for marketers to explore. In 2011, the winners will be the ones that are best able to target their efforts to their customers’ online habits and interests, and provide true value – and be able to prove it – to users.
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Confirmed: AOL's Patch Buys Hyperlocal <b>News</b> Site Outside.In
AOL's Patch has acquired hyperlocal news aggregator Outside.In, we've confirmed with Patch's president Warren Webster. It's unclear what the terms of the deal are but Business Insider reported earlier that the acquisition is valued at ...
Fox <b>News</b> The Only Network Willing To Comment On Clinton's Al <b>...</b>
"Representatives from CNN, ABC, CBS and NBC news all declined comment."
Hyperlocal Heartbreak: Why Haven't Neighborhood <b>News</b> Technologies <b>...</b>
Neighborhood news aggregator Outside.in has been acquired by AOL, according to multiple reports this morning. Apparently it's being bought for less than the big pile of money that high-profile investors put into it, back when hopes were ...
bench craft company
Confirmed: AOL's Patch Buys Hyperlocal <b>News</b> Site Outside.In
AOL's Patch has acquired hyperlocal news aggregator Outside.In, we've confirmed with Patch's president Warren Webster. It's unclear what the terms of the deal are but Business Insider reported earlier that the acquisition is valued at ...
Fox <b>News</b> The Only Network Willing To Comment On Clinton's Al <b>...</b>
"Representatives from CNN, ABC, CBS and NBC news all declined comment."
Hyperlocal Heartbreak: Why Haven't Neighborhood <b>News</b> Technologies <b>...</b>
Neighborhood news aggregator Outside.in has been acquired by AOL, according to multiple reports this morning. Apparently it's being bought for less than the big pile of money that high-profile investors put into it, back when hopes were ...
bench craft company
bench craft company
Confirmed: AOL's Patch Buys Hyperlocal <b>News</b> Site Outside.In
AOL's Patch has acquired hyperlocal news aggregator Outside.In, we've confirmed with Patch's president Warren Webster. It's unclear what the terms of the deal are but Business Insider reported earlier that the acquisition is valued at ...
Fox <b>News</b> The Only Network Willing To Comment On Clinton's Al <b>...</b>
"Representatives from CNN, ABC, CBS and NBC news all declined comment."
Hyperlocal Heartbreak: Why Haven't Neighborhood <b>News</b> Technologies <b>...</b>
Neighborhood news aggregator Outside.in has been acquired by AOL, according to multiple reports this morning. Apparently it's being bought for less than the big pile of money that high-profile investors put into it, back when hopes were ...
bench craft company
Confirmed: AOL's Patch Buys Hyperlocal <b>News</b> Site Outside.In
AOL's Patch has acquired hyperlocal news aggregator Outside.In, we've confirmed with Patch's president Warren Webster. It's unclear what the terms of the deal are but Business Insider reported earlier that the acquisition is valued at ...
Fox <b>News</b> The Only Network Willing To Comment On Clinton's Al <b>...</b>
"Representatives from CNN, ABC, CBS and NBC news all declined comment."
Hyperlocal Heartbreak: Why Haven't Neighborhood <b>News</b> Technologies <b>...</b>
Neighborhood news aggregator Outside.in has been acquired by AOL, according to multiple reports this morning. Apparently it's being bought for less than the big pile of money that high-profile investors put into it, back when hopes were ...
bench craft company
Confirmed: AOL's Patch Buys Hyperlocal <b>News</b> Site Outside.In
AOL's Patch has acquired hyperlocal news aggregator Outside.In, we've confirmed with Patch's president Warren Webster. It's unclear what the terms of the deal are but Business Insider reported earlier that the acquisition is valued at ...
Fox <b>News</b> The Only Network Willing To Comment On Clinton's Al <b>...</b>
"Representatives from CNN, ABC, CBS and NBC news all declined comment."
Hyperlocal Heartbreak: Why Haven't Neighborhood <b>News</b> Technologies <b>...</b>
Neighborhood news aggregator Outside.in has been acquired by AOL, according to multiple reports this morning. Apparently it's being bought for less than the big pile of money that high-profile investors put into it, back when hopes were ...
bench craft company
Confirmed: AOL's Patch Buys Hyperlocal <b>News</b> Site Outside.In
AOL's Patch has acquired hyperlocal news aggregator Outside.In, we've confirmed with Patch's president Warren Webster. It's unclear what the terms of the deal are but Business Insider reported earlier that the acquisition is valued at ...
Fox <b>News</b> The Only Network Willing To Comment On Clinton's Al <b>...</b>
"Representatives from CNN, ABC, CBS and NBC news all declined comment."
Hyperlocal Heartbreak: Why Haven't Neighborhood <b>News</b> Technologies <b>...</b>
Neighborhood news aggregator Outside.in has been acquired by AOL, according to multiple reports this morning. Apparently it's being bought for less than the big pile of money that high-profile investors put into it, back when hopes were ...
bench craft company
Confirmed: AOL's Patch Buys Hyperlocal <b>News</b> Site Outside.In
AOL's Patch has acquired hyperlocal news aggregator Outside.In, we've confirmed with Patch's president Warren Webster. It's unclear what the terms of the deal are but Business Insider reported earlier that the acquisition is valued at ...
Fox <b>News</b> The Only Network Willing To Comment On Clinton's Al <b>...</b>
"Representatives from CNN, ABC, CBS and NBC news all declined comment."
Hyperlocal Heartbreak: Why Haven't Neighborhood <b>News</b> Technologies <b>...</b>
Neighborhood news aggregator Outside.in has been acquired by AOL, according to multiple reports this morning. Apparently it's being bought for less than the big pile of money that high-profile investors put into it, back when hopes were ...
bench craft company
Confirmed: AOL's Patch Buys Hyperlocal <b>News</b> Site Outside.In
AOL's Patch has acquired hyperlocal news aggregator Outside.In, we've confirmed with Patch's president Warren Webster. It's unclear what the terms of the deal are but Business Insider reported earlier that the acquisition is valued at ...
Fox <b>News</b> The Only Network Willing To Comment On Clinton's Al <b>...</b>
"Representatives from CNN, ABC, CBS and NBC news all declined comment."
Hyperlocal Heartbreak: Why Haven't Neighborhood <b>News</b> Technologies <b>...</b>
Neighborhood news aggregator Outside.in has been acquired by AOL, according to multiple reports this morning. Apparently it's being bought for less than the big pile of money that high-profile investors put into it, back when hopes were ...
bench craft company
Confirmed: AOL's Patch Buys Hyperlocal <b>News</b> Site Outside.In
AOL's Patch has acquired hyperlocal news aggregator Outside.In, we've confirmed with Patch's president Warren Webster. It's unclear what the terms of the deal are but Business Insider reported earlier that the acquisition is valued at ...
Fox <b>News</b> The Only Network Willing To Comment On Clinton's Al <b>...</b>
"Representatives from CNN, ABC, CBS and NBC news all declined comment."
Hyperlocal Heartbreak: Why Haven't Neighborhood <b>News</b> Technologies <b>...</b>
Neighborhood news aggregator Outside.in has been acquired by AOL, according to multiple reports this morning. Apparently it's being bought for less than the big pile of money that high-profile investors put into it, back when hopes were ...
bench craft company
Confirmed: AOL's Patch Buys Hyperlocal <b>News</b> Site Outside.In
AOL's Patch has acquired hyperlocal news aggregator Outside.In, we've confirmed with Patch's president Warren Webster. It's unclear what the terms of the deal are but Business Insider reported earlier that the acquisition is valued at ...
Fox <b>News</b> The Only Network Willing To Comment On Clinton's Al <b>...</b>
"Representatives from CNN, ABC, CBS and NBC news all declined comment."
Hyperlocal Heartbreak: Why Haven't Neighborhood <b>News</b> Technologies <b>...</b>
Neighborhood news aggregator Outside.in has been acquired by AOL, according to multiple reports this morning. Apparently it's being bought for less than the big pile of money that high-profile investors put into it, back when hopes were ...
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