In the face of the current financial crisis, small- and midsize-business owners need strategies, tips, and tricks to help their companies weather the storm and emerge poised for the future.
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Tips & Techniques
5 Ways To Fund Your Business
Need a cash infusion? You can forget about banks or VCs? Those traditional funding sources are strapped or stingy or both. If your businesses needs a significant investment to tap a new market, lock down the one you have, or upgrade equipment, you'll need to get creative. -- April 2, 2009
E-Mail Marketing: Make $57 For Every Dollar You Spend
That insanely boastful ROI figure comes courtesy of the Direct Marketing Association. The organization estimates that e-mail marketing can generate $57 for every dollar invested. But even if that figure doubles reality it doesn't explain reports that 60% of smaller businesses haven't even tried e-mail marketing. What are you waiting for? -- Mar 26, 2009
18 IT Mistakes To Avoid + 15 IT Best Practices
Slashing costs is important for business survival and IT is often a ripe target, but making the wrong choices about when, where, and what to cut can spawn new problems and even increase costs. Don't make these mistakes -- and consider these tips for the "right" way to do it. -- Mar 19, 2009
Always Be Closing Sales
Sell now. That's the mantra and businesses are scrambling to book every last cent of revenue from any source. Sales are scarce right now, but there's no shortage of sales and marketing advice from tips to tech, right now to how to sell your business outright. -- Mar 18, 2009
10 IT Management Mistakes You Can't Make
Right now every dime counts, but there's more to keeping your business thriving than just cutting expenses. Effective, day-to-day management is crucial to keeping your business operations flowing and that's particularly true with IT. Watch out for these 10 pitfalls. -- Mar 12, 2009
Cost-Effective Ways To Buy Hardware
Small and midsize businesses don't always have a lot of cash flow as this recession continues. So bMighty has six alternative ways to buy hardware for less than the retail price. Because if you're still running your business on a 486, you might finally consider retiring it in favor of new equipment. -- Mar 9, 2009
6 Recession Questions About Your Business
Business as usual won't do in today's recessionary market. Business owners must make tough choices about where to cut, where to invest, and how to position their business to survive, but honing in on the right choices is daunting. Asking these 6 questions will help bring clarity and focus to your decisions. -- Mar 9, 2009
12 Tips To Keep Customers Coming Back
As the recession drags on, people are keeping a tighter grip on their wallets. So how does a retailer stay in business? By developing a loyal following. Here are 12 tips to ensure your customers stick with you. -- Feb 26, 2009
Layoffs: Close Security Doors Before Showing Employees The Exit Door
Security and system access issues must be addressed long before pink slips are distributed. Some observers, in fact, view laid off employees as one of the biggest network and data security threats your company will face. -- Feb 23, 2009
6 Ways To Appear Big Enough For The Job
Smaller companies aren't going to get a bailout, leaving them to their own devices to build business. Here are six ways to cast a larger shadow so that you can stay competitive in your quest to gain customers. -- Feb 19, 2009
7 Smart Steps To Trimming Your Budget
With sales paltry and the outlook weak, small and midsize businesses are looking for every possible way to trim costs. These 7 tips will help business owners cut without crippling the business. -- Feb 18, 2009
12 Steps To Upgrade Your Business
These 12 simple, incremental steps can help improve your business and put you on the path to thriving, not just surviving. -- Feb 12, 2009
If It's Not On Sale, Don't Buy It
The recession is putting the screws to everyone and that means falling prices on hardware, software, services, and a host of other business technology. From Azeleos to Dell, HP to Intuit, it's a buyer's market out there. -- Feb 11, 2009
Follow The Money To Better Vendor Management
Savvy vendor management can significantly reduce expenses by planning and optimizing IT purchases of products and services. By applying several best practices, business owners can improve dealings with vendors during critical moments in the management cycle. -- Feb 5, 2009
3 More Ways To Maintain Your Online Reputation
Ensuring the perception of your business matches your vision for your business is a full time job for any business owner -- both online and offline. Adding to the 10 steps from earlier this week, here are 3 more ways to keep your online reputation intact. -- Feb 5, 2009
10 Steps To Maintain Your Online Reputation
Upholding the reputation of your business is crucial to keeping the customers you have and to attracting new business. It's particularly important online, where so much is out of your control. -- Feb 3, 2009
Ask Steve: Three Strategies For Surviving Tough Times
Business owners are, rightly, concerned about how the financial crisis and recession will hurt their businesses. Yankee Group analyst Steve Hilton shares his insights about ways that you can use technology to survive these tough times. -- Feb 3, 2009
10 Strategies For Positive Cash Flow
In a tight credit market, cash is king and keeping it flowing will make or break your business this coming yet. Here's 10 ways to keep the greenbacks rolling in to your business. -- Jan 27, 2009
5 Ways To Get More From Your Business Credit Card
Business owners often use credit cards to help get a business going, bridge gaps in revenue, and extend payments when cash is tight. That's not new. But business owners may not be taking advantage of the tools and services available with many of today's credit cards for everything from managing employee expenses to cash bonuses. -- Jan 21, 2009
What's It Like To Be Your Customer?
Think your company is easy to do business with? Here are eight great ways to find out, though the underlying premise is the same for all. -- Jan 16, 2009
5 Do's And Don'ts For Dealing With Layoff Survivors
The economy is in crisis, and corporate America is bleeding jobs. Record job losses in 2008 -- the largest since 1945 -- might even worsen in 2009, with one out of every four companies planning layoffs. But what about our layoff survivors? -- Jan 15, 2009
6 Ways To Keep The Customers You Have
When frugality and caution are the watchwords of the day, maintaining strong relationships with your customers is more important than ever. Loyal customers may reduce their spending, but they'll keep coming back to you for the things they need -- and keep the revenue you need coming in the door. -- Jan 14, 2009
Short-Term: The New Long-Term Marketing Strategy?
Would you consider it encouraging if I told you job losses among the smallest of businesses in December were around half that of November's numbers? -- Jan 9, 2009
10 Smaller Biz Marketing Advantages
With the competition for every dollar fiercer than ever, business owners must press any and every competitive advantage. Fortunately, smaller businesses have certain inherent advantages over large enterprises in downturns and now's the time to make the most of them. -- Jan 5, 2009
3 Things Every Business Owner Need To Thrive
Among the axioms flying around in these bleak financial times is that a recession is a great time to start a business. It's also a time to seize opportunities as competitors retreat and retrench. But whether you're hatching a new business or scrambling to keep the one you already have afloat, bringing 3 things to your business will put you on the path to success. -- Dec 30, 2008
Last-Minute Year-End Tax Tips
It's not too late for year-end tax planning. With just a few days left of 2008, there is still an opportunity for smaller businesses to minimize their tax bills. Here are some recommendations about what business owners should purchase now -- and how to afford it -- so that they can deduct it later. -- Dec 29, 2008
8 Ways To Strengthen Your Exit Plan Now
Right now, maintaining cash flow and solvency dominates many business owners concerns. Yet amid juggling credit, tight budgets, and market uncertainty, business owners can't afford to ignore planning their exit strategy, whether that's through a sale, merger, liquidation, or succession plan. -- Dec 22, 2008
Lessons From Detroit (Part 2): You Screwed Up -- Now What?
I hate being late. In college, I'd sooner skip a class than walk in five minutes after the professor began his lecture. In the work world, blowing off a meeting because you're behind the eight-ball is, of course, an option, but not one I'd suggest. My recommendation involves one tail and two legs. -- Dec 22, 2008
6 Quick Marketing Tips To Adopt Now
The lull your business might be experiencing during the next two weeks is an excellent time to start planning for the New Year. Here is a year-end checklist of marketing tactics that could set the stage for a successful 2009. -- Dec 19, 2008
Lessons From Detroit (Part 1): To Get What You Want, Try Asking
Ages ago, I worked with an art director who always had the boss' OK to pay top dollar for whatever she needed to run her department -- freelancers, illustrators, designers, etc. Meantime, my copy desk was one person short, and writers were being handed extra articles already overdue at the time of assignment. -- Dec 19, 2008
5 Ways IT Can Save Money
What are your employees doing online? And what happens to their computers when they leave for the day? Enforcing a few practices can help your company save some much-needed cash. -- Dec 18, 2008
How To Cut Costs Without Layoffs
As spooked companies around the world race to trim expenses as quickly as they can, layoffs are the most common device. They don't have to be. -- Dec 18, 2008
6 Steps To A Stronger Credit Application
At the dawn of this financial crisis, the big concern was access to credit. Growing unemployment, the ongoing dry heaves of the stock market, and quickening foreclosure rates have joined in the fray, yet access to credit remains a big question. If your business needs funds, will you be able to get it? Taking these 6 steps can bolster your credit application. -- Dec 18, 2008
Hot New Job Opportunities For 2009
With all the layoffs lately, leaving unemployed people to face a lot of competition in an already tight job market, prospects could seem bleak. But one of the goals of the incoming Obama administration is to create or save 2.5 million jobs in the next two years. -- Dec 17, 2008
The Wrong Way To Fire People
The layoff notices are stacking up and the unemployment rate is climbing. Cutting people loose is perhaps the worst job that business owners face, but given the economic outlook, you may be need to fire to survive. Here's what NOT to do. -- Dec 10, 2008
5 Ways To Cut Your Cell Phone Bill
Now that a report has revealed that the majority of cell phone users are satisfied with their service, here are five tips to make you more satisfied with your cell phone bill, too. -- Dec 8, 2008
Is Christmas Cancelled?
Sure, there's plenty of bad news about the economy swirling around this week, but some folks are still trying to convince us that this suddenly one-year-old recession is actually an opportunity. -- Dec 4, 2008
7 Tech Tips To Beat This Recession
It's official -- we're in a recession. But that doesn't mean your company has to suffer. By taking advantage of technology, you can still attract business -- often easily and inexpensively. -- Dec 2, 2008
Recession Aside, You Still Need To Advertise
Hey, have you heard? We're officially in a recession -- and have been for, oh, about a year now. Recession or, well, recession, my RSS reader is filling up with articles about why you shouldn't cut your advertising budget just because times are tight. Let your competitors do the cutting while you maintain the status quo, they argue, and it'll look like you're doing more. -- Dec 2, 2008
How To Balance Capital And Operating Budgets
IT decision makers manage two kinds of budgets: capital and operating. By balancing the combination of IT spending across these two budgets you can improve IT/business alignment and increase IT business value. -- Nov 25, 2008
5 Ways To Build Your Brand
Cost cutting is the top priority for most business owners right now. Yet, extracting maximum value from efforts is just as important as slashing expenses. That's particularly true with marketing efforts that bring in new business and keep your business brand fresh in customer's minds. -- Nov 25, 2008
4 Tips For Cyber Monday Profits
As more people count on Cyber Monday for big deals on holiday shopping, smaller retailers face stiff competition from big-box stores. We have some tips on how to attract and keep online customers, as well as ideas on ways to rack up big savings yourself. -- Nov 24, 2008
Cheap, Easy Tools For Productive Online Meetings
Travel budgets are getting the ax, but a host of free and low-cost online tools make it easier than ever to hold productive online meetings that let teams collaborate and get things done. -- Nov 21, 2008
5 Resolutions For Managing IT In 2009
The second half of 2008 has already been brutal for business. The prospects for early 2009 aren't glowing, but now's the time for business owners to think hard about the strategy and decisions that will carry the company through next year. -- Nov 20, 2008
Calculate TCO For Your Business
Cost cutting may reduce your bottom line, but it can also cripple your IT infrastructure. Calculate your total cost of ownership using this FREE tool to help make smart decisions about where to invest your precious IT dollars and reap the most value for your business. -- Nov 18, 2008
6 Lessons To Take From Big Business
Small and midsize companies don't run like megacorporations -- and usually, the smaller businesses want to keep it like that. But often, big business got that way through shrewd practices and an ability to cut costs. Small -- yet growing -- companies could learn a thing or two. -- Nov 13, 2008
5 Tips For Communicating With Employees
People are the most valuable asset of your business. During tough economic times, business owners can't afford to lose this asset or let it wither as rumors fly about layoffs and RIFs. These 5 tips will help you talk to your valuable employees and keep them focused. -- Nov 13, 2008
The Smart Way To Slash IT Costs
In tough economic times, business owners often turn to IT for quick cost savings. In "Opportunities & Challenges In IT Cost Reduction," Info-Tech Research Group outlines a proven, research-based framework for strategic IT cost management that can help cut your technology costs without crippling your business. This exclusive report is offered as a no-cost bonus with your free bMighty.com registration. -- Nov 12, 2008
10 Ways To Get More From Your Data Center
With budgets tightening by the day and forecasts for next year looking bleak, business owners and IT managers must do more with less. That includes the data center, but, fortunately, there are opportunities to improve performance without increasing spending. -- Nov 12, 2008
6 Ways To Do More With Less IT Spending
The more productivity that business owners can wring from every dime they spend eases the pressure to cut costs, staff, and projects. Check out these 7 ways to boost your IT output without increasing spending -- and even reducing it. -- Nov 11, 2008
How To Boost Operating Efficiency With TCO
Too often, business owners don't grasp the full power of assessing total cost of ownership. If they calculate the TCO, they can measure, understand, and manage IT costs more effectively and boost the overall efficiency of the business. -- Nov 6, 2008
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15 Tips From Venture Capitalists
At a recent Silicon Valley event focusing on the economic crisis, famed venture capitalist John Doerr offered up 10 tips on "How to manage your start-up in the downturn," but the advice is useful for any business owner. -- Oct 30, 2008
5 Ways To Increase Revenue From Current Customers
Hanging on to your customers is crucial in these tough times, but just keeping them isn't enough. Growing revenue from your existing customers will help keep your business afloat by offsetting, in part, the inevitable slackening of orders and departure of other customers. -- Oct 30, 2008
12 Easy Ways To Cut Your Company's Tech Costs Now!
Today more than ever you need to watch your company's IT spending. Fortunately, there are plenty of easy ways to quickly reduce your business technology costs. From all-in-one printers to open source alternatives and more, get started now with these 12 simple suggestions. -- Oct 29, 2008
Dare You Ask For A Raise During A Recession?
Happy to just have a job? We all are. But just because the economy has seen much better days doesn't mean you should talk yourself out of negotiating a salary boost should you feel you deserve one. -- Oct 29, 2008
15 Inexpensive VoIP Options
I promised my folks I'd never (publicly) knock their limited know-how about technology, so let me say how EXTREMELY IMPRESSED I am that they're using a VoIP service to cut down on their long-distance phone bills. -- Oct 28, 2008
20 Ways To Trim IT Costs
Any way that a business owner can conserve cash right now is pure gold. That includes not only expenses on the business side but also on the IT side. The key is to trim IT costs carefully -- with a scalpel not a hatchet -- so the cuts don't hobble your business. -- Oct 27, 2008
5 Business-As-Usual Survival Tactics
Amid a recession, it's tempting to cut back, to forgo risks, and play it safe. For some things that makes sense, but business owners risk sending their company into a downward spiral if they don't seize some opportunities to keep the business growing. -- Oct 24, 2008
6 Ways To Contain IT Costs
Infrastructure -- roads and bridges -- is what keeps our society moving, literally, and without management and maintenance, it crumbles. The same is true of your company's IT infrastructure -- the hardware, software, networks, and other systems that keep your business moving require care and feeding. And that costs money. Here are 6 ways to keep those costs under control without allowing your infrastructure to deteriorate and take your business with it. -- Oct 23, 2008
4 Low-Cost Ways To Build Customer Loyalty
Customers are the lifeblood of business, but acquiring new customers can be expensive. By contrast, taking steps to hold on to the customers you already have and encourage them to spend more on your products and services can bolster your bottom line. -- Oct 22, 2008
How To Buffer Your Blog During The Economic Bust
The merits of blogging as a marketing tool for our microbusinesses are no mystery. Some of us are even making money and/or a living as bloggers. So the concern for how to prepare our blogs for an economic downturn is huge. -- Oct 21, 2008
5 Ways To Prevent Being Bought Out
Right now, business owners are focused on keeping the doors open and rightly so given the business climate. But in the scramble to keep a business afloat, it's easy to overlook another threat -- acquisition from competitors with deeper pockets. -- Oct 17, 2008
5 Ways To Focus On Business Fundamentals
Even in the best of times, the deck is stacked against small and midsize businesses -- fewer resources, less access to capital, and little or no brand awareness. That's why strong fundamentals are so essential to business owners in smaller organizations. -- Oct 16, 2008
6 Ways To Keep Your IT Systems Healthy
With credit tight and the potential (or reality) of a business slowdown looming, business owners can ill afford IT problems that will suck up valuable time, stymie employee productivity, leave customers and prospects hanging, and cost scarce cash to remedy. -- Oct 9, 2008
5 Strategies For Cutting Cellular Costs
IT departments should take an active role in managing cellular phone policies and practices across the business. By implementing a comprehensive management plan, IT managers and business owners can cut monthly costs and see significant savings. -- Oct 8, 2008
Helpful Examples From The Cloud
An on-demand financial services vendor points to a couple of companies who are betting on cloud computing to cope with the current economic troubles. -- Oct 8, 2008
10 Reasons Why Now Is The Right Time To Launch A Business
The Dow just took a major dive, Congress last week passed an $800 billion bailout program, credit is tight, and VC dollars are scarce -- so you'd be crazy to start a business now, right? -- Oct 6, 2008
10 Ways To Recession-Proof Your Web Site
The financial meltdown isn't aimed at Web sites, but the folks at WebGuild point out that the Internet isn't exactly recession-proof. So they offer 10 tips on how to reduce the impact. -- Oct 2, 2008
10 Ways To Get Paid Faster
With credit evaporating, cash is king. For business owners, the pressure to keep the cash flowing makes getting paid for outstanding invoices even more crucial than before. Don't get left holding an unpaid invoice. -- Oct 2, 2008
5 Ways The Meltdown Will Change Digital Marketing
Facing an economic downturn, the -- understandable -- impulse for many business owners is to pour any available resources into marketing to bring in more business. But it's crucial that business owners think through how the downturn will affect digital marketing before committing dollars to specific programs, vehicles, or campaigns. -- Oct 1, 2008
5 Predictions For Online Business
The financial crisis will have effects far beyond Wall Street, and even beyond Main Street. It's already resonating through cyberspace. Here are some thoughts on how it will affect online business, and how to deal with it. -- Oct 1, 2008
10 Cash Flow Tips You Need Now
For fighting back against the credit crunch, SMBs have some of the best options out there, according to consultant and financial software developer Rusty Luhring. -- Sep 30, 2008
4 Ways IT Can Slash Branch Office Costs
Small branch offices can be costly and challenging to manage from an IT perspective. Users in small branch offices need access to the same company resources and IT support as users in larger offices, but there is typically no physical IT support presence. There are ways to reduce costs and improve IT operations at small branch offices that business IT departments should consider. -- Sep 9, 2008
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