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Once a month, eight New York area entrepreneurs cancel all appointments, power down BlackBerrys and cellphones and gather in a cone of silence. For three hours, they unload the triumphs, and more often, stresses, not shared with spouses, friends or boards: a marriage on the rocks, the pain of firing a long-term employee, depression that's usurped Read More

A new study has found that businesses are increasingly looking to social networking and user-generated channels to improve their levels of customer engagement. Ninety percent of respondents to the Annual Online Customer Engagement Report said that a customer engagement strategy was “essential” or “important” to business operations. The research, c Read More

Just as large corporations are throwing their huge holiday galas, complete with orchestras, lavish meals and elaborate decorations and presentations of special bonuses and gifts, your small or home-based business can have its own end-of-the-year celebration. Indeed, you might choose to scale down the band and the buffet (perhaps, eliminate them fr Read More

How can small businesses not only survive, but thrive, in a slowing economy? Brad Sugars, chairman and CEO of business coaching firm ActionCOACH, gives specific ways to prepare for 2008. Read More

This isn't a new video, but it's one of my favorites by Seth Godin, so I thought I'd share it for those of you who haven't seen it yet. It's about how the best ideas can fail if you don't know how to spread the word -- how to make the idea appeal to early adopters -- how to create an idea that's truly remarkable. Read More

Most small and midsize businesses aren't even aware when they violate a software license, according to software industry sources, but that doesn't stop the fines from piling up. Nearly 90 percent of the fines collected annually by the Business Software Alliance for software license violations falls on small and midsize businesses, many of whom h Read More

Here are eight trends to watch and capitalize on in the new year. Read More

Web and green marketing are hot; Boomers are still the most important demo, though women, Gen X and Y, and Hispanics are catching up; and marketing basics are more important than ever, according to (pdf) a new survey of marketing executives conducted by Anderson Analytics. The survey focused on top marketing concepts, buzzwords, global areas of op Read More

Small and midsize businesses are increasing their use of Web 2.0 tools as information sources, providing greater opportunities to marketers that are trying to reach this audience, according to a new study from market research company Bredin Business Information. It examined which online tools SMBs use, how they use them to receive business informa Read More

Because reviewers want to help others—that's the short answer. We just announced the results of a study we executed with Keller Fay Research to understand the intentions and motivations behind reviewers. Overwhelmingly, the survey found, reviewers are motivated by goodwill and positive sentiment. Read More