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Most small businesses still see print Yellow Pages advertising as their most effective way to generate sales leads, but many are also eager to integrate effective internet options into their overall marketing approach, according to a new survey of 1,000 small businesses. Some 63% of small businesses (25 or fewer employees) advertise in a printed Y Read More

There are banks and credit unions and loan sharks. Now you can add a new funding option to the list and it's one that small businesses, with good solid credit, may find extremely beneficial. Simply, the Lending Club uses social networking to hook lenders and borrowers together. It's like the Match.com of credit. Those with good credit reports ca Read More

Seth Godin is at it again. In his new book, “Meatball Sundae: Is Your Marketing Out of Sync?” — available on December 27th — Seth Godin dissects the 14 trends marketers need to embrace to avoid eating meatball sundaes, which Godin explains as such: A meatball is a worthwhile commodity. They are things we need and sold to everyone. The sundae is th 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

How Much Money Do Retailers Leave on the Table? A 2007 study clearly shows that online retailers are not capitalizing on the customer experience and are overly focused on innovation while ignoring the basics. With all the investments and improvements within the last five years in redesigns, usability, analytics, multivariate testing, and the incre Read More

Data from Nielsen Online sheds some new light on the matter that is so important to merchants—online and offline—during the busy holiday shopping season. In an online survey of nearly 1,000 shoppers, 81% indicated that the ability to shop anytime during the day was why they chose to shop online during the holiday season. With 77% of respondents, s Read More

At last, neuroscience is applying itself to understanding how that extremely artificial endeavor — advertising — engages our basic biological instincts. Two pieces of science news will interest marketers. First, the more we can anthropomorphize products, the better we like them. Second, advertising can take the place of real memory in our beliefs Read More

Your sales manager probably told you to ask these question of every customer, but every time you do, you're shooting yourself in the foot. The dumb questions are: Do you have the budget for this? Who is the decision-maker? Don't get me wrong. You need to know the ANSWERS to these questions, but coming right out and asking them is about as effectiv Read More

The battle to win and keep customers in an increasingly competitive and crowded marketplace has become tougher as more companies and products are available to the free world. In response to these competitive pressures, companies are increasing efforts to build customer loyalty --commonly referred to as relationship marketing -- but have these effo Read More