Business & E-Business

Super Slideshow: Tech Tools And Tips To Help Growing Businesses Soar

August 27, 2008 | Growing businesses need all the help they can get -- from the latest tech tools to the best advice that will help their organizations thrive. This visual tour highlights the tech products and people that can ensure the success of your small or midsize business.
By Naomi Grossman

Q&A With Scott Berkun: Good Managers Vs. Bad Managers

August 18, 2008 | Scratch the surface of any successful company and you'll find a good manager who knows how to inspire employees to reach their full potential. Management guru Scott Berkun explains how self-awareness and treating employees like people separates good managers from bad.
By Naomi Grossman

Outsourcing Creates Opportunity for Smaller Businesses

August 15, 2008 | Smaller businesses can optimize processes by focusing on what's core to their success. Online outsourcing and collaboration services enable smaller businesses to do just that.
By Roger Farnsworth, Courtesy of Cisco

Referral Madness

August 14, 2008 | Small and midsize businesses can gain referrals by marketing their business to customers every step of the way. Here are the seven steps you need customers to take toward making referrals and the tools you should use to get them going.
By John Jantsch

Yelp Controversy Exposes Dark Side of Web 2.0

August 14, 2008 | Web 2.0 and user-generated content are great news for growing companies, offering them the ability to harness the wisdom of crowds and stand out even without the benefit of huge marketing budgets. But what happens when the social networks turn mean or try to take advantage of their power?
By Fredric Paul

Mind Your Blogging Manners

August 7, 2008 | Bloggers can provide your smaller business with lots of great, free buzz. But if you want to take advantage of no-cost publicity, make sure to follow the bloggers' code of conduct.
By Guy Kawasaki

SLIDESHOW: FREE Tools for Growing Businesses

August 6, 2008 | Don't miss this collection of useful business and technology tools from bMighty.com, our partners, and around the Web, including a technology service provider locator, e-mail marketing ROI calculator, ZIP code locator, free networking management software, and a PR toolkit.
By Benjamin Tomkins

Brocade's Foundry Acquisition Shakes Up Storage and Networking Markets

August 5, 2008 | "What's next?" That's the question to ask about the combination storage supplier Brocade and established network equipment vendor Foundry Networks. And what does it mean for growing businesses?
By Paul Korzeniowski

Shipping 2.0

July 31, 2008 | With a virtual warehouse service, all your smaller business has to lose are its rent and delivery costs. What it can gain are a larger daily run rate, cost savings, and peace of mind.
By Heather Clancy

Jump In: Big Opportunities in Online Video

July 24, 2008 | Online video is what businesses want -- and will soon need -- which means big opportunities for startups. But the time to get in is now, before the market leaders emerge.
By Amanda Kooser

Getting Close to Customers, Online

July 17, 2008 | New tech tools now let online retailers get to know their customers -- wherever they are. The result is more effective marketing and, ultimately, increased sales.
By Heather Clancy

Strategy Matters: 6 Ways to Strategize Like Enterprises

July 15, 2008 | Effectively implementing and executing business strategy can be the difference between success and failure. By strategizing like enterprises, smaller businesses can meet their objectives and level the playing field.
By Nilofer Merchant, CEO of Rubicon Consulting

Ask Steve: Hosted vs. On-Premises Call Center Solutions

July 14, 2008 | Customer contact centers serve the same role for smaller businesses as they do for enterprises, but many struggle to find call center solutions that scale affordably. Yankee Group's Steve Hilton takes a look at the total ownership costs of hosted and on-premises call center solutions in this month's Ask Steve
By Steve Hilton, Courtesy of Yankee Group

Closing the Gap with Larger Competitors

July 3, 2008 | A converged network allows small and midsize businesses to regain their edge over their larger competitors and once again get closer to their customers
By Doug Dennerline, Courtesy of Cisco

Tell It to Me Straight: Customer Feedback in the Web 2.0 World

July 3, 2008 | What better way to get feedback on your business than through your customers? A Web 2.0 tool enables your online business to get instant, effective, and credible customer feedback so you can respond to complaints and resolve disputes in a flash
By Heather Clancy

Strategy Matters: 5 Reasons Why Strategy Fails

July 2, 2008 | Following best practices can help drive a successful business strategy, but understanding what the "worst" practices are is just as important. Here are five reasons strategy fails in small businesses, in midsize businesses, and in large enterprises
By Nilofer Merchant, CEO of Rubicon Consulting

bMighty Heroes: Smaller Businesses Use Tech Tools to Take on Large-Size Competitors and Win

June 30, 2008 | The bMighty heroes are small and midsize businesses that have staked claims in markets by using technology to compete with larger companies with deeper pockets and more resources. Hats off to these bMighty Mid-Market Heroes for never letting size get in the way of success
By Naomi Grossman

Web 2.0 Tactics for Business Success

June 27, 2008  | If small and midsize businesses knew how to harness the incredible power of Web 2.0, they could truly level the playing field. TechWeb's Jennifer Pahlka explains how smaller businesses can get started with Web 2.0 and which tools will help them succeed
Courtesy of Cisco Systems

Web site Design That Works: Helping the Designer Help You

June 27, 2008 | The perfect Web site designer might not be in the perfect location, but these tips will help you span the distance between you and the designer to produce a Web site that works for your smaller business
By Amanda Kooser

Enterprise 2.0 Tools for Growing Companies

June 23, 2008 | Bringing Web 2.0 tools into the workplace was a hot topic at Enterprise 2.0. From new products and services to the emerging technology trends, the show was awash in opportunities for smaller businesses to increase their competitive advantage by adopting Web 2.0 tools that can level the playing field.
By Naomi Grossman

Strategy Matters: 9 Ways to Develop Team Motivation

June 19, 2008 | When the ancient Greeks invaded, they burned their ships so there was no choice but to move forward. By "burning the boat" on your next initiative, you can motivate your employees to contribute to the objective and help your business succeed.
By Nilofer Merchant, CEO of Rubicon Consulting

RIM Digs in for BlackBerry Attack

June 17, 2008 | RIM has bolstered its product line with the BlackBerry Bold and taken steps to develop an ecosystem around its technology. But will this be enough for mobile professionals in smaller businesses to stick with BlackBerry in the face of increasing fierce competition?
By Paul Korzeniowski

How to Coordinate Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Planning

June 9, 2008 | Investing scarce time and resources in disaster recovery planning is a tough sell for smaller business -- it's more appealing to hope disaster won't strike. But rather than ignoring it, IT professionals should view disaster recovery as one aspect of business continuity management and collaborate with the business to plan for the inevitable rainy day.
By Ross Armstrong, Courtesy of Info-Tech Research Group

Smaller Businesses Get Sold on eBay

June 5, 2008 | eBay is one of the few ways that anyone can launch a smaller business in minutes. With hundreds of resources at your fingertips, starting a business on eBay can be fast, easy, and nearly investment free. Here are nine steps to get you started
By Marcia Layton Turner

The Best Blogs for Smaller Businesses

June 4, 2008 | If you're not reading blogs, you should. The best blogs inform, entertain, and offer tips, tools, and strategies for boosting smaller business productivity and profits. Blogs also create opportunities for networking and sharing information with other smaller businesses. To help you wade through the bounty of the blogosphere, we've compiled some of our favorite blogs for smaller businesses.
By Naomi Grossman