Retail

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

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

Online Video: Show and Tell For Smaller Businesses

June 19, 2008 | With its ability to let customers do the talking, online video testimonials are one of the most effective ways for smaller businesses to get the word out about what they do. And with the recent spate of digital video products that have hit the market, it is now even easier -- and more affordable
By Heather Clancy

Midmarket Heroes: Scuba Toys -- Scuba Community Dives into Web 2.0

June 10, 2008 | Founding a scuba gear company in a landlocked part of Texas might not seem like the best idea. But Scuba Toy's founder Larry Dague has used Web 2.0 to reach scuba divers around the world -- and create a community of divers that keep coming back for more
By Naomi Grossman

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

How to Reduce Web 'Purchase Anxiety'

January 23, 2008 | From proof of privacy protection to effective testimonials to constructive follow up, here are 8 tips to make visitors feel more comfortable buying from your site
By Derek Gehl

Redefining Retail Sales Support

December 21, 2007  | This Cisco Systems video shows how Circuit City uses tablet PCs and in-store videoconferencing to redefine sales support of its consumer electronics
Courtesy of Cisco Systems

Building a Better RFID Reader

October 18, 2007 | ThingMagic's Yael Maguire figured out how to get RFID tags to be read more easily and accurately. Now he believes there is nothing this technology can't do
By Naomi Grossman

Top 5 Small and Midsize Business Myths -- Busted!

September 26, 2007 | Smaller companies are largely misunderstood. A recent survey challenges the conventional wisdom about how they use technology
By Naomi Grossman

Q&A With Gordon Linoff: Get Smarter About Business Intelligence

September 17, 2007 | A data mining expert explains how to generate all the business intelligence you need to understand what your customers want
By Naomi Grossman

Mid-Market Heroes: Leveraging Technology In a Tech-Adverse Industry

August 30, 2007 | Bamboo Pipeline -- a bMighty Mid-Market Hero company -- uses high-tech systems to sell plants to landscape professionals used to working with sod and dirt, not keyboards and monitors
By Naomi Grossman

Five Tips for World Class Customer Service

August 15, 2007 | Zealously protecting customer data and personalizing the customer experience are only two ways to ensure top notch customer service. Cisco's Jimmy Ray Purser offers three more tips.
By Jimmy Ray Purser, Courtesy of Cisco

8 Strategies for First-Rate Customer Service

August 15, 2007 | Good customer service starts with meeting customer needs: a trouble-free shopping experience and a smooth business transaction. Increasingly, it's also about anticipating and meeting their desires
By Eric J. Adams, Courtesy of Cisco

Insider Tips for Managing Customer Relationships

August 15, 2007 | Three successful business leaders share their best technology strategies for serving up great customer service.
By Eric J. Adams, Courtesy of Cisco

Keep Your Web Customers Coming Back

August 15, 2007 | Are you driving away business with an outdated web site? Here are three improvements you can make right now to keep your customers enaged, and get them to return.
By Eric J. Adams, Courtesy of Cisco

10 Tips for Increasing Operational Efficiency

August 15, 2007 | To remain competitive, businesses must boost operational efficiency wherever possible. It's particularly important for SMBs to operate efficiently, because they often have more limited resources than larger enterprises.
By James A. Martin, Courtesy of Cisco

The Business Case for Staying Connected

August 15, 2007 | Keeping a workforce connected to people and to data anytime, anywhere, is a big step toward boosting operational efficiency. It's especially important for small and medium-sized businesses
By James A. Martin, Courtesy of Cisco

How Personalization Drives Growth

August 15, 2007 | Nothing has the potential to increase a company's revenues and enhance customer loyalty in today's ultra-competitive marketplace like personalization
By Michael Astle, Courtesy of Cisco

Dagoba Keeps Its Mission

August 14, 2007  | Dagoba Organic Chocolates discovered that selling the company to Hershey allowed it to stay true to its mission and expand its impact.
Courtesy of Cisco Systems

"Uncorporate" Thinking Saves Farms

August 14, 2007  | Organic Valley Farms officials describe how a farm cooperative is helping to save the family farm.
Courtesy of Cisco Systems

Beware Public Computers

August 14, 2007  | Public computers, such as those in hotel business centers, pose a unique set of dangers to mobile workers. Cleaning the cache to cover your tracks when you're done just won't cut it.
Courtesy of Cisco Systems

Ten Things Your IT Department Doesn't Want You to Do - For Good Reason

August 14, 2007 | It seems the Wall Street Journal is as bad at keeping secrets as I am. The only difference is, if I tell my secrets, IT managers won't get angry
By Naomi Grossman

Anything to Declare?

August 13, 2007  | When mobile workers come back from the road, be sure they haven't brought back any unwanted souvenirs before you give them full access to all your office network resources.
Courtesy of Cisco Systems

Your Top 5 Mobile Worries

August 13, 2007  | Pardon me, your data leaking. And that's only one of your problems. Tune in for the rest of the most common threats to mobile workers.
Courtesy of Cisco Systems

Survive and Thrive in an Untrusted Zone

August 13, 2007  | Anything outside the office is an untrusted zone. How can workers stay mobile, stay productive, and stay safe if "encryption sucks," as Cisco's Jimmy Ray Purser believes?
Courtesy of Cisco Systems