Our small town/rural tip: Check with your electric provider, whether that is an electric cooperative or even your own city government; many offer energy audits at no cost. Some will help with energy saving devices, special plans to reduce costs and low cost loans for efficiency improvements or equipment. Well worth the effort! More tips…
Contemplating new business ideas? How about a free RSS or newsletter full of them? “Springwise, an Amsterdam-based independent innovation firm, scans the globe for the most promising new business ideas.” From their site, www.springwise.com, you can search for ideas for a new business, for a possible expansion, or for inspiration and trend watching. Most of…
Our second phone calling tool article. After years and years of hearing about computer telephony, it is finally getting “here”. Skype, a big player in this, is offering an interesting special. Steve Rucinski, Small Business CEO, has written the best summary I’ve seen, Free Skype Out in US and Canada. This could be a real…
Part of our continuing series on web-based tools to help your small business. Two reviews of time tracking tools caught my eye recently, so I wanted to share them here. The first is from Small Business CEO, Steve Rucinski, in Online Time Tracking – Simple Yet Effective . Web-based time tracker Harvest logs you and…
The resource: Inc.com Imagine if you could browse the back issues of business magazines and tap all the wonderful articles written over the past years… Inc. is making it possible. First, they have pulled together a huge selection of How-to Guides. Here are some samples: Customer Service Best Customer-Service Practices Managing Customer Data Running…
One of my primary goals is to connect you to some of the best online resources to help your business survive. This is especially important in rural areas because online resources fill some of the gaps caused by our geographic isolation. This continuing feature will profile some of our favorite resource sites online. Resource sites…
Rand at SEOmoz is exploring a business decision of large proportion, and he’s letting us in on his thinking process. It’s fascinating to share his Point of View. Right now, SEOmoz is in a very unique position. We’ve found ourselves torn between two worlds, navigating uncertain waters without the benefit of long experience. Our central…
I’m fascinated by other small business owners who share their point of view online. The internet allows me to listen in as entrepreneurs discuss major decisions, reflect on success and failures, and work out their next moves. For those of us isolated in small towns or rural areas, this insight can be priceless! So watch…
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