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3. Google Analytics Joel Gross, founder and CEO of Coalition Technologies, a Los Angeles website design firm, swears by Google Analytics. Like ClickTale, It’s a piece of code you can paste on your site that tracks data such as page views and unique visitors. Gross’s 24-employee company installs it for every client, many of whom are small business owners. “If you don’t have this installed, you’re blind,” Gross says. Google Analytics may sound complicated, but Gross says it’s extremely user-friendly. The service allows you to track everything from what specific groups of customers spend, what device they accessed your site [...]

Many military veterans apply skills they learned in the military to run successful businesses—and you don’t have to be a veteran to do the same.Army vet Darcella Craven uses techniques she gained as a communications specialist every day in St. Louis as executive director of Veterans Business Resource Center, where she trains both veterans and civilians to start nonprofit businesses. Compared with civilian folks, she says, veterans aren’t as fazed when times get tough.The sooner you accept that you’re facing a difficult situation, Craven says, the sooner you can adjust to those changes.Veterans reveal four key qualities that help their [...]

A new report by Symantec shows that small businesses are increasingly the targets of cyber theft, with 36% of targeted attacks during the first half of 2012 directed at companies with 250 or fewer employees. Many small business owners consider their business too small to be a target, which is a mistake because hackers know that small businesses have more capital than the average individual. “Cyber criminals are business people, too,” said Arild Jensen, owner of Secos Security, a Granada Hills, Calif., firm that specializes in cyber security for small businesses. “They’re going to go for the easiest, most rewarding [...]

The 2012 election finally ended, making it safe again to watch TV commercials and to check out your friends’ Facebook posts. So before the pundits start talking about the next campaign cycle, let’s take a look at six marketing lessons from the election that you can apply to your own business. 1. Tell your own story. Out-of-touch plutocrat! Out-of-touch socialist! The election saw no shortage of name calling by both sides. Late in the race, Mitt Romney jumped in the polls when his campaign responded with a let-Mitt-be-Mitt style in the first debate. So, how can you be you? Tell [...]

After a campaign that felt like it lasted forever, Election Day is finally here. The outcomes of today’s races across the country will impact how important small business issues are addressed next year in the 113th Congress, including taxes, healthcare and regulatory reform. Here are the top 5 things small business owners should watch for on Election Night:

You’ll need to invest some time, but it can also pay dividends. For more than 25 years, NFIB member K.Q. Allen ran her Lincoln, Neb., pet care facility with the help of her community bank, where she held $ 1.4 million in loans, lines of credit and both business and personal accounts.Then, last fall, she noticed some unsettling changes in the relationship: The bank wasn’t being attentive to her estate planning needs, was turning out sloppy paperwork and, at a time when interest rates were falling, only offered Allen the same interest rate as her business loans. “I had an [...]

While everyone could benefit from the healthy lifestyle tips that Weight Watchers gives, small business in particular can learn a thing or two from the way that Weight Watchers runs its business. The organization has become one of the most successful programs in its industry. Is your business poised for that kind of success? Weight Watchers began in the 1960s as an in-home meeting among friends who wanted support as they worked towards a healthier lifestyle. It then grew over the next 50 years into a globally operated company with more than 1.3 million members world-wide. With that kind of [...]

TV isn’t just for entertaining. It’s helpful for entrepreneurs too! TV shows may be all about ratings and over-the-top personalities. But in today’s reality show world, entrepreneurs can not only find entertainment value, but also inspiration. Here are NFIB’s top 5 shows to inspire your small business:   1. Shark Tank: ABC “Sharks” are all self-made millionaires who built their businesses from the ground up. Entrepreneurs pitch their company before business icons Mark Cuban, Kevin O’Leary, Barbara Corcoran, Daymond John, Robert Herjavec and Lori Greiner with the hope of securing funds to take their business to the next level.Takeaways from [...]

How are women-owned businesses surviving the Great Recession? We polled 760 business owners, 559 women and 201 men, to find out how the recession changed the way they do business. Here’s what they said.   Source: Lessons of the Recession Survey Please feel free to share this infographic as long as you link back to the original on this page.  See also: Earning Certification as a Women’s Business Enterprise and the PowHER to Achieve $ 1,000.00 giveaway. More Small Business Infographics Home-based biz by the numbers What’s stunting small busineses? Time and cost of preparing taxes [...]

Running a business can sometimes feel like both a trick and a treat. Here’s how to cope. Things that go clunk in the night. The sound of fingernails being scraped down a blackboard. A surprise phone call from your accountant who says “you better sit down for this.” Ah, it must be Halloween. No matter how old we are or practical we think we’ve become, there’s a little kid inside us that relishes the bizarre, the odd and the creepy. Except, of course, when it comes to running a business. Here’s a list of 10 ghastly ghouls that can spook [...]