Managing Your Business Reputation on Twitter

Twitter can be an invaluable tool for businesses: the social marketing site lets you connect to customers, reach out to new customers, and cultivate a user-friendly, tech-savvy brand.

However, a single misguided Tweet can damage your business reputation, as Progressive Insurance discovered earlier this year.

How a Small Business Can Help Protect Itself From Data Breaches

Even though eBay Inc. announced their data breach on May 21, something about it stuck in my mind. To refresh your memory, the company stated that the breach took place “between late February and early March, [and] included eBay customers’ name, encrypted password, email address, physical address, phone number and date of birth;” which means that if you have an account with eBay, the attackers might have had your information for months. The potential damage that could have been done is pretty scary.

Best Practices for Small Business Websites

5,000 Fans and Zero Sales

Are you sitting down? Good. Now take a deep breath, and prepare yourself for shocking news: everything you know about small business social media is wrong.

Whether you’re a lawyer, an accountant, or the owner of a brick-and-mortar shop, your company does not need 1,000 fans on Facebook. You need business—not Diggs, Likes, or Mentions. Friends and fans and followers are great, but customers are better.

Social Media Does Not Offer a Shortcut to a Good Reputation

Social media can be a tool for creating a reputation for your small business, but it should only be one tool among many.

Social Media Supplements a Reputation

In an age where instant communication has led to an expectation for instantaneous results, social media platforms are often viewed as a way to develop a reputation for reliability and customer service. Despite all that has changed in the world over the past ten years, one thing that has not has changed is that you usually cannot rush success.

Best Sites for Free Publicity

Thanks to the Internet, marketing on a budget (in fact a TIGHT budget) is easier than ever. But some small business owners are daunted by the large number of ways to handle their marketing online.

How do you narrow it down to the most effective way, and how can you tell exactly what’s right for YOUR business?