Small Business Shift

Google scrapes reviews from other websites for Google Places. Traditionally, these came from large local review websites. But now you can get reviews from your site onto Places. Google is starting to include hReview formatted reviews from other websites – and even some from small businesses using hReview. Read on for an hReview how-to. What Is hReview? hReview […]

Email marketing is cheap and extremely effective. But there are plenty of areas where you can make mistakes. Read on for ideas as to how you could use it, and how do it right. What’s It For? Email provides a great ROI for many companies. They’re doing things such as: Bringing People Back – Email […]

You run a business. You’re busy. Handling your company’s social media presence takes time. So what do you do? The Problem Social media is still relatively new, and many companies don’t have anyone deemed responsible for it. No responsibility = it’s not done well, or even consistently. Some businesses haphazardly allow an employee to setup […]

Google has just announced a new addition to Google Maps – the ability to see 360 degree views of the interiors at select businesses. First mentioned by Google as an upcoming feature a week or so ago, it is now live in the United States, New Zealand, Japan, and Australia. What Does It Look Like? […]

Google announced it’s Chromebook at the Google IO conference earlier today. Chromebooks could have a variety of uses – but one of the big beneficiaries could be the small business market. What Is A Chromebook? A chromebook is a laptop based on Google’s Chrome operating system. There is also a Chrome access box intended as […]

As a small business owner, you’ve always had to know a bit about everything. It’s time to add online marketing. The goal of this article is that when you finish reading, you’ll have enough knowledge to read more in-depth guides (or talk to a salesperson) without ending up lost. There’s a lot of information here, […]

The rumor news today is that Microsoft is buying Skype. As long as the company is being discussed – let’s take a look at the features (and cheap, cheap calls) Skype offers business users. It’s Not Just For Kids Most people I know have used Skype to video chat with family members, or to keep […]

The Small Business Shift forums are open for business. I hope these will be a great place for readers to discuss their businesses and get questions answered that are not covered on the blog. We can also get to know each other a bit! To join the forums, visit the signup page. Then please do introduce […]

I got started in online marketing as an affiliate, creating websites to market products sold on Amazon, movie rentals from Netflix, and the like. They pay commissions to websites that send them buyers. The goal of an affiliate is pretty simple – drive more sales for less money. It taught me some lessons that many […]

Why bother with improving conversion rates? How can companies bid $xx.xx per click on Adwords? And why do people get all hot and bothered about “viral” businesses? All these questions are related to the value of a sale – which I’ve created some calculators to help your company better estimate and understand. One of the […]