Steve Schlagel's Small Business Blog

Small Business: 10 Keys to Real Profits in Slow Markets

July 22, 2010

Share I’ve relayed a lot of information to you about small business issues: marketing, branding, legalities, human resources and management. I think it is time for a summary of the key components you should really be sure you are aware of and practicing. You should be building a business and not a job and your [...]

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WordPress: Why It’s My Blogging Choice

July 16, 2010

Share Bloggers, both professional and personal, have a large variety of choices for blogging platforms. Many of these are free. However, I prefer the downloaded/hosted version of WordPress for a variety of reasons, the biggest being how it excels in search engine optimization. If you are new to business blogging, you may consult with professionals [...]

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QR Codes: Marketing in a Mobile World

July 14, 2010

Share QR codes are everywhere, but if you are like many people, you haven’t really noticed them on all kinds of products and in various places. QR=”quick response” and the Japanese are the creative force behind them. Developed back in 1994, they are exploding in all kinds of ways. I recently stopped to look into [...]

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Affiliate Marketing for Small Businesses

July 12, 2010

Share I’ve recently had some questions about affiliate marketing and for good reason. Affiliate marketing is spreading like wildfire across the Internet. Are you taking advantage of this excellent marketing and sales development tool? Or have you considered becoming an affiliate marketer for another company’s products as a side business? Both are good choices to [...]

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Video Marketing: Where Should My Videos Be?

July 8, 2010

Share Video marketing is one of the key things I’ve been encouraging you to try. Nothing gives your potential customer a better understanding of what your business is and what you do than video. With the ability to incorporate emotionally enticing storytelling, share free information, search engines love it, and its ease of viewing on smart phones and [...]

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Healthcare Reform and Small Business: Get Answers

July 6, 2010

Share Healthcare reform passed, like it or not. I’m going to avoid the politics of the situation here or how in the heck it is going to be paid for, but  I know many of the small business owners across this country are incredibly confused about how this is going to impact them and don’t [...]

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Location-Based Social Sites for Small Business

July 6, 2010

Share Location-based (also known as geolocation) services and social networking are the newest rage in relationship marketing. If you are a bricks and mortar business and you are not taking advantage of being registered on all of these geolocation social networking sites, you are missing out on a way to do three things essentially for [...]

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iPad Apps: A Few of My Favorites

June 30, 2010

Share Yes. I succumbed. And I’m not the least bit sorry. If you drooled over the iPad when it was released, it was for good reason. The iPad, like the iPhone and iPod before it, is setting the bar for all other manufacturers who are unlikely to come close. Yes, there are some quibbles, but [...]

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Craiglist “Help Wanted” Ads for Small Business

June 29, 2010

Share It is certainly an employers world right now with unemployment at 10%. But that doesn’t mean you can take for granted a pool of talented, experienced candidates available to you. You still have to get the word out that you have a need and you want to attract the best and brightest to fill [...]

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It is STILL About Your USP!

June 29, 2010

Share Brand this. Brand that. Personal branding. Brand development. Brand research. Brand awareness. YOUR small business isn’t Apple, it isn’t Levi’s and it isn’t Coke. You have to stand out in ways that don’t use old-school advertising and before you even start marketing you must know what makes your business unique? Do you accommodate customers [...]

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