Online Business Resources


A Marketing Idea so Crazy It Might Work -- Be Painfully Honest about Your Product

mobile homes
YouTube

Creativity counts in hard times, so a mobile home business in Alabama decided to release a self-deprecating, hilarious ad on YouTube to attract customers. Click to watch the commercial and see why over 625,000 people have watched it after just a couple weeks.

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Florida Inmates Turn Up the Heat in the Big House

chilis
Getty Images

A new group of small business entrepreneurs are taking the spotlight at Tampa, Florida's Hillsborough County Jail. Inmates at this minimum security facility are brewing and selling their own line of hot sauces.

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Crank Up Your Customers' Confidence

Vault
Getty Images

For small businesses that sell online, the importance of protecting customer data is a given. Unfortunately, the best security and privacy practices in the world are useless unless you first secure the customer's trust -- no easy task in today's world. Click to see three steps you can take to ensure customers are comfortable doing business at your site.

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Time to Use an Online Collaboration Tool for Your Business?

online collaboration
Corbis

As a small company, you probably have employees in remote locations. No doubt, there are many management and communications issues. Yes, it's often the case that things slow down -- or even fights break out. While e-mail is helpful, it is usually not enough. Rather, it's worth looking at online collaboration tools.

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Teen Entrepreneur Snapshot: Popsy Cakes

Popsycakes
Courtesy Popsycakes

Having your cake and eating it, too, used to be the hallmark of success, but as Jessica Cervantes has learned, it's even better if you just sell it instead. Click to see how this young entrepreneur turned her cupcakes-on-a-stick idea into a growing business.

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Should You Buy a Prepackaged Website?

Web Site
Artville

The small-business website seems to be one of the simplest things to launch today, but before you buy an off-the-shelf website, understand what you're buying and what you need for your business.

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How to Put Your Website on Cell-Phone Screens

Cell phone
jupiterimages

These days, it's not enough to build a good website; to reach customers online, you have to reach them on their mobile phones. Here are two free tools for adapting your site for the small screen.

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Pitching to Mommy Bloggers

Family

When businesses try to market products and services via endorsements on blogs targeted at moms, it pays to understand the rules of the road.

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Small Business Resources Online

Learn the advantages of the online marketplace and find out how to get your small business on the Web.

    Small Business Checklists

    It can be difficult to keep up with all the details involved in running a small business. Don't lose track of the details -- use a checklist to keep yourself organized.

    1. Checklist: Starting a Business
    2. Checklist: Closing a Business
    3. Index of Small Business Checklists

      The Startup

      The Startup

      The Startup, the web's premiere online reality show for small business owners, is back for its third season! Watch as we follow four entrepreneurs to see how they're making their businesses come to life.

      1. The Startup

        Sponsor Spotlight