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Small Business Marketing - News, Tips, and Expert Advice

Small Business Marketing - News, Tips, and Expert Advice

Social CRM, Online Contact Management, and Professional Networking | Gist.com The Current State of Twitter [INFOGRAPHIC] Muhammad Saleem is a social media consultant and a top-ranked community member on multiple social news sites. Follow him on Twitter for more social media insights. There is no doubt that Twitter has been a runaway success. While the site's growth has certainly been impressive and it has reached the point of non-displacement, there are some interesting hidden truths about Twitter and its users. Click the Image for Full Size Version

Freelancers Union :: Resources Tips, tricks, and tools. Taxes are different for freelancers, and what you learned from the 9-5 world is no longer applicable. One of the most common questions we get—especially from new freelancers—is "How do I file my taxes?" Here's a set of tips to help you out. What you'll need to do: You'll need to pay taxes quarterly. Bonus: you can deduct the cost of tax preparation services from your income. Things to keep in mind: You get double taxed. Words, words, words: { ten nahyn-tee-nahyn } An IRS form used to show your miscellaneous income. Deduction { dih-duhk-shuhn } An expense that you can subtract from your income when calculating a tax rate. Self-employed { self-em-ploid } What the IRS calls people whose earnings come from work done on their own, rather than as an employee of a company. Deductions All business expenses are deductible, but make sure you keep your receipts—both the proof of payment and the invoice from the vendor. Here are some of the big things that can reduce your tax bill:

Find People The Web has an inexhaustible supply of free resources that can help you find people online. Reconnect with that old high school sweetheart, find out what your college buddy has been doing all these years, track what your family and friends are doing online....yes, you can do all that and more on the Web. Use Search Engines to Find Someone Search engines are powerful tools, and you can use them to assist you in finding someone: track down addresses, look up phone numbers, search for maps, and more. Social Media: The Online Water Cooler Social media has taken off in a big way, and for good reason: it's a great way to connect, learn, and discover; not to mention you're bound to make some new friends along the way. Specific People Search Sites: Free Tools You Can Use to Find People There are plenty of great sites out there that can help you in your quest to find someone, and best of all, they're all free. Public Records: How to Snoop for Government Information Connect With Other People Online

Un blog d’entreprise ? Pourquoi et comment ? Il est toujours très tentant de vouloir créer un blog d’entreprise qui s’insert en complément de votre site vitrine ou marchand. C’est vrai qu’on entend un peu partout que ce genre de démarche est intéressant pour le référencement, pour pouvoir parler librement ou encore pour avoir une deuxième fenêtre de visibilité ouverte vers votre entreprise. Avant de créer ce genre de blogs il faut se poser un certain nombre de questions. Nous allons essayer de vous guider dans la création de votre blog d’entreprise. A parler de son activité en créant un lien plus personnel avec le lectorat A montrer son expertise dans son domaine de compétence A apporter de l’actu chaude sur une entreprise ou un secteur d’activité A personnifier une entreprise à travers la figure de son directeur (par exemple) A parler directement avec vos clients ou vos prospects A apporter une seconde lucarne de visbilité A augmenter le référencement de votre site principal (si le blog a une affluence intéressante) Quelle est ma cible ?

Top 10 Sites For Computer Troubleshooting & Tech Support In the past, we here at MakeUseOf have covered sites that you can learn how to repair your own computer, but what happens when you need that one on one computer advice as you have no idea why your computer does not work? The first thing most people go and do is to Google it, but when you can’t find a solution, the next thing to do is ask someone to help you. That is why I present to you a list of websites and forums where people are willing to help you get your computer fixed. 1. Crossloop I am a regular using of Crossloop. Please note that if you visit the Crossloop website, people may often charge you for their time, so please check their costs out first. 2. Whirlpool is one of Australia’s largest forum which specializes in Australian Broadband. 3. 4. Computer Hope offers a number of different solutions to get computer advice. 5. 6. 7. 8. If you want answers almost immediately on almost any topic you can think of, Yahoo Answers is the place to ask. Ask The Admin TechMan Help

The #1 Secret to Follow Friday Success Have you ever been the lucky recipient of a #followfriday or #ff from a friend on Twitter? It’s a great feeling when someone goes out of their way to recognize you as a resource for great insight and connection on Twitter. Recognition for being someone worth following is great for those trying to figure out the point of Twitter. However, the common practice for a typical #followfriday tweet is to pack as many of your favorite followers into 140 as possible. While this strategy is great for pinging people in your network to let them know you’re thinking of them, it also can appear cheap and potentially a little off putting if the group of folks you include don’t have much in common. Now, it’s rare that folks are actually offended by being included in a #followfriday. As with most situations in life, however, #followfriday offers people the opportunity to cut through the noise with valuable tweets that create signal and meaning for folks. 2) Include #ff Examples Related articles on Twitip

Top 10 Websites For Free & Legal MP3 Music Downloads Music stimulates the brain. It’s this deep rooted cultural pleasure that drives us to consume more and more of it. If you’re sick of the commercial pabulum and ready to discover new and fresh artists, dive into this list to explore ten of the best sites for legal and free mp3 downloads. Get your mp3 player connected, here comes cargo! 10. As the name reveals, this page hosts free music for children. Artists can be listed alphabetically. 9. Dramacore is a netlabel that publishes music under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License. Dramacore netlabel was made for people looking to download free music. The people behind Dramacore furthermore emphasize that their netlabel is a serious project. 8. The idea of MP3.com is to provide artists with the opportunity to promote their work, and music fans the chance to discover new talents. MP3.com has been around for quite some time and is the most comprehensive archive for free music downloads. 7. 6. 5. 7digital 4. 3. 2.

Les 20 Facteurs Clés de Succès d’une Newsletter A l’heure du tout réseau social, du web 2.0 à outrance et des autres opérations de community management, on a tendance à oublier la puissance que peut avoir l’e-mail marketing. A mi-chemin entre l’e-mail marketing et la e-CRM se trouve la bonne vieille Newsletter. Alors vous qui avez une base de données clients à exploiter, voici 20 facteurs clés de succès à utiliser pour optimiser la réussite de votre Newsletter : Imposez-vous une régularité Travaillez un vrai marketing éditorial (ligne éditoriale, régularité des sujets et thèmes) Segmentez vos cibles Trouvez le ton juste Laissez une bonne place à l’image Mettez en avant l’offre et mélangez là à du contenu type « magazine » Profitez-en pour donner des conseils Soyez cohérent avec la ligne graphique générale Intégrez des informations claires, rapides et chiffrées Répétez les mots clés qui définissent votre site Travaillez l’objet de la Newsletter pour lui donner un aspect personnel Soignez le style éditorial Casser toute notion de rendez-vous Vendre

The 14+ Hottest Music Streaming & Discovery Sites These days there are so many ways to listen to free music online that one could become slightly overwhelmed by the choices. Never fear – we’ve done some investigation into the best music services out there and can let you know what’s popular and tell you a little bit about the sorts of music you can find on these services. MakeUseOf also recently ran a poll on the top online streaming services which concluded that Grooveshark, Pandora and Last.fm are the most popular services amongst our readers. The Top Online Music Streaming Services Grooveshark Grooveshark is the online music streaming provider of choice at the moment. For more details, read more about Grooveshark here. Pandora Pandora was one of the first online music streaming services and it is still very popular today, despite not being available outside the US. Last.fm Read more about Last.fm here. The New Players & Alternative Options In Music Exploration YouTube Disco Also check out Tuberadio.fm for a great YouTube music experience.

Why Your Brand Needs to Be on Facebook Now Dallas Lawrence is Chair of the Social and Digital Media Practice at Levick Strategic Communications, the nation’s top crisis communications firm. He blogs on emerging digital media trends and best practices for social media engagement on Bulletproof Blog. Connect with him on Twitter @dallaslawrence. With 450 million users globally (and millions more being added each week) Facebook is dominating the web in unparalleled ways. Facebook was the most visited site on the web for the week ending on March 13, 2010, surpassing even Google in week-long stats for the first time in history, according to Hitwise. A Social Media Parable In many ways, the fundamental decision facing those looking to compete in the next decade of social media dominance is reminiscent of Dr. As the fable unfolds, the book's four main characters arrive in their maze one day to find that their once abundant cheese supply has disappeared. Hem and Haw, on the other hand, hadn't noticed that their cheese was running out.

5 Social Networking Aspects You’ll Want To Make Use Of Maybe you spent ages deciding whether to go iPhone or Android; Perhaps you’re looking into subscriptions or paid applications; Maybe you just can’t decide which website to use to keep track of your movie watching habits. Whatever your decision, it’s worth having a little more than gut feeling to go on. So I’ve analysed the sorts of things people will be looking to do and the sorts of developers who seem to be both using open data and sharing their API where possible, while simultaneously adapting quickly to consumer needs. 1. If you want to know which flavour of smartphone has the brightest future: it’s Android. Check out some great Android sites here: 2. Skype will hold out on its own for a while, purely because other applications can’t access it. 3. For the moment, Facebook & Twitter will reign in their own separate ways. This means the future lies with the Tweetdecks and Seesmic‘s of the world. 4. Good examples of niche networks and collection managers: 5. All Of The Above

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