The Small Business United Blog

Love A Local Business Delivers Grant to Blossom Birth

by Gretchen Harding

In January we had over 30,000 love notes posted to LoveALocalBusiness.com. Each brief message of adoration also served as a nomination to win a small business grant. After a random selection narrowed the competition to just five businesses, Blossom Birth, a non-profit birth and parenting resource in Palo Alto, California, was the ONE that was selected by our judges to win the Grand Prize grant

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Getting More from your Blog and Blogging

by John Jantsch

There are two things most business owners must reconcile when it comes to the subject of blogging: every business needs a blog, but nobody wants to read your blog…

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State of the Union 2010: Obama’s Ode to Small Business

by Monica Appelbe

In Wednesday evening’s State of the Union address, President Obama put the spotlight on small business. As the nation slowly creeps out of deep recession and unemployment rates remain sky-high, Obama looks to the traditional propeller of job creation to pave the road to recovery…

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Building a Business Class Website

by Ramon Ray

Web sites are still one of the most important communication tools a business has. The challenge for many businesses - for those who have web sites and for the few who do not - is creating a “Business Class Web Site”. This means a web site that is not just an online business card, but a powerful asset used for business communication, or sales, or some other strategic business purpose…

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10 Small Business Trends and Opportunities

by Anita Campbell

What are some of the key trends affecting small businesses? And more importantly, what do these trends mean and what kind of opportunities will they lead to for your business?

These are the questions we answered in a recent webinar I hosted for the Intuit Community.

I was joined by a special guest: Ivana Taylor. We discussed 10 trends affecting large groups of small businesses…

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Seven Success Strategies for Hiring Great People

by Rhonda Abrams

To grow your business, you’ll need help. But finding – and keeping – great employees can be a challenge for small businesses. Whether you’re a first-time employer or already have employees, even if you mostly hire contractors, learning the keys to successful hiring can substantially increase your growth and success. Below are seven strategies for successfully hiring the very best employees.

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Small Business Experts are the Judges for Love A Local Business

by Gretchen Harding

We’re pleased to announce that our Love A Local Business judges are our New Year, New Skills webinar leaders. Selecting a grand prize winner from among so many worthy businesses will be difficult, but these small business experts are a great match for the challenge:

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Sustainability and Unusual Products Drive Hobbypreneurs

by Holly Perez

My Christmas ornament collection includes several unique pieces. I’ve got ornaments representing my Boston Terrier, my first car and yes, the spot where my husband proposed. And while it’s too late to make it to this year’s tree, I was delighted to discover ornaments and wreaths made from real chili peppers, a fun reminder of my husband’s Mexican heritage…

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Social + CRM = Better Relationships with Social Customers

by Brent Leary

Almost every survey of small business owners I’ve seen over the past year shows customer acquisition/retention as one of the biggest challenges we’re faced with. For this reason, a growing number of businesses are looking into customer relationship management (CRM) software…

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If You’ve Learned to Bootstrap, Now’s the Time to Start a Business

by Whitney Johnson

In December, the unemployment rate held steady at 10%, with underemployment at 17% - grim reminders that the worst downturn since the Great Depression has yet to release its hold. Not that any of us need statistics to know that times are tough. Many of us have seen our net worth dwindle, and have had to tighten our belts more than we’ve had to in years, if ever. Yet I find myself curiously optimistic…

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