As a business owner, a phone system plays an integral role in your ability to conduct business.

That being the case, locating the right business phone system is important in order to allow the business to run smoothly and without too many hitches.

As a business owner, what are the keys to finding the right business phone system?

Keep in mind that maintaining the ability to stay in touch with your customers is more important than ever in today’s fast-paced business world. More than just a dial tone, today’s phone systems prove key in offering telecommuting possibilities along with audio and web availability. Read the full entry

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What is your company doing on the Internet to attract new and returning business? Getty Images

Is your business online savvy or is it being left in the dust by the competition?

Part of your company’s online approach should include properly using SEO to draw more customers to your Web site, thereby opening the door to more potential sales.

Simply stated, the process involves using the correct keywords so that search engines will direct traffic your way.  For example, if your business sells life insurance, it is not in your best interests to be using keywords involving workers’ compensation. Life insurance, life insurance quotes, life insurance policies, life insurance plans etc. should be some of the keywords you promote in your company’s copy. Read the full entry

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Sure, I know what you’re thinking: Yet another annoying web acronym I’m supposed to master. Just when small business owners were gaining confidence and traction with search engine optimization, or SEO, along comes this explosive social media “thing” that’s making it all even more complicated than it was before.

Do small businesses really need to know about this stuff?  Can social media help me attract customers, keep the ones I have and make more money? Will social media be even more important in the future? Read the full entry

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Business.com has just launched a series of videos to help small businesses navigate the treacherous waters of online marketing and establish an effective social media strategy. Topics include search engine marketing (SEM), how to use advertising networks online, creating and using social media, pay per click advertising, and search engine optimization (SEO) basics. All presenters are experts in their field and help Business.com customers achieve their goals every day. Visit the Business.com Online Marketing Channel to view other helpful videos.

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Those of you looking for new B2B lead generation avenues will want to read this case study from Business.com’s B2B Online Marketing blog:

Priceless Imprinters Finds New Revenue in Online Q&A

It’s the best kind of success story. Priceless Imprinters, a promotional products supplier in New Jersey, started responding to questions from small businesses on Business.com Answers a few months ago, and they’re already seeing tangible results: $5,000 in revenue from new clients who found them through their posted answers.

Is online Q&A a good source for new B2B leads? Priceless Imprinters certainly thinks so. Read the case study for details. You might also like this article: How to get B2B leads through online Q&A.

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It took Lisa Zawacki 58 seconds to earn her Atlanta-based small business a complete ecommerce site makeover and other services worth $20,000.  That’s the running time of the video she produced in an ecommerce makeover contest that asked entrepreneurs to describe why they needed help selling online.

 Zawacki is founder of Gorilla Sacks, a company that makes a line of tote bags, slings, handbags, laundry bags and more from the recycled vinyl of defunct billboards. She says her old ecommerce platform calculated shipping charges incorrectly, costing her money.  Paypal integration never worked, and she couldn’t make changes to the site herself.  In short, it was a mess. Read the full entry

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Smartphone applications that can help you boost sales, manage customer relationships and practically run your business are getting better and more plentiful by the day.  And business owners are embracing these apps with gusto. Mobile payments – just one of the many functions your phone can perform – are expected to grow 50 percent annually over the next five years. 

In this and future columns I’ll profile smartphone business apps that can help you: Complete credit card transactions; Manage customer information; Access documents; Complete and send business forms; Track your time; Capture and manage voice recording; Manage and track assets, inventory and employees; Track sales and assign tasks; Manage schedules and projects; Monitor patient care and services.

This post profiles three mobile apps for processing credit card payments on your smartphone. Read the full entry

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Amex is absolutely intent on being much more to small business than a credit card company.  And to prove it the company just launched SearchManager, the latest in its fast-growing suite of both free and fee-based small business tools that already includes online invoicing(AcceptPay), insurance shopping(InsuranceEdge) and international money transfer(FX International Payments).  SearchManager is an online tool that lets you manage your entire search marketing (paid search) effort in one place, thus taking a complex task spread among multiple websites and putting it all in one simple place.

Amex has aligned the new offerings as part of something the company has dubbed “Booming,” which it defines as “using a system of cards and digital tools from American Express OPEN to help your business realize its full potential.”

Search engines are an increasingly influential resource for customers looking for products and services, and small businesses are spending more every year to advertise online. According to the latest Forrester Research Interactive Marketing Forecast, search advertising leads the pack among interactive marketing tactics and will grow 15 percent annually. Read the full entry

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I love my MiFi device.  In a few minutes it solved several sticky web connection problems that have been bugging me, and will save me money at the same time.  For one thing, I’ll never pay a hotel, airport or coffee chain for internet access again. This cool little device, launched in 2009, is the world’s smallest mobile WiFi hotspot; weighing just 2 ounces, and about the thickness of six credit cards.

MiFi, which is made by Novatel Wireless, is a personal WiFi hotspot you carry in your pocket. It’s fast, easy, simple to set up and provides high-speed data access for up to five devices simultaneously, including laptops, netbooks, iPads, cameras or any other device you need to get online.  It is, without a doubt, the fastest, easiest way to get online, on-the-go for multiple users.   Share it with clients, co-workers, business partners or family and friends.  All they have to do is logon with the password printed on the back of your MiFi unit.  It’s ideal for the mobile professional and creates a virtual office wherever you go. Read the full entry

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In this age of mobile devices – a fast-expanding array of smart phones, tablet computers and iPads, among others – traditional printing methods that require both a PC and printer no longer work very well for many small businesses.

And the printers themselves haven’t been all that smart. Most are not web-enabled.  And those that are can’t communicate with web-based applications.  HP hopes to change all that. The tech giant is introducing a new category of web-enabled printing solutions that may change how you think about creating hard-copy documents of all kinds, or even what you choose to print.  Basically, HP is launching a whole new “ePrint” platform that includes that will let you: Read the full entry

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