Zappos Finds a Use for Twitter. Really!
Tony Hsieh, the online retailer's CEO, explains why he encourages his employees to take Twitter classes. Did Twitter rescue Hsieh from a balcony? Read more
E-commerce
Recent E-commerce Articles
Web Surveys: Taking the Pulse of Customers
What's the easiest way to understand customer satisfaction? Online surveys can help you get an unbiased evaluation of your service, products, and other feedb... Read more
Use RSS to Stay on Top of Competition
Really Simple Syndication (RSS) boxes are everywhere these days -- on news sites, blogs and business webpages. You can use these feeds to gain business intel... Read more
Video Podcasts: It's Showtime!
No matter what the budget, small business owners can use video podcasts to effectively promote their companies and themselves. Read more
From Blogs to Online Communities
Now that there are so many blogs, and search engines aren't reliable enough to be the main source of Internet-based customers, online communities may be the ... Read more
Putting Widgets to Work
Widgets are no longer just for your Facebook page. Small and mid-sized businesses are using these online applications for viral marketing, to generate intere... Read more
How to Banish Blog Spam
It’s great when your company blog gets noticed -- but not so great when the acclaim makes it a spam magnet. By taking a few simple steps, companies can sto... Read more
Social Media for Business Sake
Social media has made it easier for us to connect with people on the basis of common business interests. It also now rivals search for driving online traffic... Read more
Why Business Bloggers Are Twittering
Business bloggers are finding that tools like Twitter help draw traffic to their blog posts and give them a way to stay connected without the commitment of w... Read more
Making Chat Work for Customers
Customers can tell the the difference between someone who can really help them and someone just pressing automatic send buttons for pre-scripted platitudes. ... Read more
Video Streaming: Business in Living Color
Online video streaming, formerly a technology only available to large businesses with deep pockets, is now low cost -- and even free. Businesses are streamin... Read more
How to Jazz Up Your Website
Do you want to have a top-notch website? Here are 8 important questions to ask yourself. Read more
IM for Business: Outdated or Outdoing E-mail?
Teens may prefer instant messaging, but more adults still rely on e-mail. So what does this mean for office messaging platforms at small and mid-sized busine... Read more
How eBay, Yahoo, and Amazon Stores Stack Up
For those just starting a small business, or running a business on the side, setting up a virtual storefront under the auspices of online giants eBay, Yahoo,... Read more
Seven Reasons to Host Business E-mail
Businesses are moving away from simply adding more e-mail servers as they grow and opting to host e-mail with a managed service provider. Some reasons includ... Read more
Essential Tools for the Solo Entrepreneur
One of the most important steps for solo entrepreneurs -- or solopreneurs -- to take is to build credibility on the Web. The following tools can help you do ... Read more
Are Real Profits to Be Made in Virtual Worlds?
Businesses that have bought into such cyber sensations such as Second Life get help marketing and branding products, but can money be made using virtual curr... Read more
E-mail Archiving: A Solution to System Overload
Cluttered e-mail boxes can mean lost productivity, while misplaced e-mail can result in regulatory woes. There are options for e-mail archiving that can help... Read more
Three Words that Spell Disaster in Business
No small or mid-size business wants to hear that their e-mail is down. Here's how to improve e-mail uptime. Read more
Safeguard Your Brand Reputation Online
Question: When you do a search on the Web for your business name or brand, does negative information show up in the results? If your answer is yes, you may n... Read more
Putting the Kibosh on Internal Spam
The latest source of unwanted e-mail in the workplace is coming from an unlikely corner – inside the business. Here's how to deal with so-called "internal ... Read more
Are Web Analytics Worth It?
Software tools and on-demand services can now help small and mid-size businesses determine whether websites are helping fulfill business objectives. Here's h... Read more
Helping Customers Help Each Other Online
A growing number of companies are creating online community forums, or other ways for customers to interact. This not only improves customer satisfaction, bu... Read more
How to Turn Social Networking Contacts Into Customers
Now that business people have migrated onto such social networking sites and amassed a dizzying array of contacts -- and contacts' contacts -- how do you con... Read more
A World Without Bestsellers
Creating a "long tail" product mix. Read more
Turning Browsers Into Buyers
How to improve conversion rates. Read more
Make More Money with Your Website
Not every Web-based business is financially self-sufficient. One of the benefits to operating a website, however, is that the platform can generate additiona... Read more
It's Not Too Late to Try eCommerce
If you take an historical look at the Internet age, it's still relatively early in the dawning of this new era for businesses. Opportunities still abound onl... Read more
Can Digg and MySpace Be for Business?
Social networking has been a Web phenomenon for young and old alike. Why not use it to promote your business? There are right ways and wrong ways, say the ex... Read more
Google's Universal Search Format Impacts SEO
The search giant's changes may mean you need to alter the search engine optimization plan for your business so that your website can still be found by potent... Read more
Mashups: The Small Business Applications
The next big thing involves combining two or more applications into one new mutant application that is customized for your business' specific needs. Read more
Shout It Out Loud
Customers need more data. You have more data. It's time to start sharing. Read more
10 Tips for Choosing a Domain Name
A rose by any other name may smell as sweet, but if your business name isn't followed by a dot-com your customers may never find your business. Read more
Charge It! Options to Credit Card Terminals
Is it time to dump your credit-card processing hardware? Now many cards can be processed online and the transactions can be ported right into your business a... Read more
Web of Lawyers
Somewhere, for some reason, someone is thinking of suing you. Just thought you'd like to know. Read more
