Good Business Deeds Can Be Good Business Deals

‘Cause’ marketing that links your company or brand to a non-profit group or charity enables you to promote your business while you give something back to your community. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this kind of marketing is that it’s been shown to make customers feel better about deciding to purchase and that translates […]

Internet Explorer 7 is available! What you need to know

Internet Explorer 7 has just been released by Microsoft. Unlike previous versions, Microsoft will release this update through their automated update system as a critical update. Although this should not affect the general use of your computer, there will be some differences, including how you interface with Internet Explorer. Another major difference will be the […]

What to Do in the First 30 Days After Being Sued

In the fiscal year 2004-2005, 1,423,097 civil lawsuits were filed in California. Given those statistics, odds are that many businesses will end up in court sooner or later. For those of you who have not had this misfortune, here are six crucial basics you should know about what to do—and not do—within the first thirty […]

Find Your Niche and Market To It

There are many definitions of a ‘niche’ market but essentially they’re a subset, a smaller segment, of your existing target market. This is very important because it means they may already be aware of you and are already prospects for your company’s offerings. Members of your targeted niche will share a similar set of characteristics. […]

QuickBooks Tip – QuickBooks Invoice “History” Feature

One of the complaints that I always hear from my clients is, “How do I verify that the invoice that I e-mailed in QuickBooks was actually sent?” To e-mail an invoice to a client, click on the “send” button at the top of the invoice and follow the e-mail wizard. When finished click on the […]

Don’t Freeze Making Cold Calls

Cold calling is a widely used method of prospecting for new customers. Any business owner with a telephone knows that two or three times a day someone they have never met will contact their company with some kind of proposal like seeking an opportunity to quote against an existing supplier. It’s not easy to make […]

Cut The Costs Of Finding And Managing Leads

Every organization with a sales force keeps an eye on the leads it generates – how many does each salesperson get and how many are converted into customers. But as most companies now appreciate, the costs of generating and converting leads need to be carefully managed or they can become a real drain on profitability. […]

Tech Corner – How Viruses Spread

by Justin French, Perfect Integration – Small Business Computer Consultants Viruses usually spread in one of three ways: from floppy disks and other media; from downloads off the Internet or certain websites; and from email attachments. Although most people believe viruses usually spread via the Internet or through email, floppy disks and other storage media, […]

QuickBooks Tip – Did You Know?

In QuickBooks Pro, you can create an icon on the icon bar for any account register or form, in order to speed up your data entry.For example, if you use your bank check register every day, you can make an icon on the icon bar that you can access quickly, every time you need it. […]

Protect Yourself From Internal Fraud

Smaller enterprises are at the greatest risk from fraud, particularly from within the organization. They’re the least likely to have dedicated security personnel, and most likely to lack adequate internal systems and controls to prevent fraud. You can minimize your exposure to fraud by learning how it’s perpetrated in businesses like yours. There are also […]