SuperMedia blog

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve announced that it would maintain short-term interest rates near zero for the next 18 months in an effort to spur economic growth. This move comes after a two-day policy committee meeting and the subsequent publication of the committee's plans and predictions. The Fed admitted that the economy has expanded moderately recently, but cautions that jobs remain scarce, the housing sector is still depressed and Europe’s economic woes could undermine domestic ...

Will Price, CEO of Flite, writes in his article, "Lessons Learned and 2012 Predictions for the Ad Industry," at Direct Marketing News, that the state of the ad industry in 2011 was "tumultuous." He notes that there were "deep agency cuts," along with little growth, but that tumult can be good for the industry.

He maintains that relying on click-through information is a "clunky, vague metric" that really doesn't give high-quality information to business owners. He states that agencies ...

According to a new CNNMoney article, the Obama administration's rejection of the proposed Keystone pipeline project has some small business owners crying "foul", while others are applauding the move.

When the first line of the proposed 1,179-mile TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline was built in 2010, small businesses in the Nebraska towns of Steele City and Fairbury reaped the benefits ...

As a business owner, you probably already know that webinars can be a highly effective tool for gaining visibility, generating leads for your business, and connecting with customers and prospects. However, as the saying goes, “god is in the details” with any effective marketing program, so it is important to follow some guidelines that can help you plan your next webinar.

Think of a Webinar as a Radio Show with Visual Aids

One of the first things ...

Although claiming a home office deduction used to be considered a sure fire way to get on the IRS's short list for an audit, things are changing. Today, many more entrepreneurs (either by choice or by design) are working from home. Claiming legitimate expenses for home office space is less likely to set off warning bells now than it would have even a few years ago. There are some things you do need to keep in mind, though:

Should You Claim Your Home Office

To meet the most ...

Some people are born with the innate ability to persuade or inspire the masses simply by saying a few words. Others must spend countless hours practicing what they’ll say to achieve a fraction of the results. Regardless of whether you’re a natural public speaker or you could use some polish, your public speaking skills could be helping your business’s bottom line.

Using public speaking skills at events

If you have any level of public speaking skills and you ...

The key to success in any sales approach is to recognize when your approach isn't working, and change that approach when you're not achieving success. You have to be persistent to achieve success, and persistence is key to any sales success, too.

Sales people are persistent, but they have to consistently change their sales tactics, too, instead of consistently using the same old stale sale techniques with their clients. They should consider the frequency of their contacts, as well. ...

In Web analytics, the term “bounce rate” refers to visitors who arrived at a particular Web page and then left without visiting other pages on the site.  In some cases, this can be because the visitor found what they were looking for on the first page they landed on and had no reason to look further. In other cases, it means that the page the visitor landed on was so irrelevant to what they were looking for that they saw no reason to stay.

Search engines typically ...

As a business owner, you have probably asked yourself this question at some point: “What makes a lead-management process successful?” In the real world, implementing a successful process requires a combination of science, art, and consensus; however, following a few steps can help you get everything in place to ensure you make the most out of every lead you receive.

Track Leads through Your Website

One of the most effective ways to track leads is ...

Tax time is fast approaching, and if this is a question you've asked yourself over the past year, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) may be asking it too -- and soon.

The Difference Between Commerce and Hobby Status

The IRS defines a hobby as an activity not engaged in for profit. That may still allow for some grey area if you're just getting started in business, but many of the specific guidelines posted on the IRS's site don't. To qualify as a business, your activities ...