Vangie Beal

If your business could benefit from an integrated suite of business management software, the latest news from SAP regarding scalable, affordable small business starter packages or hosted subscriptions might be just what you’re looking for. SAP’s new Business One software options are designed for small businesses and include the range of business ERP functionality that […]

Email marketing is an affordable, effective strategy that small businesses can use to communicate and engage with customers through email-based correspondence. With an email program and a list of email addresses you can start marketing to your clients and it won’t cost you a penny — but you will spend a lot of time researching […]

File this debate under “two sides to every coin.” Some small business owners believe that setting up shop on Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites is a total waste of time. Plenty of others, however, feel that social media is a smart part of any small business marketing plan. Vangie Beal, our resident social […]

You don’t actually own any of the business data or materials that you keep on your various social media accounts. If companies like Facebook, Twitter, Google suffer outages, data losses or just go under, you could lose all the time effort and money you’ve invested in building the social media branch of your business. The […]

It doesn’t matter whether you have a brick-and-mortar business or an ecommerce business — a Facebook Business page is an essential part of tapping into your customers and fans…and attracting more of both. But don’t stick with the generic look of a Facebook Business page. Seriously, do you want your business to blend into the […]

Lots of people earn a good living — or supplement their income — by through ecommerce on eBay, although there are times when selling items over a local classified site makes a lot more sense in terms of pure logistics. And there’s no reason why you can’t do both. If you’ve never considered selling on Kijiji, this is […]

A Facebook Business Page is a great way to promote and even conduct business online, so it can literally pay to learn the ins and outs of customizing your small business social media presence on Facebook. Like most online services, Facebook changes things up quite a bit, which makes it important to stay up-to-date with […]

Small business CRM, or customer relationship management is a growing market and business owners couldn’t have picked a better time to look at investment options in this type of business tool.  CRM is more user-friendly as companies develop the IT requirements, pricing, tools and features with the small business in mind.   Another reason this […]

A payment gateway is a crucial part of an ecommerce business, and choosing the right service provider can have an enormous impact on your small business ecommerce website. Their prices, fees and services vary considerably, but our sister site, Ecommerce-Guide has the info you need to be informed and to make the best buying decision. […]

If you’re thinking about adding an ecommerce component to your blog or small business website, a hosted shopping cart lets you stick your toe in the online selling water without having to invest an arm or a leg on technology. Since it’s a hosted cart, you don’t have to buy or maintain a server — […]

It’s a great time in technology to be a small business. Seriously, when else has there been such a selection of small business software that’s well-designed, effective — and free? Many Web-based services offer scaled-down versions of their products for little or no cost. Take small business marketing, for example. If you’re just starting out […]

Winning new customers takes a lot of work, and being able to track the process start to finish in one central repository makes a tough job a bit easier. That’s why CRM software is such a boon to businesses both big and small. But many CRM programs are too complex and expensive for smaller companies. […]