A Weekly Roundup of Small-Business News - NYTimes.com

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A weekly roundup of small-business developments.

What?s affecting me, my clients and other small-business owners this week.

The Big Story: The President Sings

In his annual State of the Union address, President Obama cranked up the populist pitch. The G.O.P. responded. Representative Sam Graves outlined what he thought small businesses wanted to hear but small-business owners were split. A small-business owner in West Virginia was excited. One study finds small-business owners are dissatisfied with all of the presidential candidates. Joel Kotkin says ?this is America?s moment ? if Washington doesn?t blow it.? Your cellphone can now sing like the president.

Davos Update: An Intern Is Bored

As the sun bombards Earth with radiation, billionaires occupy Davos and bemoan the inequality of incomes. Their outlook is gloomy. Haley Amber Feinberg, a fictional intern, checks in: ?Attended my first panel: ?Tolerating the Unemployed.? Was really boring, played Crackgammon on my phone?s Facebook app the whole time.?

The Economy: The Baltic Dry Index

Even though chief financial officers do not plan significant expansion (pdf) in 2012, Thomas Black at Bloomberg reports that companies from General Electric to Chobani, a yogurt producer, are adding workers and leading a rebound in hiring. M.B.A. employment figures are another reason for economic optimism. Tech hiring is strong. The Federal Reserve chairman promises to keep rates low. Paul Krugman is feeling better. Durable goods orders jump, but the Baltic Dry Index records a disturbingly large drop. Travel on all roads and streets declined in November 2011, but the trucking industry posts its biggest jump in tonnage in 13 years. President Obama delays his 2013 budget. Steven Rattner says it?s dangerous when economists claim that debt doesn?t matter.

Sales and Marketing 1: A Twitter Lesson

American Express succeeds at a Facebook campaign, while McDonald?s suffers the wrath of Twitter. Flowtown creates a cool small-business social media infographic. An educational institution spends more on Google advertising than Apple, eBay, State Farm and AT&T. Retailers were the second-largest source of Google ad revenue in 2011. A study finds that while lots of small-business owners believe social media are important only a few tap its power. John Donahoe, chief executive of eBay, believes we?re going to see more change in how consumers shop and pay in the next three years than we saw in the last 20.

Sales and Marketing 2: The Power of Bieber

Lori Richardson names five attributes of top sales influencers. Devin Cole explains how to network. Google takes its daily deals to five new cities. Trendcentral discusses three new crowdfunding services. Our patience for Web ads lasts, oh, about 15 seconds. A location-based shopping app, Shopkick, has three million users. Christopher Penn shows that vintage ads can teach a lot about e-mail marketing design. Derek Johnson explains how to measure success with text-message advertising. Justin Kownacki explains how Justin Bieber ruined his life: ?Evidently, Mr. Bieber (or his handlers) saw my tweet and ? decided that I was a bloke worth following. And that one single button click momentarily ruined my life.?

Ideas: A Professional Laugher?

A new service helps people save money and resources by sharing stuff with community and friends. This is the place to go if you?re in the market for a professional laugher. Virtual internships are experiencing a rise in demand. Patrick Smith finds a few unexpected pleasures at our airports. David Bakke explains how he started his side business with Scotch tape and offers this simple advice: ?For the most part, I bought and sold products with which I was familiar.? Here are 10 reasons some companies succeed and others fail. Debbie McDonnell offers ideas for choosing a business name, including: ?Count the characters. Google AdWords permits 25 characters so a business name longer than this means having to abbreviate the name if you advertise there. Even if you don?t plan to advertise here initially, allow for it as it tends to be one of the most cost-effective ways of advertising.? Walmart offers a chance to sell ?in the big box.? This mountaintop ride seems like a bad idea.

Around the Country: Cashing In

Female business owners wave a magic wand in Portland, Ore. Houston?s businesses are hiring. A bunch of Indiana businesses plan to cash in on the Super Bowl. Maine is open for business, according to its governor. The start-ups in Brevard County, Fla., are finding that investors are still cautious. Illinois teenagers face bleak job prospects, but a marketing company gives teenagers with ideas the chance to win cash and fame. Manufacturing activity in the Chicago and central Atlantic regions advances. Steven Tyler gives an embarrassing rendition of the national anthem and a New York City school sign is embarrassingly misspelled. A coming Small Business Summit extends its ?strategy award? nomination deadline to Feb. 10. An accountant offers a small-business survival guide webinar on Tuesday. A Staples contest offers a free TV commercial as its prize.

Around the World: Press Freedom

A 375-year-old French bank forgives the debts of Paris?s poor. The United States drops 27 places on an index of press freedom. As Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament sink and the country slips into recession, Britain?s prime minister has an idea: let businesses occupy empty Government offices! Iran?s trade with China soars, and Chinese solar companies are found to be selling below cost. Wenguang Huang explains why Chinese entrepreneurs want to invest in the United States. The International Monetary Fund says Europe poses a global recession threat. Eleven years of Dubai?s growth can now be seen from space. A new satellite takes spectacular pictures of Earth.

Finances: Employee Expense Reports

As lending accelerates, Jamie Dimon discusses the state of banking. Catherine Clifford explains how community development financial institutions can help start-ups. Barry Moltz suggests where companies can find short-term cash. Accounting Today has a slide show on the most unusual items found in employee expense reports. A company offers a Weight Watchers-type service to help us ?set financial goals (and actually meet them).?

Boss of the Week

Christian Wentz?s Cambridge, Mass., start-up is developing a ?wireless router for the brain? that will make it possible to collect data from the brain: ?The data could then be wirelessly transmitted to a computer.? (On the other hand, this guy is not performing like a boss.)

Technology: Apple Is Flush

After a blow-out quarter, Apple has $97.6 billion in the bank and now we know why! Google starts tracking small businesses more closely ? here?s how to find out what the company knows about you. Twitter is going to censor posts. With new ad rollouts to come, Twitter acquires an antimalware start-up. Bill George explains how I.B.M.?s Sam Palmisano redefined the global corporation. Meanwhile, I.B.M. selects its global start-up entrepreneur finalists and is gearing up to challenge Google Docs and Microsoft Office 365. A Microsoft executive says a gay marriage law in Washington State is essential to the company?s competitive edge. Craftsmen creates a garage door opener with very remote control. Almost a third of all Americans now own a tablet or digital reading device. Information Week shares nine password security policy suggestions.

The Week?s Bests

Reason my kids should go to China. Wendy Kaufman tells how a trip to China changed how she ran her business: ?A C.E.O. that I met in China explained that he so passionately believes in the importance of honoring elders that he would only marry his wife if she treated his parents as her own. In the Chinese culture, family is so valued there is always someone caring for the family member. This type of work/life balance helps improve quality of care in both business and family interactions.?

Lessons from the big guys. Phil Simon shares six things he?s learned from big companies, including, ?Be sticky?: ?Attracting customers with your great products and services is step one. But getting them to stay with you ? and only you ? is the ultimate goal. With the launch of its Kindle Fire, Amazon just got stickier by making it easier for users to shop at Amazon and consume media and entertainment at Amazon than anywhere else. How can your business lure in customers and keep them there? With amazing customer service, follow-up, regular e-mail specials or contests? With interactive features at your Web site, birthday coupons or preferred customer perks? Make it hard for your customers to want to go anywhere else.?

Ways to manage time. Michael Costigan offers great advice on time management, including, ?Find someone else to crack the whip?: ?I find that it helps to have someone hold you accountable. Whether it?s a team member or an assistant, ask them to keep on you about getting things done. Sometimes the best way to make sure you do the things you need to do is by positioning the involvement of other people. That way, you aren?t just letting yourself down if something doesn?t get completed, you?re letting them and maybe the entire team down. And depending on how critical the tasks are, that could mean meeting payroll.?

This Week?s Question: What should McDonald?s have done differently on Twitter ? or was disaster inevitable?

Gene Marks owns the Marks Group, a Bala Cynwyd, Pa., consulting firm that helps clients with customer relationship management. You can follow him on Twitter.

Source: http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/30/this-week-in-small-business-a-twitter-lesson/

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