Small business owners are starting to feel the effects of the credit drought. Many may already have experienced disappointment with a loan application. Meanwhile unexpected needs for a cash injection keep coming up such as a delivery vehicle breakdown or an opportunity to pick up some normally expensive office equipment or machinery at a good price. With credit getting tighter and credit card charges going up, who can a cash strapped owner turn to for a loan? Read More

If you spend any time at all online you can't have failed to notice a whole set of new technologies that make up what is being referred to as 'Web 2.0' - wikis, blogs, rss feeds, podcasts. More and more, these are finding application in business. Here's a simple explanation of two of the most common Web 2.0 technologies being promoted as useful to small business, blogs and wikis. Read More

Facebook, Myspace, Second life. All examples of social networking services (SNS). Many businesses are seizing on this new technology as a channel to drive sales, promote brand and network for business opportunities. Much of it comes from marketers who are excited about the target marketing possibilities of these sites — they gather so much data about individuals that marketers are able to profile very specific demographics. At the same time there is a very real risk to small businesses. Read More

Its important that you know how to make the most of networking opportunities. If you've just received an invitation to attend an event where there'll be a lot of networking going on, here are some useful tips that can help you get much greater and longer lasting business value from it. Most people recognise that in business it's not just about what you know - it's who you know. Read More

Business networking is the process of establishing a mutually beneficial relationship with other business people and potential clients and/or customers. For many business people that may not sound like their experience of networking, which is often equated with meet-and-greet functions where it's a race to exchange business cards with as many ‘opportunities' as possible. Identifying and cultivating leads is indeed one of the functions of networking, but by no means the only one.

People who claim to get something out of networking will give you a different slant on how it works and what it is all about. Networking for them involves meeting people in a wide range of formal and informal forums, people who could be of help to them in some situations and to whom they could be of help in others. In other words, networking should be seen as building reciprocally beneficial relationships. And the opportunities networking provides can be of many types: Read More