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Small Business Blog

Charles M Cooper

Thou Shalt Not Spam

Spam is worthless and dangerous junk mail and most people treat it accordingly. How can you keep your email marketing from falling in with that bad crowd? Here are some tips.

Tags: small business, email marketing, spam

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Posted: 7/31/2009 | Comments (0)

Charles M Cooper

Paying the Sales Taxman—Not Negotiable

Even though you do not benefit in any way from collecting sales taxes, it is still your responsibility and the government takes that very seriously. Make sure that you do, too.

Tags: small business, sales taxes, business licenses, tax payments

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Posted: 7/30/2009 | Comments (0)

Charles M Cooper

Enforcing Your Non-Compete Agreements

As an employer you want to protect yourself from unfair competition, ensure that your trade secrets remain secret and that your employees remain loyal to you and your company. By following these tips, with the advice your attorney and benefits professional, you can lay a contractual and fiscal groundwork to make sure your company remains as safe as possible from competition arising from former employees.

Tags: small business, non-compete agreements, contract enforcement

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Posted: 7/27/2009 | Comments (0)

Charles M Cooper

Conflict Resolution: 3 Tips to Returning Harmony to Your Business

There will always be conflict, but knowing how to handle it and being able to bring the parties involved back to productive work will save you a great deal—on a great many levels—in the long run.

Tags: small business, conflict resolution

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Posted: 7/24/2009 | Comments (0)

Charles M Cooper

Treasury Getting into the SBA Loan Business

Treasury officials want to use bailout money to buy small business loans in an effort to assure lenders and financiers that reliable funding will be available even if private investors begin to balk again. Will it work? There are still a lot of questions to be answered.

Tags: small business, sba loans, treasury, bailout

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Posted: 7/22/2009 | Comments (0)

Charles M Cooper

Fair Compensation: How to Know What to Pay Your Employees

It is one of the toughest decisions you have to make, what to pay someone, especially a professional. Are you overpaying them? Underpaying? What else do you offer, other than money, to make them feel well compensated for coming in each and every day, perks that make up for less-than-stellar wages? These are important questions, especially during recessionary times and ones you should address. After all, cherry-picking season will not last forever.

Tags: small business, employment, wages, pay, compensation

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Posted: 7/20/2009 | Comments (0)

Charles M Cooper

Naming Your Business: Things You Need to Know

Like everything else associated with your new business, the name you give it takes thought and planning. In fact, it is something you should have been working on since Day One. Here are a few things you need to know.

Tags: small business, business name, domain name

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Posted: 7/17/2009 | Comments (0)

Charles M Cooper

The Model Employee Con

Erick was a model employee, too perfect it seems. Turns out he was an organized crime soldier sent to infiltrate a California gas station, where he worked for 8 months, placed a credit-card skimmer and then vanished with cash, cigarettes, a laptop and the broken trust of the people he worked with.

Tags: small business, organized crime, model employee scam, erick

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Posted: 7/16/2009 | Comments (0)

Charles M Cooper

Leadership During the Recession: 10 Things You Can do to Lead

Are you a leader or are you just a boss? Now that the economy has people’s career’s hanging in the balance, that question is more important than ever. During difficult times, when you can’t simply throw money and perks at the problem of employee loyalty and engagement, what can you do? Here are 10 solid ideas.

Tags: small business, leadership, leader, boss

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Posted: 7/16/2009 | Comments (1)

Charles M Cooper

Microsoft’s Viral Video Leads to Virtual Stomach Flu

Viral videos are all the craze these days, with online marketers putting out videos they hope will raise brand awareness and set consumers beating a path to the store, but come on, Microsoft! Does it have to get this viral?

Tags: small business, microsoft, viral video, internet explorer 8, online marketing, vomiting

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Posted: 7/15/2009 | Comments (0)

Charles M Cooper

Opening-up Shop: The Top 7 Tax Tips for New Small Businesses

If you are planning to start a new business this year, you must be aware of your responsibilities regarding federal taxes. Here are the seven things that the IRS considers vital for you to know if you plan on opening a new business this year.

Tags: small business, taxes, irs

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Posted: 7/13/2009 | Comments (2)

Charles M Cooper

SBIC Changes Mean More Funding for Small Businesses

Small businesses having difficulty securing private equity or venture capital may now find funding easier to get as a result of changes made as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to the SBA’s Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program.

Tags: small business, sba, sbic, stimulus, recovery act

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Posted: 7/10/2009 | Comments (2)

Charles M Cooper

United Breaks Guitars: Poor Customer Service in Song

We often say that you judge a company not by what it does right, but by how it fixes things when it does wrong, and United Airlines did a big wrong to musician Dave Carroll and his band, Sons of Maxwell.

Tags: small business, united, customer service, dave carroll, sons of maxwell

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Posted: 7/9/2009 | Comments (0)

Charles M Cooper

Shoplifting and What You Can Do About It

Shoplifting activity in a West Virginia mall reminds us all to be vigilant against thieves. Here are some tips on keeping shoplifters out of your store.

Tags: small business, shoplifting

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Posted: 7/8/2009 | Comments (0)

Charles M Cooper

The Small Business Economy, 2009 Edition, is Available

The 2009 edition of The Small Business Economy reports on the effect that the 2008 recession had on small business, including chapters focusing on the state of small business and financing.

Tags: small business, sba, small business economy 2009, advocacy

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Posted: 7/8/2009 | Comments (0)