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ABC's Small Business Tips

Whether your issue is customer service, the Internet, sales and marketing, or practically any other small business problem, ABC can help with the tips and tricks you need, advice that will make a real difference.

Healthcare Discounts for ABC Members

ABC Members now have access to Careington International Corporation – a leading provider of dental, medical, health and prescription discount plans. These low-cost plans are available to ABC Members, their families and their employees and could be the ideal solution when looking at possible healthcare solutions for your business.

Government and Economy

Bill Restrict Small Business Contracting to Real Small Businesses

Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA), has introduced a bill that would ensure that small business government contracts go only to true small businesses, rather than being awarded to subsidiaries of large companies. WebCPA.com

Emerging 200 Program: Training Entrepreneurs to Save Cities

Starting its second year, the goal of the SBA's Emerging 200 Program is to boost inner-city job growth by training urban business owners to grow their companies. CNNMoney.com

Management and Financial Issues

Earning Customer Loyalty

Profit is a good measure of business success, but it's not the primary thing you, as a manger, should aim for. Customer satisfaction and loyalty are better goals for creating a thriving, successful business. BusinessKnowHow.com

Super Angels: The New Face of Venture Capital

With large venture capital firms cutting back on their investments, there is a hungry group of seed-stage investors who are using their money to help entrepreneurs get their ideas—and businesses—off the ground. BusinessWeek.com

Knowing How Banks Think Can Help You Land That Loan

Today, getting a bank loan can be difficult, but if you know how banks work, for example that smaller banks tend to be less formulaic than larger ones in evaluating small business loans, that knowledge may work in your favor. NYTimes.com

Technology Issues

Cybercrime Update: Keyword Syndication

Cybecriminals have a new trick: By monitoring peak traffic for popular search queries using Google’s Trends, they are syndicating the keywords in order to acquire the traffic and direct it to malware serving blogs primarily hosted at Windows Live’s Spaces. ZDNet.com

Benefits and Labor Issues

New COBRA Law Ready to Strike New York
New York state employers have no way to know how the impending flood of new COBRA claims is going to affect their health budgets. They'll not see those claims for at least four months after layoffs while claims from involuntary terminations could easily come in a year after the employee is fired. Workforce.com

Obama: Healthcare Reform Now or Never

In an obvious plea to his political supporters to pressure lawmakers to act quickly, President Obama warned that if Congress does not deliver healthcare legislation by the end of this year, the opportunity will be lost for good. Yahoo.com/AP

Branding, Sales and Marketing

Behavioral Marketing: The Language of Behavioral Marketing, Part 1
It can be very difficult to understand the differences between and among behavioral marketing vendors. To break through that, we should start by dissecting the vendors' websites. ClickZ.com

Email Marketing: Improve Your Email Program
How, when it comes to email marketing, it sometimes takes a total makeover—or a room-by-room improvement—to bring in the revenue you want. ClickZ.com

Is Sales All About Optimizm?

There is mounting evidence that supports the theory that sales teams possessing high levels of optimism make companies more money. BizJournals.com