SMB

While many companies are focused on their business online, they tend to put up sites that turn off rather than turn on potential customers. Because there are so many potential options, a business needs to be careful about how it designs its e-commerce site. For instance, a visitor can't purchase wha...

These days, just about every business -- from the corner store to Wal-Mart -- has a Web presence. While the Internet's vast expanse provides companies with the ability to reach more potential customers, it also pits them against more competitors than ever before. As a result, it has become increasin...

Imagine a world in the not-too-distant future where anyone can work from anywhere, using whatever communication device they have at their disposal. This type of world is not hard for us to imagine. After all, many professionals are finding that they have less and less need to be in an office to get ...

There is a great deal of talk today about our carbon footprint -- referring to greenhouse gas emissions caused by industry and/or consumers -- and how critical it is to our planet to reduce these emissions. Companies such as General Electric have begun to fully realize that reducing our carbon footp...

Dell on Monday debuted a new data storage device aimed at the fast-growing small and medium-sized business market. The solution, known as the "MD3000i," will be easier to use and less expensive to set up and maintain than solutions from rivals because it is specifically designed for smaller firms, D...

A survey done by the U.S. Commerce Department stated that of every 10 small businesses, seven will survive their first year, three will still be going after three years and only two will remain after five years. These are quite startling numbers and really beg the question: "Why do startups fail?" T...

Small to medium-sized e-commerce companies can go a long way toward marketing themselves online by doing some simple search-engine optimization and taking the time to foster some inbound links to their site. Both can be done without an advanced degree in computer science, and both can cost little or...

One of the hard realizations that most new e-commerce companies must make sooner or later is that simply creating a Web site does not mean customers will visit it. Sure, there are hundreds of millions of potential customers online, but there are also billions of other Web sites competing for their a...

Arming for battle in the digital music space, Amazon.com has invested in a startup that attempts to blend digital music sales with social networking. AmieStreet.com, a digital music store that prices music based on its popularity among visitors to the site, said Amazon was the lead investor in its f...

Technology has finally made its impact on medical practices. In order to achieve greater efficiencies within their office and administrative staff, many physicians have now gone from paper to computer. Additionally, diagnoses and delivery of quality patient care are greatly enhanced with the assista...

For startup e-commerce companies, protecting customer data doesn't always come naturally. Small matters such as getting a business idea out of the starting gates and into the race -- not to mention winning those very first customers -- tend to overshadow the many liabilities associated with collecti...

It seems like everybody's talking about e-discovery nowadays -- just take a look at any IT trade journal or IT news source and you're likely to see at least one article about what e-discovery is and how to prepare for it. However, despite all this attention, both in IT and legal circles, there are s...

Google's Enterprise unit continued its recent barrage of product rollouts and other moves, unveiling Google Custom Search Business Edition, a paid version of its popular ad-supported site search tool. The service allows users to customize the search results page to match their Web sites' look and fe...

It is quite common for people affiliated with a startup to receive Rule 144 stock in lieu of cash or readily tradable stock. This type of stock is usually issued by a company that is either about to go public or has recently gone public. Rule 144 stock is often used as a form of reimbursement for se...

As wireless communications technology becomes embedded in the lifestyles of consumers, small businesses are seeking ways to catch the mobile wave. Gaining an advantage with younger shoppers online and off can be daunting to small businesses that would rather not manage technology -- but instead expl...