Business Blogs: Trends, tips, and real-life anecdotes from industry experts.

Doing our best for you StartupNation folks, here’s our latest advice regarding making the most of your retail holiday selling season. Hope you find it helpful. Please add in your own tips as comments below, too! We could all use the wisdom!�
Click on the image to view…

Weird that I’d write a blog post about paying for content in a free content world, isn’t it?! Weirder yet that StartupNation has for years on end been a STRICTLY free content site and hosts many tens of thousands of pages of free content and features.

So why have we recently launched a paid content offering [...]

As a business owner, I love being my company’s “evangelist.” I get huge kicks from educating and exciting people about becoming a customer. But frankly, there’s an even more important—though arguably less exhilarating—aspect to closing new business. We call it, the art of follow up.
�
My feelings about this were confirmed and further fueled at [...]

According to recent research (more than 600 companies) from Clash-Media, e-mail marketing is now the most favored method of online lead generation in the United States. It’s also estimated that more than 80 percent of businesses will spend more money on e-mail marketing by the end of this year.
Before you take the time to [...]

If you are tempted to save money and write your own marketing materials and website copy, please stop and think about it.
Although copywriters may be expensive, they can help you:
- Optimize conversion rates;
- Build credibility;
- Reach targeted audiences;
- Increase search engine placements;
- Assist you with your overall, Web architecture; and
- Grow sales fast!
And even if [...]

Whether you are creating a new Web site or reviewing the one you already have, there are three key factors to keep in mind.
Are you guilty of these three Web site sins?
1. Visitors can’t get the information they need.
This is pretty obvious, but often overlooked. It can be enticing to use fancy videos, too many keywords, [...]

Tory Johnson, frequent reporter on ABC’s Good Morning America show and anchor of the ABC NewsNow series focusing on careers asked for a little StartupNation love recently. One of her faithful fans, Natalie, of ChicSweets, asked for ideas about how to move her business forward on a variety of levels, especially in the transition from part-time [...]

The first thing that many new entrepreneurs think about when they hear “public relations” is sending out a press release. Sure, a press release can help build buzz online.
�
But if you want a feature story written about your business, it’s essential to pitch specific media members directly.
�
And with today’s economy, this can be a [...]

If you are the owner of an eCommerce website,  you are continuously looking for ways to improve the conversion rate on your site and to drive more sales. To that end, here are 45 tips to turbocharge your eCommerce site:
Define Your Audience

Segment your audience by lifetime value.
Segment your audience by recency (When was the last [...]

Businesses that accept credit cards are a distinct advantage when it comes to attracting customers. With over 3/4 of the American population using some form of plastic to pay for regular purchases, you can’t afford not to offer a credit card payment option.

Merchant Account Basics
In order to accept credit card payments, you’ll need to open [...]