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

Recently, StartupNation was approached by FutureDash, and they had a lot to say about crowdfunding. Here’s what CEO Kevin Strong had to say…
Tell us about your business.
FutureDash is a technology startup focused on an energy management solution called EnergyBuddy, www.energy-buddy.com. It gives homeowners and small businesses awareness of their energy usage, helping them [...]

Did you notice that your site rankings went up or down right around April 24th? That’s because Google changed things again with their “penguin update.” They are really cracking down on sites built solely for search engine optimization (SEO) purposes.
But there is no need to worry. If you follow a few simple rules that I’ve [...]

Ugh! I just had a long conversation with another small business owner who was ripped off by several, search engine optimization (SEO) firms.
I hear this all the time, and it breaks my heart. As a fellow entrepreneur, I know how important it is to get value out of all the services you purchase.
How about you? [...]

Yes, another acronym.  API means Application Programming Interface.  Ok, your eyes just rolled back.  Don’t stop reading, I’ll give you some reasons why you need to know this term:
1.  The essence of an API is that it makes it easy for two types of programs to talk to each other.
2.  So when you are selecting [...]

Here are 5 reasons that may indicate that you are ready to move up to Salesforce as your contact and lead management (CRM) provider. Ask yourself if these statements apply to your needs. If so, you may want to investigate Salesforce to see if it’s right for your company.
1. You want a system from a [...]

You have your new Website up and running, and are ready to start bringing in sales.
Perhaps, you spent hours writing the copy yourself?
Or maybe you hired a big, Web company to design a site with all the bells and whistles?
Either way, you are not finished…. unless, you did this one, key step…
Did you have outsiders [...]

Just about every online retailer out there is looking for ways to utilize Facebook as a channel to enhance their online shopping experience and acquire more customers. Below are 5 useful tools that help retailers do that:
Addoway: An online marketplace for fashion, collectibles and more that integrates with Facebook’s social graph to recommend merchants your [...]

This is the second time this year (so far) that I’ve done a shameless plug for a product offered here at StartupNation. But when I believe in something so strongly — in its value and transformative power to set businesses on a more successful path — I just can’t help it!
This one’s called Google Rocketship and [...]

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.
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My feelings about this were confirmed and further fueled at [...]

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, [...]