I left last week's celebration of small business — the SBA's National Small Business Week — feeling exhilarated and more optimistic than I have in a long time. Just about everyone I met there commented on the positive energy and excitement at the three-day event in Washington, D.C. Perhaps it's to be expected that an event dedicated to honoring the nation's best small businesses would...

The air was buzzing last week at National Small Business Week. The entrepreneurs there were optimistic , and people were especially excited when new SBA Administrator Karen G. Mills announced a new SBA funding plan — the America’s Recovery Capital (ARC) program . Essentially a bridge loan program, ARC aims to give small businesses short-term relief from cash-flow problems. The program, which launches...

In a recent blog post , we introduced you to the Office Live Small Business Community Council — a group of self-taught product experts who volunteer their time to our Community site to help others more effectively use our service and features. Here is another story about one of the members. C. Tucker, better known as "Artotem" or simply "Art," says he likes the entrepreneurial spirit...

As we said in a post last Friday , we've been working to resolve some performance issues with the Reports feature of Office Live Small Business. We are pleased to report that as of today, May 27, all six reports within this feature are now working. The Page View report may be low for some customers between April 12 and May 24, because some of the backup files are still being processed. Again, our...

Let's face it, whether you sell a product or a service, discounts and special offers are likely part of your marketing strategy right now. How to get the best results from them? An article in The Atlantic explains why special offers that have a time limit are more effective in motivating customers to buy. Apparently, behavioral economists have found that people procrastinate not only about unpleasant...

Is your company trying to market to moms? Most businesses should be, because mothers are the key decision-makers in how the family budget is spent. In her blog on MediaPost , Tina Sharkey, chair of BabyCenter.com, has some useful insights into how companies can get on Mom’s radar. Word-of-mouth is a big deal with moms, and the Internet lets them extend the conversation beyond their local circle. Eighty...

Consultants are well represented among businesses that use Office Live Small Business . No real surprise there. Consulting operations — whether they offer business or personal services — are often an individual or small group with a particular expertise to share. So a simple five-page-or-less website is typically enough to market those services and people delivering them. And Office Live Small Business...

Summer is on the way and this usually is the time we Americans make vacation plans. But many of us are dialing it way back this year. According to BIGResearch's American Voices survey of consumers, 59 percent say the lousy economy has affected their vacation plans. Specifically, 31 percent are cutting back on the number of nights they'll spend in a hotel. And 27 percent are planning a local...