The oddsmakers and forecasters are already at work calculating how much we'll spend on Black Friday--the day after Thanksgiving--and Cyber Monday, the Monday following the holiday weekend. In our internet age, these two days form the official opening the Christmas shopping season and usually are a strong predictor of how much shoppers will buy for the holidays generally. This season there's a few new wrinkles--aside from the economy--so it'll be interesting to see how it plays out.  read more...

Yesterday, President Barack Obama held a small-business financing forum to discuss what more should be done to help break the lending logjam small business owners have experienced the past two years. Before it even began, Obama was being criticized for keeping the guest list under wraps. Interested parties such as the American Small Business League issued a press release about their displeasure with not getting an invite. Others, including the International Franchise Association president/CEO Matthew Shay and Indiana Statewide Certified Development Corporation executive Jean Wojtowicz, got a ticket to the ball.

But while many squabbled about the timing, the format, and the lineup of speakers, the bigger question is: With Goldman Sachs, Warren Buffett, and JP Morgan Chase stepping up lending to small businesses, does small business still need this help? read more...

If you're a retailer who sells online, and you'd like to give your sales a free, end-of-season boost, you might want to join in on the second annual Free Shipping Day.  

Created last December on a whim by Luke Knowles of free-shipping coupon site FreeShipping.org, Free Shipping Day was designed to help retailers on the last day when virtual shops can guarantee delivery before Christmas. Apparently, online shopping starts to decline around Dec. 12, as customers get nervous about whether packages will arrive, and Knowles thought this might help keep the online sales going. read more...

If you're hoping to connect with venture capital firms to pitch your company story, a new contest may help--but you'll need to be ready to catch a plane to Seattle.

This year at Northwest Entrepreneur Network's signature networking event, Entrepreneur University, six lucky companies will get to make their pitch before a media panel and conference attendees. How do you qualify? A Twitter contest. read more...

I'm always fascinated by companies that present potentially disruptive new ways of communicating that could transform how we reach out to customers and find clients. This week, I've collected three interesting startups that are combining existing communication forms to create new modes for reaching out. They may not all be quite ready to use yet, but consider these concepts brain food to expand your idea of what is possible.

The U.S. Postal Service may want to watch out for Zumbox--it's providing a way for companies (and everybody, ultimately) to send formatted PDF mail direct to customers' computers, saving the postage stamps. The company's technology enables them to create a computer inbox--or Zumbox--for every street address in America. So companies don't need to know customers' e-mail addresses--with a street address (and the customer's permission) the company can electronically deliver their mail. Besides saving on postage, this will also allow companies to send interactive, multimedia mail with clickable links, videos, you name it. read more...

Have you had a hard time finding just the right workers for your business? Now may be your chance to grow the workforce you want.

The Chicago Tribune recently reported that a local company, Extended Care Clinical, sees the current high unemployment rate as a golden opportunity--to reach out to the unemployed and retrain them to fill their nursing slots. Despite the downturn, qualified nurses remain in short supply, so they're offering to pay for nursing school for candidates willing to retrain to join their company as nurses.

This article got me thinking about how many other small businesses might benefit from the current large pool of available workers. For instance, could you save money by taking someone with good skills, but lacking the exact background you'd normally want, and hire them in at a lower salary, ramping them up with on-the-job training? That's a great opportunity for the worker to move up the career ladder, while you get a more-affordable, highly trained employee. read more...

Social media isn't just the massive sites that are discussed endlessly--Twitter and Facebook and LinkedIn. In some industries, powerful industry-specific sites--known as industry verticals--are being created to help industry players connect with each other and with customers.

An example is LocalDirt.com, a new portal that connects farmers with customers nearby. The site debuted at the Fall 2009 DEMO technology conference in San Diego last week, pitching its concept to conference producers along with 70 other tech firms. Local Dirt won a DEMOgod award, given out at the event to exceptional companies, and was also picked by innovation and venture-capital newsmag VentureBeat as one of the 10 best companies at DEMO. read more...

Feeling shorthanded these days? Wondering if your business is truly meeting your customers' needs? If you answered yes to either of those questions, have you asked all your customers to help you?

Increasingly, companies big and small are doing just that. It's called crowdsourcing--enlisting the help of a large group of people to do company work or shape the company agenda, rather than delegating tasks to an employee or two, or perhaps an ad agency.

The growth of social media has enabled crowdsourcing, making it easy for companies to connect with huge mobs of customers. A couple of the key benefits: saving money and making customers feel more connected to your company.

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Small-business owners are feeling cheerier these days. The National Federation of Independent Business's monthly member survey saw business owners' optimism about the future rise a couple of points in August, a change the organization described as a meaningful uptick.

Similarly, American Express OPEN's Small Business Monitor survey saw a big jump in optimism. Back in March, 45 percent of respondents were optimistic about their near-term prospects--in September, that had risen to 55 percent. The OPEN study showed one troubling trend, though--a widening gap between the optimists and those who appear to be circling the drain. read more...

New resources keep popping up on this wonderful internet of ours, and occasionally, I'm going to take the time on my Wednesday blog posts to share some.

This week, I've got three great resources for business owners--two will help you learn how to be successful, and one's about improving your e-mail communications.

First off, the Small Business Administration has hit YouTube with a series of helpful videos. Their Delivering Success series covers all the business basics, including financing, marketing, hiring, and planning. There's also videos on doing a "business reality check," as well as top success tips. If you've been wanting some basic business advice, you're out of excuses--here's some help that's free and as easy as watching TV. read more...