For the majority of small-business respondents in the 2009 Small Business Attitudes & Outlook Survey, the economic recovery is nigh. Seventy percent anticipate moderate to significant growth this year (only 1 percent think they will close their businesses), and 47 percent expect to hire additional employees.

The survey, conducted by online marketing firm Constant Contact, reveals two things, said CEO Gail Goodman: the optimism and perseverance of business owners, and their ability to adapt to even the toughest economic conditions. read more...

The latest Discover Small Business Watch of entrepreneurs reports that economic confidence among the Main Street business class has risen slightly in June, with its index rising to 80.9 from 78.1 last month.

The main culprit for the increase is cash flow, according to the data. The number of business owners who said they experienced temporary cash flow problems decreased from nearly half last month to 42 percent in June. read more...

Television pitchman and entrepreneur Billy Mays died Sunday, likely from heart disease, according to reports. An autopsy found that he suffered from hypertensive heart disease, and there was no sign head trauma from a head bump he reported following a rough flight to his hometown of Tampa, Florida.

The 50-year-old's complaints of being hit in the head, possibly with baggage, during the landing of that flight over the weekend led to speculation that Mays' death might have been related. Toxicology tests are pending. Mays is survived by his wife, 3-year-old daughter and adult stepson. read more...

The big news at Apple's Worldwide Developer's Conference, as expected, was the unveiling of a new iPhone. This one's called the 3G S and, among its more advanced features, it has the ability to record video.

The 3G S is also said to be twice as fast for data as the current 3G model, which Apple is putting on sale for as low as $99. The 3G S will start at $199 for a 16-gigabyte model. It comes with a three-megapixel camera. And new software will allow users to plug into MMS technology that allows the sending of pictures via text message. read more...

The buzz at Apple's Worldwide Developer's Conference in San Francisco continues to be apps, apps and more apps - for the iPhone of course. Those little programs that do everything from find friends to provide a virtual mug of beer are the hottest topic at the confab.

The New York Times is live-blogging the event while the Los Angeles Times is checking in with updates via Twitter. While there is much speculation about a possible new hardware version of the iPhone, so far the big news is about new apps that, for example, will allow iPhone users to get turn-by-turn map directions from TomTom. read more...

For entrepreneurs, "Rumplestiltskin" probably ranks low on the list of required reading, but one lesson should come through loud and clear: names are serious business. In fact, coming up with the right name is probably the single-most important branding concern for a business, says Jay Jurisich, creative director of San Francisco-based naming and branding agency Igor. He is also the founder of WordLab, a website that offers free naming resources and discussion forums.

According to Jurisich, a good name demonstrates your brand and your values. A bad name forces you to resort to explaining and advertising. In the Igor Naming Guide, Jurisich breaks down naming pros and cons in four broad categories, showing why some are powerful and others are just plain yawn-inducing. read more...

Discover Small Business Watch's monthly survey of small business owners finds that, after a few months of rising expectations, their economic confidence is facing a dimmer reality.

Cash-flow concerns and lower business development spending contributed to a 10-point drop in the Discover Small Business Watch index, which fell to 78.1 for the month of May.
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According to the Discover Small Business Watch monthly report, 38 percent of entrepreneurs surveyed said they used Facebook, Linked-In, My Space or Twitter, up from 22 percent in October of 2007.

A little less than half of those people, however, said they used their social-networking accounts to promote their businesses.
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Discover Small Business Watch today unveiled the results of its monthly survey of business owners and found that economic confidence is on the rebound on Main Street.

Its "economic confidence" indicator was up 10 points, reaching its highest level, at 88.5, in 14 months. It's the third month the indicator rose. read more...

Consider Salary.com's 2008 Wasting Time at Work survey, which concluded that a "record number" of people waste time at work, up nearly 16 percent from 2007. That doesn't bode well for employers, you might think--and before Wednesday, I would have thought so, too.

I would also have considered computer games a form of "personal internet use," a category that tops the survey's list of popular time-wasting activities. Again, as I discovered, maybe not. read more...