Doing Business Online

• Using Twitter to Find Customers

  Most businesses think of Twitter as a promotional tool, but it can also be used to find sales leads. Here's how to use Twitter to find potential customers and how to convert those contacts into sales.
  Minda Zetlin

• Tech Talk: Florist Switches Payment Platform

  An online fresh-flower seller found that sales increased dramatically after the company deployed a new software-as-a-service secure payment solution that integrated customer relationship management.
  Elizabeth Wasserman

• The Long Tail and the Black Swans

  Technology has enabled sellers and marketers to serve a long tail of needs and wants. Companies like Amazon and Netflix have built successful businesses around the idea of selling a large number of unique items, each in small quantities.
  Vijay Chittoor

• Getting the Most from Banking Online

  Many small businesses are still using paper checks sent through the mail to settle their accounts. But online banking can save time and effort, and improve cash flow.
  Minda Zetlin

• Online B2B Marketplaces: Should You Dive In?

  Business-to-business marketplaces are proliferating on the Web. Here’s how to tell a site is right for you.
  Minda Zetlin

• Glue May Help Customers Navigate the Web

  Businesses need to understand how to reach customers who are drawn to sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to join conversations that are of interest to them.
  Brent Leary

• Tech Talk: Online Game Site Develops Forum

  An online video game trading website used new collaboration technology to allow customers to get to know and trust one another before trading games through an online community forum.
  Elizabeth Wasserman

• Tech Talk: Digital Assistant Logs in Remotely

  A virtual assistant that provides typing and administrative services for law firms found that an online service enabled seamless and secure access to her office PC from any computer with an Internet connection.
  Elizabeth Wasserman

• Use Technology to Market Your Startup

  Technology is available to help small businesses market their brand and wares on the cheap, from printing business cards on your computer to using an online service to design a logo.
  Anita Campbell

• Five Steps to Localized Online Marketing

  Just because it’s called the “World Wide Web” doesn’t mean you can’t use it to reach a local audience. Here’s how.
  Minda Zetlin

• Simplifying the Content Creating Process

  By creating online content, businesses can drive business and turn strangers into customers. Finding time to create content is another issue. Here are some easy solutions.
  Brent Leary

• Viral Video Helps Market Products

  Want to make a big impression with a tiny ad budget? Try creating videos customers will forward to each other. Here are three case studies of small businesses that have used viral video to market their products.
  Minda Zetlin