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The Sydney Writers’ Centre is running an intensive half-day seminar for business owners and entrepreneurs keen to learn the skills to write a business book.

Lady Danielle Di-Masi blogs about embracing LinkedIn and enjoying the connections it will deliver to your business.

“LinkedIn is a brilliant way to connect with associates all over the world, not just those that may be in your local business groups. You can connect with like minded entrepreneurs, or people in companies that you wish to work with, speakers or consultants you want to learn more from …”

The Government announced reforms designed to make it easier for people to switch banks overnight, with a Treasury-led working party to ensure the changes are enacted by July 1 2012.

The Do It Yourself (DIY) and home improvement industries are expected to flourish over the next 12 months, with other industries more likely to feel the crunch of limited consumer spending, according to new research by IBISWorld.

In part two of her blog series on whether marketing is manipulative, Phoebe Netto looks at how to ethically use three tools designed to trick or influence.

“Get to know your ideal customer. The idea is not to convince them of something that they do not want or need. If you do that you’re being manipulative and aren’t likely to see repeat business or positive word-of-mouth.”

Marketing has changed considerably in the last few years as we enter a new age. Although some call it ‘The Age of the Unsustainable Economy’, from a business marketing standpoint we’re entering ‘The Information Age’ where anyone can access and share information easily and freely.

Your Friday Entrepreneur Fix this week features Anthony Bell, who cringes at being referred to as a ‘celebrity accountant’, but can’t deny his high-profile clients are good for business.

Hamish Anderson blogs about the danger of believing your business is too small to be hacked.

“One of the biggest areas overlooked by business owners and managers is the area of software version control, or perhaps more precisely, keeping the software on all their machines updated; be this a new version or just a patch.”

Though many family business owners want to keep it all in the family, many are worried about their children’s ability to take charge of the business.

Rick Mapperson blogs about finding out the hard way it’s vital you take good care of yourself.

“Have you found that if you are working long hours trying to get through a large task, that if you put it aside until you have had a good sleep, that you can complete the task in half the time?”

Need Facebook help for your small business? Then read on, because Dynamic Business has an exciting free course on offer to make you the master of your Facebook page.

The five finalists for the University of Queensland (UQ) Business School Enterprize Awards 2011 have been announced.

Businesses are growing more reliant on referrals for growth thanks to social media’s climbing popularity, with business consultant Shaun Mahoney tipping the organisations that embrace social media will eventually dominate the market.

Freelancer.com has expanded its crowdsourcing feature to accommodate all design categories, allowing small business owners access to a wide range of design needs including logos, smartphone app mockups, Photoshop editing and even personalised Twitter backgrounds.

Be inspired by our favourite entrepreneurs of the past 12 months and learn from their real life challenges and triumphs. In part five, meet Colette Hayman of Colette Accessories.

Catriona Pollard looks at using an RSS feed to free up time in your business.

“The main purpose of an RSS is to manage the organisation and collection of information from the internet. RSS is a time management tool for businesses and people who regularly use the web.”

Robert Steers blogs about using new media to reach your market – on a budget.

“Advertising on new media has several unique elements. On Facebook, ads can be connected to a Facebook page, encouraging interaction within a user’s network. On news aggregators like Digg, advertisers can gather feedback about their ad through comments or votes… “

A Sydney-based start-up has received backing from AMP Capital Shopping Centres to get its iPhone app off the ground, which promises to assist retailers in engaging shoppers and boosting in-store traffic.

Candana Designs has just turned 30, and the family business is celebrating by taking a look back at it’s history of designing high-quality residential and commercial bathrooms across Australasia.

Accountants are expressing concern that the financial performance of their small business clients are being put in danger by the carbon tax, with many convinced SMBs won’t be adequately compensated by the Government when the tax is implemented.