News

Female business owners are leading the SME social media revolution, as their male counterparts fall behind in embracing and investing in these new channels.

IKEA will open a third store in Sydney in 2014/15, in the north-western suburb of Marsden Park.

Julian Smith blogs about what the cloud will mean for small businesses.

“It will also herald the changing of our relationships with our business advisors, such as our accountant. With cloud technology, they can access our data and our records in real time, in turn, being able to provide real time support and advice…”

NBN Co has announced it will offer telecommunications and internet service providers the ability to tailor its high-speed broadband services to better meet the needs of Small Office/Home Office (SOHO) businesses and other SMEs.

Sonia Cuff looks at whether you should get involved with Google+ pages for business and brands.

“What Google+ does have in its favour (and always will) is its link with Google Search. Google Search results are now starting to display Google+ Pages and this may be the best reason to create your own Page.”

Consumer sentiment has jumped 6.3 percent this month, thanks largely to the Reserve Bank’s decision to cut interest rates.

The Gillard Government’s carbon tax legislation has passed through Parliament, making it certain a tax of $23 per tonne of carbon on the country’s 500 worst polluters will begin in 2012, and businesses aren’t happy.

Google has officially made its new social networking site available to businesses and brands, so here’s how to set up a Google+ page for your small business.

David Iwanow blogs about the benefits of including affiliate marketing in your small business marketing mix.

“The main benefit is that it’s performance based, so you pay when affiliates deliver leads or generate sales. It’s also a great platform as it overlaps with other marketing methods both offline and online.

Anna Cairo looks at the benefits of using LinkedIn for your business.

“Although LinkedIn is the most commonly used business networking site, it appears to be an underrated social media platform and consequently is under utilised.”

Local online business management solution Deputy.com is celebrating being named the only Asia-Pacific finalist in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Start-Up Challenge.

Brad Callaughan looks at setting guidelines and schedules in your dealings with clients.

“If you currently have one client that is taking all your attention you need to very carefully re-train them – this will involve setting boundaries.”

As the dust continues to settle from the grounding of the Qantas fleet, businesses have revealed when it comes to managing business travel, they want service that’s responsive, provides options and is easily accessible.

DesignCrowd has nabbed a $3 million investment from local venture capital firm Starfish Ventures, which it plans to use to grow its client base in markets outside Australia.

Phoebe Netto blogs about protecting the perception of your business.

“Your image and how you make others feel plays a big role in being approachable, trustworthy and likeable to clients and potential clients.”

A global survey has shown that SMEs in the Asia Pacific region are falling behind in IT security.

New research has shown that Australian employees are more likely to ‘chuck a sickie’ because of poor management.

Gina Lofaro looks at what makes an email marketing a success.

“Did you know that an open rate of 40 percent on your email marketing campaign is something to be envied?”

Missed what’s been happening in the business world this week? Don’t stress, we’ve wrapped up the most important headlines of the week for you.

With Christmas less than eight weeks away, retailers have received a much-need confidence boost with the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reporting retail turnover rose 0.4 percent last month.