News

Dick Smith has come out firing again, this time at Coles Managing Director Ian McLeod, whose “new form of extreme capitalism” and “greed” he says is ruining local farmer’s livelihoods.

The national Underdogs campaign kicks off today, backed by a number of high-profile ambassadors and designed to put an end of bullying everywhere, including the workplace.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has begun legal proceedings against four publishing companies it alleges misrepresented themselves and harassed a number of small businesses.

Brad Callaughan blogs about the right way to ask for customer referrals.

“There’s no harm in discussing your services with client or customers. Constructive criticism is a fantastic way for you to see how your clients feel about your services, because they’re the people that are talking about your business…”

An “unacceptable number” of payment system outages over the past 12 months has led the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) payment arm to warn the industry to boost innovation and stability or face regulatory intervention.

Bargains 4 Business went live yesterday, and its Founder claims his group buying site delivers something different to its many competitors in the space.

Charles Pludthura blogs about CRM’s ability to help businesses to drive through the operational improvements needed to survive the downturn.

“Businesses also need to examine how they can safeguard revenues and profitability, and particularly within their own customer base. Otherwise, they are just delaying the inevitable…”

Small businesses are an important part of the economy and key constituents in policy development, but are often overlooked by the Government when big ticket policies are rolled out, according to The Institute of Public Accountants (IPA).

The push to have quotas set for the number of women on boards received a boost last week, with an audience of business and HR executives at the Diversity Council Australia’s (DCA) Annual Diversity Debate coming out in support of the move.

Research In Motion (RIM) has launched an eBook to celebrate the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day, presenting inspirational experiences of some of the country’s most successful women.

Rick Mapperson blogs about the danger of entering into a price war with your competitors.

“As a general rule, the only person who ends up winning in a price war is the consumer. Competing on price or reducing your prices, even if spending is down, is not always the answer.”

Phoebe Netto blogs about addressing your clients concerns and desires to attract leads and repeat business.

“When a small business addresses the deepest concerns and desires of both its clients and potential clients, and makes them feel special, they will attract leads and repeat business.”

The Federal Court has dismissed allegations by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) that Google engaged in misleading conduct by failing to adequately distinguish ads from search results.

Fred Schebesta weighs up the benefits of using business credit cards over personal cards.

“There are a myriad of benefits to having a separate business credit card, and dangers to be aware of which will help remind you to keep your spending separate.”

News broke this week that business sales rose unexpectedly in August, that the Iconic Foster’s and VB brands have been sold into foreign hands and that the world’s largest crowdsourcing marketplace, 99designs, has opened locally. Miss anything? We’ve wrapped up the week’s news for you.

The Australian dollar has slipped below parity overnight, falling close to its lowest level since March this year.

April5 has welcomed two new staff members to its team, and promoted another, after having won the marketing accounts for Stockland Balgowlah and Nature’s Care.

OurDeal has launched its first smartphone app, which is available for free download by iPhone and iPod touch users.

The Australian Cafe2U franchise has signed its first American franchisee, with Katie Luelling to begin operations in Bend, Oregon.

The largest online design market in the world has launched locally, with 99designs.com.au kicking off its Australian operation today.