News

Allphones Retail Pty Ltd has been fined $45,000 for contempt of court orders, following action by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

Trend Micro has unveiled its first cloud-based productivity tool for SMBs, delivering a service that promises agility, flexibility, security and cost savings.

Poor spending looks set to continue hurting the retail industry, with the Commonwealth Bank Business Sales Indicator (BSI) falling again in June.

Edelman has launched Bloglevel and version 2.0 of Tweetlevel, two new tools designed to help companies navigate social media platforms, like blogs and Twitter, to identify which users are influential on a particular topic.

Morris Bryant offers up an alternate view about the benefits to business of the group buying market.

“The deals addiction isn’t going to keep the industry afloat, it’s only going to ruin it – but the problem doesn’t just lie with consumers.”

For the first time in its history, the NAB National Small Business Summit is introducing the Virtual Delegate – a system to allow SMBs from around the country to participate in the event.

As more and more marketing opportunities become available to businesses both online and offline, it can be a difficult task to track if your budget is being spent wisely.

Catriona Pollard delivers a checklist to ensure you’re using social media appropriately in your business.

“Before you sign up and start Tweeting or Facebooking, you should think about the social media strategy. This means taking time to stop and think about what you want to accomplish.”

Servcorp’s My Biggest Small Business Challenge competition has revealed task delegation, time management, work/life balance and isolation are the biggest challenges facing SMBs.

For the very first time, Dynamic Business is sponsoring Small Business September, a premiere event designed to assist businesses in their growth phase via hundreds of state-wide seminars, workshops and online webinars.

Brad Callaughan offers up a few tips for small businesses to survive the impact of the carbon tax.

“Consumers are going to be the first losers as they’ll have to wear the price increase passed on from small businesses, and the second loser will be small business with landlords keen to pass on any increase to their costs.”

With the News of the World scandal fresh in our minds, Julian Smith asks whether you run your business ethically.

“It’s not just enough to make a list of all the values and principles your business will abide by, you actually have to live them.”

Acting NSW Premier Andrew Stoner has announced the 23 successful local Information and Communication Technology (ICT) companies that will participate in next month’s Tech23 innovation exhibition in Sydney.

The use of social media by Australian small businesses has risen by 50 percent this year, with many looking to boost the investment in their website, technology and marketing.

Rhondalynn Korolak blogs about how many businesses REALLY fail in their first year.

“I searched the internet and couldn’t find confirmation of any study that was done to back-up this statistic by a reputable or well-known bureau. What I did in fact find was some evidence to the contrary.”

Roger Woodend blogs about adapting QR codes for use in your business.

“QR Codes can be used to reveal more information about a product, service or event. Generally they are used to direct customers or users to a specific URL, video, coupon, event page or email address.”

The Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) has placed its support behind Julia Gillard’s carbon tax, saying in a meeting yesterday no jobs need to be lost as a result of the scheme.

A world-class panel of media experts have been booked by Buerilla to review and critique small business media pitches, live at the Pitch to Media Panel event.

Rod Sherwin’s Energy Therapy tools are being utilised by an increasing number of business owners and their employees, which enable them to quickly and effectively adapt to today’s challenges.

Brett Morris delves into a question asked by many managers and employers – should trust be earned, or given?

“In establishing a relationship with a new employee or team, should managers/leaders place their trust in them? Or should they withhold that trust and expect that the employee/team earn it from them?”