News

Experts are suggesting Google’s new social networking platform will likely see greater popularity than its main rival Facebook, as it produces much-needed solutions for gaps in social media.

Brett Morris blogs about whether or not you should take on your employees problems.

“Where do you draw the line? Sometimes you might find yourself facing a big monkey, or a small gorilla. Do you take those problems on?”

Reckon Limited has just reported an 8 percent rise in normalised earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the 6 months to 30 June, generated by strong performances in the company’s Business and Professional Divisions.

Michelle Gamble blogs about her up and down relationship with group buying sites.

“That got me thinking about the future of group buying. Surely I’m not the only one who has a love-hate relationship with the sometimes inbox clogging emails.”

Small businesses in the Western Australia tourism industry are being invited to attend ‘Tourism BOOST’; a workshop series designed to give businesses an edge in WA’s growing tourism sector.

Lady Danielle Di-Masi looks into the etiquette of mobile phone use.

“Have we missed one important aspect of putting your phone on silent? Vibrate is not silent.”

Assistant Treasurer Bill Shorten has spoken about the Productivity Commission (PC) draft report into the future of the retail industry released last week, declaring the review makes it clear the Australian retail sector has a bright future but needs to continue to innovate and change.



One of Australia’s most outspoken entrepreneurs, Ruslan Kogan, has announced he’s “divorcing” the traditional retail channel, arguing economists must stop grouping online retail with traditional bricks and mortar retailers.

Rhondalynn Korolak offers tips to avoid sabotage and foster innovation in your business.

“For every daring and outlandish new idea that is proposed by one hopeful soul, there will be a long list of sceptical colleagues who are willing to offer 20 reasons why the idea might fail…”

Your Friday Entrepreneur Fix this week features Abigail Forsyth, the woman who dreamt of changing human behaviour, one disposable coffee cup at a time.

Bricks and mortar retailers gathered in Sydney this week for the Engage in E-tail seminar, in an effort to better their response to rising consumer demand for e-commerce offerings.

Melbourne’s inner-city suburb of Brunswick became the country’s first metropolitan area to be connected to the National Broadband Network yesterday, with the trial phase due to run until September.

Catriona Pollard offers a few tips for business owners looking to approach journalists.

“They’re people too. They have good days and bad days and there are ones who will be nicer than others. But don’t be intimidated by them if they are less than sugar and spice, they will respect you more for not sounding nervous.”

Gerald Chait blogs about how best to deal with complaints from customers left on your Facebook page.

“Facebook is an incredibly powerful medium for building a community that supports your business. But, Facebook also provides a public avenue for customers to air their concerns.”

Research In Motion (RIM) has unveiled its latest BlackBerry smartphones – the BlackBerry Torch 9860 and Bold 9900 – with Optus to be the first mobile carrier to sell the new arrivals in Australia.

GoCatch, the smartphone application that makes it easier to catch cabs is setting commuters up for an unsafe ride, according to the NSW Taxi Council.

On the whole, SMEs are reporting low business confidence and continued challenges posed by cashflow, with the NAB Quarterly SME Survey revealing a disparity in confidence exists for businesses across different industries.

Consumers who report software piracy will go in the running to win two return tickets to any destination in the Caribbean, plus $2,000 spending money, as Business Software Alliance (BSA) attempts to lessen piracy in Australia.

In comparison to personal customers, small businesses are being treated as second-class customers by Australian banking providers, leading Mozo.com.au to launch a comprehensive business banking comparison service to help small business owners compare their options.

Retail turnover fell a seasonally adjusted 0.1 percent in June, with turnover falling most sharply in Department stores and Household goods retailing.