News

Google has unveiled the top small business search terms for 2010 alongside the release of Google’s Australian Brand Zeitgeist search data.

Google has declared 2010 as the year of the Aussie online shopper after announcing the first ever Australian Brand Zeitgeist, a look at the “hottest advertising campaigns and brand names in 2010” based on Google searches in Australia.

Christmas is a hectic time for small business owners – with scammers looking to take advantage of tired and stressed people during the festive season.

Following the announcement of the appointment of an administrator, a contract of sale has now been entered into for the purchase of the business of the franchisor of the Souvlakihut network.

Cold Rock Gungahlin has smashed records for the most successful opening week of any store within the franchise group’s history.

Cafe2U, the Australian mobile coffee franchise has been awarded a bronze medal at the 2010 CSR Golden Bean Roasting Competition in the coffee chain category, the first mobile coffee chain to win the accolade.

Yellow Pages ads were once the mainstay of advertising for local tradesmen, however tradesmen are moving their advertising spend online, with new research showing consumers increasingly switching to the internet to locate local tradesmen, rather than the Yellow Pages.

Social Media platforms such as LinkedIn threaten the future of the 200-plus industry associations in Australia predicts online marketer Toby Marshall, CEO of Lead Creation.

Interest rates were held at 4.75 percent by the Reserve Bank of Australia on the back of rising concerns about the European sovereign debt crisis despite wage pressures from the shortage of skilled labour on the back of a 33.2 percent increase in job ads over the last year.

You go away with your senior management team, spend two days with an external facilitator and come back with what you think is a great strategy.

I advocate the umbrella concept of business protection. An umbrella can’t stop the rain from falling, but it will protect you in a storm.

Harvey Norman plans to launch a China-based retail website to circumvent the Government’s GST legislation have been called a hoax, after Harvey Norman chairman Gerry Harvey announced the plan yesterday.

Job ads rose for the seventh consecutive month in November and are now 33.2 percent higher than the same time last year, with competition for skilled labour now becoming a serious issue for Australian businesses.

Paypal scam emails are doing the rounds of Australian small businesses with scammers seeking to gain your PayPal login details to take money from the PayPal account you use for business.

The end-of-year office drinks is a festive tradition in Australia, but the annual work Christmas party could cost companies in unexpected fringe benefits tax, according to Nexia Court & Co.

Telstra’s Ultimate USB modem is promoted to small business customers as the absolute fastest mobile internet speeds available in Australia, we secured one from Telstra and ran it through its paces as a small business mobile internet workhorse.

Gift and Homewares Australia have sold out all possible floorspace for exhibitors for Sydney’s biggest Home and Giving Fair, taking place at Sydney Showground on 19-22 February 2011.

Kogan CEO Ruslan Kogan unveiled LivePrice, an innovative pricing model that offers customers savings if they buy their product earlier in the production process, helping Kogan’s cash flow, and saving customers money if they can pre-order early in the production cycle.

The Australian Government’s Small Business Support Line has added an online ‘live chat’ service for small businesses so that business owners can reach the service in whichever way best suits their needs.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has launched an online education module that explains the new consumer guarantees to business owners, managers and sales staff.