Industry News

5 Fabulous Resources to Tackle Small-Business Questions

It doesn’t matter if it’s been two weeks or several years since your entrepreneurial intuition led you to create an online enterprise; the fact remains that no matter how far your e-commerce skills take you, no small-business owner is prepared to handle the many unfamiliar hurdles that are certain to arise.

However, don’t become overwhelmed by moments of uncertainty and sink-or-swim scenarios that can generate an endless stream of questions in your mind. It’s important to know you’re not alone. And as you dive deeper into your brand development and marketing strategies you’ll find that these puzzlements will cause you to rethink the ways you once searched for answers and information.

Some of the best advice around comes directly from someone who has already overcome the same obstacle. Therefore, you’ll want to visit online resources – there are many – designed to service small-business owners with helpful tools such as Q&A forums and the ability to connect with other entrepreneurs in your industry.

Below you’ll find five valuable sources, thanks to Mashable.com, to get you started.

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iPhone 4 and Other Highlights from the WWDC

Apples’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference has traditionally served as a platform to showcase the latest innovations the company has developed, and this year was no different. Steve Jobs, Apple’s Chief Executive, provided the main attraction via his keynote speech, which featured the new iPhone 4 that will be going on sale later this month. As one of Apple’s marquee products, the media, software developers and consumers have anxiously been awaiting an opportunity to see the latest edition of the iPhone in action.

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Media Sources Utilize Blogs for Easy Leads

The advent of social media and the internet have created a categorical shift in the way people receive, interpret and react to news stories. Traditional media sources are constantly having to change and adapt to remain profitable and relevant in this user-centric atmosphere, where blogs and Twitter are seen as reliable sources of information. As soon as a story breaks, there are hundreds of bloggers and other news sources vying to create their own angle and disseminate the information themselves. And while many of us would assume that the blogosphere is plagiarizing and repackaging stories from conventional reporters, many claim that the roles in this relationship are often reversed.

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Google TV Aims to Fuse Television and the Internet

During the 2000s, Google effectively established itself as an innovator in the tech world, and the company is taking measures to ensure it maintains its status as an innovator in the industry. The company recently announced a new App Store, which will be opening later in the year, and now Google is branching off into a new media: TV.

At the company’s annual developer conference last week, Google executives unveiled Google TV. It’s no secret that people are eschewing commercials and traditional TV viewing in lieu of DVR recordings and online streaming video. In an attempt to capitalize on this trend, Google TV offer consumers a tool for organizing and watching all of their favorite shows in one location.

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Facebook CEO Addresses Privacy Concerns

Last week we reported on the public outcry following changes to Facebook’s privacy policy, and as they have been in the past, Facebook was quick to address the issue. After Congress sent a letter to the company in response to numerous complaints, Facebook executives met last week to begin discussing the issue. Following a report from the Wall Street Journal, which expounded loopholes in the company’s privacy policy, Facebook announced it would be making changes to the privacy policy and settings in the near future. In addition, in today’s op-ed section of the Washington Post, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg answered many questions concerning the site’s privacy policies and settings.

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Major University Abandons Gmail Service

The 30,000 staff members at the University of California Davis are no longer using Gmail as their e-mail provider. The university had been testing Google’s e-mail service since August 2009, in hopes to eventually roll it out to the entire campus population. However, university officials say that the e-mail service isn’t secure or private enough to meet their standards.

Quite a few staff members had privacy concerns, many of which stemmed from Google Buzz, the social network embedded within Gmail. In a letter from the university to Google, school officials wrote that the staff members “expressed concerns that our campus’ commitment to protecting the privacy of their communications is not demonstrated by Google and that the appropriate safeguards are neither in place at this time nor planned for in the near future.” (more…)

YouTube Users to Soon Charge for Videos

In April, YouTube released a movie rental service that would allow users to watch a small selection of movies directly from the site. In a recent interview with Media Post, Hunter Walk, director of project management, said the site will allow users to charge a rental fee for their online videos. 

The details of the new rental program are still scarce, but will likely allow any user to sign up with the program, regardless of how many views they’ve had on YouTube. Users who rent the films will likely have access to the video for a 24-hour period and will be charged anywhere from $1-$6. (more…)

How Twitter Is Making Now Money

Twitter has launched it’s advertising platform, which many have been anticipating for months.  Obviously, Twitter has to make money some how and today is the day that ad’s are introduced to the site.  And like Biz Stone said back in November, “It’s going to be amazing.” The best part seems to be that the ad platform seems to be well liked in the first hour of it’s debut.

Unlike most ad’s which can take up plenty of room, ad’s on Twitter come in a small box underneath a tweet, saying “Promoted by…” which will come up in search results.  In all honesty, it doesn’t take up to much room and doesn’t make the site look awful, however it’s still noticeable, which is good news for businesses that are going to want to jump on board. (more…)

Murdoch Strikes At Google Again…

It’s been awhile since we first heard Rupert Murdoch that he would block News Corp. websites off the search engines, particularly Google.  And since nothing has happened within the past 5 months, Murdoch warned the world again over the weekend that his sites will no longer be available to the search engines.   .

“We are going to stop people like Google or Microsoft or whoever from taking stories for nothing . . . there is a law of copyright and they recognise it,” Murdoch said according to Paul Harris who attended the National Press Club. (more…)

Twitter Buys Tweetie App

Twitter announced on Friday that they have offically purchased Atebits, the company which produces the Tweetie iPhone application along with a desktop application for Mac’s.  It’s the first time Twitter has linked up and purchased a fellow company, which is just sign at how well the social network is doing.  

Loren Brichter is Tweetie’s creator, and will be part of the Twitter mobile team.  In a blog post last Friday, Twitter said that the iPhone app will change it’s name from Tweetie to “Twitter for iPhone, and will be made free within the next several weeks. 

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