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- Are tax rules giving online merchants an unfair advantage?
Some business owners say their businesses are affected by the fact that online merchants aren't forced to collect sales tax from customers. "What the government is doing is picking winners and losers in the marketplace. That provides an online-only retailer with a perceived advantage over a brick-and-mortar store," said Jason Brewer of the Retail Industry Leaders Association. Legislation has been introduced in Congress that would address the issue. Sentinel & Enterprise (Fitchburg, Mass.)
(10/7)      
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Online sales tax means big changes for small business: As more states end the days of tax-free Internet shopping, brick-and-mortar small businesses will face a more level playing field, some experts say. Those that earn more than $500,000 in annual online sales, however, will now be responsible for collecting sales and use taxes. Reuters
(10/8)
- A book to help you perfect your online communications
If you're looking for specific, actionable tips to help you develop your online communications strategy, a book called "Digital Dollar" will help you get started, writes Ivana Taylor. Among other tidbits, the book advises you to create a content plan and to consider setting up a micro-site rather than a full website. Small Business Trends
(10/7)
- Get more willing subscribers on your e-mail list
A high-quality e-mail list can be a valuable resource for your business, John Jantsch writes. You can expand your list in several ways such as by adding sign up boxes to your blog, advertising your content on Facebook and partnering with other businesses. "One of the most powerful ways to quickly add subscribers is for another list owner, one that has built trust with their subscribers, to send a mailing endorsing your eBook or newsletter content," he writes. Duct Tape Marketing
(10/4)
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- 5 tips for building a respectable business
If you want your business to be respected, you have to act ethically at all times, writes Michael Hess of Skooba Design. "[E]veryone you deal with -- customers, employees, suppliers, investors and others -- must know unquestionably that you will always, always do the right thing and that your intentions are always pure," he writes. You should also keep your promises and focus on treating other people well, he writes. CBS MoneyWatch
(10/8)
- Simple steps to smarter employee training
When offering training to your employees, you should focus on enhancing their skills instead of attempting to reshape their personalities. You should also make sure the skills covered in training are actually relevant to their jobs and establish metrics that you can use to track their progress. Inc. online/Sales Source blog (free registration)
(10/5)
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- Twitter Surveys lets brands keep tabs on their customers
Twitter is rolling out Twitter Surveys, a new brand-research tool that lets marketers create in-tweet mini-surveys of between one and five questions. The surveys can be targeted to users based on whether they've previously received Promoted Tweets from the brand, and are expected to have an engagement rate of between 1% and 3%. "There's been [an issue] in the industry for brand research when it comes to low response rates. ... This solves a big problem," says revenue chief Adam Bain. Adweek
(10/3)
- Virtual training can help a solo salesperson
If you have only one salesperson, virtual sales training can be a good way to help him or her learn new skills, Bob Urichuck writes. "One of the key advantages of virtual sales training ... is that it can offer an ongoing process allowing one to learn in little chunks, try it out in the real world, come back, and learn more." In addition to selling skills, this type of training should also focus on other subjects such as attitude and productivity, he writes. B2C Marketing Insider
(10/6)
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- Experts disagree over how much "Do Not Track" could hurt businesses
 There is a growing movement toward offering consumers the ability to prevent advertisers from using their browsing history to target advertisements, but the potential impact on businesses is unclear. The "Do Not Track" movement could affect four-fifths of online ads, according to Mike Zaneis of the Interactive Advertising Bureau, but Stanford University researcher Jonathan Mayer disagreed with that assessment. The actual number of affected ads would be much lower, Mayer said. Entrepreneur online
(10/8)
 | No business -- especially a small business -- can successfully maintain a culture or set of standards that aren't passionately exemplified at the top."
--Michael Hess, founder and CEO of Skooba Design, writing at CBS MoneyWatch
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President Barack Obama's administration has made some moves that might help small businesses to gain access to capital, but neither he nor Mitt Romney seems to be focusing on this issue, Ami Kassar of MultiFunding writes. The government could help to get lending back on track by developing a common definition for what a small business is and ensuring that crowdfunding is an affordable option, he writes.