Whether you call it software-as-a-service, Web-based software or on-demand applications, products such as NetSuite and Salesforce.com are changing how small and mid-sized businesses look at productivity tools. The rise of these Web-based services means enterprise-class business tools without the big…
You’ve spent the Adwords or Adcenter dollars to attract visitors to your site — and it worked. Now what? Getting people to visit your Web site is the first step, but just the first step. Once visitors get there, you…
Successful small businesses tend to be masters of outsourcing functions that aren’t core to their expertise — payroll and human resources being two prime examples. If you pay employees or partners based on sales performance, outsourcing that part of your…
If you own or manage a small business, mobility could be your middle name. Whether you’re developing new customers or servicing existing ones, things don’t get done if you’re sitting behind a desk all day. If NetSuite is your business…
Every business owner knows it: If you could just talk to prospects one-on-one, you could convert them to customers. Click-to-chat and click-to-call features, of course, have existed for years, but now there’s a new, more viral twist. Starting today you…
It’s no mystery what motivates a salesperson: It’s good, old-fashioned money. Salespeople naturally want to earn large commissions, which means large revenue for your business. It’s the ultimate win-win situation. Of course, tracking sales compensation can be a time-consuming task.…
There’s little doubt that many e-commerce businesses embrace open source applications such as OS Commerce. The problem is that using open source software isn’t for the faint of heart as you need a certain level of technical expertise to deploy…
As small e-commerce shops mature and establish themselves as viable ongoing businesses, many are experiencing the growing pains that afflict any new successful business. For companies that make their money selling online, efficiency can be the difference between getting by…
Small businesses — e-commerce or otherwise — don’t have the luxury of spending extra time and money on test marketing, which probably works out well as most don’t have the means to measure it in any case. That doesn’t make…
If the thought of signing up for a Web-based application suite leaves you feeling a little isolated, you’re not alone. When you commit to running your business with an on-demand service, it’s understandable that you might feel more secure with…