TGIF! We are at it again – we found the following articles for you to help you run your small business better. 

As hurricane season gets under way again this year, we here at Verizon have begun to ready our network and physical assets in preparation for the possibility that Tropical Storm Isaac will cause extensive damage.

Ensuring Your Readiness

Each year we review and update our emergency preparedness plans and conduct drills to be ready for a wide range of disasters – especially major weather events such as hurricanes. Do you do that with your business?

Even if hurricane doesn’t touch your area other natural disasters may wreak havoc and you want to make sure you are prepared to keep your business running.

Check out the video for some helpful tips or watch this free webinar offering even more tips on how you can protect your business from a disaster. To read more about disaster recovery read this post.

Happy Friday! We are at it again – we found the following articles for you to help you run your small business better. 

This post is by Margo Howell, online experience manager of My Business Account.

Online Account Management Made Easy

In response to our customers' requests, we have introduced a completely redesigned online account management area for you: our valuable small business customers.

To make it easier for you, we have placed all your business account’s phone, Internet access, online applications and TV services in one place, accessible using one user ID and password.

Here are some of the new and enhanced features that you will find on My Business Account

(http://verizon.com/mybusiness):

• View, print and pay your bills online
• Research, subscribe to and change Verizon products/services
• Manage single and multiple accounts from one online place
• Set-up, access and manage your Verizon and Google Apps email
• Access and use online applications (such as Verizon Online Backup & Sharing)
• Get discounts from affiliated service providers
• Register for our exclusive webinars and view the archive
• Read and comment on the Verizon Small Biz Blog and Verizon Forums

These are just a few of the features and functions available to you.

This post is by Mark Adams, director of Verizon's small business marketing team.

We want to extend our sincere thanks to Gary Kaber, product specialist at Intuit, for leading an information-packed webinar, “Get the Internet Presence Your Business Needs.” Gary’s valuable insights are too numerous to include here, so please check out the webinar recording to learn from this online master who knows how to get traffic to your website.

Gary shared that 92% of Internet users research products or services online. Also, 82% of users search specifically for local businesses. If you’re a small business owner, you need a website. It truly is the 21^st century business card.

Guest post by Chase Paymentech, providing thousands of Verizon customers’ best-in-class debit and credit card processing through Verizon Merchant Services. Get the insight you need into how payment processing really works and how to use it to your advantage with our series: The Skinny Behind the Swipe.

Now that you know the types of equipment required to process payments, and exactly what you need to process payments, you are ready to find out more.

What exactly will accepting more than cash and check cost you? You already know that accepting debit and credit is much more convenient for your customers, but is it worth it? The answer is yes.  In 2011, roughly 60% of the total share of retail point-of-sale dollarvolume was purchased with a credit or debit card* and that percentage is steadily rising.  So you know you need to accept credit and debit cards, but, how do you know if you’re paying too much to accept them?  Below you’ll find some basics of what makes up payment processing pricing.

Guest post by Barbara Hernandez-Taylor, senior marketing manager at Intuit.

As this summer’s Olympic Games begin to wind down, there’s a way for highly competitive small business owners around the country to participate in ‘the games” without having to buy a ticket to London.  We here at Intuit have devised a fun game for small business owners called Intuit Small Business Games. It’s fast.  It’s fun.  And, you can win your very own Gold, Silver or Bronze medal.  In addition to winning bragging rights for your business, you’ll also be helping other small businesses to get their ideas off the ground.

Happy Friday! We are at it again – we found the following articles for you to help you run your small business better. 

This post is by Mark Adams, director of Verizon's small business marketing team.

Our friends from Chase Paymentech stopped by recently and conducted a webinar for our community of small business owners:  5 Ways to Grow Your Business, 1 Payment at a Time. 

During this webcast, Miriam Blasé and Andy Goh provided several tips in five key areas of payment processing.  Their presentation included helpful graphics depicting “how” the credit and debit card transactional process works, descriptions of the key players, and steps on how to make your POS (point of sale) or eCommerce transactions more safe and PCI compliant.

The five areas they covered are: 

Guest blog post by Jay Pinkert, Director of Content, Infusionsoft, an all-in-one sales and marketing automation software for small business that combines Customer Relationship Management (CRM), email marketing and e-commerce.

With the advent of cloud computing and software as a service (SaaS), sales and marketing automation is no longer the exclusive province of large and mid-size enterprises. In fact, small business is the fastest growing sector in the sales and marketing automation software industry.

Sophisticated marketing, CRM, e-commerce and all-in-one solutions are now available on a subscription basis, so businesses don’t need to purchase or maintain computer hardware. And subscription fees are a fraction of the cost of purchasing powerful software suites outright.

In other words, the practical and technological barriers to sales and marketing automation for small businesses have been eliminated, and it’s time to start thinking big.

Marketing automation is not new, but until recently this type of technology has been available only to large businesses with big budgets and a full-time IT staff that can manage the set-up process.  Now, with minimal financial investment, most small businesses can leverage marketing automation in powerful ways. Plus, the technology is becoming progressively easier to use. Small businesses can actually get marketing automation campaigns up and running in a matter of weeks.

This post is by Mark Adams, director of Verizon's small business marketing team.

Have you created your business profile on Verizon’s WeCommerce application on Facebook?

If not, you must as it’s free! We designed WeCommerce, this business application just for you: small business owners so you can grow your business!  It is an open community for small business owners to find, create and make your own opportunities.  Here below are four unique ways:

• Promote your products and services to other small business owners at no cost to you.  Where else can you promote your business for free these days?

• Browse products, services and special offers from other small business owners. For instance, make a list of the things you buy for your company on a weekly or monthly basis. Search by category to find all the items on your list from other WeCommerce members then strike a deal that works for both of you.

• Network on this free platform to find the solution(s) that’s right for your business. Make contacts in the fields or industries you want. Then share ideas, partnering opportunities, and more! 

• Create an opportunity!  For instance a graphic designer is searching to work with an event planner, but your business needs a website…why not reach out anyway and determine how you two can work together to have a mutually beneficial outcome?

We will have a new live free webinar presented by Verizon tomorrow and our guests will share new research, technologies and regulations in debit and credit card payment processing to grow any small business in this sluggish economy. 

Miriam Blasé, director of partnerships, and Andy Goh, lead, information risk and compliance, both from Chase Paymentech will demystify the technology and regulations around understanding credit and debit card payments.

To join the live free webinar tomorrow at 2 p.m. ET click here or go to http://bit.ly/LybD7x. 

Weekly Roundup – Social Media Analytics, LinkedIn for Your Small Business and Growth for Home Business

Happy Friday! We are at it again – we found the following articles for you to help you run your small business better. 

This post is by Mark Adams, director of Verizon's small business marketing team.

Verizon’s Small Business team hosted Guy Kawasaki who shared with the audience many lessons learned while working with Steve Jobs.  Being the author of more than ten business-related books himself, Guy is such an accomplished individual that we could have spent an hour listening to him talk about his entrepreneurial spirit and accomplishments.  But this time around, Guy chose to share his real-life experiences and insights working alongside an individual whom many would regard as the most successful businessman of all time—Mr. Steve Jobs!

As a result of his tenure at Apple, Guy has formulated 12 lessons he attributes to working alongside Steve Jobs. 

It’s almost time for a new live free webinar presented by Verizon and I can’t wait to hear from our guest, Guy Kawasaki as he shares lessons he learned from Steve Jobs.  For those not in the know Guy was one of the creative geniuses behind Steve Jobs.  Guy is an author, co-founder of Alltop and managing director of Garage Technology Ventures.

Please register at least one hour before the start of the live free webinar to receive an “evite.” Click here to register or visit http://bit.ly/Q60nXF.

This post is by Paul Macchia: Best Practices in Fleet Management.

Fleet management technology is essential for small businesses to manage vehicle deployment and maintenance. Making day-to-day decisions based on real-time data instead of the usual guesswork cuts down on profit losses and boosts a small business’ efficiency.

Below is the second half of my conversation with Abdul Abdullah, director of transportation solutions at Verizon Enterprise Solutions, focusing on recent changes in fleet management technology and a few ideas of what to expect from the industry in the coming years.

Part 1 of this interview is available here.

What is the biggest change in fleet management that you’ve seen over the last year?

When it comes to technology, small businesses are adopting more machine to machine capabilities enabling a more efficient business practice. As they rely more on smartphones and tablets, they continue to look for new ways to improve efficiency, including managing their vehicles and personnel. Over the last year, the biggest change in our industry is that business owners are capitalizing on the incredible data speeds and connectivity of 4G LTE networks through a combination of devices and apps.

Not only does a reliable connection allow mobile workers and their vehicles to provide more concrete information about performance to fleet managers, but as technology has been further integrated into vehicles, drivers are now able to operate in a smarter digital environment. Our machine to machine technology allows the SMB to have actionable information that will provide visibility into an operation to help improve their ROI. 

Click here to read more or go to http://bit.ly/NwxkrV.

This post is by Paul Macchia: Best Practices in Fleet Management.

For many industries, such as transportation, healthcare and legal, fleet management is a concern of many small business owners looking to streamline vehicle and driver operations. Volatile fuel prices as well as prevailing legislation affecting safety measures make it imperative for fleet managers to streamline and improve their vehicle and driver operations, while delivering value and service to customers and remaining profitable.

Recently, I had an opportunity to sit down with Abdul Abdullah, director of transportation solutions at Verizon Enterprise Solutions. He shared his thoughts on transforming fleet management and the challenges many managers face today.

In what areas can fleet management systems help transform a small business?

Efficiency, accountability and visibility are most significant areas of opportunity. With a smarter system for cars, trucks or vans, SMB owners can reduce costs while also optimizing the fleet’s operations. Effective fleet management systems that focus on these areas give small business owners ample resources and methods for tracking, monitoring and routing their vehicles.

Click here to read more or go to http://bit.ly/PRR3VX. 

Happy Friday!  We found some interesting and helpful articles focused on improving your business.

Happy reading…

We are making solid progress in restoring services to wireline and wireless customers affected by the June 29 storm that cut a swath from Virginia to New Jersey. 

On Monday (July 2) the company resolved the remaining issues that affected calling to northern Virginia 911 centers in Fairfax and Prince William counties, and Manassas and Manassas Park.  All centers are now fully operational as company officials continue to work with 911 center staff to ensure their needs are met.  Verizon regrets the inconvenience to its customers.

The 911 system is designed so there is no single point of failure in the network to interrupt 911 service.  Unfortunately, the severity of this particular storm damaged multiple Verizon facilities in the affected area, which led to the weekend’s 911 issues.  Verizon will thoroughly examine these issues and take the necessary corrective action.

On the wireless front, over 99 percent of Verizon’s cell sites in the D.C., northern Virginia and Baltimore areas are currently up and running.  So, nearly all customers have wireless service. 

Weekly Roundup – Healthcare Decision’s Impact on Small Business, Advertising on Facebook and Get Your First 1,000 Users.  

TGIF! We found the following articles for you to help you run your small business better. 

Check out this free webinar presented by Verizon and learn more about the art of bartering.  While this webinar will provide insights to help any small business owner, I bet it’ll be useful for a shopaholic like me.   I wouldn’t mind giving some strategic PR advice for some new shoes… is that possible?  Or write something for a business owner to get something new and sparkly… imagine all the money I can save!   

I digress, this is about you: small business owners!  Our webinar features Debbie Sardone, small business owner, speaker and author of “Barternomics.”

In this one-hour live webinar discussion get tips, insights and learn the skills of bartering to get the things you need for your business – without paying a dime!  A tried-and-true barter advocate, Debbie is known as a ‘barter-preneur’ because of her ability to barter for the goods and services she needs for her business and life. 

Please click here to watch the replay or visit http://bit.ly/LnCsuA.

Happy Friday! We are at it again – we found the following articles for you to help you run your small business better. 

Happy Friday!  Please take a look at following articles to help run your small business better. 

This post is by Verizon’s small business team working hard every day to bring small businesses relevant, useful and helpful information which we hope will help you run your business better.  We know you are busy and we are here to help with many of our free resources.

You’ve got a great product or service and you’ve got a website, so of course the next logical thing to do would be to sell it online. Unfortunately, the world of ecommerce can be a tricky one. That’s why we’ve organized a couple of “Dos” and “Don’ts” to help you navigate the business of selling on the Internet.

The Verizon Small Business Center will present another free webinar tomorrow (June 13), featuring Dylan Tweney, executive editor of VentureBeat, to offer tips on how small business owners can use LinkedIn to not just make connections, but to grow their business.

Why find opportunities on LinkedIn you ask? From 2010 to 2011, LinkedIn grew at a rate of 115% higher than Facebook and Google. And, last December LinkedIn was the 36^th most visited website on the planet. 

During this live free webinar, Dylan will offer some new ways and strategies for you to harness the power of LinkedIn and promote your business.  It is much more than a networking site!  Please click here to register or visit http://bit.ly/KZWTBK.

We are at it again - please take a look at the following articles we found to help you run your small business better.

                                                      This is a guest post from Rose Stuckey Kirk, President of the Verizon Foundation.

It’s not easy to stand up and do something; it’s even tougher to take action.  However, action is needed to make change and that’s what was discussed at a panel the 2012 CECP Corporate Philanthropy Summit yesterday in New York City.

I was joined by senior leaders at Chevron Corporation, Hilton Worldwide and Fenton Communications to discuss the challenging societal issues that our companies each address.  From ending domestic violence to human trafficking and HIV/AIDS, we have all made significant commitments and have made tremendous results over the years.

We discussed the course and decisions that led to us wanting to make change and collectively agreed that for other companies – large or small – to take a stand, the issue need to align with your business objectives and it’s imperative that you are able to measure your impact in the community. 

Guest post from Monya Emery, manager of supplier diversity for Verizon. (Photo credit to NYT's Evening Hours)

At Verizon, we are committed to working with small and diverse businesses whenever we can throughout our sourcing and supply chain process.  We want to ensure the suppliers we work with are as diverse as the customers we serve.

Our diligence and dedication to working with small and diverse businesses has been recognized this year by several organizations that advocate them.  This year Verizon was ranked No. 8 on the DiversityBusiness.com “2012 List of Top 50 Companies for Multicultural Business Opportunities.” 

Verizon also pays tribute to the many small and diverse owned businesses that work with us, offering their cutting edge products and services, surpassing performance expectations and helping us exceed customer satisfaction targets, while continuously improving quality and customer service.  

Happy Friday!

Even though it’s a short work week, the extra day off seemed so very long ago!

Below some articles that I found of interest.

Here’s 5 ways to create more value from John Jantsch (Mr. Ducttape Marketing).  You want to be that company that people are talking about. 

You also want your employees to be your biggest champion.  Do you make the time to recognize your employees?  If not, check out this post.

If you have too many emails, here are some tips to a get a handle on it.

Guest post by Mark Adams, director of Verizon's small business marketing team.

As a small business owner you and your employee(s) may be very busy, but no matter how busy you are, it’s still important to recognize your employees’ work – even if that work is outside of the work they do for you.

We are so proud of Tracey Kennedy, a member on the Verizon Small Business team.  An award was established in her honor!

There’s an award called the Tracey A. Kennedy Leadership in Advocacy Award.  It was established in 2010, and named for one of the American Heart Association’s most passionate advocates and we are proud she is our employee and on my team.  It is awarded to outstanding individuals in recognition of their “lifetime achievement”, including outstanding leadership and tireless efforts in helping to promote the mission of the American Heart Association.