Small Business Labs

MARCH 13, 2012

One of our Top 10 Small Business Trends for 2012 is Loyalty Meets Daily Deals, which we describe as: We think 2012 will see daily deals morph beyond shotgun-style attempts to bring in new business to more targeted methods and systems designed to attract, retain and reward loyal customers. The startup Womply is an example of this shift.  The company’s Loyalty Cloud product provides a simple way for merchants to reward loyal customer.  It's very straight forward: Merchants decide o

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Credit Card 2012 Restaurants AT&T 133

Small Business Labs

MARCH 12, 2012

During Apple's recent iPad announcement CEO Tim Cook made several references to the "post-PC era" This led to a flurry of articles on the topic. At the simplest level, the post-PC era refers to the growth of computing devices that are not traditional PCs.  More specifically, the current use of the term refers to the growth of smartphones and tablets.      The term and concepts date back at least to the late 1990s when discussions of computer and Internet

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2011 Travel AT&T UPS 131

Small Business Labs

MARCH 16, 2012

Knowledge@Wharton's Mobile Marketing - Location Matters - But How Much?  covers a study done in Germany on the effectiveness of delivering customized coupons to users, based entirely on their location. The quick summary is location-based coupons proved proved to be very effective.  Key quote: The data showed that when marketers caught their audiences at the right place and at the right time with the right coupon, they were able to directly influence consumer behavior, incre

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Purchasing 127

Small Business Labs

MARCH 14, 2012

Liz Elcoate has a great article on her blog on her days of fear when she first started freelancing.   I love the picture below - it's from the article; and yes she's a designer.  I think it does a great job of explaining those early days for most folks who go out on their own.  It certainly describes how I felt.

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Small Business Labs

MARCH 15, 2012

Excellent article from the Hartbeat Newsletter on the rapidly changing American family.  According to the article, the quick summary is: the iconic nuclear family of the 1950s is kaput. They go to say there "really is no more a generalizable American family" and American families are effectively as diverse as America is.   The shifting American family is comprised of a series of inter-related trends that are powerful in their own right.  These include: Growing num

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