By Frank J. De Raffele Jr

Each year I write an article focused on trend for the coming year. I am writing this one a little earlier this year, September vs. December, so we as small business owners have some time to adapt these trends into your strategic planning for next year.

By Ramon Ray

Protect Your Data Outside the Office

If you ever use public wi-fi (at the airport, at Starbucks), your business data could be exposed. Many sites, including Gmail and Facebook, don’t encrypt data, which means you could be operating insecurely. To ensure your data is secure, install a Virtual Private Network or VPN. It encrypts your data and keeps it safe no matter where you’re accessing it.

By NAVFAC

Honor.Purpose.Challenge: Women of the Seabees and Civil Engineer Corps

By eMarketer

LinkedIn ad revenues at $140.8 million this year

Worldwide social network ad revenues will reach $5.54 billion this year, eMarketer estimates, with just under half that amount, $2.74 billion, coming from the US market.

By Cully Stimson

The Office of Military Commissions quietly launched a new website this past Monday that was a year in the making.  Located at www.mc.mil, it is an invaluable informational site loaded with court documents, historical information, Supreme Court cases dealing with military commissions, and other pertinent and helpful information.  In a week when the buzz around Washington was that the case against al Nashiri (the USS Cole bomber held at Gitmo) would be referred to a military commission, the website is a long overdue and potent symbol of transparency in the new and improved military commission process.

By Anna Harper-Hess
Manta Sr. Manager of Customer Success

Social media sites allow us to connect quickly and stay connected to people and brands faster than ever before, which means we form closer relationships and have quick access to new people and opportunities. While most small businesses know it’s important to use social media, they often don’t know how to outline an effective strategy. Here are some tips on setting up a rock-solid social media program.

By Ramon Ray

The big trend now is for small businesses to move more and more of their operations to the cloud.

I love the world of “cloud computing.” I love how I can use a browser and have all of my data--anywhere I can get to a browser. I also like how through my mobile phone, I can access a variety of online tools and have almost the same power and flexibility as I would have on a desktop computer. Way cool and productive.

By C. L. Reese

Are these customer relationship mistakes damaging your business?

The relationship between a small company and its customers is a tricky one. While not as intense as that with family members, surprisingly enough, long-term business relationships have similar risks for both parties as any other "friendship."

By Seth Sternberg

Rewind to the year 2000. There was an explosion in internet innovation. The stock market was starting to get shaky. Lycos, Yahoo! (YHOO), Infoseek and Excite had sewn up internet search.

Sept 13, 2011 (by emarketer)

The telecom industry is one of the biggest spenders on online advertising. Between 2010 and 2011, telecom ad spending climbed by 7% to $3.62 billion and eMarketer estimates the industry will spend close to $4.6 billion on online ads by 2015.