The Importance of Web Training for Small Businesses Several pieces of research have emerged that show many small businesses are failing to maximise the online opportunities available to them, despite the rise in e-commerce and digital marketing.

Twitter beats conventional advertising in Westminster Westminster has officially entered the digital age according to new evidence released today. The global study shows social media channels, such as Twitter and Facebook, are increasingly dominating British politics today.

Don't be seduced by Social Media & forget good customer service Small businesses seduced by the hype around social media risk alienating their customers by investing time and money in social interaction techniques they do not want, rather than focussing on getting the basics right.

Virtual networking no substitute for face-to-face, say women in business Face-to-face networking is more useful than virtual networking, say a staggering 96 per cent of business women in the UK, with only 4 per cent believing that online networking is more beneficial for their business.

Design for Small Business: Integrating Online Video into Your Marketing Mix Business Matters is working with iStockphoto, one of the best source of images and videos, to help your business increase its visual and marketing collateral with cost effective design options. Here James Leal-Valias, Creative Director at iStockphoto, gives you an introduction to using video to enliven your online content.

Small business bosses warned ‘Don’t Ignore Art of Social Media’ Experts warn social media is not just a number game and say that business owners must understand the blend of creativity and science behind social media if their business' campaign is to succeed.

Marketing on a shoestring budget becomes less challenging In today’s tough economic climate, marketing budgets are expected to work harder then ever. At the same time, technological advancements of the past decade have made it much easier to reduce promotional spending. Here are a few ways to get the most out of your marketing dollars.

Compassion in World Farming & MINI win The Big Bus Challenge CBS Outdoor UK, in association with Campaign magazine, have unveiled the long awaited winners of The Big Bus Challenge, at an awards ceremony at the London Transport Museum.

SMEs urged to analyse traffic correctly by web professionals SMEs are risking their online success by not analysing website data and optimising their sites accordingly. This is the warning issued by a panel of e-commerce experts at a recent round table.

Online Marketing: The tools have changed, the objective hasn't The Yellow Pages first hit doormats almost 50 years ago and, in the same way as thousands of UK businesses, the company has evolved in order to ensure that it stays connected with customers and current trends. Chris Brake from Yell examines how marketing techniques have changed with the digital age and how SMEs can maximise their opportunities online.

SMEs are still not going social Despite having access to a wealth of social media channels, only one per cent of UK SMEs use the likes of LinkedIn and Twitter to generate new business prospects.

Entrepreneurs put business on the agenda at the Edinburgh Festival Five Scottish entrepreneurs will pitch for the chance to win business support worth £50,000 at the Scotland heat of Britain's biggest small business pitching contest which has been endorsed as an official Edinburgh Festival Fringe event.

Winners of this year’s Vzaar Video Festival award announced Vzaar, a leading video hosting platform for business, have today announced that the hotly contested vzaar 2011 online video competition has been won by Karl Taylor Photography, with what vzaar CEO Stephen McCluskey describes as a film with “memorable, exquisite photography.”

How to design a great website on a budget Getting a business website up and running is easy and, with more and more people seeking information online, it’s increasingly important too. and whilst designing an effective website is slightly trickier, particularly if you’re working to a budget. Here is an overview of how to set up a professional website on a shoestring.

Athena networking launches second sales phase after surpassing target The Athena Network, the premier networking organisation for women in the UK, has announced having surpassed their target of obtaining 20 franchises by 2011 despite the recession, they are now launching their second development phase to sign up a further 20 franchises across the UK by end of 2012.

O2 joins Smarta to search for the UK's smartest small business Smarta and O2 have launched this year’s Smarta 100, the annual celebration of the most resourceful, original, exciting and disruptive small businesses in the UK.

Lord Sugar plays himself in lego animations for Linklocal relaunch The Boleg Bros, the secretive design and animation team behind who have been converting Lord Sugar's huge hit The Apprentice to Lego characters 'as a bit of fun' have been chosen to create an online marketing video to help increase the awareness of the entrepreneurs Amscreen and Link local on screen advertising company.

BlackBerry helps business prepare their brand and products for retailers Using her first-hand experience of pitching products to the high street, expert saleswoman Laura Rigney has written a guide ebook, part of the bite-sized series backed by BlackBerry, to help small-business owners through the process of presenting their products to the retail buyers

Big marketing agencies offer their services to small businesses The Marketing Agency Association have teamed up with Start Up Britain to run a week long schedule of activity from 4 to 8th July where members of the Association to offer free advice to small business owners on marketing, social media, communications etc.

Forget social media - think social business Social media. Those two laden words can wrench an exasperated sigh from even the most open-minded business leader. The press is demanding that you adapt or die; every other conference features a case study of Facebook gone wrong; and meanwhile your precious resources are being frittered away so that a temp can play on Twitter with no discernible return.