New local advertising portal launched for small businesses Amscreen, the UK’s largest digital media network owner has today launched Amscreen LinkLocal, a new service that allows local businesses to target potential customers by advertising on one of its 3,000 digital signage screens across the country.

Google Instant can affect your business on the web… really? The big search engine news this month has been the launch of Google Instant. We spoke to online marketing specialist Gareth Morgan to put into context what the change means for businesses which use the web to market their products.

Marketing on a Budget: Shock & Awe Getting your business exposure is key to healthy sales and steady growth. However, for an SME or start-up with a limited budget, decent coverage is hard to come by. That said, there are a number of ways to successfully market your business on a tight budget, and through this series of columns I aim to highlight the myriad effective yet budget-conscious ways to raise your business’ profile and, ultimately, boost sales.

Advertising Standards Authority gets online & social media power The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is extending its remit to cover the online realm, and so online marketing and ads will, from 1 March 2011, be subject to the same strict advertising rules as traditional media.

5 secrets to really harness Twitter for your business Should you follow everyone who follows you? Which hashtags should you use for your business? And is it a bad idea to start a reply with the @ symbol? Twitter is a killer marketing tool, if you know how to use it!

Yell to launch Facebook advert integration Yell, the online telephone directory service, is to give a strong boost to small businesses in the UK by enabling targeted advertising on Facebook.

Misner warns against playing the numbers game online & hails Kent as referral capital of Europe One of the world's leading business networking gurus Dr Ivan Misner has hit out against the explosion of "premature solicitation" for work on social media websites by people who play the numbers game rather than cultivate relationships.

Money down the drain as Social Media Experts train staff ‘to suck eggs’ Businesses could be wasting thousands on unecessary social media training which teaches many employees what they already know and could simply work to fuel the fear that middle aged workers have towards social media, claim experts at online marketing consultancy E-mphasis.

Win a role in a national TV campaign Alibaba.com, the world’s leading small business e-commerce company, is inviting its users to audition their business for a starring role in its forthcoming high profile UK ad campaign.

How many contacts can one person cope with? Who's worthy of going into your CRM system, Outlook, your mobile or your social network, etc.? What should be the criteria so you don't end up with 500 e-mail addresses and can't remember who half the people are?

Musician & entrepreneur Midge Ure wants business to aim high The musician and entrepreneur Midge Ure will be headlining a show with a difference as the guest speaker at a business event to promote and inspire great leadership.

Stand out on the high street - Choose a comedy name UK’s most common high street names revealed as business directory launches hunt for UK’s ‘punniest’ business

24 tips for using social media in your business Wading into the fast-moving flow of social media can be daunting to a small business owner with very little time on his hands. Here's Business Matters comprehensive social media cheat sheet for the time-strapped entrepreneur.

Explained: Elevator pitch The elevator pitch describes your company concisely and in a compelling way. The elevator pitch is the answer you give when you coincidentally meet someone in an elevator and they ask you: “So, what do you do?”

Are you Britain’s best entrepreneur? The UK’s most competitive search for exciting new businesses has returned and this year, your small business could be crowned Britain's best!

The complete guide to email marketing analytics Email marketing provides a wealth of valuable statistics which can improve campaigns for consumers and marketers, however many of these stats are misunderstood or not utilised effectively. To help demystify this Matt McNeill, who has over 12 years of email marketing experience and is the founder and CEO of Sign-Up.to. has written an ebook providing people with expert tips and actionable advice.

Twitter prank for small business boosts awareness to huge proportions In the age old tradition of marriage, there stands an even older tradition: the prank pulled off by the best man on the bride and groom. While the practice is ancient, it has taken on a new twist in the viral microblogging world of Twitter.

Creating a memorable brand We recently spoke to Mark Artus, CEO of 1HQ, one of Europe’s largest branding companies to get his top 10 branding tips.
Mark has been the brains behind the advertising campaigns for the likes of Kraft, Nestle, Rowntree and Heinz, amongst many others and knows how to create memorable brands.

Exactly how do i launch my business? Anyone with a good idea and adequate common sense can start a business, but establishing and growing it is another matter.

In the current climate, where money lending has all but dried up, orders are falling, and firms are trimming all the fat possible by cutting costs, the hard part is often working out how to grow your business.

How should your business use social media? Do you have a business Twitter feed as well as a personal one? Does your business have a FaceBook page? Want to know how best you should use Social Media to build your brand?

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