Word of Mouth Works Worldwide There are more marketing channels aimed at consumers than ever. Yet more than three-quarters of consumers surveyed worldwide find that consumer opinions are the most effective form of advertising, according to a Nielsen study.

As the number of small businesses continues to grow over the next five years, they will be spending more money online, new research shows.In a new report, “U.S. Online Small Business Market Category Forecast, 2007 to 2012,” New York-based JupiterResearch projects that total online spending by small businesses will exceed $70 billion by 2012, up from $47 billion in 2006.

How To Track Your Competitors In business, you always need to know what your competitors are doing. To survive you must perform competitive intelligence activities and monitor the broader market for new developments that could affect your company, your products and brands, suppliers, and distributors.

Take note of recent strides in understanding how our brains control sleep, learning, memory and other functions, and–even more important–how we can improve these faculties. Improved brain imaging has opened windows into how we learn, remember, recover and rest.

Top 10 mistakes entrepreneurs make when writing a Business Plan. -- Writing a Business Plan isn't rocket science, but it isn't a walk in the park either.

You may have the greatest company in the world. But if you don't know how to convey that to customers, you may as well not exist.

Mailing to rented or purchased e-mail lists won't establish the trust you need to reap - and keep - customers. Here are some strategies that will.

As a freelancer (or potential freelancer), you live and die by your ability to sell your services. And unless you’ve got some kind of agent or marketing firm doing your marketing for you, you’ve got to be your own marketer. If you’re like me, that doesn’t come naturally.

Taking a young business global shouldn't be a long-term dream -- it should be a reality. But going global, even in the fully-connected Web world, still requires more than just hanging up an Internet shingle and watching orders come in.

A must-read for any of those involved with a start-up company.