By: Angie Mansfield

Taking your employees to trade shows can be expensive due to travel expenses and registration fees. But the benefits for both you and them may be well worth it.

Here are a few things your employees will find at trade shows:

Information About Trends and Resources

A trade show can be a great place to learn about what's hot in your industry right now, and what trends to expect in the near future.

This can help you develop products and strategies to take advantage of those trends -- which can make a huge difference to your bottom line.

Networking Opportunities with Other Retailers

Encourage your employees to mingle and network with other retailers at the show.

This networking may result in new business leads, or it may give your staff new ideas for how to improve and grow your business.

The relationships you foster at trade shows can also turn into long-term mutual support, giving both companies a sounding board for future ideas.

Read related content: 

• Promoting Your Small Business
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• Five Reasons Your Small Business Needs to Attend Trade Shows

Information on the Competition

A trade show is a perfect place to check up on the competition without a lot of effort.

You and your employees can judge where you stand compared to your major competitors. By determining what they're doing right or wrong, you can better identify your own strengths and weaknesses.

Education

Whether it's an educational seminar, a networking event, or a survey, participating in everything a trade show has to offer creates plenty of learning opportunities.

Your employees can learn about business trends, marketing strategies that are working right now, and in-depth information about your industry. All of these things will help them better do their jobs when they come home.

Successful Trade Show Attendance

There are several things you can do to improve your trade show experience and get the most out of it:

• Plan ahead and pre-register so you won't have to worry about a last-minute scramble to get organized.
• Have a meeting well in advance of the trade show and make a plan with your employees for what they need to accomplish while at the show. This plan can include visiting vendors, seminars you want them to attend, and items you need to buy.
• Keep a notepad and pen handy to jot down notes, and bring along a bag to hold literature and promo items you'll collect while exploring the show.
• Make sure everyone takes a healthy stack of business cards, and encourage them to introduce themselves to plenty of other attendees.
• You and your employees will likely accumulate a lot of brochures, samples, and promotional items. Everyone should leave room in their suitcases to carry these items home.

A trade show can be a great experience for both you and your team.

While the travel and registration costs may seem expensive, the value you gain from educational and networking opportunities will more than make up for it.

About the Author: Angie Mansfield is a freelance writer whose work covers topics of interest to both consumers and small business owners, including billfloat.

Photo Credit

By: Amy Morin 

There is a wide discrepancy between employers about whether or not employees should have access to social media while they’re at the office. While some employers ban it, others actually encourage it.

With that in mind, it’s important to educate yourself about the pros and cons of social media use at work before developing a social media policy.

Blocking Social Media Access

Some companies block access to all social media.

However, software to block social media sites can be expensive and often, it doesn’t work. Many employees will find their way around it anyway.

Also, most employees will still be able to access social media from their own mobile devices even if they can’t do so from their work computer.

Therefore, employers should think long and hard about whether or not it makes sense to allow employees to access social media sites.

Pros of Allowing Employees to Use Social Media

Some studies show that employees who access social media from work can actually be more productive. Employees who reward themselves by going on Facebook for a few minutes when a task is completed might be more motivated to finish the task.

Socializing at work isn’t new.

Employees who used to gather around the water cooler to chat can now interact with one another from their desk.

Social media allows employees to interact with friends and family outside of the office too, which may be able to boost morale and prevent them from making lengthier phone calls to their loved ones.

Allowing access to social media can even be a good way to promote your business. After all, an employee is likely to mention where he works or what products he sells which can be a great way to gain word of mouth advertising.

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Cons of Allowing Employees to Use Social Media

Despite some of the potential positives of social media, there are certainly some downsides. Many employers worry that social media will be too distracting and that it will encourage employees to waste time.

Another common concern raised by employers is that social media will encourage gossip, drama and sexual harassment in the workplace. 

When employees are discussing non-work related topics with one another and with people outside the company during work hours, it raises concerns about the employer’s responsibility to monitor the conversation.

Developing a Social Media Policy

It’s best to take a proactive approach to developing a social media policy. Rather than wait for a problem to arise, create a simple social media policy for your employees that clearly outlines your expectations.

Address issues related to your confidentiality policy and appropriate online behavior. Talk to employees about marketing via social media and your expectations for their discussions about their employment.

Check out other businesses’ social media policies. This can provide you with a guide about how to word your social media policy.

Educate your staff up front and encourage ongoing discussions about social media.

In the end, this can prevent problems and also help you stay up to date on how to address issues as they arise.

About the Author: Amy Morin writes about psychology, business and topics such as small business payroll.

By: Tina Samuels

If you have a business website, you know that increased traffic means increased sales and profit. But just how do you go about getting that additional website flow?

Here are some of the most helpful tips and tricks to getting more people to view your business website.

Social Media Buttons

Putting social media share buttons on your website can be a great way to get additional visitors. This way your visitor "shares" the page with everyone in their network and those people can visit and be part of your network as well.

Sharing pages is a great way to help get into a different demographic and is one of the easiest, cheapest ways to get your advertising seen.

SEO, or Search Engine Optimization

SEO is the manner of using specific keywords to boost your site. If you are a toy train distributor, you may want to be #1 in Google when people type in "toy trains".

By using this keyword prominently throughout the site, you boost your chances of being seen when web surfers use that term in a search engine. Keep in mind that too many uses of a keyword is considered keyword spamming and can be bad.

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Get a Mailing List

Whenever you have a sale or contact, ask them if they want to be on the mailing list. Sell it to them as a way for them to get additional deals and promotions that are exclusive to the list receivers. Mailing lists are a great way to assure you'll get more traffic.

Put up useful tips and tricks on your website, how-to's, or anything that will be of value to the reader and link to it on the mailing list. Do not put everything in the email, as they won't need to go to the site at that point.

USE PPC Ads

PPC, or pay-per-click advertising, is used to bring interested people to your website that would normally not browse it.

These type of ads are a great way to use traffic that is generated from a keyword you choose. Getting a PPC campaign started is easy and creates a wonderful return on your investment.

Quality over Quantity

Make sure you aren't just posting random items that have no value to the reader.

Daily or even more frequent posts that state filler is not going to be taken well and may end up costing you readers. However, weekly posts with informative posts and ideas can make your site and post something that people want to read and share with others.

Business websites depend on a steady stream of eyes to view its contents. More visitors staying longer per page means that they are seriously considering what you have to offer.

This can mean an increase in sales and profits, helping your bottom line.

So, just how savvy are you when it comes to increasing your website traffic?

About the Author: Tina Samuels writes on small business topics and personalities like Steve Wynnand Gary Crittenden.

By: Dave Thomas 

How do you go about attracting new customers and retaining old customers?

If you have trouble answering that question, it may be time to reconsider what you are and aren’t doing right with your business.

For many business owners, the time has more than come that they realize blogging, social media, search engine optimization (SEO), marketing, and other such efforts are not just a choice, but a necessity in order to stay competitive in today’s fast -paced world.

While some have proven better than others when it comes to a number of the above-mentioned items, others have unfortunately remained the same or even taken a turn for the worse. In such cases, it leaves their ability to reach out to customers tenuous at best.

If you are looking to make amends on some of the ways you connect with current and potential customers, look no further than your company blog.

In essentially what adds up to time and effort, you can craft your blog to be one that leaves consumers talking about, promoting on their own, and coming back for more. That being said, do you know how to go about it? If not, consider some of these helpful hints:

1. Be relevant - It may sound like a no-brainer, but how relevant is your blog to the products and/or services your company offers? Keep in mind that one of the reasons consumers come to your website in the first place is to be better educated about the products and services available. If you blog but don’t tie in the content to what you offer, why should the consumer keep coming to the blog page? Relevancy matters, so think about how each post you write will be relevant to your readers (i.e. customers).

2. Be authoritative - One of the main reasons customers will come to your blog page in the first place is to be educated about the products and services not only you offer, but to gain knowledge on the respective industry in the first place. Your blog posts should be informative, interesting, easy to follow along with, and serve as a call to action. If your posts come across as garbled, boring, providing misinformation, you will not be viewed as a leader in your respective industry.

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3. Be up to date - Another gaffe that can turn people off regarding your company blog is being updated infrequently. If you update your blog here and there, readers can put two and two together, realizing you don’t give much time to your blog. So, if you don’t give much time to the blog, what else do you give little or no time to with your business? Perhaps your customer service is so-so? Maybe you don’t after all offer the latest in products and services? While your blog should not be your center piece, it should be given the proper attention, meaning not just updated on occasion or when you feel like it. If you are struggling to place copy on it, check out other similar blogs for ideas and direction. The goal along with having good content is to rank high in search engines, meaning you can’t just update it from time to time.

4. Be a promoter - Finally, make sure your blog is properly promoted, i.e. social media for starters. You should use your company Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and other social media pages to run links back to your blog page. Not only is the good for increasing traffic, but  it shows consumers that you are proud of and confident your blog is worth their time. If you have the opportunity to guest blog on other sites, by all means do it. You can win by getting link exchanges, along with opening up your business to other consumers who may not have been aware of what you offer. You also stand to gain traction on the search engines too when you promote.

While you have many important things to do each and every day in running a business, don’t neglect your company blog.

The truth is, your blog could be one of your best advertisers when all is said and done.

About the Author: With 23 years’ writing experience, Dave Thomas covers a variety of business and consumer topics, including the importance of doctor reputation when seeking medical assistance.

By: Peter Walters

Promoting your small business is important...no, actually it’s essential to your success.

But where should you start? Do you need a marketing director with 20 years of experience, or could a college intern do the trick? How much money is needed? Do you need a full time designer on staff?

These are all questions that should be swirling around your head as you begin to think about promoting, marketing and otherwise advertising your business.

Here are three simple areas to focus on as you get started.

1) Website

While it seems obvious, many companies neglect to give their website the attention - both through design and user interface - that they should.

This is your first avenue for self-promotion, and can either be a driver of sales, or something pithy and throw together, as if an afterthought. If you’re in the second camp, it’s time to make some changes. Where do your eyes go first when you get to your home page? Is there an immediate call to action-- and if there is, does it reflect your top priorities (i.e. sign-up, purchase, etc.)? Your website should be bright, compelling and draw customers deeper in to learn more. Tease them with surface level information about what you do. The longer a potential customer spends on your website, the greater the likelihood that they will convert and make a purchase or sign up.

Your website also should link to your blog. Be sure to include relevant and highly searched SEO keywords so you’ll rank higher on Google’s search!

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2) Email Blasts

While some strategists argue that email is going away, the numbers seem to say otherwise.

Just check in your inbox to see. Bet there’s a lot of companies trying to sell you things, right? It’s telling that presidential campaigns rely heavily on email blasts to get both money and votes. Sending marketing emails effectively is another matter altogether, however.

The more personal, relevant and “human” looking and sounding, you craft your message, the better. While only an estimated 10% of marketing emails are even opened, that’s better than none at all. Email blasts are inexpensive, immediate, measurable and direct.

3) Social Media

If you’re not using social media...wake up!

Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram are the top tools you should be using. Each has their own purpose, but each is important. With these tools you can target, and speak directly to your customers, and acquire new ones through very targeted ads. How many Likes does your brand’s Facebook page have? Twitter followers? Play with the Facebook Ads Manager to run short trials of various types of ads. Segment your target audience with different copy and images to see what sticks most. Engage customers and share interesting pictures or articles on Twitter. Take beautiful pictures of relevant things and post them to Instagram.

Social media offers a fantastic, largely free opportunity to get your business name and values in front of a huge number of people. This could be someone’s full time job, so it would be wise to take it seriously.

At the end of the day, are you doing all you can to promote your small business?

About the Author: Peter Walters is a freelance blogger for various sites, including the Huffington Post and ripoffreportadvice. He is also the Director of Business Development at Two Degrees Food and lives in San Francisco.

By: Tina Samuels

Everyone in business world knows: money matters.

This is particularly true when you are running a business. You need to pay bills, keep employees happy with their salary, and still manage to make a profit.

The answer to keeping a company running doesn't involve paying the least amount possible to employees. Keeping pay rates below the competition is one way to ruin your own company. You'll need to offer pay that is high enough to nab you high quality employees, but not so high that you can't keep things afloat.

What Should You Be Paying?

Figure out your pay practices before interviewing applicants. If you don't know what you should be offering or how to counter pay requests from applicants, you won't be able to make the right decision. Review the previous payment practices of your company.

You can base some of your decision on past decisions, but keep in mind your company's budget.

Can you afford to pay more without affecting customer, product, or total profits? Would an increase in pay keep better employees which in turn can improve business? All of these questions should be figured into your decision on what you should be paying.

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What Are Competitors Paying?

It can be hard to find out exactly what your competition is paying their employees.

If a company is paying lower rates, they don't want to be outpaid by the competition. There are websites, such as Payscale.com, that can give you an idea of what is being paid to employees in your industry.

When advertising the position you are wishing to fill, define the responsibilities of the position clearly. If you are seeking an entry level applicant, say so. Understand that highly experienced and qualified applicants will demand a higher salary.

To keep everyone on the same page, set your pay scale.

Communicate to applicants clearly what this scale is and what you base it on. Entry level applicants will start at the low end, while experienced applicants may receive the top end of the scale. You must consider future events in your scale, such as raises for cost of living, performance, and experience.

Benefit Options

If you are paying a lower rate than competitors, think about sweetening the deal for applicants.

Add more benefits or job perks in order to lure quality applicants. While a high pay is nice, a full benefits package and perks such as casual clothing days, days to leave early, and options for partial telecommuting can make your company more appealing.

It can cost you substantially less to offer in house perks or great benefits when trying to beat the competition. Most perks are known as 'quality of life' perks.

These can include flex time, sweet vacation or personal day packages, discounts at local eateries and business, or almost anything that can improve the quality of life for employees.

Budgeting for the future, considering you competition, and adding perks is a sure way to ensure you will tempt the best quality applicants to your company.

About the Author: Tina Samuels writes on mobile payments, social media, and small business topics.
 

By: Tina Samuels

Canada has long been open to new small businesses.

It is one of the best places in the world to open a new business. Much of the country's GDP comes from small business, the bulk of exports also comes from small business.

So what type of challenges can a business owner expect to face in Canada?

Sustainability

Major strides have been made in the eco-conscious environment of the 21st Century. People care about where their products come from, how the products are made, and if the products can last for a long time.

Viability isn't the only concern for Canadian businesses – sustainability is the major concern for now and the future. If a company can't sustain business practice in a manner that helps preserve the environment, they most likely will not survive.

Current economic conditions are best for businesses that can do more with less.

Disposable items aren't nearly as popular these days, nor are chemical laden products. The less chemicals present in a product, the better reception is in the market. People want durable, simple goods created with fair trade practices. When a small business can meet these demands, they are overcoming a huge challenge in today's market.

Read related content:

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Border Sales

Another challenge to businesses in Canada is the cross border trade systems.

The complexity of associated paperwork and different requirements for such trade can cause some business owners to avoid cross-border trade. The Canadian government has a number of regulations concerning cross-border trade, as does the United States.

To help cut down on the amount of red tape you can make sure that all of the information for a product or service is stated clearly on all packaging or service manuals.

Have all information in a place where customers can find it (i.e.- website), have all of your company's contact information in an easy to find place, and even create a website where all cross-border trade is conducted.

Border Services

The Canada Border Service and U.S Customs and Border Protection has information that can help these border businesses work smoothly.

Due to a growing global trade, crossing the border to buy items shouldn't be out of the question. Moving forward into a global economy, working with governmental border agencies may become less stringent. There will always be regulations, as some countries or provinces will have items that cannot be legally imported or exported

For example - some states in the U.S. do not allow postal delivery of alcohol from other states or countries to individuals. Such regulations exist from state to state and can be found by checking regulations online or through border services.

Challenges faced by business in Canada are different from those in the US, but can be similar.

It is easier to start a small business in the Great White North, as people seem to embrace individuality. However, due to the different culture reaching across the border can be a challenge. Expectations of each country are different.

As small business evolves to comprise more of Canada's economy, it is likely that the challenges will evolve as well.

About the Author: Tina Samuels writes news articles on the web about social media, small business, and marketing.

By: Adam Groff 

The answer is...YES, your business can benefit from Google+ in ways you probably aren’t even aware of. 0A bevy of companies are already discovering the benefits of Google+ by simply signing up for a free, yes free account.

So, what are some of the ways Google+ can help bring your business to new heights?

Built-In Audience

Chances are many of your customers already have a Google+ account and, with more and more people signing up everyday, the Google+ audience is rapidly growing.

Once your business account is setup, Google+ automatically suggests adding people to your circle you may already know. The more friend and business acquaintances your business has, the more your account and Google+ presence grows.

Linking Possibilities

Use your Google+ business page to link back to your company’s own website or your company’s social media sites like Facebook fan pages and Twitter accounts. It’s quick, easy, effective, and is a quality form of linking.

Likewise, your Google+ profile is a great place to not only describe your business and include a mission statement, it’s also a prime location to include links to your company’s website and other relevant pages.

Share and Engage

With Google+, your company can share content while also engaging customers, other businesses, and general users. By sharing articles, videos, and photos important to your business, other users can rate each post and provide feedback that your company can actually respond to.

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Gain Authorship

Creating content for your company is a lot of work and Google+ allows your business to claim authorship of every word written.

Your Google+ business profile in combination with an authorship account will help your business in becoming an online authority that other Google+ users will follow.

Search Rankings

As long as your business updates its status regularly and includes relevant topics and links, your company’s Google ranking will increase.

This betters search results and influences what searchers see when your business adds the +1 button to its content.

Instant Indexing

Any status updates or content posted to your Google+ business page are automatically indexed into your search results.

This means anybody in your Google+ network will instantly see what your business is up to.

Google+ Local

Being indexed within local search results is especially important for small businesses and startups. With Google+ Local, when potential customers search for local products and services, they’ll see reviews and recommendations from current customers relating specifically to your business.

Google+ Tools

If Google+ plus isn’t making your business life easier, than surely the tools and widgets they offer will. As stated before, the +1 button makes it easier for customers to instantly connect to your Google+ business page.

Likewise, Google+ provides social reports that allow your business to track social media efforts, conversations, and the effectiveness of each and every post your business makes. And, with Google+ Do Share, you can schedule posts and updates to your business page ahead of time in case you have a busy week ahead.

So, as you can see, Google+ and the business world work seamlessly together to make your company and your life that much easier.

If you are using Google+ for your business, what have your experiences been to date?

About the Author: Adam Groff is a freelance writer and creator of content. He writes on a variety of topics including technology, David Kiger, and social media.

Photo Credit: Design Taxi

By: Angie Mansfield

According to the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business Index, Canada is the third easiest country in which to start a business, behind only Hong Kong SAR, China, and Singapore.

For a Mexican or U.S. company looking to expand or move, Canada is a great choice.

Here's why:

1. Ease of Opening

According to The World Bank's Doing Business report, Canada has one of the simplest business startup processes in the world. Opening your business there requires only one procedure, and takes around five days -- one of the quickest turnarounds among nations analyzed in the report.

2. Business Friendly

Another report, KPMG's Guide to International Business Location Costs, showed Canada coming in 5% lower in terms of overall cost of doing business, compared to the United States.

Some costs, such as employee benefits and freight rates, did increase in Canada last year -- but they were offset by lower industrial facility costs and natural gas rates.

Coupled with a very stable banking market (Canada is one of the safest countries in which to invest, according toDun & Bradstreet), this lower cost of doing business makes the country very attractive for businesses.

3. Large Pool of Skilled Workers

Canada has a great education system and many first-class business and engineering schools. This means that the country has a great percentage of degree-holding, skilled employees.

Canada's labor turnover is half that of America, likely due to its unions and its focus on employee and human rights. And the country's high computer literacy rates means a large pool of technology-savvy workers from which companies can draw.

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4. Quality of Life

With excellent literacy rates, education, and income distribution, Canada is one of the most equitable countries in which to live. It's also got a diverse cultural makeup, because of its welcoming attitude toward immigrants and refugees.

In fact, according to theOrganization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Canada ranks third in the world for quality of life. Ranked on factors such as income, housing, jobs, education, health, and life satisfaction, Canada scored high in most categories.

5. Access to North American Market

Perhaps the most important factor on this list, Canada enjoys easy trade with the United States and Mexico, thanks to the North American Free Trade Agreement. Canada and the U.S. are the largest trading partners in the world, thanks to affordable delivery costs between the countries.

Canada presents a great opportunity for North American businesses looking to expand or move operations. Its status as a business-friendly country is set to grow even more in the coming years, as (according to Infrastructure Canada) it focuses on infrastructure projects such as green initiatives, waste management, and transportation -- all programs that represent an opportunity for many small businesses.

Is Canada on your business radar screen?

About the Author: Angie Mansfield is a freelance writer covering topics and people of interest to consumers and small business owners, such as small business management and Steve Wynn.

The 7-inch Kindle Fire starts at $214 and the 9-inch version of the e-reader starts $284. Amazon.com is taking preorders as of May 23, and the Kindle will be shipped on June 13.

“The Kindle Fire features a high-definition display with a polarizing filter and anti-glare technology, as well as Dolby audio and dual-driver stereo speakers. It’s powered by a 1.2 Ghz dual-core processor and includes free unlimited could storage for all Amazon content,” according to Techvibes.com

The Kindle Fire is a popular choice for book enthusiast. Among the ease of use, users can download their favorite books in a flash that bypasses the traditional bookstore and waiting in a line to purchase your favorite titles. Books tend to be a tad cheaper on the popular e-reader, which is another popular component for those who purchase a lot of books.

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With over 23 million movies, TV shows, songs, magazine, book, audiobooks, and popular apps and games such as Facebook, Netflix, Twitter, HBO GO, Pandora, and Angry Birds Space – users are promised freedom from boredom.

There is integrated support for Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo!, and Exchange calendar, contacts, and email support.

The Kindle Fire also featur Prime Instant Video – unlimited streaming of thousands of popular movies and TV shows, and Prime Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, where Kindle owners can choose from more than 270,000 books to borrow for free with no due dates. 

Billabong, a surf, skate and skiwear group recently put its Canadian retail operation up for sale. This is another sign that the Company does not expect a takeover to happen. The sale includes the 70-store West 49 chain, purchased by Billabong in 2012 as part of attempt to enter into retail.

Last year Colin Haggerty, head of global retailing was given the daunting task of turning around the chains performance. Apparently he was able to succeed the decline of the Company in recent months.

Six branded Billabong stores will be included in the sale, 18 under the Amnesia banner and two Element branded retail locations will be included as well.

Negotiations of potential takeovers remain in the balance and delays have encouraged Chief Executive Officer, Launa Inman to proceed with plans to sell Billabong.

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“The business cannot stand still,” a company spokesman said. “We have previously detailed our plans around transformation and global simplification including retail, and where and when appropriate we will action them.”

The threat of a takeover has been looming since February 2012, with three potential buyers who after seeing the company’s accounts pulled out of the deal.

According to The Austrialian.com “The most recent interested party is a consortium comprising U.S. private equity fund Sycamore Partners and former Billabong Americas chief Paul Naude, however they have allowed a series of deadlines to expire without making a final offer, reducing investor expectation that a deal will be done.”

Source: The Australian

Canadian retailers have found themselves in a battle for customers. Between the arrival of big-name U.S. retailers and the growing popularity of shopping in the U.S., they are struggling to stay ahead. Price slashing seems to be their only plan for battle according the latest retail numbers.

The sales figures released on Wednesday were smaller than expected. Overall sales remained constant on a monthly basis in March as a result of the lower prices. The volume of sales was up to 0.7 per cent.

The biggest sellers were in the clothing, shoe and jewelry sectors. Those items that are generally purchased at American stores because the there is often more of an assortment with more alluring prices.  Sales in the group, which covers clothing, shoes, jewelry, luggage and leather goods stores – were up 3.1 per cent. That is the largest gain among the 11 sectors tracked by Statistics Canada.

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Clothing is “probably Exhibit A for something that’s affected by cross-border shopping,” according to Douglas Porter, chief economist of BMO Capital Markets.

The high Canadian duty-free limits for short-term visitors to the U.S. paired with the Canadian dollar has made shopping in the U.S. hard to resist. To urge consumers to shop in Canada and to compete with Target Canada – retailers are slashing their prices.

“Consumers are only willing to buy (in Canada) when prices are cut to the bone. They’re forcing retailers to be extremely competitive,” Mr. Porter told Canada Real Time.

In March, Target opened its first Canadian stores in southern Ontario. Canadians flocked to new stores and pleasantly surprised Target Corp by exceeding the Companies project sales for the first quarter. The overall profits of the chain reported a 26 per cent drop.

Chief Financial Officer John Mulligan says, “Whenever we open a new store in the U.S., there is a rush of traffic and sales as curious guests shop it for the first time. But the rush in Canada exceeded our expectations.”

The Canadian store produced $86 million (USD) in sales despite the fact the stores were open just over half of the quarter that ended on May 4.

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The biggest sales were seen in the home and clothing categories, which didn’t surprise the Company as statistically customers tend to gravitate toward those sections on their first trip to Target.

“We experienced an unexpectedly strong surge in sales as guests were eager to see their newly opened Target store,” said Gregg Steinhafel, Target’s chairman, president and chief executive officer.

Two weeks ago, Target opened a second wave of 24 Canadian stores in Alberta, Manitoba and British Columbia. The Company plans to open 20 more stores later this quarter, and if everything goes correctly by the end of 2013 there will be 124 Target stores nationwide.

“This means we expect to open more Target stores in our first year in Canada than we opened in our first 10 years in the United States,” said Mr. Steinhafel.

By : Alice Lawson

Business cards are incredibly important for yourself or your company’s success; they help promote you as a person but also your brand or services. We are a growing country which relies on business expertise and professionalism, however how are you going to get your business expertise noticed if you don’t market yourself appropriately?

The business card is one of the most powerful tools to attract attention, and is ideal if you have yet to make a name of yourself. As a recent graduate I understand the importance of making a name for yourself in the business world, and one way in which I progressed within my career was to create my own business cards.

If you struggle to understand what to put on your business card, take a look at others in the same industry as you, what have they got on the front of their cards?  What I would suggest is to research into the most common information which should be put on your business card which I know to be:  your name, your occupation, the company or business you work with, your phone number and most importantly your photograph.

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By including a professional image on your business card you will more likely be remembered, as it is a known fact that more often than not people are remembered through face value rather than through words.

When creating your cards be sure not to include too much clutter on the face of the card, it is easy to forget that too much will result in the card being thrown away rather than read.

Business cards enable you to promote yourself in a way which is easy, convenient and won’t cost you a fortune. There are many business card templates  which you could use in order to create your high quality designs for your cards, be creative, be interesting and more importantly be yourself.   

By: Justin McGill 

Do one SEO tactic incorrectly, or too frequently, and you could be facing Google punishments that remove your website from their search results. This is not a gamble that most businesses can afford, as most consumers initially find a business online.

In fact, Inc.com ran a survey and found that 7 out of 10 consumers said they are more likely to use a local business if they have a social media presence and another 78% said ratings and reviews are important when deciding what to buy.

Google has made some significant changes in the last couple of years when it comes to ranking your website in search results. Google Panda and Google Penguin are the two major updates you may have heard about, and many more are coming.

Here are some of the major abuse tactics that were employed by SEO’s and some workarounds that you should be implementing in their place.

1. Lots of Advertising

Websites that existed primarily to sell advertising were a prime target of this update. Google wants to return relevant results to its users and having ad-heavy websites populate at the top of their search results were not what users wanted.

Solution: Limit your advertising and focus on the content. Content is going to be the theme of this post and for good reason; it is the theme of Google’s recent updates.

2. Duplicate or Unoriginal Content

Shortly after the Panda update that targeted web spammers, site owners were complaining that their original content was being outranked by duplicate/spam websites. They asked webmasters to help them better identify websites that scraped the original content.

Solution: It is still of utmost importance to provide original content that users find useful. Not just original in wording by saying the same thing thousands of others have stated, but by truly being useful to the audience.

3. Link Building Networks

Google ranks websites largely based on how important and relevant they deem a website to be. This is based on how many links are pointing to a website. So, naturally, SEO’s went to whatever was easiest to build links. This typically included link networks, low quality directory sites, and a host of others. Google Penguin rolled out and crushed these methods of acquiring links.

Solution: Do something or offer something meaningful to your customers or users. Build real relationships with real people offline and online to help spread the word. This is where social media can really play an important role. You want links from a variety of sources.

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4. Over-optimization

In the older days of SEO, you could find a high search volume keyword and then build all your links using that keyword and put the keyword all over your website and you would be found on page 1 of search results. This technique no longer works and has been punished. In fact, if the majority of your links use the same keywords over and over, and your website has the same keywords everywhere, you probably noticed that your website completely disappeared in Google’s search results.

Solution: Build links with your company name linked instead of keywords. Sometimes don’t even actually link, as a “co-citation” is valuable as well. Use things like “Click here” when linking also. Basically, your links should be completely natural.

SEO Isn’t Just SEO Anymore

Nowadays, Google is looking at much more than on-page copy and off page links to determine their rankings. You need to have a well-rounded content marketing strategy in place (start blogging!), you need to be active and get people engaged on social media, and you probably need an updated website. Your website should be easy to use, quick to load, be responsive so it loads nicely on mobile and tablet devices, and have original website content.

Justin McGill is the CEO and Founder of SEORCHERS, a local marketing and lead generation company. Connect with him on LinkedIn or find him on Google+.

By: Adam Groff

The Great White North has its fair share of successful industries that continue to prosper year after year even in the worst economic climates. Although the Canadian market isn’t as large or diverse as some of the other markets in the world, it’s every bit as stable if not more so.

With that in mind, here’s a list of the top five industries prospering in Canada.

1. Agriculture

When it comes to wheat and grains, Canada has it covered.

In fact, Canada is one of the largest suppliers of agricultural products in the world. Due to its strategic location Canada exports most of its crops to its big brother of the south, America.

As part of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Canada practices fair-trading by ensuring whatever it puts on the market agriculturally doesn’t influence the price of crops in other countries. Canada’s agricultural sector is steadily growing every year and accounts for 8% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product.

2. Energy

Due to its abundance of oil and natural gas, Canada has quickly become a world leader in energy resources.

Canada not only has the third largest oil reserve in the world, it’s also a world leader in hydroelectric power with Quebec, Ontario, and Saskatchewan all using vast amounts of hydroelectric energy.

Because of the abundant energy resources available, Canada’s oil exporting and other energy related products make up for 2.9% of the country’s GDP. Additionally, Canada has adopted solar and wind energy production as the next major industry in the energy sector ensuring continued prosperity.

3. Technology

Although it’s for the most part undervalued, Canada’s technology industry is one of the strongest in the world. And, thanks to the Canadian Startup Visa, which is a government Visa aimed at bringing in new tech companies from all over the world, Canada will continue to change the world’s technology landscape.

The government Visa will undoubtedly bring the brightest minds to Maple Leaf Country and give places like Silicon Valley and India a run for their technology. Canada’s technology industry is currently prospering the most in areas such as digital media, wireless infrastructure, Ecommerce, and general Internet services.

4. Services

Accounting for a whopping 80% of Canada’s GDP and employing almost three quarters of the entire country is Canada’s service sector. And, within the sector itself, industries like retail, business, education, and health make up the largest portions.

Although the strength of the Canadian dollar has hurt tourism numbers, Canada still has a strong tourism industry with most of it’s international travelers hailing from the United States. In fact, Canada’s retail sector, which directly relates to tourism, accounts for 12% of the GDP and that percentage is steadily growing.

5. Manufacturing

Although the global financial crisis took its toll on Canada from 2008 to 2010, the country’s manufacturing industries are on the rebound and make up for 14% of Canada’s GDP.  And, like never before, Canada’s automotive branch plants are back in full swing.

American and Japanese auto industries are attracted to Canada’s highly educated workforce and low labor costs making it a go-to destination for automobile manufacturing. Automotive parts production is one of fastest growing manufacturing sectors in the country.

It’s hard to ignore the fact that Canada’s industries are booming.

With the abundant natural resources, government incentives, and stellar workforce, it’ll continue to prosper for years to come.

About the Author: Adam Groff is a freelance writer and creator of content. He writes on a variety of topics including world markets, billfloat, and advancements in technology.

By: Tina Samuels

Canada has been a leader in social media adoption since 2001 when more than 40% off the nation's population had plugged in to Facebook or Twitter. By 2012 almost half of the population had joined and by 2014 it is estimated at current growth fully 53% of Canadians will be on social media.

With all of the people in Canada that have joined the social media frenzy, you'd assume that most businesses have, too. Well, that assumption would be incorrect.

Sure, many businesses have websites. However more people check businesses and their ratings through social networking than through static webpages. A website is still a great idea, people can find out all of the business or product information on a static website.

But social media allows businesses to interact with customers in a more personal way.

Let's look at who is doing it right in Canada.

Toronto Transit Commission

That's right, the Toronto Transit Commission or TTC is making use of social media. They're also doing it better than most.

Their regular website is social and encourages people to like or follow them on other networks. When there are delays or other transit information the TTC posts or tweets the information. Not only can commuters find out through social networks, the TTC offers SMS messaging. While waiting for a train commuters can text their destination to the TTC and receive a reply on when their next train will arrive.

Porter Airlines

This airline uses social networking to engage potential customers, communicate delays, and showcase discounts. Porter Airlines began in 2006 as an affordable airline and alternative to the bigger, well-known companies. The airline uses Twitter more than Facebook in order to put fast-paced information out for customers on the go.

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Smoke's Pountinerie

Do you love poutine? Maybe you've never heard of the Canadian comfort food.

Poutine is a very Canadian fare made up of french fries and cheese curds smothered in gravy. The dish is so popular that there are restaurants devoted to just poutine- Smoke's is one of them.

Unlike many Canadian businesses, Ryan Smolkin, the founder of Smoke's, decided to use social networking to its fullest. He has accounts across all social media platforms including YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr.

Smoke's is well known for sharing discount menu items, events, and more on their Facebook and Twitter accounts. There's an annual poutine eating contest which is advertised on their Facebook landing page. People visiting the page can receive a free ticket and even free poutine for a 'like'.

More businesses have been encouraged by Canadian citizens that wonder why there isn't a move toward more social businesses.

Social media makes it easier for customers to interact with a company. Answers to questions, customer service in general is easier in real time. Not only that, social networking can be a very economical way to generate word of mouth advertising.

So, is your business getting it right when it comes to social media?

About the Author: Tina Samuels writes on billfloat, social media, and small business.

By: Tina Samuels 

Have you ever stopped and thought about how the small business market is doing in Canada? Wonder what parts of the country might be most receptive to small businesses? Lastly, is your small business doing better or worse than your fellow Canadian business owners?

According to the Canadian Broadcasting Network there are more than a million small businesses in Canada.

This isn't counting independent contractors – but while the number seems significant, the statistics are staggering when you take in consideration the number of all businesses in Canada:

• 1,138,761 – number of businesses as of 2010 data.
• 1,116,423 – number of small businesses in that data.

This means that in Canada 98% of all businesses are small business.

There is some data for individuals which point to about 15% of all workers in the country being self-employed, though independent contractor data is not precise. Not all independent contractors report their business which can skew data. The actual amount of individual workers could be much higher.

Employee Statistics

Recent data has shown that well over five million of the people employed in Canada work for one type of small business or another. That's over half of the total workforce.

No matter what city you choose to open a small business in, Canadians utilize the products and services of small businesses more than any other industrialized nation.

Part of this can be directly connected to Canadians open approach to technology and business. The country is typically more receptive to new ideas and approaches than many other industrial nations around the world. 

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Success In Canada

Small business are established in the thousands throughout Canada every year. Many are successful, so successful that over 80% of exports for Canada came from small business (2005-2007 data).

Out of all exporters in the country, 86% were small businesses. In 2009 the amount generated from small business export was $68 billion which was fully a quarter of all revenue in Canadian exports. The amount of revenue generated for GDP (gross domestic product) and exports from Canadian small business has been growing every year. It is safe to say that small business can be very successful in Canada.

The government offer help to small business owners and encourages the growth of such companies through numerous programs. Healthcare is also more affordable in Canada which may offer help in reaching successful launches and extended growth.

Where To Go

While most of Canada is receptive to small business, the coastal provinces provide the most opportunity for small businesses in the western part of the country.

In the East the most successful businesses are established in Ontario, most notably Toronto. Businesses established near the U.S./Canada border may see an increased amount of business due to customers from both countries.

To the west, artisan businesses do well in Vancouver. The area is well known for being eco-friendly, art friendly, and progressive. Any business that focuses on new or unique products or services will enjoy a higher rate of success in this area.

For anyone that is considering starting a new small business in Canada the following cities are always a good bet: Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver. Nova Scotia has had an upswing in growth and could be considered as well.

About the Author: Tina Samuels writes on how to remove personal information, how to clean up your social media, and the basics of small business.

While most mobile marketing media points to the United States as an innovative place for mobile technology, Canada is a strong market.

Canadians have long been considered by businesses as more open to early adoption of new innovation. In 2012, the country had the one of the highest amounts of mobile payments processed in the world.

As the century moves forward, Canada is becoming a world leader in mobile payment acceptance and utilization.

MasterCard

MasterCard is one of the companies that sees Canada as the place to be. In fact the company is launching a new mobile payment solution in Canada called MasterPass.

This platform will allow vendors and consumers a way to process or use mobile payments with just a tap or two.

The platform is a sort of virtual wallet that allows consumers to enter information from up to 25 credit cards, including MasterCard competitors. Instead of working against competitors (other credit card issuers) MasterPass allows consumers to use their preferred card which makes life easier for consumers. The platform reduces the number of apps a consumer will need on their phone and the number of sign-ins needed to make purchases.

Many shopping carts are abandoned due to onerous sign in policies or purchasing requirements that aren't mobile device friendly. MasterPass aims to make shopping easier online and off.

They hope to reduce the number of abandoned virtual shopping carts with their ease of access and multiple credit card 'wallet' or 'locker'. The company notes that they are not just a credit card company but a payment company.

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Mobile Reference Model

The Canadian Government announced a mobile payments guidelines solution for the entire country in 2012.

The solution was dubbed the Mobile Reference Model and was issued as voluntary guidelines for financial institutions, payment card companies, telecommunications companies, and merchants around the country. The MRM was intended to help all of the companies and consumers work together to safely transfer payments and payment information.

The most used form of mobile payments in Canada is the NFC or 'tap and go' system.

The Canadian Government put together an overview of the system and voluntary guidelines for consumers and businesses. It can be found here.

This document also covers the types of hardware and software that is compatible with the NFC system. Most consumers that use the system have the correct hardware (mobile smart phones), though they need to install the software. Apps are usually available through the smartphone's 'store' app pre-installed on phones. Apps can also be downloaded via the internet.

Future of Mobile In Canada

Finally, the future of mobile payment processing looks exceptionally bright in Canada.

As one of the most technologically progressive countries in the world, Canada has the distinction of being where many companies test-launch mobile systems. MasterCard is taking advantage of Canada's open-minded approach to technology. Other systems from Visa and PayPal are popular as well.

The country's largest mobile phone service provider, Roger's, has plans to expand the number of phones provided that are NFC compatible. Eventually all mobile phones will be able to accept or send mobile payments.

About the Author: Tina Samuels writes for small business owners, giving advice on  how to accept payments and the virtues of social media.

Virtually all businesses these days need to advertise online.

Driving people to your website through well placed advertisements is necessary to promote your business. Luckily, if you’re on a budget, you don’t need to spend tens of thousands of dollars to get the benefits of online advertising.

While the initial temptation will be to place ads on the most traveled websites related to your business, these sites will cost you an arm and a leg - often for the same results you could likely get from a combination of a few smaller sites, for a fraction of the price.

Here are five tips for saving on advertising online for your business.

1. Write Clear Copy

While on the surface copy might not seem like a big priority, “saying what you mean” isn’t always so easy. Each word is very important. To put this in perspective, a good copywriter will sometimes write pages just to get one great word or two.

Your advertisements needs to be so good that in the second or two it takes for them to scan a page, your little advertisement not only stands out, but drives them to click. Impressions are all well and good, but you are after clicks. Your copy should be concise, specific and compelling.

Really take the time to make a quality, clickable advertisement.

2. Cross Promotions

Cross promotion is a cheap (and often free) way to attract more customers. When you partner with other credible businesses and organizations that attract a similar target market, you can reach customers more efficiently and directly with the right messaging and promotions.

Partnering with major nonprofits is a good start. Offer small donations for cause marketing to the organization and boost your visibility. With cross promotions, you’re essentially using each others customer bases to grow your own. It’s a really smart, and mutually beneficial tactic to help organizations build a following or customer base.

Some things you can do with a partner: Joint promotional messages on social media or in print, signs promoting one another, pooled mailing lists, joint interviews with media, and reduced prices on each other’s products or services or to your partners and customers.

3. Create a Company Blog

Creating a quality blog, utilizing relevant search words is essentially free advertising.

Ultimately you want to drive more people to your website, as it increases the likelihood of acquiring new customers.

A blog also will affect your businesses search rankings positively, as each new post is a separate page that can be picked up by search engines such as Google, Yahoo!, and Bing. Make sure to blog regularly using words that search well, are relevant to your brand and will ultimately increase your SEO ranking.

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4. Outsource Online Advertising Management to a Pay-Per-Click Expert

Trying to make successful ads is difficult, and take a lot of trial and error. Trial and error, while a great learning experience, can be expensive when you’re trying to run a business.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) experts are great copywriters, understand SEO very well, and know how to use search words and place advertisements in a way that most laymen do not. Writing and placing ads successfully is an art that takes time, skill and of course money to fully grasp.

Find an expert to help you place ads, and compensate them based on their success.

5. Use Reporting Tools

If an ad is doing well, you want to know soon so you can place this, or similar ads on more websites. Likewise, if an ad is failing, you also want to know quickly so you can get rid of it and try something new.

This is often something that an SEO expert will already utilize, so if you’re going at this alone, it’s definitely smart to use something like ShufflePoint, Analytics Canvas and LinkDex just to name a few.

If you take each of these steps, you’ll be well on your way to advertising in a cost effective and successful way.

Unless you have an SEO or advertising expert on your team, it’s likely that you don’t have the time or necessary skills to advertise most effectively.

Seeking outside help, whether through an agency or working with a pay-per-click expert is going to be your best bet, cost permitting.

About the Author: Peter Walters is a freelance blogger for various sites, and covers topics such as reputation, social enterprise and problems with ripoff report. He is the Director of Business Development for Two Degrees Food and lives in San Francisco.