Business Generation

Research reveals that the percentage of customers choosing to use social media as their main source for customer service is increasing rapidly.

Photo Credit: A.T.The number of customers engaging with brands through social media has doubled from 19% to 38% in the last eight months, according to research by Fishburn hedges and Echo Research.

The study says that 68% of respondents said they enjoy the “voice” social media sites, like Twitter give, them when dealing with big brands.

65% of those surveyed that social media is a better way to communicate with companies than call centres.

“Many people are currently enjoying the VIP treatment from brands on social media.

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I have kept hoping for a long time that wed be able to scrap the income tax and therefore scrap tax preparation as a home business or small business opportunity. Well, weve seen how thats gone! Duh! Its such a fine tool of social engineering and manipulation and generating lobbyists contributions why would they ever get rid of it?

The income tax is more convoluted than ever tax simplification schemes quickly degenerate back into more rules and possible credits and deductions for those who know about them and qualify.

Thats why tax preparation for the foreseeable future will be a viable business opportunity. Ive personally known several people who make a living that way. Some made enough to basically only work hard 6 months of the year but they worked like dogs then of course!

But NOW is the time to think about this option if youre serious.

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“More than a year into the official recovery, small businesses face what some say has become a permanent legacy of the recession: Their vendors are demanding faster payment even as their customers are taking longer to pay. Companies with the least bargaining power get squeezed the hardest.”

Sound familiar? A recent article in Bloomberg Businessweek, which mentions The Receivables Exchange, describes the challenge that many small and midsize businesses face every day with stabalizing cash flow. The Receivables Exchange is mentioned as an innovative solution to the cash flow squeeze, allowing companies to sell receivables in an online marketplace for working capital.

The article quotes Exchange Seller Joe Reini, of Mason-Grey Corp., who uses the Exchange to handle longer payment terms from his customers. “It seems to me that ‘net 30? is gone

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Margaret Donnelly, marketing director at Meltwater Buzz met with CBR to discuss the ins and outs of managing brands on social media channels.

How can you build branded trust using social media?The people engaging with your brand already have some sort of affinity; for them to be coming to you, to follow you, and to like you on Facebook already showcases a level of trust that they have with the brand, because they are exposing themselves as someone that is a brand fan.

Social media is about building that trusted relationship. Speaking to customers and clients in a manner that is acceptable to them, so not spam them with offers unless they ask for them and asking for permission to use their information are ways to showcase that the brand isn’t just a name, it’s a face behind that who really cares about the client and the customer and about building that relationship.

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SmallBusinessMe.com is a great website for keeping track of many different opportunities in the marketplace today. Some are Small Business Opportunities expecting the owner to have a dedicated office space or service vehicle (s) to home based businesses which can be done online. Whether tax preparation is your ideal biz op, or believe it or not Darts , there should be something for everyone here.  If you havent been actively seeking business opportunities for several years, it pays to take look at the available offerings now. Its amazing the variety and new faces in the mix and it allows you to see who has survived the financial downturn. That in itself may be helpful for choosing an opportunity.

Many folks visiting this site are interested in Starting a Small Business. SmallBusienssMe.com has a number of resources to help with that. You can see their start up guide for 2012 here. Id

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David Hainsworth, health, safety and environment manager at Total Exploration and Production UK Ltd, told Channel 4 News: “We have an on-going leak that we have to stop. It is not a disaster, no-one has been injured, the environmental consequences are very low, but clearly we have to stop this leak.”

Mr Hainsworth added: “The gas is mainly methane, it is very flammable. The flare is still alight on the main production platform. However, the wind is blowing the gas plume in the opposite direction, away from this flare.

“We know that the weather forecast is such that the wind direction remains the same for the following five to six days, and we’re evaluating options to extinguish this flare.”

But Jake Malloy, offshore organiser for the RMT union in Aberdeen, warned: “If the gas cloud somehow finds an ignition source we could be looking at complete destruction.”

No lives are currently at risk as the platform and neighbouring installations were evacuated.

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