http://www.inc.com/magazine/20091201/saving-broadway-books.html

Saving Broadway Books

A story about blogs, books, burritos--and a son who wouldn't let his mother's business fail

By early last January, the dry-heave-inducing economic crisis of the fall of '08 had settled into a grinding, merciless condition. One midweek afternoon, I stopped in my neighborhood bookshop in Portland, Oregon, to pick up a few titles that my wife needed for a community college class she was teaching. I was the only customer. The quiet felt ominous.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_02/b4162057120453.htm

Mom-and-pop stores report successful season

Independent retailers saw seasonal sales rise 2.2%, double the 1.1% increase for retail overall, according to a report from The Institute for Local Self-Reliance. The survey included interviews with 1,800 independent retailers nationwide, 1,200 of which belong to "buy local" groups. "I had a lot of customers tell me they were shopping with me because we are local," said California bookseller Clark Kepler. San Francisco Chronicle (1/22

http://www.inc.com/magazine/20100201/a-little-less-conversation.html

A Little Less Conversation

Have you ever invited employees to a meeting just so they wouldn't feel left out? If so, you may be an overcommunicator
When was the last time you scheduled a meeting and invited eight people instead of the three people who really needed to be there simply because you didn't want anyone to feel left out?

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/2010-01-26-retailfuture26_CV_N.htm

Retailers try new survival strategies for 2010

NEW YORK -- The recession pushed shoppers to pick necessities over discretionary items, discounts over luxury. But retailers hope to shift such behavioral changes further in coming months, affecting what consumers will buy, pay and experience at stores.

http://www.inc.com/articles/2010/01/30-tips-for-using-social-media.html

30 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 Inc.'s comprehensive social media cheat sheet for the time-strapped entrepreneur.

http://directmag.com/magilla/0105-end-of-tonnage-marketing/

The End of Tonnage E-mail Marketing

I generally don't make predictions because I consider doing so to be a prime opportunity to make an ass of oneself.
However, as we move into the second decade of the twenty first century, one prediction for marketing seems glaringly obvious: The era of tonnage e-mail marketing is drawing to a close, and direct marketers who think primarily in terms of file size are going to begin to see their e-mail programs fail—that is if they're not already seeing them fail.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/marketing/marketingcommunicationscolumnistsusangunelius/article204804.html

10 Marketing Trends for 2010
Use these tips to bring every aspect of your message to a worldwide audience.

2010 is poised to be an exciting year for marketers; trends that have been taking shape over the course of the past decade are creating new opportunities for business owners. The first 10 years of the 21st century brought economic problems, corporate collapses and environmental disasters, but it was also a decade defined by a shift in communications from traditional media to a worldwide conversation that flows faster and farther than anyone could have imagined. Thanks to the tools of the social web, such as Twitter, Facebook, blogs, online video and so on, news and information travels instantaneously, and that means marketers have new and exciting opportunities to reach consumers.

http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/25627.asp

Help your brand story get in character
What is in-character viral marketing?

An in-character viral marketing campaign is an interesting way to engage users with your products or services by establishing a fictional spokesperson who will represent your brand. This strategy requires that you create a personality behind your brand, which should be interesting and directly tailored to the target audience. In addition to demonstrating your brand's commitment to engaging users, a successful in-character marketing campaign will demonstrate your brand's imagination and that you are embracing social media.

http://www.inc.com/magazine/20100201/bed-and-boardroom.html

Bed and Boardroom

There's nothing like a home-based business for increasing family stress.

From 1986 to 1991, my husband and I lived in the dilapidated 19th-century farmhouse at Stonyfield Farm (the land for which our yogurt company is named). The huge, wood-heated building housed the offices and yogurt works, as well as two apartments: one for us and one for our partners, Samuel and Louise Kaymen, and five of their six kids. Newly engaged and fresh from living in my own apartment, I adjusted easily to sharing quarters with Gary. It was shacking up with his business that was hard.