Toronto Small Business

Enterprise Toronto | Small Business Forum Oct 19

admin — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 12:57:55 +0000

October 19th 2010 is the 10th annual Enterprise Toronto Small Business Forum at the North Building, Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

The 2009 version had about 1,500 participants covering speakers, exhibitors, attendees and all levels of government, and a higher turnout is expected this year. The one-day 9-5 event includes:

Keynote Speaker: Leonard Brody

Leonard Brody is a technology entrepreneur, business advisor and author. He has helped in raising hundreds of millions of dollars for startup companies, including one of the largest internet IPOs Canadian in history.

16 In-Depth Seminar Streams

- Show me the Money
- Social Media & Internet Marketing
- Offline Sales & Marketing Techniques
- Growth Strategies.

80-Exhibitor Tradeshow
Representatives from all levels of government, product service providers for small businesses and entrepreneurs.

click here for more information and registration

Google launches Small Business Blog

admin — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 00:41:55 +0000

Google has set up a central hub that brings together all the information about Google products, features and projects of specific interest to the small business community.

Google Small Business Blog

Proud to be a Toronto Small Business Owner

admin — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 12:22:04 +0000

TD Small Business Happiness Index reveals benefits of business ownership

TORONTO, July 26 /CNW/ – Ninety-eight per cent of Toronto business owners say owning their own business gives them a sense of pride and accomplishment. With this in mind, it’s not surprising that they are a happy group:

Two-thirds would describe themselves as ‘very happy’
87% say they are happier owning and running their own business.

These are findings from the TD Small Business Happiness Index, which examined the attitudes and behaviours of North American small business owners in a dozen urban centres.

Google uses Caffeine to move into real time indexing for search engine

admin — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 13:53:58 +0000

Google is changing the way it indexes web pages – not only to improve its search results, but also to compete effectively with the large social networking sites that users use for information.

The move to a new indexing system, called Caffiene, is aimed at keeping Google’s traditional search engine relevant in a world of real-time information – from Tweets to status updates.

When a user enters a search query, Google doesn’t search the Web directly – it searches its own index of information about the Web. The more closely Google’s index mirrors the Internet, the better the search results.

Caffeine is designed to update Google’s index more quickly than previously, something the company must do in order to provide relevant search results about items such as breaking news events.

The new indexing method will also impact small businesses that depend on traffic from Google. Google’s move to a faster indexing system means keeping a site updated and regularly adding new content via blogs will be more important than ever in qualifying for a higher page rank and related improved traffic.

Business Continuity Planning for Small Business

admin — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 15:25:07 +0000

We don’t spend much time thinking about how a natural disaster (think ice storm or flood) can impact the operation of your small business through loss of power, internet access or even physical access to your office or plant.

Having contingency plans is a good idea (starting with data backups!)

Here’s an article from CTV that scopes the issues:

Computer-generated ads for small business?

admin — Sun, 23 May 2010 12:25:22 +0000

From the New York Times

Recently launched in the U.S., a new software called PlaceLocal builds display ads automatically by searching on-line for references to a restaurant, grocery store or another local small business, then combines the elements (photographs, reviews, customer comments) into a customized online ad for the business.

HST Transition Credit for Small Business

admin — Tue, 18 May 2010 11:09:16 +0000

The Ontario government is providing one-time assistance to small businesses who have to make change to their POS and accounting systems for the upcoming Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) that comes into effect in Ontario on July 1, 2010.

This website and download information can help a small businesses understand if they are eligible for a small business transition support payment called “Small Business Transition Credit”.

Ontario HST Website

Ontario HST Rate Table

admin — Tue, 18 May 2010 10:41:19 +0000

Here’s the PDF that describes how the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) on different goods and services. It describes what is taxable and what is not. The Ontario HST comes into effect July 1, 2010.

HST Rate Table

Sales Spider gets Good Press for Small Business Networking

admin — Thu, 13 May 2010 14:50:20 +0000

Sales Spider, the entrepreneur network for small business, home business and business opportunity, just got a big write-up in the Toronto Globe and Mail. The founder Russell Rothstein shares how he looked at other social networking sites to create a business networking site.

Read Article Here

Sales Spider Website

Why Clicking is a Pleasure

admin — Fri, 07 May 2010 10:52:50 +0000

According to Lee Gomes at Forbes, in the same way that cigarettes came to be viewed as nicotine delivery systems, mobile computers and phones may really be neurotransmitter delivery devices, where the pleasure in part is in the clicking. An interesting observation, seeing as we want visitors to click and browse our small business sites.