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ADVERTISING

7 Digital Advertising Trends for 2012
Last month hundreds of delegates came together at the Dx3 Canada conference, dubbed as  Canada's Digital Tradeshow . CanadaOne was there on the hunt to find emerging products and services in the digital space. Here are the seven selections that stood out.
Getting Value from Your Digital Advertising
New research from comScore has unveiled some interesting suggestions for maximizing the effectiveness of your digital ad campaigns.
Killer Facebook Targeting
Dramatically increase the response rates from you Facebook ads using this advice from Marty Weintraub, author of Killer Facebook Ads. This video contains clips and insights from Marty's presentation at SES Toronto in June 2011.
Website Testimonials: Weapons of Influence
Learn how to make your clients' words come alive and become an effective marketing tool for your business.
Share Ad Expenses, Boost Profits
Want to advertise but don’t think you can afford it? Here are some cost-effective alternatives.

ACCOUNTING

Accounting in the Cloud: Vendor Shoot-Out Updated
In an earlier article, we wrote about the benefits of cloud-based accounting software. Now, we will compare the three big accounting software providers.
Accounting in the Cloud
Business owners take note: Moving your books and accounting to the cloud is an idea you should no longer relegate for future consideration.
What You Need to Know About New Accounting Software
Sage and Intuit are putting more power in the hands of small businesses with their new offerings for 2011.
Coaching Your Controller: Part II
In Part II of Coaching your Controller James Phillipson explains how you can find the time to implement the six steps of improvements that were laid-out in Part I.
Coaching Your Controller
Attention company owners: these six steps will help you better manage the person in charge of the accounting functions for your business.

AWARDS, CONTESTS & QUIZZES


BUSINESS COMMUNICATIONS


BUYING & SELLING A BUSINESS

Entrepreneurship: Used Business for Sale
Are you thinking of buying someone else's business? Read this before you sign on the dotted line.

STARTING A BUSINESS

Choosing a Business Name
Learn how to choose a great business name - taking growth, the Internet, and legal issues into account.
Canadian Business Financing: Grants and Loans for Young Entrepreneurs in Canada
Accessing capitals can be a frustrating process for young entrepreneurs with a great idea, but little chance of securing a traditional loan. This article lists grant and loan programs for young Canadian business owners.
MyPakage: Redefining More Than Just Mens Underwear (Start-Ups Uncovered)
How does a Canadian undergarment company plan to shake-up the world of men's fashion? In this issue of Start-Ups Uncovered Alexandra DeLory connected with Anurag Gupta, CEO and Partner at MyPakage Underwear, to find out.
Start-ups Uncovered: Introducing 49st.com
Meet 49st, Toronto-based start-up with a unique approach to managing and promoting events online. Over the coming year CanadaOne will follow their story, to take you behind the scenes of a hopeful Canadian start-up.
An In-Depth Guide for Independent Contractors in Canada
With at least 1.8 million Canadians in temporary and contract employment, our in-depth primer was created to explain what you need to know if you currently work as an independent contractor or are consider becoming one.

SALES

The Secret to Market Adaption
The key to success is continual improvement, adaptation to the needs of customers and that magic ability to predict what people want, before they want it.
Small Business Week Special: Global Supply Chains
Think your company is too small to join a big multinational's supply chain? Heads up: seems they need small companies as much as you need them.
Your Irresistible Offer
Jeff Mowatt shares three tips that will help you get past the front door when making a sale.
It's all About the Evidence when Responding to RFP's
Here's how you can differentiate your proposal by providing detailed, concise and relevant evidence that supports your sales pitch.
What Boomer Women Want
If your target-market is Baby-Boomer women, you need to operate quite differently from the current practices of most retailers.

REVIEWS

Inkjets vs Lasers: Is a Shift Coming to Business Printing?
Recently, Epson and HP have released lines of inkjet printers using new technology designed to see inkjet printers rival the text quality of laser printers. We decided to put these claims to the test and paired off the new Epson WorkForce Pro WF-4630 with the HP Officejet Pro 8620.
Whatever Can Be Searched Can Be Optimized
Book review of Optimize: a roadmap that takes the reader through every step of integrated online content marketing.
HP OfficeJet 8600 Plus  e All-in-one  Printer Review
When buying your next office printer, as technology evolves it is important consider whether the device you purchase can work you're your tablets and smart phones as well as the traditional desktop and laptops.
Review: Epson Powerlite 1775W Multimedia Projector
Tired of lugging a large laptop and bulky projector, we selected the Epson 1775W-LT to review for on-the-road presentations connected to a tablet. Here is our review of this impressive, ultra-light projector.
Roam Mobility offers Canadian Travelers Affordable Mobile Coverage
If you are traveling to the US you will want to check out Roam Mobility's celluar products and data plans, which can drastically cut what you pay for data and cell phone service while in the States.

PROFILES

Capturing Success: An Interview with Award-Winning Photographer Kristian Bogner
Award-winning photographer Kristian Bogner is living a life many dream of, travelling to exotic places, photographing famous people, capturing once-in-a-lifetime moments. Kristian is currently in Ladahk, India where he is photographing monks, monasteries and nomads. While he is off exploring the world, CanadaOne reveals some of Kristian's key insights into his success in business.
'Tubing It: Calgary Company Shoots for Success on YouTube
Meet Jordan Drake and Chris Niccolls, two employees of Calgary-based The Camera Store who are successfully harnessing YouTube to promote their employer's business--one video at a time.
Celebrating 40 Years of BIAs
Business Improvement Areas serve thousands of communities worldwide. Sara Bedal tells you how they got their start.
Out-of-the-Box Business Thinking with Mike Winkelmann, West Coast Food Machines
When Mike Winkelmann opened his high-end butcher shop and deli, little did he know that its failure two years later would be a blessing in disguise.
Elizabeth Grant is Not Your Ordinary Entrepreneur
Still active at 88 in the multi-million dollar business she started in the 50s, Elizabeth Grant defines success. Here is her story.

PERSONAL MANAGEMENT

Tip the Scales toward a Healthier Work-Life Balance
Striking a balance between work and the rest of your life can be challenging. Here's how to make this goal achievable.
Your  Emotional Success  Fingerprint
Dr. Ammon-Wexler shows us how to sensitize our minds to success.
Traits of Successful People: A CEO's Charge For Excellence
Discover the traits CEOs develop to help motivate and unlock hidden potential in their employees.
Sharing Power; A CEO's Most Effective Management Style
Discover why sharing power is an effective method of planning, developing best thinking, creating positive change and a molding a culture where people want to work.
Visions that Repeat
Visualization. This everyday activity has the power to enhance or drastically reduce your productivity and results. Dr. Donald Wetmore explains how we can use visualization to our advantage.

NEWS

Free Trade Magazines and Reports
Stay informed about your industry by signing up for free business and trade magazines or downloading industry reports and white papers.
The Ins and Outs of Vacation Time & Vacation Pay
Vacation pay in Canada is complex, with different rules for each province and territory. In this article we outline what you need to know for your province.

NETWORKING

How to Use LinkedIn as an Essential CRM
LinkedIn has been around for over a decade, but if you’re still thinking about (and using) LinkedIn as a glorified business card, then you’re missing out on the many other effective ways this social networking tool can be used as a CRM (customer relationship management) to help grow your business.
Five Tips for Masterful Networking
To be a masterful networker, you don't need to attend every event in town or schmooze with ever person you meet. What you do need is a strategy.
Unconferences: A New Way to Connect, Learn and Share in Business
Unconferences are unique conferences focused on open-forum learning and networking. In this primer we explore how an unconference works in the business world and how you can get the most benefit from an unconference as an attendee.
Communication Engagement Begins with You!
The most effective networking uses a specific mental attitude combined with an ability to listen and observe.
Interview with Donna Messer: Networking Queen
Donna Messer has had a colourful career that began in banking and grew into entrepreneurship, food and most notably, networking. This May Donna is busy again, launching a new magazine for entrepreneurs in Toronto. CanadaOne caught up with Donna to learn more about her new venture and also to learn about her experiences as an entrepreneur.

MONEY

Employer Beware: Why Temperature Screening Should Not Be Used
Saving Lives vs Saving the Economy: Getting This Wrong Could be Devastating
Many are asking, what is worse, the treatment or the cure as Covid-19 continues to devastate economies around the globe. This is an answer we cannot afford to get wrong and it is critical that we don't fall prey to converse errors as we weigh our options.
Covid-19 Grant and Loan Programs for Canadian Small Businesses
In this live article we will be posting information on different financial assistance program, including grant and loan programs for Canadian small businesses, as information becomes available.
Tax Simplification Suggestions
This article contains suggestions to simplify and improve our tax system. Hopefully our political leaders will wake up to the fact that our tax system is too complicated and needs to be simplified.
Budget 2016: Broken Promises, Nothing for Small Business
Yesterday's budget broke the promise the Liberal government made to keep in place the previous government's plan to reduce the small business tax rate to 9 per cent over three years and also failed to include a single item to directly support small businesses. So just what is in Budget 2016 for Canadian small businesses?

MISC

Making Sense of Humour in the Workplace
Small business owners need to be adaptable and capable of handling intense pressure. One thing that can help is a little bit of humour.
Opportunity Knocks in China
China as a market is both tremendous and daunting. In this article Dave Archer explains what business owner should understand about the Chinese culture before doing business there.
Farewell from Dr. Paul Adams
Dr. Paul Adam's columns have helped our readers going back almost as far as CanadaOne's inception in 1998. Today Paul lays down his proverbial pen and says farewell to those who have read his column over the years.

MARKETING

Referral Partner Marketing: A Seven-Step Approach
The idea of referral marketing is simple. To help reach new customers, a business develops a referral program that offers some type of reward or cross-promotion.
Motivate People to Buy through Attention, Interest, Desire and Action
Turn your website into a sales powerhouse with an approach that is designed to move people from interest to purchase.
Tools Key to Generating Awareness of Your Company
Everyone wants to stand out from the crowd. With these quick tips from Zunaid Khan, you can make sure people know about your company and that you mean business.
Amplify Your Impact: Your Email Campaign Checklist
Before you hit send, be sure to use this checklist to ensure that you maximize the impact of your email marketing efforts.
Hack Your Customer: A New Approach to Marketing Sales
The best way to take advantage of new paradigms in marketing and sales may be to stop thinking like a marketer and start thinking like a computer hacker.

MARKET RESEARCH

How to Use Your Library's Online Databases
So you're convinced and want to give the library’s digital resources a try. But what if you don’t know how to get started? Fear not, the process is simple.
Competitive Intelligence: Continuous Feedback for Increased Sales and Profits Part II
In the second installment of this guide to competitive intelligence (CI), Enrico Codogno defines the competitive environment and looks at how companies can use CI to anticipate or react to business challenges.
Competitive Intelligence: Continuous Feedback for Increased Sales and Profits
This is the first of a multi-part discussion on how Competitive Intelligence (a system of continuous feedback) gives businesses the winning edge over competitors and profits - even in hard economic times.
Do-It-Yourself Customer Research
When it comes down to it, listening to your customers isn't really an option. It's a necessity. This advice will help you navigate the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) customer research route.
Unsettling Marketing Research
It is human nature to want to know you are right. However, marketing research should tell you something you do not know and how to improve your business.

MANAGEMENT

Create a Success Oriented Culture by Avoiding Blame Games at Work
Almost half of senior managers admit to accepting blame at work that didn't belong on their desk. Yet as Jane Gertner explains, this can set a dangerous precedence.
Disaster Recovery Planning can Enable the Survival of your Company
A comprehensive disaster recovery plan is invaluable - for the peace of mind it provides today and the survivability it provides when disaster strikes. Here is what you need to know.
Become an Effective Delegator
Smart delegation is the key to growth and these tips will make a difficult process a little bit easier.
The Art of the Pivot: How-to Avert Disaster and Avoid Business Failure
If your tried and true business tactics aren't as effective as they once were, something needs to change. It's time for a pivot. This article explains how you can use a pivot to help your business adapt.
5 Litmus Tests Your Business is on Track for 2013
To get you off to the right start in 2013, here are five litmus tests to help you evaluate whether your business in on the right track in five essential areas.

LEGAL

Ontario's New Employment Laws: What Small Businesses Need to Know
Find out how Ontario's new, sweeping employment law changes will impact your small business.
CASL: Penalties, Timelines and Opting-Out
There has been some confusion over how penalties will work when CASL takes effect. In addition to government enforcement, the law allows for private civil action as well.
CASL: What is Canadas Anti-Spam Legislation?
Make no mistake, this legislation will affect almost all Canadian businesses. In a series of articles, we will be breaking down what CASL is, what kinds of penalities you could face, and how to best protect your business and comply with the legislation.
Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation
The new “Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation,” or CASL, comes into effect on July 1, 2014. Business owners need to recognize that the regulations are far-reaching and have dramatic consequences to those who do not comply.
Who is Really Signing that Contract?
Because of simple procedural mistakes, Chris Piche was held personally liable for his company's breach of contract. How did this happen? Jonathan MacKenzie explains.

INTERNET

Websites for Business 101: Make Connecting Easier
Making it easy for visitors to your website is still an essential aspect of online customer service, but the rules have changed.
Going Mobile: Cutting through the Confusion for Small Business Owners
If you are confused about whether your small business needs a mobile-ready website, you are not alone. This primer will help you cut through the confusion to understand when, and how, to go mobile.
Getting Started With eCommerce
Here are five important factors to consider when getting started with eCommerce.
Is Java On Its Way Out?
With an announcement from the US government that organization should consider uninstalling Java, the time has come to evaluate how your business will use Java on an ongoing basis.
Emerging Trends in Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
What do webmasters and business owners need to know about how search engine optimization is changing? CanadaOne interviewed Terry Van Horne, a leading search engine optimization, to learn more about updates Google has made to control poor quality links, thin content and other underhanded optimization tactics.

INSURANCE

Bonding: Protect Yourself from Employee Theft
When your employees work on your customer's premises, or you simply want to protect your own business assets, bonding can protect your business.
Disability Insurance follow-up: Killer negotiating strategies with hard-nosed insurance companies
Here are some killer strategies that improve your odds of success if you ever find yourself negotiating with hard-nosed insurance companies.
Life's a risky business. Can you afford to get sick?
Read the comprehensive workshop on disability insurance to learn more about what it is, why you might need it and how to get it even with a limited budget.
Life's a Risky Business: Insurance Costs
So, how do you know if you need disability insurance (DI)? Paul Tanti, an independent insurance broker, suggests asking yourself the following questions.
Life's a Risky Business: Understanding Different Insurance Types
Once you've decided that you need disability insurance, the next step is to understand the ins and outs of disability insurance and to create a more specific list of questions to identify the terms and conditions of a policy that will fit your individual needs.

HR

How Do People Respond When They Are Bullied?
We know a great deal about crises, what causes them, the stages that people go through, what is normal, what is abnormal and most importantly, how to deal with a crisis when it happens. This has obvious relevance where someone is being bullied. In this article Dr. Towler helps business owners, managers and workplace harassment victims understand what happens to someone during a crisis and how we can best respond.
The Boomer Bust: Working with a Fading Generation?
A look at the difference between Millennial and Boomer attitudes serves to highlight some of the problems faced in workplaces today with these clashing ideals.
What is Workplace Bullying and How Does it Affect People?
It is estimated that one in six employees is bullied at work and occurs more frequently than sexual harassment. In this first of a multi-part series, Dr. John Towler helps us understand what workplace bullying looks like and how it affects people.
Tips on Hiring Millennials
These must-read tips on hiring Gen Y workers will help you recruit the newest generation to enter the workforce: millennials.
Bad Apples in the Workplace Part II
Do you have a bad apple in your workplace? This framework will help you deal with an employee whose attitude is harming your business.

GOVERNMENT

Budget 2016: Broken Promises, Nothing for Small Business
Yesterday's budget broke the promise the Liberal government made to keep in place the previous government's plan to reduce the small business tax rate to 9 per cent over three years and also failed to include a single item to directly support small businesses. So just what is in Budget 2016 for Canadian small businesses?
Budget 2014: What's in Store for Small and Mid-Sized Businesses
While the Harper Government’s Economic Action Plan 2014 is not introducing any new taxes on small and medium sized businesses, it isn’t providing much in the way of new money.
Asset & Property Financing with the Canada Small Business Financing Program (CSBF)
The CSBF is a government supported leasing and loan program that could help your business.
PWGSC's Office of Small and Medium Enterprises can Help Your Business
If you have never thought about having the Government of Canada as part of your market, you may be missing out. PWGSC's Office of Small and Medium Enterprises (OSME) can show you the ropes, and it may not be as hard as you think.

EXPORTING

So You're Committed to Exporting? Here Are the Resources You'll Need
If you are looking to develop your business internationally, these resources and advice will help.
Yes We Can, Canada!
In the first installment of a 15-part series, Dave Archer outlines the obvious and less obvious benefits of doing business internationally.
Yes We Can, Canada!
Have you considered growing your business through international sales? This is the first in a 15 part series that will take you through the process of doing business internationally.
All You Need to Know about Importing from the USA to Canada
With the Canadian dollar on a 30 year high, and existing price gaps left over from the days of a weak dollar, importing equipment from the US is becoming an attractive proposition for Canadian small businesses.
Business Trip Planning in Six Simple Steps
If you're thinking about exporting chances are good that you could find yourself taking a few trips to your destination market. Learn how to make the most of these trips with the tips in this article.

DESIGN

The Impact of Design Thinking
Design thinking is about studying how people experience your product or service and finding ways to enhance this experience. Thinking about the initial reaction, the experience of using it and designing how you want people to reflect can lead to ideas that strengthen the bottom line.
Company Websites that Make the Grade
Design. Mobile compatibility. User experience. Search optimization. Social media. Measurement. Standards. Whew!
Nine Things Not to Say to Creative Professionals
So you've hired a creative professional. If you want to get the most out of their services, here are nine things you shouldn't say.
Success by Design
For a business, the look you project can be closely tied to your business results.
Why Design Thinking Matters
There is much being written about design thinking yet capturing the essence of design thinking is very difficult.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

When Customers Ignore You
Here are five easy things you can do to enhance your service and boost your business, which your customers will actually notice.
The 3 Most Common Customer Service Cracks. Sew what?
This case study looks at how a sewing machine company was able to boost sales by tweaking its marketing plan and customer service approach.
Customers from Hell - Five Do's and Don'ts for calming cranky customers
It seems in our fast-paced frenetic world customers are now more tired, rushed, stressed, and downright fed-up. Here are five Do’s and Don’ts for calming cranky customers.
Customer Service Tips When People Are Stressed
When it comes to dealing with customers who are stressed, some jobs are easier than others. This advice will help you manage difficult situations.
How To Maintain Customer Loyalty
Here are the four top ways you can restructure your business to attract and retain the loyalty of your customers.

COMPUTERS

Protecting Your Company's Network Security
Douglas W. Grosfield shares a few tips on how to secure your company's network.
Securing a Domain Name and Your Social Media Usernames
Here's a quick tip for chosing a domain name (.com or .ca) for your company.
Fasten Your Seatbelts: The Next Computing Revolution is on its Way!
Learn how three Canadian players: a hospital, a software company and a mobile device manufacturer, are working together to make smart innovations a reality.
Managing Security & Privacy Risks
Security expert Claudiu Popa explains how a layered approach can help you keep your data secure.
Google Sidewiki: What Small Business Owners Needs to Know
Google Sidewiki is big news for business. Here's what you need to know.