Five years ago when there were a lot less business blogs on the webs, I got really frustrated trying to find good business blogs to read. It was very overwhelming and time consuming to search around while trying to find just the right tidbit. Fast forward to today and it’s even worse (better?!).Instead of thousands of small business blogs, now there are millions. And that’s a good thing. Plus we have new tools to find good stuff to read and people to interact with. Back in 2005, my solution to the overwhelm was to create a small business blog directory.

The blog directory was a hit and it has grown steadily ever since. But for the last couple of years, it has been in need of a serious makeover. And it finally got one! Now

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What do McDonalds, Quiznos, and Harley Davidson have in common? These companies all sell franchises to their business. That means a portion of the owner’s revenue goes back to the parent company for each sale that’s made. They’re affiliated with the parent company.

That’s why it amazes me when I hear statements online like “I wouldn’t buy from him, he’s an affiliate” or “The only link is an affiliate link and I don’t want to buy using that” — all said like they’re trying to spit dirt out of their mouths. I truly don’t get it.

Affiliate marketing is a business strategy. It’s no different than what we do every day as we go about operating our businesses. Sure, I understand that a few

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This is going to be short and sweet.

I am testing out some new online social software that works in the cloud and lets you manage all of your sites from one place — including posting to your blog.

I’ll have more news about this after the test is done!

At this time of year, it’s common for small business owners to assess what’s working in their business and what’s not so they can do more of what’s working (hopefully!) and get rid of what’s not.

Most of the time this activity is focused on marketing (because it’s sexy) rather than operations. But looking at operations can often reap a big reward for your business. That means looking at the tools you use.

The majority of small business owners have less than 10 people in their business. Tons of you are the single, solitary business of one. Oh, you might outsource a thing here and a thing there, but you are the meat of your business. And that means you need good tools to make your time and effort the most effective and useful.

So I thought I’d share three tools that are critical to keeping my business running in today’s virtual world. I’ve become so

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Even as a small business, branding is a very important part of your business. It is the way in which your company will be recognized by those that you plan on doing business with now and in the future. The right branding is not always easy to create on your own. It is the reason why many have gone the route of getting help from professionals in marketing and PR. These firms have been able to help small businesses to get the help they need in creating the branding which will make the difference between a successful business and one which is on life support.

Getting the right help with branding means you will have to find the right people to provide the help that you are looking for. While there are many businesses available to help you in creating better branding for your business, there are a few things you should look for. First, you should make sure that the company you hire has professionals which know what they are doing.

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It seems like everything is more expensive when you’re running a small business, and office supplies are no exception.  Whereas large corporations can get additional discounts for buying in bulk, you don’t have the funds to purchase a thousand boxes of paperclips (nor the space to store them).  However, if you are smart about how and where you shop, you can find all kinds of deals geared towards the small-business owner.  Here are just a few ways that you can spend less on the items you use every day in an effort to maximize the profits of your labor.

1. Order online.  Many office supply stores (such as Staples, Office Depot, etc.) not only offer discounted prices online (especially if you’re buying a lot of a certain item), they also provide free shipping for orders that exceed a certain dollar amount.  So hold out on ordering products piecemeal and compile a large list of needed items so that you can get the best possible price when you order office supplies online.
2. Join clubs.  Some retailers offer clubs or reward programs that provide additional benefits to those who shop with them often.  You may be able to earn points or take advantage of additional savings simply because you need more office supplies than the average consumer.  You should also see if these retailers have credit card programs that will allow you to earn extra points or additional rewards.
3. Make friends.  So you can’t order in bulk like your corporate competitors.  But as a small business, you have the advantage of being part of an active community of like-minded entrepreneurs in your area.  So approach your local Chamber of Commerce to see if other business owners would be interested in joining you in bulk purchases (of paper and other commonly used supplies) as a way to cooperate and cut costs for everyone.
4. Recycle.  You’d be surprised how many items in your office can be reused to cut down on waste, or recycled for profit.  Cans, bottles, and many paper items can be taken to the recycling center for cash, or in the case of paper, scrap materials can be reused for inter-office purposes.  And empty ink cartridges can be returned to manufacturers, often for no cost, and sometimes with the added bonus of a credit or discount on future purchases.
5. Use discounts and rebates.  There are many ways to secure additional savings when it comes to purchasing office supplies.  Websites like Ebates can offer coupons or even a flat percentage of savings over shopping the official office supply website.  And joining rewards programs often means that you’ll receive special deals or coupons through mail (or email).  You can even find discounts on equipment if you don’t buy top-of-the-line (Dell has great deals on a variety of computers and components) and peripheral items like ink refills for your printer cartridges (if you want to reuse them yourself instead of sending them in to be recycled).  In short, there are tons of ways to save if you simply do your homework and get innovative when it comes to stretching every last dollar.

Sarah Danielson writes for Ink Factory, where you can find an incredible selection of HP ink cartridges and Epson ink cartridges along with a variety of other top brands.