A Weekly Roundup of Small-Business News - NYTimes.com

What?s affecting me, my clients and other small-business owners this week.

Wall Street: A Growing Revolt

As the revolt grows, a Manhattan small-business ownerand another unlikely crew take to the streets. The Rude Pundit makes a case for using predator drones against Wall Street execs. After you compare your income to this Wall Street trader?s, you may be angry, too.

The Economy 1: More News on Jobs

The unemployment rate for September remains at 9.1 percent. Weekly unemployment claims move up. Small-business hiring is down. But the nonfarm private business sector increased employment by 91,000. Intuit?s Small Business Employment Index reports an increase in new jobs, hours worked and compensation. Scott Shane isn?t impressed:?The slow pace of improvement in small-business employment hasn?t even brought us close to January 2007 levels. In September 2011, businesses with under 20 workers employed nearly 1.7 million fewer people than in January 2007.? Ezra Klein says the jobs bill is dead. Even with a turbulent economy, leading retailers say they expect to hire more, or at least as many, holiday workers as last year. Businesses are planning to hire new graduates, freelance and remote workers, in an effort to increase head count while remaining flexible in an uncertain market. Tech hiring remains weak, despite stronger spending, with these metro areas at the top. A tech job site, Dice, reports a shortage of .net developers.

The Data: Orders Fall, but Manufacturing Rises.

New orders for factory goods fell in August for the second time in three months. Ad spending slows worldwide. Friendly?s files for bankruptcy but consumer bankruptcy filings are down 10 percent through the first nine months. Economic activity in the nonmanufacturing sector grew in September for the 22nd consecutive month. The ISM Manufacturing Index (pdf) increased unexpectedly. Companies leased slightly more office space in the third quarter. Construction spending is up. Light truck sales are up. Auto sales are booming. Rail traffic is the highest in four years.

The Economy 2: A 40 Percent Chance

Larry Kudrow says we?re at the front end of a recession. Karl Smith disagrees. Goldman Sachs puts the probability of another recession at 40 percent for 2012. But this girl?s still having fun. And how bad can things be if we?re spending $800 million a year on fantasy sports? Deficit-reduction talks in Congress enter a potentially groundbreaking phase. Some economists call? for a radical step: huge debt relief. Mark Thoma agrees with others that the Federal Reserve has dropped the ball. Some small-business owners support bold policies to spur innovation.

Technology: Shatner Still Rules

Kevin Casey lists 10 great Android apps for collaboration. The Daily App offers the apps of September. As information thieves take aim at small businesses, a new kind of insurance emerges. India unveils the cheapest tablet. Microsoft revamps Hotmail. Apple?s iPhone 4S promises to usher in ?Star Trek?-stylevoice recognition (and Guillermo reviews the new phone). William Shatner brings out a new book and album, and a little kid cannot believe that Darth Vader is Luke?s father.

Start-Up: Kids, Get To Work!

A start-up introduces a loyalty platform for small businesses. The SmallBizLady offers 10 Web sites for starting a small business. A few wealthy whiz kids share the secrets of making a million by the age of 21. Cindy Perman offers six tips to help your kidsfollow in their footsteps. A new company that wants to make audio from the Internet?s mountains of written materialwas the winner in Tallahassee?s first-ever Startup Weekend. Portland plans one, too. Lynn Terry talks about choosing the right niche: ?Working in a niche you love means you actually LIKE the market, you probably areyour target market, you consume content from the Market Leaders, and you truly enjoy talking about the subject.? Marty Zwilling says that ?leaving for money? is one of five pitfallswhen jumping from corporation to start-up. (And speaking of falls, Adrian Beltre was not responsible for this one.)

Around The World: A Start-Up Sauna?

Pop quiz: where does the United States rank among the world?s leading countries for innovation and technology? A start-up sauna goes hunting in Siberia: ?The Finnish incubator is searching such cities as Novosibirsk and Yekaterinburg for start-ups that could become great companies in the future.? China warns of a trade war. Paul and Yoko give peace a chance. Yang Lan, a journalist and entrepreneur who?s been called ?the Oprah of China,? offers insight into the next generation of young Chinese citizens.

Around the Country: And Yankees Playoff Tickets Now Cost Nothing

Score joins with the Chicago Urban League to increase minority-owned-business opportunities. Google offers free training to Wisconsin businesses. In New York, immigrants are playing a key role as entrepreneurs ? even though the city?s proposed wage tax hike could kill 13,000 jobs. Eight states are increasing their minimum wages. New Jersey businesses are for sale at lower prices. So are tickets to see the Minnesota Vikings.

Management: To Grow or Not to Grow

According to a study, high-growth entrepreneurs plan to continue growing. But Julia Edwards says most small businesses don?t want to grow: ?When polled on the eve of opening, only 24 percent of small-business owners said they wanted their business to become ?as large as possible.? The majority of respondents agreed with the statement, ?I want a size I can manage myself or with a few key employees.??

People: Being a Better Interviewer

Cyrus Sanati says that pension costs are a big reason American Airlines should consider bankruptcy. Brad Philips explains how to be a better interviewer. Staples finds that new technology and furniture are high on employee wish lists (surprise!). This might be the strangest question ever asked on a workplace ethics quiz.

Finance: A Bulletproof Budget

Starbucks starts a $5 million small-business loan program. Paynet reports a jump in small-business borrowing. With little fanfare, a lending program begun by the Treasury Department came to a close last week. KC Ifeanyi offers a few steps to build a bulletproof budget. Younggogetter?s Justin explains how to save money on wireless.

Ideas and Opportunities: Renewable Resources

Google goes into the beer business. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have come up with a way to produce electricity from just about the most renewable resource known to man ? his own breath. A welfare mom creates a million-dollar business. Consultants are thriving as businesses struggle to survive. A new pill promises to eradicate gray hair. Cassette tapes mount a comeback. And a few of this blog?s readers appear on Saturday Night Live.

Marketing: More Clicks, Better Places

Rhonda Abrams suggests 10 ways to make deal sites work for small businesses. Scott Harvey offers advice for getting more clicks on Google Places. A guy in Texas really wants his post to be likedon FaceBook. A 20-part online marketing course is offered free. Chris Charlton explains how to measure e-mail effectiveness. Hallmark introduces a new card recognition programfor businesses. Mary Rosenbaum suggests six easy ways to show customer appreciation, like: ?Create an honor roll on your site or on Twitter thanking and recognizing clients and customers that have helped you get to where you are today. Adding their title or company or something personal about each customer would make it even more about them.?

The Week Ahead: My Special Day

Monday, markets are closed, but on Friday we?ll find out how consumers are feeling with retail sales and consumer sentiment data. Me? I?m heading to one of the Blue Plate restaurants in the Twin Cities on Friday to celebrate my special day.

The Week?s Bests

Tips for managing cash. Suzanne Kearns offers three tips for a tough economy, including: ?Stay on top of projections. Many small-business owners don?t enjoy preparing cash-flow projections, but in tough economic times, they can be key to survival. Try to be as precise as possible in your projections ? and do them as often as monthly or weekly (as opposed to occasionally, which you may be able to get away with under other circumstances).?

Measuring your advertising. Howie Jacobsen explains how to test your advertisingquickly, cheaply, and effectively. In 2009, a consultant for a division of Mars Inc. ?ran keyword tests to discover the most searched-for ingredients in this product line. Through ad testing, he found ?free shipping? generated nearly twice the sales of the original ?30 percent off? offer (specifics have been changed for confidentiality reasons). Within about a month of reporting his AdWords tests,? the consultant ?saw a virtually identical product description, price and offer on Mars?s national TV commercials. Now a miniscule AdWords investment was paying huge dividends in other media. Mars no longer had to depend on the creative impulses of expensive Madison Avenue ad writers. They just applied common sense to AdWords data and cloned tiny successes on a massive scale.?

Making your e-mails stand out. Karen Talavera offers three tried and true e-mail creative tactics for instant visibility in a crowded in-box, like: ?Less is so much more. ? Too many marketing e-mails err on the side of needing more ?white space? in their designs. Don?t feel compelled to fill every pixel with color or content. Give your readers? eyes a rest, and remember that a few bold elements can draw curiosity (and are more visible) than many detailed ones.?

Question of the Week: How effective is your e-mail marketing?

Gene Marks owns the Marks Group, a Bala Cynwyd, Pa., consulting firm that helps clients with customer relationship management. You can follow him on Twitter.

Source: http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/10/this-week-in-small-business-a-40-percent-chance/

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