Have you wondered how social marketing can help your small business? It’s a fact that most small businesses haven’t realized the benefit of reaching out to Facebook and Twitter friends to advertise their services. 3rd party reviews are so valuable, especially when potential customers use the Internet to research products and services before they use them. People are becoming more tech-savvy and the yellow pages are quickly becoming a thing of the past. Get ahead of your competitors and start marketing yourself early. Check out this video to see that it really does work!

Just like other aspects of life, rural America gets left out when it comes to technology. I mean really, how long did it take to get the interwebs way out here? I can’t use my 3G iPhone in Benson and Charter Cable has no real competition here on the ground. Even when you’re looking to post an online classifieds ad it’s all geared towards metropolitan areas. Here’s the thing – if I want to sell my 3G iPhone because I can’t utilize their 3G network way down here, I have to post it on Craigslist and keep my fingers crossed that they will either drive to Benson to get it or hope they happen to live near me. That’s pretty inconvenient to say the least, which is why I started my own version of online classifieds – based by county. That’s right, it’s not centered around cities! Being that Johnston County always gets snubbed I decided it would be the best starting point (and well I do live there too) so last week I launched Johnston COUNTYfieds. While the website is still very much in its infancy it provides people a FREE place to promote their services, look for jobs, post community activities or sell their junk! If you haven’t already, become a friend on Facebook and help spread the word. Within the next month or so I will start rolling out Harnett and Wayne Counties. Start posting those ads!!

Thanks to Jason VanLue of 57Studios.com for telling me about this iPhone app. If you’re one that likes to keep track of your thoughts and ideas on a daily basis this app is awesome! It can also be used on the iPod Touch if you own one of those and can be downloaded here: momentoapp.com. I’m going to highlight some of the cool features and how this app is seamless with your social networks.

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Skype is now offering a 15% discount on 12 month subscription plans if you sign up for Skype for Business. If you’re not familiar with Skype, it’s one awesome teleconferencing tool and a great solution if you have to make international business phone calls or if you’re traveling abroad. You can escape paying pricey long distance fees from land line carriers. The only requirements for using Skype is that you must have a computer (PC or Mac) with a microphone (which usually those are built-in if you own a laptop). Skype offers free and unlimited teleconferencing for computer-to-computer calls as well. If you don’t have a computer, you can use your nifty iPhone and download the Skype App!