We're about two and a half months away from July 1, 2013, when Google Reader is due to shut down. By now, many bloggers have switched to Feedly, The Old Reader, or other alternatives to consume their news if they were using it in the first place. However, one critical misstep is not setting up a plan to retain the readers that are subscribing to your blog. I've already replaced my RSS Reader with Feedly because the switching cost was low as it allowed me to import my Google Reader settings automatically. Not many others possess that feature. What if... Continue reading

In every issue, Website Magazine covers key topics for Internet success: search engine optimization and marketing, website design, e-commerce, online advertising, email marketing, analytics, and customer service/customer relationship management. For a limited time, you can receive free copies of this magazine. Subscriptions include four quarterly issues, plus Web Success Update, daily newsletters with how-to tips and technology news, and the Web100 special issue via email. Issues are available in print, digital, smartphone, and iPad editions. We subscribe to the newsletter and we find it a great way to stay updated on the latest technology and marketing news. Request your free... Continue reading

In 2011, more people bought a smartphone than a PC and one in seven searches was conducted on a mobile device. Over 500 million people use Facebook on a mobile device and it's outgrowing desktop use by two to one. That means people are spending twice as much time checking Facebook on their mobile device than their computer. For businesses to take advantage of this trend, Hubspot has compiled a whitepaper on how to use Facebook for mobile marketing to generate leads. This is a really good read for startups and small businesses. After going through this 42-page eBook, you... Continue reading

Running a small business is tough these days. During uncertain economic times, you need to be constantly keeping an eye on your bottom line. Although you want to show your employees they are valued and appreciated, you need to do it on a budget. But just because you are looking for ‘cheap’ gift ideas for your employees doesn’t mean you have to give them the impression that you’re cheap. There are several ways you can show appreciation to your employees without breaking the bank. Here are nine gift ideas that are both affordable and will make your employees happy: 1.... Continue reading

Compare the features, costs and benefits of Mailchimp, Constant Contact, iContact, Vertical Response, StreamSend and more. Make an informed choice. Continue reading

If you want advice, ask for money. If you want money, ask for advice. - from an entrepreneur, based on hard lessons learned I teach a course at the Wharton Small Development Center on entrepreneurship. I've been working with the Wharton SBDC for nearly a decade and one of the most powerful tools promoted by the SBDC is Primary Research. In short, Primary Research refers to talking to people in your startup's eco-system. This might include prospective customers, suppliers and competitors. Understanding what is working, what is broken, who is the best at this and where the industry is heading... Continue reading

This interview with entrepreneur Ryan Draving, Founder of CompeteLeap, took place in August, 2012. Cheap Revolution founder Skip Shuda and Ryan worked together previously together at Philly Marketing Labs, a digital marketing agency. Continue reading

One of the most trafficked posts on our blog is on free PR ideas. It provides fifteen, free, do-it-yourself ideas that can be implemented quickly and without a penny. It's easy to see why the entry is so popular - Companies are always looking to save on their PR and Marketing budgets. That's why we had to share this complimentary eBook whe we came across it. It provides over SIXTY strategies to generate awareness and reach new customers. Best of all, many of them are completely free. Download this practical guide to free PR and Marketing now. Continue reading

Wordpress Academy’s Marc Beneteau is featured in this interview with Cheap Revolution’s Skip Shuda on how to use Wordpress to build a Website for your business or startup. The interview has a lot of great information that could help you and we recommend you watch the whole thing. However, if you don’t have the time for all 27+ minutes, this blog post provides timing for Wordpress topics that you might be most interested in as well as some of the key takeaways. Introducing Wordpress Academy’s Marc Beneteau Special Offer for Readers: Wordpress Academy is offering Cheap Revolution readers $50 off... Continue reading

LinkedIn is one of the most under-utilized networks by startups. Besides networking, it's useful in acquiring new customers, attaining partnerships, and even raising money. Hubspot recently released a new eBook focused on helping businesses leverage LinkedIn's 20+ million members by building a powerful business presence. It was written by five LinkedIn specialists who divulged their secrets in how they used LinkedIn to successfully grow their network and business. The content discuss how to build and grow your network, how to market your business, how to market yourself and ends by discussing how to measure the ROI of your efforts. This... Continue reading

As we deal with young entrepreneurs, we often have the tendency to criticize what they may or may not be doing correctly. Competition is a topic that is often overlooked among these individuals. It's not that they ignore competition, but they look at the topic in the wrong perspective. Competition is something your business must have, not something you don't want. If you find yourself bragging about your lack of competition, remember these points below: There is no need for your product or service, which means you don’t have a market. You aren’t aware of your product’s value to consumers.... Continue reading

Life sometimes prevents us from enjoying ourpleasures. And by pleasures, we mean Cheap Revolution. Just in case you missed our top posts from last week, we compiled them into a short list for your convenience: 3 Incentives for a Positive Work Environment We often try to provide our employees with incentives to motivate them, which we hope will provide our business with positive results. Thephilosophy, of course, is that wemust keep our employees happy in order to run a successful business. If our employees view us as the boss without a heart, they will be more likely torebel or be... Continue reading

Just because a post isn't fresh, it does not mean it is not filled with useful information. We want to refresh you with our most popular posts to provide you with our best work. If other readers found a post helpful, you may also find the post useful. One of our top posts is titled 25 Nearly Free Ways to Market Your Business. In this particular post, we provide you with ideas around marketing your business for almost nothing. Continue reading

42 Rules of Marketing Toolkit - Includes a Free $9.99 Value eBook (Expires 4/24/2012). Download this kit to learn everything you need to know about Online Marketing in 2012. The 42 Rules of Marketing Toolkit, brings together the latest in information, coverage of important developments, and expert commentary to help with your Online Marketing related decisions. The following kit contents will help you get the most out of your Online Marketing related research: 42 Rules of Marketing - (Valued at $9.99) 7 Email Marketing Trends You Cannot Ignore Social Mobile User Engagement 7 Steps to Managing SEO During Site Redesign... Continue reading

Life sometimes prevents us from enjoying ourpleasures. And by pleasures, we mean Cheap Revolution. Just in case you missed our top posts from last week, we compiled them into a short list for your convenience: 20 Ways to Close A Business Letter More often than not, we write some sort of formal communication each week. Whether that be in form of a typed letter or an email, we are constantly writing to a prospective client or to another business. Even though the bulk of our letters are standard, our chance to be creative is in the way we close our... Continue reading

According to eMarketer, by the year 2016, the growth of mobile social network users is expected to reach 1.7 billion users, a 210% increase from 2011. Continue reading

Steven Courtney began working in restaurants at age 14 and fell in love with food. Due to his fascination, he quickly moved through the ranks at several restaurants. Steven understood that he wanted something bigger then restaurants, which is how he discovered a new and different career : food science. After graduating, he was hired at Campbell Soup Company. It was here where Steven was introduced to an entirely new world and quickly became fascinated with how everything worked in corporate America. Steven began to think bigger and started his own company. He began joining organizations, reading, researching, brainstorming, sitting... Continue reading

Life sometimes prevents us from enjoying ourpleasures. And by pleasures, we mean Cheap Revolution. Just in case you missed our top posts from last week, we compiled them into a short list for your convenience: Top Entrepreneurs on Twitter: Seth Godin Each week, we will seek to provide you with one entrepreneurwho can be considered to be a must follow on Twitter. We will base our selections on inspirational entrepreneurs who providevaluable insight, as well as content for our readers. We encourage you to follow our reccommended entrepreneurson Twitter, so that you absorb various viewpoints and opinions.By using Twitter, you... Continue reading

Each week, we will seek to provide you with one entrepreneur who can be considered to be a must follow on Twitter. We will base our selections on inspirational entrepreneurs who provide valuable insight, as well as content for our readers. We encourage you to follow our reccommended entrepreneurs on Twitter, so that you absorb various viewpoints and opinions. By using Twitter, you enable yourself to consume an endless database of knowledge. This week's top entrepreneur: Seth Godin. Seth Godin is the founder of Squidoo.com, a free platform that gives people a simple way to organize their interests online, and... Continue reading

Promoting your business has been easier than ever. Instead of wasting money with print advertising, the Internet enables us to take advantage of money saving alternatives. Do you own a website? How many social media channels is your business currently involved in? Does your business have a blog that is frequently updated? All of these alternatives are essential to businesses in 2012, however, many may not be taking advantage of these cost saving solutions. Create Social Media Accounts - Over 65 percent of adult internet users in the United States are on some sort of a social networking website. With... Continue reading

Life sometimes prevents us from enjoying our pleasures. And by pleasures, we mean Cheap Revolution. Just in case you missed our top posts from last week, we compiled them into a short list for your convenience: Top Entrepreneurs on Twitter: Guy Kawasaki Each week, we will seek to provide you with one entrepreneur who can be considered to be a must follow on Twitter. We will base our selections on inspirational entrepreneurs who provide valuable insight, as well as content for our readers. We encourage you to follow our reccommended entrepreneurs on Twitter, so that you absorb various viewpoints and... Continue reading

Each week, we will seek to provide you with one entrepreneur who can be considered to be a must follow on Twitter. We will base our selections on inspirational entrepreneurs who provide valuable insight, as well as content for our readers. We encourage you to follow our reccommended entrepreneurs on Twitter, so that you absorb various viewpoints and opinions. By using Twitter, you enable yourself to consume an endless database of knowledge. This week's top entrepreneur: Guy Kawasaki. Guy Kawasaki, co-founder of Alltop.com, as well as an author of ten books, is constantly updating his Twitter feed with shareable content.... Continue reading

Pinterest has been hailed as the fast growing site of all time. It's currently at over 12 million users and growing steadily. Besides the powerhouse it's become, why else should businesses and bloggers be paying attention? Mashable recently reported Pinterest drives more traffic to blogs than Twitter. Marketers can get a piece of the action and this free "How to Use Pinterest for Business" eBook from Hubspot promises to do just that. It covers how to grow followers, increase traffic, find leads, convert sales and it includes case studies of brands successfully leveraging Pinterest to grow their business. For a... Continue reading

Crowdsourcing has become popular over the past few years, especially for small business owners, freelancers, and designers. It is a great solution for those seeking easy and affordable design projects, as well as for many designers who are just starting to market their services and are looking to build a client base. Essentially, crowdsourcing is the process of sending job requests to various designers with the expectation of picking from a finalized and finished work, then setting up more meetings for further pitches and proposals. Two of the best known crowdsourcing websites for web designing and logo needs are 99Designs... Continue reading

During the week our schedules fill-up with appointments, which sometimes forces us to put our social media strategy at the bottom of our to-do list. Due to this unfortunate occurrence, our social media presence suffers, since of the main ideas behind social media is that you are updating users in real-time. However, the majority of small businesses do not have the capacity to contiously update users with enough content to effectively provide engaging updates. Scheduling your tweets weekly is one way to provide you with a safety net. Continue reading