Although LinkedIn is the world’s largest social media network for businesspeople and professionals, most small business owners still don’t have it on their marketing radar. But that’s changing as LinkedIn itself ads more features aimed at helping businesses market to its 160 million registered users, and more small businesses start taking advantage of this powerful platform for generating leads and making business connections. more

Although all industries and individuals have benefitted greatly from the availability of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), perhaps no industry has benefited more than the construction industry. The reasons to use ADR are compelling. more

Calls not getting returned? more

If you’re underwater and facing financial distress, what might Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s new short-sale reform policies mean for you? Potentially a lot – even if you are current on your mortgage payments and never imagined that a short sale and principal reduction could be in the cards. more

Use of mobile devices continues to grow by leaps and bounds, and local business owners should be taking notice now more than ever. A new “Mobile Path to Purchase” study conducted by Nielsen tracked what consumers are doing with their mobile devices. According to the study, consumers show a strong preference for finding information related to local contact and purchases, such as looking up a business location, accessing map and driving directions and calling a business. more

I’m traveling to Warsaw, Poland, next month to deliver two public seminars. After a couple Skype interviews, I discovered that although the United States and Poland are 5,000 miles and many, many cultures apart, our sales needs are the same. more

During pretrial discovery in civil litigation, businesses can incur substantial legal fees and must allocate significant staff hours to comply with their document production obligations. With the predominance of electronically stored information in daily business practices, responsive documents are no longer typically found in hard copy form within office file cabinets or at off-site warehouses, but rather are stored on back-up tapes, hard drives and digital media. Business and employment lawsuits can necessitate the review of thousands (and at times millions) of pages of electronic information during pretrial proceedings. more

Should small-business owners advertise on Facebook? While some who’ve tried it seem satisfied, others are convinced it’s a bust for most local businesses. When USA Today ran an article recently on Facebook’s effort to attract small-biz advertisers, many business owners responded to say their experience with such ads was negative. more

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau wants you to see the full appraisal report on the house you’re buying or refinancing as early in the mortgage process as possible, and without your having to ask the lender for it. more

Do you ever get the feeling that your credit score doesn’t adequately portray your true risk as an applicant for a home mortgage? more