New York SBDC Research Network

From Business Knowhow : Postcard marketing articles, tips, and advice. Get new ideas for marketing with postcards. Some examples: Creative Marketing with Postcards Most business owners don't use postcards as a marketing tool and those that do, use them infrequently and haphazardly, with no strategy involved. Yet they are extremely cost-effective and are six times more likely to be read than a direct mail letter. High Response Marketing with Low-Cost Postcards Postcards can drive a huge amount of traffic to your website, generate a flood of new sales leads or produce a surge in any business activity you want. And you don't have to spend a lot of time or money on them if you apply these four little-known postcard marketing secrets. 10 Common Postcard Marketing Mistakes to Avoid Postcards are the least expensive form of direct mail today, are easy to create, and typically generate a high rate of response.

From ThomasNet : After holding steady at 3.9% for March and April, the unemployment rate for manufacturing declined to 3.2% in May – its lowest point since June 2000. Meanwhile, the 0.7 percentage-point drop represents the largest improvement in the unemployment rate since June 2016, when the unemployment rate fell a full percentage point, from 4.7% to 3.7%. The number of unemployed persons within the industry fell from 620,000 to 504,000 – the lowest it has been since at least 2000. However, the number of people employed within the industry fell by 1,000 workers. Many durable goods sectors experienced job growth in May, including the Machinery sector, which added 3,700 new jobs – the most of any sector in the industry.

From Bplans : Have you ever discovered a mention of your business on social media and thought, “How should I respond to that?” If the post is negative, you may be especially anxious to answer that question. Should you delete negative comments, respond with a counter-argument, or ignore them altogether? The flow chart [at the link] offers a helpful way to evaluate social media posts, and provides a response strategy for each. Remember, what goes online stays online, and your response to posts on social media should positively reflect the mission and values of your small business. Before you respond to any negative post, use the flow chart as a quick reference to help cooler heads prevail. Above is another response chart, not from the article.

By  Joshlyn Ross , Contributor From the Small Business Administration When was the last time you’ve revisited your workplace safety plan? Not only is it the law, but it also can ensure that you and your employees are always safe. In honor of National Safety Month, we would like to highlight four resources that will help you identify unsafe behaviors, create opportunities for improvement and  help you (and your employees) make well-informed safety decisions on a daily basis. 1 .  Ensure your business meets legal requirements with OSHA Employers are responsible for providing a safe and healthful workplace for their employees. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s role is to assure the safety and health of America's workers by setting and enforcing standards as well as providing training and education to business owners. Check out  OSHA’s handbook  to ensure that your small business meets the legal requirements of the  Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. 2.

From MarketingProfs : The other day, a friend of mine put her job and professional reputation at risk. Sadly, it wasn't for anything as significant as standing up for human rights or even bunny rights. No, it was a Facebook post: a shared image that was intended to be a funny political meme but, instead, offended many of the people who saw it. Should she have shared that post? Could she have lost her job? Might the issue have been avoided? Were people just being overly sensitive? Let's explore those questions—and others. So that we're all on the same page, let's start with what I mean by "political post." To my mind, there are two kinds: implicit and explicit.

From Glass Door : Oftentimes, it’s easier to identify a bad company to work for than a good one. Red flags like a pattern of not-so-great Glassdoor reviews, rude interviewers, and a high turnover rate stick out like sore thumbs, indicating that you might want to steer clear. But what happens if a company doesn’t exhibit any of these common warning signs? Does that mean you’ll enjoy working there? Fortunately, you don’t have to go into the decision-making process blind. In addition to the glimpse into a company’s culture that Glassdoor reviews, salaries, and interviews provide, there are a number of factors you can look out for during the interview process that will hint at whether or not you’ll enjoy working at a company. We reached out to a handful of career experts to get their thoughts on what makes a great place to work — here are a few of the top signs that you’ve picked a winner.

The Office of Advocacy has released a report on veteran-owned businesses. The report gives a detailed profile of this robust business population based on the latest available data, the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2012 Survey of Small Business Owners. • In 2012, the United States had 21.2 million veterans, and 2.52 million businesses were majority-owned by veterans. • Almost all of veteran-owned businesses (99.9 percent) were small businesses. • Veteran-owned firms had receipts of $1.14 trillion, employed 5.03 million people, and had an annual payroll of $195 billion. • These firms represented 9.1 percent of all U.S. firms. • The three states with the most veteran-owned businesses were California, Texas, and Florida. • The three states with the highest percent of veteran-owned businesses in their populations were South Carolina, New Hampshire, and Virginia. The report is called Veteran-Owned Businesses and Their Owners: Data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners. It