New York SBDC Research Network

comScore describes itself as "a global leader in measuring the digital world and the preferred source of digital marketing intelligence". I'm fond of their "press releases" page, as it provides links to brief articles featuring measurements of users of the Internet from countries around the globe. In the past, I came to rely on sites like this, only to see them stop publication of material without any warning. I'll keep my eye on this one, as it seems pretty hip. Pass it on to your e-clients, too.

Last night I attended an event hosted by the Albany Business Journal . The Biz Mix was a networking opportunity that brought together individuals from all types of business throughout the Capital Region. The Albany Business Journal is an American City Business Journal , the nation's largest publisher of metropolitan business newspapers. ACBJ's metropolitan business newspapers reach 4 million readers each week with exclusive, in-depth coverage of their business communities. Every day I recieve emails from the Albany Business Journal that keep me informed about local and national business news. ACBJ operates in 42 metropolitan areas throughout the U.S. and the websites associated with the 42 journals reach 8 million unique monthly visitors. I also recieve invitations to events like the one I attended last night, which provide a great forum to meet other business indivduals in the community. I highly recommend to any business individual to check out their local business jou

If you've asked us for any information about the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in the United States, you probably saw the 2004 report, "Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use Among Adults: United States, 2002," with a note that this was the most up-to-date and comprehensive info available. Well, I'm happy to say there's a new report on the subject. " Costs of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) and Frequency of Visits to CAM Practitioners: United States, 2007 " was released by the CDC on July 30, 2009. The data covers a wide range of CAM practices, including energy therapy, acupuncture , biofeedback, hypnosis and massage, providing data on out of pocket costs, practitioner costs, and number of visits per year.

The Census Bureau released three Economic Census reports last week: 2007 Economic Census: Arts, Entertainment and Recreation Industry Series 2007 Economic Census: Construction Industry Series 2007 Business Expenses for Wholesale and Retail Trades Unsurprising, I suppose. But Census has also recently released Reports on Residential Vacancies and Homeownership , which showed "National vacancy rates in the second quarter 2009 were 10.6 (+ 0.4) percent for rental housing and 2.5 (+ 0.1) percent for homeowner housing...The Census Bureau said the rental vacancy rate was higher than the second quarter 2008 rate (10.0 percent) and higher than the rate last quarter (10.1 percent). For homeowner vacancies, the current rate was lower than the second quarter 2008 rate (2.8 percent) and lower than the rate last quarter (2.7 percent). The homeownership rate at 67.4 (+ 0.5) percent for the current quarter was lower than the second quarter 2008 rate (68.1 percent), but not statistically different

New software titles are added to the marketplace on an hourly basis. We don't subscribe to any database that promotes itself as being up-to-the-minute with their listings. However, for requests that seek software to perform a certain function, I typically look at one or both of these sites: 1) STORES Software Sourcebook (courtesy of the National Retail Federation) - This is updated annually, and the link here refers to their 2009 version. You can search by keyword, or by the category of software being sought. 2) SoftScout - The Business Software Encyclopedia - According to its latest tally, this website has information on 24,615 products. It also can be searched by keyword & category, as well as by broad industry category and operating system. Remember these. Bookmark these. Refer these to clients who are looking for software help.

By now, if you are paying any attention at all to small business publications, you know that social networking and Internet communication skills are essential. Tools like Twitter, Facebook, and LISTSERVS can help a business bring in new clients and remind old clients to come back for more business. Sometimes it may seem that the media is bombarding us with tips on how to use these and other tools more effectively and I know at times even I become overwhelmed. Regardless, the barrage of information is quite useful, once you get past the feeling of "Oh no, not another networking article". I have learned so much this summer from actually reading every article I come across on social networking and Internet tools that I feel that I must once again, share. Below are links to articles that I have read recently. Social Media 101: Use Twitter to Attract Prospects and Engage Customers - Must sign up to read full article. Signing up is free. Facebook, Twitter and More: The New R

I am not the biggest tomato fan but I was nevertheless looking forward to tomatoes from my garden and was very disappointed to learn that my tomatoes had succumbed to late blight. In trying to figure out what had happened, I discovered that this is a widespread problem this year throughout the Northeast. I have real sympathy for people who depend on their crops for income. Here is one of many stories on how late blight is affecting retailers in the region and also, what you backyard gardeners can do to prevent its spread. Op-Ed Contributor You Say Tomato, I Say Agricultural Disaster The New York Times By DAN BARBER Published: August 8, 2009