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Give a little extra to your customers and make them feel special, and you’ll gain loyalty and increase the value of your product offering.

Most of us have experienced at the end of a concert, when the audience is shouting – “Encore, Encore, Encore…” and the band comes back out to play one or two more songs. This is actually done so much, it’s expected. But do you remember the first time you experienced that moment? I remember thinking that – “Wow, this band really likes playing for our crowd. They must really like us.” In the end, it made me feel lucky and special. (more…)

Big 2010 rebound, RBC says

The Royal predicts growth will return next year as the U.S. and Canadian economies benefit from low interest rates, firmer credit markets and government stimulus programs.

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Shoppers buy extended warranties for products they love: study

Consumers are more likely to buy extended warranties for products they consider fun, rather than utilitarian, according to new research.

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Shoppin’ Where the Trees Ain’t Droppin’

Consumers primarily shop online for convenience, product selection and price. But now another reason can be added to the list: environmental responsibility.

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The Quality-Control Myth

When entrepreneurs fear a loss of quality, what they really fear is a loss of control. As a franchisor, they cannot fire a franchisee simply because they don’t like the way the franchisee runs a unit.

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Paying Your (Small Business) Bills

Suppliers aren’t putting the squeeze on their customers — everyone needs the business they can get. Usually, the vendors are putting the squeeze on the suppliers to come in at a lower price point. Be that as it may, here’s how to manage a bullying vendor who’s pressuring you to pay now:

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Merchant Cash Advances Can Ease the Crunch, but Are Costly and Can Be Risky

Merchant cash advances — also known as business cash advances, and credit-card or charge-card receivables factoring – offer one more financing alternative for small-business owners seeking short-term working capital when strapped for cash.

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Five Essential Reads for Small Businesspeople – And How to Get Them for Pennies

Here are the five most useful business books for my small business that I’ve read in the last year.

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• (via @retail_news) looks like CDN small businesses are confident, resilient, and improving http://cli.gs/Stj597 #
• Here’s another #restaurant that is creating a ‘unique’ customer experience http://bit.ly/179Itl #uniqueexperience #

How can you expand margins, while staying competitive? It’s not easy, but it is possible.

Pricing is such a huge issue for any business owners and retailers. How come customers can walk into a multi-national chain store and not even question their pricing? We can’t necessarily compete with the pricing that many multi-nationals can offer, but there are things we can do to help our perception in the public eye.

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Being the first business your customers visit, won’t guarantee success, but it will give you a huge advantage. Give your customers a reason to keep you top of mind.

On a recent trip through wine country in southern Ontario, my wife and I took one day and visited a few of the wineries in the Niagara region. Our day started with a visit to Reif Estate Winery. There, a wine connoisseur spent time with us learning what we liked and disliked, explaining the different wines and providing some samples. We enjoyed his expertise, his passion for the wines and his willingness to help us out and proceeded to buy several bottles of wine prior to leaving for our next stop.

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