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Latest Headlines from Ecommerce Guide

The Source for e-commerce news, trends, product reviews, and how-tos for businesses running online or e-commerce sites and selling and marketing products and services.

Yahoo, Microsoft Begin AdCenter Shift — December 31st, 1969

With the transition to Bing for Yahoo searches complete, Microsoft and Yahoo say they've begun to move paid search accounts from Yahoo to Microsoft's adCenter.

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3 Web Tools for Better Graphics — December 31st, 1969

These three, easy-to-use Web resources can help you clean up a photo, put a little funk in your fonts and quickly browse photos on image and social media sites across the Web.

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10 Tips to SEO an Online Newsroom — December 31st, 1969

An online newsroom can be more than a repository for dusty press releases. It can drive traffic to your site and even establish you as a leader in your industry. Our 10 tips show you how to make it happen.

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Google Buys Social Startup Angstro, ITA Still in Limbo — December 31st, 1969

Google picks up another social media company to better compete with Facebook, while its acquisition of online travel software firm ITA Software is now facing scrutiny by the U.S. Department of Justice.

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Search Engine Wars: Bing, Yahoo Gain in July — December 31st, 1969

Sequential gains belie the longer-term movement on the search leader board that has seen Microsoft gain largely at the expense of Yahoo, while Google has suffered only a marginal drop.

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About Small Business: Canada

Small Business: Canada

Shipping out of Province: Should You Charge Them HST? — September 3rd, 2010

I'm still getting lots of mail about GST and HST, mainly about whether businesses should be charging GST (the Goods and Services Tax), HST (Harmonized Sales Tax), PST (Provincial Sales Tax) or what when they ship goods and/or services out of province.

For instance, K.S. writes:

I am a little confused on the HST rules. We are a business based in Quebec. If a supplier from Ontario ships us merchandise to our plant in Quebec, should they invoice us HST and QST on top of HST?

The taxes you charge depend on where you're shipping to. As I explain in Online Business and HST, if you are selling goods or services out of province, you charge the GST/HST rate based on where the goods are being shipped to.

Therefore, if you ship to B.C., charge 12%, to Ontario, Newfoundland and Labrador, or New Brunswick, charge 13%, to Nova Scotia 15% and if you sell to Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Quebec or Prince Edward Island, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut or the Yukon, only charge 5% (the GST rate).

So K.S.'s supplier should only be charging her 5%, the GST rate.

As to how to charge taxes, this pair of sample invoices include an explanation of what has to go on your invoice:

More on HST

And, of course, the Canada Revenue Agency has lots of information on HST and is ready to assist you. Visit their "Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) for Ontario and British Columbia" page or phone them at 1-800-959-5525 (TTY 1-800-665-0354).

Shipping out of Province: Should You Charge Them HST? originally appeared on About.com Small Business: Canada on Friday, September 3rd, 2010 at 08:03:49.

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Small Business Idea: Chalkboards for Business — September 2nd, 2010

Have artistic talent? Then maybe doing chalkboards for business is the small business idea for you.

Small Business Idea: Creating chalkboards for businesses.

My artist friend Ja says that his chalkboard business is really picking up and it does seem that chalkboard signs are becoming increasingly popular. Lots of restaurants and pubs sport chalkboard menus and there also seem to be more chalkboard murals and interior art around.

For businesses, chalkboard signs are not only trendy but easier to change or update than traditional signage and can be cheaper than going the traditional graphics route.

You could design and sell custom-made illustrated chalkboard menus for restaurants and cafes, as Claire Watson of Chalk It Up Signs does, and even, as Zexzee Chalkboards does, design and sell chalkboards themselves.

This article from the Seattle Times will give you the flavour of what being a chalkboard artist is like: Chalkboard artist Malia McCabe creates memorable menus.

Until you build up enough clientele (or even after if you want) you could combine this small business idea with doing murals and window painting.

So if this small business idea appeals to you, start putting your portfolio together. It will probably take some cold calling to get started.

More Small Business Ideas

See Small Business Ideas for even more.

Image (c) Thinkstock / Getty Images

Small Business Idea: Chalkboards for Business originally appeared on About.com Small Business: Canada on Thursday, September 2nd, 2010 at 08:05:21.

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Read. Learn. Succeed. Sign Up Now. — September 1st, 2010

You don't need to go back to school to learn something. For instance, I offer five free online courses to help you make your small business as successful as possible.

Follow the links to sign up for one or more of these free courses:

Free Small Business Online Courses

The Small Business Success course: Become more organized and productive through this online course as you learn to market yourself and your business more effectively.

The Speak for Success Course: The seven speech lessons in this online course will make you sound more polished and professional - and ultimately, because of the power of good communication, become more successful.

The Organize Your Office Course: Learn how to get your office organized and turn your office space into a work space.

The Starting a Business in Canada Course: If you're wondering what steps you need to go through to make your new business legal or wrestling with writing a business plan, this 10 week course will lead you through the process of starting a business in Canada - step by step.

The Small Business Makeover Course: Designed to increase your business success by focusing on buffing up five aspects of your small business; your business planning, business finances, customer service, information technology management and small business marketing.

Image (c) Stewart Cohen / Digital Vision

Read. Learn. Succeed. Sign Up Now. originally appeared on About.com Small Business: Canada on Wednesday, September 1st, 2010 at 08:02:19.

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Time Management Tips for Fall — August 31st, 2010

Changed schedules and vacations make it even tougher than usual to juggle business, family and play and back to school season can make it seem like there's just too many balls in the air.

If 'busy' and 'stressed' describe you, knock some of the stress out of fall with my 11 Time Management Tips.

These other time management resources of mine will also help make it easier to balance your work and life while still accomplishing what you need to do:

And don't forget to share your tips: Readers Respond: What Are Your Time Management Tips?

More Time Management Resources on About.com

I'm Just Too Busy. How Do I Find More Time? (About Stress Management)
Business Efficiency Tips for Busy Work-At-Home Moms (About Women in Business)
Top 9 Time Management and Productivity Tools (About Human Resources)

Image (c) Photodisc / Getty Images

Time Management Tips for Fall originally appeared on About.com Small Business: Canada on Tuesday, August 31st, 2010 at 08:08:17.

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Business Holiday Gift Guide — August 30th, 2010

Looking for gift ideas for a business person this holiday season or maybe, if you run your own business, something to add to your own gift wish list? This Business Holiday Gift Guide presents a selection of business gifts for holiday gift giving or receiving.

Business Holiday Gift Guide originally appeared on About.com Small Business: Canada on Monday, August 30th, 2010 at 08:00:35.

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