For small businesses and ecommerce companies, the mobile subscribers market is a thriving industry and an opportunity to reach more consumers.

According to a recent ecommerce-guide.com report, marketing expert Jeff Judge offered several tips to establish a successful mobile marketing campaign. Judge encourages companies to decide what they want to achieve from their strategy and deliver a simple message.

Since many consumers pay to use text messaging each month, companies are advised not to send too many messages at a time. Judge said the information should include a promotion or contest entry, according to ecommerce-guide.com.

To grow their mobile customer base, Judge said organizations should advertise their mobile subscription service through their website, newsletter and anywhere they do business, the report stated.

A recent Technorati report revealed that 4.6 billion own a mobile phone, compared to 4.2 billion who have a toothbrush. This market is the perfect platform for small businesses to market through.

“Mobile phones, and in particular the smartphones, can and should play a huge role in the local area marketing of small business,” said Technorati’s Quentin Aisbett. “Most of the options available are really affordable and much more effective than traditional advertising mediums.”

Cbeyond SMB Tip: Author, radio host, and small business expert Mark Deo reveals the outsourcing basics small businesses need to know and offers tips on the best ways your small business can take advantage of the cloud by customizing outsourced services.

Monotonous daily tasks create a huge burden on small businesses’ employees. Not only does time spent dealing with small details take away from larger projects, but these tasks elevate worker frustrations.

Many businesses are beginning to deal with this problem by outsourcing their server-related tasks.  Not only does this help recapture employees’ time and reduce their frustration, but it can also increase profitability and lower both the costs and stresses of doing business. By leveraging outsourced technologies, including cloud computing, GPS, and web servers, businesses can maintain productivity with less required input and lower overall costs.

-Cbeyond Small Business Expert

Black Friday may be a traditional shoppers’ worst nightmare, but Cyber Monday is when an influx of online consumers take to the internet in search of the hottest deals.

Small Business Trends’ Lisa Barone recently wrote that small businesses can take advantage of the onslaught of online consumers in a number of ways. Companies are encouraged to offer promotions on Cyber Monday, including through email, mobile devices and online coupons.

“It’s the holidays!” wrote Barone. “What a great time to say ‘thank you’ to your Facebook fans and thank them for their loyalty. And since it’s Cyber Monday they’re even more likely to be trolling their Facebook pages to see what their friends are up to, who just bought what, and whether anyone’s sharing coupon codes.”

Barone also encourages small businesses to offer deals through social media website Twitter and integrate their Cyber Monday strategies with an email marketing campaign. If a consumer makes a purchase on Monday, companies may be wise to send a personal email thanking them.

The holiday season is a great opportunity for small businesses to increase their sales and consumer base. A recent Milwaukee Journal Sentinel report revealed that companies can enhance their marketing campaign using Twitter and Facebook.

As many consumers nowadays have mobile phones at their fingertips, small businesses have another opportunity to target their audience in a new fashion.

According to a recent ZDNet report, small businesses often focus on mobile devices as a productivity device and miss the marketing opportunity. For example, location-based services, which use a person’s whereabouts to generate relevant recommendations or travel information, continue to gain popularity among consumers.

“Location-based services help make that spend even more focused by helping advertisers serve up their information with search results or on location-stimulated web browsers, which is exactly the reason they are so controversial,” said ZDNet’s Heather Clancy.

Citing a study conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project in which nearly 30 percent of Americans use some form of mobile or social network location application, small businesses are encouraged to get on board location-based marketing, added Clancy.

For small businesses to truly succeed with mobile marketing, proper planning for long-term goals should be implemented rather than for short-term financial gains, according to a Bloomberg BusinessWeek report.

Has your business capitalized on the growth of mobile consumers? A recent Nielsen survey noted that nearly 40 percent of U.S. consumers over the age of 18 now have smartphones. In some cases, such devices have replaced the mall and the newspaper as a one-stop source to find and leverage the latest deals. The easy access, wide reach and relatively-low cost of mobile marketing programs creates great opportunity for savvy marketers to instantly generate interest among target prospects.

Author, radio host and small business expert Mark Deo reveals the key elements of a successful mobile marketing campaign, and how businesses can better understand the needs and behaviors of the redefined modern consumer.

As more consumers adopt mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, small businesses now have another opportunity to target potential customers through these devices.

According to a recent study conducted by Borrell, 83 percent of U.S. small- and medium-sized businesses plan to or already have allocated part of their 2011 marketing budget to at least one mobile channel. On average, respondents plan to spend 20 percent of their budgets on mobile marketing campaigns.

“Historically the small guys wait until the technology gets cheaper and the roadmap is a little more clear – that’s how it was with online,” Borrell principal author Kip Cassino told ClickZ. “These guys aren’t waiting. They’re plunging in, and for the most part they’re doing so without many metrics.”

While traditional marketing may have worked in the past, the new consumer is a mobile one and devices are literally flying off shelves.

According to research firm Gartner, global sales of mobile devices reached nearly 429 million units in the second quarter of 2011, while smartphone sales reached nearly 108 million.

Even in today’s high-tech environment, face to face remains the optimal way to conduct business. In person, you can experience the human interactions that add that extra something to your meeting – the warm shake of a hand; the nod of a head; the raised eyebrow across a table; the inflection of one’s voice.

However, with tighter restraints on time and money resources, many people are not able to meet face to face as much as they would like.

Traveling within the city in which you live can take time, but is usually doable. When it comes to traveling across or outside of the country, however, travel often becomes cost prohibitive – and that’s not even counting the stricter security restrictions and additional transit headaches that make modern travel more arduous than ever.

To meet these demands, large companies have taken advantage of technologies such as web and video conferencing. Today, even small and medium sized businesses are being asked to do more in less time – making virtual communication a necessity. As a result, more tools are available to create the environment of an in-person meeting within virtual parameters.

Any business with a fast internet connection can use a free virtual communication service, such as Skype or ooVoo, to maintain interaction with your colleagues.

Robust video conferencing solutions can present a clear and life-like experience, and are ideal for people who want to reduce their travel while still connecting with customers, colleagues and prospects in a meaningful way.

When determining the best avenues for establishing a virtual meeting, here are a few things to keep in mind:

Finding the right camera is important for ensuring your colleagues can see you clearly. The default camera that came with your notebook computer, or a cheap ‘web cam’ from your local office supply store, may not deliver the best video conferencing experience. Instead, consider purchasing a high-definition video camera which gives you a much better picture than a traditional web cam. High-definition cameras range in price from $50 to $400, and you’ll want to make sure they work as advertised before purchasing for your employees.

When communicating in a noisy environment, having the right microphone is necessary to isolate your voice from the background noise. If your camera has an integrated microphone, ensure that it is sufficient for your needs.

High speed Internet access is critical to ensuring functional video conferencing or other broadband intensive services. Recently, I upgraded to a much faster, 3MB per second (upload) / 15MB per second (download) connection, and my recent video conferences have been notably speedier and more efficient.

If your office is loud, consider moving or configuring your work space to reduce distraction. Sometimes it can be hard, especially when working at home, to avoid having kids or pets near your work station, but you’ll want to take the right steps to make your mobile office as silent as possible, so as not to confuse important project details when speaking with your colleagues and clients.

You should also be sure to adjust the background you have for your video conference depending on your audience. For example, if you’re pitching business to a courier company, make sure the shelf behind you is free of boxes from a competing courier company. In sum, if video conferencing is going to be a strategic part of your business, it’s important to “look your best.”

While there is no perfect replacement for the direct, personal nature of conducting business in an office surrounded by your colleagues, there is a wealth of alternatives in today’s market to meet the demands of virtual employees. Find what methods work best for you and your team, and you can be sure that you stay in the know wherever you are.

As mobile technology continues to evolve, employees have more access to information than ever before. For smaller businesses, this development should not be overlooked.

According to a recent study by AMI Partners, more than 3.5 million U.S. small- and medium-sized businesses are currently using smartphones, while 700,000 are using tablets. Although these numbers appear impressive on the surface, AMI projects the two markets will increase by 40 percent and 85 percent in the next year.

With the rapid adoption of these mobile devices, the market for mobile business applications is projected to evolve to meet the growing needs of companies.

“The current generation of workers is never without their mobile devices,” said Prashanth Motupalli, a survey research analyst at AMI.  “These workers already use mobile devices to email and browse the web, but they are now looking for more sophisticated business applications while not in the office.”

This year, SMBs are projected to spend $32 billion for mobility solutions as more companies adopt smartphones and tablets, according to a Techaisle study.

Smaller businesses hoping to increase employee productivity don’t have to look any further than a smartphone or tablet and, as the technology continues to evolve, more benefits are sure to be available

The right technology can go a long way toward improving a small business’s day-to-day performance. A recent study showed that a BlackBerry user can complete up to an hour more of work each day. Understanding how to maximize your BlackBerry’s capabilities can increase your daily efficiency and reduce downtime.

Cbeyond shares four application management shortcuts that can transform your BlackBerry Curve into the ultimate work tool.

Learn more about how Cbeyond’s mobile voice and data services can help you stay connected anytime and anywhere.

Unforeseen disasters can bring a business of any size to a halt. In many cases, it takes longer for a small business to recover from catastrophe than a large business. It is crucial for small businesses to have contingency plans in place so they can weather a disaster. Cbeyond’s cloud-based phone and file storage services ensure your business can maintain productivity in times of emergency.

Cbeyond security expert Bill Thomson explains how Cbeyond’s cloud-based services can ensure a small business is prepared for the unexpected.

Learn more about Cbeyond’s cloud-based phone and backup services.