Puppy's Picks - 11/25/08

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by Jennifer Laycock

I scan hundreds of feeds and read dozens of articles each day so you don't have to. From the new "Twitter-bite" to small businesses turning to the web for cheap marketing, find out which articles I dubbed as must-read for the small business crowd today.

I remember talking to my friend Matt Bailey earlier this year after a conference and hearing him talk about how he seems our industry shifting from the "sound bite" to the "Twitter bite." His point was that people would soon begin making their points in 140 characters or less, so they could easily be quoted on Twitter. Sure enough, Jim Connolly over at Jim's Marketing Blog has compiled 37 Marketing Tips in 140 Characters or less. (Via via Steve Woodruff.)

If you've been playing around with Google's free Website Optimizer but wonder if you are missing the boat in terms of potential, you might want to check out a new book by Bryan Eisenberg and John Quarto-vonTivadar. Chris Sherman has a review of Always be Testing: The Complete Guide to Google Website Optimizer" over at Search Engine Land.

There was a good post in the Bradenton Herald yesterday looking at small businesses and they way they use social networking sites and the web to market their small businesses. These are the local coffee shops, restaurants and other companies that compete with national chains while trying to hold tight to a budget. It's a good read to get a feel for how small businesses are beginning to embrace the web and includes a few bits of simple (and effective) advice.

Mack Collier delivers another killer post over at Marketing Profs Daily Fix. This one outlines ten things every corporate blog should have. Ten, that's it, ten simple things. If you are blogging, or thinking of blogging, you need to read this list. From comment policies to recruiting your bloggers to RSS buttons, Mack gives you the run down of what you MUST know to get rolling.