Microadvert.net- When Miki Nishihata opened Hello Bicycle in October 2008, he had some cool ideas for drumming up business. He stocked the quirky bike shop in Seattle's Beacon Hill neighborhood with an ice cream machine and an espresso maker--big hits, of course. But he was missing one important feature: His was one of 26 million U.S. small businesses that don't accept credit cards.

"Credit cards and me didn't get along," Nishihata explains, citing "exorbitant" monthly fees, long-term contracts, the cost of buying a card reader and the need for a dedicated phone line. As a cash business, he did OK, but felt he was likely losing out on some sales.

Microadvert.net- With 10 million confirmed users of Google+, and comScore reporting there were 20 million visitors to Google’s new social platform during its first 21 weeks of existence, it’s safe to say from a pure numbers perspective that Google+ is off to a hot start. Brands, after seeing the potential on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, are ready to jump into the Google+ pool, but there’s a problem: the lifeguards at Google aren’t ready for them – and neither is the platform

microadvert.net- 2012 is primed to be the year of social. In particular we can anticipate a blitz of publicity around social business. But social media too still has room to surprise. Talking with a group of people recently including Lloyd Armbrust at OwnLocal and Tom Smith of Global Web Index (and reading his blog) I picked out four megatrends that will shape social as it truly comes of age.

The growth of the transmitter ecosystem