Small business owners rely on their mobile phones.  In fact, its the third most important thing that they carry in their technology arsenal of tricks, just behind a computer and high speed internet.

Heck, even Santa Claus could use some mobile help.

More fun facts about the booming mobile marketing business.

29% of retail businesses in USA plan to implement text message marketing in 2012.

American consumers still look at text message marketing offers with skepticism, at least in comparison to offers from other mediums.  Just 26% of Americans have trust in text message advertisements and mobile display isn’t doing much better at just 27%.  No doubt, text message spam is not helping the cause of the humble SMS, but I would think that text messages from a well-known brand would do much better than texts from some unknown and unsolicited source.

TEXT MESSAGE FLYING: Pilot nearly crashes plane while reading text messages.

We’ve all heard the warnings: “Don’t Text and Drive.”

And, no matter how much we warn people, they continue to do it.

But, I never thought that we needed to educate pilots on not to Text and Fly.  Apparently, however, we do.

A Jetstar plane from Australia nearly landed without its landing gear being down, according to this story by Ubergizmo.  The pilot apparently was reading text messages and when the plane got within 150 meters of landing, the co-pilot (who was not texting at the time), pulled the plane up after an alarm sounded notifying the pilot of the missing landing gear.

If you want to  hang on to your cell phones, our advice is to not go out after 9 pm, don’t visit Philadelphia, and don’t ever visit a pizza place.  But, whatever you do, don’t go to Manchester, England where people lose their cell phones more than in any other city.

Is it just me, or shouldn’t bars and nightclubs be on this list?  That would explain why all the drunks in Philly and Manchester are losing their phones between 9 pm and 2 am!

Where do we lose our cell phones the most?

Guest post from: Constance Rodgers

When my dad told me that his real estate office needed some updates, I told him that I would be more than happy to help. He recently got small business xo, and decided that he needed to update some other things in the office. He asked me if I wanted any of the furniture that is currently there, so I told him I could use a new desk in our home office. His chairs and couches in their waiting room are very outdated, so I told him that he should donate those. I am excited about helping him pick out new furniture. He is also having the entire office painted, which will give the office a new look. His copying machine broke last week, so he had to buy a new one. I was worried that he was spending so much money on his office. The real estate market right now is pretty bad, but my dad is actually still doing really well with his listings. Hopefully updating his office will bring him even more business in that field.

When it comes to mobile coupons, the British and Americans have quite a bit in common.  In fact, of those polled, citizens in the UK or USA prefer receiving coupons via email to a greater extent than say the Chinese do.

The ipsos poll found that 86% of Americans prefer to receive coupons via email as opposed to text message.

OK, you can admit it.  You take your cell phone into the bathroom with you to keep you “occupied.”  A whopping 75% of Americans admit to texting from the bathroom.

Wow, that’s just gross.

The world is shrinking.  No, not literally, but when it comes to business, it is definitely shrinking.

When a successful business reaches a certain level of success, it has two choices.  It can either offer more products in its current country or expand internationally.  I have never been afraid of expanding internationally.

That’s because with internet marketing, you can be successful in another country and never leave your US office.  If you want to push your product, a great place to start is the middle east; everybody goes to the UK.  But, doing business there is different, so I use middle eastern ppc management to get the word out.

By hiring a Middle Eastern search engine marketing firm you get value, because they know where to go and how to say it.  Don’t assume you can use the same marketing tactics in the middle east that you use in Chicago.

A middle eastern search engine optimization firm will handle your marketing for you so you can concentrate on what you do best–making a great product.