Smartphones, now owned by more than 45 million Americans, are the Swiss Army knives of the 21st century. They serve as video cameras, stopwatches, navigation devices, flashlights—even TV remote controls.

Advances in mobile phones are also changing how the world manages money. You can pay bills, get up-to-the-minute stock prices and file expense reports without ever sitting in front of a computer.

“There’s been a real demand on financial institutions to get more active in the mobile space,” said Jeremy Sokolic, director of marketing for the mobile financial information firm CarryQuote. People can get so many things on their phones that help them in their day-to-day life, More…

Pretty much every business in the world has a social-media presence now. But just having a Facebook page or Twitter account isn’t enough—not if you want to get the most out of these sites for your business or personal brand.

Think of social media as a community, one in which you or your business must take an active role. In fact, you need to do more than participate—you need to create a community of your own. That means you need to provide unique and timely content that effectively competes for your readers’ attention. Entertain, inform and engage.

Here are some tips on how to do that: More…

Almost anyone who runs a business has a website. It’s a no-brainer, as more and more people are shopping on the Internet.

Perhaps you’ve taught yourself about search engine optimization, or hired someone to do it. Heck, you’re even involved in social media.

Think you’ve got online covered? Maybe not.

Did you realize that by 2013, analysts estimate, more people will access websites through a mobile device than through a desktop?

Have you ever tried looking at a website with a cell phone? More…

If you’re a regular visitor to this website, you know that we write and podcast often about the impact of social media and why it’s important for you to be involved. Whether you’re an investor, a business owner or just a consumer, social media is an arena that no one can afford to miss out on.

Let’s review 10 facts about social media:

1. Facebook has more than 550 million active users. More than 200 million access Facebook through their mobile devices. And people who use FB on their mobile devices are twice as active as non-mobile users. More…

WEALTH has written and podcasted a good deal about the potential of social media. After all, most of the country uses Facebook, Twitter or other social media sites, and they can be a great way to connect to customers and keep tabs on business competitors.

But there are some real downsides to social media. Whether you are an employee or the CEO of a big corporation, you need to know the kinds of activity to avoid.

Proofpoint, an Internet security firm, reports that 17 percent of large companies report having issues with employees’ use of social media. And 8 percent of those companies report having actually dismissed someone for their behavior on sites like Facebook and LinkedIn. More…

The concept of crowd-funding is nothing new. Some say the White House was won in 2008 with $20 at a time in campaign contributions. Charities often rely on small amounts from a vast number of supporters.

Venture capital funding, however, historically has taken more traditional routes—until now. With the advent of online social networking, entrepreneurs with limited funding resources are turning to the burgeoning business of crowd-funding websites.

The model is a simple one: Promote your idea. Ask others to put up cash. Offer rewards. Receive funding. Bring your project to life.

Artists maintain creative and financial control. More…

Search engine optimization is a familiar term to anyone who is in charge of a website. In short, SEO is the practice of making sure search engines like Google will not only find your site but also rank it as high as possible in the listings.

SEO has been in the news recently because Google has penalized some companies for trying to “game” its exclusive, and largely secret, algorithm-based system of ranking search results.

If you have a business, you want to be high in Google’s rankings More…

Networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube can be powerful tools for spreading buzz about your company. But there’s a lot more to successful social-media marketing than just starting a blog, setting up a Facebook fan page or auto-following 20,000 people on Twitter.

“You can’t go into it thinking this is a cheap way to do advertising. It’s a new opportunity to create a new relationship with your customers and people considered influencers in your world,” says James Andrews, co-founder of Everywhere, a social-media marketing agency in Atlanta. “It’s not a place just to continually sell, sell, sell.”

WEALTH offers 10 tips for promoting your business effectively on social media: More…

If you’re looking with dismay at your LG Electronics EnV Touch VX11000 Smartphone or a similar device and wondering whether you should just chuck it into the trash because 4G cell-phone technology has arrived in your city, here’s a cautionary note: Not so fast!

Most modern phones are nowhere near obsolete. And besides, 4G networks are popping up almost as slowly as reports of marital bliss in the Ashton Kutcher-Demi Moore household. Oh, and did we mention there are two competing 4G technologies out there? Anyone remember VHS versus Betamax? More about that later.

The cool news is that 4G—meaning the fourth generation of wireless service—promises to offer speeds up to 10 times faster than what 3G networks and phones deliver. More…

Videos are sweeping the virtual world, turning static websites into animated circuses filled with product demonstrations, testimonials and entertainment.

Online retailers who long relied on photos and a short blurb to describe merchandise are using videos for added punch. Whether it’s selling a vacation destination or a hot new SLR camera, motion is quickly defining the medium.

As video moves from YouTube to everybody’s computer screen, businesses are asking how to skillfully revamp their sites. A clever production might draw customers, but a lame one could just as easily entice a Web surfer to move on. More…