Yola Announces Resource Center and Recovery Plan for Struggling Small Businesses

Less than half of all small businesses have websites, and many feel their sites are ineffective according to a recent Yola survey. Yola Small Business Resource Center is designed as a one stop shop for small business owners to either create a website or maximize the presence the already have online. From "The Five Steps to Building a Spectacular Website" to how to use Twitter and Facebook to promote your business, the Small Business Resource Center has a multitude of articles, blogs, videos and special offers from a variety of resources.

Recognizing that small businesses also need expert advice for their offline efforts, Yola has partnered with Jim Blasingame, the Small Business Advocate®, one of the world's foremost experts on small business and entrepreneurship, to make his substantial resources available.

"A website for a small business -- of any size or type -- is as essential to success as a physical location and a phone number," said Jim Blasingame. "Not having a website is the same as telling customers and prospects 'I don't want you to find me.' Even if you currently only have basic information to post about your company, never underestimate the increasing use and power of local search."

"Small businesses have taken incredible hits over the past two years in the face of a flailing economy," said Vinny Lingham, CEO and founder of Yola. "While Obama introduced his stimulus package nine months ago to help, consumer spending is just now recovering, seeing its biggest jump since 2001. Now is the time to focus to giving small businesses the tools they will need to capitalize on the upcoming economic revitalization, which I'm confident the Small Business Resource Center will do. To give them a kickstart, however, we have put together the Yola Recovery Plan."

The Yola Small Business Recovery Plan is a sweepstakes that will award small business with more than $5,000 in prizes.

--  3 winners will receive new, customized websites
--  10 winners will receive Yola Pro packages with all of the premium
    tools they need for their websites
--  25 winners will receive Yola Premium Styles
--  100 winners will receive books by Jim Blasingame, the Small Business
    Advocate ® and the Yola Small Business Expert
    

Small business owners can enter the sweepstakes at http://businesscenter.yola.com/recovery-plan.php.

Social Media Links:

--  Yola Small Business Resource Center: http://businesscenter.yola.com/
--  Jim Blasingame: http://www.smallbusinessadvocate.com/
--  Yola's Blog:  http://blog.yola.com
--  Yola's Twitter Feed:  http://twitter.com/yola
--  Vinny Lingham's Blog:  http://www.vinnylingham.com/
    

About Yola, Inc.

Yola offers a free website creation tool that empowers small businesses, non-profits and everyday users to easily create professional quality websites. Yola's intuitive drag and drop technology enables users to easily incorporate a variety of content including YouTube videos, Google Maps, PayPal shopping carts and many more without needing any technical skills. Privately-held Yola, backed by Reinet Fund, is the recipient of numerous industry accolades including The Industry Standard 100, a Fast Company Fast 50 Reader Favorite and BusinessWeek's 50 Best Tech Startups. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, Calif. For additional information, please visit www.yola.com or call 415-227-0250.