It can enhance both partners—or put a dent in one. Make sure you pick a partner that’s a good fit with your company’s products, values, and image

By Steven McKee | Businessweek.com

The moment Roger Penske announced his planned acquisition of the Saturn brand from GM, Saturn dealerships around the country initiated a spontaneous and organic co-branding campaign, erecting banners and billboards to celebrate the alliance.

Saturn of Wichita’s advertising proudly proclaimed: “Finally, a car guy owns a car company.” Scott Davies, owner of the dealership, explained the resulting traffic increase by saying: “People want to buy from someone they like. A lot of customers won’t buy a car from GM, but they will buy a car from Roger Penske.” That’s why Davies—and many other dealers like him—were so eager to associate Saturn with Penske.

It was an odd and unintentional (at least from GM’s perspective) co-branding effort, but it paid off. Saturn’s marketing director, Kim McGill, said the Penske announcement led to a 35% sales jump in June over the prior year.

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While customers’ in-boxes are overflowing, here are some tips to get them interested in your company’s e-mail newsletters

By Carmine Gallo | Businessweek.com

I recently received an e-mail that had me riveted from start to finish. It contained a true story about two men aboard US Airways flight 1549—the one that crash-landed into the Hudson River. Both passengers had regularly backed up their critical computer data. One did this by transferring info from his hard drive to a second computer, but he had taken both laptops on the plane. The other passenger had used an online backup service called Mozy (owned by EMC). I read their stories in the monthly Mozy newsletter, which I chose to receive when I signed up for Mozy myself. It’s full of fun, interesting, and valuable stories and tips.

During a recent interview, Dave Robinson, Mozy’s vice-president of marketing, explained how any business owner can make an e-mail newsletter more compelling. I also spoke with Janine Popick, chief executive of VerticalResponse, an e-mail and direct marketing provider for small businesses. Here’s their advice on how to get customers to read your e-mail newsletters.

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Entrepreneurs are finding the fast-rising microblogging site to be a useful tool for reaching out to customers

By Jeremy Quittner

Here’s what happened when Chris Savage, the chief executive of Wistia.com, searched for the phrase “private video sharing” on Twitter, a social networking site. One post he found read, “A teacher requested a private ‘video sharing’ Web site so that specialists can observe student behavior—can anyone refer one?”

That got Savage’s attention. He e-mailed back: “Still looking for a private video sharing site?”

Minutes later came the reply: “YES! It’s the first request for one—thought I’d hit up my tweets before [I] go digging.”

Savage: “Cool. You may want to check out Wistia.com. Full disclosure, I’m the CEO; -)”

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From eBay to Craigslist, there is an assortment of e-commerce sites that can help you sell your junk or expand your online retail operations

Whether you’re unloading collectibles from your attic or taking your thriving brick-and-mortar store online, there’s a surfeit of Internet marketplaces where you can set up shop. From giants like eBay (EBAY) to niche sites like Etsy to listing services like Craigslist, the choices can overwhelm a small business owner venturing into e-commerce. How do you decide which marketplaces best fit your business? For small retailers facing what some economists are predicting to be the toughest holiday season since 1991 (BusinessWeek.com, 9/23/08), it’s a particularly compelling question. Read article…