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Wishing everyone the best this holiday! And sending thanks to all our customers and partners who have helped make this year a success. Cheers to many more! Just a reminder, Azox will be closed December 24, 25 and 31 as well as January 1, 2013 in observance of the holidays. Again, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 

Business owners and entrepreneurs who need assistance are encouraged to attend seminars offered by the Oakland County Business Center. The workshops take place at the Oakland County Executive Office Building Conference Center, 2100 Pontiac Lake Road, west of Telegraph in Waterford Township. For registration, visit www.AdvantageOakland.com/expand or call 248-858-0783. Advanced Legal Series: Creating Beneficial Relationships with Customers, Contractors and Suppliers is 9 a.m. to noon, Jan. 8. This workshop analyzes the legal and “practical” aspects of creating mutually beneficial relationships with customers, suppliers and other third parties. This workshop is well suited for new and existing businesses. The cost is $40. CEED Microloan Orientation is 9 to 11 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 9. Many small businesses face obstacles when trying to obtain a business loan. This workshop is free, but registration is required. Business Research: Feasibility to Expansion is 9 a.m. to noon, Wednesday, Jan. 9...

eSource has been updated to version 3.3 and now offers new functionalities, settings and web parts along with some routine fixes that have been made, allowing the software to operate more smoothly. With eSource 3.3, now Azox can build your ecommerce site online as well as for mobile users. These mobile ecommerce sites have different configurations; however they provide the same look as the parent site and give users the option of switching back and forth between the mobile site and the full site to optimize the shopping experience. There are several new settings that are part of this update, including buy/get specials available as pop-up windows or promo pages that become available as customers move from shopping to checkout, admin reports and updated settings windows for browsers. First, changes to the settings windows include login/password retrieval or reset for users who have forgotten these credentials. Additionally, display and details of items now have more features. On the Item...

KH Home is lit up in downtown Clarkston, Dec. 7. All that's missing is the snow. If you want to find unique Christmas gifts, steer away from the mall and head for the quaint downtowns in the area. Clarkston is one of Michigan's most travelled downtowns with M-15 running through it til it ends at Dixie Highway. The two-and-a-half block downtown features several shops, Rudy's Market and three restaurants. One shop is Essence on Main, which features gourmet chocolate confections and local, organic and gourmet food products and gifts. Other shops include the Parsonage, florist and gift shop, Village Apparel, KH Home interior design studio, Clarkston Flower Shoppe, the Bird Feeder, Basketful of Yarn and the Country Store. Restaurants include the Clarkston Union, the Union Woodshop and the Olde Village Grille. There's Mesquite Creek and Brioni Cafe & Deli, which are on the north end of town, closer to the I-75 interchange. Also downtown, there's Lisa’s Confection Co...

Nominations for the 2013 “Elite 40 Under 40” are open until Dec. 31. Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson launched his Elite 40 Under 40 initiative last year to identify outstanding professional and executive leaders who have achieved excellence in their field before the age of 40. Individuals may submit nominations at www.AdvantageOakland.com . The winner will introduce Patterson at his 2013 State of the County address on Feb. 7, 2013.

This week Azox will be hosting three different webinars, one on Wednesday, December 12, 2012 and two on Thursday, December 13, 2012. Join one of these informative webinars at no cost to learn about online bill pay, how to improve retail with e-commerce for Microsoft Dynamics GP or secure credit card processing. Online Customer Bill Pay for Microsoft Dynamics GP Wednesday, December 12, 2012 12:00 – 12:30 p.m. Learn what this e-payment solution can do for your organization, including how online bill pay makes it possible to accept payments through your existing Microsoft Dynamics GP back office and improves customer self-service. Improving Retail with Integrated E-Commerce for Microsoft Dynamics GP Thursday December 13, 2012 12:00 – 12:30 p.m. Attendees of this webinar will learn how having an e-commerce solution integrated with Microsoft Dynamics GP will improve business processes including effective cross selling or upselling, real-time inventory and pricing updates, SEO management, on...

Social Media Basics – Internet Marketing 101 webinar is 1 to 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 12. It is offered by The Whole Brain Group of Ann Arbor. The free webinar provides information on how social media fits into a growing company’s overall strategy and goals. It provides an overview of social media, including LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Google. Sign up at http://info.thewholebraingroup.com/internet-marketing-101-social-media-basics .

Submitted by Dottie DeHart, DeHart & Company Public Relations, DeHartandcompany.com Office holiday parties can be tricky. Talk too much about yourself or have too many cocktails, and the party can turn into a missed opportunity if not a disaster. It doesn’t have to be that way, says Andrew Sobel, coauthor of Power Questions : Build Relationships, Win New Business, and Influence Others. Go in armed with a few power questions, and you can leave the party having created and strengthened key relationships. “The first step to not being the lonely loser is not drinking too much. Alcohol makes your inhibitions and common sense come tumbling down, and it vastly increases the chance that you will say or do something that’s at best silly or at worst truly regrettable. Second, don’t worry about being smart or clever—go prepared to ask thoughtful questions. Lots of them. The way to endear yourself to colleagues—and to get noticed by senior management—isn’t to talk more about yourself and your...

BIOLASE Technology, Inc. has a new e-commerce store developed by Azox. Using our eSource software, the company now has business to consumer and sales portal e-commerce sites that also use our credit card extension. The sites are easy to browse, integrate with the company’s existing Microsoft Dynamics GP back office and mirror the original website's design. BIOLASE’s B2C provides smooth checkout and the ability to track orders online. Order histories are also saved making reordering simple. Further, this site offers some SEO capabilities, including customizable title pages and meta data. These SEO functions help a web store get found by the search engines. This software also provides customers with real-time pricing and inventory information. The Sales Portal site is for the support staff at BIOLASE to use. This software application makes it possible for the staff to view a customer’s order in their Microsoft Dynamics GP history. This allows the sales staff to not only provide effi...

TROY - BYOD (bring your own device) workshop is 8 to 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 5 at Michigan Schools and Government CU, 4555 Investment Drive, Troy. Experts will discuss privacy, security and data retrieval and how an organization can protect itself with workable policies and procedures. BYOD means that employees and contractors can use personal devices such as laptops, smartphones, home computers and tablets, to conduct an organization’s business. To request information, email theteam@troychamber.com /

Annual Celebrate Pontiac & Placemaking event is 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 5 at 1 Lafayette, downtown Pontiac. It features a business expo, guest speakers and lunch. The speakers include: Arnold Weinfield, president and director Strategic Initiatives, Michigan Municipal League; Matt Gibb, Oakland County Deputy Executive; Leon Jukowski,City of Pontiac Mayor and Kevin Thompson, PRC 2nd Vice Chairperson & Chairperson of Economic & Business Development Committee. Following the event, there will be a tour of select downtown Pontiac businesses and happy hour at select pubs starting at 3:30 p.m. Admission is $35 for professionals, $20 for students, community residents and senior (50+). Bring A Biz Buddy and receive a $5 discount. For more information, contact Dawnaree Demrose at Info@pontiacchamber.com or 248-622-8247. To purchase tickets, visit http://pontiacchamber.ticketleap.com/pontiac-regional-chamber-2012-annual-event/