Your database can be used to increase sales but many businesses make a crucial mistake. Debbie Mayo Smith explains.

The reason the Chinese are singled out is because of a handful of well-publicised transactions, writes Christopher Niesche.

Jamie Gray writes: For Fonterra's farmers, investors and employees the severity of the dairy downturn will become clear early next month.

Getting your first home got a bit easier with some changes to KiwiSaver. It's now possible to buy an unbuilt home, opening up the possibility of buying off the plans.

It's encouraging to see the govt is entertaining the idea for "Special Economic Zones" in an attempt to deal with our so-called zombie towns, writes Bernard Hickey.

The Finance Minister punctures dairy denials but needs an eye on recent boom and bust, writes Fran O'Sullivan.

Investors must be sure they won't be forced to sell at some point, because that's when hefty losses can hit.

Bad credit ratings happen to people in all walks of life. Sometimes a catastrophe such as business failure, divorce or illness leaves an erstwhile financially healthy member of the public in dire straits.

Having its main office in Auckland is a big part of the dairy giant's problem, writes Brian Gaynor.

A key industry is suffering, but other economic signs paint a happier picture, writes Brian Fallow.

Toshiba's CEO and two other top executives resigned after presiding over a US$1.2 billion accounting scandal. Well and good, but when do we see some criminal indictments?

There has never been a better time to pull out his term "crisitunity", writes Eric Crampton.

Personal finance columnist David Chaplin on exchange-traded funds and the NZX taking a big punt.

Wheeler struck the right note in this morning's official cash rate announcement: appropriately dovish but not alarmist.

Interruptions in the office can be minimised simply by shifting the position of your desk, writes Robyn Pearce.

Fibre link is proving its worth for devotees of high definition streaming services, writes tech blogger Juha Saarinen.

Gold prices have been weak lately, recently falling below US$1100 ($1516) an ounce for the first time since 2010, writes Mark Lister.

David Chaplin says Crown Financial Institutions have generally been a boon to government books over the last few years.

There is a important debate to be had about foreign investment in NZ because we are a small, open economy and a big shift in global trends can have a disproportionate impact, writes Liam Dann.

Social media is popular, but nothing beats having your own database of clients and prospects to market to.

Too many options can be paralysing when you’re choosing products, so here are some tips to get you moving towards something better.

It's known as confession season - that time of year when companies do their end of year accounts and come clean on any nasty surprises they've uncovered.

Labour lit the fuse on a jury-rigged device and threw it into a shopping mall of opinions, with sadly predictable results, writes Bernard Hickey. But it needn't have been this way.

For two years now, Kiwis moving to Australia and Australians settling in NZ have been able to also relocate their superannuation savings.

The election of directors will be one of the most important issues during the upcoming annual meeting season.

It's human nature to think of life as linear. There's a starting point, a journey and then an end point. We're born, we live, we die.

'Have you got a pet investment?" My mother leaned across a cafe table to ask me this question a few weeks back and the idea for an article was born.

I've edited your long letter, which went into more detail about how hard it was to get a clear picture of fees, commissions and so on. I agree that's poor.

Auckland QC Paul Edmund Dacre - who led the fatally flawed prosecution of John Banks - is not out of the fire, writes Jock Anderson.

Exactly where does the housing ladder lead, asks Brian Fallow - to financial security, or to years and years of debt servitude?