Turn your angry clients into happy ones. Do it soon after a conflict arises, said Maribeth Kuzmeski, founder of the Chicago business consulting firm Red Zone Marketing LLC. Kuzmeski also is author of “The Connectors: How the World’s Most Successful Businesspeople Build Relationships and Win Clients for Life” (John Wiley & Sons).

With Virginia’s unemployment rate hovering at 6.9 percent, and the average length of joblessness dragging on for more than six months nationally, some talented jobless workers may consider becoming their own boss. They might rationalize: “Well, it looks like I can’t find a job. Maybe I should start my own business.“ But should they - even if they have sizable savings and a handsome severance package to use as seed money?

Atight economy can be a good time to start a business. Danielle Vallee, an Alexandria small-business consultant, pointed to a new Kauffman Foundation study that says that more than half of the companies on the 2009 Fortune 500 list and just under half of the 2008 Inc. list began during a recession or bear market. It supports the premise in her newly released book, “Whiz Biz in Changing Times,“ that economic downturns present new opportunities to start a business.

Teleworking can be a win-win proposition Send your workers home so that your company can save some money. No, don’t fire them. Let them telework. It’s a win-win arrangement. As Virginia recognizes Telework Day today, state Department of Taxation Commis sioner Janie E. Bowen explains the benefits of the work-from-home trend: It can save money. You will need less office space, so you’ll pay less rent and associated costs. By home-basing workers, the tax department cut its real estate needs to two floors instead of 2½ floors, Commissioner Bowen said. The savings amount to about $130,000 annually in rent, utilities and other costs.

Sean Cantrell, owner of Marshall Mechanical LLC. on West Leigh Street in Richmond, heard a presentation about using Twitter, the online social networking site, as a business tool. Cantrell went home after listening to David Saunders of Madison+Main, a new media and advertising firm, and discussed what he heard with his wife. He decided to try it out. He created a free Twitter account and got started. He posted “tweets”—a message that is up to 140 characters-long—on his Twitter page: SeanHVAC.

Does your business have what it takes to attract an angel investor? An angel is an affluent individual who risks his or her money to invest in a startup company either individually or in a group to spread the risk. When a bank says no, particularly in this tight-fisted lending environment, an angel who sees genius in a venture may say yes and invest.

Looking for new customers? They’re probably online flitting from one social networking site to another. Industry watchers say that 214 million Americans use the Internet and 87 percent visit some of the countless social networking sites such as Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, MySpace, SlideShare, LinkedIn, Tumblr and Twitter. Maybe it’s time that your company goes where the people are and convert some of them into customers.

If you’re thinking about using your severance package to buy a franchise, think twice. That might not be the right option for you, warned Tom Lawrence, president of FranNet of Greater Richmond, a franchise consultant.

Social networking sites, once the domain of teens and college students, are transforming the way entrepreneurs market their business. David Nour, managing partner of The Nour Group Inc. consulting firm in Atlanta, has researched more than 400 of these online communities and written books about the topic. He discussed using social networking as a business strategy recently in Richmond.

If your business does not have a presence online, better get with it. Every business should have a Web presence, experts say. Increasingly that’s where shoppers, competitors and prospective business partners can be found.