Four Bosses to Avoid Like the Plague
Bosses Day is today – October 17. If you have a great boss, let them know how much you appreciate them. Who knows, maybe they’ll appreciate your thoughtfulness enough to add a little cushion to your holiday bonus.
And if you have a terrible boss… then it sucks to be you. Few things make going to the office day-after-day and week-after-week worse than a really terrible boss. Here are a few types of bosses that you should do whatever you can to avoid.
The Narcissistic Boss 
This boss thinks that everything is about them. He or she will strive to look and act perfectly in front of their superiors, but when they aren’t putting on a show, the claws come out. These bosses will sweet talk you to your face then steal all of your best ideas and pawn them off as their own. Watch out for the extreme version of this boss – The Sociopath.
The Idiot Boss
This sad excuse for 
a boss got promoted to his or her current position because their dad owns the company or the system just failed in a terrible, terrible way. This boss not only drains your energy level, he or she brings half-ass work to the higher ups, which reflects poorly on you. Do whatever you can to get away from this dead-end boss.
The Inappropriate Boss
This boss is one of the worst because he or she makes the work place uncomfortable on a regular basis. This is the boss who calls the girls sweetheart or gives the guys a slap on the butt. Basically, he is a sexual harassment lawsuit waiting to happen. If you have this boss, don’t be afraid of the system – report them as soon as possible.
The Cruel Boss
Possibly the most demoralizing of all bosses is the one who is mean spirited for no reason. This boss gets off on making his or her employees feel small and invaluable. Don’t let your soul be crushed by a boss like this. Apply for a transfer, and in the meantime, try not to take it personally.
Your Turn…
Have you ever worked for one of these demon bosses? What nightmare boss did we leave off the list?
About the Author: Greg Buckskin is a writer and marketer for CableTV.com.
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Photo credit: TheMuuj
Small Business Outsourcing Dos and Don’ts
As your small business grows, you’ll want to start outsourcing some of your tasks so you can grow your business. The following are tips I’ve learned from starting up and growing my own small business:
Outsourcing Dos
Do Outsource Tasks You Hate
We all have those tasks we despise. Personally, I hate the marketing end of things. I love working my craft, but I hate scrounging up new work. Hire someone to do the parts of the job you find yourself procrastinating, such as:
- Marketing efforts
- Writing copy
- Accounting
- Clean up/janitorial services
- Busywork
Do Outsource Offshore
You’ll find that a lot of tasks can be outsourced to offshore contractors for a fraction of the price it’d cost you to hire someone here in the US. Make sure you don’t need the contractor’s English to be perfect, and if not, consider giving a hardworking person in another country the gig.
Do Write Up a Contract
You need to be specific in what you expect from the contractor, how much and how often you’ll pay, and what time frame you expect the work to be completed within. Get all this is writing so there’s no confusion.
Do Pay Your Contract Employees Often
Contractors are afraid of getting burned, so you’ll need to pay them often (usually weekly) if you want to keep them.
Outsourcing Don’ts
Don’t Outsource Essential Tasks
You’ll want to keep your most important tasks in house, even if you find them tedious or exhausting. This is because you have to protect yourself against a flakey contractor or unanticipated circumstances. Only outsource tasks you can recover on your own in an emergency.
Don’t Outsource to Friends or Family
While the temptation is there to keep the work in the family, you’ll find an impartial contractor to be more efficient and respectful (in most cases). Unless you’re 100% sure your friend or family member can handle the task you need covered and will do it right, outsource to a neutral party. Then you won’t be jeopardizing important relationships if the project falls through or something goes wrong.
Don’t Trust a New Contractor
Your new contractor may claim to know how to hang the moon, but you don’t really know what the contractor is capable of until you’ve worked together for a while. Start with small projects and work your way up over time for best results.
Outsourcing Tips
I hope these tips were helpful! It’s important to start outsourcing once your business grows to the point where you can no longer do everything and do it all well. Just remember to outsource carefully and wisely. None of us can do it all!
About the Author: Erinn Stam is the Managing Editor for a nursing scholarship website. She attends Wake Technical Community College and is learning about lpn grants and scholarships. She lives in Durham, NC with her lovely 4-year-old daughter and exuberant husband.
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A Sunny Spot for Small Business [INFOGRAPHIC]
There’s good news on the small business front. After several months of less-than-hopeful jobs reports and economic forecasts, small businesses were looking up in September. Employment, compensation, and hours worked have all grown since August.
Employment in small business is up. More than 50,000 jobs were added since August with growth in nearly all regions of the country.
There was good news for employees too as compensation was also up. Average compensation for hourly small business employees has risen since August.
And lastly employee work hours were up in September. This is a welcome sign for the many small business employees who have seen their hours shrink during the recession.
Take a closer look…
Click for larger image
Image by: http://www.intuit.com/
4 Lessons Learned From Mistakes of Internet Past
The speculative bubble of “dot com” era was a period of rapid growth followed by a significant decline between 1995 and 2000. Many of the companies that prospered during this brief explosion relied on venture capital and initial public offerings to cover expenses.
They valued growth over profitability which later led to significant problems. Companies soared to incredible heights on paper with little actual value, leading to numerous repercussions in the financial world. Even at the time, one didn’t need a PhD to see the problems in online businesses, Companies of today may learn from the mistakes of this time.
1. Using IPOs and Venture Capital for Expenses
Many successful businesses such as Amazon.com, Google, and eBay survived the dot com era. Amazon and Google in particular relied on IPOs and venture capital for expenses, used the free spending strategy, and valued growth over making a profit in the first few years as their stocks soared exponentially. During this time, the founders mostly had no income. Many people profited from this speculative wealth that ultimately led to crash. Educated investors knew the crash was coming and thus profited from the companies’ growth and got out before the stock market crashed. Companies should have a plan for profitability and capital for expenses to avoid this pitfall.
2. Failure to Develop a Solid Business Plan
Businesses should develop plans that include strategies to become profitable within a short time. Investors are more astute since the ’90s’ dot com bubble, and are less likely to invest in companies when the stock prices are overvalued and the fundamentals aren’t favorable. Profitable business plans should include a strategy for marketing, sales, product development, and asset acquisition. Without both long-term and short-term strategy, businesses will fall victim to using the Internet for growth with little concern for their sustainability.
Dot-com-era business all had similar business plans essentially promoting a monopoly in each particular sector. Ultimately, this strategy would allow only one company to emerge successfully and the majority would fail. Moreover, some businesses’ ideas simply didn’t pan out. For instance, online retailers didn’t consider that huge shipping costs would deter users. Their business plans and models were not well researched and didn’t anticipate potential problems that e-commerce would bring, but just relied on the momentum of the public to propel the ideas.
Businesses with novel ideas that will change the way people interact in the world should recognize that these ideas are not developed instantaneously. Many companies have become seemingly successful overnight, but other vital events happened to prepare them for this success. Every company should recognize that not every idea will be profitable immediately.
3. Free Spending
Venture capitalists were freely giving money to business owners, and business owners were freely spending it in turn. They purchased lavish items for the business, took expensive trips, and stayed in luxury hotels. Executives were paid in stock options as opposed to cash. Many of the founders became instant millionaires after the IPO, then founded more dot com companies to repeat the cycle of empty explosive growth. Businesses need to spend prudently until they become actually, sustainably profitable.
4. Predictive Tools Not Used
Many business owners mistakenly expected the adoption of the Internet to be immediate. Current and historical data should be gathered and analyzed to avoid similar mistakes with other new technologies. Numerous tools have been developed since that time to help investors and business owners analyze the market. With these tools, business owners may better be able to identify ideas that don’t have the potential for longevity.
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These are just a few problems that occurred during the dot com era that were detrimental to companies. From the business plan designed to create monopoly to the lack of use of predictive tools for success, the dot com era was plagued with mistakes. The self-made millionaires of the time might disagree, as well as companies such as eBay, Amazon, and Google that survived the crash and continued as internet giants. They are, though, the exceptions, not the rule. In general, businesses should adhere to basic models and principles with proven success rates, even if a lucky few have managed to shoot the moon.
About the Author: Elaine Hirsch is kind of a jack-of-all-interests, from education and
history to medicine and videogames. This makes it difficult to choose just one life path, so she is currently working as a writer for various education-related sites and writing about all these things
instead.
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6 Signs Your Small Business is Set Up for Failure
In a day and age when the economy is not being very kind to many companies, how can your small business get its footing, especially when just starting out?
As many small business owners know, starting a new company even in the best of financial times can be challenging.
According to numbers from the Small Business Administration (SBA), seven out of 10 new employer establishments survive at least two years and 51 percent survive at least five years.
While those numbers help to dispel the long-standing belief that many small businesses fail in their first year, the facts are many do just that. Oftentimes, it comes down to simple decision making items like finances, to grow or not grow the staff, being an online fixture and so on.
Challenges Facing the Small Business Owner
In order to get a small business successfully up and running, companies need to build a positive revenue stream, advertise their business, and in many cases hire employees and more. When all is said and done, it can be quite an expensive venture.
While small business owners need to be positive in their venture, they also need to look out for the traps that await them, potentially leaving them in financial peril for years to come.
Among the 6 challenges to steer clear of are:
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1. Beginning a business for the wrong reasons – The reasons can include wanting to have a business to make a bundle of money or getting away from micromanaging managers. While those may be popular reasons, they can also lead one to disaster;
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2. Not having enough financial backing – Too many small businesses start out with good intentions, but they don’t have the financial capital that is truly necessary to make a go of it. While putting one’s business plan together, make sure that the necessary financial capital is in place, including being able to weather some tough times and/or until sales outpace expenditures;
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3. Being a poor manager – Whether the new small business is a one-person show or will involve a number of employees, it is important that solid managerial skills are in place. As many small businesses that have gone under after a short period of time can note, the way things were run could have been better. It is important for small business owners to know how they want to run things from the start, be able to adjust to issues, and know how to manage people if part of the scenario;
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4. Locating the business in the wrong area–If one’s small business is easily accessible and in a high traffic area, the odds are obviously greater for more business. Being located off the main thoroughfare, meantime, can be the death sentence for even a well-planned out business. When shopping for a locale for one’s small business, it is important to determine foot and motor traffic, where competitors may be located, any crime issues in the neighborhood and more to put the business in the best location to succeed;
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5. Growing too quickly – While success early on is great, too many small businesses try and grow too fast, leading to financial issues. As part of one’s business plan, map out the goals of the company and when growth may or may not be a possibility. Sometimes it is best to hold off on expanding the company in order to build up reserve funds, and then expand when the financial timing is better. If thinking about expanding, determine if the current workforce can handle the added work before bringing on new employees and having to factor in salaries and healthcare;
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6. No or limited online presence–In today’s electronic age, too many small businesses still do not put enough emphasis on having a strong Web site presence with which to market both their products and services. By not doing that, they lose out on the ability to interact with both current and potential customers. As more customers turn to online shopping for their needs, small businesses that are hesitant to do so stand the chance of missing out on potential revenue.
Small businesses are the backbone of the American economy; the key for small business owners is to be sure that they put themselves in the best position to succeed, something which is no small task in this day and age.
About the Author: Dave Thomas, who covers among other subjects vehicle insurancewrites extensively forwww.business.com an online resource destination for businesses of all sizes to research, find, and compare the products and services they need to run their businesses.
Photo Credit: Paul Keller
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Protecting A SMBs Brand With Social Media Monitoring
The Internet is a tool used by many people for different reasons. Social media has become a huge part of Internet usage. People are able to express thoughts and opinions and communicate with other individuals.
What is Online Reputation Management?
With the growing number of people using social media, Online Reputation Management software has been created. Online Reputation Management is a part of the Public Relations field that helps businesses enhance their online image. The Internet is a dumping ground of information, thoughts, and opinions, which is why small businesses should utilize this software. Social media is a way for individuals to gain information, share information, and express opinions about anything.
Some popular social media technologies are Facebook, Twitter, and blogs. Each one of these has the power to make or break a company, product, or celebrity. Facebook incorporates “Fan Pages” for businesses and products to allow for discussion and opinions to be expressed.
The Impact of Social Media on Brand
The numbers of individuals who use social media technologies is constantly growing. Companies need to understand this fact and understand that it can directly impact their business and public image. With online reputation management software, a small business will be able to monitor all consumer talk about their business and respond to the situation in a timely manner. This will altogether increase customer satisfaction (which is very important!).
Another way in which a business’s reputation can be at stake is because of product and business review options on the Internet. Many people rely on the Internet to provide feedback on certain products and even company ethics.
Reviews allow consumers to express personal opinions, which may not be censored. A small business should use this software not only to monitor consumer reviews, but to learn more about competitor’s products.
Online reputation management software can also assist in unexpected ways. The software will help with marketing research.
A small business will learn marketing trends and how they should position their product or service in the community. Information about the industry as a whole will also help a business thrive.
Altogether, online reputation management software is the smart, efficient way to monitor your small business on the Internet.
About the Author: Stefan is an social media specialist with Reputation Observer a reputation management platform based in the US, Germany and France.
Photo Credit: karola riegler photography
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What the Heck is the Durbin Amendment? (And How Does it Affect Your Business?)
Retailers may now refuse credit card purchases below $10 or charge a dollar for these purchases. The Federal Reserve was given the right to issue this rule and to decide the minimum purchase amount. It was set at $10. The Federal Reserve could change the amount. This new rule was approved by the Congressional “Durbin Amendment”.
The minimum must apply to all cards equally. Therefore, small businesses may wish to save money by setting a minimum $10 charge on Visa, MasterCard and Discover purchases. This may save on credit card processing fees which often eat up profits from small transactions.
A Level Playing Field?
The small business community is happy to be protected from profit-eating small transactions. However, just regulating it does not necessarily level the playing field with regard to the credit card processing fees which are very costly for small businesses.
Shopping around for better processing servers is the only way for small businesses to retain more profits from credit card transactions. Not every server charges the same fee, and small businesses can find a better deal by seeking out a better partner for processing debit and credit cards. Some companies claim to be able to save retailers up to 40 percent; so it is worth finding out if the costs are low enough to warrant switching.
Fixed and Non Fixed Costs
As you may know, two costs are fixed: interchange rates and assessments. Interchange rates are set by the card company and cannot be changed in a processing agreement. Assessments are a series of rates and fees that are the same for all card companies.
There are at least two non-fixed costs that you can use to negotiate lower costs. Insist on interchange pass through pricing. It does not have surcharges nor does it charge more for larger transactions, known as tiered pricing. Also, you should insist on a contract without cancellation fees. They may say that its standard business practice, but that doesn’t mean you have to accept it.
How Will Companies Handle Their New Right?
In terms of the Durbin Amendment, it does represent a major change from the long standing practice of Mastercard, Visa and Discover which required retailers not to set a minimum. If small businesses tried to set a minimum on the use of these cards, they would have been in violation of their contract. This was true despite the fact that small transactions are charged the same fees as larger ones. Thus, the profits from a small transaction were quickly canceled out by the credit card fees. The effect of this amendment depends on how large companies handle their new found right; otherwise small businesses will feel held back from requiring the fee or denying the charge.
Debit card purchases cannot be held to a minimum. These were not included in the amendment. Credit card processing contracts by the big three credit card companies state that no minimum may be imposed on debit card purchases. The Durbin Amendment did not include debit card purchases when it gave power to the Federal Reserve to regulate credit card processing minimums.
About the Author: This post contributed by the cofounder of CheapestMerchantAccounts.com, a website devoted to assisting small business owners in finding the best merchant account for their business with the lowest overall costs. Our reviews compare merchant service providers on the rates offered, presence of contract/cancellation cost, as well as the customer service experience a merchant will have once they sign their agreement. Their website covers many of the top processors in the industry including niche players as well as large enterprise processors such as Elavon.
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Google’s Social Media For Business Draws Ever Closer But What Will it Look Like?
Facebook has been an important part of many business’ SEO and client outreach for a couple of years now.
Anyone ‘on the inside’ knows that there’s an industry expectation that your business has a Facebook profile, indeed, many TV advertising and marketing campaigns use “visit us on Facebook” rather than using their own website as the platform is ubiquitous, user friendly and the API divulges a great deal of information about the consumer which wouldn’t necessarily be available if they went directly to the web1 address. Read more
The 9 Best SEO Tools for Small Businesses
Ranking high on the search engine results page is essential for driving traffic to your site; however performing search engine optimization (SEO) in-house can be a difficult task, especially when you don’t have a large budget to buy the top SEO tools out there. Good thing there are some awesome tools out there that cost little to nothing to use and provide you with the resources to perform offsite and onsite optimization.
Offsite Optimization Tools
Optimizing your page using offsite techniques can involve searching out link opportunities through providing content, getting on resource lists, and taking advantage of social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Great tools for offsite optimization include:
- Rank Checker is a great tool for checking multiple rankings at once when you have little time. Rank Checker provides a user-friendly interface and the ability to run directly from your browser, which makes for complete ease of use. The downside to running directly off your browser is Google will localize your search results and if you are signed into a Google account, your results can be skewed from Google’s social media network Google+. Negatives aside, Rank Checker does a great job of seeing where you stack up against your competitors.
- Google Insights for Search easily allows you to input a keyword or keyword phrase and you can see the distribution of how heavily that keyword or phrase is searched. Results can be narrowed down all the way from worldwide to city level.Insights for Search gives you the ability to find terms related to your products or services that you should try to rank for.
- Open Site Explorer allows you to see whose linking to a certain page as well as providing social metrics, such as Facebook shares, Facebook likes, and tweets. This tool is great for competitor analysis and finding linking opportunities within other websites.
- MozBar from SEOmoz is hands down my favorite offsite tool. The Mozbar is great for analyzing pages for link opportunities. This toolbar provides an instant look at page authority, domain authority and provides easy access to Open Site Explorer, Rank Checker, and other tools all from the toolbar itself.
- Shared Count gives you the statistics for the number of Facebook likes, Google +1’s, Tweets, Diggs, Google Buzz’s, Stumbles from StubleUpon, and LinkedIn shares.Shared Count was built with on open API to give you the ability to build tools over the open space to assist your social media efforts.
At first, social media may not seem like a strong factor, but be sure not to count it out; a study performed by Jen Lopez of SEOmoz showed that tweets and retweets affects traditional organic SEO as much as a link coming from a guest post.
Onsite Optimization Tools
Onsite optimization encounters factors such as site structure, internal linking, website crawlability, content, and overall quality. Performing site audits to assess your onsite factors is nearly impossible without a strong set of tools. Take a look at these tools before performing your next site audit:
- Xenu’s Link Sleuth is a great for performing site audits. Link Sleuthis a desktop tool that provides a simple design that translates into a very simple user interface. Link Sleuth analyzes the URL you input and produces a report containing any broken links, lost servers (including mail servers), and sleuth will even provide what type of code is being written on each page.
- URI Valet is the multi-tool of onsite SEO. URI Valet performs technical audits that give statistics on over ten areas including page download time, internal links, external links, text to HTML ratio, and object details.
- SEO Browser is a tool that can break down a web page into a text file to show an easily readable layout of the page. SEO Browser gives the layout from the title tags to headers and so on. This tool is great for quick reports on site structure and deciding if all your meta tags and headers are properly optimized.
- Google WebMaster Tools showcase statistics on keyword visibility, impressions, time spent on your website, click through rate, average position of your keywords, and indexing issues. Webmaster tools offer a wide variety of tools that can be used easily for both onsite and offsite optimization.
Optimizing your site not only involves onsite metrics, but also finding great offsite opportunities. With these amazing tools and some practice, you can optimize your site to the fullest and build awareness through reaching the top of the search engine results pages.
About the Author: Matt Polsky is the Search Marketing Manager for VA Mortgage Center, the nation’s number one dedicated provider of VA home loans. You can connect with Matt on Twitter @mattpolsky.
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