Tips to Ensure you are Getting the Most Out of your Employees

Most successful companies recognize two basic facts. Firstly, employees are the company’s most valuable resource, and secondly, for the company to be efficient, it needs to get the most out of all its employees. By and large, even the most successful companies struggle with achieving a balance. Lean one way and you have high turnover; lean the other way and you start down the road to inefficiency. The highly successful companies, though, have taken this balance to a whole new level by focusing on employee wellbeing.

Employee wellness

Case studies done on highly successful companies such as Apple, Berkshire Hathaway, and Google point to certain similarities.…

Continue reading →

The Many Benefits of Mobile Trading Platforms

For most forex traders, investing is something of a sideline. Many have existing businesses to deliver an income, and a multitude of commitments aside from those connected to their trades.

Mobile trading platforms

As a result, the advent of mobile trading – easy, straightforward, and perfect for investing on the go – has proved something of a revelation. It has opened the markets up to a whole new breed of investors, from entrepreneurs to housewives to overworked CEOs.

If you’re considering entering the world of forex yourself, here are three reasons why a mobile trading platform might prove the perfect choice for you.…

Continue reading →

Buying Options: Try Before You Buy

Running a small business involves more than just selling products or services at a profit – effective investment in new equipment can make a significant difference to your monthly bottom line. With that in mind, it’s usually a great idea to consider various options before you buy to make sure you’re getting the best possible value, and that the equipment you’re considering is right for you.

Leased laptop for work

So here’s a guide to the options for testing and purchasing new equipment in order to see if it’s right for your business.

Try Before You Buy

When considering investing in any new equipment for your business, it’s a great idea to first see if the equipment you’re looking into is available for either hire or hire purchase.…

Continue reading →

5 Benefits of Cloud-Based VoIP (Infographic)

Although many companies have already begun to use the cloud for their everyday business needs, this tool’s capabilities expand far beyond the day-to-day operational processes. By integrating cloud-based VoIP into your firm, IT professionals can spend more time tending to core business technologies instead of having to troubleshoot and maintain phone systems.

Businessman using cloud-based VoIP

Additionally, VoIP phone systems update themselves without hassle, and therefore do not require the attention of on-site employees. This also translates into an integrated emergency plan that companies do not need to worry about.

In addition to easing employees’ workloads in the office, cloud-based systems can break through geographical boundaries by allowing your company’s workforce to access important information wherever they are.…

Continue reading →

Choosing a Marketing Plan That’s Right for Your Business

Marketing is the life blood of any company. Without it, you won’t bring in any new customers, and your business will struggle to grow. This is why it is so essential that you choose a marketing plan that is right for your company. And before you can implement this plan, you need to create the one that actually works.

Marketing plan

It is important to properly plan out your marketing strategy, maybe by even following a strategic planning template, to ensure that you implement not only the correct strategy, but you do it in the right way. If you are not sure how to pick the best marketing plan, or how to implement it, below are some things that you should think about while doing your research and planning.…

Continue reading →

5 Reasons Why Pop-up Shops May Be The Future of Retail

Pop up shops stormed on to our high streets a few years ago. What some people thought would be a flash in the pan, a temporary answer to the temporary glitch in the economy, have stayed. Even as the economy looks to improve, the pop up shops has not quite seen its day just yet.

Pop-up shop

And no surprise when you consider the top 5 reasons why brands – established and start-ups – gain when they create a pop up shop experience for their customers. With branding and marketing material available at competitive prices from printers such as Colour Graphics, any sized business can successful revitalise sales and garner interest in their products with a pop up store.…

Continue reading →

Don’t Assume You’re Too Small to Attract Cybercrime

America’s Backbone Weekly: Start Planning

Don’t Assume You’re Too Small to Attract Cybercrime

By Keith Loria for America’s Backbone Weekly

Contrary to many people’s assumptions, you don’t need to be a multi-million dollar business to be vulnerable to a cyber attack; many small- and medium-size businesses represent an easy target to would-be criminals – and often have direct connections (as subcontractors) to the networks of larger business partners.

Amy Abatangle, EVP at Untangle, says the biggest mistake a business can make is not thinking it could be a target. Planning ahead is critical.

“While it’s true that big business grabs the headlines when it comes to breaches, it’s a mistake to think that small businesses aren’t vulnerable,” she says.…

Continue reading →

Things Small Business Can Do to Jumpstart Their SEO Campaign

As a small business competing in a crowded market, getting that extra marketing edge could mean a lot. The internet is your friend when it comes to marketing your products and services to segmented markets, and with over 60% of traffic coming from search engines, SEO is definitely the internet marketing instrument to use. If you are just getting started with SEO, here are a few things you can do to jumpstart your campaign.

Small business SEO

The Contents That Work

A lot of SEO experts will advise you to produce more contents for your site in order to attract more traffic, but this doesn’t have to be the only way to go.…

Continue reading →

How to Run your Business from The Beach

We’d all like to think that we’re indispensible. And leaders are no different. Some leaders don’t take holidays, fearful that their business will collapse in their absence.

Happily, thanks to modern technology, communications and working practices, it’s now entirely possible (and even desirable) for leaders to keep a business running effectively from the comfort of a sun lounger.

Entrepreneur on the beach

If you’ve been running your business without a holiday, you need some tips for managing things effectively from a distance.

1. Delegate

The first thing you need to be able to do is delegate. To achieve this you need to have people you can trust and you need to give them clear instructions with specific milestones and smart objectives.…

Continue reading →

Signs of the Times: Symptoms It’s Time to Seek Professional SEO Help

Many businesses like to take a DIY approach to SEO, and you may be one of them. After all, you can read up on plenty of SEO tips online from all the experts, and many SEO tactics are based on tasks you can do yourself. However, sometimes hiring a professional team can be a very good idea. Here are some of the signs that you may need to invest in outside help.

SEO

Your Ranking Is Falling

If your ranking is falling in the search engines, it’s fair to assume that you are doing something wrong. The problem is that you may not be sure what you are doing wrong.…

Continue reading →