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§ Overcome the hurdles to sustainability at your business
A lack of time and money makes pursuing sustainability initiatives difficult for small businesses, Kelly Spors writes. Companies can address these problems by participating in sustainability networking groups, hiring interns and working with utility companies, she writes. Small Business Trends (3/9) ? ? ? ?
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Leveraging Cloud Security to Weather Threatening Storms
Web attacks and retribution campaigns are on the rise, and they have become more frequent, more random and more extreme. This paper assesses the current cyber threat environment and discusses the use of distributed cloud services as an effective means to protect against evolving, modern-day IT threats. |
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§ 7 ways to use humor to step up your marketing efforts
Humor can help to improve your small business' marketing efforts, Anna Sawyer writes. For example, Crowdrise stands out through its use of absurdity -- it devotes part of its website to displaying a picture of a napkin -- and the writers at Threadless use enthusiastic prose to connect with their customers. MarketingProfs (3/9) ????
§ Why relationship-building will replace old-school advertising
Building relationships is becoming essential to attracting customers' attention through advertising, according to Facebook's Paul Adams. "[W]e can begin that process by subtly promoting our brands in passing -- as an aside to a bigger discussion or conversation," Mikal E. Belicove writes. Entrepreneur online/The Daily Dose blog (3/9) ????
§ Other News
· Simple secrets of a successful business blog
MarketingProfs (3/8)  ????
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Secure your business with ADT® 24/7 Monitoring
Get effective, affordable protection with ADT® Business Security. Video surveillance and remote access solutions can be customized to fit your needs. Now save up to 35%! Sign up for a free review today! |
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Management |
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§ 2 ways to encourage creativity
Studying other industries can help to get your creative juices flowing, Jen Groover says. Doing a creativity exercise such as trying to come up with innovative ways to market a pencil can also help, she said.  Entrepreneur online (3/9) ????
§ When commuting counts as work time
The time your employees spend commuting to work generally doesn't count as hours worked, according to Andrew Chow. But that might change if they have to perform work duties while commuting. They might also be due compensation if they incur extra expenses because of the use of a company vehicle for commuting, he notes. FindLaw/Free Enterprise blog (3/9) ????
§ Banks call real in estate loans, cause problems for business owners
Banks are trying to reduce their exposure to real estate, which could be bad news for many small-business owners who depend on commercial real estate loans. "It does an enormous amount of collateral damage. It destroys jobs, and it puts small businesses out of business," said Grant Yarber, formerly of Raleigh, N.C.-based Capital Bank. The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) (3/11) ????
§ 4 tax tips for the self-employed
There are a few tax requirements that self-employed people have to be aware of, Catherine Clifford writes. For example, self-employed individuals have to pay the self-employment tax, and they also must be aware of worker classification rules, she writes. It's also important to understand how you structure your business can affect your tax bill. Entrepreneur online (3/8) ????
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Tips & Tools |
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§ Use Google Spreadsheets to manage your marketing efforts
Marketers should take note of some useful features in Google Spreadsheets, Ann Smarty writes. The service can be used to count Facebook "likes" or tweets on Twitter, for example. It can also be used to aggregate RSS feeds. And Google Chrome users can use the Scraper tool for data mining, she notes. MarketingProfs (3/8) ????
§ Other News
· Windows 8 features cloud storage solution
CBS MoneyWatch (3/9) ????
· Why some business owners aren't enamored with the iPad
BusinessNewsDaily.com (3/9) ????
§ How to ship a horse by FedEx
U.S. equestrian riders are making preparations for this year's London Olympics, including booking spots for their steeds on dedicated FedEx flights. The shipping company charges by weight to transport the 1,100-pound-plus horses, but goes out of its way to make the animals comfortable during long flights. Custom stalls are installed in planes' cargo holds, and carrots, hay and Gatorade are provided, along with a mild sedative that is "equivalent to, say, a glass of Champagne or two," horse-transportation specialist Tim Dutta says. NPR.org/The Two-Way Blog (3/7) ????
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