Government, Politics and the Economy
Little Hope and Less Hiring on Main Street
Some may see signs of economic recovery on the horizon, but that news doesn't seem to have made it to the shops on Main Street. According to payroll processor ADP, small businesses shed more than four times as many employees as larger businesses did over the last month. CNNMoney.com
Inflation: Are the Fears Overstated?
We have been hearing warnings that President Obama's economic policies will lead to a terrible outbreak of inflation, and they may, but an immediate outbreak is improbable. WSJ.com
Management, Taxes and Financial Issues
Mergers and Acquisitions: The Synergy Myth
Synergies in business always sound great, but they should not the main reason for making a merger deal. In fact, if you base your merger on the synergies you see, then you don’t have much of a deal to begin with. Workforce.com
Leadership: What Goes into Being an Ethical Leader?
You may have a nagging suspicion that your company's leaders aren't exactly Boy and Girl Scouts, but is there any hope that you could, at least, make them ethical? ManageSmarter.com
Knowing How to Collect
Here are some simple steps you can take to ensure prompt payment, recover debt and keep your business in the black. FoxBusiness.com
Small Business Legal Issues
Dealing with Expanded Anti-Retaliation Laws
Anti-retaliation provisions of the various federal employment laws are getting a lot harder to follow, with the actions that constitute retaliation more difficult to pinpoint and the description of who comes within the proscriptions of these laws recently expanded by a January 2009 U.S. Supreme Court decision. Workforce.com
Technology Issues
What's really in each Windows 7 Edition?
Microsoft put together a basic feature set with a consistent upgrade strategy to move between versions based on your requirements and your budget, a vast improvement over Vista From Windows 7 Starter to Windows 7 Ultimate, here's what you'll find in each version. ZDNet.com
Mobile Apps: Huge Sales Potential
The success of the iPhone app, Brushes, demonstrates the huge potential in selling software applications for wireless devices. BusinessWeek.com
Health, Benefits and Labor Issues
Why You Should Care about Employee Loyalty
The long-term success of any company—of your company—depends upon the quality and loyalty of the people working there. The problem is that when times are hard and employers lay off employees to reduce costs, both customer satisfaction and employee loyalty can suffer. BusinessKnowHow.com
Obama: Mandates for Healthcare May Offer Protection to Small Businesses
In his push to enact sweeping healthcare reform legislation this summer, President Obama said he could support mandates on individuals and employers to contribute to the cost of health insurance if the bill provides protections to certain small businesses and poor people. WashingtonPost.com
Branding, Sales and Marketing
Advertising: Consumers Have Changed, So Should Advertisers
When it comes to advertising and marketing, here are five important ways that consumers have irreversibly altered their expectations, online and offline. ClickZ.com
Social Networking: A Great Tool for Small Business Sales
For some entrepreneurs, sites like Twitter and Facebook have been a great help in reaching out to potential and current customers. NYTimes.com
Your Brand: Assessing and Improving How You Look on the Web
Want to get an idea of the first impression your company makes? Go to Google and search on your name. What do you see when the results come back? That's the first impression many people will have of you, but is it the impression you want to give them? MarketingProfs.com
