Archives for October 2013

The long-term benefits of promotional items

The long-term benefits of promotional items
Small business owners are concerned with many different metrics when it comes to their marketing campaigns. After all, numbers never lie and they can help company leaders determine how successful their branding initiatives are. Return on investment is arguably the most important figure to most entrepreneurs, but there’s another one that they should consider – longevity.

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How to Make Boring Products Exciting and Improve Sales

How to make boring products exciting
There’s nothing exciting about a razor blade, right? How about online budgeting software? Total snoozer. Contact lenses? No way. These are some of the most boring products you will find in the market. Yet, each of these products has been successfully marketed online. Dollar Shave Club has made shaving and razors exciting and cool. Mvelopes has transformed the way people think about something as boring as budgeting. The LensStore is creating a buzz about eye glasses. What did these companies do to generate excitement and how can you do something similar with your mundane commodity?

They took the product beyond itself and utilized online, offline and social channels by promoting stories around the product. This is what differentiates great marketers from mediocre ones. With the advent of internet and social media it has become easier than ever to share your stories to large number of audience. Below we provide tips on how to do it.

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Information Security Breaches: Top Tips for a Swift Recovery

Information Security Breaches
Big or small, all businesses are at risk from a very wide range of information security threats. Given the recent trend of businesses being mostly reliant on the internet for communication as well as business operations, all companies are now vulnerable to hackers, viruses and a whole host of other dangers.

It’s nearly inevitable that your company will suffer from a security breach at some point, unless your security system is rigid and constantly updated and reviewed. Up to 93 percent of large businesses in the UK had at least one security breach last year, with 87 percent of small businesses suffering from one – a 76 percent increase from a year ago!

If your company sustains an attack, it is vital that you respond swiftly and confidently, in order to prevent further damage.

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3 Ways to Be a Better Coach to Your Employees

3 Ways to Be a Better Coach
A great leader or business owner not only knows how to run his company, but he is also a great motivator and coach to his employees. Think about it – your business is only as good as the contribution made by your employees and you are only as good as the value you can get from your employees. That is why coaching and motivating your employees to bring out the maximum potential from them is one of the most important jobs of any leader.

The problem is not every leader is a born coach. There are those who are natural at bringing out the best from others and there are others who make employees run away from them. With little help and determination it is possible for a leader to improve his coaching skills. All you need is to put yourself in your employees’ shoes. Below are 3 important steps you need to take to be a better coach.

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Why Every Small Business Needs Data Encryption

Why Your Business Needs Data Encryption
In 2012, a faculty member at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, part of the University of Texas, discovered that his home had been robbed. A laptop lost in the robbery contained 30,000 unencrypted patient medical records including patient health information and Social Security numbers. In addition to informing those whose information had been lost, M.D. Anderson offered free credit monitoring to anyone affected by the breach. Also, under new HITECH regulations, health care organizations like M.D. Anderson could face up to $1.5 million per privacy violation.

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The Quest for Perfect Computer Server for Small Businesses

The quest for perfect computer server
Congratulations!! Your hard work in starting a small business has begun to pay off. You started it as a hobby by running it from your laptop on the kitchen table or a garage. The customers like what you are selling and the word is beginning to spread. The sales are growing at a healthy clip and soon you are going to hire your first batch of employees.

As soon as you have more than one employee with their own laptops you will realize the need for sharing data and computer programs. You need reliable way to store and access the data as well as common computer programs between all the employees. This is where the computer server comes in the picture. But, just what is a server?

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Warning: Your Computer is being Hacked! How to Protect

Warning your computer is being hacked
Every time you turn on your computer connected to internet you are prone to security threat from the hackers who are constantly on the prowl to get sensitive information such as customer personal data, trade secrets or bank account numbers. The news about security breaches and hacking attacks have become daily affair. At times it seems the only way to prevent such attacks is to move to a remote island without any internet connection.

As tempting as this may sound, however, the reality is you cannot live without connecting your computer to internet these days. A more realistic approach is to ensure you are taking steps to shield your computer and network from external threats.

Two primary ways by which you can ensure protection from security threats are prevention and remediation. As you can imagine prevention is always a preferred approach since by the time you have to do remediation it may already be too late. The tools that are used to assess your systems to prevent such attacks fall in 3 categories – security audits, vulnerability assessment and penetration testing.

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How to Find the Right Software to Start E-Commerce Store

How to find the right software to start online business
E-Commerce has come a long way from its earlier days when it was considered a major undertaking to set up an online shop. Companies used to spend millions of dollars and had to hire expert software developers to build e-commerce website. Nowadays you can buy, or even rent, software that provides all the functionality needed for online e-commerce store out of the box. The biggest decision you have to make is what type of software to purchase and how much customization you should do. For any online e-commerce software shopping cart is the backbone that provides the most critical functionality.

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How to Run a Thriving Kiosk Business

How to Run a Thriving Kiosk Business
For aspiring entrepreneurs, the prevalence of large corporations and big-box chains can make starting a business seem like a daunting task. To combat these challenges, many businesspeople are finding great success by starting kiosk businesses instead. With low overhead costs and short-term lease commitments, starting a kiosk business is a great way to jump-start your career. As with all business pursuits, it’s important to know how to run your kiosk business in a way that will make it profitable. With these following five steps, you can create a thriving and profitable kiosk business.

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