Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet for Small Business Owners |  |
- Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet for Small Business Owners
- Small Businesses Pay More For Health Care Coverage
- Creating Google Alerts Directly in Google Analytics
- Nominations Are Open for the Small Business Influencer Awards!
- G8 Leaders Call for Growth: Six Things You Can Do
| Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet for Small Business Owners Posted: 22 May 2012 11:30 AM PDT "Tablet computers are for kids and gamers" is the prevailing sentiment that I hear from small business owners. The logic is that a tiny handheld computer won't really help you get your work done. Even Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg dissed the iPad by stating it is not a mobile device. But despite a myriad of less-than-positive commentary, tablets are a big part of the near-term business future. However, you don't buy it for your kids or your business, but for your customers. Not for them to use (although that might be useful depending on your business), but for you to figure out what your customers are doing, how they are finding you and what mobile really, truly means for you company. Barnes & Noble provided a device for a two-week loan period for this review.
Okay, I couldn’t resist putting this screenshot of the Nook Tablet with Spiderman on the screen, especially after I said it was not for gamers and kids… The rest of my review will be strictly business; I promise. All the corporate images were so boring. This recent post, The Mobile Trend: 10 Things to Know, offers some of the reasons why you need to test a tablet and the Nook Tablet is a good choice. Data now shows that more people access Facebook on a mobile device than on a desktop computer. Sure, most of that is on a smaller smartphone, but count the tablets the next time you sip coffee in a Starbucks or independent café. It is a significant number. Those could be your customers. As I've mentioned before, there are simple productivity gains to be had in using a tablet for basic office tasks (email, quick document collaborations) and for field presentations. Here's what I like about the Nook Tablet:
What I'd like to see in the Nook Tablet:
Here is a list of the top productivity apps for the Nook. If you've been pondering which tablet to buy for your business, the Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet is a good choice. It is fast, super-fast, for web surfing. It can play flash-based videos. They've designed it to be consumer-friendly. And you can take it into any Barnes & Noble store and get support, help, and guidance on using it. Learn more about the Nook Tablet. From Small Business Trends |
| Small Businesses Pay More For Health Care Coverage Posted: 22 May 2012 08:30 AM PDT In a 2009 study by the White House, small businesses pay 18% more in premiums for health coverage than their big box competitors per employee. As a small business owner are you surprised by this statistic?
Of course you’re not. Small business owners have been living the health benefit nightmare for many years now, perpetually caught between a rock and health coverage. Happy EmployeesSmall businesses are no different than large businesses when it comes to providing a work environment that is conducive to happy employees… And small business owners strive to have the same high quality employees that large companies have. However, providing the benefits that attract top-tier talent is often a struggle. This is because a small business employee’s salary, vacation time, and health benefits have more significant impact the business’s bottom line. So as a business owner, you either pay the high cost of health coverage or lose top-tier talent to large companies that can afford the benefits higher caliber employees desire. Health Benefit Hope is Not LostFortunately, all hope is not lost. Health carriers are starting to realize the strain that high health insurance premiums are putting on America’s small businesses. In an effort to decrease the health benefit burden health carriers are rolling out new benefit options such as hybrid and high-deductible plans in addition to the traditional HMO, EPO and PPO plans of the ’80s and ’90s. These hybrid and high-deductible health plans do not by any means have rock bottom, bargain basement prices, but the savings on a monthly basis can be substantial as compared to a traditional HMO. So What’s the Catch?The catch is this, these alternative health insurance plans make force the employee to take on some of the upfront cost for any health related issues that may arise. One of the most popular high-deductible plans right now has a $1,500 upfront deductible. This means that the employee is responsible for paying the full upfront cost for all health care for the first $1,500 spent during the policy period. That sounds like a lot of money. However, you might save twice that per employee in monthly health care expense. This is why when choosing a health insurance program it is crucial to review your workforce demographics. For a healthy, young workforce that does have many medical costs beyond an annual check-up the high-deductible is a fantastic option. For an older workforce that relies heavily on health benefits, this might not be an appropriate solution. Hybrid health insurance plans may also be a good option as they have reasonable co-pays for doctor visits, but use a deductible for hospital visits. Another popular option is taking a high-deductible plan and using supplemental voluntary benefits to fill in the gap in coverage, this is sometimes referred to as a medicalbridge. This allows employees who do not need the bridge to save and employees that do still have the option of being covered. The RubBasically it comes down to this, health insurance is a major expense for any business, there is no denying that. But if you take the necessary time and work with your insurance broker and allow them to show you non-traditional, non-HMO options there are opportunities to save cash flow every month and still provide a more than adequate health benefit to your employees. Good luck!
From Small Business Trends |
| Creating Google Alerts Directly in Google Analytics Posted: 22 May 2012 07:00 AM PDT A few weeks back I wrote about the powerful new metrics that small business owners can glean from the new Social reports within Google Analytics. And since that post, even more neat features have been released to help business owners learn more about not only what's happening on their site, but what's happening off of it, as well.
It's no secret that I've long been a fan of Google Analytics. For a consultant or small shop looking to monitor keywords or keep their ear open to conversations, Google Analytics provides a simple, yet powerful, way to do that. However, with the new data tucked inside the new Social reports, you can now get your Google Alerts data directly in your analytics. It's a one stop shop! Over on the Google Analtyics blog, we hear about new ways to expand Google Analytics Social Reports and track links (aka trackbacks) to your site content directly from your Analytics console. By monitoring trackbacks, webmasters learn who is linking to their sites and which content generates the most links. This is invaluable insight for any content marketing strategy. To access the reports go to Traffic Sources -> Social -> Source and click on any data hub partner (Google+, Blogger etc.) Above the graph a tab named “Social Referral” will be selected, click the next one “Activity Stream” and in the top selector hit trackbacks.
From there, you'll get an automated list of all the sites that are linking to your content. Use the data to thank the author for mentioning your content, keep track of what content is being most passed around, or to use it to build a larger influencer list. According to Google:
I couldn't agree more. While setting up Google Alerts was already an easy way to help site owners keep track of links and mentions, putting this information directly into their analytics data makes the process even easier. It's also a great incentive for sites who haven't set up analytics on their Web sites to do so. But it's not just links you can track via your analytics, you can now spot the actual conversations happening, in near real-time. To use Google Analytics as a conversation tracker, go back to the Activities Tab screen and select Conversations. Once on this tab you'll get an interactive look at how your content is being shared on Google's social network, as well as the specific users who are doing the sharing.
Those are the people talking about your brand in the wild. In the drop down on the right, select the option to View Activity, Google will take you directly to the page where the comment happened. From there, you can interact, answer a question, thank a user for the mention, etc. This is incredibly powerful information now sitting perfectly (though a little hidden) in your analytics. Currently, this information is only available for Data Hub providers, but with any luck Google will be able to expand it soon. Alert Photo via Shutterstock From Small Business Trends |
| Nominations Are Open for the Small Business Influencer Awards! Posted: 22 May 2012 06:02 AM PDT Does a special person or company come to mind when you think of someone or something important in the world of small business? Perhaps you think of a client of yours. Or maybe a favorite vendor or supplier, or a software app that has transformed your small business or made it more profitable. Or perhaps you think of a favorite journalist who covers issues important to small businesses. Whoever it is or whatever it is — nominations are now open for the 2012 Small Business Influencer Awards. We encourage you to get your nominations in by July 15, 2012.
Last year, the Small Business Influencer Awards saw 520 nominations. One hundred champions were honored, and a cpacity crowd of over 225 people attend the Awards Gala ceremony in New York City (see 2011 photos and recap). This year is already shaping up to be bigger and better than ever. Once again we have BlackBerry as our title sponsor. Infusionsoft has also joined us again as a category sponsor. Thank you both for your support! Organization Partners this year include PRNewswire and Vistage. Thank you! Here’s a bit of the Who, What, When and Where on the event: Who can be nominated? Those based in the United State or Canada, and who fall in one of the following 6 categories:
All nominations will be subject to editorial review to make sure that the nominees meet the minimum criteria as having a large positive impact on small business. Read the full rules. Can I nominate myself? Absolutely, positively, yes! You are encouraged to nominate yourself, your business or another individual or business or app. What does it cost to nominate? Zero! It is free to make a nomination. How are the top 100 chosen? Once the nomination period ends on July 15, 2012, voting will commence. This is where the community gets to participate in choosing the winners. Votes can be cast once daily through August 5, 2012. The community vote will represent 40% and then the judges will cast their votes, which represent 60% of the vote. Who's behind this? The 2012 Small Business Influencers initiative is a joint initiative of Small Biz Technology (Ramon Ray, CEO) and Small Business Trends (Anita Campbell, CEO). The goal is to honor those who tirelessly support small businesses with their products, services, advice, guidance and encouragement — and give them the recognition they deserve. We’d also like to thank our media partners who have agreed to help spread the word: SmallBizLady, Egg Marketing and Communications, BizSugar, Basic Blog Tips, Biz Launch, Manhattan Chamber of Commerce, DIY Marketers, The Founding Moms, MyVenturePad, BDPA New York, SCORE, EntrepreneurWeek, ChamberofCommerce.com, Your Virtual Assistant, ResearchAccess, Hawkeye Management, LivePlan, Ask the Business Lawyer, Technology for Business’ Sake, Adrian’s Network, ShoutOut Enterprises, and NNEP. Thank you! From Small Business Trends |
| G8 Leaders Call for Growth: Six Things You Can Do Posted: 22 May 2012 02:30 AM PDT Leaders the world over including those at this week’s G8 Summit are calling for economic growth, not just budget tightening, in an effort to combat world market instability and speed recovery. But for all the talk in policy circles, this growth will ultimately come from the private sector and especially here in the U.S., from small to medium sized businesses that create many of the jobs and employ many of the workers already in our economy. Here’s a look at the economic growth G8 leaders are calling for and six things you can do to promote growth in your business today. Leaders Call for GrowthG8 leaders come together on growth agenda. President Barack Obama said recently he sees emerging consensus for an agenda promoting growth among some of the world’s largest economies after a meeting of the G8 Summit. Leaders are, however, still focused on cutting debt to handle the European financial crisis. Associated Press Job creation is a top priority. An important priority identified by G8 leaders is job creation. There were no immediate specifics on how the various nations might attack the problem, but here in the U.S. support of small business has been a major theme. CNN World China also calls for growth. The G8 isn’t alone. The world’s second largest economy is also calling for growth after some economic slowdown in April. Premier Wen Jiabao was quoted in state run media stressing priority in this area on Sunday. China has made rapid progress in recent years by embracing limited entrepreneurship. The Washington Post But are businesses really growing? Two studies suggest small businesses may be following the lead of U.S. consumers by borrowing less and simply working to pay down debt. That may sound great from a fiscal standpoint, but business expert Rieva Lesonsky writes it could also mean no financing for expansion and signal a slowing of economic growth. Grow Smart Biz Six Things You Can DoStart by being prepared. Much of what will position your business for future growth starts with you. Warren Rutherford lists an actionable business plan, being more authentic and self-aware, and becoming a knowledge-based manager as key steps in promoting that growth. TweakYourBiz Get motivated and find inspiration. Blogger Holly Reisem Hanna has mined the archives of her own inspiring site to give us 30 clever tips for finding that motivation and inspiration you’ve been lacking. The Work at Home Woman Get better at time management. In this free Webinar entrepreneur Allyson Lewis, author of The 7 Minute Solution, shares ideas that will help you work more efficiently and with greater focus, accomplish more while doing less, and avoid distractions and disorientation. Check it out. PitneyBowes Learn to meet your deadlines. Small business expert Denise O’Berry shares a free ebook including six easy tips to get better at managing projects in your business. The ebook also includes a list of four common problems that could cause your business to fail, and why mastering project management is so critical to small business growth and success. GetApp.com Treat your customers like human beings. Do we really have to say it? These suggestions from Angel Business Advisors include some pretty common sense things like greeting them by name, asking them about their needs, having a casual talk, and meeting them face to face. Are you doing these things, and can they grow your business? Small Biz Viewpoints Learn to handle growth once it occurs. Once you’ve achieved growth in your business, it’s important to manage it. Make sure you deliver quality results, but don’t add unnecessarily to your workload, causing standards and service to decline. Don’t be afraid to sacrifice short-term revenue for long-term gains. Marie Forleo From Small Business Trends |
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