Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Work Smarter with Mobile Devices – Chat Recap

Work Smarter with Mobile Devices – Chat Recap

Link to Small Business Trends

Work Smarter with Mobile Devices – Chat Recap

Posted: 23 Apr 2013 04:00 PM PDT

Small businesses are becoming more mobile. But learning to work smarter with mobile devices is an ongoing challenge.

On Thursday, April 18, 2013, we were delighted to welcome Judi Hembrough (@JudiHembrough), small business marketing director of Plantronics, to join the small business community for a special live chat on Twitter.   The chat focused on sharing tips and advice on how entrepreneurs use mobile devices including tablets; mobile etiquette, including do's and don’ts; tips for holding conference calls outside the office; and mobile productivity tips.

Not everyone may have as many items in their briefcase as Ramon Ray (@ramonray), founder of SmallBizTechnology.com.  But the voyeur in all of us was curious to see. So he shared a picture of all the gadgets in his bag that evening:

Thanks to the phenomenal participation from so many entrepreneurs, the chat trended #1 on Twitter for the topic #SmarterWorking on the evening of the event.

The chat was sponsored by Plantronics.  Plantronics also provided three Voyager Legend UC headsets that we randomly gave away during the chat to selected participants who offered insightful answers.

How to Work Smarter with Mobile Devices

Below you will find a small number of selected excerpts from the event.

When asked the number of mobile devices they used or thought others used, here are a few of the responses:

Thanks to Plantronics for sponsoring this chat and for supplying Voyager Legend UC headsets as prizes for the participants.  Plantronics’ involvement made it possible for us to host the event.

The post Work Smarter with Mobile Devices – Chat Recap appeared first on Small Business Trends.

Small Business Groups Offer Mixed Reaction to Obama Budget

Posted: 23 Apr 2013 01:30 PM PDT

Small business reaction to Obama budget

From a small business perspective, the proposed Fiscal Year 2014 budget unveiled last week by President Barack Obama gets mixed reviews.  Critics say the budget does not do enough to alleviate the tax burden on small businesses.

Small Business Reaction to Obama Budget

Three key areas of concern are: minimum wage, taxes, and entitlements / pensions.  Let’s look at the range of reactions to the President’s budget to these points.

Minimum Wage

The budget proposed by President Obama calls for the federal minimum wage to increase from $7.25 to $9 per hour.

Following the release of the Obama budget proposal, Dan Danner, President of the National Federation of Independent Business, said the proposed hike is “a major anti-jobs policy that will limit the volume of net new jobs at a time when the economically essential element of small business job creation is already struggling.

“Workers of all ages that are relatively unskilled are adversely impacted by this policy because they can't break into the job market, and small-business owners can't afford to create new positions for them,” Danner said.

The proposed $9 per hour minimum wage is lower than what some Democrats in Congress support, according to The Washington Post.

The minimum wage issue often breaks down along industry lines.  Hikes tend to be opposed by main-street small businesses in retail, restaurants, manufacturing and other industries highly dependent on manual or hourly labor.  Often such industries have razor-slim profit margins to begin with.  In some cases, they can ill afford expense increases lest they put the business’s survival at risk.

On the other hand, small businesses with mostly knowledge workers or professionals may support the increase.  Or they may take no position, because minimum wage does not directly impact their businesses.

Taxes

The President spoke about “closing tax loopholes” and raising taxes on people making more than $1 million.  During his budget announcement in the White House Rose Garden, President Obama said his proposal also calls for investments in infrastructure — creating new construction jobs — and for investments in manufacturing and hi-tech business hubs.

The NFIB in its statement had this to say:

"Because of existing deductions and loopholes, large publicly-held companies in the U.S. already enjoy much lower effective tax rates than our nation's small-business owners. Which means that a family-owned hardware store on Main Street pays a higher tax rate than its big box counterpart. That isn't right, and the president's plan could make effective tax rates even more unfair.  Details from the White House have been few, but since the president has stressed that reform must be revenue-neutral, we must assume that corporate-only reform will fleece small businesses – who are organized as pass-through entities and pay taxes at individual rates – to pay for the new tax breaks that would be given to big business."

The National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE), which says it represents 22 million self-employed and microbusinesses, called for more tax fairness to small businesses.  In a prepared statement NASE said:

"We cannot agree more with President Obama's budget that aims to make the tax code more simple and fair. But the sad reality is our tax code is unfair for the millions of small businesses that want to grow and expand their small businesses, and even more deterring for those who want to open their own small businesses. While job creation and closing loopholes are important, just as essential is creating the environment for new and existing small businesses to thrive without a paper trail of unnecessary and complex requirements."

As Economics Professor Scott Shane has pointed out here before on Small Business Trends, there are other ways to deal with small business taxes.

Entitlements and Pensions

The budget President Obama proposes also calls for cuts in funding to certain entitlement programs.  Some don’t think there are enough cuts, and that the burden to pay for everything will be too high.

Others,  like  John Arensmeyer, the CEO at Small Business Majority, said that cuts proposed to entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security should not be the way to reduce the deficit.  Arensmeyer said, “Cuts could undermine small business owners' economic well-being and our burgeoning recovery, and should be left out of any final budget deal.”

The President’s budget proposal also hits retirement plans. It adds a penalty for 401(k) plans holding more than $3 million. Brian Graff, CEO at The American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries, said this really isn’t an example of closing a loophole and is not much benefit to small businesses but more of a hindrance.

In a statement responding to the budget proposal and specifically a cap on retirement investment accounts, Graff said, “If a small business owner has saved $3 million in his or her 401(k) account, they won't be allowed to save any more. Without any further incentive to keep the plan, many small business owners will now either shut down the plan or reduce contributions for workers. This means that small business employees will now lose out not only on the opportunity to save at work, but also on contributions the owner would have made on the employee's behalf to pass nondiscrimination rules.”

Finally, keep in mind that there is no single “small business position” on any economic issue.  Just like voters are never of one mind on all issues, nor are small business owners.

That’s because small businesses vary widely in size, annual revenues, industries, goals and circumstances of the business owners.  Although there tend to be common concerns to many, we never all think exactly alike all of the time.

The post Small Business Groups Offer Mixed Reaction to Obama Budget appeared first on Small Business Trends.

8 Reasons Companies Should Adopt a Content Marketing Culture

Posted: 23 Apr 2013 11:00 AM PDT

content marketing culture

If hustle was the key for traditional businesses to work, the hustle now has a new avatar. Earlier, it was pure hustle followed by the transaction. Today, it's all about hustling with information. It's more about informing, gaining trust, leveraging social media, amassing social proof, nurturing customers and then facilitating a sale.

For each of the steps in the modern buying cycle, content marketing plays a vital role. You probably know by now that content is at the heart of Internet marketing. Let's see why companies should adopt a content marketing culture.

Companies Should Adopt a Content Marketing Culture

Culture Rules Behavior and Hence, Actions

What do Southwest Airlines, and Apple share in common? It's culture. For each company, everything centers on culture. If Southwest Airlines is known for their legendary customer service and if Apple is known for designing some of the best lifestyle products in the world, it's not so much about these companies making new products, innovating constantly and producing products and services that are world-class. There's no mistake that these companies are the best in what they do; it's just that they do it that way because they defined a culture to back up their businesses.

Culture, in a traditional sense, influences how people behave and hence act. It applies for businesses too. Content marketing needs a cultural backing because it envelops your business, involves everyone and it's often the window of information exchange between the stake holders of your business and with your customers. Even small businesses such as WebpageFX, a Web design and development company, tries to breed culture as a part of growing up.

Culture Brings in Consistency

You'll break rules, thwart the norm and almost always forget company policies. Culture, admittedly, is hard to break away from. You'll occasionally slip and roll away but culture finds a way to bind production values, business ethics and core business philosophy. Further, culture brings in consistency.

People who belong to a particular culture almost always behave in a particular way. If you’ve applied that to business operations, product design and business processes, what do you get? The success of your content marketing depends on consistency and a content marketing culture helps you find that.

Culture Lends Voice

If a content marketing culture is a part of your business, everyone involved has a voice which finds its way into published content such as blogs, whitepapers, reports and books. This content will also make an impressionable mark on internal and external business communications.

Voice has character. Voice brings life. Voice is how your customers will come to recognize, value and relate with you. Businesses without a voice and hence, personality, character and values, aren't businesses. They are more like short-term trading posts. Content marketing with a voice, which culture will find a way to define, gives your business some muscle. It lets you make a difference in style.

Have Culture; Will Differentiate

Your business creates products and services that are bound to solve a particular problem your potential customers have. Almost any business can do that. If so, how do you differentiate your business from competition? Customer service is one way. Your products and services are another way. The trouble with these differentiating points is that they are easy to replicate. Your competition can find a way to compete. They can't, however, have the same culture as yours.

Just like every human is unique, every business with culture is special – one of a kind. Your competition can't copy your culture; it can't do things the way you do it. Culture now catapults your business to a unique stage of infallibility.

Culture is the Secret of Branding

Brands are created because promises are kept – consistently, repeatedly and unmistakably. Over periods of time, customers relate to brands; they come to trust these products. If you ever thought about how brands manage to achieve this level of consistency, the answer is culture again. Toyota cars don't break down. McDonald's Burgers almost always taste the same. Apple's laptops don't fail.

It's possible to achieve this level of reputation only on the basis of working with a culture that clearly defines what each brand is supposed to achieve for businesses that depend on branding for profitability.

Provide a Unified Customer Experience

The better you serve your customers, the more they will buy from you. They will also spread the word about your business and they will come back more often to buy. To provide such customer experience is not easy though.

Culture gives your business a common ground to provide a unified customer experience. The logos, corporate branding kits and color schemes work to an extent. What customers finally take home is what they feel about your business. The 'feeling' comes from how you squeeze your business culture to provide a great experience for your customers.

Culture Demands Work

It takes a tremendous amount of work to run a business, to market your business, to provide customer service and to keep the wheels of business moving. How do so many moving parts come together? What's that one thing that motivates employees, keeps business processes smooth and allows businesses to grow while keeping customers delighted? It's hard work and it takes a lot more than task sheets and general management to make that happen. It takes years of ingrained culture.

Content marketing, like marketing itself, is not just the work of marketing department; it's everyone's work. Effective content marketing is everyone's work. When all
stake holders wrap their heads around content marketing, it begins to show results. It creates an impact. Profits come from the reach of this impact.

Culture Gets You Firing on All Cylinders

Get together and work for a common cause and it's easy to get excited about the possibilities of such collaboration. Business takes more than the need to make money, to provide employment and to trade. It requires a commitment to excel. You can have no half-hearted attempts in business. You can't keep customers if they remain neutral about their feelings towards your products and services.

To get the equation right, you'll need to fire up on all cylinders. You need gumption, zeal and a habit of excellence. Since your content marketing strategy also involves effort to get all this happening for you, culture gets you to the firing zone. It's the spark that lights up the cylinders. It pushes the pistons.

How does your business culture influence the way you run your business? How deep does your content marketing culture and strategy go?

Content Photo via Shutterstock

The post 8 Reasons Companies Should Adopt a Content Marketing Culture appeared first on Small Business Trends.

IRS Looking to Tax Free Lunches Offered at Tech Firms

Posted: 23 Apr 2013 08:00 AM PDT

tax free lunches

Federal tax officials may bring more reality to the old adage “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.”

According to reports from the California Bay Area and Silicon Valley, the Internal Revenue Service is considering whether to tax free lunches and other perks routinely offered to employees at tech companies.

Silicon Valley Mercury News reported recently that employees at companies like Facebook and Google may have to pay taxes on free meals.  It’s a fringe benefit that their employers use as a selling point to recruit talented employees and keep them working on-site. A free lunch — and more — is seen by these and other companies as something they can offer to improve the workplace environment and morale.  But now the IRS is considering making that less free by taxing the benefit.

There are no details about what the tax would be on the free lunches offered at these workplaces. A report by The Wall Street Journal details debate among tax experts including tax attorneys practicing in the Silicon Valley.  They say the IRS has begun to focus on whether the meals constitute part of a compensation package.

Of course, the implications resonate far beyond Silicon Valley.

Businesses of all sizes offer a variety of benefits for employees that go beyond traditional payment for services.  Free coffee and soda beverages; free snacks; free meals; free dry cleaning services; free bus transportation; free health clinic services — the list goes on, and it’s all over the country.  Rules are complex about which additional compensations may constitute taxable perks.

The concern for the rest of us who do not get free lunches, is whether the American taxpayers are in effect giving already-highly-paid individuals a tax break.  Mark Maremont, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, called the food spreads “lavish buffets.”

A former Google marketing employee told MercuryNews.com that the free lunches his wife, a current Google employee, still enjoys are “a phenomenal convenience, a terrific motivator, and a great social thing.” He said the proposed tax is “stupid.”

Employee Lunch Photo via Shutterstock

The post IRS Looking to Tax Free Lunches Offered at Tech Firms appeared first on Small Business Trends.

Review of Plantronics Voyager Legend UC Headset

Posted: 23 Apr 2013 05:00 AM PDT

“Can you hear me now?”

You may remember that line from a wireless-phone company commercial.  The reason that line is so successful is that we all say it. I'm willing to bet that many of you say that or some version of that question pretty often. We want to make sure we are heard.

This review of the Plantronics Voyager Legend headset is for the entrepreneur on the go, or the small business owner, manager or professional who needs a solid hands-free device with excellent reception and sound clarity.  And one also looking for time savings and convenience.

Last year, I was part of a Plantronics contest and received a Voyager Legend headset. At the time, I rarely used my mobile phone for important business calls because I could not depend on the other mobile headsets I had tried in the past. That meant I coordinated most of my meetings when I was absolutely certain I would be in a quiet place with the strongest wireless signal.

Since then, little by little, I started to use the headset. I'm pleased to report that I use a Voyager Legend headset nearly every day now.  I live on an island and when I go out for the day for business meetings, I have to take a ferry and am often gone for the day.  So I end up taking a lot of calls when mobile.  And I worry less about where I’m going to be when it’s time to take an important call.

The Voyager Legend (pictured below) comes in several flavors – regular and what is known as "UC" which stands for Unified Communications .

headset

 

UC is the platform on a user's computer that allows them to integrate IM, phone calls, video conferencing and more. The Voyager Legend UC headset plugs into your computer with the included USB dongle, letting you take voice and video calls from your computer. The Voyager Legend UC also comes in two variants; one regular and one optimized for Microsoft. The UC version, either one, is $199. The regular Legend (non-UC version) is priced at $99 and this is the one I have.

Both versions of this headset are multi-point, allowing you to have two different mobile phones configured to connect to your headset.  That means you don’t have to switch headsets to use a different device.

For team members who use multiple devices during the workday, you begin to see the advantages.

What I really like:

  • The Mute button. On the headset, there is a simple button, but cooler is that the headset announces to you only that the "mute is on." Of course, it tells you it is off, too, when you press it again. You can press the mute button on your actual phone, but I like the headset one.
  • The sensor technology (I don't know exactly how it works, but it is cool): If I put it on my ear as the phone is ringing it will still answer the call. No fumbling about to make the switch.  If it’s already in my ear, I can use voice commands to answer it or ignore it.
  • On the UC front, not having to manually connect each device you want to switch to, is a time-saving option.

What I would like to see:

  • A universal charger – the headset has its own proprietary connection. This is the only downside, in my view. To be fair, it is probably pretty hard to fit a micro-USB connection into that tiny space. The good news is that the other end is a standard USB connection so most chargers will accept the USB end, or your laptop can charge it for you.

Although this review is focused on the Voyager Legend, I have to throw in a few good words about another option – the Calisto speakerphone, also by Plantronics. The Calisto is a portable speaker approximately four inches square by 1.5 inches tall. It can connect to your laptop with a small USB keyfob or via Bluetooth.  It is powered by a rechargeable lithium battery (connect it to a USB charger).

I am using the 620 model, optimized for Microsoft Lync and it is wonderful. Seriously. I have used it as a speaker in hotel rooms to play music on my Samsung S3. And I have used it as a speakerphone in my car when I'm not using a headset. It connects very quickly and for those who find that their cell phone speakers are just not enough, this little device is a lifesaver. It comes in its own little neoprene case for $149.95. It is also UC-capable.

Overall, if you find that you want a robust, sophisticated hands-free device, the Voyager Legend headset (UC or regular) is a serious contender.

If you just can't put something in your ear, or need a speakerphone, look to the elegant little Calisto speakerphone.

Image credit: Plantronics

The post Review of Plantronics Voyager Legend UC Headset appeared first on Small Business Trends.

Join Us for a Twitter Chat: SMB Internet Security

Posted: 23 Apr 2013 03:00 AM PDT

Twitter chat SMB security

Join us, along with Symantec SMB security experts, on Twitter on Thursday, April 25, at 9 am Pacific (12 noon Eastern) for a discussion about how cyber criminals are targeting small businesses.

You’ll get a chance to discuss the findings in Symantec’s recently-released report on Internet Security Threats.  The Report covers the major threat trends observed by Symantec in 2012.  It reveals that cybercriminals view SMBs as a prime target. In fact, the largest growth area for targeted attacks in 2012 was businesses with fewer than 250 employees.  Thirty-one percent (31%) of all attacks targeted them, almost tripling over 2011.

To know how to protect your business nad improve security, the first step is to get a clear understanding of the dangers.  This year's report is a wake-up call that SMBs are now being specifically targeted by cybercriminals.

Mark your calendars to join #SMBchat and learn how to protect your small business from attackers.

Topic: ISTR 18: SMB Wake-up Call – you're a prime target for cybercriminals

Date: Thursday, April 25, 2013

Time: Starts at 9:00 a.m. PT / 12:00 noon ET

Length: 1 hour

Where: On Twitter.com; follow the hashtag #SMBchat

Expert participants:

Thanks to Symantec for sponsoring this chat and for providing the subject matter expert speakers.

The post Join Us for a Twitter Chat: SMB Internet Security appeared first on Small Business Trends.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)