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We hope the following content will provide current and useful information to our clients and other members of our community. Thank you for your continued support of the SBDC. Please contact our office for further information or assistance.
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Productivity tips from 5 people who do plenty
by Brooke Howell, SmartBlogs.com
June 26, 2012
But "don't mistake being busy with being productive. They're two different things," warned author, speaker and consultant Barry Moltz.
Applegate, Moltz and other panelists offered up several smart strategies for being more productive in the finite time we're given, including:
Do less
"Multitasking fries your brain," said Moltz. Instead, you need to do less and focus on the things that are really going to make a difference toward accomplishing your primary goals. It may seem counter-intuitive to do less, but "you can get incredible power in your life by just doing one thing and not trying to do multiple things," Moltz explained.
Categorize your days
Applegate said that when she was working from home, she started dividing her days into "in days" and "out days" to make the most of her time and not waste it driving around or shifting from task to task. On the in days, she would hunker down, not leave the house and work hard. Out days would be packed to the brim with errands, meetings and other activities that had to be done out of the house. Use "time chunking" - setting aside chunks of time for completing specific tasks to get everything done, advised Lena West, founder, CEO and chief strategist of Influence Expansion. She designates each day of the week for a specific type of activity and sticks to it.
Embrace imperfection
"When we obsess over perfection, that's where the stress comes in," said Wendi Caplan-Carroll, a senior regional development director with Constant Contact. She had to learn to do things well enough, because most things don't need to be perfect....
Click here to read complete article
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The next social media wave: 5 golden rules to follow
by Oliver Milman, StartUpSmart.com
June 20, 2012
Social media is a relatively cost effective  tool that increasing numbers of Australian businesses, regardless of size or sector, are eagerly grasping. Granted, this surging enthusiasm for all things Twitter and Facebook is starting from a low base - a Sensis study from last year found that just 14% of Australian companies have a social media presence.
It's clear that social media can not only complement your sales and marketing efforts, it can form an entire basis of a business, as our story this week on the retail start-up with no website that gathered an army of 87,000 Facebook fans in just 18 months shows.
But the social media landscape is constantly shifting. While Facebook still looks a good bet for start-ups, recent research shows that its growth has slowed dramatically, while relative newcomer Pinterest is enjoying booming growth among users. This changing market demands that entrepreneurs work even harder on their social media efforts, to ensure they stay relevant with their target customers.
Adam Franklin, founder of digital agency Bluewire Media, says: "To paraphrase Thomas Edison, social media is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration." "It's easy and fun to take the plunge into social media. You begin with lofty visions of millions of fans hanging on your every tweet. Then reality sets in, and you realise it can be hard work staying on the social media treadmill."
"That's why you need a social media activity schedule and some old-fashioned perseverance." With this in mind, we spoke to the experts to compile the five golden rules of social media that every start-up should heed.
To read each golden rule, follow the tabs below....
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The Number One Reason Employees Stay in a Small Business, According to Employers
by Anita Campbell, Small Business Trends
June 29, 2012
If you're like most small business owners, you've invested a sizable chunk of your company's time and money into recruiting, onboarding, and training employees. Naturally, you do not want to lose good people - because then your investment is wasted. On top of that your business may be plunged into a mini-crisis by losing a great performer who is difficult to replace.
But the question on the minds of small business owners like me is, what exactly does it take to attract and retain good employees today? And can small employers compete with large employers able to offer bigger financial packages?
A recent survey has some good news. Among employers polled, the number one benefit offered was ... drum roll please: paid vacation time. That is the top benefit that employers surveyed in the GrowBiz Media Small Business Hiring and Retention Survey 2012 said they offered their employees. Over sixty-seven percent (67.7% to be exact) said they offered paid vacation.
To me that's not surprising - it doesn't necessarily cost anything out of pocket to offer paid vacation. So it's within the reach of more small employers to offer paid vacation than to offer benefits that cost additional out of pocket.
If anything surprised me, it's the percentage of employers who said they do NOT offer paid vacation. I find it remarkable that in this day and age, nearly one third of the employers said they do do not offer vacation.
The Top 5 Benefits Offered
And what about other benefits? The benefits most often offered by small employers with between 2 and 50 employees include, in order:
- Vacation time - 67.7%
- Personal days off - 63%
- Health insurance - 57.5%
- Flexible working hours - 56%
- Bonuses - 55.3%
The Number One Retention Factor Is Not Benefits At All
But if you really want to know what keeps employees around in a small business, it isn't benefits at all. It's the relationship the employee has with management - at least, that's what employers say. Those surveyed said the following were the top factors influencing employees to remain:
- Manager-employee relationships - 78%
- Company culture - 66%
- Employee benefits - 53%
The survey results did not include a question about salary, so we don't know where pay fits into the mix....
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 The ASBDC Biz Blog launched in January 2012 with 12 contributing companies -- all with extensive backgrounds in small business. The blog is updated weekly with new articles covering topics on IT & Marketing for Small Business, Youth Entrepreneurship, Veterans in Small Business, Procurement, Financial issues and more!
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The EAC Small Business Development Center, funded by Eastern Arizona College and the Small Business Administration, is designed to promote the success of small business in the Graham and Greenlee County area, as well as the San Carlos Apache Nation. This program puts a team of experienced business professionals at your disposal - at no cost to you. We offer one-on-one confidential counseling and training in various business-related areas such as record keeping, marketing, taxes, computer usage, business planning and more. Take advantage of us. We're here to help you!
Sincerely,
Kevin Peck, Director
EAC Small Business Development Center
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QuickBooks - The Complete Course
Tues-Thurs., July 24-26, 2012
5:30 - 9:00pm
Cost: $129
EAC South Campus, #5
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Good Reads
What, Hiring for Attitude: A Revolutionary Approach to Recruiting and Selecting People with Both Tremendous Skills and Superb Attitude by Mark Murphy, talks about happens every day at businesses all across America. Employers often hire for skill and talent. Although the new employee may be highly skilled, it doesn't always mean the new hire is beneficial to the company. It takes much more than talent and skill for an employee to be successful. It's all about the attitude. Yet this is often overlooked or receives far too little attention during the interview process. If an employee has great talent but doesn't fit into your business culture, constantly questions policy and their company role or you find a need to be concerned every time the employee talks to one of your best customers, then they are not really such a great employee regardless of skills and talents. This is often what happens at companies large and small: companies hire someone who they believe will be beneficial to the business but after a short period of time they start to realize this person's attitude is going to be extremely destructive to customers, other employees and to the company's bottom line. Worse yet, people begin to dread coming to work every single day because they are going to have to deal with this person. Has this happened to you with an employee? That's why, Hiring For Attitude, will help CEOs, presidents and business owners, as well as anyone on the hiring team, get the right perspective on hiring the right people with the right attitude at the right time... Click here for more information
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EAC Small Business Development Center
615 N. Stadium Ave., (Student Services Building)
Thatcher, AZ 85552
Phone: (928) 428-8590
Fax: (928) 428-2578
Email: sbdc@eac.edu
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