Facebook - To Ban Or Not to Ban, That is the Question

In a recent survey of over 1400 Chief information Officers from blue chip organisations, only around 10% allowed full access to social networking sites such as Facebook to staff.

Lots has been written about how this frustrates workers (particularly, younger ones, the so-called Generation Y). This is true and can have a destructive impact on trust and engagement. Perhaps of more interest to some CEOs, banning Facebook can cost the and result in lost opportunity.

The most common reason given for not allowing access is 'lost productivity'.

"They (largely their Gen Y staff) would spend too much time on Facebook, when they should be working" is what we hear from mangers. But when we ask the same managers about their performance management approach, and whether they focus on outcomes, rather than time spent on inputs they tend to get a little defensive. Personally I don't care what people do all day, as long as they deliver the outcomes I'm paying them to achieve. I think most enlightened organisation and managers would agree.

But surely being 'connected' has value? I was working with a bunch of senior, forty something, directors in a large global bank recently.

We were talking about what constitutes the 'capital value' of their firm. Being bankers they jumped straight to balance-sheet items like cash and asset - financial capital.

With a little more pushing they talked about Human Capital - the smarter, more talented and skilled your people, the more valuable your business. Finally we talked about net work capital - they were really keen on this, they could see that the better connected they were to business partners, customers and contacts, through their little black books, social circuit or who they played golf with, the more 'value' they added.

I pointed out that the preferred method of maintaining this network capital with their younger staff, may well involve social networking. The penny dropped, " so social networking sites build network capital, and we ban them at work..? " They went away to urgently review their policy.

Banning Facebook or other sites is also counter-productive in a simple practical sense. If people want to keep in touch (and many do) and are not allowed to use work systems, they will simply do it under their desks on their phone, slower and more inefficiently. All you are doing by banning it is encouraging them to hide their networking activities and risking giving them a repetitive strain injury!

Some organisations ban access on the ground of security - again this is naive.

Email is largely uncontrolled. Ok there are IT systems to filter out rude words, but they are pretty unsophisticated when it comes to company secrets. ISecurity is more a feature of culture and trust and less about technology and regulation

Look at Apple recently and the launch of the iPad. Despite huge hype and pressure virtually no real detail escaped from Cupertino. Can you Facebook to your heart's content at Apple? You can, just as long as you deliver your goals.

Finally there is the huge online consumer conversation opportunity to be missed.

Enlightened marketing teams are embracing social media with gusto - how ironic then the other day, when a client told me how successful their Facebook group was with consumers, but couldn't actually show me on the PC on his desk! They had attracted, and now were engaged in a conversation with, literally tens of thousands of 'fans', but employees (other than the marketing team) could be part of that until they got home.

So the message is clear- Social networks are neither good, nor bad, they are just another way to keep in touch. Banning them at work makes no business sense and can actually limit your organisations potential. Is it time to review your policy?

Simon Walker is a Consultant, Speaker and co founder of Organisational Development Consultancy, talentsmoothie. see http://www.talentsmoothie.com.

He is an expert on Generational Diversity, Generation Y and the new world of work.

He is also an expert on leadership, having led as skipper of a round the world race yacht, company CEO and arctic expedition leader.

Simon can be contacted at simonwalker@talentsmoothie.com and his blog can be read at http://www.talentsmoothie.com/blog/.

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Online Business Accounts

Features of Online Business Accounts:

If you are in a business then one of the most important things that you will need is the Online Business Savings Accounts to enable you to be able to carry out your business monetary transactions effortlessly and also at the same time turn yourself a good amount of interest too. Also, there are several other perks and rewards that the Online Savings Accounts for business can fetch the user. The first thing that you should do is to get a better understanding of all that is on offer and choose the best suited one.

Advantages:

The Online Savings Accounts for business offers you an impetus to save and also a high rate of APY that can yield you a good amount of interest. The online version enables you to be able to perform all your banking operations from anywhere in the globe and also helps you turn environmentally friendly by saving on paper. The Online Business Savings Accounts in US allows you to be knowledgeable about the various options that are on offer and also to be able to opt for specific services that are suited for your requirement.

The Online Business Savings Accounts in US enable you to be able to grow your capital and make your money work for you. They are able to get you the best competitive fees and rates when compared to other financial institutions. Also, you can easily gain access to your money when need be. An Online Business Savings Account in the US offers one the right amount of liquidity and that is crucial for a business.

Balajee Kannan
Financial Consultant
Author: Business Savings Accounts
The Online Business Savings Accounts in US is certainly a good enough option to make your money grow easily and safely and yet have access to it when you need it the most.

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Three Tips For Dramatically Improving Your Business

Would you like to be able to jump from earning between £50,000 and £100,000 a year to averaging well over £30,000 per month? Is one of your goals to reach the million dollar mark in online sales?

You don't necessarily have to work longer or harder to accomplish that. In fact, I did that during the same period of my life when I had my two children.

And, as any parent knows, when you have two youngsters around, there isn't exactly an abundance of time to work with. Quite the opposite.

So, achieving this kind of dramatic increase in your earning is not about putting in longer hours. It's about creating a structure, both externally and internally, that will make it possible for you to receive money 24/7.

There are three basic things you need to do in order to create that structure.

1. Stop undervaluing what you have to offer. Trying to squeeze your expertise into low-priced solutions doesn't work and won't really give your clients what they need.

Part of your journey to financial success has to include your offering higher value products and programs that really deliver great solutions to your clients. This will also enable you to charge more.

2. Productize your service business. Instead of getting paid by the hour, package your expertise into products and programs that can be sold off the shelf and aren't dependent upon your time to deliver.

If your business model involves going out and working with a client for a day, and then getting paid for that day, can you develop a product that does the work for you? With this type of business model, instead of doing the work and getting paid, you do the work once and get paid over and over and over again.

3. Remove yourself from the manual labor of your sales and marketing - or at least, as much as possible.

You don't need to be personally involved in every single sale. You don't need to pick up the phone to prospect and find new customers. You don't need to write individual proposals or have meetings and phone conversations to make the sale.

All of that time-consuming sales and marketing activity can be replaced with automated sales processes. Use things like direct mail, the Internet and email marketing instead.

Rather than selling one-to-one, develop one-to-many techniques that will help you reach more people in less time.

When you stop undervaluing your services, and begin to productize them and automate your sales process, your earnings will skyrocket. Doing any one of these three things alone will make a noticeable improvement in your business. But, implementing all three of them - together - will have a dramatic and profound effect. That's when the magic happens.

Bernadette Doyle is a marketing specialist who helps entrepreneurs become client magnets and attract a steady stream of their ideal clients. She publishes a free, weekly newsletter for trainers, speakers, coaches, consultants, complementary therapists and solo professionals. If you'd like to receive invaluable tips and advice on how to attract clients with ease, register at http://www.clientmagnets.com

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Goal and Target Setting

Pretty high on my list of all-time annoying phrases (as a parent) is "are we nearly there yet?", but it is also one of the most crucial phrases when managing change, be it organisational change management, or personal development.

In the context of personal development (broadly defined - we could be talking about developing leadership skills, or learning a new language, anything really), I tend divide the process into three simple steps:

1) Determining what you want (or need) to do.

2) Committing to doing it.

3) Doing it.

A lot of management training courses, and literature on the subject, covers the first two of these steps, but my feeling is that there is rather less on the latter; so what are the challenges with actually "doing it", particularly knowing when you've really got there?

With the well-known child's question of "are we there yet?", the destination can be clearly defined - when I pull up outside the villa/cottage/park etc, I can be very confident that we are "there", and give a very straight answer to the question. But with personal skill development, defining the destination is (at best) a lot more subtle, and (at worst!) there may be no "destination" at all...

Are we really nearly there?

A lot of things are really easy to fix - in the short term. Anyone who has ever given up smoking is likely to know that going one day without a cigarette is reasonably straight forward compared to going forever without one. So if we've committed to listening more intently to a certain person in order to understand them better, how long do we need to do that for before we have actually, genuinely, reached our goal?

The illustration of smoking is a useful thing here. Once you do something (or don't do something) without having to consciously think about it, it has become ingrained in your sub-conscious, and the new habit has replaced the old one. That is not to say that you need never think about it again - being alert to potentially reverting to old habits is essential - but the more and more you "do" the new habit, in more and more different environments, the more natural it will become.

Where are we going again?

This question is both rather tricky and very easy to answer.

Some things don't have a defined ultimate end result. I, for example, would like to be a better mountain biker, but there is no ultimate end-point for me, in the sense that I won't get to a certain level of ability and say "right, that's enough"!

Under these circumstances, step-by-step goals seem appropriate. How good would I like to be by early summer? How good would I like to be next year? By determining the measures for each of these, I am creating defined targets or destinations that are not the ultimate end result (and there will never be one of those), but that do allow me to understand my progress and drive me towards a goal.

Taking "communicating better" as a goal (although, obviously, it would need to be far more accurately defined than that!), this principle applies. I can't imaging every saying that I am such a good communicator that I never have to improve again, and so there is no ultimate end-point, but I can put a series of interim stages in place, and keep adding to them, in the way that you would add to a rolling business plan. Some things are simply never finished.

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Goal setting, and the aspect of knowing when you've got there, is something that will appear in subsequent articles this year, so please add your thoughts, comments and insights below...on of my goals is to increase the numbers reading and commenting on these articles - but I have no ultimate end-point for that one either!

Simon Roskrow runs trainingreality, an innovative management training company working in the critical areas of communication, leadership, teamwork, personal development, decision making and customer service.

You can find out more about Simon here: http://www.trainingreality.co.uk/simon.html
You can find out more about the company here: http://www.trainingreality.co.uk

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Business Partnerships - Curse Or Blessing?

In many ways, business partnerships are very similar to marriages. There is a fundamental difference though. Unlike the already high divorce rate in America (According to divorcerate.org, 50% of all marriages in the US end in divorce), some studies suggest that 60% or more of business partnerships fail within the first 5 years of being in business. With the odds stacked so heavily against partnerships, why are people still considering forming partnerships for business ventures? The answers lie in the benefits of having a business partner.

1. Complementing Traits - If both partners are good complements to each other the benefits may outweigh the risks of forming an intimate business relationship. A well-chosen partner can complement your weaknesses and improve your strengths.

2. Built-in Redundancy - What happens to a business if the sole owner has health issues, or wants to take an extended vacation? With a partnership, there is always someone there who can continue managing the business.

3. Sounding Board - An equity partner in your business generally will provide you better insights than a regular employee. The stakes are higher and as a result, having an equity partner in your business can provide you with invaluable insights and opinions.

4. Economies of Scale - Two people can achieve more than one. With two or more partners, you can participate in more business building activities than if you are on your own. It looks more impressive to the outside world if a "Managing Partner" shows up at an event, rather than a "Sales Person" or a "Marketing Manager"

What are some of the key issues you need to consider before signing on the dotted line of any partnership agreement, and how can you improve your chances of succeeding in your partnership?

1. Date before you get married - Don't rush into a partnership! Make sure you know the personal life of your business partner, as well as his or her financial situation before you decide to partner with the person. In many ways, your business partner will become a second spouse in your life. Make sure you know the person well enough before entering in any agreement with him or her.

2. Identify Strengths and Weaknesses - Make sure you are picking a good complement to your skill set. There is no need to get a partner with the same strengths and weaknesses as you. You want someone who is strong where you are weak and vice versa.

3. Explore each other's values - If one partner's sole motivation is to make money and the other's to be a humanitarian, you probably end up having a conflicting relationship. You will find out about each other's value system during the "dating phase" such as dinners, meeting each other's families, and participating in each other's lives.

4. Identify clear roles and responsibilities - Many partnerships are formed without a clear understanding of who is responsible for what. The result can be chaos and lots of arguments. Identify up front who is doing what in the business based on your strengths and weaknesses.

5. Ensure equal give and take - Equity in the business needs to be distributed evenly and just. If one partner puts in a lot more money than another, it doesn't make sense that both will get the same compensation and rewards. Make sure you keep track of the commitment each partner is making and provide for a larger return for the more involved partner.

These are just some of the key issues you need to consider before entering into a partnership. Make sure you are very clear about the risks and rewards of forming a partnership prior to engaging in one. A good business attorney can help you gain clarity in all of these aspects.

Sieber Consulting improves efficiencies, profitability and management of small businesses through the implementation of operational processes. Choose between our customized consulting services or our easy-to-use, affordable, ready-made business templates.

Check us out at: http://joergsieber.com

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The Uses and Benefits of Stress Balls

Stress related illnesses are rising very fast. A person facing constant and regular occurrence of stress can cause harm to the body. After a long journey, after long meetings and maybe after a long tiresome day, the best way to get relieved from the tension and trauma is the use of Stress Balls.

It is an object that is used to help relieve stress by exercising the muscles in the hand.

This is a soft, supple toy made out of a soft material and is usually not more than 7 centimetres in diameter. There are many types, and most of them are made of closed-cell polyurethane foam rubber. The ball is made by injecting the liquid components of the foam into a mould. It main features is that it can fit in the hand easily, allowing a user to squeeze it out of shape while providing some resistance to force the muscles of the hand to work.

The Stress Balls used for physical therapy contains gel of different densities inside a rubber of cloth skin. Another type uses a thin rubber membrane with a fine powder. This final type can also be made at home by filling a balloon with baking soda.

Even though they are known as a ball, it need not be always spherical and take the form of a ball. They are also available in a variety of shapes, even as toys and are commonly used as a business promotional product in the shape of company's logo etc.

Statistics shows that this is third most popular promotional gift in the United Kingdom; given as a freebie at conferences and other corporate events.

Stress Balls are also very popularly and useful for mental stress relief; it helps by giving people a tool with which they can work out physical aggression and stress. It is frequently recommended at a stress management tool for those working in demanding jobs.

Just as they are useful for emotional strain, these balls are also useful for solve physical tension too. Physiotherapists use simple devices to help people bend, loosen and stretch the muscles in their hands. The use of one of these balls can reduce the amount of strain that is caused by continuous tasks like typing, and it also helps to develop hand strength. For patients who have experienced strokes and other neurological problems, Stress Balls can be used as a physiotherapy exercise to help these patients recover his/her hand and finger mobility.

Any type of fillings can be used for these types of balls. The main feature of these fillings is that it should be firm, with a slight softness to it, forcing the people to work to deform the ball. The best for this is foam, as in gel, or a powder enclosed in a latex packet. A basic ball that is used for stress is by filling a balloon with corn starch. Another choice is to make a bag with bean seeds or plastic granules - but these fillings are less smooth.

Using Stress Balls doesn't require any special technique - all you need to do is to pick the ball up and squeeze it.

For more information on Stress Balls visit Promotional Merchandise. Here you will find more articles and tips on marketing items as well as a Quick Quotes form where you can conveniently submit your request in one form and get responses from multiple suppliers so that you can find the best price and promotional items for your marketing needs.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paul_Sung

Marketing - Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) Total Makeover

If you are currently operating a marketing plan without the strongest USP that you can create, then you are leaving thousands of dollars and new customers on the table. The unique selling proposition is the biggest promise that you can make to your customers. It will set your business apart from everything else in your niche and provide your customers with a consistent sales message. Read on to find out how you can give your marketing plan a total USP makeover.

Start with your current statement. Are you making the same bland statements that the rest of your industry is using, or are you re-hashing statements that seem to come straight out of a car ad, such as "quality comes first," or "a leader in innovation," or maybe "we care about our customers." If you have anything like this in your unique selling proposition then you need a complete makeover.

Remember that this is the single, biggest promise that you can make to your customers. You are going to show them EXACTLY what you are going to do for them and how you will treat them. Also included will be the way that you are different from everyone else in your industry. That is where the word unique comes from. You don't have to be different from EVERY business out there, just different from the businesses in competition with you.

In order to develop you perfect USP, you need to look at the reason why your customers come to you. Survey your top customers and find out what makes you the best. What is the biggest promise that you can make and keep consistently? Answer the question: Why should someone do business with you versus any and all other available options, including doing nothing at all? If you can answer that, then you almost have a guaranteed-perfect USP.

Once you have your new unique selling proposition, you need to make sure it permeates every area of your marketing, from the way you answer the phone, to the look of your website. No matter which direction your customers first contact your business, they need to receive a consistent message. Every time the customer comes into contact afterwards, that message is hammered home over and over. This is where you are going to shine. Once that USP is engrained in the customer's mind, the next time they have a problem that your business can solve, who do you think is going to be the first person they call?

Joshua Black is the developer of the Ultimate USP Creator, a training course and software program all designed to create a Unique Selling Proposition for your small business. Download the course here: http://www.UltimateUSPCreator.com

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