Author Archives: Gary Barzel

Over eighty percent of hourly employers expect to face challenges filling holiday positions in 2016, based on data released from online job marketplace Snagajob. According to its annual Holiday Hiring report, 44% of employers cite a lack of qualified workers, while 34% cite a lack of available workers, and 30% report increasing competition with other employers. […]

Anyone who has ever worked in a business or owned one, is familiar with the business meeting conundrum. On one hand, there is a vital need for face-time among employees and partners and on occasion, suppliers, vendors, and even customers to touch base, exchange ideas, and work out any problems. But the truth is that […]

Whether you are tired of working at your day job, you want to earn some extra money on the side, or you are looking to monetize the passion that already consumes a good part of your week, turning your craft into a profitable business may be a good option. But, just because it may seem […]

Two months ago, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced its final adjustments to the overtime exemptions included under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The new overtime rules almost double the salary threshold needed to qualify for overtime exemption to $913 per week or $47,476 per year, up from $455 per week or $23,660 per year. What this […]

As the Internet and mobile technology expand into more areas of our business, there need to be systems in place- both on a personal and professional level- to ensure that these changes are actually bringing us the benefits they promised. Small Businesses Are Slowly Integrating New Technologies Over the past 15 years, there has been […]

In an effort to attract new clients and build up their professional reputation, there are many small business owners who pour a tremendous amount of time, effort, and money into the content they have on their blogs. But, once they hit the publish button on a new piece and promote the content they worked so […]

If you have been paying any attention to the headlines coming out of the retail industry over the last few months, you may think that off-line retail is going the way of the dinosaur. In the first half of 2016 alone, the industry has been flooded with unfavorable news, such as that poor sales are […]

This month the future cost of labor just went through the roof. Both California and New York have passed legislation that would gradually increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2022. After the 2022 deadline, wages would then rise with inflation, yet the governor of each state would have the option to delay […]

With over 1.5 billion active monthly users and a feature-rich platform, Facebook has continued to be a dominant part of the social networking landscape since its founding in 2004. All this activity has also attracted the attention of businesses big and small which have been trying to figure out how to capitalize on the social […]

I have mentioned here before that small businesses in particular cannot afford to ignore mobile marketing and the enormous potential it has to reach consumers. Countless studies and surveys all point to the fact that consumers are spending more time on their mobile devices to access information and connect with others via the web. In […]