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As the year winds down and the dust begins to settle it’s getting pretty clear which businesses came out winning and which businesses won’t even be walking away with a consolation prize this holiday season.

 

Front and center in the headlines: Amazon.com’s continuing dominance in online sales fueled by a series of incredibly strategic partnerships, a competitive pricing structure, and its respected brand name, in contrast to the dismal performance and equally dismal announcement of store-closings by retail behemoths, Sears Holdings and Kmart.

 

But even in the best of times the year-end holiday season tends to have a cathartic effect, weeding out some under-performers while causing others to change their offerings. To get a glimpse at how several of the major retail industries performed this year, check out our new infographic: 2011Holiday Retail Winners and Losers.

Most people know Google+ as another social network for individuals to connect with friends and companies to connect with customers. However, many colleges and universities know Google+ to work well in a different way—a great tool for recruiting.

 

The website Mashable recently found that many universities are using the networking tool as an opportunity to create an entire page based upon what their school can do for a particular student. This therefore works in the favor of the students just the same because it will save them time. Considering where you want to go to school for four years is a tough decision, so it’s nice to be able to go to one place and get all the answers. While some may argue that this is the job of a school website, I think many would agree that young people today feel comfortable using social networks. They are already on Google+ with their friends, so they will be more apt to check out a college or university while they’re there.

This led me to wonder: Should businesses be doing the same thing with Google+? While Facebook and Twitter are great places to promote deals and connect with potential customers, they are rarely dedicated to recruitment. Being that Google+ is so new, should businesses use it as a recruiting tool? It has worked for over 150 colleges and universities, so this may be something your business wants to consider.

Below lists a few ways your company can follow the model of these colleges and universities Google+ pages to recruit the best talent possible:

Follow By Example

• Highlight the achievements of former employees and current employees.

This is a great way for a small business to grab new talent. If some of your former employees went on to have great careers, even if it wasn’t with your company, you could sway some of those young graduates your way. While you likely highlight your achievements on your current social platforms, they can be hard to find through all of the other announcements going up on your “wall.”

• Let prospective employees know where your company is headed.

This works great for companies who are growing. Most people want to work for a company that has the potential to grow, so if you’re company fits into this category it is important to make it known. Consider posting videos or speeches that discuss where your company plans to be in the next five years and how it plans to get there. This could sway anyone looking to get in on the ground floor. For example, if you’re a company in the business of selling paper you may want to let others know that soon you will also be selling business phone systems and printers (The Office fans anyone?).

• Give those interested a look into the day to day routine of your current employees.

Colleges and universities use the site to showcase the campus lifestyle, and your company can to the same. Some things never change—if you are thinking about going to a school, you want to know what it’s really like each and every day; if you’re thinking about taking a job, you want to know the daily routine.

• Let prospective candidates know where their hard work will lead

Use Google+ to let everyone know why your company is worthwhile. What do you do to help the public and/or the community? Are you just a telemarketing company, or a telemarking company with something to say? You will want to highlight what you have to offer an individual who works for you, but also let people know what you have to offer others.

Google+ has worked great for colleges and universities, and there is no reason it shouldn’t work just as well for companies. You already have your Facebook page to promote deals and your Twitter account to connect with customers, so consider using Google+ as a place for recruiting.

Amanda DiSilvestro is a writer on topics ranging from social media to postage meters. She writes for an online resource that gives advice on topics including credit card processing to small businesses and entrepreneurs for the leading b2b lead generation resource, Resource Nation.

Even with the somewhat promising employment report and holiday shopping rush that the media has been sticking under our noses, sluggish sales and strained cash flow are still making headlines for countless small business owners. In order to sustain the prolonged economic restraint, many small businesses have had to restructure their workforce. Often, that means either letting go of employees or cutting back on hours worked.

 

If you own a small business and are considering moving some of your full time staff over to part time positions, then there are three words that you need to keep in mind: proceed with caution. Not only do want to avoid creating resentments and frustrations among your loyal workers, but you also want to create a setup that will actually save your business money- both in the short-term and over the long-run.

Here are five things to consider:

1. What responsibilities will the part-time position have? If you want a surefire way to build up employee resentment, then make your employees work a full-time job while offering the hours and pay of a part-time position. Not only will your workers be unhappy, but such practices are bound to backfire as the quality and pace of your workers’ output declines. If your employees will be working less then see what responsibilities can be comfortably taken out of the full-time position.

2. Do you have enough manpower to cover the workload? Before deciding whether or not to convert a full-time position to one that is part time, make sure your business has enough workers to get the job done without them having to overextend themselves.

3. How many hours will the employee work? Once you are clear about the job description for your new part-time position, then you can go about determining the amount of hours required to complete the job. Depending on your business’ setup, you may want to do a trial run at the beginning to see if the part-time job requirements can be comfortably fulfilled within the time allotted, and make it a point to ask your employees how they are holding up and if they have any suggestions for the position.

4. How much should you pay? If the full-time position was a salaried one, then you will need to determine an equivalent part-time wage. To do this you have to convert the yearly salary to an hourly wage by dividing the total salary by the total number of work hours in a year. Once you have an hourly wage, you can then multiply it by the number of hours you expect your part-time employee to work.

5. What benefits if any will you be offering? One of the most important parts of employee compensation is the additional benefits associated with it, such as a qualified retirement plan and health care plan. Sometimes these benefits can be worth as much to the employee as the actual wages received. That said, any changes to your employee benefits package should be done carefully- especially for those workers who were previously engaged in a full-time position with your company.

Also, keep in mind, that some benefits, such as healthcare, will require a minimum amount of hours worked, while others, such as retirement plans, must by law kick in if an employee works over a certain amount of hours per year.

As the year comes to an end many small businesses owners may already be thinking about the upcoming tax season. If you are among that population then here’s one more thing to think about: If you plan on filing your business taxes electronically or will be working with sensitive personal and financial information online in preparation for filing tax documents, then make sure you take enough precautions to ensure the safety of your data. There is an eager population of online hackers, fraudsters, and identity thieves hoping to turn your tax season into a lucrative fishing season.

 

Cyber-crime has been on the rise keeping pace with advances in technology that are pushing more and more transactions and sensitive personal and financial data online. According to the latest annual report by the Internet Crime Complaint Center, the number of recorded cyber-crime related complaints were the second highest in 2010 since the organization’s inception. This trend was also reported in the 2010 CSO Cyber Security Watch Survey, sponsored by Deloitte & Touche.

That said, here are a few tips to help you reduce the security risks involved in preparing and filing your tax return electronically:

• Keep your security software and settings up-to-date. Make sure that you are using the latest version of any security software that you have installed. Most services have a setting that allows for automatic updates.

 

• Stay wired. Where possible, avoid sending sensitive information via wireless Internet connections. If you must file wirelessly, make sure your wireless network is locked and data is encrypted, and use a WPA2 connection if possible.

 

• Avoid transmitting sensitive information via email. Email as a general rule is not a secure way to send sensitive data so be very selective about the information you send. Be wary of any sites or services requesting data such as social security numbers, credit card numbers and information, bank account information, or passwords via email. Even if the message claims to be from the IRS, you should refrain from sending anything that could be exploited by identity thieves Where a sensitive document needs to be sent, then make sure it is password protected.

 

• Watch out for scams. As tax time approaches, scammers get busy sending out official-looking email, supposedly from well-known tax preparers and tax-prep software vendors, such as H&R Block and TurboTax. They use these messages to lure people into providing sensitive personal and financial data. Again, as mentioned above, a legitimate site will never request such information over email.

 

• Keep tabs on your credit reports and accounts. Shortly after filing your taxes make sure to take a look at your credit report for any suspicious activity that might show that your identity has been stolen. You should also make it a point to constantly review banking and credit accounts for any fraudulent transactions.

In short, if you want to avoid getting burned by cyber criminals this tax season then make sure you’re not taking their bait or inadvertently sending data into their awaiting nets

Over the past few years there’s been a “coaching” craze brewing. Individuals seeking locker room at halftime type inspiration or a bit of personal insight, direction, and development have been turning to the so-called life coaching industry. These“life coaches” act as a kind of paid friend or mentor to help their clients actualize themselves.

 

Not surprisingly, as businesses of all stripes struggle to remain profitable in these challenging economic times, business and executive coaching as a sub-industry has also emerged offering a personalized form of mentoring and consulting.

If you are running a business and feel that business coaching may be right for you, then you don’t have to shell out hundreds or thousands of dollars to find out. Here are ten business coaching sites you should keep an eye on:

1. ActionCOACH

It is one of the most reputed global business coaching firms. The blogs and white papers by Brad Sugars give real-time advice on working smarter to build a successful business. Do read this blog to acquire life-changing ideas.

2. Small Business Coach & Associates

An expert coaching especially focused on small businesses. The blogs on this website cover marketing strategies, business growth, decision making, cash flows, employee performance and work-life balance.

3. E-Myth Business Coach

E-Myth brings 30 years of industry experience into its business coaching programs that is clearly reflected in their blog posts. E-Myth boasts of changing the fortunes of several small businesses in diverse range of industries.

4. Paul Simister

Paul is a world famous business coach and strategist. His blogs provide wonderful tips and advice to improve the competitive edge and earn more profits. He is perhaps the only coach who guarantees a minimum of 500% return on investment on his coaching.

5. Terri Levine

Terri has offered coaching to more than 5000 companies in 247 different industries around the world. She invests her three decades of experience in helping business owners grow leaps and bounds. Her blog posts are extremely helpful to entrepreneurs around the world.

6. Passion for Business

Karyn Greenstreet is an experienced small business coach dedicated to unlock the potential of your small business. She not only shares excellent managerial ideas but also motivate you through her blogs to stay ahead of the competition.

7. Marketing for Success

A great place to feed your mind with proven success skills. Charlie Cook is a small business coach and marketing expert ready to take your business to the next level.

8. Instant Business Coach

I came across the blogs of Paul Parsons through Google search about the importance of 1^st impression in business. I was amazed to see how clearly he has explained some of the most tedious business concepts in a simple manner. The blogs here are just awesome for any businessman.

9. Business Coach

Regular blogs full of tips, strategies, innovative ideas, shifts and techniques that are capable of turning your business into a growth machine. The team of Garry Henson has been coaching business executives, leaders and employees for the past 22 years.

10. Paul Lemberg

Paul has offered coaching to the executives of Fortune-500 companies and has appeared on CNN, Good Morning America and many other television and radio programs. When he has exceptional track record in the corporate world, how can his blogs lag behind? Paul compel entrepreneurs through his provocative blogs to think differently.

I’m sure you’ve seen the articles about how to save money in this up-and-down economy, so you’re likely aware that web conferencing is becoming more and more popular. For those who are unfamiliar, web conferencing is a way to hold a meeting virtually so that everyone can attend and interact, as opposed to talking through a business phone system.

 

Although web conferencing was branded with the “impersonal” reputation in the past, the economy forced many businesses into trying the idea. Without utilizing web conferencing, businesses were forced to fly clients and other business partners out to one location. Between hotels, flights, food, and transportation costs, this method was less than ideal. To many people’s surprise, web conferencing was actually a great way to hold a successful meeting for several reasons:

• You do not have to worry about geographic limitations when it comes time to hire. This opens up more opportunity for you to find the best employee for your company.
• Speaking through an online medium can help relax employees.
• Time is saved because you do not have to book flights, hotels, rental cars, etc.
• Time is saved because you do not have to plan a meeting around when someone’s flight arrives (which can often be a long process).
• You can utilize the polling feature (a feature that allows everyone to vote on an opinion or idea). This helps employees stay honest and save the data on your software.

The advantages to web conferencing have become quite obvious to many companies, but actually putting the idea into motion hasn’t been quite so obvious. There are tons of web conferencing software to choose from, so it is difficult to know which one best fits your needs. Follow these steps to help you ensure you make the right decision:

Make The Right Web Conferencing Choices With These Easy Steps

1. Make a list of Objectives—There are many different features that web conferencing has to offer, so consider a few of the things you’ll need to take into consideration:

• How many people will be attending your meetings through the Web?
• Will you be holding web conferences often?
• Do you want a lot of interaction through polling and/or file sharing?
• Do you have an IT department to help you, or will you need the help of a customer service department?
• Know your monthly budget and security requirements.

 2. Outsourced vs. In-House—There are two ways your company can go when hoping to utilize web conferencing: outsourced or in-house. There are of course advantages and disadvantages to each, so consider the two options:

• Outsourced—Most companies use outsourced web conferencing because it is more cost effective. Web conferencing software is still changing and adding features, so many companies do not want to invest in something that will continually to upgrade.  

• In–House—This means that your company will invest in software and run it right from the office. This is usually recommended if you have an IT team to help sort out any kinks (which inevitably comes with technology!), but other companies have found the software easy to use. Most software options also offer customer service departments. If you’re planning on using this software often, this is a good route to take.

If Outsourced Software Fits Your Needs…

If you’ve decided to go with outsourced web conferencing, you will want to pay attention to the payment plans available. Most companies will ask you if you want to pay-per-use or pay-per-seat. Pay-per-use means you pay for the time you spend in the web conference, while the ladder means you pay a flat fee for a certain number of seats. It is recommended by most that you start by paying per-use so that you can try it out before committing to an entire month. Once you try out a few different vendors, you can decide which software works best for your company purposes and then change to a pay-per-seat plan.

If In-House Software Is What You Want…

If you’ve decided you’re going to purchase web conferencing software on your own, you will find that the choices are a bit overwhelming. Do your research before making the purchase, but here are a few of the most popular choices to get you started:

• GoToMeeting Web Conferencing
• MyMeeting123 Web Conferencing
• Mega Meeting Web Conferencing
• Fuze Meeting Web Conferencing

Although it may seem a bit overwhelming at first, web conferencing is truly worth the research. This type of meeting has quickly become a popular way to save money, and many are finding that not only does it work well for businesses, but the out-of-town clients and employees prefer this method. After all, I may as well expose the elephant in every meeting room–unless your business is located in Hawaii, flying for business was never really liked.

Author Bio:

Amanda DiSilvestro is a writer on topics ranging from social media to employee background checks. She writes for an online resource that gives advice on topics including business phone systems to small businesses and entrepreneurs for the leading B2B Directory, Business.com.

Photo Credit: webconferencingintranet.journalspace.com

As the U.S. stock market continues to yo-yo about like a row-boat on choppy waters and reports rippling from across the ocean suggest that the Euro-zone is just barely keeping its head above water, there have been some pockets of relative calm and even prosperity. So just who is benefiting from all the economic turmoil as of late? Here are five groups:

 

1. Company executives. Though the average investor may be getting a bit jittery when it comes to leaving money in the stock market and has fled to “safe havens” such as gold and treasury notes, it seems that company executives are taking advantage of the downturn to buy up their own company’s stock – often at fire sale prices. While some might say that these people are living in their own Wonderland and are out of touch with the stark realities of the economy, you still have to wonder why so many “insiders” would want to park their own money into a seemingly “doomed” investment.

2. Big Banks and speculators. The Fed’s recent announcement that it will be keeping interest rates artificially low for the next two years to bolster a stalled economic recovery, is a real doozy that will do little to help Main Street, but has Wall Streeters breaking out bottles of champagne in celebration. Why? Because these days it just pays more to speculate and try to game the market, rather then letting your money wallow in a money market account with practically no interest to speak about.

Moreover, with money so cheap, big banks can basically borrow money for free from the Fed, and then use it to buy low yielding treasuries at 2 to 4 percent among other investments. With a deal like that, while would a bank willing lend money to small businesses and private borrowers who present a much riskier investment opportunity?

3. Companies that provide security safes and vaults. As the markets continue their stomach churning ups and downs and the world economy stands on shaky legs, the sales of safes and vaults having been going through the roof. Many of these sales, include luxury and custom vaults. In addition to jewelry and cash, many upper-end safes and can hold bars of gold and other items and can even survive several hours in a fire.

4. Sellers and creators of fine art. With all the volatility out there, many wealthy individuals are looking for places to park their wealth. One of the most popular and in vogue investments has been in items of fine art, such as paintings, sculptures, and jewelry. These items are not being bought solely for their aesthetic beauty, but also for their resale value.

5. Sellers and producers of luxury goods. In keeping with the above trend, the sale of luxury items, such as clothing, cars, cosmetics, and furniture, has picked up steam over the past couple of months. Even with all the volatility of the stock market, the buying of expensive name brand items is once again becoming an accepted practice- so much so that many of these upper end goods are literally flying off the shelves.