How the Internet and Smartphone Revolution are Changing Long-Established Industries

There is no doubt that the Information Revolution has had an indelible impact upon our daily lives. This observation is even more true in regards to business operations.

Business gadgets

Specific sectors have been dramatically affected; some for the better and some for the worse. It is estimated that no fewer than 2.32 billion individuals now own smartphones and other mobile devices. This number is expected to increase well beyond 2020.

Let us look at how handful of industries have been impacted.

Travel Agents

In the past, a travel agent would act as a middleman between the consumer and holiday-oriented firms. Finding the best deals and booking reservations would generally be the responsibility of the agent.…

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3 Things Business Owners Must Do to Avoid Premises Liability Claims

Most business owners are well aware that they have a duty to provide a safe environment for customers or clients. While slips and falls are the primary concern for business owners, liability extends to other types of injuries, and they can be held responsible for injuries to workers and just about anyone else who lawfully steps onto the property.

Caution wet floor

Along with slips and falls, business owners can also be held liable for:

  • Merchandise or equipment injuring a customer
  • An employee or customer assaulting another customer
  • Hazardous waste running off the business’ property onto a neighboring property

The list of potential risks is extensive, which is why business owners must remain vigilant in minimizing the risks of premises liability claims.…

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5 Ways Online Videos Can Help Your Business

Video has become one of the most powerful ways to communicate with online audiences. More businesses than ever are using this format to sell, educate and promote their products and services. This is a trend that looks set to continue for many years to come and the companies that have embraced online videos are seeing a lot of positive results.

Below are five of the main ways online videos can help your business.

Online video

1. You Can Use Video to Explain What Your Business Does

It’s often difficult to explain to an online audience what a business actually does. However, video is a very easy way to introduce your business, to explain what your business does, to introduce your products and services and much more.…

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Faith In Manufacturing Jobs On The Decline

Although the American economy has grown by about 2 million jobs this year, none of them are in the manufacturing sector. This is alarming news–not just for manufacturing workers, but for the economy at large.

American manufacturing worker

Why is this such bad news? After all, consumer spending has leveled out, and unemployment continues to fall. Even gas prices are relatively low. Aren’t these signs that the economy is strong enough to weather any possible economic “storms” on the horizon? Well, not exactly.

Despite these indicators, people’s faith in the economy is pretty low. Fears about job security are high, reflecting a generally pessimistic attitude among the nation.…

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4 Ways Big Data Has Changed Fleet Management Forever

Fleet management is no simple task; it’s tough to balance vehicle acquisition, repairs & maintenance, as well as disposals. All of that’s even before you consider the knowledge and effort it takes to be in full compliance with regulations and state laws. Without fixed parts, fleet management is a complex and ever-changing process.

Fleet management

Fortunately, today’s fleet managers have a distinct advantage: big data. The advances made possible by big data have ushered a new era of fleet management. Today we’ll examine four ways that big data forever changed the world of fleet management.

1. Improved Efficiency

Naturally, one of the most important aspects of fleet management is the ability to ensure drivers are on the right route at the right time.…

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How to be the Company Everyone Wants to Work For

It is important to motivate and engage employees in order to achieve success within your business. It encourages them to go the extra mile, contribute more ideas and work harder to achieve your business objectives. The ability to motivate a team is one of the greatest skills an entrepreneur can possess.

Successful leadership

When the subject of motivation comes up it is usually linked to money- pay, bonus and rewards. However, these are not the only ways to motivate employees and sometimes, thinking outside of the box can have a more positive effect. If someone dislikes their job they are still going to feel the same whether they earn £25,000 or £27,000, it won’t make much difference.…

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Why It Pays In Spades To Recognize And Reward Your Top Performers

The importance of rewarding employees for high performance has long been recognized as a powerful management strategy to stimulate better morale and boost greater retention in an organization.

Employee reward

When properly executed, employee recognition programs not only positively impact recipients, but also influence their peers. While some may be incentivized to win awards themselves, others may simply appreciate that they are part of an organization that honors and respects its best workers.

Why Employee Recognition Programs Work

The psychology behind why employee recognition programs work is simple: people like to feel appreciated for the good work that they do. At the end of the day, employees aren’t just thrilled at the reward itself but at the fact that the company they worked for recognized their hard work.…

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A Guide to Setting Up Your Own Consultancy

Internet has made remote collaboration a possibility. It is possible for businesses to outsource components of their work to third party consultants. This is beneficial in two ways.

Firstly, businesses save costs due to fewer overheads in terms of office space and salary. Secondly, third party consultants specialize in certain aspects of business which makes them a lot more productive and efficient in executing tasks.

Business consulting

Consulting is quite often the way that professionals in 9-to-5 jobs dabble with entrepreneurship for the first time.

Setting up your consulting firm can be confusing at first. In this article, we will take a broad look at the various steps that go into launching your own consulting firm.…

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Why Upselling Clients Works for Web Design Agencies

Do you concentrate the majority of your efforts on attracting new clients to your agency? If so, we need to ask why? It’s often not the most cost effective way of securing new business. You should think about paying more attention to upselling clients you already have.

Upselling

They already know that you provide an excellent service, so you do not have to spend time convincing them. The problem is that your agency has already put its ecommerce web design skills to use creating a website that works, for the client. They are not going to want to keep upgrading on a regular basis.…

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Four Ways To Help Your Designer Perfect Your Product Label (Infographic)

If you’re an entrepreneur with a product launch coming up, it makes great sense to bring in a professional to design your first product label. A professional will be able to create a design of an extremely high standard, and they may have experience of product labels already, making the process far simpler.

Wine labels

It’s important to bear in mind that designers can’t create product labels unless they have access to certain information about the brand, the product, its target audience and other features it has. You can’t just throw a brand name and a vague demographic at a designer and hope they’ll come up with a label design that will win over potential customers!…

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