Better Leadership Thru Communication

I haven’t had much experience with different employers or managers but I have had enough interaction to realize it is a difficult responsibility.  Every manager has their own opinions about how to interact with their employees.  Whether their actions, or lack thereof, have positive or negative effects on their employees is a matter of opinion.   Unfortunately, most leaders don’t communicate with their employees enough to know how effective their leadership skills really are.  

Without proper communication, how do you know if you are getting the best performance possible from your employees?  Do they completely understand what is expected of them?    Errors and misunderstandings are avoidable.  …

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Google Chrome Browser Coming To A Computer Near You

chromologo.jpgGoogle has announced that the launch of their new  web browser is just around the corner!   Google Chrome will be released later today in over 100 countries, according to Google’s Official Blog.   This new web browser is said to be  fast and handles today’s web applications much better.    

The Google Chrome browser will have a homepage of nine shortcut thumbnails with your most recent search history and tabs.   The tabs themselves are multi-threaded with no communication or interference from other tabs or other applications.   Each application opens in it’s own window.  

Another great feature  will be obvious when you open a new tab.  …

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Finding Small Business Success From Unusual Ideas

baggage.jpgI often come across successful small businesses and wonder how on earth they came up with their ideas.   Some of these small businesses start from the most unusual  circumstances.   Take this article,  written by Justin Petruccelli on Entrepreneur.com, for instance, “They’ve Got Baggage“.   This article is written about  Doyle Evans who  in  1970 started selling contents of unclaimed baggage in Scottsboro, Alabama.   The business quickly grew into a 40,000 square foot building which currently  attracts more than a million tourists to the small town yearly.

Is any business idea too crazy?    I think this success story reminds us that even an idea that seems unlikely, is possible.  …

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Are You Looking For Free Small Business Management Tools?

We are happy to announce the opening of our “Free Tools” section of the Small Business CEO website. Together we have gathered a group of helpful websites that offer free management tools and resources for your small business. Feel free to peruse the selection of freebies available.

There are lots of free ebooks, eguides, templates, business forms, checklists, worksheets, free pdf files, podcasts and white papers to choose from. Our goal is to provide you, our readers, with the most informative tools and resources available to assist you in being strong, effective managers and leaders.…

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Proposed Federal Legislation Provides Paid Sick Time In 12 States

paid-sick-time.jpgAccording to the Fox Business article posted this week, “12 States Push Laws to Require Paid Sick Time“, some 46 million U.S. workers lack paid sick time.   Lawmakers in 12 states are trying to change those statistics.   States such as California, West Virginia, Minnesota and Connecticut have proposed legislation that would require businesses to provide paid sick leave.

On one hand, I can see how this will become another hurdle for a small business to overcome.   “How will  I afford to offer the paid sick time?”   “Will my employees abuse the system?”   “How will  my staff cover  the workload  when  employees are  absent?”  …

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Never A Dull Moment For Women Entrepreneurs and Mompreneurs

We all know that being an entrepreneur, whether male or female, has it’s many ups and downs with countless daily obstacles to overcome.   I know I may ruffle some feathers here, but as a female myself, I think we encounter  more challenges than men.   I am merely speaking from my own personal experience and observations so please don’t hurt me too badly.

You may ask, “What would make you think that?”   Well let me explain; most women entrepreneurs are not only responsible for the success of their small businesses but the majority of household duties fall on their shoulders as well.  …

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I Will Not Surrender To The Economy!

Last week I wrote the post, “Candle Wax + Rising Fuel Cost = Zero Profit” and was amazed at the responses I got almost immediately.   I want to thank everyone who took the time out to read and respond to my article.   I took all of your comments into careful consideration.

In response to my article;  reader Mark Riffey wrote “Quitting For The Wrong Reasons”  on his blog, Business Is Personal.   I really enjoyed reading Mark’s post written from his point of view and the quality comments it produced.  

I realize from the business side that shutting down my candle shop was probably not the best or smartest choice.  …

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Candle Wax + Rising Fuel Costs = Zero Profit

image010.jpgFor the past 4 years, I have had  the pleasure of turning my hobby of candle making into a full time business.   Kiski Valley Kandles was born from my own desire and need for  highly scented candles that not only smelled great but looked great also.   Let me tell you, it is not a cheap hobby to have.    However,  after  many trials and tribulations, I was able to begin offering my candles to customers locally and online.   I prided myself in being able to offer great candles at reasonable prices.  

Everyone is aware that when  it comes to your supplies, price increases are bound to happen at least yearly.  …

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Delegation in a Virtual World

In today’s microenterprise world where many times there is only one person actually in the business, delegation takes on a whole new meaning.

Typically even a microenterprise has to perform the same functions as a larger business but they tend to use outside suppliers and partners to perform and manage those functions.

For example: Most of us don’t host our own websites or email or e-newsletter systems, we delegate that to an outside provider.

If we process credit cards we might use Paypal or another merchant account supplier along with our bank.

Almost all of us outsource our legal needs to a local firm or possibly even one of the new online legal firms that provides legal support for a fixed monthly subscription fee.…

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You’re Not After Clicks: You’re After Sales!


My thanks to a special guest blogger, Caroline Melberg of SmallBusinessMavericks.com. This is a content and practical advice packed post, take your time and absorb.

It’s no secret that in today’s world, online success depends in large part on how much traffic you drive to your site. The amount of traffic you get depends on your search engine optimization. When your site is primed for search engine optimization, you get tons of traffic coming to you for free. Great, right?

Of course! You see, on the web you have a choice – you can pay Google or Yahoo tons of your hard earned cash for PPC clicks, or you can search engine optimize your site to drive new customers to you.…

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