Sunday, June 27, 2010

Are You Building a Wall?

Americans throw away enough paper in a year to build a wall 12 feet high from New York City to Los Angeles. This fact is from earth911.org, a public service Website that focuses on recycling issues. Now thats a lot of paper!

Despite the hype that computer makers fed us a few years ago, the computer has NOT decreased the paper used in most offices today. According to the U.S. Conference of Mayors Clean Your Files Day Program, the average citizen uses 1 pounds of paper per day. The average office employee uses 10,000 sheets of paper per year according to
the Environmental Defense Fund.

Now thats just the figures on paper. What about the ink cartridges and cell phones that are tossed into landfills each year. No matter how you slice it, recycling today is big business.

Whether its glass, paper, plastic, steel, ink cartridges, computers, magazines, cardboard boxes, cell phones or another material, recycling products reduces waste and cost, and saves energy and resources. So why isnt your business utilizing a recycling program?

Monday, June 21, 2010

Doing the Right Market Research

Part of building a strong customer base and developing products your customers really want to purchase is to do market research. Market research can be done independently or you can hire a market research company. If you choose to hire a company, you will pay a large fee as this industry makes over $10 billion annually. Market research firms are one of the fastest growing industries in the world right now. The reason for this is because companies need market research firms to help them develop stronger relationships with their customers.

The benefit of market research firms
One of the nice things about having market research firms collect the data for you is because they have lists provided to them by the federal government as to which households have requested their number to be removed from phone lists. Having this information will protect you as a business owner if you are trying to contact your target audience individually. These individuals can lash out at you and many of them will report you if you are calling while their number is on the do not call list.
Market research firms provide you with reports from the information they are able to collect. The reports consist of information about industry trends, market demographics, competitive analysis, and issues pertaining to your particular industry.
Types of market research
There are 2 basic types of market research, primary and secondary. With secondary research, you are obtaining generalized information about your industry. Secondary research is usually done for another business and you are able to use the information to your advantage. With primary research you are gathering new information that is specific to your industry and the needs of your company. Primary research is more expensive but it is tailored to your business, allowing you to create better products and services for your customers.
Market research forms
When it comes to gathering market research, you will use a qualitative or quantitative method to collect the information you need. When you use a qualitative approach, you are using focus groups to collect the information. Many times you are asking questions or holding interviews with your customers to find out what their opinions are. Here are some tips on the qualitative approach:
1. Ask open-ended questions. These questions are not going to be yes or no answers as they are questions that will cause the customers to think a little bit and then answer with additional information. This provides you with plenty of information to use in order to develop better products or services. The downside to this type of market research is that you can literally spend hours talking to your customers to collect all this information.
2. Focus groups. This is one of the most common types of market research as it involves hiring a company to gather the information you need. The market research firm will bring in about 12 people and ask them a number of questions pertaining to your products and services. Focus groups are actually the cheapest form of market research and they do help you gather some of the best information.
The quantitative method of market research involves numerical information. You will analyze this information using surveys that take some time to develop. The surveys are easy to administer as you can create them and send them out to survey firms with a list of qualifications for each applicant that takes the survey. The surveys should only take a few moments to complete in order to get people to actually take them. You can administer surveys on your own by sending them out to your customers or you can contact your customers via telephone to gather this information.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Management Guide

No matter how large or small your business is, you need to possess the skills necessary to be a good manager. There are multiple levels of business management, all of which play a critical role in the success of your business. Here are some of the things you need to do when you are learning about management and how you can manage your company effectively.

Tip # 1 - Don't be a micromanager
A lot of people like to have complete control over every single detail of the business. While it's nice to know what's going on, your employees can lash out if you end up being a micromanager. Micromanagers are usually hard to work for and they end up spending too much time worrying about little details and other mundane things than their own jobs. Allow your employees to have a little flexibility as this shows you trust them and you want them to have the opportunity to do things on their own. Set expectations and goals for your employees and give them the chance to follow through with them. Hold your employees accountable for their actions and their specific jobs and you will have an easier time managing the organization.

Tip # 2 - Be a leader

Employees are likely to follow their managers if they are leaders. This means you need to have a personality that is easy to get along with and you need to listen to your employees. A good leader will have a plan for the business and they will install a sense of energy and enthusiasm in the entire organization. Be open to the opinions of your employees as this is another mark of a true leader. In addition to providing employees with a direction for the future must also own up to mistakes you make along the way. This shows honesty and will foster a stronger bond with your staff.
Tip # 3 - Listen to your employees
In order to become a good manger you need to listen to your employees. When they come to you with complaints and problems, you need to listen to them. Listening to your employees is more than having an open door policy; it involves non-verbal communication as well. When an employee comes in to talk to you, shut off all the distractions around you. Give them eye contact then try to repeat a few things they said so they can tell you really did listen to them.
Tip # 4 - Be an example
Since you are focusing on leading your staff, you need to set an example for them. This means you need to show up to work early and leave late. Holding yourself accountable to some of the same rules your employees are held to will give them a stronger desire to please you. Don't waste time and slack off as a manager or this attitude of laziness will be sent down to your employees who will also have a lackadaisical approach to the working environment.
Tip # 5 - Give your staff responsibility
One of the best ways to become a good manager is to empower your staff. Give them motivation to work hard by expanding their responsibilities. This shows them that you trust them and that you see something in them. As they see that you have trust in them, their confidence will grow and they will have motivation to work harder.
Becoming a strong manager can be a bit of a challenge but with the right devotion and dedication to your staff and your job, you will be able to create a stronger working environment. Your employees will respect you and trust in your ability to lead them and the business into the future.

Make Money Online

The cost of living has increased drastically across all the parts of the world. As a result of this, many people find it extremely difficult to manage their monthly finances due to the problem of shortage of funds. To add to this, the human needs are always growing. So, from where you can you earn that much needed extra money? Some of you might have thought of working in a store after your office job gets over. However, doing such a job will make you feel completely exhausted as doing stressful work after working for eight to ten hours in your office is very difficult. So the only solution to this is to search for some other money making ideas which are innovative. Making money online is possible by doing some popularonline jobs which are offered by several websites. Many people keep wondering is it possible to make money online as there have been many instances when people have not been paid for their work. However, by reading the content in the next few paragraphs, you will easily understand can you make money online.

Best Online Jobs for Adults

Blogging can be one of the best ways to make money on the Internet. By writing your blogs consistently on certain websites, you can get paid if your content is good in quality. However, the challenges before you would be to come up with innovative and new topics to write on and improving your writing skills consistently.

Creative writing for a reputed website can also help you earn good money. Creative writers are expected to write online on a variety of topics such as Politics, Economics, Science, Computers, Lifestyle, Relationships etc. Freelance writing, photography and graphics designing can also be thebest ways to make money on the Internet. You can also earn good amount of money by online trading in stocks. In this case, you need to sign up with a brokerage firm which provides you with the user name and password to trade online. By entering these details, you can buy and sell shares by just a click. However, a good research of the stock market is required for online trading. One of the best way to make money online can be Internet affiliate marketing in which you will be promoting the goods and services of certain companies. Hopefully, by now, you must have got the answer to your question - is it possible to make money online?

Finding Legitimate Online Jobs

Finding legitimate online jobs is indeed a challenge due to the huge number of people offering such jobs. With the advancement of the Internet, many people entered the industry and differentiating among the fake and legitimate jobs has now become difficult. However, you should sign up with only that company which has a proven track record of providing quality jobs and paying employees on time. You should make sure that your employer is not making you do anything illegal which can make you fall into unnecessary trouble. Earning money on the Internet would not be a difficult task if you take care of the above things. You can also consult experts from the field of online jobs so that you do not fall prey to false promises made by fraudsters.

Finally we conclude that the answer to is it possible to make money online is YES, if you can work hard with full concentration and complete your tasks on time. This way of earning will help you increase your income and enjoy a good lifestyle. All the best and earn well!

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Conflict Resolution at Work

Every office has its fair share of problems. Complaints and conflicts between employees will create a toxic working environment. When you allow your employees to take a small conflict and turn it into a big one, employee morale will decrease, productivity will decrease, and you will have a headache daily from dealing with the conflicts. Workplace conflict resolution in order to keep the office running the way it needs to. 

A good Human Resources department will provide you with the conflict resolution help you need. Their job is to jump in and manage personalities, especially those that may be a little difficult to get along with. They can provide the employees with tips on how they can find a way to disagree and find a way to work together. If you don't have a Human Resources department, the responsibility of conflict resolution will fall to the managers of the company.