Monthly Archives: October 2019

16 Creative Ways to Get Press Coverage for Your Small Business | AllBusiness.com

Posted on October 23, 2019 by knjohn | Leave a comment

Richard Branson once said: “A good PR story is infinitely more effective than a front page ad.” In other words, press coverage is priceless, but where do you start? To find out more, we asked 16 marketing experts and entrepreneurs to share interesting and cost-effective ways to get media coverage.

1. Develop a proactive PR strategy

“Proactive pitching is essential—the best way to do this is to find trends company leaders can tie into or speak on. Is the company owned by a mom who balances work and family life? Does the company have a diverse and fun culture? Does the company offer perks and benefits outside of the norm? Those are trends that don’t tie to news but are newsworthy.

Leave a comment

Posted in Tools and Information

Tagged PR coverage, press coverage, Press Coverage for Your Small Business

75% of Employees Don’t Plan to Stay at Their Job for More Than 5 Years | Small Business Trends

Posted on October 23, 2019 by knjohn | Leave a comment

A survey by iHire revealed the latest 2019 employee retention statistics. This includes the fact that 75% of employees in the U.S. do not stay at their jobs for more than five years. The finding indicates job-hopping is becoming far more common. It was once a liability. But not in today’s candidate-driven labor market.

2019 Employee Retention Statistics

One of the biggest drivers for this trend is a booming economy. This includes a 50-year low unemployment rate of 3.5%. It is the lowest since 1969. There are more job openings than there are people to fill them. Which by the way is responsible for U.S. businesses losing $1 trillion every year due to voluntary employee turnover.

Leave a comment

Posted in News and Views

Tagged 2019 employee retention statistics, candidate-driven labor market, employee retention

What Are You Really Selling | Management Consulting Connection

Posted on October 22, 2019 by knjohn | Leave a comment

If you’re a self-employed professional, you know what you’re selling, right?

Management development programs, executive coaching services, communication skills training, financial planning, etc.

Right?

No, wrong. Those are your services, but that is not what you are selling and not what your clients are buying.

Leave a comment

Posted in Tools and Information

Tagged self-employed professional, What Are You Really Selling

How to Help an Employee With an Addiction | Business.com

Posted on October 22, 2019 by knjohn | Leave a comment

Addiction signals the employee is experiencing something difficult in their personal life. It’s a symptom, not the cause of their problems. It’s important that you, as the employer, treat it this way.

Addiction can strike anyone at any place, and it’s nothing to joke about. It can completely ruin a person’s life, and even when it doesn’t go that far, it can still have a devastating effect for a long time.

Leave a comment

Posted in Tools and Information

Tagged Addiction, Help an Employee With an Addiction

Leeks and Tomatoes Can Be Grown in Martian Soil | Digital Trends

Posted on October 21, 2019 by knjohn | Leave a comment

In a move that takes us one step closer to creating a colony on another planet, scientists have demonstrated that it is possible to grow edible food crops in soil like that found on Mars and the moon.

“A (permanent) human settlement on Mars or the Moon is becoming more realistic,” authors Dr. Wieger Wamelink and colleagues said in their paper. “Several countries and private companies are preparing for this journey. One of the major issues will be ensuring food availability and safety. Food can and will be brought along, but for a permanent stay, production of crops on Mars or the Moon to supplement or even supply the total food demand could be a necessity.”

Leave a comment

Posted in News and Views

Tagged grow edible food on Mars and the moon, growing food on Mars, Leeks and Tomatoes Can Be Grown in Martian Soil

The Importance of Restorative Sleep to Entrepreneurial Success | The Startup Magazine

Posted on October 21, 2019 by knjohn | Leave a comment

No one can experience entrepreneurial success without a lot of hard work. Unfortunately, that ideal has gone so far as to make start-up business owners feel like they must sacrifice the quantity and quality of their sleep to remain competitive. Sleep deprivation even feels like a badge of honor for some entrepreneurs to show how truly dedicated they are to growing their business. As more information about the importance of restorative sleep comes to light, business owners are heeding the advice and learning they can be more productive when well-rested than when continually skimping on sleep.

The Harvard Business Review Sleep Study

In July 2019, the Harvard Business Review published a study on entrepreneurs and sleep quality in the Journal of Business Venturing. The study, which had 784 participants, found that business owners who routinely don’t get enough quality sleep struggle to analyze business opportunities as effectively as their counterparts who do get enough sleep. They also tended to make more mistakes and be less effective in managing others.

Leave a comment

Posted in Tools and Information

Tagged entrepreneurial success, Importance of Restorative Sleep, Restorative Sleep

Facebook chief rules out banning political adverts | BBC News

Posted on October 18, 2019 by knjohn | Leave a comment

Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg has said he does not think it is right for a company to censor politicians or the news in a democracy.

He was giving a speech in Washington DC following weeks of criticism over the firm’s decision not to ban political adverts that contain falsehoods.

He added he had considered barring all political ads on his platforms.

But he said he believed the move would favour incumbent politicians and whoever the media chose to cover.

Leave a comment

Posted in News and Views

Tagged Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, political advertising, political adverts

New Tariffs on Wine, Liquor, and Cheese Come at a Troubling Time for Small Retailers | Inc.com

Posted on October 18, 2019 by knjohn | Leave a comment

The tariffs the Trump administration is about to impose on wine, liquor and cheese from Europe couldn’t come at a worse time for small retailers.

“It’s kind of scary in the sense that we’re getting to the holiday season,” says Joseph Kakos, owner of Kakos Fine Wine & Spirits in Birmingham, Michigan. “October, November and December are the time when you really make your money for the year.”

No one expects consumers to completely abandon Bordeaux and other wines from France, Scotch whisky or cheeses like Parmesan or Roquefort when the 25% tariffs take effect Friday. Still, Kakos says, shoppers may turn price conscious just as shelves are well-stocked for the holidays.

Leave a comment

Posted in News and Views

Tagged New Tariffs on cheese, New Tariffs on liquor, New Tariffs on Wine, small businesses, small retailers

Facebook should ban campaign ads. End the lies. | TechCrunch

Posted on October 17, 2019 by knjohn | Leave a comment

Permitting falsehood in political advertising would work if we had a model democracy, but we don’t. Not only are candidates dishonest, but voters aren’t educated, and the media isn’t objective. And now, hyperlinks turn lies into donations and donations into louder lies. The checks don’t balance. What we face is a self-reinforcing disinformation dystopia.

That’s why if Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and YouTube don’t want to be the arbiters of truth in campaign ads, they should stop selling them. If they can’t be distributed safely, they shouldn’t be distributed at all.

Leave a comment

Posted in News and Views

Tagged campaign ads, Facebook, political advertising

The Fat Bear Vote Tops This Week’s Internet News Roundup | WIRED

Posted on October 17, 2019 by knjohn | Leave a comment

This week, Californians got two helpings of bad news, as Pacific Gas & Electric shut off the power for some residents to try and cut down on wildfires, even as a blaze broke out and displaced thousands in the San Fernando Valley. (The electricity kept flowing to Silicon Valley’s tech companies, though.) Meanwhile, it was snowing in Montana; go figure. Relatedly, there were multiple protests (and multiple arrests) around the world led by action group Extinction Rebellion, which is calling on the media to do more reporting on climate change. Elsewhere, people are upset that Ellen DeGeneres is hanging out with George W. Bush, associates of President Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani were arrested and charged with campaign finance violations, and it looks like Brexit won’t be an utter disaster after all. With all of this going on, it’s surprising anyone had the energy to pretend to be upset over how much US representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez paid for a haircut or enjoy Senator Elizabeth Warren’s snarky comeback to a question about same-sex marriage. You guys, so much happened last week. It’s time we unpacked it all.