5 Questions to NEVER Ask in an Employee Feedback Survey | Small Biz Trends

February 3, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Gathering employee feedback is an important part of keeping your team happy. And while there are certain questions or topics you should be sure to cover in each of your employee feedback surveys, others aren’t as helpful. Below is a list of five questions that might present problems during the process of collecting employee feedback.

Are you making enough money?

While it might be helpful to learn how satisfied your employees are with their compensation and benefits, this exact question can present problems. How many people do you know who don’t wish they were making more money? The wording of this question almost ensures that most people will present a negative response. It also could present the idea that your company can afford to give raises to everyone who wishes they could make more money. If that isn’t the case, your employees might feel that you aren’t concerned with their responses or opinions.

Finding the Perfect Location Part 1 | Lydia Mehit

February 2, 2015February 2, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

You’re opening a retail business, selling direct to the consumer, and you are looking for a physical location. What are some of the things you need to consider? How do you choose one location over another? Which criteria should weigh heavier? You’ve heard the old saying of: “Location, Location, Location”, but what does that mean, exactly? One of the biggest decisions you make, after the decision to start a business, is where to locate your business.

There are many possible locations for a retail business. You could locate it in a shopping mall, a strip mall, a free standing building, or in a business district. You can lease the space, purchase or sublet it. What you choose can be based on several different factors, so let’s talk about some of those factors.

Continue reading “Finding the Perfect Location Part 1 | Lydia Mehit” →

The BMW i8 Is Over-hyped, but That Doesn’t Mean It’s Not Great: Review | Bloomberg Business

January 30, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

“Excuse me, Miss. Excuse me!”

The New York City police officer down on Ludlow Street was tapping my window with the insistence of the law.

“Oh boy,” I thought. “Here we go again.” I had been idling for way too long, talking on the phone in what definitely could not be considered a parking spot—could not even really be considered a loading spot, if I were honest.

I reluctantly rolled down the window.

“Yes, officer?” I asked.

“This is THE BEST looking car I have EVER seen,” he told me, smiling. “The best. Wow.”

I should have known. There had been the couple in a Tesla who smugly pointed out to me that their car is “completely electric” but mine “looked better.” There was the thirtysomething who stared at it longingly as he took 15 minutes to load his wife and toddler into an Audi station wagon at a nearby parking garage. And the dozen or so gawkers who hung their heads like dogs out the windows of taxis and trucks and town cars as they snapped cellphone photos.

This is how it feels to drive a BMW i8.

9 Reasons You Should Never, Ever Start a Business | Allbusiness

January 29, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

There’s a lot of content out there telling you to go forth! Start a business! but the truth is, not everyone should start a business. If more of the 80 percent of small businesses that fail had but hesitated and considered why they were getting into business, we’d probably have fewer businesses and more successes in those that did exist. If any of these reasons ring true, you do not need to become an entrepreneur:

Sun Protection App Works, If People Use It | Live Science

January 28, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Want to keep your skin wrinkle free and reduce your risk of skin cancer? A smartphone app can help, according to a pair of new studies. The trick is getting people to actually use the tool.

In two new clinical trials, researchers found that the app, called Solar Cell, encourages people to spend more time in the shade and less time in the midday sun, while also nudging them toward wearing protective, wide-brim hats. But getting people to download and use the app was tough, as it is with many health-related apps, said study leader David Buller, a research director at Klein Buendel, a health communication research organization based in Golden, Colorado.

3 Strategies to Deal Positively with Interruption | Getentrepreneurial

January 28, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Interruptions intrude everywhere into your daily flow: marriage conversations (and other intimate activities if you have children at home), phone conversations, and your work flow.

Research indicates that it takes you anywhere from 10-20 minutes to re-engage fully with the task you abandoned when interrupted. So if you encounter 3 interruptions daily at work, that’s about one hour lost.

So when was the last time you had just 3 interruptions?

More like 33, right?

How well do you deal with these interruptions?

Implement into your work flow these three strategies for positively dealing with interruptions and watch as your sales increase with greater productivity and you get out of the office earlier to do what you love with those you love:

5 Steps to Maintaining a Successful Company Blog | BusinessTips.com

January 27, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Today, when you start a business, you are also starting an online presence for your business. With that presence usually comes Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and often, a company blog. Though a blog arguably requires the most work out of the social networks your business partakes in, it also can reap the most rewards.

A blog truly is the voice of your business; it gives your otherwise faceless business a tone and personality unique only to itself. A blog is great for showcasing products, answering customer questions, and informing the masses on matters close to your particular industry, thereby labeling your CEO as an industry expert.

So how do you get started on the right foot and maintain a level of consistent success?

7 Unexpected Signs You Might Be an Entrepreneur | Entrepreneur

January 26, 2015January 26, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Remember Jeff Foxworthy? The comedian made a splash back in the ‘90s with his (slightly un-PC) “You might be a redneck” routine. Among his classic one-liners: “If you own a home that’s mobile and five cars that aren’t … you might be a redneck.”

Well, inspired by Jeff, I’ve been thinking about a “You might be an entrepreneur” routine—in other words, slightly unexpected signs you’ve got what it takes to go through the thrilling, punishing, life-changing experience of starting your own company.

Yes, you’ve got to be passionate, resilient and all that other good stuff. But there are more subtle qualities needed, as well. Networking with other entrepreneurs over the years through Hootsuite and working closely with young up-and-comers through my foundation The Next Big Thing, I’ve noticed that a lot of us share some common personality traits. So, without further ado, you might be an entrepreneur if…

How to Build Online Relationships Into Meaningful Networks | Inc.com

January 26, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

I was waiting for my son’s basketball game to start this weekend, and with the morning’s emails all drained, I turned to Twitter and saw a Tweet from Marshall Kirkpatick.

I consider Marshall a business friend. A fellow thinker and tinkerer of technology. Somebody I respect. And like. But here’s the thing — I honestly can’t remember how many times I’ve actually met Marshall in person. I know him really through being online, and from that we’ve had phone calls to debate his business and such.

It’s an online relationship, and I actually believe that as of 2015 I’ve met more of my close connections in the past five to seven years online before offline. Brad Feld. Fred Wilson. Tristan Walker. And many, many more. Some through blog comments — your place or mine. Some on Twitter.

What First Graders Know About Getting Millions of Clicks on Your Site | Page19

January 23, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The Optimizely founders show you how to improve conversion on your website with a communications tactic that even elementary-schoolers know.

Observe them at play and you’ll find that the average eight-year-old has no compunction about telling others exactly what he wants. Kids don’t circumnavigate, nor are they strategic enough to see belaboring the point through fancy constructions as a benefit to anybody.

As we grow older, however, we learn to talk like grown ups, defaulting to subtler ways of directing others’ behavior. “Come here now!” becomes “Do you have a moment to help me with this?” and “Give me that cable!” becomes, “Might I borrow your iPhone charger for a moment?”