10 Tips to Build a Dream Team of Top Employees | Allbusiness.com

June 5, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Building a dream team of brilliant employees who can propel a business forward requires business owners to create a team-based organization that fosters trust and cooperation. Following are 10 tips on how to build an effective team of top employees in any business:

1. Communication: Good communication is a “must” for effectiveness. Successful teams have to communicate often and well to stay focused and on track to complete group and company goals. This includes having multiple methods of communication such as:

One-on-one meetings

Group meetings

Instant messaging

Web meetings

Teleconferencing

In addition to communicating frequently, communication skills must be developed so everyone clearly articulates his or her message to other team members.

Are You Playing to Win or Playing Not to Lose? | Getentrepreneurial.com

June 5, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

You may have heard the phrase “playing to win or playing not to lose.” And while it sounds good to say “you’re playing to win” in your business, what exactly does that really mean?Okay, well first off, let’s define these phrases. To me, playing to win means playing all out. Going for broke. Leaving nothing on the table. You’re putting everything out there to win and holding nothing back.Playing not to lose means holding something back. Being conservative. Taking some of your chips off the table. Making sure if you don’t win, you minimize your losses.

The Dos & Don’ts of Effective Office Interior Decoration | CoolBusinessideas.com

June 4, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Getting your office’s interior design from the get-go is absolutely essential; not only does a great décor create a fantastic first impression for all those prospective new clients and customers, but it’s also vital to ensure an environment that’s conducive to productivity, creativity and high levels of morale.In fact, studies have shown that getting your office design spot on can have a tangible effect on productivity – a survey by US architects Gensler showed that ‘workplace effectiveness’ has dropped by 6% over the last five years, which it attributes to poorly thought out designs.

3 Rookie Mistakes Almost Everyone Makes When Tweeting | Getentrepreneurial.com

June 4, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

How many times have you said one of the following about social media?“It’s a waste of time.”“I’ve never gotten a good response from Twitter/Facebook/LinkedIn/Google+/etc.”“I tweet and nobody responds.”You’re not alone. Countless businesspeople struggle with posting on social media, especially when it comes to writing something compelling and meaningful in 140 characters. That frustration comes largely because there has been little or no training on how to communicate effectively in short bursts.

What to Expect From Apple at WWDC | WIRED.com

June 3, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Monday kicks off Apple’s annual week-long developer conference, WWDC. At its opening keynote, the company will surely offer a sneak peek at the next generation of Mac and iOS software. But Apple often gives us a first look at new hardware and partner products too, like the MacBook Pro with Retina Display in 2012 and last year’s onstage debut of Anki Drive.So what’s in store for this year’s keynote? Based on what we know about Apple, iOS, Mac OS X, as well as whispers from various “inside sources” in Cupertino, we can expect big news around health and home automation platforms, as well as a preview of next-generation mobile and desktop software. Here’s a rundown of the possibilities:

Your car is a giant computer and it can be hacked | Money.cnn.com

June 3, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Imagine driving down the highway at 70 miles per hour, when suddenly the wheel turns hard right. You crash. And it was because someone hacked your car.It’s not far-fetched science fiction. It’s the near-term future today’s hackers are warning about.Most people aren’t aware their cars are already high-tech computers.

And now we’re networking them by giving them wireless connectivity. Yet there’s a danger to turning your car into a smartphone on wheels: It makes them a powerful target for hackers.Interviews with automakers, suppliers and security advisers reveal a major problem with the new wave of “connected” cars: The inside of your car has ancient technology that presents a security risk.

The Homepage Is Dead! Long Live The Homepage! | Fast Company

June 3, 2014 ~ CBPS ~ Leave a comment

New media companies have better recognized the changing role of the homepage, which is reflected in what they are choosing to feature–or not feature–on their pages. Medium, for example, the new content site by Twitter cofounder Evan Williams, doesn’t display any of its stories on its homepage. Instead, it uses the space to recruit new writers, many of whom are amateurs. Its homepage is clean and simple. “Your audience awaits. Tell a story on Medium today,” it says, and then offers a green button that says “Start writing.”

8 Ways to Make Your Crowdfunding Campaign Pop | Entrepreneur.com

June 2, 2014 ~ lmehit ~ Leave a comment

For Joanna Griffiths, launching a crowdfunding campaign was about more than raising capital for her startup. Griffiths turned to Indiegogo in 2013 to test the market for Knix Wear, a line of women’s underwear made from moisture-wicking, odor-absorbent fabrics. “It was the last test in a series of tests I conducted before launching the business,” explains the Toronto-based entrepreneur.

Even though Knix Wear garnered support from 518 backers who pledged more than $50,000 for the 2013 campaign–on a goal of less than $40,000–crowdfunding was a challenge. “I thought if I had a great idea and a strong platform, I would sell thousands of units,” Griffiths recalls. “But getting every single new backer was a struggle.”

As crowdfunding gains popularity as a financing model–Kickstarter, for example, has seen more than $1 billion pledged since its 2009 launch, and more than 19,000 successful campaigns last year alone–a growing number of startups are clamoring for support from backers, making it that much harder for ‘treps to stand out.

Before you sign on with one of the 200-plus U.S. crowdfunding platforms, master these tricks for launching a successful campaign.

Why Do Dogs Wag Their Tails? | LiveScience

June 2, 2014 ~ lmehit ~ Leave a comment

It’s commonly believed that dogs wag their tails to convey that they are happy and friendly, but this isn’t exactly true.Dogs do use their tails to communicate, though a wagging tail doesn’t always mean, “Come pet me!”Dogs have a kind of language that’s based on the position and motion of their tails. The position of a dog’s tail reveals its emotional state.