We’ve all heard about how Twitter and other social media platforms have proved to be excellent tools for business. Perhaps you’ve even created a Twitter account yourself – you might even be quite active in using it for the business. If so, then you would also have been exposed to the issue of personalization.

Good business communication with the public depends on many things, and one of them is showing the “human” face behind the business façade. On Twitter, one problem that may arise is if you have several employees maintaining one account. How would people know who is posting which message?

Luckily, the people at Twitter are trying to address this issue. They are currently trying out a feature wherein business accounts can have personalized notes which give an indication as to the identity of the person posting the tweets. Unfortunately, this is still NOT open to the public.

To get an idea of how it works, check out @Starbucks. You will see a small note at the bottom of the post telling you who created the message. You can then click on the Twitter name to go to the personal account of that employee.

So what is the point? Again, personalizing your business Twitter account will help you reach out to more people out there. After all, people would rather interact with a live person than some lifeless drone that they cannot connect with. At the end of the day, you want them to think of your business as human, and not some machine.

Less than a month, and it’s Christmas Day! During this time of the year, people look forward to lots of gifts and freebies. Why not take advantage of the prevailing spirit and promote your business as much as you can?

One way by which you can do this is to use your business Facebook or Twitter account (create one if you haven’t already!) to launch a contest. This is a great way to promote your business without costing you much. In fact, it could very well be a free thing for you as well.

Why hold a contest? As I said earlier, people love freebies, and contests give them an opportunity to get something without paying for it. The good result for you is that you gain more attention and, hopefully, new customers as well.

Here are some things to bear in mind when holding a contest.

One, make it easy. Contests are supposed to be fun. Do not make the participants jump through hoops just to qualify. Being a follower on Twitter or a fan of Facebook should be enough.

Two, make it worth their while. What’s in it for the participants? Make sure that they will want to join and win. A good idea is to provide a gift cheque for your product or service – it’s a win-win situation.

Three, get the word out. You can hold a contest but if you do not let people know about it, no one’s going to join. So more than announcing it once on Facebook or Twitter, be more aggressive about it. Use other means to promote the contest – your web site, for example. Also, make sure that the rules and stipulation are clear so as to avoid potential problems.

Photo via National Bingo Online

It used to be that mobile communication devices were only used by doctors and high level business executives. These days, even the average office worker can be connected wherever he or she may be. More than being connected through e-mail and mobile phone messaging, though, technology now allows people to connect to their offices while on the road. This means easier access to files, and perhaps better productivity.

Those in the technology sector realize this need and have been working to provide various features to small businesses; the same features that big corporations have access to is now available to small businesses as well. One company in particular has made this their goal.

Zdnet recently featured Egnyte, which is an online file server provider. This company is launching applications for the Blackberry and Android, geared towards the small business. More details:

Today, the company is unveiling Android and Blackberry apps to add to the iPhone app previously released. It’s also releasing the findings of a survey that it commissioned that found that half of all small businesses are using mobile devices to conduct business and that the majority had been in situations where they needed access to their files while in transit. In a statement, the company said:

Egnyte’s on-demand file server enables both Mac and PC business users to have online file storage, file sharing capabilities and automatic backup in one solution. The new interfaces, which require no additional software installation on the device, leverages a mobile drive — “m Drive” — that lets mobile users access all of their data stored via the Egnyte file server.

While not everyone in your business may have the need for this kind of connectivity, the availability of such a feature will certainly be useful for at least a handful of your employees – including yourself.

Christmas is the time to give, and most often, that also means having to spend. After all, a lot of people equate giving with cash and gifts that have to be bought. When it comes to companies – big or small – it has become a tradition to give gifts or bonuses around Christmastime. While this has been the tradition, things have been changing, especially with the economic crisis that has been prevailing for quite some time.

In fact, AP just released a report on a survey in this regard. The details:

NO BONUS: More small-business employees can expect no end-of-year bonuses or gifts for 2009.

A recent survey of small business owners or managers showed fewer of them planning gifts or cash for their workers. “Business owners are still feeling pinched cash wise,” said American Express business adviser Alice Bredin. AmEx’s small business division conducted the survey.

Last year, 44 percent of those surveyed said employees would get an end-of-year bonus. This year, only 31 percent did. Even fewer are planning raises: 16 percent, compared with 30 percent last year. Meanwhile, in 2008, 46 percent of owners or managers said employees would get holiday gifts. This year, it’s 35 percent.

The business owners or managers surveyed oversaw companies with fewer than 100 employees.

This is definitely bad news for small business employees, but perhaps business owners can find a way to lessen the impact of not being able to give bonuses? What are you planning to do for your employees this Christmas?

Photo courtesy of Acme Climate Action

Social media, social networking, social web sites – we hear of these things practically all the time now. Employees from all sorts of industries have various social networking accounts that they use, even at work! Many employers are quite concerned, especially since these sites may eat up bandwidth that could be used for more “productive” purposes.

The question remains, however, of whether these social media platforms can be made useful for business purposes. The truth of the matter is that IF you want your business to stay competitive, you NEED to engage in social media activities. What are the reasons for this? There are several, but the main thing that I can think of is the fact that social media platforms serve as an alternative means of communicating to the outside world; a means which is practically free; a means which reaches out to a much wider audience.

Let’s look the reaching out part. I don’t have hard numbers, but I can say without doubt that a huge majority of people in the WHOLE WORLD are engaged in social media activities. Facebook and Twitter are only a couple of the most popular platforms today, and a lot of businesses have already set up their own accounts. Why? Because they know that they can communicate with existing and potential customers through these sites; customers which they may not reach otherwise.

Of course, there is the FREE part. No need to pay consultant fees. No need to pay for the account – unless you want to upgrade. You can have someone in your staff to maintain the account, or you can even do it yourself!

So yes, social media should be an important part of marketing your business.

Telecommuting has fast become a popular practice in business. This is especially true for companies that have been trying to cut down on operation costs. Also considering the help of all the advanced technology available to businesses today, it is no wonder that there are millions of telecommuters today. If you’re wondering about the figures, WorldatWork, an organization based in Arizona, estimated about 33.7 million telecommuters in the United States last year. If that isn’t impressive, then I don’t know what is!

For what it’s worth, though, telecommuting is not a solution for all businesses. Before you jump into the telecommuting bandwagon, make sure that you know what you are getting into and that it is right for you.

One thing that you should make sure of is that you have clear cut policies and guidelines governing telecommuting. These policies will ensure that everyone knows exactly what is expected of him and how to get things done. Without these policies, your telecommuting program might prove to be more disadvantageous.

In line with this, it is a very good idea to come up with a standard agreement which a telecommuter will have to sign. This will be a reminder for the employee and something which you can refer to in case complications arise. This agreement can also cover other aspects such as compensation, use of office equipment, and the like.

Of course, just because you have a telecommuting program does not mean that your employees do not have to come to the office, if only every now and then. You might also want to add this stipulation.

At the end of the day, analyze – if telecommuting is going to benefit your business and your employees then go for it.

Changes here, changes there; the only thing constant in this world is change. There are so many sayings about change, and people have been experiencing change since time immemorial. But you and I know very well that we cannot simply initiate change without planning for it and making sure that it goes smoothly – especially in the business sense. I read a very good article by David Javitch at Entrepreneur.com, and he proposes some questions that you need to answer before you go ahead and shake things up. Let’s take a look at some of them.

Ask yourself if others agree with you. The bottom line is that no change will be effective if other people in the company do not see the problem as you do. Even if the problem is very real, people just might resist the change and defeat the purpose.

Ask yourself if you have the key people on your side to implement the change. You can send out directives about the change that you want to make, but again, the trick is in the implementation. You need to have key people in your staff to help you with the implementation and with handling problems and glitches that may occur. Make sure that you identify these key persons first.

Ask yourself about the specifics – time frame, budget, and the like. Just like any other plan, you need to be particular about the details. You cannot implement change effectively unless you have a goal and a route to get there. Make use of your key persons. Brainstorm with them, and come up with a detailed plan to help you achieve your goals.

For more of the questions and in-depth information, read the whole article here.

Making and giving presentations are part of any business. You may have to present proposals to clients and customers. You may have to present rules or give training to your employees. No matter what the purpose for your presentation, you will need to know how to use PowerPoint efficiently. Otherwise, you just might not achieve what you are aiming for. Here are some things which you can bear in mind when creating your PowerPoint presentation AND when delivering it as well.

The fewer slides you have, the better. This is a simple rule that has been encouraged for a while now. PowerPoint presentations are supposed to be visual aids. They are not supposed to contain all the information that you want to get across. Single out the main points and put them in the slides.

Naturally, you should also look at the content of the slides. You probably have heard of the idea that the fewer words that you use, the better. Well it is true! Again, choose the most striking words that will help you deliver the key points, and leave the rest to your ORAL delivery.

This brings us to the next important point – pay particular attention to your delivery. Make sure you know what you want to get across ON TOP of what is on the presentation. Find ways to liven up the presentation and engage your audience. LOOK at them, TALK to them. Remember that you are presenting to people, and people need interaction.

Running a small business does not mean that you are exempt from keeping your office (or offices) clean. While your premises might not be as huge as other companies, the task of keeping a clean office is still present. It might even be a bit more difficult for small businesses because of the intimacy of the office. No one really wants to be the “mom” at work, right?

It is important, however, to realize the effects of having a pristine office. Psychologically, it helps with efficiency in the work place. More than that, if you have clients and customers coming in, the cleanliness of your place will speak for itself. Who would want to deal with a business that is housed in an unsanitary place?

The first thing that you need to do to keep your premises clean without having to spend extra money on more cleaning personnel is to establish house rules. Make sure that everyone understands the importance of keeping their areas clean, and that picking up after themselves is a must. Personal accountability is the premier consideration here.

Another thing that you can do is to minimize clutter. The less tables and other surfaces that you have around the office, the less you will need to maintain. More so, set a good example by keeping your own office and desk clean and tidy. If your own work area is cluttered and unkempt, why should your employees keep theirs clean?

Again, the bottom line is to make everybody aware of their responsibility – and that includes YOU.

If you think that the swine flu pandemic is over and done with, then you should think again! The swine flu, or H1N1, virus is still around and it seems that it continues to be a cause of concern. As a matter of fact, federal officials released a statement on Monday to the effect that small business owners should prepare for the scenario wherein their employees might be affected by the virus.

As we usher in fall, the Department of Homeland Security warns that many more people might contract the virus, and since about half of the workers in the private sector are employed by small businesses, this is a pressing matter. Janet Napolitano, chief of Homeland Security said:

“They play a key role in protecting the health and safety of the country but also their own employees and also helping us limit impact of an H1N1 pandemic on our economy and our country.”

The Department of Homeland Security has released a guidebook with the aim of helping small businesses prevent complications arising from swine flu infections. In addition to this, the guidebook also helps with coming up with contingency plans in case staff members do contract the virus. Some examples include allowing employees to work from home, carrying out operations with leaner staff, and so on.

While there is no indication that the swine flu problem will take a turn for the worse, the CDC is preparing itself for whatever may happen. It is but logical that small business owners do the same.