Make Them Feel Like Part of Your Project
Share your company goals with your team. Explain to them how what they do fits into the plan. Show them how their work impacts the bottom line. Someone who has to fill out spreadsheets eight hours a day for three months will be a lot more motivated if she can see that those spreadsheets are part of a presentation that will get the company a few million dollars in external financing.

Use Positive Talk
Instead of saying, “This report is wrong”, try saying, “Thank you for finishing this report so fast. Let me show you how you can make it better next time.” See the difference? You’re focusing on how it can be done better, not what was done wrong.

Learn to Say “Thank You”
A simple “thank you” can go a long way. Call your best employees and thank them for being so good at what they do. Show them how their work has contributed to the company achievements and thank them for it.

Make Congratulations Public and Reprimands Private
Have you ever been recognized by your boss in a room full of people and everyone started applauding your performance? It feels great, doesn’t it? Do the same thing for your employees.

If they screw up, call them into your office, tell them what they did wrong and how they can do it better next time. There’s no need to embarrass them in front of others.

Pay Attention
Get out of your own little world and pay attention to the people around you. If someone looks depressed, ask him what’s going on and how you can help. Care about your people and they’ll care about you.

Understand It’s Not Just About Money
Money is an important factor; you can’t pay someone 50% of their market value and expect them to be happy. But, money is not everything. People want to learn, be part of something bigger than themselves and they want recognition. If your employees are unhappy and you think paying them more will solve the problem, think again.

Be Flexible
If someone is more productive working from home, let them. If someone wants to come in early and leave an hour early, let them. Different people achieve their maximum potential in different conditions.

Allow Yourself to Be Vulnerable
Some bosses feel that they need to yell all the time and be mean so other people respect them. They feel that if they show themselves as vulnerable, they’ll lose the respect of their subordinates. This isn’t true. When you’re going through a tough moment, talk to your employees and let them know what’s happening. They’ll be able to support you, they might even help you and they’ll appreciate your honesty.

Lead By Example
Do you ask your employees not to be late and you’re late yourself? Do you ask them not to abuse the company credit card and that’s exactly what you do? Your employees are always watching you; show them that you’re a great leader and put your actions where your mouth is.

Help Them
Most managers think, “What can my employees do for me?” I encourage you to think, “What can I do for my employees?” Take them out for lunch and ask them about their goals. Maybe they’re trying to get into school and you can write a recommendation letter for them. Maybe they want to learn a business skill and you can mentor them. Ask, listen and help.

Time and attendance options come in all shapes and sizes. They range from simple card swiping systems to biometric reading systems. It all depends on the security level and how many employees you have.

Mobile Option
There are now mobile time clock software solutions for those businesses that have many employees out in the field. BlackBerry has a GPS enabled application called SmartServices Solution Suite. SmartServices Solution Suite allows your employees to record, “the exact number of hours recorded by the system. For employees login and logout as per their work schedule and personal work, only the number of hours put in by employees will be accounted for by the system. “

Since we are all human and make errors, this is a great way for field workers to stay up to date on their hours and streamline the process to your phone.

Smart Cards
Smart cards are also a great way for businesses to keep track of their employees. Smart cards can have other information such as employee expense accounts stored on them. Tensor WinTA Time Management system for example, has actually started manufacturing smart keyfobs.

A hospital that has already implemented these keyfobs says that, “Having an electronic system that, once the rules are put in, will work across all functions is particularly good”.

Although these are just two of many options for time and attendance software and hardware options, keep in mind the options seem to be endless. Many systems can be implemented for very little cost, and some Internet based systems can be started right away.

, to help businesses and organizations reach their goals. Since many of you are in the process of setting your goals for 2010, I caught up with Rich to get his insights. Here’s what he had to say:

What is GoalTrak™ and why do you offer it?

GoalTrak is a family of applications, and GoalTrakEV is our flagship offering, an enterprise-wide, SaaS strategic goals and performance management system. It is the quintessential tool to keep everyone on track toward the achievement of organizational goals.

The integrated performance appraisal module is driven by the goals in the system. It automatically updates as each user updates their actual performance against commitments. The organization’s Mission, Vision and Strategy reside in the system so that everyone knows where the organization is going.

We also have GoalTrakCV. This is our Web-based, coaching/mentoring version, designed for those who are coaching others toward the achievement of their personal and professional goals.

Each user’s goals are private and can only be viewed by the user and his or her mentor. And GoalTrakPV is the original GoalTrak application. It comes on CD or can be downloaded from the web and resides on the user’s PC for their private use.

Why is it important for business owners to set goals, especially in today’s economic turmoil?

Without a system of goals, our only motivation is survival. When a system of organizational goals exists, each person understands their part in moving forward. Individual contributors can set their goals in alignment with top-level goals.

Communicating the company direction to employees involves them in the process of running the business. In our experience, the more information employees have about how their efforts help the organization, the more committed they become.

What advice do you have for entrepreneurs who want to reach specific, business goals?

Create a vision that is a clear picture of where you want to be at some point in the future.  Share this vision with everyone in the organization. Then, ask them how to get here! You will get some incredibly helpful responses. Listen to them and involve your people in the decision-making process.

What has been your biggest success for the business and why?

Having one of our early adopters tell us that after 18 months, his company had a 47% ROI in hard dollars of investment in GoalTrakEV. He says that, “you couldn’t pry this away from me with a team of elephants!”

As a business owner, what was a challenge you faced, and how did you overcome it?

Our major challenge was figuring out how to migrate our highly successful manual systems to the computer and then to the Web. We enlisted the help of clients and colleagues in the design of GoalTrak so that the users got the most satisfying experience and the organization got the most useful information.

Thanks for your insights Rich… so for those of you thinking about what you want to do with your business in 2010, create a vision of what you want to accomplish, figure out what you need to do to get there, ask for help, and take action!

As Rich says, “Without a system of goals, our only motivation is survival.”

Do you have a small business dream but have questions about your marketing, SEO copywriting and public relations? Please let me know here or at www.rembrandtwrites.com. I’m here to help!

When most people think payroll outsourcing, they think about writing checks and managing direct deposit. Payroll companies do provide these services, but they also do much more. Here are a few of the most commonly used payroll company services:

• provide W-2 and other tax reporting forms
• automatically update wage amounts and tax deductions to comply with regulatory changes
• provide online payroll account access
• allow employees to keep track of sick and vacation days
• calculate employee tax withholding amounts
• compute deposits to employee savings accounts
• project and job cost reporting

Benefits of Outsourcing

Outsourcing payroll is advantageous to small business owners for a few reasons. First, there’s cost savings: payroll companies are able to perform computations faster and more accurately than the average small business owner. Payroll companies also provide experience and expertise. The experts- attorneys, CPAs, and researchers- that work for payroll firms ensure that calculations will be accurate. This helps you avoid fees and penalties that can accompany late filings or errors in tax documentation. Payroll companies also perform time-consuming tasks, like managing employee savings accounts and deferred compensation or employer contribution accounts (cafeteria plans, group term life insurance, and health savings accounts) that most business owners find confusing and tedious. You’ll also avoid worrying about processing payroll when you’re traveling, out of the office, or to busy to crunch the numbers. Outsourcing ensures that payroll processing is done accurately and on time, no matter your workload.

How Outsourcing Works

Payroll processing companies can draw employee paychecks either from your existing bank account, or require that you to set up a “designated account” with their company that they control. You’ll need to provide employee information, such as social security numbers and employment forms (W-4s and I-9s), as well as bank information for direct deposit. You will also need to “call in” or otherwise provide (either online or automatically) employee hours a few days before each payday. The payroll company will need to be notified if employee pay information changes.

Outsourcing Costs

Most payroll companies calculate costs on a per-check or a per-employee basis. Actual costs can vary- they will depend on the length of time between pay periods, the complexity of calculations, the number of employees you have, and the features you choose to offer, such as online access. Make sure you ask vendors for an itemized quote breakdown, and compare several different service offerings before you make your final decision.

The site is one of the experiments I like to refer to as the “inverted news paper” - citizen journalism at its most raw. Every day, a wealth of local information is created — officials inspect restaurants, journalists cover fires and Web users post photographs — but who has time to sort through all of that? EveryBlock aims to collect all of the news and civic goings-on that have happened recently in your city, and make it simple for you to keep track of news in particular areas. They’re a geographic filter — a “news feed” for your neighborhood, or, yes, even your block.

If your business is local and serving the public, check out how you are being discussed in your communuty.

Traditionally, companies that “do good” are generally non profits, and when people find out that a traditional small business is also “doing good” they feel like somehow the company must be taking advantage of the community it is serving if it is also turning a profit. I do not believe this to be the case and formed my consulting company based on the premise that small businesses would contribute to a triple bottom line if they knew where to find it.

Creative Capitalism has been around for a while. Formerly known as social entrepreneurism, it is a concept newly labeled by Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and other market leaders and the premise is that “we should attempt to stretch the reach of market forces so that more companies can benefit from doing work that makes more people better off.” The book is available on Amazon (unsure of where the profits go). So far, it’s a pretty foreign concept to most bottom-line discussions. Having spent time reviewing the giving trends of big tycoons in the past (land trusts, libraries, parks), there is something different about the timing of this idea: the generation that is receiving it.  

The 30 and 20-somethings have grown disillusioned with where the 1980s consumption and 1990s holding on behavior have gotten us. Those that have the means to get out and travel, see the disparity in the world, come back and want to do something about it. With technology to reflect back their experiences they are twittering, facebooking, myspacing and texting what they are seeing to one another – and a small group are doing something about it.

Why profile TOMS?

Two reasons: 1) Anyone who has seen true the true spirit of leadership in play knows it is the eagerness to lose oneself in the group for the good of the group. This quality is best exemplified in Blake Mycoskie for the simple reason: that is where the heart of his business began. One for One, from day One. 2) Any size business should learn that a social model (something that takes into account the community in which it survives) thrives 10-fold compared to businesses that have tunnel-vision on bottom line sales. There is something to be said for karma.

About the Company

TOMS Shoes promises to give to children in need a pair of shoes for each pair it sells. The company  has given over 140,000 pairs of shoes and expects to give more than 300,000 pairs this year.

TOMS Shoes launched in Venice, California and sold 10,000 pairs during the first year in business. As a result, Blake returned to Argentina in October of 2006 with family and friends and unveiled the second phase of his business plan: the Shoe Drop Tour. To meet demand, TOMS now offers Shoe Drop Tours throughout diverse regions of Argentina. These are volunteer opportunities where TOMS Shoes supporters hand-deliver shoes to children. Since its beginning, TOMS has given over 140,000 shoes to children in need around the world. 

Here is a bit of my discussion with Blake:

Why shoes?
BLAKE: Walking is the primary mode of transportation in developing countries. Children walk miles just to get food and water, to make their way to school, or to reach medical help. In some communities, children can’t even attend school unless they have proper footwear. And the leading plague in these countries is soil-transmitted parasites. Shoes are such a simple answer to these problems children face every day.

See TOMS educational videos: One Day Without Shoes and Why Ethiopia (warning on the second video for graphic images)

Technology is required in today’s job market. Is TOMS Shoes looking to attract a blended workforce, or does the average age of the workers in the company reflect a standard .com?
BLAKE: For the first few years, our staff reflected the young, evolving company that we were. But as we grow, TOMS is definitely looking to attract a diverse workforce. We’ve become much more aware of our needs, and therefore able to hire individuals with specific skill sets, relevant experience, and worthy knowledge. I am still the CEO and Chief Shoe Giver, and I continue to immerse myself in TOMS because it’s my passion. I have creative ideas and feverish curiosity, and my team is receptive to that. But I definitely have trust in those who are facilitating the every day, drafting direction, and establishing strategies.

Your company is for-profit. What sort of profit sharing model exists for the employees and how did you arrive at the decision to not do a nonprofit?
BLAKE: My earnings from other businesses I had started before TOMS are what kept us afloat in the earlier days- TOMS was not funded by an outside 3rd party. I never had to present a business plan or get approval, I just had trust in myself and the One for One concept. Of course people laughed when I said TOMS would give a pair of shoes away for every pair we sold, but now TOMS is proving One for One as a viable business model. Our customers have been amazing supporters since day 1.

I created TOMS as a for-profit business to ensure a sustainable way of giving. We’re able to give shoes weekly in Ethiopia, and monthly in Argentina. I also wanted to prove that you can build giving into your business model from day one and still be profitable. We get a lot of inquiries from all types of organizations wanting to get involved with TOMS in one way or another. It’s a blessing, really, but we have to be careful in these first critical years of building our brand.

You are an example of an individual whose actions will help define the generation they are in. Your generation is described as both the “me generation” and the “giving generation.” How do you think your generation should be characterized?
BLAKE: This generation is one that thrives off of action. We don’t dream about change, we make it happen. We don’t imagine a way to incorporate giving in to our daily lives- we do it. TOMS has so many young supporters who are passionate about the One for One movement, and who share the story and inspire others every day they wear their TOMS. Seeing them support this business model is proof that this generation is ready and able to create a better tomorrow.

People connect with TOMS beyond just owning another pair of shoes. There’s something more every time you slip on a pair, every time you share the story, every time you suggest a pair of TOMS as a gift because no matter what brought you to purchasing a pair of TOMS, you are making an impact on a child’s life. Will there be saturation of cause-based marketing? Most likely, but TOMS has paved the way for other entrepreneurs to incorporate giving in to their businesses.

The One for One mission is sticking with this generation, and causing a new way of thinking. We grew up with parents who were taking those first small steps, and now we are just charging full speed ahead towards a better tomorrow. We have to. One for One is proving that you can bring closure to an issue by incorporating a conscious decision in to the actions you already take- whether its as a consumer purchasing a product, or a business looking for ways to inspire a better tomorrow. It makes consumerism and philanthropy come together full circle.

Carpe Diem!

To survive you’ll have to make the most of your time (which you likely have more of as a result of less customer activity) and take into account the impact of your business bolstering efforts today as well as in the long term.

Here are tried and true survival strategies used by successful entrepreneurs:

1. Cozy up with Customers. They’re your lifeblood. But much like you, your customers are under duress. Take them to lunch and commiserate. Provide a giveaway recognizing their past patronage using inventory that’s collecting dust. If you take the time to listen to customers’ needs and show them you genuinely care about their welfare and success, you’ll likely uncover immediate business opportunities as well as engender future loyalty.

2. Experiment. The worst thing to do during tough times is lose your entrepreneurial spirit. Use the extra time on hand to conduct otherwise too time-consuming ideas you’ve always wanted to explore. For example, it could be a strategic alliance with a complementary business or a special buy-one-get-one-free email marketing campaign (we recommend VerticalResponse), just about anything product-, operational- or marketing-related that you’ve simply never had the time to try because you were too busy.

3. Loop in Financiers. With the overall economy in a recession, it’s likely your business is taking a hit, too. Rather than recoiling into the shadows, proactively share exactly what’s happening and what your plan is with your banker or other capital sources. Ensuring that they understand your business and are well attuned to your future plans will help you avoid financial surprises that often occur when parties aren’t well informed.

4. Trim Hours Not Staff. If lower revenue is a reality, consider cutting hours of your employees rather than firing them outright. It not only shows you care about their welfare, but strategically it also helps you retain your most valuable asset – your people – for when the economy inevitably turns around and you need 100%+ hours from them. Firing is difficult, but hiring quality people and training them is a huge burden on a business you should avoid if you can.

5. Stretch Your Spend. To make every dollar go as far as possible, review all of your vendor contracts. Where reasonable ask for breaks on pricing. Everyone’s in this together and though your heroics have made you the leader of your company, and a shining example of an American entrepreneur, don’t let your pride keep you from taking advantage of these potential savings. Every dollar saved will be critical during the down year to come.

That’s likely what will happen if you are sending out press releases to the masses and waiting for the sales to come in.

I bring this up because several entrepreneurs contacted me recently about their PR activities. They hired publicists. But instead of obtaining media exposure, they just incurred more debt and wasted time.

Does this sound familiar?

If you are stuck in the situation, it’s time to review your PR processes and start on a new path to success.

To start, are you simply sending out press releases?

Press releases are great for building buzz with search-engine optimization and reminding media members and customers that you are still around with current news.

But if you really want media attention, it’s essential to target your efforts with the right message.

To do this:

• Take the time to figure out who you want to reach and why.
• Find the media venues that reach this audience.
• Look for reporters at these targeted media venues who write about your industry, products and services.
• Create a specific story angle for that media member.
• Practice your pitch and call the media member directly.

Now, this may be scary for many of you, and it requires a lot of time, patience and effort. That’s why so many businesses hire PR pros.

But the results are well worthwhile. There is no other way to obtain the third-party credibility you get from a mention in a targeted media venue. 

With this in mind, please don’t get discouraged if your PR efforts are not working. Simply review what you’re doing and make changes.

Conduct some research and find experienced people to help you. (See http://www.startupnation.com/steps/77/steps-successful-public-relations.htm, http://www.startupnation.com/marketplace/, www.bbb.org, for assistance.) Soon, you’ll start generating press and the credibility, sales and awareness that go with it!

Do you have questions about your PR and SEO copywriting activities? Please let me know here or at www.rembrandtwrites.com. I’d love to help you! Thanks!

The noise can really get in your way if you don’t get in front of it.  We have been trying to execute on this every week by giving people updates prior to the changes actual release.  It relieves tension and it permits people to plan for the next change. 

The trade off can be a week delay of the execution of the change but the benefits outweigh the cost.