Want to be the boss? Turns out that according to a new study the best chance of becoming the boss goes to those born in March, April, October, November and January. If you want your business to be more successful, then your business needs to be “likeable”. Rohit Bhargava, Georgetown University professor and author of Likeonomics (May 2012, Wiley), writes, “A study published by Harvard Business School found likability trumps competence. You see this play out on the show (Shark Tank) almost every week when one entrepreneur gets money or valuable advice because they were likable and another walks out with nothing because the sharks didn’t want to work with them.” Furthermore, Bhargava explains that customers also want to support a “company that gives back.” Matthew Manos and his design consultancy, VeryNice, are doing just that. VeryNice donates half of its design work to non-profits living out its mission “to make volunteering and service the cornerstone” of the business.
Debbie Downer is bad for company morale, really; WordPress Risks
Nobody wants to sit next to Debbie or Don Downer at the office and now research shows what many of us know “negative attitudes at work stand to contaminate a company’s culture.” Fact is “roughly 5% of employees account for 90% of people’s work-related miser” reports Shelley DuBois for Fortune. Fortunately there are steps companies can take to turn the negative vibes around DuBois writes. Another threat to your company might be coming through your web site. With more and more small businesses turning to WordPress as their content management systems, there is an equally growing threat to your company’s online collateral and reputation if you aren’t taking safeguards reports AJ Kumar in “3 Hidden Security Risks for WordPress Users”. Kumar lists the threats and how you can prevent them.
With costs rising, many small companies are searching for alternatives to Google AdWords reports the New York Times. What many businesses are finding is they can dramatically reduce their AdWords budgets and focus on search engine optimization through blogging and social media instead.
Consumer Confidence Crushes Expectations
Consumer confidence surprised economists in October by posting an 83.1 reading on the monthly University of Michigan Consumer Confidence survey. Seemingly chiming in, Chris Farrell writes in his article “The Case for Economic Optimism” for Kiplinger, “Expectations have been lowered. The savings rate is up. Mortgage rates are at record lows. The stock market still has room to run. The next decade may turn out better than expected.” In further positive economic news, the Silicon Beat reported that the Boston Consulting Group “has revised its projection of U.S. manufacturing job growth — upward.” According to the article, the Boston Consulting Group announced in a recent news release, “Combined with jobs created as a result of re-shoring, higher U.S. exports could add 2.5 million to 5 million jobs by the end of the decade, as manufacturers shift production from leading European countries and Japan to take advantage of substantially lower costs in the U.S.”
Identifying Your Social Influencers, FTC is Watching
One of the first rules for social media is to figure out who your social media influencers are for your business. Small Business Trends has compiled a list of tools to do just that in their new article. Citizen marketing is on the rise with consumers using their Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and other social networking sites to send out links in return for payment. However, the Federal Trade Commission says “says the practice blurs the line between a recommendation and a paid endorsement and needs to be flagged to readers.” Enjoy infographics and movies? Here’s the perfect one that summarizes the 2000 most important films of all time.