eYourNews.com

The 2-by-3.5-inch pieces of card stock have long been a staple in business, but in the digital world they are seen as irrelevant and wasteful says Matt Stevens, from the Los Angeles Times.

Young web savvy business executives are viewing business cards as being somewhat a waste of time.  If you have a smart phone, e-mail, and a LinkedIn account, why even bother carrying them.

About 85 million people manage their professional networks with LinkedIn. Some 77 million smartphone users have downloaded the Bump app, which allows them to bump their phones together and instantly exchange contact information.

You can find the full article on the link below…

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-business-cards-20120316,0,7418219.story

I constantly receive and read e-mails and articles that help small business owners with Internet issues.  As I come across some important information to share, I will post it here to our blog so that others may benefit as well.

Here is an interesting article I came across the other day written by Thor Olavsrud on cio.com.

The tag paragraph for the article reads as followings:

Criminals are increasingly seeking to hijack the accounts of business owners and executives to initiate fraudulent wire transfers that can cost organizations a fortune. Here are eight steps you can take to defend your organization against such attacks.

The following is a summary of the 8 Tips:

1. Talk to your financial institution.
2. Perform regular security audits and risk assessments.
3. Install an anti-virus solution on your computers and network and keep it completely updated.
4. Dedicate a computer for financial transactions and only use it for financial transactions.
5. Segregate responsibility for initiating wires from the responsibility for authorizing them, and ensure that each party uses different computers with different authorization credentials.
6. Keep a suspicious mind when you receive email that asks you to click on a link, open an attachment or that seeks your credentials-even if it’s from a trusted source like your bank.
7. Be careful when following links on social networking sites or when asked to give information over the phone.
8. Review your online banking records on a daily basis.

The article goes on and explains what you can do if you think you have been compromised.

For the full article:  http://www.cio.com/article/700354/8_Tips_to_Defend_Against_Online_Financial_Fraud_Threats?page=2&taxonomyId=3089

It is easy to tell if a business owner has lost touch with their customer base. They complain about business lagging behind and never seeing any new faces. They have forgotten a very important fact in the world of business: Keep your customers happy. While this does require a little bit of effort, the rewards for your business will only grow exponentially. The following article from spellbrand.com offers five tips to keep your business moving by keeping your customers happy.

http://www.spellbrand.com/five-tips-for-maintaining-customer-relationships

The article covers the areas of meeting needs, pleasant interactions, creating pleasing environments, putting yourself out there, and maintaining your brand. How people think of your brand is based mainly on your customer relationships. Everyone knows the power of word-of-mouth advertising for a business and the impact that it can have. By keeping unpleasant incidents to a minimum and making sure the world knows that you think their business is important to you, you will easily maintain a solid customer base for the future of your business.

Every business owner, big or small, wants to get the most out of every dollar. What most small business owners need a reminder of is that they too can outsource. By outsourcing, you can reduce the three most important things your business costs you: time, money, and frustration. Don’t have the time to learn how to make that much needed website? Don’t have the money to invest in long term administrative support? Frustrated by the software development you constantly try to squeeze in at the end of the day? All of these are easily outsourced projects that can help you grow and prosper while you are focusing on other important aspects of your business. This article from about.com lays out ten important tips to keep your business competitive in the current global business climate.

http://entrepreneurs.about.com/cs/beyondstartup/a/uc041003a.htm

These ten tips help you to define the project, evaluate service providers, know what experience you should be looking for, how to choose a vendor, review their samples, start small, coordinate payments, negotiate ownership of work, support when the project is done, and the ever important, get it in writing.

No matter how good your product is and no matter how well it may be selling right now, the unfortunate fact of is that every product has a life cycle. All of the products that you provide for the right price are living entities like everything else on the planet. Are you aware of why your product is selling well right now? Do you know why that once hot item has stopped moving so fast? The answer to these questions is within this article from quickmba.com lays out for you the entire life cycle of every product and the steps that you can take on every turn in its’ path.

http://www.quickmba.com/marketing/product/lifecycle/

The four stages they cover are: the Introduction Stage, the Growth Stage, the Maturity Stage, and the Decline stage. Each stage has the options that the business can take to ensure every moving part of the business is working in tandem to produce the desired results. By utilizing these steps and being aware of the life cycle of all of your products, you keep a firm grasp on the fluctuations of your business. By staying aware, the control of your products remains in your grasp instead of the whims of the consumer.

Whether you are starting a new business or are looking for ways to improve your existing one, the cornerstone of every business, no matter the size, is the business plan. Business plans are integral because they are a concrete plan of action. One, three, five, and ten year plans can be laid out and you’ll know exactly the goals you need to achieve and when they should be accomplished by.

With a business plan, you clearly state for yourself and any employees exactly what your current state of affairs is and where your business needs to improve. It is the one-stop resource for your mission statement, budget, areas for improvement, and goals to keep your business on track. This article from allbusiness.com lays out for you ten simple tips to get your business moving in the right direction and staying there:

http://www.allbusiness.com/business-planning-structures/business-plans/437-1.html

By utilizing the steps provided, you will be able to ensure that your business keeps its’ eye on the competition, keeps customers in mind, prepares for unexpected changes, and keeps it’s’ eye on the prize of a prosperous tomorrow.