Latest Posts

  • Finance 0

    I Saved Thousands by Refinancing My Car at a Credit Union

    Many of us have fallen prey to the pressures of a conglomerate car retailer, including myself. In 2011, I walked into a Toyota (TM) dealership with the sensible goal of simply checking out the merchandise. My lease was drawing to a close, and I wanted to see what my options were. Instead, I got caught up in the allure of shiny metal and, to my surprise, ended up leaving the lot with a new car. Two years later — after the excitement of new car keys clinking in my purse faded, along with that new car smell — I realized that perhaps I hadn’t made the best financial decision. I admitted my error and dealt with the mixture of gui...
    On July 10, 2014 / By
  • Finance 0

    Top Secret: Laughter In The Workplace Can Create A Great Place To Work

    Seinfeld fans may remember the episode where George Costanza (Jason Alexander) is working for the Yankees and is trying to look busy during the off-season when he finds himself with little responsibility. He explains to Jerry and Elaine, “I always look annoyed. When you look annoyed all the time, people think you are busy.” I have to say, George was on to something with that ploy. Many of us work in an environment where the assumption is that our external expressions of stress reflect our internal level of commitment to our job. In other words, the more stressed out and unhappy we are, the harder we must be working. Veto! I think that to...
    On July 8, 2014 / By
  • Marketing 0

    5 Ways To Make A Big Impact With Small Marketing Budgets

    Really, who has the marketing budget Coca-Cola and Nike can boast? Smaller companies sit in awe of the glitzy commercials and celebrity endorsements and think, “I could never do that.” Honestly, without those monster marketing budgets, you can’t. That doesn’t mean you can’t make a big impact with the money you have, though. To make the biggest impact, you don’t have to make a splash. You just have to be savvy and patient in equal measure. Not many campaigns will bring customers in droves overnight, but you can build a steady stream of leads through your inbound marketing efforts. Want to know how? Here are 5 ways to make a huge im...
    On July 3, 2014 / By
  • Finance 0

    Starting a Business? 5 Key Things to Know About Accepting Payments

    There are so many to-dos on the list of an aspiring business owner. You’ve got to choose your business structure. Determine your marketing plan. Find capital to get started. But have you given any thought to how you will accept payments from customers once you launch? This might not seem like an area you need to deal with before you start your business, but having a clear-cut plan will lay the foundation for smoother sailing once you start making money. After all, you’ll have plenty of other things to worry about! Here are five things you should understand about accepting payments from customers: 1. The More Forms of Payment You Accept, t...
    On July 1, 2014 / By
  • Marketing 0

    7 Tips for Starting a Content Marketing Strategy

    They say that hindsight is always 20/20. That when we look back at where we came from we can see things we wish we would have known or done better. This couldn’t be more accurate when I look back over the years at my content marketing efforts. But you’re in luck! I’ve outlined seven of the most important ideas I wish I would have known when I was first starting out in content marketing years ago. I hope they help you get ahead of the game. 1. Tailor to your personas A persona is a fictional representation of your ideal client. You can create different personas by bucketing ideal clients based on common characteristics, nee...
    On June 27, 2014 / By
  • Marketing 0

    9 Ways to Use SlideShare for Your Business

    SlideShare is a popular presentation tool for the business world that allows you to create presentations, upload them to the cloud, and share them with colleagues. With a globral ranking of 124 on Alexa, SlideShare is the most visited document and presentation-sharing website in the world, getting over 60 million users a month. As the network still isn’t over-saturated from marketers, SlideShare is a fantastic social network to promote your presentations both in and out of network and get the visibility you need. Here are nine great ways you can use SlideShare for your business. Use SlideShare in Meetings Keeping your employees’ attentio...
    On June 25, 2014 / By
  • Social 0

    Summer Hiring: 4 Tips for Employers

    Summer is an especially hectic time for many industries. Restaurants and shops frequently extend their hours of operation to accommodate increased foot traffic from students who are out of school for the season. Outdoor-based businesses take advantage of good weather and longer daylight hours to get in as much work as they can. This upswing in business means that companies in these industries often hire temporary help to handle the increased workload. Smaller businesses that are just starting out may get inundated right at the beginning of the season, before they realize they need a few extra employees. Established companies usually know they...
    On June 23, 2014 / By
  • Finance 0

    Create an Advisory Board for Your Small Business

    Starting and growing a business is complex and it’s impossible for you — the business owner — to know all the answers. The more information, talent, and resources you can access, the greater your chances of success. Advisory boards can help. No matter how small or large your firm is, you can benefit from building a business advisory board. Think about the last time you met with other business people and had an open discussion about your business challenges. Talking through various issues with others can often help you identify strategies you may not have seen before. An advisory board formalizes this process. An advisory bo...
    On June 19, 2014 / By
  • Finance 0

    For Corporate Recruiting, Fall Is The New Spring

    June is a time of pomp and circumstance, caps and gowns and fresh beginnings. But if June also signals the start of recruiting season for your company, then I hate to say it, but you’re a bit late to the (graduation) party: most recruiting for the class of 2014’s top talent took place last fall. As EY’s Americas Director of Recruiting and President of the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), I’ve gained some perspective on what’s happening in the broader job market. If you examine NACE’s spring 2014 job outlook data, you’ll also find that this fall competition will only heat up looking ahead. About 43 percen...
    On June 17, 2014 / By
  • Social 0

    How to Write the Perfect Thank You Letter After Your Job Interview

    Think about your last job interview. Did you send a follow-up note afterward? The thank you letter is an overlooked part of the interview process, likely because it comes after what people think is the most important part of the job search: the application and the interview. But underestimating the value of a well-written thank you letter could jeopardize all the hard work you put into the resume, application and interview. (Click here to tweet this thought.) Don’t make the mistake of sabotaging your interview by not following up with a polite thank you note. Follow these tips to get it right. DO take 10 minutes to sit down and writ...
    On June 13, 2014 / By