| Business news you can use from your Better Business Bureau® |  |
| Trends & Trust |  |  |
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- Can you trust your boss?
The most trustworthy bosses seek feedback, help their teams succeed and empower their employees, writes Glenn Llopis. "They encourage their employees to take risks and do not judge or penalize them for failed but well-intentioned efforts," he writes. He also notes that they are consistent in their behavior. Forbes
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- Free software to safeguard your personal data
The Internet is full of security threats, but several free tools can help you protect sensitive information from prying eyes. For example, you can use KeePass to store lengthy passwords, and you can use TrueCrypt to encrypt your data. PCWorld
(2/1)
| Customer Satisfaction & Marketing | | |
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- What Super Bowl ads can teach you about marketing
From Best Buy's "Asking Amy" commercial to Budweiser's "Brotherhood" spot, this year's Super Bowl was full of memorable ads that provide some key insights about effective marketing. The commercials illustrate the importance of including a clear call to action, emphasizing your company's value proposition and taking advantage of unexpected opportunities to reach out to consumers, experts say. Entrepreneur online/The Daily Dose blog
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- Cleaning up your online marketing errors
Businesses should clean up outdated online information and underutilized social media accounts, because they can make life more difficult for customers, writes Jennifer Shaheen of Technology Therapy Group. For example, you should verify that local directories contain accurate information about your business, and you should consolidate superfluous social media accounts. Small Business Trends
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- Building a companywide B2B social media team
Marketing, sales and some customer-facing employees should all be involved in B2B social media efforts, writes Bob Apollo. Sales, in particular, should realize the value of Nimble and other programs that integrate customer relationship management with social data. Broad involvement in social media requires unifying the participants' presence as positive and professional for sharing and teaching, not selling. Use clear guidelines to encourage employee creativity without stifling them with a top-down approach, Apollo advises. Inflexion-Point.com (U.K.)
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- Why specificity is key when praising your staff
As the research of psychologist Carol Dweck shows, it's important to be specific when praising your employees. Rather than offering general compliments, highlight the specific behavior that you want to encourage, writes Margaret Heffernan. This sort of feedback can motivate employees to keep up the good work, she writes. Inc. online (free registration)
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 | Most small business owners know the importance of managing credit effectively and that a "one size fits all" model won't work. Use Managing Credit - Made Simpler to find the right credit management model for your business and to help identify strategies to ensure you are on top of your business's financial condition. |
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- What it takes to get a bank loan
Your business will need to have positive cash flow if you want to get a bank loan, according to Brian Hamilton, co-founder and chairman of Sageworks. "You need hard facts from tax returns, income statements, and balance sheets to prove that your business is stable and profitable from month to month," he writes. You'll also need a credit report and collateral. Inc. online (free registration)/Making Cents blog
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| BBB in the News | | |
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| SmartQuote | | |
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 | I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."
--Maya Angelou,
American author and poet
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| About BBB® |
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For 100 years, Better Business Bureau has been helping consumers find businesses,
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The Council of Better Business Bureaus is the umbrella
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home to its national programs on dispute resolution and industry self-regulation.
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- Monday, February 04, 2013
- Friday, February 01, 2013
- Wednesday, January 30, 2013
- Monday, January 28, 2013
- Friday, January 25, 2013
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