Problem. Solved.

How to make time for critical business tasks
At a recent meeting, business owners discussed the difficulty of making time for all of the important tasks that come with running a company. For example, Deirdre Lord, owner of Megawatt Hour, said she has a key marketing initiative that keeps getting postponed. Lord and other business owners shared tips for better time management, which included creating to-do lists on index cards and splitting the day into 50-minute segments. The New York Times (tiered subscription model)/You're the Boss Blog (3/12)

Marketing

Tips for more effective content marketing
You can make your content-marketing initiatives more successful by identifying specific goals for the content you create, Tommy Walker writes. For example, your content might be designed to kick-start a conversation or generate leads or sales. Either directly or indirectly, your content should ask your audience to take specific steps, he writes. MarketingProfs (3/11)

Using in-person meetings to make sales
In today's world of electronic communication, companies might be able to set themselves apart through in-person meetings with clients, Stephanie Faris writes. Do your research before attending a face-to-face meeting and use trip-planning tools to maximize the productivity of your travel. After returning home, follow up with your clients, she recommends. Intuit Small Business Blog (3/12)

Management

Do your policies indicate a lack of trust in your employees?
Many companies implement policies that suggest that they don't trust their employees, Liz Ryan writes. For example, they might require their workers to provide proof when they say they are sick or when they have had a death in the family. "If we value talent, we'll start dismantling the lumbering Godzilla of controls and policies that hampers creativity in virtually every organization, and we'll start trusting ourselves to hire people we trust," she writes. Bloomberg Businessweek/The Management Blog (3/12)

How to manage your employees' Internet use
Chances are, your employees spend some of their time at work browsing the Internet, but these little breaks aren't necessarily a bad thing, writes Rieva Lesonsky. "[M]any studies have suggested that these types of breaks (within reason) actually boost productivity," she writes. "So what matters most is whether employees get their work done." Still, it's important to develop guidelines for Internet use to protect your company's computer network, she writes. SCORE Small Business Success Blog (3/12)

Money

Big banks' approval of small-business loans is on the rise
Large banks approved small-business loans last month at the highest rate in more than two years, according to Biz2Credit's monthly Small Business Lending Index. Such banks authorized 15.9% of applications in the index, compared with 15.3% in January and 11.7% in February 2012. Bloomberg Businessweek (3/12)

Tips & Tools

A guide for building business relationships
As a business owner, building productive relationships should be a key part of your day, writes Ido Leffler, co-founder of Yes To Inc. You should start by identifying key individuals and reaching out to them. Make time to meet them for dinner, drinks or another activity, he recommends. Inc. online (free registration) (3/12)

Other News

Just for Fun

The tales of NYC sanitation workers
Cities need sanitation workers to survive, but they've largely toiled invisibly until now. Cultural anthropologist and author Robin Nagle studied New York City's sanitation department for more than a decade and even worked on a crew for two years -- experiences she details in the book "Picking Up." Pacific Standard magazine (March-April 2013)

SmartQuote

I'd say founders should spend 25 percent of their time building, fostering, and growing relationships." -- Ido Leffler, co-founder of Yes To Inc., writing at Inc. online. Share: