SmallBusinessExecutiveInforming, Inspiring and Connecting Businesses
Schade: Six tips for better communication
By Jenny Schade, Guest Columnist Thanks to the growth of the Internet and other communication technologies, business owners are bombarded by information on a continual basis. Yet their own communication with workers can fall through the cracks impacting the company’s performance. What is the cost of employees not receiving timely information? Consider the consequences [...]
Accessibility complaint against universities points to larger business issue
By Ann Meyer – As a sculptor who has been blind since birth, Chicagoan Stephen Handschu can weld steel and cast bronze. But using common software applications is often another matter. “The more the world switches to interactive technology, the less accessible the world is to me,” said Handschu. He surmises it’s an even greater [...]
What makes a better boss? Google tells all
Technical skills aren’t the secret sauce when it comes to being an effective manager, according to new internal research from Google reported in The New York Times. Google found that employees valued bosses who took time to talk and who helped them by asking questions instead of barking orders, the story said. Recognizing from exit interviews that having [...]
More advertisers turn to blogging moms
A note to businesses looking to push their brands into the social media landscape: Call mom. Last year, the number of women with children under 18 who wrote blogs hit 3.9 million, up 6 percent from the previous year, according to a recent eMarketer study reported in The New York Times. The female bloggers covered [...]
Immigrant bill gets second chance
Sens. John Kerry (D., Mass.) and Richard Lugar (R., Ind.) have reintroduced the StartUp Visa Act, designed to create jobs by keeping immigrant entrepreneurs in the United States, The Wall Street Journal reported. The revised act stipulates that immigrant entrepreneurs could receive a visa if they raised $100,000 in private U.S. investment initially and during [...]
BEER Act could bring tax relief to brewers
New legislation introduced last week in Congress would cut excise taxes for small craft brewers to $3.50 on their initial 60,000 barrels, half the current rate, while also lowering the excise fee to $16 on production below 2 million barrels from $18 currently, The Wall Street Journal reported. The bill, which is being called the [...]
Deal site drawbacks spawn new startups
By Ann Meyer Count Chicago entrepreneur Kris Petersen among those who have lost money on Groupon and LivingSocial vouchers by not redeeming them before they expired. The example that stands out, Petersen said, was his purchase of four Groupons for Segway tours that he planned to use with friends. “I threw $160 out the window by [...]
FatWallet’s planned exodus worries Rockton officials
By Ann Meyer The town of Rockton, Ill., expects to see a ripple effect beyond job loss if Internet affiliate marketer FatWallet leaves the state this summer as expected due to the state’s new Internet tax law, officials said. If the company vacates its 30,000-square-foot building in Rockton and moves its 54 workers out of [...]
Affiliate marketers down, but not done yet
Illinois-based Internet affiliates were bracing for a drop in revenue after giants Amazon and Overstock sent letters Thursday saying they would stop doing business with them due to a new Internet tax law. Under the Main Street Fairness Act, which Gov. Pat Quinn signed into law Thursday, out-of-state online merchants must collect and remit Illinois [...]
Tech groups vow to push for repeal of use-tax law signed today
By Ann Meyer Gov. Pat Quinn signed into law today an Internet tax act that will require out-of-state online merchants to collect sales tax if they have affiliates in Illinois, but opponents said they will push for the law’s repeal. Quinn said the law will level the playing field for retail merchants who lose sales [...]
