During this cold and flu season, everyone is focused on ways to keep their teams healthy. According to new research from Gallup, employee engagement may be the best medicine. The study found employees who are engaged lead healthier lifestyles — exercising more and eating healthier.
If you have employees and/or you worked with independent contractors last year, you have until January 31, 2013 to issue W-2 and 1099 forms. That’s a deadline you don’t want to miss. The IRS closely monitors W-2 and 1099 returns to ensure accuracy and compliance, and the agency is strictly enforcing penalties for those who don’t comply. A little procrastination could hit your bank account hard. Should you fail to file or file inaccurate information, the penalties are more severe. For small businesses — companies with gross revenues of under $5 million the past three years — the maximum failure-to-file penalty is $500,000. You can find additional information and assistance via the IRS website.
Do you have a great idea for a new product? Good for you, but taking a product from the mind to the marketplace isn’t easy, and it’s fraught with peril. There are numerous scammers out there waiting to play on your inexperience and enthusiasm. You may have seen infomercials on TV. These companies often cost a significant amount of money and they leave you with nothing in return.
Your small business is growing, and you are in an enviable position; you need to add an employee or two. Hiring a new employee is tough, and hiring the right employee is even tougher. The impact of an employee on your bottom line is exponentially greater on your small business or startup than on a large corporation. That potential employee’s passion and commitment to your company are key. You want someone who cares about helping your company, and sees its success as part of his or hers. Weed out the wrong ones and hire the right one by creating interview questions that focus on values, not just skills and responsibilities. Skills can be taught, but you can’t change someone’s values
Backlinking is a smart, economical and relatively easy way to build traffic to your website and enhance your page rank with the various search engines. What is a backlink? Just as it’s name suggests, a backlink is any hyperlinked text or phrase placed on a website linking to your home page or any page on your site. The strategy is simple. In theory, the more backlinks you have — the higher your search engine rank — making it easier for customers to find you.