Strategy is usually at the forefront of a company’s focus. Strategy is not the only thing which makes a company successful. Culture also plays a huge role. The culture of your company affects your branding, your marketing success, and daily operations, all of which directly affect how the world sees your business. The logos of brands like Apple, Google, and Starbucks are identifiable not only because they appear to be everywhere, but also these businesses have strong cultures that shine through their employees, storefronts, and logos. These positive, strong cultures all begin inside the walls of their offices.

Why Culture is so Important

Giving your employees a feeling of ownership over their jobs ensures that they feel empowered, and empowerment encourages innovative thinking. This all begins with a healthy workplace culture. If people feel invisible or stifled in their work place, they’ll do the minimum expected of them. It’s human nature to want to feel like we are part of something and that we have some control over our lives. Don’t forget that your brand is made up of the individuals in your company. So nurturing a positive company culture isn’t just the responsibility of the HR department, but of everyone, from the CEO to the janitor.

If you are not yet convinced, here are a couple of the obvious advantages of fostering a healthy culture.

• Focus – When people are focused on the same goal, that goal is much more easily attained. Businesses that have a healthy culture, have employees that care about the collective goal and sincerely endeavor to reach it. Unhealthy cultures can result in cynicism because individuals do not feel connected to the goal. Their goal is to merely get through the day.

• Cohesion – Healthy culture can lead to strong communication in good and bad times. In a place where there is unhealthy culture people may often resent being told what to do because they don’t feel their opinions are heard or appreciated. When a problem occurs they may avoid pointing it out because they fear backlash.

• Motivation – It may seem obvious that a motivated workforce gets things done, but firms that are not aware of the health of their culture could be suffering with regards to efficiency.

Measuring the Cultural Health of Your Company

You should assess your company’s culture a few times a year. How can you do this? First, take a look at how your workers are managed. It is true that a few people may never be happy but, in general, if the opinion is negative you may start thinking about modifications to improve the culture to help your business. Tune in soon for a few tips on making your company culture better.

It looks as if Microsoft is ready to do its part to deter cyber crimes. Microsoft plans to offer real-time feeds that partners can use to study possible cyber threats and take the proper steps to bolster their defenses against these attacks.

With Microsoft’s achievements in tackling botnets, they’ve been able to acquire a lot of information around the specific threats these botnets pose. By allowing the botnets to contaminate highly controlled environments, Microsoft had been able to isolate and remove the harmful bots and also find out how they work.

Microsoft is now able to gather threat information and share it with ISPs, government agencies, private organizations, and CERTs. The outcome of such a move by Microsoft could be significant. Analysts point out that while a real-time threat feed won’t lower the number of attacks, it will help information security specialists react to these threats faster. This could limit the amount of damage caused by these attacks.

Microsoft’s live threat feed could have a far more important impact: It could lead the information security industry to share more data. For too long, companies have hesitated to share important security information that they fear can result in a copycat attack. This is a mistaken belief as cyber criminals are already swapping information between themselves. It makes sense, therefore, for security professionals to also share real-time information.

Microsoft’s real-time feed is a great first step toward a change for the better in IT security. Let’s hope this trend persists and that the IT security world will realize that secrecy is not more important than sharing information!

Chances are you started your business because you love what you do. You opened your doors because you have a strong product that you believe in.  You probably did not start a business because your paperwork abilities were unrivaled.  Paperwork is a vital and necessary evil for any business owner and proper invoicing can’t be ignored. We all need cash flow to keep our businesses afloat, so employing a good invoicing system can help us keep cash in the bank and our clients happy!

Invoicing help online

Fortunately, there are plenty of online invoicing services created to make life less complicated for the small business owner. By utilizing one of these services, you can quickly — and depending on your clients, automatically — distribute your invoices each month. It’s one less job for you to handle. What follows is a quick look at a few of the better online invoicing services:

A free but powerful invoicing service

First, let’s consider a zero cost system: BillingBoss. Of course its greatest advantage is that it is 100% free, but that doesn’t mean it’s not powerful. Most small businesses will be pleased with BillingBoss’s capability to automatically invoice customers on a monthly basis and send once-off invoices for more irregular clients.

A power tool

Next let’s look at AcceptPay. Developed and run by American Express, AcceptPay is a very powerful service that connects with QuickBooks, allows online payments, and has a wider range of invoicing options. At the fairly low monthly price of $30, this is a great option for those companies that want a more robust service.

Invoicing for the tech-savvy

Lastly we’ll look at the most customizable option of the bunch, BambooInvoice. This open source program is hosted on your own servers and can be easily customized for your business’ needs. So if you need more control and are a bit tech-savvy, BambooInvoice may be your best choice.

These are only a few of the available options online. Most services are free or extremely cost-effective. If you want to take the reigns on your invoicing process, think about employing an online solution.

The cloud has been a great thing for small business owners fighting through tough economic times. Rather than purchasing pricey enterprise software, business owners can save their dollars by accessing powerful computing programs in the cloud, everything from high-end word processors and project-management tools to spreadsheets and Photoshop alternatives. But, the cloud isn’t perfect, especially when it comes to security issues. Business owners must be aware that their documents, presentations, and marketing materials can be damaged when they’re stored in the cloud.

Password issues

One of the biggest security issues when dealing with the cloud is password protection. This is also one of the primary security issues outside of the cloud.

Selecting a difficult to guess password for data and information in the cloud is a simple way for business owners to protect themselves. Creating a password that has both numbers and letters, and if possible, special characters. Another consideration for business owners is who should have access to these passwords. The more people that have access to passwords the more vulnerable the data is.

Hacker alert

A few serious problems that will not soon go away for anyone who uses a computer are hackers, malware, and spyware. As business owners have little control over how secure the cloud is this part of security can be very scary indeed. Companies like Microsoft and Google must create their own security measures to safeguard the data stored in the cloud.

Common sense protection

Protecting yourself from theft in the cloud is often as easy as applying some common sense practices.

First, consider the type of information you would be storing in the cloud. Anything that is incredibly sensitive might not be the best to store in the cloud. It may be safer to back up this information on a personal system and find a more secure way to store it.

Secondly, be careful about who is allowed access to the data stored in the cloud. It seems obvious that business owners protect their laptops and desktops with passwords. The same should be applied to the cloud.

The advantages of storing information in the cloud are numerous. Backing up important data, freeing up space on your servers, and having your data easily available to your employees are only a few. If you have been considering this route, you probably have many questions about the security of the cloud. If your company deals with sensitive information that belongs to your clients you may need to stay compliant with HIPAA, PCI or Sarbanes-Oxley regulations.

It can be hard to tell if your cloud storage solution follows these requirements, as many don’t state in their privacy policies. To help you navigate these difficult waters, let’s look at this topic in greater detail below.

Compliance

More and more companies are turning to the cloud for storage. For obvious reasons, it is a very economical strategy to use. However, improper handling of your client’s information can harm your reputation and result in a loss of business for your company. If your company mandates that client data be handled in a regulated way, you must first learn how secure the cloud service is and what regulations does the cloud service providers comply with. If a company has not specifically said they comply with certain regulations, it’s safe to assume they do not.

Who is responsible

Cloud security is vital when handling your sensitive data, but whose responsibility is it? Should you assume that if it is not explained in the privacy policy, that a service provider doesn’t follow these regulations? While this is clearly the safest option, it may leave you unable to use cloud computing at all. Many services do not provide detailed information in their privacy rules, presumably to reduce their liability. The hope is that over time cloud storage and sharing will become better self-regulated and companies will decide to reveal their individual practices to the businesses they serve. While such self-regulation is not required right now, many businesses believe it is their duty to display clear warnings, detailing what they don’t provide or guarantee.

Currently there is no law in place that requires a company to divulge this information. Cloud computing services can save your company money while boosting efficiency, but they could also risk noncompliance with privacy laws. This leaves the risk on your shoulders and it is up to you to weigh the benefits and threats for yourself. The topic of cloud security is likely to be one of much debate in coming years. At the moment, the right road to travel is the one which best meets your company’s specific needs.

Disasters can happen to any business and they come in many forms and severities. They could be everything from a natural disaster, to a well-meaning employee accidently downloading a destructive virus, to something essential getting mistakenly deleted. These what-ifs can keep you up at night, so for your own peace of mind develop a disaster recovery plan.

Decide What’s Important

The first step is knowing what you have and what’s important. Take an inventory of all the data that is critical for your company to run. This will lead you to the data that needs to be backed up. Utilizing an online provider or the cloud to store all of your data is one method to guarantee data recovery if your hard drive crashes and burns.

Make a Plan

Your next step is to think about what steps you should take if something happens. Begin with the worst possible scenario and make a plan for that. What technology do you require if everything is destroyed, what data, and what systems need to be back up ASAP? Write down all of these in order of importance.

Know Your Workflows

I’m sure you have a general understanding of the way your company is run, but knowing each and every process is nearly impossible. That’s why you have employees. Have your employees document their workflows so that any team member can carry out the tasks in case of an emergency.

Decide Who is in Charge

I’m sure you have the big picture of your company processes, but how about all the day-to-day processes that you don’t have memorized? Ask your workers to document their workflows and the exact tasks they preform. That way, if something does happen, anyone can pick up where they left off and nothing gets looked over.

Disaster can happen to anyone! So before it does, develop a good plan so that you know what to do. It will make both your employees and you feel more secure.

What do you think of when you hear the name Segway? If you’re like many around, “tech failure” comes to mind. Dean Kamen’s invention of the Segway PT scooter was supposed to revolutionize personal transportation. The Segway was expected to usher in a new era of errand running and puttering around town.

We all know that didn’t happen. The Segway is still around and it isn’t a completely unusual site to see someone taking a Segway out for a “drive” around the block.  For a “failed” technology, that is a pretty impressive feat!

Let’s discuss how the Segway really works though.

Powering the Segway

Electric motors fueled by phosphate-based lithium batteries power the Segway. The scooters are easily charged by simply plugging them into a standard electrical socket. Thanks to a combination of two computers, special software, tilt sensors, and five gyroscopic sensors the Segway remains upright and doesn’t tip over.

Making the Segway Move

The user plays the biggest role in making the Segway move. By simply shifting your weight in the direction you want to go and moving the handlebars slightly, the Segway’s sensors recognize the modification in balance point and react accordingly. The most up-to-date version of the Segway features a top speed of 12.5 MPH. For obvious reason, it functions best on flat surfaces.

Lowered Expectations

Experts touted that the Segway would be a bigger deal that Internet. Obviously the device did not live up to that level of hype!

However, once the Segway was released many thought it looked odd and you looked bizarre riding one. Others thought it looked dangerous. Regardless, the negatives were enough to keep the Segway from reaching its promised potential.

As a small business, there is a good chance you have to manage projects and people that are not always located in one area.  So how do you maintain these projects and off location employees while still having the capacity to share updates, documents, and assign tasks?

Project management solutions

Conveniently enough, many project management tools are available that make managing all of these things easier.  Using these tools will assist your small business in organizing projects and keeping employees and clients up to date. Here’s a few available options:

Basecamp

Basecamp remains one of the most preferred online project management tools for entrepreneurs. There’s a simple reason behind this: It offers an easily understood interface that lets you easily manage any of your small business projects. You can tap into the system to communicate with project managers, delegate new tasks, give your okay to submitted documents and marketing materials, or plan meetings. You can even allow your clients to access Basecamp so that they can offer feedback on the work that you as well as your team have already completed.

Quickbase

Quickbase has a lot to recommend it, not least of all the fact that the maker of Intuit business software is behind this program. Quickbase performs the same basic tasks as Basecamp. However, it provides its own version of a simple interface and is equally helpful for both large and tiny small businesses.

Huddle

Some projects require more creativity than others. This is where Huddle comes in. This project management tool is designed specifically to handle the more creative marketing and advertising projects that small business owners must sometimes take on. Huddle features a power live-conferencing tool that can make holding impromptu meetings a straightforward task.

Deskaway

DeskAway is an effective tool for delivering an instant snapshot of the progress that’s been made on a project. After reviewing this progress, you can use DeskAway to send quick messages to team members either to congratulate them on their work or to ask for changes or updates. DeskAway also gives you the capability to create and post to a blog developed especially for your present project.

There are many other online project management tools that can help you keep stronger control over your business’ marketing campaigns, new product launches, and website development. This is good news. It allows you to look for the one project management tool that most closely fits you and your business.

Have you ever thought your organization should go paperless? We’ve seen the possibility of a paperless office grow over the past few years, but you’d be hard pressed to find an office that is truly paper-free. Is a paperless office even possible? The simple answer? No. We’re moving that direction, but it is going to take us a long time.

The advantages of paper

There’s a reason why paper hasn’t yet disappeared from most offices: It is useful. Employees at even the greenest of offices—those workspaces most devoted to decreasing the level of paper they consume—have uses for paper. Paper is portable. Employees can easily scrawl notes on it. They can fold it up and slip it into their wallets or shirt pockets. Many employees prefer proofreading important documents in hard-copy form. There is something about proofreading a document on the computer screen that causes some employees to overlook important errors or typos.

Less paper than ever

Paper has become less and less essential.  Quite a few past paper processes can now be done on a computer. Team communication is handled via email. Even instant messaging has taken the place of paper notes to coworkers. Smartphones and tablets have taken over the need for a physical calendar/schedule system. If you take a look back at how far business has come in the past decade, it’s pretty clear that paper, while not fully obsolete, is no longer king.

The future

It’s clear that down the road, offices will rely much less on paper. However, will offices ever truly become paperless? Will legal pads and Post-it Notes go the way of the milkman? Maybe. Just look at the milkman: You can still find some homeowners who prefer to have their milk delivered to them, but the majority of consumers pick up their milk at their local supermarket.

Paper might end up the same way. While most office workers are relying more on computers, the cloud, and smartphones for their invoicing, writing, and spreadsheets, there are still those workers preferring the old-fashioned feel of pen and paper.

iPhones do a lot more than make calls! We can stream movies and TV shows, update our social sites, and listen to music. They can even give us direction to places you want to go. It seems like the one thing they can’t do is the dishes. There is a lot you know your iPhone can do, but we wanted to share some timesaving tricks you may have been unaware of.

Saving Time

It can be frustrating to use the small on-screen keyboard for typing emails or Web addresses. If this is true for you, try rotating your phone horizontally before clicking in the area you need to type in. This will provide a larger on-screen keyboard making it easier to type a “t”  and not a “y.”
Here is a tip to make phone calls: If you’re browsing the Web for a phone number you have to call, simply tap the telephone number on the screen and your phone will dial it.

More Efficient Typing

Apple itself offers several tips for getting more out of your iPhone. If you’re typing with the on-screen keyboard, try tapping the space bar twice at the conclusion of a sentence. Your iPhone will automatically include a period then capitalize the next word you type. If you want to spice up your message with special characters, just touch and hold a letter for several seconds. As you do this, an array of special characters will show up. You can then easily insert these symbols into your message.

Quick Printing, Personalized Entertainment

This tip is for those of you that own an AirPrint-enabled printer. It is possible to print documents, emails, and Web pages from your iPhone with this machine. To print a Web page merely tap the “Action” icon and select “Print,” this will send the data to your printer. Printing an email is just as easy; tap “Reply” and select “Print.”

For you music lovers out there, you can create a music playlist on the run. Access the iPod app, tap the “Playlists” icon chose the “Add Playlist” icon. Relabel your playlist and add any video or song on your phone just by touching it.