Get A Custom Trade Show Display At A Rented Price

You don't have to break your marketing budget with a custom-made trade booth display when a rented trade show display will do the trick.Tradeshow booth designs can benefit many companies that want to participate in a convention or trade show and are looking for an economical way to achieve it.A little planning and creativity can make a rented exhibit look as good as or better than a custom design.

Marketing Images Are A Key Ingredient

Graphics in your trade show display are one of the most important items you will deal with.

The content of the material is more important than how they're displayed in tradeshow booth designs.Be selective in your marketing material, especially photos that may have been utilized previously.If a client gets the feeling they're not worth top quality, you'll drive away your leads quicker than you could ever imagine.Always use the highest quality that you can afford and be as flexible with the material as possible.

Good tradeshow booth designs combine well-written marketing material with fresh and creative photos.This goes for all types of marketing material, including your business cards, brochures, and handouts that all work in combination to help you build brand awareness.These few simple items can be a huge portion of selling power to potential clients.Take these marketing tools and include a well-informed staff that is friendly and you have a formula for success.

Assess Your Needs

Before you go blindly and rent a trade show display, know how much space you will need and how much space the trade show display gives you to work with.

It's important the two match.Nothing turns off potential clients faster than a cluttered and unorganized tradeshow booth design.Your marketing message will be lost in the clutter.If you have the opportunity to select your location within the trade show or convention, try to choose a corner location.With a corner booth, you will then have an extra side to display and highlight your services or products.

Step Right Up

Good tradeshow booth designs will attract potential leads directly to your area and give you the opportunity to close the deal in person.

Everyone likes to get something free.If possible, have plenty of "giveaways," but make sure they tie into your brand and there is a logical connection.The item should be tasteful in design, inexpensive if you expect a large turnout, yet give a potential client visiting your booth a sense of value, something they would want to keep rather than quickly tossing in the trash when they get home.

You may be able to draw attention to your booth with some type of contest or game.Your product or service could serve as the prize.Tradeshow booth designs that encourage people to participate will cause them to linger longer at your booth.If you're able to devise a game rather than a simple drawing, it will make each contestant stay for a longer time period.As people line up to wait for their own chance to win, the building crowd in itself will draw attention to your booth.People will wonder what the big draw is and will come to check it out for themselves.

Make It All Count

There are several different styles of trade show designs, including truss exhibits and pop up displays.

Select the type that works best for your product or service.The truss system may be more flexible and allow you highlight your products in a more effective manner.

A trade show display in itself can be just the beginning.Other accessories, such as a podium, tables, banner stands and microphones, can all add to the total presentation.Don't focus only on one aspect; look at the big picture to make sure your message is conveyed to the full extent.

Renting a trade show display with a little creativity can be an inexpensive way to give a custom look to your company.Be sure to choose a reputable company that has the experience you require.They will be able to offer suggestions and will work within your budget, making your trade show display the best value for the money.

About the Author

Christine O'Kelly is an author for Productive Displays & Graphics, Inc.

, a full service Chicago trade show display provider.They sell, rent, repair, store, and service the latest tradeshow booth designs to keep their customers on the leading edge of their industries.

Relaited Links:

• Internet Marketing Tips for Beginners: How to Create Your Own Ebook Product
• Using The Most Cost Effective Lead Generation Methods
• Book Marketing: The Importance of Selecting a Great Book Title

Internet Marketing For Real Estate Professionals

Today with almost every business running successfully on the Internet, each one of us needs to be aware of online marketing. People can sit at home and shop and even look out for great properties. With so many real estate agents coming online, it has become easier to view various properties at different location from the comforts of your home or office. Internet marketing is quite different from the traditional marketing. In Internet marketing for real estate, you are a part of a big market of the World Wide Web with hundreds of competitors. With the rise in property business and investments, its time that the real estate professionals got familiar with the Internet marketing.

With the help of Internet marketing, you need to attract more clients and improve your sales. Apart from building a well groomed website, you also need to come up with strategies that attract and generate prospects. Thus real estate professional will have to come up with a great deal of effort and web designs to generate customers. Many a times, it so happens that you come up with the website, but fail to succeed as you make no efforts to market it. With millions of website present on the Internet, people will not be aware about your business, until you advertise and market it.

To be successful in the online real estate business, you need to come up with the right key words and graphics that should attract the prospective customer. Always remember to flash things that will benefit the browser and not you. People will log on to your website, only when they feel they shall benefit something from it. Thus always write and come up with specific elements that will benefit the people, who are looking out for properties in any particular location. You need to understand the mindset of your viewers and make use of proper key words. For example, if a browser is looking out for a property in Boston, or any particular region in Boston, you need to make use of those keywords, so that your website is ranked on the first page of the search engine.

Using the right keyword will assure you that your website is up on the first page of Google or MSN and that the browser will view it. Also make sure to use proper title and tag line. Many of the people choose to open your website, only if the title sounds good to them. Make sure that the title is matching the content of your web pages and use accordingly. As you are in property business, you would need to grab lovely pictures of the property and display it on the site. It would be good, if you could give some important details regarding the property. For example the width of rooms, number of rooms, materials used, exact location and so on.

Internet marketing needs a plan of action and dedication as well. You cannot simply come up with the website and leave the rest on fate. You have to constantly keep generating great marketing ideas and execute it well to get the best results. Good Internet marketing promises a good business. For real estate agents, it is time you get real and work towards generating traffic to attract the prospects. Put up pictures of the property that lures the customer and forces him to call you and fix an appointment to take him around to view the property.


About the Author

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How One Business Got Blown Up

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It may sound dangerous, but pyrotechnics is a part of everyday family life for Zambelli Fireworks Internationale, which is one of the oldest family run fireworks companies in the U.S., and also one of the largest.

The self-titled "first family of fireworks," based in New Castle Pa., has been in business since the turn of the 19th century, when Antonio Zambelli brought his pyrotechnic ability to the U.S. from Naples, Italy.

The company was then passed on to Antonio's son George "Boom-Boom" Zambelli in the 1950s, and is currently run by George's children.

"My dad took the business to another level," said George Zambelli Jr. "He created a designer brand of fireworks, and choreographed the displays to musical scores or live music."

"That's when the business exploded, you could say," Zambelli added.

Now Zambelli, who started working with fireworks at the tender age of 12, serves as chairman of the company. He works alongside his four sisters and his own children, including Jared and George Zambelli III, who will likely take over the business one day.

Today the company, which manufactures and stocks one of the largest inventories of fireworks in the world, produces about 35,000 shows a year, including "Thunder Over Louisville," which is held each spring at the Kentucky Derby. That display is launched using 10 computers, eight barges and a 3,200 foot bridge and draws 800,000 people.

The company also does shows for weddings and even funerals - including Hunter Thompson's memorial service in 2005.

For this Fourth of July, the Zambellis will host 16,000 fireworks productions, starting with a light show at Mount Rushmore in July 3. With only 80 full-time employees, the family has to hire an additional 2,500 employees to handle the increased demand during the week.

Even still, all employees are considered extended members of the family, Zambelli says.

Lighting up the night is no small task. The biggest shows can require up to 45,000 fireworks and 770,000 pounds of mortars.

Such events take months of preparation, Zambelli said. First the shells must be manufactured at one of the company-owned plants, then the display is set to music, which generally requires an hour of work per minute of melody.

And after the fireworks are packed up and shipped out, setting up the special effects on location takes up to a week.

It's no wonder the price tag packs a punch. While the average fireworks display costs about $10,000 and runs for about 15 minutes, large Independence Day extravaganzas can run up to $450,000 - not including liability insurance, which is $1 million in most states.

But smaller displays, like something that might accompany a wedding ceremony, run $3,500 to $4,000 and can be set up in a day, Zambelli said.

And those are the ones that really sparkle, he says.

"When my daughter was married in Pittsburgh, she walked out of Heinz Chapel and we fired tons of pinks -- her wedding color," Zambelli said.

"It was awesome."

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Say you're a small, semi-obscure paper-supply firm, under siege from the big boys: Staples, Office Depot-ever-expanding behemoths with bargaining power you can't match and Web-based customer interfaces you can't beat. Short of cashing out and going home, do you do? If you're Dunder Mifflin, you take a deep breath, throw open your doors, and invite the cameras in. You identify your most floundering, dysfunctional branch and offer it up to NBC to use as the subject of a warts-and-all documentary series.

To some, this might seem an act of corporate seppuku. Who wants their seemingly inevitable decline immortalized on tape? Generally, the market for Wall Street snuff films doesn't kick in until after a firm's Enron-like implosion. But since the documentary began filming, most of the employees at the camera-infested Scranton, Pennsylvania, branch have embraced radical transparency. After all, openness builds consumer trust, which will move any product-even dead trees. Why? Because "business is always personal," in the words of Michael Scott, regional manager at the Scranton office. "It's the most personal thing in the world."

Personal, maybe. Private? Hardly. So far, the cameras have captured everything, including Scott's gaping, baby-bird screeches for validation (yes, ladies, he's single!) and the high-wire romantic tension between assistant regional manager Jim Halpert and receptionist Pam Beesly. From cubicular microdramas (will adjutant, humorless sales agent Dwight Schrute ever learn to anticipate Halpert's daily pranks?) to ticking time bombs (who'll crack first, alcoholic Meredith or evangelical Angela?), the Scranton branch is a teeming reef of pungent humanity - individuals you can't help but care about, even at their pettiest and most paranoid.

But will transparency rescue a moribund business? Turns out, it already has - across the pond, at least. In 2001, a BBC film crew began following the worker bees of a midsize paper supplier based outside of London. When the documentary aired as a weekly series in the UK, the company's paper sales skyrocketed. "Office managers with purchasing power empathized with the employees' hopes and fears and errors and dreams and errors," explains Jan Levinson, Scott's supervisor and director of Dunder's mid-Atlantic operations, who helped bring the concept stateside. "Um, did I say errors twice?"

No one understands - and embodies - Dunder's blunders more than the hapless Scott. His tactless, childish management "style" is often inappropriate and occasionally illegal. Will Americans embrace a guy so eager to please that he authorizes the hiring of a stripper for an in-office bachelor party? "Yes, because I showed I learned something," Scott explains. "I learned that letting a stripper sit on your lap is wrong, especially if you have a girlfriend - who's also your boss. My boss. Jan Levinson... My boss with benefits." He winks. "Sex benefits? I also learned that honesty is not such a lonely word, as I think Billy Joel said, but is, in fact, the best policy... which I think Shakespeare said. Or Jesus."

You're right, Michael: Honesty may be the best - and only - policy these days for Dunder Mifflin, an embattled underdog that can't help but be itself. The Scranton team maintains a boutique regional clientele on the strength of their sweaty-palmed, oddball intimacy - at once their biggest liability and best asset. "David will always beat Goliath," Scott recently thundered to a business school class. After being reminded that Dunder faces not one but five huge competitors, he replied, "You know what else is facing five Goliaths? America: al Qaeda, global warming, sex predators, mercury poisoning." He paused, appearing to lose count, then rallied: "So do we just give up?"

Give up? No. Fess up? Yes. Because in this new era of radical trans parency, the way you sell paper is by showing the world that you're not above getting reamed. "That's what she said!" laughs Scott. "That's a sex joke. But not about my boss... with benefits. You know what?" He looks into the camera. "Can we do that part over again?"

[via wired.com]

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Report: Retiring Baby Boomers Expected to Hurt U.S. Companies

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More than 25 percent of U.S. businesses have done little to plan for the effects of an aging workforce, according to a new national study.

Over the next decade, there will be a significant change in the demographics of America's workforce as baby boomers continue to retire, leaving younger workers with less experience to fill their place -- and leaving many businesses unprepared.

In a survey of 578 organizations of varying industries in the United States, only 33 percent of employers said that their business had analyzed workplace demographics and made projections about the retirement rates of their workers, according to the Boston College Center on Aging and Work.

Reports indicate that U.S. businesses face a shortage of millions of workers in the next 10 years due to the baby-boomer generation approaching retirement.

"Companies that do not plan for this aging workforce may find themselves suddenly faced with a loss of labor, experience and expertise that will be difficult to offset, given the relatively small pool of new workers and the competition for new talent likely to result from so many companies facing the same problem," Mick Smyer, co-director of the Center on Aging and Works, said in statement.

Only 37 percent of employers said they have adopted strategies to encourage older workers to stay past the traditional retirement age, despite more than 50 percent of employers who said they value the "loyalty, reliability, and strong work ethic" of their late-career workers, researchers found.

Many respondents acknowledged that they will face challenges when it comes to replacing retired employees. Almost 60 percent of employers reported that recruiting competent job applicants is their biggest human resources challenge. Respondents also indicated a concern for competent employees leaving and causing a skills gap at the company. Forty percent said that management skills would be the asset in shortest supply at their organization.

Researchers found that employers would be effective at retaining retirement-age workers if they offered more flexible work options. When asked to what extent their organization had implemented flexible work options, 7.6 percent responded that they had "not at all," while another 33.8 percent had only done so to a "limited extent."

"Most older workers who say that they want to extend the number of years they remain in the labor force also say that the typical 8-hour day/5-day week doesn't work for them," said Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes, co-director of the Center on Aging and Work. "Employers who fail to consider flexible work options may be missing important opportunities to enhance both their business performance and their employees' engagement."

[via inc.com]
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Five Tips to Motivate Small-Business Workers

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WHEN YOU RUN A lean operation, how do you motivate your work force?

Sure, large corporations with deep pockets can easily dangle bonuses, perks and an array of fancy reward programs (often created by outside consultants) to encourage employees to outperform. Yet, small businesses with limited budgets have a distinct advantage: Chances are, you probably know all your employees. So it's easier to show 'em you care.

In many cases, employees will perform best for a boss who can accommodate their needs, whether that's giving them an afternoon off to take care of a personal situation, re-arranging their work schedule so they can pick up kids from school, or allowing them to telecommute as needed, says John Challenger, head of outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas in Chicago.

"Small business can be so flexible," he says. "Big companies have policies, and if they make an exception they think the whole world will fall apart."

So when it comes to energizing your staff, being small can be your best advantage. Here are five steps to engage your employees:

1. Communicate your vision

A boss at a small firm should explain the company's missions and goals, preferably right when a new employee starts, says Jeanie Adkins, a rewards consultant at Mercer Human Resource Consulting in Louisville, Ky. Studies at larger corporations show that employees perform better when they understand the company's vision, think the company's mission is worthwhile, and think they can contribute to the success of the organization, she says. "Small businesses have perhaps an easier task than big ones because it's easier to create that line of sight," she says.

2. Acknowledge your limitations

Admit it: You may not be able to provide the same opportunities for promotion that a large company can. But, "what you can do is make sure employees are getting the mentoring, training and development that they need to build a career with you — or someone else," Adkins says. While it sounds counterintuitive, offering an employee valuable (and marketable) work skills can reinforce good performance, she says.

3. Involve workers in special projects

Ask your employees to step away from their routine jobs and come up with creative solutions to customers' problems, suggests Ron Wince, president of Guidon Performance Solutions, a Mesa, Ariz., consulting firm. That sends a message that you value their creativity, which in turns boosts their job satisfaction. "If you go into a company and all people do is punch the clock, you as a customer can almost always tell how the morale is in an organization," he says. Once a month, invite a cross-section of employees to meet for a few hours and work on a particular issue, usually one involving customer service. Not only will you probably get some good ideas, but "the employee feels like they're part of something," he says.

4. Offer "add-ons" in addition to wages

Younger people, in particular, have grown up hearing catch phrases like "work-life balance" and value benefits such as child-care programs, flexible schedules, and even wellness initiatives almost as much as competitive salaries, says Pete Stoddart, a spokesman for Ceridian, a Minneapolis human-resources company. A small-business owner might not have the resources for formal programs, but can promise the flexibility to work with individuals in the event of major life events, such as the birth of a child, the death of a relative or health problems. And consider employee-assistance programs, which have come down in price and can be purchased by small businesses for roughly "a few dollars per employee per month," he says. "It's a very easy thing for a small-business owner to have in place."

5. Get creative with rewards

At trucking company Admiral Merchants Motor Freight in Minneapolis, which has about 60 employees, human-resources manager Augusta Kirk has come up with an original (and relatively low-budget) rewards program called "Run to the Border" to encourage the office staff to exercise. Working under a $2,000 budget, Kirk doles out gift certificates to restaurants and sporting-goods stores to employees who agree to work out for 30 minutes, five days a week, for all of 2007. (Kirk says each work-out session equals about six miles, so by the end of the year, employees who stick to it will log 1,508 miles, roughly the distance between their office and the Mexican border.) "You definitely do have better-performing employees if they are more active," she says. If an exercise routine doesn't work for your staff, Challenger suggests something like an NCAA basketball tournament. "Rather than drive the pools underground, do it for free and give an award out to the winner," he says.
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Toxic employees

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Toxic employees are the ones that have difficulty with their co-workers, or worse, far worse, with your customers.

They make two big confusions:
1. They confuse "How can I help this prospect/customer?" with "How can I get rid of this person and get back to work?"

2. They confuse, "How can I have a better day by treating this person with a great deal of respect?" with "Why isn't this person treating me with the respect I deserve?"

Toxic employees are usually afraid, poorly managed and underappreciated. They can rarely be bullied into changing their behavior, often because they themselves are bullies. Managers can hire the non-toxic, re-assign the toxic and be really clear with themselves that they're willing to pay almost any price to keep toxic employees away from everyone else. And if toxic employees appears to be a pattern, my bet is that it's your fault, not the employees.

[Via - Seth Godin]

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Nearly Half of U.S. Workers Feel Bullied at Work -- and They Want to Sue

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Employees complain of being publicly criticized, interrupted, teased, and ignored, according to a new survey.

From domestic diva Martha Stewart to firebrand former ambassador John Bolton, the headlines are filled with examples of bullying bosses. But a new survey reveals that the phenomenon may be common to all levels of management, not just occupants of the corner office.

More than 44 percent of 534 U.S. workers surveyed feel that their bosses bully them on the job, according to the Employment Law Alliance, a San Francisco-based network of employment and labor attorneys. The survey also found that 64% of workers feel they should have the right to sue if bullied.

"I am somewhat surprised," said Stephen Hirschfield, CEO of the Employment Law Alliance. "It's a new issue and I did not know how pervasive it was."

Bullying bosses are those who publicly criticize, rudely interrupt, tease, give dirty looks, use sarcastic jabs, or flat out ignore certain employees, according to the survey's respondents.

Hirschfield said he was also surprised at how many workers would consider litigation, adding that he does not feel courts should be addressing the problem, because such cases would put "the jury in a situation where they have to Monday-morning quarterback."

Since it's difficult to characterize bullying, juries would have a tough time legally defining the problem, according to Hirschfield. They would have to decide whether certain behavior constitutes bullying or just a "lack of common courtesy."

Hirschfield suggested that companies change their sexual harassment policies in order to include the most common bully tactics that bosses seem to use. "It would put management on notice of what is acceptable and what isn't," Hirschfield said. The policies "should have a zero tolerance policy for those problems."

Gary Namie, an author on the subject and founder of Work Doctor, a Washington-based company that helps businesses develop plans to stop the intimidation seen from bullying, said he thinks the issue permeates far more insidiously and destructively than the poll implies -- and believes laws should be designed to prevent the behavior.

Namie said bullying has two distinct characteristics, instead of the minor signs mentioned in the survey. "It is a deliberate campaign to destroy somebody else's job or career," he said. "And it is severe enough to cause harm to one's health."

One must distinguish between a bully and a boss with poor leadership skills, according to Namie. The skills can be taught, while you probably should get rid of the brutish bully that has no hope.

The problem is most people do not realize that bullying is an issue. Namie suggested that business owners look at turnover rates and absenteeism numbers. If people in a certain division show a tendency to not come to work, then the division head may have pushed the employees to the extreme measure of avoiding the job altogether.
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Five Tips to Motivate Small-Business Workers

http://eat-healthy-every-day.blogspot.com/

WHEN YOU RUN A lean operation, how do you motivate your work force?

Sure, large corporations with deep pockets can easily dangle bonuses, perks and an array of fancy reward programs (often created by outside consultants) to encourage employees to outperform. Yet, small businesses with limited budgets have a distinct advantage: Chances are, you probably know all your employees. So it's easier to show 'em you care.

In many cases, employees will perform best for a boss who can accommodate their needs, whether that's giving them an afternoon off to take care of a personal situation, re-arranging their work schedule so they can pick up kids from school, or allowing them to telecommute as needed, says John Challenger, head of outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas in Chicago.

"Small business can be so flexible," he says. "Big companies have policies, and if they make an exception they think the whole world will fall apart."

So when it comes to energizing your staff, being small can be your best advantage. Here are five steps to engage your employees:

1. Communicate your vision

A boss at a small firm should explain the company's missions and goals, preferably right when a new employee starts, says Jeanie Adkins, a rewards consultant at Mercer Human Resource Consulting in Louisville, Ky. Studies at larger corporations show that employees perform better when they understand the company's vision, think the company's mission is worthwhile, and think they can contribute to the success of the organization, she says. "Small businesses have perhaps an easier task than big ones because it's easier to create that line of sight," she says.

2. Acknowledge your limitations

Admit it: You may not be able to provide the same opportunities for promotion that a large company can. But, "what you can do is make sure employees are getting the mentoring, training and development that they need to build a career with you — or someone else," Adkins says. While it sounds counterintuitive, offering an employee valuable (and marketable) work skills can reinforce good performance, she says.

3. Involve workers in special projects

Ask your employees to step away from their routine jobs and come up with creative solutions to customers' problems, suggests Ron Wince, president of Guidon Performance Solutions, a Mesa, Ariz., consulting firm. That sends a message that you value their creativity, which in turns boosts their job satisfaction. "If you go into a company and all people do is punch the clock, you as a customer can almost always tell how the morale is in an organization," he says. Once a month, invite a cross-section of employees to meet for a few hours and work on a particular issue, usually one involving customer service. Not only will you probably get some good ideas, but "the employee feels like they're part of something," he says.

4. Offer "add-ons" in addition to wages

Younger people, in particular, have grown up hearing catch phrases like "work-life balance" and value benefits such as child-care programs, flexible schedules, and even wellness initiatives almost as much as competitive salaries, says Pete Stoddart, a spokesman for Ceridian, a Minneapolis human-resources company. A small-business owner might not have the resources for formal programs, but can promise the flexibility to work with individuals in the event of major life events, such as the birth of a child, the death of a relative or health problems. And consider employee-assistance programs, which have come down in price and can be purchased by small businesses for roughly "a few dollars per employee per month," he says. "It's a very easy thing for a small-business owner to have in place."

5. Get creative with rewards

At trucking company Admiral Merchants Motor Freight in Minneapolis, which has about 60 employees, human-resources manager Augusta Kirk has come up with an original (and relatively low-budget) rewards program called "Run to the Border" to encourage the office staff to exercise. Working under a $2,000 budget, Kirk doles out gift certificates to restaurants and sporting-goods stores to employees who agree to work out for 30 minutes, five days a week, for all of 2007. (Kirk says each work-out session equals about six miles, so by the end of the year, employees who stick to it will log 1,508 miles, roughly the distance between their office and the Mexican border.) "You definitely do have better-performing employees if they are more active," she says. If an exercise routine doesn't work for your staff, Challenger suggests something like an NCAA basketball tournament. "Rather than drive the pools underground, do it for free and give an award out to the winner," he says.
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Employees Favor Minimum-Wage Hike - small business - employers - labor market

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Most workers that are paid an hourly wage support a proposed increase in the federal minimum wage, even if it results in higher consumer prices and job cuts, a recent survey found.

Of 500 employees polled nationwide, 65 percent said they favor the wage hike regardless of its potential impact on consumer prices, while 50 percent were in favor if it meant co-workers might lose their jobs, according to Dominion Enterprises, a Norfolk, Va.-based media and marketing firm.

"Hourly employees understand that raising the federal minimum wage could lead to paying more at the cash register and a majority is prepared to do exactly that," Sharon Sewell, a senior director at the National Association of Workforce Boards, said in a statement. "Taken as a whole, the data suggests that there is popular support for raising the minimum wage, as 31 states already have."

A bill recently approved by Congress would raise the federal minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour over two years. The bill, which also includes $4.8 billion in tax cuts for smaller employers, was attached to an Iraq war spending bill vetoed by President Bush earlier this month. It has since been attached to a second spending bill approved by the House and expected to be debated in the Senate this week

Employees Favor Minimum-Wage Hike - small business - employers - labor market

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WHEN YOU RUN A lean operation, how do you motivate your work force?

Sure, large corporations with deep pockets can easily dangle bonuses, perks and an array of fancy reward programs (often created by outside consultants) to encourage employees to outperform. Yet, small businesses with limited budgets have a distinct advantage: Chances are, you probably know all your employees. So it's easier to show 'em you care.

In many cases, employees will perform best for a boss who can accommodate their needs, whether that's giving them an afternoon off to take care of a personal situation, re-arranging their work schedule so they can pick up kids from school, or allowing them to telecommute as needed, says John Challenger, head of outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas in Chicago.

"Small business can be so flexible," he says. "Big companies have policies, and if they make an exception they think the whole world will fall apart."

So when it comes to energizing your staff, being small can be your best advantage. Here are five steps to engage your employees:

1. Communicate your vision

A boss at a small firm should explain the company's missions and goals, preferably right when a new employee starts, says Jeanie Adkins, a rewards consultant at Mercer Human Resource Consulting in Louisville, Ky. Studies at larger corporations show that employees perform better when they understand the company's vision, think the company's mission is worthwhile, and think they can contribute to the success of the organization, she says. "Small businesses have perhaps an easier task than big ones because it's easier to create that line of sight," she says.

2. Acknowledge your limitations

Admit it: You may not be able to provide the same opportunities for promotion that a large company can. But, "what you can do is make sure employees are getting the mentoring, training and development that they need to build a career with you — or someone else," Adkins says. While it sounds counterintuitive, offering an employee valuable (and marketable) work skills can reinforce good performance, she says.

3. Involve workers in special projects

Ask your employees to step away from their routine jobs and come up with creative solutions to customers' problems, suggests Ron Wince, president of Guidon Performance Solutions, a Mesa, Ariz., consulting firm. That sends a message that you value their creativity, which in turns boosts their job satisfaction. "If you go into a company and all people do is punch the clock, you as a customer can almost always tell how the morale is in an organization," he says. Once a month, invite a cross-section of employees to meet for a few hours and work on a particular issue, usually one involving customer service. Not only will you probably get some good ideas, but "the employee feels like they're part of something," he says.

4. Offer "add-ons" in addition to wages

Younger people, in particular, have grown up hearing catch phrases like "work-life balance" and value benefits such as child-care programs, flexible schedules, and even wellness initiatives almost as much as competitive salaries, says Pete Stoddart, a spokesman for Ceridian, a Minneapolis human-resources company. A small-business owner might not have the resources for formal programs, but can promise the flexibility to work with individuals in the event of major life events, such as the birth of a child, the death of a relative or health problems. And consider employee-assistance programs, which have come down in price and can be purchased by small businesses for roughly "a few dollars per employee per month," he says. "It's a very easy thing for a small-business owner to have in place."

5. Get creative with rewards

At trucking company Admiral Merchants Motor Freight in Minneapolis, which has about 60 employees, human-resources manager Augusta Kirk has come up with an original (and relatively low-budget) rewards program called "Run to the Border" to encourage the office staff to exercise. Working under a $2,000 budget, Kirk doles out gift certificates to restaurants and sporting-goods stores to employees who agree to work out for 30 minutes, five days a week, for all of 2007. (Kirk says each work-out session equals about six miles, so by the end of the year, employees who stick to it will log 1,508 miles, roughly the distance between their office and the Mexican border.) "You definitely do have better-performing employees if they are more active," she says. If an exercise routine doesn't work for your staff, Challenger suggests something like an NCAA basketball tournament. "Rather than drive the pools underground, do it for free and give an award out to the winner," he says.
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Most workers that are paid an hourly wage support a proposed increase in the federal minimum wage, even if it results in higher consumer prices and job cuts, a recent survey found.

Of 500 employees polled nationwide, 65 percent said they favor the wage hike regardless of its potential impact on consumer prices, while 50 percent were in favor if it meant co-workers might lose their jobs, according to Dominion Enterprises, a Norfolk, Va.-based media and marketing firm.

"Hourly employees understand that raising the federal minimum wage could lead to paying more at the cash register and a majority is prepared to do exactly that," Sharon Sewell, a senior director at the National Association of Workforce Boards, said in a statement. "Taken as a whole, the data suggests that there is popular support for raising the minimum wage, as 31 states already have."

A bill recently approved by Congress would raise the federal minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour over two years. The bill, which also includes $4.8 billion in tax cuts for smaller employers, was attached to an Iraq war spending bill vetoed by President Bush earlier this month. It has since been attached to a second spending bill approved by the House and expected to be debated in the Senate this week

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Nearly Half of U.S. Workers Feel Bullied at Work -- and They Want to Sue

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Employees complain of being publicly criticized, interrupted, teased, and ignored, according to a new survey.

From domestic diva Martha Stewart to firebrand former ambassador John Bolton, the headlines are filled with examples of bullying bosses. But a new survey reveals that the phenomenon may be common to all levels of management, not just occupants of the corner office.

More than 44 percent of 534 U.S. workers surveyed feel that their bosses bully them on the job, according to the Employment Law Alliance, a San Francisco-based network of employment and labor attorneys. The survey also found that 64% of workers feel they should have the right to sue if bullied.

"I am somewhat surprised," said Stephen Hirschfield, CEO of the Employment Law Alliance. "It's a new issue and I did not know how pervasive it was."

Bullying bosses are those who publicly criticize, rudely interrupt, tease, give dirty looks, use sarcastic jabs, or flat out ignore certain employees, according to the survey's respondents.

Hirschfield said he was also surprised at how many workers would consider litigation, adding that he does not feel courts should be addressing the problem, because such cases would put "the jury in a situation where they have to Monday-morning quarterback."

Since it's difficult to characterize bullying, juries would have a tough time legally defining the problem, according to Hirschfield. They would have to decide whether certain behavior constitutes bullying or just a "lack of common courtesy."

Hirschfield suggested that companies change their sexual harassment policies in order to include the most common bully tactics that bosses seem to use. "It would put management on notice of what is acceptable and what isn't," Hirschfield said. The policies "should have a zero tolerance policy for those problems."

Gary Namie, an author on the subject and founder of Work Doctor, a Washington-based company that helps businesses develop plans to stop the intimidation seen from bullying, said he thinks the issue permeates far more insidiously and destructively than the poll implies -- and believes laws should be designed to prevent the behavior.

Namie said bullying has two distinct characteristics, instead of the minor signs mentioned in the survey. "It is a deliberate campaign to destroy somebody else's job or career," he said. "And it is severe enough to cause harm to one's health."

One must distinguish between a bully and a boss with poor leadership skills, according to Namie. The skills can be taught, while you probably should get rid of the brutish bully that has no hope.

The problem is most people do not realize that bullying is an issue. Namie suggested that business owners look at turnover rates and absenteeism numbers. If people in a certain division show a tendency to not come to work, then the division head may have pushed the employees to the extreme measure of avoiding the job altogether.
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Five Tips to Motivate Small-Business Workers

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WHEN YOU RUN A lean operation, how do you motivate your work force?

Sure, large corporations with deep pockets can easily dangle bonuses, perks and an array of fancy reward programs (often created by outside consultants) to encourage employees to outperform. Yet, small businesses with limited budgets have a distinct advantage: Chances are, you probably know all your employees. So it's easier to show 'em you care.

In many cases, employees will perform best for a boss who can accommodate their needs, whether that's giving them an afternoon off to take care of a personal situation, re-arranging their work schedule so they can pick up kids from school, or allowing them to telecommute as needed, says John Challenger, head of outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas in Chicago.

"Small business can be so flexible," he says. "Big companies have policies, and if they make an exception they think the whole world will fall apart."

So when it comes to energizing your staff, being small can be your best advantage. Here are five steps to engage your employees:

1. Communicate your vision

A boss at a small firm should explain the company's missions and goals, preferably right when a new employee starts, says Jeanie Adkins, a rewards consultant at Mercer Human Resource Consulting in Louisville, Ky. Studies at larger corporations show that employees perform better when they understand the company's vision, think the company's mission is worthwhile, and think they can contribute to the success of the organization, she says. "Small businesses have perhaps an easier task than big ones because it's easier to create that line of sight," she says.

2. Acknowledge your limitations

Admit it: You may not be able to provide the same opportunities for promotion that a large company can. But, "what you can do is make sure employees are getting the mentoring, training and development that they need to build a career with you — or someone else," Adkins says. While it sounds counterintuitive, offering an employee valuable (and marketable) work skills can reinforce good performance, she says.

3. Involve workers in special projects

Ask your employees to step away from their routine jobs and come up with creative solutions to customers' problems, suggests Ron Wince, president of Guidon Performance Solutions, a Mesa, Ariz., consulting firm. That sends a message that you value their creativity, which in turns boosts their job satisfaction. "If you go into a company and all people do is punch the clock, you as a customer can almost always tell how the morale is in an organization," he says. Once a month, invite a cross-section of employees to meet for a few hours and work on a particular issue, usually one involving customer service. Not only will you probably get some good ideas, but "the employee feels like they're part of something," he says.

4. Offer "add-ons" in addition to wages

Younger people, in particular, have grown up hearing catch phrases like "work-life balance" and value benefits such as child-care programs, flexible schedules, and even wellness initiatives almost as much as competitive salaries, says Pete Stoddart, a spokesman for Ceridian, a Minneapolis human-resources company. A small-business owner might not have the resources for formal programs, but can promise the flexibility to work with individuals in the event of major life events, such as the birth of a child, the death of a relative or health problems. And consider employee-assistance programs, which have come down in price and can be purchased by small businesses for roughly "a few dollars per employee per month," he says. "It's a very easy thing for a small-business owner to have in place."

5. Get creative with rewards

At trucking company Admiral Merchants Motor Freight in Minneapolis, which has about 60 employees, human-resources manager Augusta Kirk has come up with an original (and relatively low-budget) rewards program called "Run to the Border" to encourage the office staff to exercise. Working under a $2,000 budget, Kirk doles out gift certificates to restaurants and sporting-goods stores to employees who agree to work out for 30 minutes, five days a week, for all of 2007. (Kirk says each work-out session equals about six miles, so by the end of the year, employees who stick to it will log 1,508 miles, roughly the distance between their office and the Mexican border.) "You definitely do have better-performing employees if they are more active," she says. If an exercise routine doesn't work for your staff, Challenger suggests something like an NCAA basketball tournament. "Rather than drive the pools underground, do it for free and give an award out to the winner," he says.
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In today's business world, loyalty is a very powerful concept. Decades ago, most younger employees would stay on a job for several years at a time. Older employees would stay longer, especially if they were concerned about building a career with that employer. But times have changed, and many employees, especially those in their 20s and 30s, don't consider loyalty to an employer to be as important as it once was.

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Sorry, no one is in the office right now: They’re all at the movies. Don't laugh--such a response is becoming more plausible as employers find new and enticing ways to attract and motivate employees with a wide range of perks designed to enhance individual effort and, in some cases, promote team building and chemistry.

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