Gina Abudi » Business

The Waste of Interpretation

David K — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:30:33 +0000

The Confused by KylaMay on deviantart.com

Say what you mean. Mean what you say.

Speaking clearly is just another one of those things that seems like it ought to be easy to do, yet remains remarkably elusive. Very often, when we’re speaking, we will say something that makes perfect sense to us, but [...]

Start Making Sales on Twitter!

Michael — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:30:06 +0000

We all understand the importance of Twitter, and yet few people actually achieve measurable results. I’ve had countless conversations with Entrepreneurs spending 1-3 hours per day on Twitter who achieve very little results. I on the other hand spend the same amount of time and generate substantial business.

These Entrepreneurs are driven, passionate, [...]

Evaluating How Well You Facilitate Meetings

Gina — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 14:30:02 +0000

Do you know how well you facilitate your meetings? You should! Your ability to effectively facilitate meetings enables for more productive, effective and efficient meetings that meet the stated goals and objectives.

To improve upon your meetings, evaluate the next meeting you have through a self-evaluation and through asking participants to evaluate the meeting.

[...]

What are your business habits?

Gina — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 14:30:49 +0000

I read an article recently in Business on Main, 7 Bad Business Habits to Break this Year, and it got me thinking about what business habits I have that have been of value to me.

Let me share a few things that have been successful for me and hopefully you’ll walk away with a [...]

Best Practice Steps to Successfully Plan for Change

Gina — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 14:30:30 +0000

Planning for change initiatives is not an easy task. We often forget some very essential steps that will help ensure success of the change initiative. If you want to have a successful change initiative, take these best practice steps in planning for the initiative:

Get Smart: Be sure you understand the change that needs [...]

Try These Best Practice Tips to Reach Your Business Goals in 2012

Gina — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 14:30:46 +0000

Try these best practice tips to set up your small business for success in 2012 and beyond. Develop a plan to get started today!

If you don’t have a business plan, think about the direction you want your business to go and develop a business plan. If you already have one; see if it [...]

Is There Conflict In the Business…

Gina — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 14:30:41 +0000

Between what you ask your employees to do and company policies?

I recently saw this Dilbert cartoon and it reminded me of a story from a friend who works at a financial firm. Here’s her story…see if you can relate:

Each employee was asked to take at least 25 hours of professional development [...]

Managing Publicity for Your Business

Gina — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 14:34:09 +0000

A recent article in Business on Main entitled, Don’t Let To-Die-For Publicity Kill Your Business, reminded me of a local restaurant that served fantastic Arabic cuisine.

The restaurant, soon after opening, was visited by a restaurant critic who posted his review in The Boston Globe magazine and a few other magazines. The critic raved [...]

Money is Available for Small Business Investment

Michael — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 14:30:15 +0000

I was recently invited to an event put on by Owen Clark of Byzhub. The speaker, Basil Peters is an experienced Angel Investor who discussed opportunity for entrepreneurs seeking investors. For more than 5 years news outlets are predicting D-Day, the lack of financial support for Small Business owners, which would cripple the [...]

Five Easy (and Cheap!) Ways to Reward Your Employees This Year

Gina — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 14:30:51 +0000

Many small businesses can’t afford to spend a lot of money rewarding their employees for a job well done and, since they cannot, often skip doing anything. Not a good idea! Acknowledge your employees’ hard work this year in any of these 5 easy (and not expensive!) ways:

Give employees an extra day off [...]

Do You Have What it Takes to be an Entrepreneur?

Gina — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 14:30:36 +0000

Being an entrepreneur does not come easily. It takes a certain person to be an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs are innovative; looking for new ways of doing something. Innovative doesn’t necessarily mean they create something new from scratch; rather they may offer up a better way of providing a service or an improvement in a product [...]

Top 5 mistakes made when hiring a Social Media “expert”

Michael — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 14:30:05 +0000

When looking for hire a freelance contractor, or firm to handle your Social Media efforts such as Twitter, Facebook, or Blog avoid these 5 common mistakes.

1) They don’t know your industry. Hire someone who has a similar industry background, ask them industry related questions and test their knowledge. Having someone who does [...]

Focus on the Customer to Ensure Business Success

Gina — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 14:30:21 +0000

A recent video on Business on Main – Cool Runnings – profiled Zane’s Cycles based in Connecticut. Zane’s Cycles focus in on the customer and, in particular, creating lifelong customers. I particularly enjoyed this video because it emphasizes a point I’ve been making for a number of years – it is ALL about the [...]

Tips for Managing Rude Meeting Participants

Gina — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 14:30:55 +0000

We all have experienced rude meeting participants when we are trying to lead a meeting. You’ve been in that meeting when the person next to you is making remarks under his breath, texting instead of participating, or cutting off the person speaking. You’ve probably also led the meeting when someone is doing everything but [...]

Negotiating for Success

Gina — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 14:30:29 +0000

A recent article in Business on Main, “You Want What? Four Tips for Civilized Negotiating,” provided four essential best practices when negotiating:

Conduct interspace negotiations Ask the right question Don’t negotiate via email Listen

Read more about each tip in the article. Negotiating is a part of life in general – whether we negotiate [...]

4 Small Business Tools from Google

Michael — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 14:30:32 +0000

Google clearly “gets” that Small Businesses Owners are constantly looking for online tools that help. Although Google has hundreds of business focused applications we would like to highlight our favourite. They’re essential for Entrepreneurs and their completely free services.

Google Analytics

Google Analytics has become the industry standard for advanced website monitoring. This [...]

Why Should Someone Invest in Your Startup?

Gina — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 14:30:03 +0000

I was recently reading an article on Business on Main, 20 Funding Sources for Your Startup. It provided a few tips on how to pull together your proposal for funding, but also provided a number of great resources for seed stage funding. While certainly you need a plan for how you will ensure your [...]

Facebook Timeline for Business

Michael — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 14:30:35 +0000

Facebook Co-Founder Mark Zuckerberg announced at the F8 Developers Conference a complete re-design of the Facebook Profile page. This new design will be called Timeline. It’s a storyline of your Facebook Social Life featuring a large horizontal image across the top of the screen. As an Enterpriser and business owner my first reaction is [...]

Why the business card will never die

Michael — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 13:30:19 +0000

Over the years, business cards have evolved; these changes include digital information like email, social media, and websites. The basic principle of handing someone your business card remains. It’s a symbol of engagement, connection, and intent for future contact. This personal connection will never be replaced with WiFi, Bluetooth, or future technology. The [...]

Staying Organized in Your Business

Gina — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 13:30:52 +0000

I saw this great video with three space saving gadgets for the home office (or any office space frankly) on Business on Main. Paul Hochman, in his Tech Notes, introduced three products: USB cable hub to reduce wire clutter, clip on LED task lamp to illuminate your laptop and a twistable power strip (I [...]