Enter to Win: The Big Biz Book Giveaway
Ready to win some amazing business books? Of course you are! Now through February 7, 2012, you can enter to win business books like:
- I Love You More Than My Dog by Jeanne Bliss
- It’s Your Biz by Susan Solovic
- Visual Marketing by Anita Campbell and David Langton
- Social Media Marketing eLearning Kit For Dummies by Phyllis Khare
- The Entrepreneur Equation by Carol Roth
The Big Biz Book Giveaway is being held in conjunction with the Small Business Book Awards. Many of the books we’re giving away are also nominees in the book awards, so be sure to vote for them now through February 16, 2012.
How to Enter
You can enter to win the book contest each day through February 7, 2012 by sending a tweet that includes the hashtag #BizBookAwardsWin. While most of the giveaways are for the United States or North America only, there is one for International winners on February 7, 2012, so be sure to check the day’s listing.
What: Big Biz Book Giveaway
When: January 31, 2012 through February 7, 2012
Where: Twitter
How to enter: Just send a Tweet that includes the hashtag #BizBookAwardsWin to enter or simply click the “Click here to tweet” link below to be entered:
You can also copy and paste the Tweet provided below into Twitter to enter:
I’m entering to win the Biz Book #Giveaway! Just tweet #BizBookAwardsWin to enter to win great biz books today http://ow.ly/8Q72h
Good luck!
Enter to Win: The Big Biz Book Giveaway
Create Products (near) Instantly
What I share with you in the video below is probably the single fastest way to start brainstorming and creating your own info products (in dozens, if not hundreds of niches).
I tried to keep this video short but it ended up being about 8:30 minutes.
Enjoy!
This is a follow-up video tutorial to the article I wrote a while back on “how to magically create a product outline“.
Create Products (near) Instantly is a post from: SuperSimpleMarketing.com
Employees Are Satisfied With Their Jobs: Or Are They?
How do your employees feel about their jobs? For a small business owner, the answer to this question is crucial. Employees who are happy at work and passionately engaged with their jobs are more loyal to their employers, more productive and just plain better for your business.
A recent study of employee job satisfaction and engagement has some useful insights for entrepreneurs. The Society for Human Resource Management’s 2011 Job Satisfaction and Engagement Research Report, which surveyed companies of all sizes in late 2011, found that while more than 75 percent of U.S. employees are satisfied with their jobs overall, there are some key areas of dissatisfaction.
Paying attention to these areas could mean the difference between keeping and losing valuable workers.
A whopping 83 percent of U.S. employees said that overall, they are satisfied with their current jobs. SHRM vice president for research Mark Schmit notes that in general, this percentage hasn’t changed significantly in the last 10 years. Schmit says:
“In general, people find ways to be satisfied at work.”
But while you might think that in a tough job market, people would feel that just having a job at all is reason to be satisfied, in reality the percentage of satisfied employees has decreased slightly since 2009.
One key area where employees are less than satisfied is career development. Only about 40 percent of respondents say they are satisfied with the career development and advancement opportunities at their current jobs.
For the first time, the survey also looked at employee engagement. Engagement differs from satisfaction. While satisfaction depends primarily on job security, engagement measures how committed employees are to the workplace and how connected they feel. When it comes to engagement, there’s room for improvement. Just 52 percent of employees feel completely engaged at work; only 53 percent say they enjoy going above and beyond what their jobs require.
While these aren’t horrible numbers, I’m sure you agree that having all of your employees fully engaged in their work is the ideal state. So how can you improve things?
Schmit theorizes the disengagement is because employees feel they aren’t being groomed for the future:
“Employees seem to be saying, “I’m not getting training or opportunities for development, so why would I volunteer to do extra things to advance my career by helping out the organization?”
Small business owners often worry that the only thing their employees care about is raises and other financial rewards—which are tough for a small business to offer in this economy. The good news from the SHRM findings is that training and advancement opportunities are easier to offer.
True, you may not have immediate advancement opportunities for employees. But you can offer training. Here are some ideas:
- Cross-train employees so they learn new skills. This also benefits your business, since employees can fill in for each other when there’s an absence or vacation.
- Set up informal mentorships where more experienced employees show younger ones the ropes.
- Look into free or low-cost training and education programs at local community colleges or adult education centers.
- Meet with employees to figure out their career paths. As a small business owner, you have more flexibility to design jobs that take advantage of your team’s skills and desires.
Are you worried that you’ll institute training efforts, only to see those employees leave for greener pastures? Dissatisfied employees will leave when the job market improves—whether you’ve trained them or not. Then you’ll have to train their replacements. Isn’t it better to invest the time and effort in the employees you have now and keep them on your team?
Engage with your employees, and their engagement will increase, too.
Employee Training Photo via Shutterstock
Employees Are Satisfied With Their Jobs: Or Are They?
