Small Business Tip of the Day

A number of studies have found a direct correlation between workplace morale and corporate results, so how can you improve employee morale – and, by extension, your bottom line?

If your big idea is a physical product or gadget, you may need to enlist the services of a contract manufacturer to help bring your product to market.

If customers are having trouble finding you, you may need to change the way you think.

If sales prospects who once seem excited about your product or service turn cold, you may be doing a few things that turn them off.

Surviving in a tough economy takes discipline and forethought, and it pushes entrepreneurs to find creative ways to cut expenses even as they work to grow their business. For example, cutting back on business travel just makes sense. Why spend all that money when e-mail, Skype and even instant messages can get the job done?

Still, for …

The tough economy of the past few years has made managing and leading a business harder than it used to be, but one author has some leadership lessons that might help.

For a small business, alliances and partnerships can be an important path to growth, so learning how to nurture these relationships is critical.

Unless you can afford to pay top dollar, you likely won’t be hiring employees who are a perfect fit for the job on day one. That’s where training and employee development come in.

The best technology companies have long had a reputation as great places to work, as companies offer great benefits and working conditions to compete for the best talent.

So you have a Facebook page, a Twitter account, email newsletters and a website optimized for search engines and mobile users. Now don’t forget good old-fashioned offline promotion.

An unhappy customer can reach a lot more people than they used to thanks to social media, so how can you deal with it when it’s your company coming in for criticism?