Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Why You Need to Know About SEO—Even If You Don’t Sell Online

SEO. It is an acronym you read about all the time, and it can be confusing if you are new to marketing online. Regardless of your expertise on the subject, I am here to tell you that you need to learn everything you can about it if you want to have a successful online marketing plan.

SEO (or search engine optimization) is the process of affecting the visibility of a website or a web page in a web search engine’s unpaid results. This process is often referred to as natural or organic search as it involves bringing traffic to your website without paid advertising.

Search engine optimization is a unique marketing process focused on growing your online visibility. Simply put, SEO is sometimes just a matter of making sure your site is structured in a way that search engines understand, including having a quality homepage and site navigation.

I came across SEO by accident many years ago when I created a simple website for the sole purpose of hosting my freelance portfolio. I began receiving inquiry emails a short time later, and wanted to find out how people found me. So, what happened as an accident sent me on my way to find out everything I could about the industry.

SEO Is Important, Even If You Don’t Sell Online

Many businesses overlook SEO since they don’t sell products online. They believe that being a brick-and-mortar business doesn’t require them to drive people to their website as they don’t get any revenue from it.

I’m here to tell you that this is WRONG!

People research before they buy. Even if you don’t sell online, people are still going to search for what you are selling in the store. And if you don’t have a strong online presence, they will likely find your competitor instead and drive over to make a purchase without even knowing you exist.

Think about this: When was the last time you were out and about and decided to go out somewhere new to eat? Did you go door-to-door and ask someone if they knew a good place? Not likely.

If you are like everyone else, you went to your phone and searched for restaurants in your area. There are obviously some paid results in your search, but the majority of what you saw was presented to you because of good SEO efforts on the part of those businesses.

Why Some Still Don’t Use It

Some businesses know that SEO is important but still decide not to pursue it. There could be multiple reasons why.

“For starters, people need to communicate with other people,” says Eddie Madan, CEO of Canadian internet marketing firm Edkent Media. “Many individuals feel greater in the event that they can see you before they buy from you. Real life face-to-face interactions and constant communications have an expansive influence in client relationship building.”

Madan points out that although some businesses know SEO is important, they seem to put more weight into face-to-face connections and ignore how people found them in the first place (likely the internet).

There are also so many changes happening in the world of SEO that people often give up trying to use it. I wrote about this last year in an article on AllBusiness: “For some reason, webmasters and marketers think that it’s time to abandon SEO every time there is a major shift in its practice. Not sure if they are scared of change or simply too lazy, but there are some who are always trying to find a reason to get out of SEO.”

Bad SEO professionals have also scared people away from the industry. Promises of ranking quickly that end up penalizing websites have caused distrust.

“Of course, there have never really been any absolute guarantees when it comes to SEO,” says SEO expert and author Stephan Spencer. “You should run away screaming from any SEO practitioner who promises one.”

It has gotten so bad that some SEO professionals have even abandoned the profession, such as digital marketing consultant Ryan Stewart. In documenting why he no longer sells SEO services, Stewart says, “I mean, come on people. Look around. We need to stop trying to jam websites where they don’t belong. The SERPs have changed.”

What You Can Do

Don’t let what I said above sour you from hiring an SEO service. There are plenty of good ones out there if you know the right questions to ask.

Digital marketing consultant Pratik Dholakiya put together a nice list of questions you can use to vet any potential SEO provider. Use these to weed out those who know what they are doing and get rid of those likely to get you in trouble with Google.

Chances are you already use social media. This is a great place to help increase organic traffic. You can attract more clients and customers through social media simply by posting and sharing content and interacting with others. Google will see user interactions (an important element in factoring rank), and reward you accordingly.

If you are unsure of where to start, use one of the free SEO audit tools available online. You will likely receive sales calls and emails once you do, but at least you will have a starting point and know which direction you need to go.

Most importantly, read everything you can about search engine optimization. Keep in mind the “trust but verify” principle when doing so as there is a ton of bad advice out there. Subscribe to Kindle Unlimited as there are quite a few e-books with tips and tricks on SEO that you can read in under an hour.

Summing It Up

Like it or not, SEO is here to stay—maybe not in the traditional sense of the word, but search engine optimization will still be the way to increase your organic presence for years to come. Even if you don’t sell online, you will still need to use it if you want people to find you.

Learning as much as you can about the industry will help you determine if you need to hire someone or you can go it alone. Vet any professional you want to hire and don’t blindly believe everything you read. Put all of these tips together and hopefully you will be able to increase your digital footprint.

The post Why You Need to Know About SEO—Even If You Don’t Sell Online appeared first on AllBusiness.com

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3 Scrappy Startups Making Big Moves Against Big Brands

If there is just one thing that we have learned from our journeys online, it’s that the internet can have a dramatic ability to level the playing field.

Even when there is already a large, established name in a particular vertical, a scrappy little startup still has a shot at carving out its own niche.

Google certainly wasn’t the web’s first search engine, and it entered into a space that already had a number of established players, but look at how far Google has come since its humble beginnings. Just because there’s a big brand doesn’t mean the “little guy” can’t compete.

Here are three terrific examples that are already making big waves across the internet.

Vidgo vs. Netflix

Once upon a time, Netflix was the underdog seeking to disrupt an industry that was already dominated by the likes of Blockbuster brick-and-mortar stores. How times have changed.

While other big brands like Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime Video are working hard to make strides of their own, there’s another online video streaming service that’s looking to shake things up too. It’s called Vidgo and it was originally announced at CES 2016 last January. The service is currently being tested in select markets in the United States, but the startup hopes to expand its service offering to more areas very soon.

A key component of Vidgo’s strategy is to capitalize on Netflix’s biggest weakness: live TV. As vast as the Netflix catalog may be, it does not offer access to local and national live television, particularly when it comes to news, sports, and live events. Even Vidgo’s basic package will provide “hundreds of channels” and premium tiers will unlock channels comparable to what you’d get from Comcast or Time Warner.

The appeal of Vidgo is that it can combine an experience equivalent to regular cable TV, including local channels with 30 days of cloud DVR and a large catalog of on-demand content. It’s the best of both worlds and it’ll work on a variety of devices, from Roku streaming boxes and Amazon Fire TV to your Apple iPad and desktop computer. This so-called “over-the-top” streaming service aims to provide the most comprehensive content choice at the most affordable prices.

Designhill vs. 99Designs

One of the biggest trends to emerge on the internet in recent memory is the desire to turn to a very large number of people for support rather than looking to a single individual. Instead of seeking angel investors, a startup might place their project up on Kickstarter or Indiegogo; the same is true for small businesses that need design work.

Companies will host a “contest” among several professionals and simply select the one they like the best—all for the same price (or less) as hiring a single designer. One of the more prominent names in this space is 99Designs, which boasts over one million designers from around the world.

In contrast, Designhill has a smaller pool of designers, and its pricing scheme makes it much more attractive to small businesses with more modest budgets. The cheapest logo design package at 99Designs starts at $299 with access to only their “good” designers and not their “better,” “expert,” or “exceptional” designers who cost more. By contrast, the smallest logo package from Designhill is just $149. Both offer money back guarantees; optional upgrades, like getting your contest featured or highlighted, are also cheaper with Designhill.

Designhill started from a place of passion for the two brothers who co-founded it in 2014. They embrace feedback and pride themselves in customer satisfaction. The company’s strong social media presence also has further emboldened the brand.

Where Designhill is winning is by offering a largely identical product for about half the price. You want to crowdsource a logo? Both 99Designs and Designhill can do that. You want to attract a large number of designs to choose from? Both of them offer that too. This shows that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel, so long as your wheel is almost as good as the one with the brand name sticker on the side.

ClickMeeting vs. GoToWebinar

Whereas web conferencing was once purely the domain of larger companies and organizations, that is simply no longer the case. Independent bloggers, tech startups, and affiliate marketers alike have found great value in hosting live webinars as a means of conveying information in a much more engaging and interactive way. This has also opened up greater competition in this space beyond providers who have otherwise focused their efforts on enterprise and corporate applications.

GoToWebinar by Citrix has come to be recognized as the Skype of the web conferencing world, largely because it is trusted by so many large brands. More than 60 million people attend a GoToWebinar event each year, but it is not the only game in town. ClickMeeting is making waves by providing more options and key features in its offering.

While many of the primary features and benefits appear to be reasonably comparable, pricing can vary. The cheapest package from ClickMeeting is about $30 a month (for up to 25 attendees), while the Starter plan with GoToWebinar is $89 a month (for up to 100 participants). By focusing of its efforts on smaller sized businesses, ClickMeeting is addressing a growing need in the marketplace—no wonder it was named best overall video conference system by Business News Daily.

Freelancers can use GoToWebinar, but they may find ClickMeeting more appealing, more approachable, and more affordable. It’s very user-friendly and no credit card is required. The ability to create a unique URL for your webinar is also a definite plus.

This Is Only the Beginning

Remember that GoPro entered a market where massive brands like Canon and Nikon already dominated. Remember that Facebook grew in an environment where MySpace looked like an unstoppable force.

Startups continue to carve out new niches and push innovation forward. Vidgo, Designhill, and ClickMeeting are three of the best examples of this trend and they only represent the tip of the iceberg. Who will be the next breakout star?

The post 3 Scrappy Startups Making Big Moves Against Big Brands appeared first on AllBusiness.com

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If You Refinance a Mortgage, When Will You Break Even?

Part of the process of deciding whether to refinance your mortgage is figuring out when you would break even. Without knowing that, you may be shocked to learn that it could be years before you start saving money. Look, this isn’t going to require IBM’s Watson to calculate. In fact, you just took an important first...



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How to Write a Business Plan, Step by Step

A business plan can make or break a small business. A strong, detailed plan provides a clear road map for the future, forces you to think through the validity of a business idea, and can give you much greater understanding of your business’s financials and the competition. A business plan typically looks out over three...



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Best Car Insurance for Veterans and Military Personnel

If you’re a veteran or active member of the military, you and your family might be eligible for some of the best car insurance rates around. Some insurance companies, such as USAA, offer insurance exclusively for veterans, active-duty military and their families. Others provide special discounts and services targeted at the military market. Military car...



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4 Sane Ways To Pay Down Student Debt

If you’ve read any of the student-debt success stories circulated in the media lately, you might think the only way to pay down your debt is to give up coffee, your social life and your apartment. “It seems like borrowers are told that they have to live on beans in a shantytown and pay off...



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Business Structure: How to Choose the Right One for You

Designing a killer website, prototyping your product, talking your way to your first big order — these parts of starting your business likely stir your entrepreneurial passions. The business structure of your new enterprise? Not so exciting. But hold on. Careful consideration of which structure is right for you is crucial because it will have...



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Looking to Rent? Avoid a Credit Check Scam

The apartment ads on Craigslist looked enticing, showing pictures of decent rentals offered at reasonable prices. But the ads were bogus, and an estimated 146,000 would-be renters didn’t end up with a lease. Instead, many got stuck with a recurring charge of nearly $30 a month. The Federal Trade Commission has filed an injunction to...



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How To Manage Your 401(k) in Uncertain Times

It doesn’t take much to make an individual investor uneasy about the market these days, especially when retirement savings are at stake. Just scanning today’s headlines is like taking a walk through a minefield of trigger words: interest rates, tax laws, international politics, the Affordable Care Act. But while Main Street is testing out casserole...



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Mortgage Rates Tuesday, Feb. 28: Turning Higher; Record Home Prices for 4th Month in a Row

Thirty-year and 15-year fixed rates, as well as 5/1 ARM rates, are all higher today, according to a NerdWallet survey of mortgage interest rates published by national lenders Tuesday morning. After more than a week of mostly sinking, mortgage rates rebounded and took a firm turn higher today. Investors may be adding some bond exposure to their...



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How Does the Alternative Minimum Tax Work?

The alternative minimum tax came into being half a century ago as lawmakers tried to prevent the very rich from escaping their fair share of federal income taxes. It requires high-income earners to run the numbers twice — under regular tax rules and under the stricter AMT rules — and pay the higher amount owed....



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State of the Small Business Blog: What 5 Recent Research Studies Reveal

Got a company blog? If you’re a small business, odds are that you don’t. And if you’re a very small business—like 50 employees or less—you’re even less likely to have a blog.

According to the WASP 2017 “State of Small Business Report,” less than 20% of companies with 50 employees or less have a blog. That’s pretty low, given how popular blogs are.

But compare that figure to websites. It’s not widely known, but almost half of all small businesses don’t have a website. So given how few businesses have a website, it’s not too surprising so few of them have blogs.

Honestly, I’m not really surprised by how few companies have blogs. Or that the number of companies that have blogs has gone down in the last year.

Blogs are a lot of work. And there’s way more to them than just publishing content. If you want a successful blog, you’re going to have to publish new content regularly (more on that in a moment). But that’s just the first part. You’re also going to have to promote your blog posts. Then you’ll need to add some lead generation incentives to get people to do more than just read. Without a few really good e-books or other content assets to attract leads, you probably won’t get good results from your blog.

It gets complicated pretty fast. There’s far more to blogs than just pushing out content.

How often are blog posts published?

Speaking of “pushing out content,” let’s talk about one of the primary challenges to maintaining a blog: publishing often enough. Fortunately, some recent surveys show how often marketers tend to publish to their blogs.

Here’s what bloggers said when Orbit Media Studios asked them about their publishing frequency:

Here’s a different take on publishing frequency. This one’s based on B2B companies from a study done by TrackMaven.

The companies included in the TrackMaven report are much larger than the average firm in either the Orbit Media survey or our own WASP State of Small Business Report. But I’m including this graph here anyway. Why? Because it’s good to know what your competition is doing. This graph also speaks to how intense the competition is in blogging. There’s an enormous amount of content being published every day.

So what does this all mean for you? Well, if you’re a larger company in a competitive industry, it probably means you’ll need to publish several times a week to keep up with your peers. But as some of you might have noticed, 20% of the bloggers in the Orbit Media study publish only a couple times a month; another 20% of them publish weekly.

Which frequency is right for you? Probably the more conservative one. It’s far better to publish less often with higher-quality content than to publish more often with weaker content. Your audience is busy after all—and it’s not like they’re short on reading material. Every small company needs to publish professional quality content if it wants to keep people’s attention. If that means you can only publish once or twice a month, so be it.

But how much time would publishing a blog post once a month take? Or asked another way…

How long does it take to write a blog post?

Not too long, as it turns out. More than a third of bloggers write their posts in an hour or two, according to Orbit Media’s survey of bloggers; the average time came in at about 2.5 hours.

That’s not too far off from what another survey found. Here are the results from HubSpot’s 2016 “State of Inbound Report.”

Knowing the average time required to write a blog post can be valuable knowledge for planning your blogging work (or for assigning it to an employee). If a post takes about 2 to 3 hours to write, then it’s something that can be done in a morning or an afternoon, assuming there are no interruptions.

Take note: 2.5 hours is for the average post. I’d recommend you aim to be above average. Give yourself about 4 hours to write a post.

Of course, how long it takes to write a post depends on how long the post is itself. Fortunately, we’ve got data on that, too:

How many words are in the average the blog post?

Orbit Media reports that most (61%) of blog posts are 500 to 1,000 words long.

That’s in line with what the TrackMaven study found, too:

Both those studies also found that blog posts are getting longer over time. This is probably due to competition—search engines tend to prefer longer content. Some studies have even named 1,500-1,600 words the ideal length for a blog post. That’s the length most likely to get ranked for SEO, to get shares, and to get inbound links—all the things most content marketers want.

Is having a company blog even worth it?

Given how much work this all is … do marketers really say blogging is worthwhile? I’d say yes. So did most of the B2B marketers surveyed by the Content Marketing Institute and Marketing Profs for their 2017 study. Many of the B2C marketers said the same thing.

Conclusion

I get why so few small companies have blogs—they’re a lot of work, and it takes a special skillset to get results from them. But for the companies that can put in the time, blogging is consistently named as one of the best tactics in marketing today.

So now you know some of the averages for blog production, the time to create posts and more. That means you can better estimate how much work it will take to maintain your own company blog—or to launch it in the first place.

The post State of the Small Business Blog: What 5 Recent Research Studies Reveal appeared first on AllBusiness.com

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10 Steps the Trump Administration Must Take to Truly Make America Great Again

A cornerstone of the Donald Trump candidacy was the loss of jobs in Middle America to foreign competitors. There is no denying that, over the last 50 years, U.S. manufacturing jobs have been lost, factories have been shuttered, and jobs in major industries such as the coal industry have rapidly disappeared. Rust belt towns have been affected from job losses and underemployment, and incomes for many Americans with jobs have not kept pace with living costs.

But what was not understood in the clamor of the campaign was that many of these jobs would not come back because they were, in large part, never lost to foreign competitors. The emphasis by the Trump Administration on dismantling foreign trade agreements may not fully achieve the stated goal of creating millions of new jobs for Americans. The truth is, solving the foreign trade issue would likely only produce an insignificant increase in new jobs. Other initiatives need to be undertaken to create new jobs here at home.

Where Did the Jobs Go?

Workers today produce twice as much manufacturing output as their counterparts did in the early 1990s, and three times as much as in the early 1980s, thanks to innovation and advances in technology that have made today’s workers the most productive in history.

Since 1975, manufacturing output has more than doubled, while employment in the sector has decreased by 31%. While these American job losses are indeed sobering, they are not an indication of declining U.S. competitiveness. In fact, these statistics reveal that the average American manufacturer is over three times more productive today than they were in 1975. The auto industry produces as many cars as it did decades before but with nearly two-thirds fewer workers. Automation and production efficiencies are key reasons for the reduction in U.S. manufacturing jobs.

Our employed labor supply has increased—older Americans are holding on to jobs instead of letting younger workers take them, partially because Social Security is not providing an adequate retirement living standard. Another factor is concern about the solvency of Medicare and the high out-of-pocket cost of drugs for cancer and other illnesses. Americans’ average self-reported age of retirement has slowly trended upward. According to a Gallup poll, from 2002 through 2012 the average retirement age hovered around 60. Over the past two years, the average age at which Americans report retiring has increased to 62. With nearly 60 million Americans over age 60, a retirement age shift of a year or two prevents millions of jobs from becoming available to younger workers.

There is no doubt that global trade agreements such as North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Korean Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) have cost jobs. As to the net effect of NAFTA, the net loss of jobs is actually lower than most people believe. In total, 116,400 U.S. jobs were displaced between 2007 and 2010. Thus in a world without NAFTA there would have been 116,400 more available positions in 2010 in the United States, which equates to less than 0.1% of the U.S. labor force.

China is the most visible recipient of U.S. jobs. Manufactured goods imported from China would have surged substantially even had China not joined the World Trade Organization (WTO)—the development that Donald Trump claims “enabled the greatest jobs theft in history.” According to Brad DeLong, professor of economics and chief economist of the Blum Center for Developing Economies at the University of California, Berkeley, “The best estimate is that because China joined the WTO, the U.S. has 200,000 more jobs in manufacturing industries that export to China, and 500,000 fewer manufacturing jobs in industries where China exports to the U.S. The net loss is 300,000. That represents 0.22 percentage points of the U.S. labor force.”

Partially offsetting job losses are the Walmart-level prices from Chinese production that have increased the spending power of the U.S. population on goods that would have been much more expensive if manufactured in the United States.

So if the most significant issues are labor efficiency, automation, and workers’ inability to retire comfortably, what should the Trump Administration do to create millions of meaningful jobs for Americans?

Making America Competitive in the World Economy

Significant new jobs can be created in the United States if we focus on what creates new jobs. Below are 10 ways to supercharge our economy and create great jobs for our citizens.

1. Invest in Infrastructure

Senator Bernie Sanders and the Trump Administration actually agree on this issue. Sanders proposed the Rebuild America Act to invest $1 trillion over five years to modernize the country’s infrastructure. Congress has been opposed to such a significant expenditure and opposed President Obama’s efforts to increase infrastructure expenditures. One only needs to drive a few miles on a U.S. highway or compare a U.S. airport or subway system to those found in emerging market economies to realize that infrastructure improvement is not a luxury, but a necessity.

Implement the Rebuild America Act in 2017.

2. Promote the Creation of New Industries

Consider the many new industries that have emerged in the last 10 years: social media, communications, electric automobiles, Internet retail, and the significant expansion of traditional industries such as aviation and even space exploration. Then consider new industries such as virtual reality, technology-based education, biopharmaceuticals, high-speed transportation, and artificial intelligence. Companies that don’t even exist today, building products and services for the future, will create millions of jobs. Investment by our government in platforms that will facilitate emerging technologies is needed to drive job creation and make sure that the United States is on the cutting edge of technology advancement.

Establish an Evolving Industry Tax Credit focused on job creation in new industries to promote those new industries and help create the jobs of the future.

3. Focus on Middle-Market Companies

Large companies do not create the majority of new jobs in the United States, according to the National Center for the Middle Market: “In every quarter except one (the first quarter of 2012) middle market revenue growth has outpaced that of the S&P 500, often by huge margins (6.9% to 4.4% in this quarter (4Q 2016), for example). Revenue for the middle market increased nearly twice as fast as GDP. While one cannot compare those two numbers one-to-one, the proportion is revealing. So, too, are the employment numbers. By our estimation, the middle market produces three out of five net new private-sector jobs. It is often asserted that small business is the engine of job creation in America.”

Federal and state governments have long provided some assistance to small businesses in the form of loans under the Small Business Administration (SBA), but that is not enough. One federal program potentially under the chopping block is the Small Business Innovation Research (or SBIR) program, which is a U.S. government program coordinated by the SBA, and intended to help certain small businesses conduct research and development (R&D). Funding takes the form of contracts or grants. The recipient projects must have the potential for commercialization and must meet specific U.S. government R&D specifications.

The SBIR program was created to support scientific excellence and technological innovation through the investment of federal research funds in critical American priorities to build a strong national economy. Funds are obtained by allocating a certain percentage of the total extramural (R&D) budgets of the 11 federal agencies with extramural research budgets in excess of $100 million. Approximately $2.5 billion is awarded through this program each year.

Expand, do not kill, the SBIR program for domestic companies employing U.S. workers.

4. Introduce Tax Reform

Tax reform for the wealthy does little for job creation in the United States. Wealthy individuals have traditionally saved, not spent, tax savings. The middle class and lower income class tend to spend tax savings on goods and services immediately, thus improving the economy. Business owners with tax savings tend to reinvest in their businesses, especially when they increase net employment.

Introduce tax reform that provides tax reductions to the middle and low-income classes, and provide small business owners a credit for tax saving amounts they reinvest in their businesses.

5. Increase, Don’t Decrease, Global Trade

According to the Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2013 CFO Outlook, 62% of companies surveyed reported buying materials or services from foreign companies, up from 47% the year before. With respect to all activities, 73% reported buying from, selling into, or having actual operations in foreign countries—a significant increase over the 54% of the year before.

For a middle-market company, global consumer spending growth will fuel a company’s growth, and with the widespread adoption of online social networks in most countries of the world, accessing global customers is fairly easy. Dismantling global trade agreements will no doubt reduce global market access for middle-market companies.

While it is prudent to “negotiate the best deal” for our global agreements, it is better to avoid creating new trade barriers for our domestic companies.

6. Return Industry to Middle America

In the 1930s, the United States set out to modernize rural America by passing the Rural Electrification Act of 1936, which provided federal loans for the installation of electrical distribution systems to serve isolated rural areas of the country.

The funding was channeled through cooperative electric power companies, most of which still exists today. The program was enormously effective, and this same type of program could be established today to offer loans, grants, and tax credits to any size business returning jobs to Middle America and the Rust Belt. Many states have programs that offer tax abatements to companies relocating to their states, but few offer loans and grants to startup and middle-market companies to help them start operations in small towns that have lost their traditional industries. Subsidizing broadband Internet access in rural America can entice companies to situate their calls centers there, instead of in India or the Philippines.

Create and fund a Rural Industrialization Act to bring jobs back to rural America.

7. Reduce Administrative and Reporting Regulations

Over-regulation has long been the complaint of small and mid-sized businesses. Many businesses, particularly small businesses, complain about the mounting government regulations, red tape, and barriers to doing business. Few can dispute that mounting regulations have made it more difficult to grow a business in the United States. The Small Business Act of 2013 was created, in part, to help small businesses compete in the U.S. economic market. Consider the expansion of this act to eliminate more regulations.

Some regulations, however, actually generate jobs. For example, the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, enacted in 1975 by Congress after the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973-74, were regulations meant to improve the average fuel economy of cars produced for sale in the United States. Long fought by the auto industry, CAFE regulations added to the auto sales of other companies, reduced oil consumption, and helped preserve the environment. They also directly led to the creation of electric auto production and new companies such as Tesla. The reality is that not all regulations are “job killers”—done the right way they help incentivize investment in promising new technologies.

Expand and build on The Small Business Act of 2013 to promote new job creation.  

8. Increase the Minimum Wage

Both political parties vigorously debate this subject and the merits of these arguments are beyond the scope of this article. Raising the minimum wage could make U.S. companies less competitive against foreign competitors. On the other side, raising the minimum wage allows consumers to buy more consumer goods and thus create more jobs. Whichever side you are on, it is a fact that the states that have the highest minimum wage laws are the highest growth rate states in the country. Low minimum wages lead to more welfare and social structure programs.

Implement a reasonable nationwide minimum wage increase.

9. Increase Immigration in Specialty Fields

Although it runs counter to the prevailing sentiment, we must increase immigration to the United States of highly educated and skilled workers. In order to lead the world in science, medicine, and technology, we need to increase immigration of skilled professionals, including people who want to work in a “specialty occupation.” A current proposal in Congress is to reduce immigration by one-half, but this will make our country less competitive and will affect key growth industries.

The H-1B visa is most strongly associated with the technology sector, but about 15,000 healthcare workers received an H-1B visa in 2014, including over 7,000 doctors and surgeons. These professionals help expand our technology industry, start new firms, and provide vital healthcare services to our citizens.

Expand immigration in specialty professions and make it easier for skilled professionals to enter the United States.

10. Expand Environmental Initiatives

A comprehensive program to reduce carbon emissions can create a wave of new American jobs.

In 2016, employment in the U.S. solar industry grew at the fastest pace in at least seven years as demand for clean power soared, with growth in all sectors including manufacturing, sales, and installation.

One out of every 50 new American jobs last year was in the solar industry, which now employs more than 260,000 workers, according to an annual report from The Solar Foundation, a Washington-based nonprofit. By contrast, U.S. employment in coal mining peaked in 1923, when there were 863,000 coal miners. Since then, mechanization has greatly improved productivity in coal mining, so that employment has declined at the same time coal production has increased. The average number of coal mining employees declined to 65,400 in 2015, with a significant part of that decline due to replacing coal with low-cost natural gas.

Expanding environmental initiatives, particularly in conjunction with programs to promote rural job creation, could significantly expand the number of jobs in rural America and provide stable careers for people displaced by declining industries.

The United States must continue creating jobs for its workers and take the lead in industrial, scientific, and technological production. Creating a comprehensive program that is rationally designed to leverage and accelerate market forces will ensure that the United States remains the world leader in economic expansion, while at the same time making sure that no workers are left behind.

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How to Be a Good Leader: 3 Questions Every Employee Wants Answered Every Day

By Nate Regier

The research on employee engagement, morale, and retention is clear: Employees of any age come to work wanting answers to three important questions. The more confident they are in the answers, the more enthusiastic and productive they will be.

The messages from these three answers can’t just be written on a mission statement or given lip-service. They have to be lived and reinforced every day, especially when the chips are down. Each one is necessary, but not sufficient alone to ensure a dynamic, engaged, and productive work culture.

It’s surprising how many leaders and work cultures forget how important these three questions are. Stop answering them or only answer some of them, and your culture will show it; take them for granted and results will suffer.

What are these three questions? And how should leaders answer them?

1. Are we worthwhile?

Everyone wants to know they are worthwhile as human beings first. Treating your employees with respect and dignity gives them the confidence that they can take healthy risks, put their hearts into their work, share what’s important to them, and learn from their mistakes. In the same way, leaders must model the same, showing that they believe in their own worthiness by living authentically, without excuses, and being vulnerable.

Here are three positive ways to answer this question:

Show empathy. Learn to understand what others are feeling. Ask people genuine questions about how they are doing, not just what they are doing. Take the time to sit with your employees when they’re happy and when they’re upset. Also, avoid the urge to fix or avoid their feelings.

Disclose. Real worthiness is demonstrated through the courage to disclose our feelings, wants, and needs—not because you expect something from others, but because you respect yourself and others enough to put your feelings out there. Openness is the new leadership killer app.

Validate. Most leaders have been trained to recognize people for their hard work and dedication; however, very few leaders are good at validating people. Validation literally means telling someone they are worthwhile, no strings attached. It is about treating a person like a human, not an object. Does this mean performance doesn’t matter? Of course not. Performance is connected to many things, like privileges and promotions, but it is unrelated to a person’s worthiness as a human being. You can say, “You matter to me” and “Your performance is not meeting goals,” and both can be true.

2. Are we capable?

Dan Pink’s best-selling book Drive outlines the essential drivers of performance at work. One of them is mastery; it is extremely satisfying to get better at something, to learn to do it well. Why? Because it answers the second question “Am I capable?” Great leaders believe that people can and want to learn, grow, solve problems, and do amazing things, so they set up situations for that to happen.

Here are three strategies for answering the capability question:

Be a resource. Don’t rescue. Capability is built when potential is realized through effort. Good leaders offer resources, but don’t take on the work themselves. They clarify deliverables, but don’t micromanage the process. They help set goals, but don’t prescribe how to get there. They clarify problems, but don’t take on the responsibility for solving them.

Resources that leaders should have at their disposal and be prepared to share include information, honest and timely feedback, time, connections, strategies, curious questions, willingness to explore possibilities, an open mind, and plenty of grace so that people can embrace the concept of learning from failure.

Be curious. An attitude of curiosity can accomplish big things. Asking open-ended questions and asking follow-up questions are great ways to be curious. If you have an unspoken agenda, or are fishing for an answer, or have your next question already formulated, you aren’t curious.

Build on strengths. Nothing builds success like success. Leadership has a lot to do with finding and building on what’s already working. Many times employees aren’t aware of their own unique gifts and capacities, or how these can be leveraged to help the company. When people feel confident in one area, they are more likely to put effort into other areas or continue developing their strengths.

3. Are we accountable?

It’s true for children, and it’s true for adults—people want to know the rules of the game of life. Even more importantly, they want to know that the rules aren’t going to change unexpectedly or be applied inconsistently. Like it or not, consistency is more important than the rule itself; leadership is ultimately responsible for ensuring consistency between word and deed.

Accountability means we do what we say we are going to do, we have reasonable rules that we follow, we make promises and deliver on them, and we achieve the goals we set. Cultures that lack accountability become that way from multiple situations and interactions where leaders don’t do their part.

Here are three strategies for closing the gap between word and deed:

Clarify and articulate non-negotiables. What really matters to you? What principles are at stake? What boundaries and behaviors are so important that you absolutely can’t do without them? You need to figure out what these non-negotiables are and make sure everyone knows what they are. Also, keep it simple. Many well-meaning efforts fall apart when things are too complicated or too lofty.

Talk about gaps. What happens when behavior doesn’t match up? Talk about it. Now, not later. In person, not via email. Directly, not through passive avoidance. Frequently, not at the annual performance review. Authentically, without blame or threats.

Own up and make it right. Nothing shows the true colors of a leader more than what he or she does next after a making a mistake. Taking responsibility for choices and behaviors, and being proactive to take corrective action are critical components of accountable work cultures. Good leaders create safe spaces for employees to own up and step up in a spirit of compassion.

About the Author

Post by: Nate Regier

Dr. Nate Regier is the co-founding owner and chief executive officer of Next Element, a global advisory firm specializing in building cultures of compassionate accountability. A former practicing psychologist, Nate is an expert in social-emotional intelligence and leadership, positive conflict, mind-body-spirit health, neuropsychology, group dynamics, interpersonal and leadership communication, executive assessment and coaching, organizational development, team building, and change management. An international adviser, he is a certified Leading Out of Drama master trainer, Process Communication Model® certifying master trainer, and co-developer of Next Element’s Leading Out of Drama® training and coaching. Nate has published two books: Beyond Drama and his latest work, Conflict Without Casualties.

Company: Next Element
Website: www.next-element.com
Connect with me on Facebook and Twitter.

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How to Be a Good Leader: 3 Questions Every Employee Wants Answered Every Day

By Nate Regier

The research on employee engagement, morale, and retention is clear: Employees of any age come to work wanting answers to three important questions. The more confident they are in the answers, the more enthusiastic and productive they will be.

The messages from these three answers can’t just be written on a mission statement or given lip-service. They have to be lived and reinforced every day, especially when the chips are down. Each one is necessary, but not sufficient alone to ensure a dynamic, engaged, and productive work culture.

It’s surprising how many leaders and work cultures forget how important these three questions are. Stop answering them or only answer some of them, and your culture will show it; take them for granted and results will suffer.

What are these three questions? And how should leaders answer them?

1. Are we worthwhile?

Everyone wants to know they are worthwhile as human beings first. Treating your employees with respect and dignity gives them the confidence that they can take healthy risks, put their hearts into their work, share what’s important to them, and learn from their mistakes. In the same way, leaders must model the same, showing that they believe in their own worthiness by living authentically, without excuses, and being vulnerable.

Here are three positive ways to answer this question:

Show empathy. Learn to understand what others are feeling. Ask people genuine questions about how they are doing, not just what they are doing. Take the time to sit with your employees when they’re happy and when they’re upset. Also, avoid the urge to fix or avoid their feelings.

Disclose. Real worthiness is demonstrated through the courage to disclose our feelings, wants, and needs—not because you expect something from others, but because you respect yourself and others enough to put your feelings out there. Openness is the new leadership killer app.

Validate. Most leaders have been trained to recognize people for their hard work and dedication; however, very few leaders are good at validating people. Validation literally means telling someone they are worthwhile, no strings attached. It is about treating a person like a human, not an object. Does this mean performance doesn’t matter? Of course not. Performance is connected to many things, like privileges and promotions, but it is unrelated to a person’s worthiness as a human being. You can say, “You matter to me” and “Your performance is not meeting goals,” and both can be true.

2. Are we capable?

Dan Pink’s best-selling book Drive outlines the essential drivers of performance at work. One of them is mastery; it is extremely satisfying to get better at something, to learn to do it well. Why? Because it answers the second question “Am I capable?” Great leaders believe that people can and want to learn, grow, solve problems, and do amazing things, so they set up situations for that to happen.

Here are three strategies for answering the capability question:

Be a resource. Don’t rescue. Capability is built when potential is realized through effort. Good leaders offer resources, but don’t take on the work themselves. They clarify deliverables, but don’t micromanage the process. They help set goals, but don’t prescribe how to get there. They clarify problems, but don’t take on the responsibility for solving them.

Resources that leaders should have at their disposal and be prepared to share include information, honest and timely feedback, time, connections, strategies, curious questions, willingness to explore possibilities, an open mind, and plenty of grace so that people can embrace the concept of learning from failure.

Be curious. An attitude of curiosity can accomplish big things. Asking open-ended questions and asking follow-up questions are great ways to be curious. If you have an unspoken agenda, or are fishing for an answer, or have your next question already formulated, you aren’t curious.

Build on strengths. Nothing builds success like success. Leadership has a lot to do with finding and building on what’s already working. Many times employees aren’t aware of their own unique gifts and capacities, or how these can be leveraged to help the company. When people feel confident in one area, they are more likely to put effort into other areas or continue developing their strengths.

3. Are we accountable?

It’s true for children, and it’s true for adults—people want to know the rules of the game of life. Even more importantly, they want to know that the rules aren’t going to change unexpectedly or be applied inconsistently. Like it or not, consistency is more important than the rule itself; leadership is ultimately responsible for ensuring consistency between word and deed.

Accountability means we do what we say we are going to do, we have reasonable rules that we follow, we make promises and deliver on them, and we achieve the goals we set. Cultures that lack accountability become that way from multiple situations and interactions where leaders don’t do their part.

Here are three strategies for closing the gap between word and deed:

Clarify and articulate non-negotiables. What really matters to you? What principles are at stake? What boundaries and behaviors are so important that you absolutely can’t do without them? You need to figure out what these non-negotiables are and make sure everyone knows what they are. Also, keep it simple. Many well-meaning efforts fall apart when things are too complicated or too lofty.

Talk about gaps. What happens when behavior doesn’t match up? Talk about it. Now, not later. In person, not via email. Directly, not through passive avoidance. Frequently, not at the annual performance review. Authentically, without blame or threats.

Own up and make it right. Nothing shows the true colors of a leader more than what he or she does next after a making a mistake. Taking responsibility for choices and behaviors, and being proactive to take corrective action are critical components of accountable work cultures. Good leaders create safe spaces for employees to own up and step up in a spirit of compassion.

About the Author

Post by: Nate Regier

Dr. Nate Regier is the co-founding owner and chief executive officer of Next Element, a global advisory firm specializing in building cultures of compassionate accountability. A former practicing psychologist, Nate is an expert in social-emotional intelligence and leadership, positive conflict, mind-body-spirit health, neuropsychology, group dynamics, interpersonal and leadership communication, executive assessment and coaching, organizational development, team building, and change management. An international adviser, he is a certified Leading Out of Drama master trainer, Process Communication Model® certifying master trainer, and co-developer of Next Element’s Leading Out of Drama® training and coaching. Nate has published two books: Beyond Drama and his latest work, Conflict Without Casualties.

Company: Next Element
Website: www.next-element.com
Connect with me on Facebook and Twitter.

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Customer Retention: 6 Techniques to Cultivate and Build a Stronger Customer Base

It would be wonderful if businesses could keep all of their customers forever. Obviously, this would lead to long-term sustainable growth and immense success. Unfortunately, this is wishful thinking at best.

Assuming every customer cannot be retained, then the next best thing is for a business to retain the majority of its customers—and indeed its best customers. Retaining customers, however, takes more than continuous marketing campaigns, introduction of new products or services, or having competitive pricing.

Undoubtedly, a business must provide benefits that customers seek, solutions to problems, quality, value, and a certain amount of service before, during, and after a sale, depending on the product or service sold.

Customer retention is dependent upon the following six techniques:

1. Building Relationships

While it is easier to build relationships in some businesses and industries than in others, relationship building should be the goal for all businesses. Relationships normally are not built quickly; it takes time to nurture true relationships.

When there is a lengthy sales cycle, lasting relationships can be more easily built as salespeople and customers have time to get to know each other. Although, the primary goal should be to build business relationships, becoming better acquainted with each other on a personal level can help achieve this goal.

Even for businesses that have short sales cycles, relationships can still be fostered between salespeople and customers. In this situation, relationships must be developed quickly during the initial interaction, and by having the right attitude, showing concern, asking relevant questions, and providing prompt service.

One important reason to have strong relationships with customers is so that business can continue, even if something in the sales or customer service process does not go as planned.

2. Setting Reasonable Expectations

When customers understand what to expect and expectations are met, customers become satisfied with the product or service they have purchased. It is when expectations are not met that customers seek competitive businesses that can provide expected results.

The old adage of “under promise and over deliver” is an axiom that sounds good for business; however, it is more important for a business to deliver what is promised and expected rather than something less. While customers might be generally pleased and pleasantly surprised to receive more than what’s expected, receiving anything less will have as a much greater negative impact than the positive impact of receiving more than what was expected.

3. Delivering the Right Message

One factor of customer retention is dependent upon delivering the right message. Customers are more likely to stay with businesses that deliver messages they understand.

Although a business might sell the same product or service to different markets, this does not mean that the same message should be delivered unchanged to all markets. Different markets may require different messages, and messages should target the specific needs of customers. The best message for one market segment may be totally ineffective for another segment. The retention process is enhanced when products and services are matched with the right customers through targeted messages.

4. Educating Customers

Today’s customer wants to be educated, and thanks to the internet and social media, information is only a click away. Because of the ease of information that is freely and easily transmitted, it is imperative for businesses to furnish relevant content to its customers. This does not mean that the only form of product or service information should be obtained from electronic sources. Sales reps and employees need to be equally informed about what a business is selling and in order to communicate this information to customers. Purchasers want relevant information to help them make informed decisions.

5. Seeking Input

There’s no better way for businesses to find out what customers want than to ask them. After that, a business can then focus on what customers find favorable and make necessary changes to better accommodate customers’ wants and needs. Employees that deal directly with customers are another important source of information about customer satisfaction levels. They hear directly what customers are saying about a company, its products, pricing, levels of customer service, and even the competition.

6. Never Faltering on Customer Service

Keeping a business’s best customers requires providing top-level customer service at all times. This should not only occur when customers become dissatisfied. Building loyalty through customer service is not a hit or miss proposition; it cannot exist one day but not the next. Customer service is letting customers know they are “number one” all the time. A high level of customer service can make the difference between one isolated sale or continuous repeat business.

Convert Ordinary Customers Into Extraordinary Customers

Since it takes considerably more cost, time, and effort to obtain new customers than it takes to retain current customers, businesses should concentrate on cultivating ordinary customers into extraordinary customers.

Competition is also intense in almost every business sector. Once a customer is lost to the competition, rarely does that customer return, and the investment of both financial and human capital is lost as well.

Use these six techniques to build a stronger customer base of extraordinary business patrons.

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Monday, February 27, 2017

10 Steps the Trump Administration Must Take to Truly Make America Great Again

A cornerstone of the Donald Trump candidacy was the loss of jobs in Middle America to foreign competitors. There is no denying that, over the last 50 years, U.S. manufacturing jobs have been lost, factories have been shuttered, and jobs in major industries such as the coal industry have rapidly disappeared. Rust belt towns have been affected from job losses and underemployment, and incomes for many Americans with jobs have not kept pace with living costs.

But what was not understood in the clamor of the campaign was that many of these jobs would not come back because they were, in large part, never lost to foreign competitors. The emphasis by the Trump Administration on dismantling foreign trade agreements may not fully achieve the stated goal of creating millions of new jobs for Americans. The truth is, solving the foreign trade issue would likely only produce an insignificant increase in new jobs. Other initiatives need to be undertaken to create new jobs here at home.

Where Did the Jobs Go?

Workers today produce twice as much manufacturing output as their counterparts did in the early 1990s, and three times as much as in the early 1980s, thanks to innovation and advances in technology that have made today’s workers the most productive in history.

Since 1975, manufacturing output has more than doubled, while employment in the sector has decreased by 31%. While these American job losses are indeed sobering, they are not an indication of declining U.S. competitiveness. In fact, these statistics reveal that the average American manufacturer is over three times more productive today than they were in 1975. The auto industry produces as many cars as it did decades before but with nearly two-thirds fewer workers. Automation and production efficiencies are key reasons for the reduction in U.S. manufacturing jobs.

Our employed labor supply has increased—older Americans are holding on to jobs instead of letting younger workers take them, partially because Social Security is not providing an adequate retirement living standard. Another factor is concern about the solvency of Medicare and the high out-of-pocket cost of drugs for cancer and other illnesses. Americans’ average self-reported age of retirement has slowly trended upward. According to a Gallup poll, from 2002 through 2012 the average retirement age hovered around 60. Over the past two years, the average age at which Americans report retiring has increased to 62. With nearly 60 million Americans over age 60, a retirement age shift of a year or two prevents millions of jobs from becoming available to younger workers.

There is no doubt that global trade agreements such as North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Korean Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) have cost jobs. As to the net effect of NAFTA, the net loss of jobs is actually lower than most people believe. In total, 116,400 U.S. jobs were displaced between 2007 and 2010. Thus in a world without NAFTA there would have been 116,400 more available positions in 2010 in the United States, which equates to less than 0.1% of the U.S. labor force.

China is the most visible recipient of U.S. jobs. Manufactured goods imported from China would have surged substantially even had China not joined the World Trade Organization (WTO)—the development that Donald Trump claims “enabled the greatest jobs theft in history.” According to Brad DeLong, professor of economics and chief economist of the Blum Center for Developing Economies at the University of California, Berkeley, “The best estimate is that because China joined the WTO, the U.S. has 200,000 more jobs in manufacturing industries that export to China, and 500,000 fewer manufacturing jobs in industries where China exports to the U.S. The net loss is 300,000. That represents 0.22 percentage points of the U.S. labor force.”

Partially offsetting job losses are the Walmart-level prices from Chinese production that have increased the spending power of the U.S. population on goods that would have been much more expensive if manufactured in the United States.

So if the most significant issues are labor efficiency, automation, and workers’ inability to retire comfortably, what should the Trump Administration do to create millions of meaningful jobs for Americans?

Making America Competitive in the World Economy

Significant new jobs can be created in the United States if we focus on what creates new jobs. Below are 10 ways to supercharge our economy and create great jobs for our citizens.

1. Invest in Infrastructure

Senator Bernie Sanders and the Trump Administration actually agree on this issue. Sanders proposed the Rebuild America Act to invest $1 trillion over five years to modernize the country’s infrastructure. Congress has been opposed to such a significant expenditure and opposed President Obama’s efforts to increase infrastructure expenditures. One only needs to drive a few miles on a U.S. highway or compare a U.S. airport or subway system to those found in emerging market economies to realize that infrastructure improvement is not a luxury, but a necessity.

Implement the Rebuild America Act in 2017.

2. Promote the Creation of New Industries

Consider the many new industries that have emerged in the last 10 years: social media, communications, electric automobiles, Internet retail, and the significant expansion of traditional industries such as aviation and even space exploration. Then consider new industries such as virtual reality, technology-based education, biopharmaceuticals, high-speed transportation, and artificial intelligence. Companies that don’t even exist today, building products and services for the future, will create millions of jobs. Investment by our government in platforms that will facilitate emerging technologies is needed to drive job creation and make sure that the United States is on the cutting edge of technology advancement.

Establish an Evolving Industry Tax Credit focused on job creation in new industries to promote those new industries and help create the jobs of the future.

3. Focus on Middle-Market Companies

Large companies do not create the majority of new jobs in the United States, according to the National Center for the Middle Market: “In every quarter except one (the first quarter of 2012) middle market revenue growth has outpaced that of the S&P 500, often by huge margins (6.9% to 4.4% in this quarter (4Q 2016), for example). Revenue for the middle market increased nearly twice as fast as GDP. While one cannot compare those two numbers one-to-one, the proportion is revealing. So, too, are the employment numbers. By our estimation, the middle market produces three out of five net new private-sector jobs. It is often asserted that small business is the engine of job creation in America.”

Federal and state governments have long provided some assistance to small businesses in the form of loans under the Small Business Administration (SBA), but that is not enough. One federal program potentially under the chopping block is the Small Business Innovation Research (or SBIR) program, which is a U.S. government program coordinated by the SBA, and intended to help certain small businesses conduct research and development (R&D). Funding takes the form of contracts or grants. The recipient projects must have the potential for commercialization and must meet specific U.S. government R&D specifications.

The SBIR program was created to support scientific excellence and technological innovation through the investment of federal research funds in critical American priorities to build a strong national economy. Funds are obtained by allocating a certain percentage of the total extramural (R&D) budgets of the 11 federal agencies with extramural research budgets in excess of $100 million. Approximately $2.5 billion is awarded through this program each year.

Expand, do not kill, the SBIR program for domestic companies employing U.S. workers.

4. Introduce Tax Reform

Tax reform for the wealthy does little for job creation in the United States. Wealthy individuals have traditionally saved, not spent, tax savings. The middle class and lower income class tend to spend tax savings on goods and services immediately, thus improving the economy. Business owners with tax savings tend to reinvest in their businesses, especially when they increase net employment.

Introduce tax reform that provides tax reductions to the middle and low-income classes, and provide small business owners a credit for tax saving amounts they reinvest in their businesses.

5. Increase, Don’t Decrease, Global Trade

According to the Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2013 CFO Outlook, 62% of companies surveyed reported buying materials or services from foreign companies, up from 47% the year before. With respect to all activities, 73% reported buying from, selling into, or having actual operations in foreign countries—a significant increase over the 54% of the year before.

For a middle-market company, global consumer spending growth will fuel a company’s growth, and with the widespread adoption of online social networks in most countries of the world, accessing global customers is fairly easy. Dismantling global trade agreements will no doubt reduce global market access for middle-market companies.

While it is prudent to “negotiate the best deal” for our global agreements, it is better to avoid creating new trade barriers for our domestic companies.

6. Return Industry to Middle America

In the 1930s, the United States set out to modernize rural America by passing the Rural Electrification Act of 1936, which provided federal loans for the installation of electrical distribution systems to serve isolated rural areas of the country.

The funding was channeled through cooperative electric power companies, most of which still exists today. The program was enormously effective, and this same type of program could be established today to offer loans, grants, and tax credits to any size business returning jobs to Middle America and the Rust Belt. Many states have programs that offer tax abatements to companies relocating to their states, but few offer loans and grants to startup and middle-market companies to help them start operations in small towns that have lost their traditional industries. Subsidizing broadband Internet access in rural America can entice companies to situate their calls centers there, instead of in India or the Philippines.

Create and fund a Rural Industrialization Act to bring jobs back to rural America.

7. Reduce Administrative and Reporting Regulations

Over-regulation has long been the complaint of small and mid-sized businesses. Many businesses, particularly small businesses, complain about the mounting government regulations, red tape, and barriers to doing business. Few can dispute that mounting regulations have made it more difficult to grow a business in the United States. The Small Business Act of 2013 was created, in part, to help small businesses compete in the U.S. economic market. Consider the expansion of this act to eliminate more regulations.

Some regulations, however, actually generate jobs. For example, the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, enacted in 1975 by Congress after the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973-74, were regulations meant to improve the average fuel economy of cars produced for sale in the United States. Long fought by the auto industry, CAFE regulations added to the auto sales of other companies, reduced oil consumption, and helped preserve the environment. They also directly led to the creation of electric auto production and new companies such as Tesla. The reality is that not all regulations are “job killers”—done the right way they help incentivize investment in promising new technologies.

Expand and build on The Small Business Act of 2013 to promote new job creation.  

8. Increase the Minimum Wage

Both political parties vigorously debate this subject and the merits of these arguments are beyond the scope of this article. Raising the minimum wage could make U.S. companies less competitive against foreign competitors. On the other side, raising the minimum wage allows consumers to buy more consumer goods and thus create more jobs. Whichever side you are on, it is a fact that the states that have the highest minimum wage laws are the highest growth rate states in the country. Low minimum wages lead to more welfare and social structure programs.

Implement a reasonable nationwide minimum wage increase.

9. Increase Immigration in Specialty Fields

Although it runs counter to the prevailing sentiment, we must increase immigration to the United States of highly educated and skilled workers. In order to lead the world in science, medicine, and technology, we need to increase immigration of skilled professionals, including people who want to work in a “specialty occupation.” A current proposal in Congress is to reduce immigration by one-half, but this will make our country less competitive and will affect key growth industries.

The H-1B visa is most strongly associated with the technology sector, but about 15,000 healthcare workers received an H-1B visa in 2014, including over 7,000 doctors and surgeons. These professionals help expand our technology industry, start new firms, and provide vital healthcare services to our citizens.

Expand immigration in specialty professions and make it easier for skilled professionals to enter the United States.

10. Expand Environmental Initiatives

A comprehensive program to reduce carbon emissions can create a wave of new American jobs.

In 2016, employment in the U.S. solar industry grew at the fastest pace in at least seven years as demand for clean power soared, with growth in all sectors including manufacturing, sales, and installation.

One out of every 50 new American jobs last year was in the solar industry, which now employs more than 260,000 workers, according to an annual report from The Solar Foundation, a Washington-based nonprofit. By contrast, U.S. employment in coal mining peaked in 1923, when there were 863,000 coal miners. Since then, mechanization has greatly improved productivity in coal mining, so that employment has declined at the same time coal production has increased. The average number of coal mining employees declined to 65,400 in 2015, with a significant part of that decline due to replacing coal with low-cost natural gas.

Expanding environmental initiatives, particularly in conjunction with programs to promote rural job creation, could significantly expand the number of jobs in rural America and provide stable careers for people displaced by declining industries.

The United States must continue creating jobs for its workers and take the lead in industrial, scientific, and technological production. Creating a comprehensive program that is rationally designed to leverage and accelerate market forces will ensure that the United States remains the world leader in economic expansion, while at the same time making sure that no workers are left behind.

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Sample Investor Pitch Deck for a Startup

Free Download

 

Investor-Pitch-Deck-for-a-Startup-1

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How Owning or Selling a Home Affects Your Taxes

Owning a home is exciting, challenging and the biggest investment of many people’s lives. It’s also a good way to reduce your tax bill. Home-related tax breaks begin as soon as you close on your new abode and last throughout your time in the house. But to maximize them, you need to follow some rules. A...



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Cash Value Life Insurance: Is It Right for You?

“Cash value” has a nice ring to it when you’re thinking about buying life insurance, but you’ll need to do some careful analysis to learn whether a cash-value policy is worth the cost. The phrase “cash value” refers to a savings component of permanent life insurance, such as universal life and whole life insurance. The...



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Money Orders Defined: Cost, Best Uses, Where to Buy

Money orders have been around for over a century and are still a reliable way to send funds.  Here’s what a money order is and how to use it. What is a money order? A money order is a form of prepaid payment that’s a safe alternative to cash or checks. You specify who will receive the money order,...



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Mortgage Rates Monday, Feb. 27: Holding Near 2017 Lows

Thirty-year and 15-year fixed rates, as well as 5/1 ARM rates, are all mostly unchanged today, according to a NerdWallet survey of current mortgage rates published by national lenders Monday morning. After retreating for five of the past six days, fixed-rate mortgages are holding close to 2017 lows. Adjustable-rate loans have barely moved for weeks, according to...



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The 40 Most Frequently Asked Job Interview Questions

Job interviews can be stressful. The best way to prepare for a job interview is to anticipate—and prepare for—the questions you are most likely to be asked.

So instead of stumbling through a job interview trying to answer questions you didn’t anticipate, check out this list of frequently asked job interview questions so that you can practice articulate and convincing responses to each one of them.

Introductory Questions

The job interview will probably start off with some general introductory questions, such as:

  • Can you tell me a little about yourself?
  • What do you know about our company?
  • How did you hear about this job?
  • What motivates you?

Questions About Work History

The interviewer will be very interested in your work experience and how that experience might translate for the open position. So expect questions such as:

  • Can you please walk me through your resume?
  • Why are you thinking about leaving your current job?
  • Can you explain gaps in your work history (if relevant)?
  • Can you describe a difficult work experience and how you handled it?
  • What’s an accomplishment you are proud of?
  • Can you give me an example of when you went above and beyond the call of duty in your current job?
  • What is a typical workday like for you?

Questions About the Job Position

You will likely be asked questions that are specific to the position you are applying for, including:

  • Why do you think you will be a good fit for this position?
  • What relevant experience do you have for this position?
  • What interests you about this job?
  • How does this job fit in with your career plans?
  • When could you start work?
  • What’s important to enable you to do a great job?

Questions on Interpersonal Skills

The interviewer will likely want to probe about your work relationships and interpersonal skills with questions such as:

  • Have you ever had problems with a co-worker or supervisor?
  • Do you consider yourself a team player? Can you give me an example of when being a team player was important?
  • Can you give me an example of how you deal with conflict?
  • How would your boss and co-workers describe you?
  • What’s your management style?
  • How would you describe your work style?
  • Can you describe how you dealt with a problem colleague in the past?
  • If you knew your boss was completely wrong about a particular issue, how would you handle it?

Questions About the New Company

The interviewer might ask you a variety of questions about the new company to see if you have done your due diligence. So anticipate these types of questions:

  • What do you know about our company?
  • Have you tried our product? What are your thoughts about it?
  • Do you know any of our employees?
  • What do you think of our company website?

Questions on Your Strengths and Weaknesses

The interviewer will likely ask potentially difficult questions to gain insight into your strengths and weaknesses, including:

  • What do you consider to be your greatest strength?
  • How do you deal with high-pressure situations?
  • What is your greatest professional achievement?
  • What do you consider to be your weakness?
  • What one thing would you like to do better? What’s your plan for improvement?

Questions on Compensation

You will likely be asked salary/compensation questions, such as:

  • What is your current compensation (salary and bonus)?
  • What are your salary requirements for this position?
  • Why would you take a job for less money (if relevant)?

Concluding Questions

There likely will be some concluding questions at the end of the interview, such as:

  • Do you have any questions for me?
  • Are there any questions that I should have asked, but didn’t?
  • Is there anything you want to add that we didn’t cover?

 

See Related Articles at AllBusiness.com:

Copyright © by Richard D. Harroch.  All Rights Reserved.

Richard D. Harroch is a Managing Director and Global Head of M&A at VantagePoint Capital Partners, a large venture capital fund in the San Francisco area. His focus is on investing in Internet and digital media companies, and he was the founder of several Internet companies. His articles have appeared online in Forbes, Fortune, MSN, Yahoo, Fox Business, and AllBusiness.com. Richard is the author of several books on startups and entrepreneurship as well as the co-author of Poker for Dummies and a Wall Street Journal-bestselling book on small business. He was also a corporate partner at the law firm of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, with experience in startups, mergers and acquisitions, strategic alliances, and venture capital. Richard can be reached through LinkedIn.

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How to Protect Your Business From Ransomware

Have you heard about ransomware—or maybe even been victimized by it? Although this form of cyberattack has been around for a while, it’s becoming more insidious and more widespread, Symantec reports—and it’s also striking more and more small businesses.

Ransomware attacks work like this: Hackers infiltrate your business network, encrypt your data and then hold it for ransom, refusing to un-encrypt it until you pay up. The latest development, crypto-ransomware, uses unbreakable encryption so that even if you remove the malware from your system, you still can’t read your data.

Ransomware on the Rise

Ransomware has become easier for cybercrooks to use; as a result, the number of attacks—and specifically, attacks on small businesses—is on the rise. But if you haven’t heard about the ransomware threat yet, it may be because many businesses that are attacked never report the incidents.

In a recent survey by the Ponemon Institute, about half of small and midsize businesses report suffering a ransomware attack, and about half of those paid the ransomware demands. However, worried about negative publicity, many who pay up keep the attacks a secret. Ironically, the fewer businesses report ransomware attacks, the harder it is for authorities and experts to combat the attackers.

The average ransom demanded by attackers is $2,500, according to the Ponemon survey. While that may not sound like much, ransomware attackers can strike again and again—and the actual ransom paid isn’t the only financial loss you’ll suffer. Last year, ransomware cost U.S. small businesses $75 million in downtime, according to Datto. Sixty-three percent of small businesses affected by ransomware report downtime, Datto says, while 48 percent lose critical data.

Ponemon surveyed the people responsible for containing ransomware at SMBs; most said their employers believe they’re too small to be targeted. However, the survey respondents themselves (i.e., the people on the front lines) have a very different opinion. Nearly six in 10 respondents who had experienced an attack believe cybercriminals specifically targeted their companies. More than two-thirds (67 percent) say ransomware poses a greater threat than any other type of malware.

How to Protect Your Business

Protecting your business from ransomware starts with some basic cybersecurity steps. Install firewall protection and anti-virus software. Set operating systems and software to update automatically so security fixes and patches are always in place.

Once you’ve taken these actions, it’s time to focus on your employees. Human error is a primary way ransomware infiltrates small business networks. According to Datto, 46 percent of ransomware cases are linked to phishing (phony emails) and 36 percent result from employees who are inadequately trained in cybersecurity processes.

Start by developing a cybersecurity policy and educating employees about it. This should include developing strong passwords, changing them frequently (at least every six months or more often), and not sharing passwords with others.

Teach employees to avoid opening suspicious email attachments or links, especially in emails from unknown senders. Spear phishing is becoming more common: In this type of attack, hackers send emails that appear to come from inside the company, so recipients are more likely to open them. Train employees to examine all unexpected emails with attachments or links carefully, no matter who they come from, and to contact the sender before opening links or attachments if they have any concerns.

Clearly, it’s getting harder and harder to identify malicious phishing emails. That’s why backing up your data may be the most essential step to protecting your business from ransomware. In the Ponemon survey, 42 percent of businesses that suffered a ransomware attack were able to avoid paying the ransom because they had a full backup.

Back up and store your business data in multiple places, including both secure cloud-based storage and physical backups. Maintain copies off-site. Regularly test your backups to make sure they’re working properly. Finally, make sure you can restore your data quickly if needed. Being able to restore data in one day vs. one week can make a big difference to your bottom line and reputation.

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