Features
-
Using Green Practices To Market Your Business
June 17, 2011
While not every part of your marketing plan needs to trumpet how amazingly eco-friendly your company is integrating descriptions of the steps you’ve taken can provide a significant boost.
-
Planning for Your Future
June 16, 2011
If you truly want to be part of what can be an exciting future in this diverse economy, it’s time to take a systematic approach to creating your future.
-
Get Your Employees On Twitter
June 15, 2011
Twitter can be a very important tool for companies. Having a genuine, unforced interaction between employees, the company and followers can create a positive and connected network. There is value in promotion that isn't directly from the brand. Having ambassadors to the brand is a successful strategy for you to promote the company and the mission.
-
The Economy: This is Not a Soft Patch
June 14, 2011
One of our recovery indicators, the NASDAQ, seems to have relapsed and may be heading for rehab. Perhaps the wild and fun ride it had on Ben Bernanke's QE2 has now come to an end. It may not get another cruise until he pilots a brand new ship, QE3, but rumors of that cruise liner’s voyage are just that—rumors. QE2's huge midnight buffet was nice, but the economic heartburn may take a while to pass.
-
Straight Talk about M&As in A “Cup O Joe”
June 13, 2011
We have a client right now that is a pretty good sized business—about $20 million to $40 million in revenue, very profitable. They have hired us to help them find a local company that has more capabilities because they will not only get in for less than if they bought new equipment, but they will also get the customers inherent with that.
-
5 Content Marketing Strategies For Small Business
June 10, 2011
One of the most effective, low-cost ways to drive traffic and build awareness for your business is through content marketing: creating and distributing relevant content to attract, acquire, and engage your target audience.
-
Mobile Marketing Takes Hold
June 09, 2011
The first time someone thought to write on a tablet that could be lifted and hauled rather than writing on a cave wall, print became the ultimate portable media. Today, mobile media devices such as smartphones and iPads have become a primary source of portable media from which we can obtain information and communicate with one another.
-
Flexibility and Functionality Dominate Commercial Interior Design Trends
June 08, 2011
With budget constraints topping the agenda at most organizations, it’s not surprising that the focus on flexibility and functionality is driving many interior design decisions. According to Beth Schultz, ASID, interior designer for SRJ Architects, specifications for new schools, libraries and offices typically include flexible, multipurpose furnishings and colors that enhance the functionality of the space.
-
Economy Gets Pause that Isn’t Refreshing
June 07, 2011
As discussed in blogposts, the economy was getting weak, and the latest data confirm that. Every one of our recovery trackers are above or equal to their levels at the recession on a current dollar basis. Those levels, however, are in some jeopardy because of a slowing economy, and inflation.
-
Studio 413 Salon & Spa Investigates What's New in Beauty
June 06, 2011
In early June, beauty industry professionals from around the U.S. and 14 other countries will gather in Orlando at Premiere Orlando 2011, an international beauty event, to learn what’s new in products, trends and techniques. Among them will be Monica Grantham and the staff of Studio 413 Salon & Spa in Albany.
-
6 Easy Ways To Reward Your Twitter Followers
June 06, 2011
Consumers follow their favorite businesses on Twitter to get an inside look at the business, to find out about new products, earn discounts and be a part of a community. Businesses have the potential to turn these fans into brand ambassadors by making their followers feel special and appreciated. Here are six ways to reward your Twitter followers.
-
What makes a brand?
June 03, 2011
What makes a brand? Is it the name? Identifying characteristics such as a logo? What people think and remember? It could be all and maybe so much more.
-
Facebook Takes on High Gas Prices
June 02, 2011
Protestors in Egypt enlisted the power of Facebook to topple their government. Albany Mayor Pro Tem Roger Marietta tried to use that same power to send a message to the companies and individuals responsible for today’s high gas prices. On a Public Event Facebook page, Marietta called for consumers to “minimize your use of gas for the month (of May) until the price drops below $3 per gallon.”
-
Strategy versus Implementation
June 02, 2011
Have you ever competed in an athletic event totally convinced that your game plan was “right on” but as it turned out your execution was dreadful? You repeatedly hear highly successful coaches, after a disappointing defeat, say that they had a great game plan but their players and coaches didn’t execute. This not only happens in sports but in business as well.
-
Use Social Media for Online Press Releases
June 01, 2011
This article describes how your company can use social media as a sort of online press release to reach your internal and external publics.
-
Daniel Titus Offers Tips for Creating Successful Websites
May 31, 2011
With widespread adoption of smartphones, Facebook and Twitter, more people are connecting online than ever before. That means everyone – from a small business to a stay-at-home mom – needs a web presence, according to Daniel Titus, website developer and graphic designer.
-
Counterintuitive Economics
May 31, 2011
This week’s column is a collection of comments and links to a variety of items that might seem counter-intuitive to prevailing thinking found in the economics press. I hope you enjoy them.
-
Selling is a Process, Not an Event!
May 27, 2011
Traditionally the Lean Process focuses on principles related to efficiency in manufacturing. The purpose of the “Lean” approach is to continually improve all processes to increase effectiveness and productivity in an effort to positively impact the company’s overall performance. The goal is to reduce waste (e.g. time, raw materials, and redundancy), improve quality, reduce inventory levels and reduce lead time. This approach requires a very different culture incorporating a multi-departmental synergy, teamwork and a strong commitment from “C” level managers.
-
Georgia Manufacturers Succeed on Change
May 26, 2011
Output from U.S. factories rose in March for the fifth straight month and consumer confidence as measured by the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary index increased. Georgia manufacturing is also on the upswing as companies operate with an increasingly positive mindset, according to Art Ford, Regional Manager for the South Region of Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute.
-
Target Marketing: Hitting the Bull’s-eye
May 26, 2011
In a challenging and competitive market environment, it is vital to effectively use all resources, capabilities, and capital to produce goods and services that customers desire. Realistically, no company can do everything and satisfy everyone’s needs. Resources will not stretch that far. Today’s successful organizations are targeting customers that need and want their products and services, while setting aside the customers that do not fit that profile.
-
Urgency Gets No Summer Vacation This Year
May 24, 2011
There were many companies that were blindsided by the Internet in the mid-1990s. It looks like another communications, advertising, and promotion upheaval is about to get underway late this year and in 2012. This time, pretend it's 1994, the year prior to the Internet avalanche, and think about that old saying “if I knew then what I know now.” What would you do to take advantage of the changes ahead?
-
Pouring Another “Cup O Joe”: the Essentials of M&A Valuation
May 23, 2011
Why do many industries use multiple-of-EBITDA to determine the value of companies? It’s because this method provides a good and relatively simple way to estimate cash flow. Multiple-of-EBITDA also is the best parameter for comparing one company’s financial condition with that of others in the industry. It removes distortions by adding back interest expense (which could be due to different capital structures) and depreciation (which could be a function of depreciation policies or write-offs).
-
Marietta Presents the Albany Advantages
May 19, 2011
Albany Mayor Pro Tem Roger B. Marietta is optimistic about the future of the local economy, citing the presence of Albany Tech, Darton College and Albany State as evidence of the area’s potential.
-
Training – The Fuel for Your Company’s Growth and Development
May 19, 2011
Perhaps you should take advantage of the current business environment to stockpile the fuel that drives your business’s growth and performance, as well as the knowledge, skills and capabilities of the people that work with your organization
-
New Home Construction on the Rise in Southern Georgia
May 18, 2011
Residential construction activity continues to improve in southern Georgia. Growth was limited in 2010, but it was a much better year for new home builders than 2009. Low appraisals have been an issue. Existing homeowners whose property appraises for less than the outstanding mortgage balance find themselves unable to trade up to a new home. However, Chris Strawn, division president for custom home builder America's Home Place, Inc. believes these issues will “start to self-correct by end of this year or mid-2012.”