Biz Articles Online
 
1. Obama's OnLine Strategist Clues Us In

2. How to Write a Corporate Communications Plan
A written communications plan will smooth your job all year, earn you respect from the CEO and other staff, help set work priorities, protect you from last-minute demands, and bring a semblance of order to a chaotic job. This article explains it all: what products are included, when to develop the plan, where to get information, how to put the plan together using a communications audit, stated objectives, and the proper audience, goals, tools and costs and evaluate the results.
3. How to Challenge Mr. Big and Win
Ninety percent of workers are afraid to challenge the boss. That's too bad, because the willingness to bring bad news improves work quality and team trust. To make confrontation easier, try these simple interpersonal communication tactics.
4. Competitive Strategies for Smaller Companies
Many small- to medium-size companies are facing fierce competition from "big box" stores like Home Depot and Best Buy. But Greg Hauca, vice president of marketing and information services at 2.5 billion dollar Distribution America, sees a change in consumer buying habits that holds key competitive strategies for smaller, independent competitors. Hauca describes seven areas to sharpen the competitive edge.
5. 17 Steps to a Better Looking, More Professional Newsletter
Novice desktop publishers often are tempted to apply all the bells and whistles a software program has to offer. But what's fun for the artist/editor, can be confusing to the reader. The secret password-particularly when publishing compact, information intensive newsletters-is restraint. If you're unsure how to exercise that restraint, take these 17 steps. The result will be good-looking, readable publications.
6. Managing a Drug-Free Workplace: Why You Must and How You Can
If you think you don't have a drug abuse problem in your workplace, think again, says Robert Stutman, formerly with the Drug Enforcement Agency and now a private consultant. In this article, Stutman not only describes the overall implications of drug abuse, but tells employers how to cope.
7. Fifteen Shocking Facts About Employee Drug Abuse
A potpourri of little known-and surprising-facts about the affect of substance abuse on the American workforce.
8. How to Tame Your Life
If your desk is piled with paper and you're buried under projects, you don't need time management. You need to slow down, says this author, who offers concrete suggestions for taming your life.
9. Put Clout in Your Memo
Learn the ten musts of killer memos.
10. Motivate Employees Ten Ways
A training consultant describes ten surfire ways to enchance employee productivity.
11. What Makes A Corporate Newsletter Work
In the Information Age, a newsletter may be a company's best marketing tool. In this article, four marketing professionals describe features of their newsletter and tell how the newsletter is used to market their company.
12. How to Make Job Descriptions Work With Performance Evaluations
A well-conceived position description directly relates to an employee's performance evaluation, providing a basis for discussion, planning and goal-setting. Consultant Tom Farley sums up this way, "People feel awkward about performance evaluations. Neither employees nor employers do it well, so a lot of process overwhelms progress. Done properly, though, performance evaluation imparts a whole new sense of teamwork and communication." Includes a 15-point checklist for position descriptions.
13. The Seven Objectives of Employee Evaluation
Why do employee evaluations? This article describes seven objectives of effective employee evaluations and also includes a list of sample items to address.
14. Nine Components of a Good Press Release
15. How to Print with Panache
Need to get something printed? These must-do production tips will save you money.
16. Five Alternate Routes to Creativity
Creative ideas flourish in altered mental states The challenge? Finding ways to alter our mind set. A consultant offers these five suggestions.
17. How To Identify and Target the Customers You Want
Every prospective customer can be qualified by measuring the potential to actually close a sale. This article describes how to make sure you are reaching genuine prospects.
 
Featured Story

A Few Things I’ve Done To Manage My Workload
by Nancy Rathbun Scott

Productivity expert
Barbara Hemphill cites an Accenture study that found middle managers spending two hours a day searching for information, half of which turns out to be of no value. I don’t know a single direct marketer who isn’t overwhelmed. Not only is there too much to do, there’s too much to learn.

Read More