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How to Build Your Dream Team and Grow Your Business in 2017! #OfficeSmallBiz

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Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Office 365, but all the opinions are my own.

Les McKeown on Office Small Business Academy #OfficeSmallBiz

Your small business is ready to expand. Exciting, right?

But do you know how to put together a team of employees who will catapult your business to success?

Growing your business can be a scary process. Words like “daunting”, “intimidating”, and “overwhelming” come to mind. I know from personal experience. That’s why I love the idea of mentors and mastermind groups (a hot topic since it’s a new year and we’re focusing on our business goals for 2017).

A great way to supplement or fill in the gaps when you don’t have access to a group or mentor is listening to expert interviews and webcasts. I thought the timing on Office Small Business Academy webcast featuring Les McKeown was excellent!

If you missed it, you can REGISTER HERE and watch the replay.

In this Office Small Business Academy webcast, host Carol Roth and special guests Les McKeown and Jovana Teodorovic share tips for hiring a team that will take your business to the next level!

Les McKeown on Leadership Styles

Les’ insight is based on years of experience. Here’s what I learned from his segment of the webcast.

The 4 leadership styles, and why it’s important to know them:

According to Les, a great company has a balance of Visionaries, Operators, Processors, and Synergists. He calls this the VOPS model.

If you’re at an early stage of your business, you probably only have Visionaries and Operators. (As host Carol Roth put it, “Santa and the elves.”)

For your business to really grow and thrive, though, you need to hire processors and synergists. As your business grows, sometimes the visionary (“Santa”) gets carried away. He needs someone practical to bring him down to earth. Sometimes, even though the elves are great at getting their jobs done, they don’t get along. That’s why you need processors—people who are very practical and strategic—and synergists—people who help the team work together.

For more details on this, I would recommend heading over to Les’s website and taking the leadership style quiz.

How to build a highly effective team:

One thing that stood out to me: you don’t need to hire a team full of superstars! That alone takes a lot of stress out of the hiring process. Don’t worry about attracting the #1 best (fill in the blank) in the field.

Simply focus on identifying, achieving, and maintaining a balance of the 4 leadership types.

Jovana Teodorovic on Creating a Great Company Culture

Rover.com’s rapid growth and Jovana’s enthusiasm for her company are incredibly inspiring! Here are the tips that resonated with me.

How YOUR small company can compete with the big dogs:

Jovana and her co-workers gush about Rover.com’s company culture: it’s supportive, fosters a great sense of community, and employees leave work every day feeling energized and excited about their job!

That’s #goals right there.

She explains that you can achieve that goal by hiring based on culture as well as hiring for function. (That requires getting really good at interviewing… something I need to work on!)

So you found the perfect person, but your small business can’t compensate them as well as the big dogs can? Learn to “sell yourself”. What are the best qualities of your company, things that big companies can’t offer?

How to make your team feel valued and satisfied:

Jovana highlights the importance of regular recognition. This is something that’s SO easy to put into practice. Don’t take employees for granted: if they’re doing an amazing job, tell them!

My thoughts?

I think it all boils down to a few things:

  • Carefully choose dedicated people based on your business’s needs (leadership-wise, culture-wise, AND function-wise).
  • Welcome your new employees and treat them right.
  • Make sure your team is on the same page and keep them informed.

Les’s insights on building a team that balances and compensates for your strengths and weaknesses is enlightening. As “the boss” it’s empowering to know that we don’t have to do and know everything. And Jovana’s peak into Rover.com’s company culture was inspiring.

I know I feel empowered to build my team after watching the webcast. Hopefully, after watching this webcast, you feel ready to take the next steps in growing your business!

Register now and receive a link to watch the Small Business Academy REPLAY.

Microsoft Office Small Business Academy

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Want To Build Your Dream Team in 2017? #OfficeSmallBiz

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by Melissa Stewart

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Office 365, but all the opinions are my own.

Office Small Business Academy

Letting go is hard to do.

I know, I know, you’re Superwoman. You can do it all and you’re used to wearing a lot of hats. But why?  You can’t handle every single task forever, You’ll get burned out and overwhelmed. And (my apologies in advance) “ain’t nobody got time for that!”

No man (or woman) is an island and even “solopreneurs” need support.

So what happens when your business starts to grow?

As your small business grows, it’s time to delegate. It’s time to BUILD YOUR DREAM TEAM.

But, where do you start? I’m glad you asked! She Owns It has teamed up with Microsoft Office to let you know about the Office Small Business Academy – a monthly webcast series to help you grow your business.

 

Sign up

and learn How to Build Your Dream Team!

 

What: How to Build Your Dream Team

When: January 24, 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET

Webcast Sign Up: https://resources.office.com/registration-small-business-academy-webcast.html

About: Every small business knows that a great team is essential to success – but how can you compete with larger corporations when it comes to attracting talent? Learn how to build your winning team and create a stellar workplace culture on the next Office Small Business Academy.

Here’s a sneak peak at this month’s episode:

 

Register now so you can hear real-world advice and valuable insights from this month’s small business experts.

This Month’s Guests:

LesMcKeownLes McKeown: Best-selling author and CEO of Predictable Success, Les McKeown, reveals the four types of leaders you need to make a team thrive and how to develop your natural leadership style.

 

 

JovanaTeodorovicJovana Teodorovic: Head of People and Culture at Rover.com, Jovana Teodorovic, shares her secrets to competing for top talent and creating a workplace culture that no employee wants to leave.

 

 

Host:

CarolRothCarol Roth: Carol Roth, Small Business Academy host, on-air contributor to CNBC, investment banker, speaker, and author of The New York Times best-selling book, The Entrepreneur Equation.

 

 

Don’t miss this free opportunity to grown your business, connect with experts, and join the community! Find out more HERE.

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Tile Bluetooth Tracking. May My Son Never Lose His Keys Again!

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Tile Bluetooth Trackerby Melissa Stewart

Last month Verizon sent me a Bluetooth tracking accessory called TILE to play with and review if the mood struck me. Well, the mood has struck!

Last night I gathered the family around for a family pizza night. We had a full house with my 4 boys, their girlfriends, and my parents. One of my sons had a concert to attend and no time to spare. He inhaled his pizza and he was ready hit the road. Hard to do without his keys.

He’d lost them AGAIN!

We searched high and low. An army of family armed with flashlights and a since of urgency. My son could not wait or he’d be late. We located a spare key and sent him on his way while we continued the search.

An hour later, my dad found the keys.

I made a decision last night, my son was getting a gift.

I do hereby bequeath my Tile to my dear son. May we never have to search for his keys again!”

I’ve been enjoying this mini gadget since it arrived via Fed Ex in June and with it’s promise of “Lose less of everything, including your valuable time” I think this is the perfect gift for my son.

A few of the things that I love about TILE:

  • Easy set up
  • Loud alarm
  • Low price (get a 4 pack for $69.99)
  • App for both Android and iOS
  • Tiny with rounded edges
  • Attach, stick, or tie Tile to all the things you need to track
  • Bluetooth
  • Works for keys, wallets, pets, kids 🙂

The Technology: Tile uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology to help you locate your items (Tile’s Bluetooth range is up to 100 ft. Bluetooth is most effective at the 30 ft range).

The Size: Tile is small, lightweight and fits in with the design of your favorite things. Tile can easily attach to items via an adhesive sticker or by attaching to keys using the cutout hole. 37mm x 37mm x 5.3mm –  that’s about 1/4″ thin, and a bit less than 1.5″ length and height.

Battery Life/Lifetime: Tile will run for 1 year.

Security & Privacy: Tiles are only visible to the registered user, and they do not contain any personal identifiable information on them. If you mark something as lost, another user’s phone can find a Tile, but it relays the information to our servers anonymously. The user never even knows they did it.

I think TILE is awesome and I’m hoping my son will appreciate and use it STAT 🙂

NOTE: I’m part of the Verizon #VZWbuzz Lifestyle Blogger team and occasionally receive free items to review. The apps shared above are all apps I’ve tried and think you may enjoy too. A BIG THANK YOU to the Verizon Influencer group for letting me try their products and share my honest thoughts about them. No additional compensation is provided to me. All the opinions here are my own.

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Your Business Could Win a $25,000 Branding Package from Staples! #MakeMoreHappen

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Your Business Could Win a $25,000 Branding Package from Staples! #MakeMoreHappen

by Melissa Stewart

How does your small business Make More Happen? Tell Staples and you could win a branding package valued at $25,000!

Staples, Inc. celebrated National Small Business Week with the launch of unbeatable ink and toner prices and a new in-stock guarantee. To help small businesses make more happen every day, these unbeatable prices on ink and toner are here to stay. In addition, Staples has also unveiled the Make More Happen Contest that will showcase the work of the small business contest winners across the U.S.

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, more than half of Americans either own or work for a small business. The price cuts and in-stock guarantee unveiled during National Small Business Week are part of Staples commitment to helping small businesses get more for less.

Staples has spent the past 30 years helping small businesses on the path to success, and we are committed to that legacy by continuing to deliver quality products and services at low prices. These unbeatable ink and toner prices are here to stay and help our customers make more happen with their small businesses every day.” -Peter Scala, executive vice president, merchandising, Staples

The Make More Happen Contest – which is currently accepting submissions through May 21 – showcases the winning small businesses. To enter, small businesses simply visit -> staples.com/MakeMoreHappenContest and describe in 200 words or less how their business is “making more happen.”

How does your business Make More Happen?

Five lucky winners will be selected, with each receiving:

  • An on-location, 30-second spotlight video about your business. Staples will fly a film crew to your location to create a video and promote it on Facebook, Twitter and more.
  • A $1,000 Copy & Print branding package. From business cards to banners, get everything you need to promote like a pro.

At Staples, we want to recognize and share the great work small businesses are doing every day across the country,” said Alison Corcoran, senior vice president North American stores and online marketing, Staples. “The Make More Happen Contest will help us acknowledge small businesses and share their success stories.” -Peter Scala, executive vice president, merchandising, Staples

You can’t WIN if you don’t ENTER!

   Enter To Win

Get your entries in before May 21st!

—————————————————————————

Melissa Stewart is a purveyor of possibility, community builder, entrepreneur advocate and coffee enabler. She’s had a “home office” since age 5 (just ask her) and one of her first magazine subscriptions (paid from her piggy bank) was Entrepreneur Magazine. She is passionate about business, addicted to coffee and eternally optimistic. She Owns It is her passion project, dedicated to empowering women entrepreneurs through resources, support and inspiration. Do you tweet? She does (a lot!). Follow her at @melissaonline.

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Small Business Owners Are Overwhelmed By Technology

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by Melissa Stewart

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Comcast Small Business, but all the opinions are my own.

Technology can be overwhelming. According to a recent survey, about 2/3 of business owners feel overwhelmed when it comes to technology. Mobile, social media, cloud services, IT support, it’s a lot to keep up with for even the savviest small business owner. Even so, incorporating technology into your small business is CRUCIAL in today’s environment.

With technology growing and changing so fast, it’s important to have the right resources and help at your fingers tips. Comcast Business wants to be that resource.

  • Comcast Business is responsive – they make sure that their customers can reach one of the 1,900 live, specially trained Business Service representatives within 30 seconds.
  • Comcast Business offers convenient install times, including nights and weekend installations to minimize disruption to your business.
  • If your internet were to go down, Comcast Business won’t stop working until it’s fixed.
  • Comcast Business is always working to make it easy to choose applications that make your business more productive and secure.

Are you ready to get serious about technology planning for your small business? Start with these tips and resources from Comcast Business:

-> Unlock Technology for Your Business

Learn the 3 keys to smarter tech investments like developing a business plan before you buy your tech!

-> Create Your Technology Culture

Every business, big or small, needs a technology culture. Use Technology to produce more, work efficiently & create a better customer experience.

-> Create Your Technology Plan

Incorporating technology into your small business is crucial in today’s environment. Julie Goldman, Founder and CEO of The Original Runner Company, shares how she went about identifying what her key challenges were and then building a technology plan to meet those challenges and unleash her company’s potential.

Want to learn about WiFi Pro from Comcast Business? Check out our article here.

Changing Passwords Again? Ain’t Nobody Got Time For That! Try F-Secure

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Credit Card Hack Breach

by Melissa Stewart

Target, Michaels, Home Depot and Albertsons, these are just a few of the major retailers hit by data breaches this year exposing millions of innocent consumers to credit card and identity fraud. I saw this disturbing quote from a recent Boston Globe article:

For American consumers, some specialists say data breaches are the new normal. More than 500 data breaches — not just of financial information, but of passwords, e-mail addresses, and personal information — occurred in the United States in the first half of 2014 alone, roughly on par with 2013 and 2012, according to Risk Based Security, a Virginia consulting firm. Worldwide, there were 76 breaches that exposed credit card numbers over that same period.

“Pay attention. That’s all you can do,” said Samid. “It’s the price we pay for living in a connected world.” (Yaron Samid, chief executive of BillGuard)

According to Samid “data breaches are the new normal” – what?!

As consumers, how do we protect ourselves and what can we do to secure our own information?

Well, a Google search will bring you tips like:

  • Set strong passwords
  • Use different passwords for different accounts
  • Memorize your password if you can
  • Never share your password with anyone
  • Never send your password via email

But, will these tips alone really protect you and are they truly reasonable considering the amount of password protected accounts most of us have? There has to be a better way and I think I’ve found it with F-Secure. When they reached out to me and asked that I test the product and share with my readers, I jumped at the chance! I’ve been looking for a solution and the timing was perfect.

 

Screen Shot 2014-09-22 at 6.27.02 PM

 

I’ll be testing F-Secure in the weeks to come and I’d like for you to join me.

As a Brand Ambassador representing F-Secure’s Key password manager solution, I’ve been provided with a special offer for She Owns It readers – get two PREMIUM months to check out for FREE!

Code: PREMIUMKEYOFFER14

Instructions:
Go to F-Secure Key download it FIRST from your IOS or Android device.
If using Android: Go to Menu-Help- Enter PREMIUM VOUCHER
If using iOS: Help Menu- Promotional Code
*Once you redeem offer on your mobile device PREMIUM will work on your PC/Mac as well

F-Secure

I’ve already downloaded and installed on my Droid Ultra and laptop. Easy peasy! I’m loving it so far and since I’m mobile A LOT, I’m feeling much better about my connections! To help you navigate the password maze they’ve put together a handy infographic.

Keeping track of so many passwords can sometimes feel overwhelming, especially for accounts that you use only occasionally, or those that force you to change passwords regularly.

It doesn’t have to be so troublesome though. Here’s a quick guide on how to make handling your passwords simpler. You can also download this guide as an infographic (PDF).

Screen Shot 2014-09-23 at 5.26.03 PM

Check back next week for your chance to WIN a

16GB iPad Mini PLUS a 12 month subscription to F-Secure Key!

 

We’d love to hear your stories, thoughts, and opinions!

Tell us what has been your experience with cyber security breeches and how many times have you had to change your passwords?

A reminder, She Owns It and Melissa Stewart are occasionally hired as a brand ambassador to report and write content where and receive compensation. Occasionally I write posts that are sponsored and I am compensated in payment and/or product for my hard work and research. Good or bad, our reviews are honest with our readers best interest in mind.