Outsourcing HR offers many incentives — namely the opportunity to save money, time and resources in order to focus on long-term goals and growing the business.

But there are plenty of drawbacks to shutting down your in-house HR department and relying on an outside vendor to handle its duties.

Talk to any veteran HR rep, and they’ll no doubt be able to tell you how messy and complicated working with employees can be.

A good HR rep knows people. She knows Glen has been struggling with a long-term illness and that Carrie feels uncomfortable with the blonde jokes the guy from accounting tells in the break room every day. Read the full entry

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Social networks have grown to the point that now 1 out of every 5 minutes spent online is on a social network. Not to mention, Twitter is averaging over 250 million tweets per day while Facebook is nearing the population size of China with over 900 million active users.

We all know that social is important but the question is how can your business take advantage of it? The short answer is that traditional advertising is losing trust while social media interaction and peer recommendations are gaining it. Read the full entry

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Web Design Package Deals

Before you decide whether to get web hosting and web design from the same provider, it’s important to understand the difference between the two.

Web hosting is how hosting companies make web pages available to anyone surfing the internet. Your web hosting provider makes sure there is enough bandwidth to handle your web traffic, and it may perform site analytics to help you track the performance of your site.

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Marketing has taken on a new face in the wake of the internet and you have to be ready to roll. Change is a good thing, especially if you’re consistently updating and varying your advertising methods. Now is a good time to re-evaluate your audience and distribute your marketing campaign according to their brand absorption methods.

While direct “snail” mail still speaks to the baby boomers and elderly, email campaigns are important to derive revenue from your more technology-savvy target audience. Also, getting visible in social media and a grab at SEO is imperative when attempting to reach newer generations. You must embrace technology to have a chance at captivating your every customer. Read the full entry

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For every business, the end of the year is a time to evaluate the past year’s strategies, assess prospects for the coming year and build a strategy for a more successful 2013.

In particular, your business may need to update its marketing strategy to include new and different forms of visual communication.

Remember, your competitors are taking advantage of the latest technologies and techniques to bring in more sales leads; you need to evolve to stay competitive. Consider the changes you’ll need to make to stay relevant. Read the full entry

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The recent devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy, and other super-storms in 2012, has once again highlighted the need for disaster preparedness. While no amount of preparation could have saved some businesses, losses at many others could have been mitigated if disaster plans had been in place.

Power failures represent one of the most common risks to small businesses. You don’t need to live in the path of a hurricane or in an earthquake zone to be at risk. Widespread power grid failures can occur almost anywhere. While manufacturers and retailers can experience substantial losses of perishable inventory, service oriented businesses can be impacted by the loss of computer and phone service. Read the full entry

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A high-quality method of communication are necessary for a business. And choosing the best phone service provider for your business is an important decision for keeping these lines of communication operating smoothly.

Phone service vendors offer a variety of different options for your business to choose from, making the task of finding the right service daunting. We know that you need to find a service that fits your business without over-paying or getting more than you need, so consider Business.com’s top 4 secrets when choosing your phone service. Read the full entry

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Want to do an experiment? Find a retail establishment that doesn’t accept credit cards. It’s nearly impossible today, but somewhere between the cracks you can still find a few if you look hard enough.

The simple fact is that consumers are replacing the use of cash or checks with credit cards. One of the reasons is the convenience; all you have to do is reach into your wallet and pull out the plastic. And, for you, it’s nearly just as easy to accept credit cards. In fact, it’s about as easy as it is to whip out the plastic to pay for something. Read the full entry

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The year 2012 saw a distinct rise in mobile usage, changes in how search engines rate quality content, and a growing importance in the use of video marketing. Take a look at the following statistics to determine how they will influence your business’s marketing plan for 2013. Some of them may surprise you!

Content & Blogging

Since Google’s Panda and Penguin updates rocked the business world, businesses have had to tweak their content strategies in order to maintain their SEO rankings. Read the full entry

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With social becoming more important to your online marketing plan, customers  and Google, it’s important that you consider how you can increase followers and fans quickly and efficiently.

One of the easiest ways to increase Likes for your Facebook Page – within Facebook’s Promotions Guidelines – is to run a contest or promotion that is “like-gated.” However, before getting started, you’ll want to read up on some of the basics – from how it works to rules and regulations. Read the full entry

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