Is your business lacking the ambition it needs to innovate? Unfortunately, this seems to be happening within a lot of companies of late. For this reason, Abby Johnson offers some tips that businesses can implement that actually encourage innovation.

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These tips include empowering employees, allowing employees to volunteer, practicing sharing, mentoring programs, and partnering with startups. Each of these tips creates a culture within the business that makes employees feel good about what they are doing. This, in turn, makes them want to succeed, which sparks new ideas and innovations.

Learn more about what your business can do to encourage innovation in this video report right here on SmallBusinessNewz.

Does Your Website Need a Makeover?

How to know when it does

How do you respond to change? Is it a like or dislike? With change, there isn’t usually a middle ground, because most people either love it or hate it.

Interestingly, there are obstacles to both sides of the change spectrum. For instance, if you implement too many changes to your business, consumers will not be able to keep up. On the other hand, if you shy away from change, consumers will think you are out of date.

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Although finding a balance is an important task, today we’re going to focus on businesses that need to implement change. As seen in the above video, there are multiple indicators that businesses need to watch for to see if they should make changes to their website.

The first sign is when your site doesn’t meet its current goals. This issue could be the result of several developers writing bad code on top of bad code over and over again. Instead of trying to correct a mounting problem, businesses are better off just starting from scratch if this occurs.

Secondly, if your website was built with tables, then it is time for an update. This format is both hard to read and hard for search engines to break down.

A third sign that your website is “behind the times” is if visitors are welcomed with a Flash intro. Experts always disapprove of this practice since it causes slow load times and compatibility issues, among other problems.

Another indication that your website needs a makeover is if you are not involved with social media. Now, some people will quickly object and say that social media doesn’t play a role in their industry. However, consumers are talking about everything from plumbing to retail on social media networks. Consumers like the connection and personalization that Facebook, Twitter, and other social platforms give them.

Fifthly, if your website is not mobile-ready, then it could quickly cause your business to fall behind. Consumers want the ability to access everything from their mobile devices. Websites that do not offer this capability could lose business.

Also, if you need a web designer to make even the slightest change to your website, you probably need to make some adjustments. Experts highly recommend content management systems for convenience and usability.

Lastly, when the call to action is not clear or effective, changes need to be made. Visitors need a simplistic process that doesn’t require them to create an account or to search for something. If it’s not easy, it reduces the visitor’s chances of taking action.

So, are ready to take these signs seriously and make some changes?

9 Apps to Help Your Business Needs

Improving efficiency, time, and more

Most businesses do not realize how many tools are available to meet their needs. In Google Apps alone, there are over 100 integrated apps built and designed for business usage. These tools help businesses conquer everything from time management concerns to IT issues.

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This week, Google announced that nine new apps were added to the Google Apps Marketplace. The above video describes each of the nine and provides information for how they could help your business grow.

The first one is called DeskAway and lets users work, even when they are away from their desk. This tool provides businesses with a central location so that multiple people can work on the same project, regardless of where they are. It also cuts down on issues such as lost files, multiple file versions, and email spam.

Second to the list is Acunote, which provides IT functions as well as project progress. It has an integrated project and task management wiki that includes rich editor and management extensions. Additionally, it offers a timeline of each project that shows how much work has been completed and how much remains.

The third app added to the marketplace is called RescueTime. This tool gives employers insight into how their employees are spending their time. It does this by tracking the amount of time spent on each project. As a result, employers can know if employees are working too much or too little. ToBeeDo is fourth and it is an online task management system. With this service, users can attach Google Docs and external links to tasks as well as apply bulk actions to them. It has an easy-to-use interface that keeps efficiency moving smoothly.

Fifthly, the Ketera Network is an integrated management solution that offers users an active community of more than 800,000 suppliers. Through the vast Ketera Network, businesses can find new vendors and more.

Sixth on the list is FormLizard, which is a tool that addresses internal business needs. With this app, businesses can upload their forms and, in turn, FormLizard transforms them into online interviews. Registration forms, applications, and many more can be done with this tool. It also reduces the always-tedious task of dealing with paperwork. LumoFlow is the seventh addition to the marketplace. Not only does it allow knowledge sharing and project management, but it also includes a social element.

The eighth app is the MangoSpring Collaboration Suite. This collection of tools features MangoTalk, MangoDocs, MangoTasks, MangoProject, MangoIdeas, and MangoEvents. The suite gives users the opportunity to extend aspects such as microblogging, instant messaging, project comments, and email notifications, across their entire business.

Lastly, Backupify is a tool that gives users the security of backup. It can be accessed via any Web browser and provides backup services for Gmail, Google Docs, Google Calendar, Google Sites, Facebook, Twitter, and many more services. What’s more, it provides daily automatic backups, archiving, and exporting.

As you can see, there are multiple business tools available in the Google Apps Marketplace. It provides valuable assistance and information to more than two million businesses. These tools help alleviate the stress level that so many business owners face, which allows them to focus their energy on growing the business.

To find out more about the tools, visit the Google Apps Marketplace.

How You Can Become a Successful Leader

6 steps to make it happen

How would you define a leader? Political figures, teachers, actors, and many other people may come to mind, but it’s important to know that a title does not qualify a leader. Even owning a small business doesn’t define a leader. According to Dictionary.com, a leader is “a guiding or directing head, as of an army, movement, or political group.”

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Anyone can be a leader, but just as the above video points out, it takes a lot of work. There are many qualities that a leader needs to posses. For starters, a leader needs to have a plan. By having a plan, a leader knows what to expect and can address issues proactively.

Secondly, a leader needs to have a vision. In other words, a leader needs to guide, in this case, his employees, toward one particular goal.

Taking the second step just a little further, the third element a leader needs is to do is share the vision. All the employees need to be on board with the leader in order to develop the vision and turn it into a reality.

Fourthly, a leader needs to take charge. Not only does a leader need to execute his authority, but he also needs to take action. These actions could be anything from making a decision to launching a product.

A leader should also inspire through example. Leaders need to set the bar for their employees by working diligently on the vision. When employees see this behavior, they will likely follow suit.

Lastly, a leader needs to ask for help. A business owner has so much on his plate that it is impossible to do it alone. Until he learns to delegate, the business will not be unified and could possibly be prevented from growth.

As you think about these steps, remember that leaders are not born that way. While some people do possess more leadership qualities than others, it is possible for the others to become leaders too. It is not an easy task, but it is necessary in reaching success.

3 Stages of the Business Cycle

How to successfully get through them

Every business goes through phases and emotions. Although some vary from businesses to business, there are 3 distinct stages that every business will face at one time or another.

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Some of these phases are good, and the others aren’t so good. However, the above video explains that the key to getting through each of the stages is the same. Businesses simply need to stay positive and always look into the future.

The first phase is failure. Although never welcomed, failure can, in many cases, actually help the business in the long run. Multiple experts recall past failures that made their business stronger and more effective.

If business owners and managers dwell on the fact that a product or service failed, they will get stuck in the failure phase and possibly, even experience more failures. On the other hand, if they keep their head up and learn from it, they will grow and be able to put the failure phase behind.

The second phase is success, which is the phase that every business would like to stay. To stay successful, businesses need to, again, think ahead. Instead of sitting back and enjoying the success, businesses should be working on new ideas and strategies that would sustain their success.

Take Google, for example. Everyone can agree that the search and advertising giant is successful, but they have had some failures. But they continue to have success because they are constantly innovating and developing new products and services, even if some of them fail.

The third phase that all businesses experience is neglect for faithful customers. It seems that most businesses are so focused on drawing new customers that they forget about their loyal ones. While experts always say it is easier to keep customers than it is to obtain new ones, many businesses fail to follow this principle.

Businesses should continuously be thinking of ways to improve the customer experience. In the long term, this will not only reach the loyal customers, but it will also reach the new ones.

Ultimately, businesses need to remember that the future is the key to the present. Until they come to this point, they will prevent their business from growing and having continuing success.