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The Equity Factor and Your Business

 

Government, Politics and the Economy

Senate Considers Medicare Tax on Capital Gains to Fund Health Plan

According to insiders, the Senate Finance Committee is considering whether to apply Medicare taxes to capital gains and other non-wage income to help pay for healthcare reform. Bloomberg.com

Management and Operations

The Equity Factor

People try to keep a balance between what they contribute to a relationship and what they get back from it. When they feel little or no return on that investment, engagement slips dramatically. The employer-employee relationship is no different, and that can lead to problems. ManageSmarter.com

Motivate Your Team

For small businesses, the owner is the leader and many believe that money alone should inspire passion, productivity, and connectedness in employees. If that was true, you wouldn't hear people saying "They are well paid; I don’t understand why they won’t produce." BusinessWeek.com

Legal Issues

Defend Your Terminations with Performance Evaluations

If your firm doesn’t have a good performance evaluation system in place, it will be easier for discharged employees who sue to get a jury trial. You need to be able to produce performance evaluations that back up why you terminated them. BusinessManagementDaily.com

Taxes and Financial Issues

Online Sales Taxes: More Amazon Affiliates Dropped
Amazon.com has dropped their relationships with small businesses in North Carolina and Rhode Island as those states prepare to implement new laws compelling Amazon to collect online sales taxes. BusinessKnowHow.com

Technology Issues

Power Up Your PC Over the Internet
By using Wake-on-LAN, you can power down your remote PCs to save money and still be able to access them whenever you need them. SmallBusinessComputing.com

Help Your Customers Find You with New Google Gadget

There is a new Google directions gadget that allows business owners to pre-fill the direction “To” field with one or multiple addresses, while leaving open the “From” field so that customers can input their address or some other starting point. SmallBizTrends.com

Monitor Your Staff with GPS Phones

Small business owners need to save money whereever they can. Now, you can cut your payroll and logistics costs with these new, low-cost tracking tools. CNNMoney.com

Health, Benefits and Labor Issues

Senate Healthcare Refore Bill Could Rescue Employer-Provided Retiree Health Benefits
There is a provision in a Senate healthcare reform bill that could strengthen health benefits for retirees. Workforce.com

Cash-Balance Plans for Your Small Business

Large firms took an interest in the hybrid plans after the Pension Protection Act of 2006 clarified their legality, but now professional practices and small businesses are seeing these plans as a great way to cut taxes and boost retirement savings. WSJ.com

In the Dating Game, Employers Usually Lose
Office romances happen, it is a fact of life, but the resignation of World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz highlights the problems associated with them. Here are some ideas on how to deal with these relationships. Workforce.com

Branding, Sales and Marketing

ROI Marketing: Delight Your High-Value Customers
There are things you can learn from luxury brands that can help you keep your best customers. ClickZ.com

Building Trust with the Six-Minute Sales Call

There is a way to build initial trust in a potential client. It takes just six minutes and the results will shock you. BizJournals.com

Using Twitter to Attract Prospects and Engage Customers

Before you jump into social media marketing, you need a plan of action and you must understand that even though the costs are low, social media tools require extensive maintenance to live up to their promise. MarketingProfs.com

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