Hiring is probably the biggest headache a business has, regardless of its size. Finding qualified people who fit your company’s lifestyle and ethics is not an easy task. Even harder, once you’ve found them, how do you keep them happy and loyal, instead of working with one foot already out of the door? Here are some suggestions on how to keep your best people happy:

Show Them They’re Valued

No one likes to feel unappreciated.

Sometimes, less is more. Sometimes, it is the simplest strategies that work best. In the ongoing quest to find new, better, faster, and more efficient ways of reaching out to, and connecting with, our customers, maybe we sometimes over-engineer solutions, when what we really need to do is to pull back just a bit.

The world is changing so rapidly at this point that you can almost see it happen before your eyes. There are several different bits of technology on a collision course that will forever change how we live and work. Among these technologies are wearable computers and the “internet of everything” or the “internet of objects.

Do you have a Twitter account for your company? If not, perhaps it’s time. Twitter is the #2 Social Media platform behind only Facebook. It has nearly 650 million users and is growing at a rapid pace. Even better, in response to the rise of Social Media upstart, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook have recently undergone fairly dramatic redesigns to place more prominence on images and videos, both of which can now be incorporated into your Tweets.

Trade shows are one of those particular things that are hard for companies to get right. You know you’ve got to do them, but most companies are content to recycle their same old booth, design, and format everywhere they go, and every time they go. You know the drill, you walk past a booth and there’s a somewhat nervous or expectant looking booth attendee who starts pitching you, carney-style, does a little demonstration, asks a few questions.

Technology is a wonder. In today’s world, there are a staggering array of “green” devices and techs you can use to dramatically reduce your company’s energy bills. In fact, if your state has “Net Metering” laws, you can actually turn your electricity into a profit center, rather than a cost.

Negotiation is more art than science, but it is an art that anyone can learn. Most people go into a negotiation with a firm idea of what they want, and a laundry list of “stuff” they’re willing to give up to get the things they want. That’s fine as far as it goes.

Given the surging popularity of mobile devices, the short answer to the question posed by the title of this piece is “yes.” Yes, it’s right for your company because increasingly, that’s where your customers are. The longer answer is a little more involved with that, so let’s tease it out and get to particulars.

Nobody likes to be kept waiting, but sometimes it happens. One way you can ease the pain of having to wait is to make your waiting and reception area come to life for your visitors. The best part? You don’t have to spend an arm and a leg to do any of this.

Marketers are intensely clever individuals. They’re always coming up with ways to get people to spend money, even when there might be some reluctance to do so. You’ve seen most, if not all of these before, even if you haven’t consciously thought about it.