How well do you actually listen to your customers?  It’s not enough in this day and age to make a decent product, pay for some advertising to attract eyeballs and ship the product out the door.  If that’s where you are as a businessperson, then odds are you’ll be acquired by a competitor before long.

Though many of us take the employee handbook for granted, a well-written and up-to-date handbook is a great tool for both a company and its employees and should be properly maintained and referred to on a regular basis to ensure that all company policies are being followed.

Nothing can make an IT manager cringe more than the mention of the phrase “Shadow Tech.” In an age when new software and hardware are released every day, it can be quite difficult for IT departments to maintain control of the business networks they have been charged with overseeing.

From a business perspective, Twitter is all about gathering a following. The more people following your account, the larger your potential audience for business, which is what you need to be successful. Business-oriented Twitter accounts are becoming more and more popular every day, and there’s no reason you shouldn’t get started yourself.

If you work in an environment with creative people and they have the room to think for more than ten minutes a day, you’re probably going to see more than your fair share of great ideas. Sometimes these ideas are so powerful that it can be hard to resist them.

Pinterest may not seem like it would be a very good business tool. After all, isn’t it more for DIY projects and tasty looking recipes? While those things are definitely prevalent on the pinning site, you can still make a solid representation of your brand here.

If you’ve ever been to a conference of any sort, you probably know what we’re talking about when we say “boring.” A good number of people give speeches and presentations their best shot, but sometimes their best just isn’t all that great. Witnessing a lackluster speech is sometimes worse than a root canal (at least they have numbing agents for that). Usually, these kinds of speeches involve a lot of wrist checking—whether you have a watch or not—and counting minutes.

YouTube isn’t that difficult to understand; you post videos, and people watch them. In fact, the simple platform is probably why it’s so popular among many audiences today. Videos are engaging, and people like to watch them—especially when they are trying to learn something or just need some entertainment for the moment.

Surveys—you’re probably sick of them, right? After all, most of us get one every time we talk to, smile at or breathe on a customer service associate, and it can get tiring. It makes sense that you, as a business owner, may not think they are that important because of the over-saturation of surveys in our every day interactions with companies.

Let’s face it; dealing with all of the paperwork that comes along with hiring people can be a drag. This is especially true if you are a small company and can’t afford to hire someone who can tell you all about the ins and outs of compliance, tax code, and even 401k structure.