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Monthly Archives: April 2015

How To Protect Confidential Information Using Document Management

30 April, 2015

By Denny Hammack, an Overdrive contributor and president of FileSolve

We live in an age of big data where organizations handle unimaginable volumes of sensitive information. Many companies already take proactive steps to protect online data — using advanced cloud-based security measures. But locally stored, in-house documents are often overlooked, despite the ease with which employees can send these files internally and externally via email.

Should these digital documents ever fall into the wrong hands, it’s not difficult for hackers to abuse confidential personal and financial information.

So what precautions can you take to protect sensitive data from prying eyes?

Categories: Best Practices FINANCES Guest contributors

Tags: denny hammack document management entrepreneurs' organization security

SEO 101

29 April, 2015

By Caroline Betts, an Overdrive contributor and Head of Marketing at Access Self Storage,

A crash course for the CEO whose SEO is AWOL.

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is important because doing it well increases your web traffic and leads. Almost 50,000 Google searches are made every second but users rarely click on sites not on page one – so how high you rank counts for everything.

It’s therefore important to have a good grounding in SEO. Getting acquainted with site structure, keyword research, the value of links and the importance of mobile will give you a solid SEO foundation from which to explore more advanced techniques when your company is ready to do so.

Categories: Best Practices FINANCES Guest contributors

Tags: access self storage caroline betts entrepreneurs' organization seo

Feedback is Only Good if You Use It!

28 April, 2015

By Steve Whiteside, an EO Vancouver member and president of Learntech Solutions Ltd.

In the past we have all received surveys asking our opinion about a product, a stay in a hotel, or some such thing. The information collected in these types of surveys is useful as long as the information is actually used. In my experience there are two factors that are key to making surveys useful. 1. make them as ‘user friendly’ and easy to fill out as possible. 2. ensure that information is collected and collated in a way that will enable the outcomes to be used to make positive change(s) in your organization.

Remember, information (knowledge) is power, but only if you use it! Click here to read more!

Categories: Best Practices FINANCES members

Tags: entrepreneurs' organization eo vancouver learntech solutions ltd steve whiteside

TED Talks: Arianna Huffington’s “How to Succeed? Get More Sleep”

27 April, 2015

By Jamie Hughes, an Account Manager at Speakers Corner

TED Talks have gradually become a fruitful new resource for entrepreneurs, marketeers and financiers and many have benefited from discovering inspirational talks from speakers. This TED Talk may not guarantee immediate success but will certainly inspire you to make important changes for your business.

Arianna Huffington’s: ‘How to Succeed? Get More Sleep’

Categories: Best Practices FINANCES Guest contributors

Tags: arianna huffington sleep success

Telecommuting: Is it Right for You?

24 April, 2015

By an Overdrive contributor

You may not be ready to run your business in your pajamas and bedroom slippers, but you probably have heard about how telecommuting (working from home) can increase productivity, save money, and even lead to happier, more loyal employees. It’s a great option when weather “events” (as the local weathermen dub them) make going to the office challenging. Even the federal government has jumped on the telecommuting bandwagon when the Telework Enhancement Act of 2010 was signed into law late last year.

Telecommuting makes sense from a lot of angles, but success depends on the role, your type of business, your corporate culture, and the personality of the particular employee.

How do you know who will make the ideal virtual employee? Ask yourself these key questions

Categories: Guest contributors Productivity Technology

Tags: entrepreneurs' organization telecommuting virtual employee

Know the Difference Between Customer Service and Complaint Resolution

23 April, 2015

By Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey, Overdrive contributors and Barefoot Wine Founders

These days, most companies have anything ranging from one person to a whole department dedicated to so-called “customer service.” But let’s be honest: For many of these departments, truly gratifying service isn’t on the menu. They’re more like “complaint resolution” departments. They take calls or answer emails from unhappy customers and then try to resolve the problem as quickly as possible (often relying on a script or protocol), then move on to the next.

Categories: Best Practices Coaching FINANCES Guest contributors

Tags: barefoot wine bonnie harvey michael houlihan

Reasons Why it is Important for Entrepreneurs to be Creative

22 April, 2015

By Andrew Cravenho, an Overdrive contributor and CEO of CBAC

One of the last things that people expect from leaders and entrepreneurs is creativity.

In fact, it is quite hard to find a manager being lauded for bringing a dash of creativity to problem-solving in the boardroom.

More often than not, it is assumed that being creative is the forte of only those in the design or the writing domain. This, however, only limits the skill set and the mindset of the entrepreneur.

Categories: Best Practices Guest contributors Inspirational Lessons Learned Productivity

Tags: andrew cravenho creativitiy entrepreneurs' organization

B-IMPRESSIVE: Tell Your Employees How to Stand Out!

21 April, 2015

By Ken Fowler, an EO Brisbane member and managing director at B Series Recruitment

Sometimes you need to give your staff guidance so they know what constitutes a great performance.

Funnily enough, many don’t actually know, and think that turning up on time and staying until 5pm is going “beyond the call of duty”.

Try some of these suggestions to start the New Year on a positive note.

Categories: Best Practices FINANCES members

Tags: entrepreneurs' organization EO Brisbane Ken Fowler

TED Talks: Eddie Obeng’s “Smart Failure for a Fast-Changing World”

20 April, 2015

By Jamie Hughes, an Account Manager at Speakers Corner

Eddie Obeng’s “Smart Failure for a Fast-Changing World”

Categories: FINANCES Networking Video

Tags: Eddie Obeng entrepreneurs' organization TED Talks

The Power of Twitter

17 April, 2015

By Lisa Messenger, an Overdrive contributor

The past 32 days, I have totally immersed myself in Twitter – I have lived and breathed it and made it my mission to understand what works and what doesn’t. When to apply hash tags, who to follow, what time to tweet, what to tweet about, who to retweet, what measurement tools exist, how is it impacting my business … I have stacked and recorded strategy upon strategy. And not just for egotistical purposes but rather to build up my own following of genuine people who genuinely have an interest in what I might have to say, but also to really understand how to make the absolute most of it so that we will be fully equipped to service our social media clients.

So why have I been doing it and why haven’t I outsourced it to my staff? Click here to read more!

Categories: FINANCES Guest contributors WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS

Tags: entrepreneurs' organization social media twitter