Everyone was surprised when they first heard that Google employees are given free meals and haircuts. They were even more surprised when they learned that, in between coding sessions, employees could play a game of foosball or go for a massage.

For the caveman MBA, trained in the classical theories of margin optimization, there is nothing more vexing than moving beyond the zero-sum and into the complex calculations that underpin employee motivation.

Companies with fat margins are usually the first to reinvent business practices, and the rest are dragged along with them. It was Apple that taught us retail success could be achieved without sales commissions, and it’s the boutique consultancies that are letting their employees nap at work. High-margin businesses are like the labs where conventional business wisdom is tested. If a new idea seems to work, competitors soon follow and – over time – so do the majority of the market.

Look at a tech job advert today and it’s like Roald Dahl wrote the job descriptions. Instead of Oompa Loompas, you have hairdressers and chefs. TechCrunch Cribs shows us that today’s tech workers take the slide instead of the elevator, scooter to their next meeting and hang out in the office bar. Beer kegs are almost mandatory, and no office is complete without video games and ping pong tables.

Some ideas are so good that others can’t help copying them. And much like the way companies have copied Google, you can’t help but imagine that companies will soon be copying some of the techniques that have led to Stanton Optical’s Success. Each year the company rewards top performers by giving them their own line of eyewear, and the winner in 2011 named her line of glasses after her daughter.

When employees are treated well, and success is rewarded, the culture of an organization can quickly start to change. It may take time, but the results can be startling when they come. The trick is not to abandon the old-school methods of managing the costs of employees, but to think about the value of motivational tools in a more nuanced way.

Recognizing the success of your employees through a reward system comes at almost zero cost, but – managed correctly – it could have untold effects on productivity and results. When you give your employees free meals, it may seem expensive, but it could mean that your employees are healthier, that they work more hours, or that they are less likely to switch jobs, which could save you tens of thousands in recruitment costs.

If your managers believe you have a zero-sum relationship with employees, and their minds fritz out at the thought of giving employees anything for free, it’s time they were schooled in methods of modern employee motivation.

A lot of us dream of starting our own businesses. Many of us actually do, but only a few of us succeed at the entrepreneurial path. Why is this? Why do some ideas and business plans sputter and die while others flourish on the free market? Let’s assess the situation…

Why Does One Succeed and the Other Fail?
First and foremost, those who succeed have a few specific personality and work ethic skills. In addition, they make a plan and work the plan. Here are 5 steps you cannot skip when starting a business.

•Business Plan
Quite literally: A business plan is the foundation on which you build your business. Do the research, make a solid plan, and learn to adjust as necessary. Business plans allow us to really look at every aspect from concept to execution and what it will take to make it all happen. In addition, this is where the budget starts and a business without a budget is no business at all. You know the saying, “It takes money to make money”? Well, it’s true.

•Marketing Plan
A marketing plan is the second most important thing you need to wrap your mind around. Marketing is the lifeblood of any business. Marketing covers everything from your letterhead and business cards to your advertising and social media campaigns. A designated and committed budget, a well-researched locale, accurate demographics, and expert insight are all necessary when it comes to marketing.

Also, and this is very important, be sure your marketing campaign includes and embraces a local cause.

•Online Presence
Whatever you do, do not underestimate the Internet and what your online reputations says about you and your business. From vendors to prospective employees and customers, the Internet is the first place people are going to look to find out more.

Accordingly, your business needs to have a website and social media pages like LinkedIn, FaceBook, Twitter, and Pinterest. In addition, a stand-alone or website incorporated blog is a new must for fresh relevant content to continuously increase or maintain your Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

•Online Payment Options
When you are building out your site and integrating a shopping cart or other merchant services, having a something like a virtual terminal (VT) is an extremely efficient manner of accepting online payments for your products or services. This allows your customers to be able to do business with you wherever they (and you) are. In the digital age, think of this as a must.

If you work in a scheduling type of business (clinic, salon, etc), there is software specifically for that too. Businesses that do not allow online payment options are losing business, so don’t let yours be one of them.

•Consistency
No matter what your business is, no matter how you choose to promote and advertise it, the most important thing is to be consistent. Do not skip around from this to that. Experiment before you start your business, not after. If you advertise, don’t piece-meal small dollars everywhere thinking you will reach more people, instead choose a venue and own it as much as your budget will allow.

We start businesses because we have dreams, or perhaps because we simply no longer wish to work for someone else. But, if we are not careful and prepared, dreams can turn into nightmares and money pits. Learn the industry you wish to get involved in; learn the prospective recipient of your product or service-the end users, as they’re called. Learn the region in which you plan to open shop and then start with that business plan and go from there.

Whether you need to supplement your income while finishing school or you need extra dinero to pay off that student loan debt, there are many worthwhile freelance careers you can pursue. The best freelance careers are the ones where you get to do what you love and can make some money doing it and sometimes, a lifelong hobby can become a lifelong career.
Things like writing, music, and photography are great examples of hobbies that can easily turn into lucrative careers or at least side-line money makers.
Are you the one at parties and get-togethers that’s always taking pictures? Do friends see your photographs and tell you that you have talent? Is taking pictures your private passion? Why not make it a new career?

Practice Makes Perfect
Start getting behind the lens. Invest in better equipment if (or when) you can. Practicing in different environments, with different lighting, and with different subjects will only make you a better photographer. Do you take unusual pictures? Don’t worry about, you can find a niche and learn how to make it marketable.

Keep on Learning
Look into local schools for photography. Find meet-ups for photography groups. Discover like-minded people to compare techniques, share ideas, and discover small (or large) gig opportunities while you continue learning. Hone your skills, both behind and in front of the camera.

Put Together a Portfolio
Have close friends and family members help you choose a few pictures to start putting together a portfolio, if you don’t already have one. Ask them to be objective and not just full of platitudes. Honesty is the best policy, after all you want to succeed and they should want you to too. Look on-line for the proper way to present your work.

Don’t Forget Marketing
Create some inexpensive or free business cards and set-up a free website using a platform like WordPress. Having something to hand people or somewhere to direct them is important and doesn’t need to cost you a lot of dough when you are first starting out.

Word of mouth advertising may be all you can afford, but don’t underestimate the value of a great referral. Choose a couple of friends that you know are very well connected with the types of people or organizations that utilize photography. Offer to do a personal digital photo-shoot for free or be the token photographer for a family wedding. If you do a great job they are sure to refer you any time the subject of a photographer comes up.

On Doing What You Love
Sometimes doing what we love starts with a leap of faith. Rarely is the opportunity laid in our laps and even those that are still require expertise and real work. Learning and investing in your craft should be a never-ending endeavor, but be sure your return is worthwhile. If all you are doing is investing time and money something is wrong and all you are left with is an expensive hobby.

On the other hand, if you find that you are able to pay a few bills, buy a new lens, or purchase an unexpected nicety you know you are doing something right. Small successes will grow into bigger successes and soon you may be so busy there won’t be time for a second job.

When you’re thinking of starting up a business, Egypt might not seem an obvious first choice. However, ruling it out is a big mistake. Egypt has, in fact, weathered the international economic turbulence better than many other countries, due to its economic reforms and the Central Bank of Egypt’s supervision of all the local and foreign banks in the country.

This is good news for corporate banking in Egypt. When you’re making business payments you’ll be pleased to know that bank transactions (letters of credit and transfers) are secured and guaranteed internationally during commercial deals. Businesses can set up corporate accounts safe in the knowledge that the financial authorities

are taking genuine care of their interests.

But it’s not just this protection of corporate banking that makes Egypt a good place to start a business.

Freedom of Enterprise, Freedom of Choice
Egypt is particularly attractive for start-ups because you have so much freedom over your business. The changes in the legal framework now allow 100% foreign ownership of a company, as well as 100% foreign representation on the

board of directors. There’s also protection from expropriation, which means the Government won’t be able to take private property into public ownership without a fight, if at all.

The other tasty carrot that Egypt dangles in front of entrepreneurs, and has been doing so for years now, is its creation of free zones, which were set up to encourage foreign trade. Start your business in these zones and you’ll be exempt from taxes, customs duties and import and export regulations. The other advantage these zones offer is that that you’re free to choose the legal status of your business.

Opportunities Knock
When you set up a business, you should research into where the opportunities lie — and Egypt certainly has plenty of them. For instance, general lack of consumer knowledge about products such as insurance has created lots of opportunities in the financial sector.

Other sectors where there’s room for business are construction, ICT, education and training, gas and oil, environment and water, and retail sectors. Here’s why:

1. Education — the shift in the Egyptian education system focus means that pupils are learning to prepare for employment rather than to simply pass exams
2. Oil and gas — Egypt’s high level of unemployment and its large number of people under 25 year olds has created lots of opportunities for training in the sector
3. ICT — the demand for ICTs in Egypt is growing and the sector itself is growing quickly each year
   Environment and water — the Egyptian Government wants to provide water and sanitation for 217 Egyptian cities and 4 600 villages, and will require engineers and project managers for such projects
4. Retail — Egyptian consumers are becoming more interested in brands and value-added products and services, but despite some household names branching out into Egypt, penetration of the retail sector is still low
5. Construction — the Egyptian construction sector is experiencing an annual growth rate of 15%. Investment is estimated to reach $7.3 billion, with many new and diverse projects, including high-end real estate, tourism and leisure, and infrastructure projects.

So if you’re looking to set up your business in Egypt, you’ll find the country is doing everything possible to make it easier for you, including exemption from taxes and customs duties. Not only that, the Central Bank of Egypt’s monitors all the banks in Egypt, so that it’s safer to use a corporate account and make business payments there. It all makes business pleasure.

Many people require tutoring in various subjects. Hiring a private tutor is a good way for people to obtain the instruction they need because they can schedule the sessions to fit their schedule. Here is a list of things you need to know to become a

private tutor:

Qualifications
Unlike a teacher that is required to have a college degree and certification, there are currently no prerequisites or academic requirements that are needed for a person to become a private tutor. However, the more education you have, the easier

you will be able to get paying clients. To put it simply, education will open more doors for you.

Make a Lesson Plan
Before you begin to tutor people, create a lesson plan that is easy to follow. Make sure your students understand the syllabus or curriculum you will be teaching them. This will ensure that your lesson plans will be as effective as possible. One of the most important qualities tutors must demonstrate is how to and realize how to teach different students with varying ways of learning. Always be well organized and professional. Students may not want to keep hiring you if you are fumbling through your materials in front of them.

Consult an Attorney
If you plan on tutoring school children, it would be wise to talk to an attorney first. There will most likely be very specific laws concerning the tutoring of children in your area. You must make sure you adhere to these laws, as they can vary widely depending on where you live.

Obtain References
Even before you begin tutoring a new student, ask them if they will allow you to use them as a reference for potential future clients. References are crucial in this line of work. Before a person invites you into their home and starts to pay you money, they want to hear from other people that you are a good tutor and that you provide a quality learning experience.

Advertise Your Service
You need to let people know about your tutoring service. The best way to do that is by getting your name out there. There are many different classified sites where you can post ads promoting your business. You can also make some posts on message boards pertaining to tutoring.

Payment
Make your rates competitive and sign up to an online payment service that accepts credit cards. This will make it easier for your clients to pay you.

The demand for quality private tutors will always be high. Since people often need to juggle busy schedules around their classes, they will need a private tutor that can teach them at a convenient time. Good references and an effective lesson plan will help make your private tutoring business a lucrative one.

Employees well being, and positive, motivated attitudes, have a tremendous impact on the success of any company. These factors cannot

be ignored when considering improvements involving profits and productivity. The following are the top five mista

kes a company may make regarding its employees. Making these mistakes causes companies to lose in productivity, money and profits.

Lack of recognition
It is human nature to desire recognition for a job well done. When an employee works hard to give quality service to

an employer, and those efforts appear to be unnoticed, there is little motivation to continue offering the same level of effort.

Employee awards, in the form of both verbal praise and plaques, or other forms of public acknowledgement, prevent a feeling of futility or discouragement in the hard working employee.

Poor benefits
Health insurance and other benefits promoting employee fitness, and well being are not simply nice perks that a benevolent employer hands out to workers. Good health benefits and company programs designed to keep workers healthy can mean fewer sick days, and less loss of productivity. In addition, good health benefits impart the sense that a company cares. Remove these benefits, and you remove one important motivating factor.

Lack of tangible rewards
Tangible rewards, such as extra vacation days, gift certificates, valuable or interesting keepsake items, give employees something extra to shoot for, in addition to the paycheck. Companies that forsake tangible rewards miss the extra effort employees will go to in order to achieve perks. If you are unsure how to offer rewards, or what kind may be appropriate for your company, consult a business such as O.C. Tanner. This company helps companies like yours set up positive, effective rewards programs.

Lack of communication
When an employee does not understand exactly what the company wants of him and his questions are ignored, it is a loss to the company. There must be a clear and efficient path of communication. All employees should understand deadlines and goals as well as what his or her particular position is regarding those goals. A lack of communication leads to a lot of lost time and productivity, as well as a loss of morale.

Poor team leadership
Team leaders must be able to motivate the team positively. Absentee leaders who retreat into their own office and avoid interaction, give the message that the team does not really matter. This does not mean that upper management must look over employees shoulders all the time, that is rarely appropriate. However, employees respect a boss who is willing to get his hands dirty, figuratively or literally. Get to know your team, know their needs, and work with them.

Retiring early is what most Americans want, but few actually work towards achieving it. But it’s definitely a dream that you can make a reality by making the most out your productive years while you’re still young.

Investing in an early retiremen

t has many advantages. In the following article we discuss a few important ones…

#1: Find More Time for Family

Working hard and getting ahead in your career is a good thing. But is it really worth sacrificing your family time for your career goals? Do you feel satisfied spending less and less time with the family on the pretext of fattening your bank balance?

If you look around, you’ll find that most working people have a hard time finding a balance between work and family. Saying your family comes first is different than actually being there for them. Investing in your retirement at any early age and accelerating your savings helps you come closer to giving more quality time to your family.

#2: Live Your Dreams

Dreams, we all have them. However, most of us are so busy working day in and day out that we find no time and space to actually live our dreams. Besides that, enjoying life and doing what we want to requires enough money, which usually takes a lifetime to save.

If you wait too long to invest in your retirement, you could miss out on the opportunities to make the most of your dreams. However, if and when you retire young, you not only have the energy but also the ambition and passion to enjoy

things that old retirees are unable to.

#3: Start Your Own Business

Not everybody wants to stop working after they retire early. You may have an undying entrepreneurial spirit in you that pushes you to use your experience and knowledge to start your own business. It could be what you always wanted to do.

For example, if you’re a software programmer with years of corporate experience under your belt, you could use it to start your own software firm. What’s more, with great learning resources like Income.com available, you won’t have a problem finding the guidance you need.

It may sound difficult at first, but retiring early is entirely possible if you stay focused on your goals. You don’t have to wait till you reach your 30’s or 40’s to start investing in your retirement. Take massive action and do it while you’re young - you will thank yourself.

You should investigate the benefits of taking your business online when considering the option of expanding the business and meeting

growing customer needs. There are many benefits of taking your business online such as increased customer relation

ships, revenue etc. Here are some tips to follow in order to capitalize the online side of your business.

1. Create an appealing and easy-to-access website
The website you make should appeal to the customers, and should be easily accessible. Creating a simple landing page won’t be sufficient. If you plan to go with a ‘cart checkout’ order system, make sure it’s not too complex, and allows the customer to order easily. The website should have all types of payment options such as debit cards, credit cards, PayPal and other popular online payment mediums.

2. Create a blog
As mentioned in the first point, a simple sales/landing page won’t be sufficient for your business. Creating a blog for your business on the official website is a smart thing to do. Joel Spolsky runs a blog on software development which helps in promotion of his small business, Fox Creek Software. Creating a blog will benefit your business in the following ways:

· Better rankings
Your online business website will be found easily by search engines as you’re going to update the blog with fresh content. Re-indexing will also be quicker.

· Direct audience communication
You’ll build a relationship with the audience overtime who subscribe to your to receive updates. Every new blog post will be accessible to all the regular readers, allowing you to communicate directly with them.

· Value on social media
If one of your post goes viral on Facebook, Twitter or any other social media website, your value will increase on social media, and you’ll get possible high quality inbound links and new visitors.

· Greater revenue
Your revenue will increase with a blog. If your business is popular, then the blog will be popular within a few months. You’ll get advertising offers for your business blog, which will lead to greater overall revenue.

3. Get feedback of the current business practices
Getting feedback of customers is important. You can easily get feedback online upon the thoughts of the consumer about current business practices. Dispatching e-mails to customers will give you a few answers. With feedback, you’ll know if your business is on the right track, or are there some changes to be made. It will also give more exposure to your business, as customers are likely to talk about a business that connects with the customers.

4. Get a positive online reputation
Positive online reputation can lead to brand protection, new customers and much more. Controlling your image online may be difficult to do on your own, so you can take an ORM service for the

purpose. Before you do so, you should read reviews about ORM companies like the Review of Reputation.com. You would be able to prevent unnecessary content about your business floating around and private information from being made public.

By following the tips mentioned above, you can capitalize on the online side of your business and increase your revenue and exposure.

From time to time, all of us need a quick cash injection. After all, no-one can avoid the odd unexpected expense, like car repairs or higher-than-expected bills, so it’s always good to know what your options are just in case something crops up. With

that in mind, I’ve put together a quick guide to some of the best options for getting cash quickly.

Borrowing from friends and family

If you’re in a fix, one option is to turn to your friends and family to help you out. This is a choice that often divides people, since it has some quite significant pros and cons:
• Pro: You can sidestep any official application process (which you’d go through when applying for a bank loan, for example). This means it doesn’t matter if you have a poor credit history, and it can also give you the chance to get your money that little bit faster.
• Pro: You might be able to borrow exactly the amount you need, rather than less or more.
• Pro: There won’t be a fixed deadline you have to pay the sum back by, which makes it a more flexible option.
• Con: Owing money to friends and family can fast become complicated. For example, if you can’t pay the money back as quickly as you thought, you need to borrow more or your lender deems you to be spending your money unwisely, it can easily lead to friction. So, sometimes it is simpler

to avoid this altogether.
• Con: You might not want your friends and family to know about your financial difficulties or the purchase you are making (for example, the money you borrow could be to fund a surprise).

Bank loans

One of the most obvious ways to boost your finances short-term, bank loans are quite an obvious route to go down. There are a couple of things to consider beforehand, including:
• You will need to successfully pass a credit check.
• You may not be able to secure the full amount you have applied for.
• You will have to repay the loan within the required period.

Bear in mind these payments will typically need to be made regularly, rather than in a lump sum on the deadline date, so you should make sure you can stick to the plan outlined and pay the interest.

Another thing to be mindful of here is that bank loans can take a little while to be approved and the money sent through to you, which means you might receive your cash a little slower than when using other means.

Taking out loans against your possessions

If you own any valuables, such as expensive paintings, precious gems/jewellery or luxury cars, it is also worth considering taking loans out against them. Borrowing services like this will typically assess the items in question (using an expert in valuation) before letting you know whether they will offer you a loan or not. Some advantages of doing this are:
• You

will not need a credit check.
• If your loan is approved you will usually receive your cash within 24 hours.
• Provided you repay the loan, you will keep your items (this is particularly good if your valuables hold sentimental value, giving this kind of a service an edge over selling your possessions outright).

LSF Interactive and Geary Group, two successful search marketing agencies, recently merged to create a new entity called Geary LSF Group, and they are busy growing their enterprise. The partnership was only announced at the end of the spring, and

Geary LSF Group has already announced that they are acquiring another firm to help grow their service offerings. The group has acquired 15miles, a local

search marketing leader, in order to expand their expertise and capabilities in local, social and mobile engagement for the digital market.

What This Means for Geary LSF Group

The teams at LSF Interactive and Geary Group both brought a great deal of search marketing knowledge and experience to the table, and are able to offer a wide range of digital services to clients across the globe. The team at 15miles had something unique to offer Geary LSF Group clients, though, and the newly merged firm saw an opportunity to better serve their current clients and attract a broader range of new clientele in the future. The local, mobile and social marketing experts at 15miles will bring not only a new level of knowledge and expertise to the Geary LSF Group; they will also bring about 30 new brands to the client roster and greatly augment the firm’s digital marketing network.

Response from the 15miles, Geary and LSF Teams

There was plenty of excitement from the teams at LSF Interactive,

Geary Group and 15miles, which are now part of the same family. The so-called SoLoMo revolution, which has been propelled forward by consumers’ rapidly increasing use of tablet devices and smartphones, is now dominant in the search landscape, according to Daniel Laury, president and CEO of Geary LSF Group, who added that the partnership will considerably increase their capabilities for enabling both local retailers and international brands to optimize their digital customer engagement practices.

Since 15miles has been recognized nationally for its innovations and expert abilities in the social, local and mobile search marketing landscape, it’s clear why LSF Interactive and Geary Group would want to acquire the firm. But what’s in it for 15miles? Apparently, a lot, according to Gregg Stewart, President of 15miles. According to Stewart, Geary LSF’s deep and broad knowledge and expertise when it comes to digital marketing will let the 15miles team put together integrated digital marketing campaigns for clients. The team at 15miles is “delighted” to be joining forces with Geary LSF, because the firm has been recognized as a global leader in Internet marketing.