A news item on E-Consultancy reports on new research which reveals that two thirds of employees use social networking websites to help them make professional connections. 

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Tips on how to work more effectively.

Britons work the longest hours in Europe and the United Kingdom's long hours culture has been well documented.  According to the TUC in 2006 British workers put in £23bn of unpaid overtime. 

Suzanne Cameron, Senior Commercial Consultant of Carlton Resource Solutions suggests that employees should look at ways of working smarter rather than harder in order to reduce the amount of extra time they spend at work.

"UK workers spend more time at work that those in any other European country. Employees in Scotland work an average of six hours and 30 minutes extra per week," comments Suzanne.

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Five strategies to help your business grow.

With the UK economy continuing to increase faster than anticipated following the sixth consecutive quarter of above-average growth, chances are that further interest rate rises will follow in an attempt to rein in inflation.

For businesses, this outcome is something of a double-edged sword - low inflation keeps costs down, but the process of achieving this by increasing interest rates means that business borrowers are hit.

But Simon Cowie, Head of the Corporate Finance and Business Advisory Team at Hall Morrice Chartered Accountants, believes that business success is often achieved thanks to the individual actions of companies, rather than due to the nature of the market.

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Water cooler company launches ‘Campaign for Hydrated Meetings’.

It seems that in this time pressured world we are falling down on the niceties of business etiquette – and it’s having a serious effect on our performance.

Increasingly it appears organisations are neglecting to offer their visitors refreshments – water in particular – when they attend meetings. 

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From The New York Times: Clay McGee was soon to graduate from Arizona State University with a degree in marketing when he realized that the corporate world wasn’t for him.

He wanted to be his own boss and run a business, though he had little experience or cash.

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Starting out in business is all very well - you put all your energy and capital into the business. But what do you take back?

A BusinessWeek reader asks: Are there industry guidelines for how much officers of small companies (less than 10 employees) should pay themselves? Would it be 1% of sales? 10%?

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From Fool.co.uk: If you and your spouse run a small business together, then pay attention, because we have some good news for you.

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Lord Leverhulme, founder of Unilever (pictured, left)
“I know that half of my advertising is wasted – the trouble is, I don’t know which half.”

David Ogilvy, founder of Hewitt, Ogilvy, Benson & Mather
“I know of a brewer who sells more of his beer to the people who never see his advertising than to the people who see it every week. Bad advertising can unsell a product.”

Morris Hite, an advertising executive
“Advertising is salesmanship mass-produced. No one would bother using advertising if he could talk to all his prospects face-to-face. But he can’t.”

Northrop Frye, literary theorist and critic
“Advertising – a judicious mixture of flattery and threats.”

Chester L Posey, former vice-president and creative director at McCann Erickson
Advertising is “a $10bn a year misunderstanding with the public.”

Ubops.com Your World of Business Opportunities

The first winner of TV show The Apprentice has called for all companies to put some profit towards social and environmental goals.
 
Businessman and former reality TV star Tim Campbell made the call when launching the Social Enterprise Ambassadors Programme in London on Tuesday.
 
The Government-funded ambassadors programme is designed to foster a culture of social enterprise - where profit-making businesses put the bulk of their profits towards social or environmental goals.

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Since 2003, the NatWest everywoman Awards have been celebrating the outstanding achievements of female entrepreneurs across the UK. 

From start-ups to leaders of major international enterprises, the NatWest everywoman Awards have recognised and celebrated scores of women who have had the courage to go it alone.

Now in its fifth year, over 1,000 female-run businesses have entered the NatWest everywoman Awards to date, with industry sectors including sales, communication, the arts and non-traditional areas. 

Entries have now opened for the 2007 Awards and everywoman is looking for women who have achieved business success through grit and determination, perhaps overcoming considerable obstacles along the way. 

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“My wife, two kids and I landed here with a suitcase each,” recalls Bruce Nethersole (38), a serial entrepreneur who emigrated from Zimbabwe because of the turbulent political and economic situation.

“We used to have a 10-bedroom house in Victoria Falls and a five-bedroom one in Bulawayo. Now we had to start all over again.”

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From Businessweek: Ready to turn your hobby into a business?

Heed the advice of retirees who did it.

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Distinguishing yourself from your competitors is hard, but sometimes, a small business can have the advantage. Small businesses are some of the most creative marketers in the world.

Celebrate being small by focusing on the inherent advantages of small business—such as quick decision making, grassroots marketing and a personal sales approach. By using these attributes to your advantage, your business can thrive when competing with a much larger organisation.

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Until 1997 Labour invariably mismanaged the economy.

In the past decade, however, the New Labour project can count among its successes a stable economy with sustained growth and high employment.

Painfully aware of its past shortcomings, New Labour has tried to refrain from instituting too many impediments to the business of business – wealth creation. It hasn’t tried hard enough many would say, but whatever your opinion, we’re a long way from the Callaghan government of the late seventies.

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From Businessweek: BusinessWeek.com recently asked a cross-section of experts if entrepreneurs are made or born. We want you to weigh in, too.

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From Businessweek: With promising ideas and an inherently international outlook, more young Europeans are aiming for startup success. These 15 have found it.

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From Businessweek: Seth Godin on how to tell whether your ingenious thought could make a viable product - and how to impress investors if it does.

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Businesses run by women contribute £70bn to the UK economy and employ more than one million people, according to the findings of a report published today.

However, The National Business Awards' 'White Paper', observed characteristics of outstanding women in business, concludes there is a "huge amount of ground to make up" for the UK economic climate for women to be on a par with the leading nations of the world.

And, the report says that if the UK had the same rate of female start-ups as the US it would have 750,000 more businesses.

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From Businessweek: Launching any venture means confronting the possibility of failure. We examine the strategies three businesses employed in the crucial early years.

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From Businessweek: Research shows that some popular perceptions about the rate of failure in the restaurant industry are just not true.

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