Month: November 2011

Categories
Operations

10 Big Businesses With Incredibly Casual Offices

Article Contributed by Business Insurance

Corporations are notorious for being formal and stuffy, but not all big businesses are created equal. Over the last decade, more big-name companies are ditching the standard suit and tie and allowing their employees to wear khakis, jeans, and even (gasp!) flip-flops. These trend-setting companies have gone above and beyond the business norms to provide a comfortable and fun working environment for their employees, while providing awesome amenities like free gym memberships, complimentary dry cleaning, and on-site chefs to meet their daily needs. Check out these 10 big businesses with incredibly casual offices.

Google

Google was one of the first companies to adopt the laid-back corporate culture that emphasized creativity and achievements on an individual basis that add to the team’s overall success. One of the company’s 10 principle philosophies is “you can be serious without a suit.” This philosophy speaks volumes for the casual culture of Google. Not only is the dress code casual, but the overall look and feel of the company’s headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., is also laid back and fun. Google employees can enjoy ping pong, snacks in the break rooms, video games, and “huddle” rooms for everyone to take a break. Some additional office amenities include massage chairs, foosball and ping pong tables, an onsite gym, haircuts, and complimentary car washes.

Zappos

Zappos has put a lot of emphasis on its company culture and takes pride in being a casual yet successful business. Even though it was acquired by Amazon in 2009, Zappos has managed to hold on to the same values and company missions that it was founded on. Zappos’ casual work environment takes after the Internet marketing and e-commerce industries, which emphasize comfort over formality to help employees produce their very best work.

Facebook

Facebook also adopted a Google-like office culture that consists of casually-dressed, but hardworking youngsters. Facebook has offices in more than 15 countries, some of which have bean bag lounges, kegs, on-site chefs, and plenty of places to kick up your feet and relax. At the Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif., employees have several unique amenities that fit the laid-back online culture. Workers can break a sweat on the outdoor skate park, play some tunes on the office turn tables, and take care of their laundry or leather repairs without leaving work.

Electronic Arts

EA is one of the biggest companies in the video game industry, with an estimated 8,000 employees worldwide. Although most of the EA studios and subsidiaries have embraced a informal office culture, the EA campus in Vancouver is one of the most casual and decked-out facilities within the company. The campus has a state-of-the-art building featuring a theater, restaurants, coffee bars, a complete fitness room, and a full-size soccer field. EA Canada is also the company’s largest and oldest studio, so, naturally, it houses the world’s largest video game test operation and many employees take advantage of this cool feature.

Twitter

Twitter is an online social networking service that knows how to have fun. The Twitter offices are located in San Francisco, San Antonio, Boston and New York City, and are chock-full of awesome amenities to keep their employees relaxed and satisfied. Twitter employees get to enjoy everything from free gym memberships, complimentary yoga/Pilates and rock climbing classes, as well as on-site laundry and dry cleaning services.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional networking site and its Mountain View, Calif., headquarters has one of the most laid-back offices in the country. LinkedIn employees have many benefits and amenities in the office, such as a 24/7 gym with morning boot camp and afternoon yoga/pilates classes, chair massage,s and weekly lectures from entrepreneurs.

Quicken Loans

Quicken Loans’ corporate culture is uniquely different from other big-name companies. According to Quicken Loans, the keys to maintaining its competitiveness and great rapport with customers are the so-called ISMs that make up the company philosophy. The online mortgage lender puts more emphasis on the character and attitude of their employees rather than what they do. To enhance the company culture and give back to its employees, Quicken Loans offers some generous benefits and perks. Employees can enjoy 11 paid holidays per calendar year, free cappuccinos and slushies, concert giveaways, and ATM and dry-cleaning services.

AOL

AOL has also taken a casual approach to office culture and design. The Internet services and media company has adapted to changes in online culture by revamping their offices and turning them into inspiring and collaborative workspaces. To make this idea happen, AOL moved its West Coast headquarters to a new space in Palo Alto, Calif. Here, the company did away with private offices and designed open workstations and shared spaces, including a game room, an open kitchen and cafeteria, break rooms, and much more.

Genentech

Genentech has been regarded as one of the best and most desirable places to work, thanks to its unbeatable company culture. The biotech firm has garnered a lot of attention for its legendary perks, including doggie day care, weekly Friday night parties, an on-site farmers’ market, and rich stock options. But it’s not just the great perks that keep employees working for Genentech – they’re also attracted to the company’s emphasis on learning and having the freedom to experiment as they like.

Apple

Apple is no stranger to the casual corporate culture, so many companies have adopted over the past few years. Since its inception, Apple has fostered innovation and freedom of expression to make great things happen as a team. Apple’s casual corporate atmosphere started from the beginning when Steve Jobs reportedly walked around the office barefoot. Apple employees have some stellar benefits, including excellent health insurance and satisfactory military-leave pay, as well as awesome amenities like Apple product gifts and meals at Caffe Macs, where you might run into Apple’s top executives.

10 Big Businesses With Incredibly Casual Offices [Business Insurance]

Categories
Sales & Marketing

3 Simple Steps to Marketing Even If You Hate Marketing

Of all the things entrepreneurs struggle with, this one is probably the most difficult and most dangerous. Why? Because it directly impacts the success of your business.

I know I’m not revealing any big eye-opening secret when I tell you that if you don’t regularly and consistently market your business, your business won’t grow. I know you know this. But none of that helps you when you hate marketing. (In fact, it probably makes you feel even worse, doesn’t it?)

So what did you do? Here are 3 steps to get you started (hint — these work even if you love marketing):

1. Find a marketing strategy or tactic you enjoy. There are LOTS of ways to market yourself, I guarantee at least one of them you will like doing. Your job is to find it and then build your main marketing strategy around it. Here’s a list of a few marketing activities to get you thinking:

a. Writing — blogs, articles, etc.

b. Speaking — live, on teleclasses/webinars/livestream, or even podcasts

c. Being interviewed on radio or television

d. Video

e. Chatting with people via social networking

At least one of those should resonate with you.

Once you figure out your favorite marketing activity, the next step is to build your marketing strategy around that activity. (More on that in step 3 but first…)

2. Outsource what you hate to do. The problem is no matter how much you may love one marketing activity, there are probably other essential activities you don’t love quite so much (hence why you probably hate marketing to begin with). So the trick is to build your marketing plan around what you enjoy doing then you outsource the other pieces you don’t enjoy.

Sounds pretty easy when I put it that way, eh?

Okay so what if you have no one to outsource to and you’re worried about cash flow. My advice is to take a deep breath and find someone. Look, outsourcing your marketing is the easiest way to see a return on your investment — if you start consistently marketing your business that money WILL come back to you.

Start by looking at your budget. See what you can put aside each month for marketing help. Then find someone who can do the tasks you need done in that budget. You might not be able to get everything done, but prioritize what’s most important (i.e. what you’re going to see a return on your investment the fastest) and focus on that.

3. Start small and build from there. Yes I know there are lots of marketing activities out there you could be doing, and the more marketing you do the better your results. However, that doesn’t mean I want you try getting everything done tomorrow.

Here’s the minimum of what you need to have a successful, growing business — one main lead source bringing leads into your business and one main way of converting those leads into customers and clients. That’s really it (at least for the marketing side). You get that nailed down and the rest will come.

And here’s some examples of how this can look:

1. Lead source (speaking, blogging, videos, interviews, social networking)

2. Lead cultivating (ezine, free calls)

See how simple this can be?

And to take this one step further, let’s say you love speaking and hate writing. You can focus on speaking and hire a virtual assistant to take care of putting an ezine out for you.

Voila! Marketing plan built around your strengths and outsourcing your weaknesses.

Then once you have that nailed down you can start adding more marketing activities to the mix. Before you know it, you’ll find you have built up an amazing marketing system that’s feeding your business (and better yet, you may discover you don’t mind marketing quite as much as you thought you did).

Categories
Entrepreneurs

Is This the Time for Entrepreneurs to Come out of Retirement?

Article Contributed by Dave Thomas

In a day and age when it seems just about everyone has to work additional years in order to have a relatively secure retirement, more and more entrepreneurs are finding the need to come out of retirement.

Not only are older entrepreneurs realizing the need to work harder, in some cases coming out of retirement to make ends meet, they are also coming to the realization that their status as ideal entrepreneurs works to their benefit.

According to a number of studies, individuals ages 60 and older are the fastest growing group of entrepreneurs in the nation.

For the older worker who has been let go from a job and is finding a new position hard to locate, more of them are turning to entrepreneurship to cover their financial needs. In many cases, they draw on their previous experience or venture into something entirely new to fulfill a lifelong dream.

According to a report from AARP and Urban Institute, nearly one-fourth of individuals who switch jobs after the age of 51 turn to self-employment to meet their career and financial needs.

In the event you are leaning towards being an entrepreneur in what would normally be viewed as your retirement years, here are some things to consider:

  • Use your work background to your advantage – With a wealth of experience, it only makes sense to draw on what you’ve learned during your career. Tap into what you’re most comfortable with and where you have the most experience;
  • Secure financial backing – It is of utmost importance to make sure your new business venture is financially secure. Given the state of the economy, it is not surprising that many potential entrepreneurs are hesitant to tap into their financial savings. Before looking to savings to start your venture, consider other avenues, including taking out a bank loan or going to family and friends to invest in your business;
  • Be prepared to work extra hours – For many individuals coming out of retirement to be self-employed, the work hours will be intense in many cases. In the event these individuals choose to add staff, they’re still responsible for managing them. Be prepared to put in more hours than when you worked for someone else and be ready for increased levels of responsibility;
  • Focus in on having fun – While having to work extra years for older entrepreneurs may not sound like fun, you can still make it an enjoyable situation. If you’ve ever dreamed of running your own business, just because you’re older does not mean you can’t do it. If you take time to enjoy the fruits of your labor, both you and those working under you will benefit.

With the economic forecasts saying more and more individuals will not be able to rely on Social Security alone to make a go of it in their later years, starting your own business can be both personally and more importantly financially satisfying.

Are you ready to become an older entrepreneur?

About the Author:

Dave Thomas, who covers items like business phone service writes extensively forBusiness.com, an online resource destination for businesses of all sizes to research, find, and compare the products and services they need to run their businesses.