As the economy gets back on its feet, many states have seen their unemployment rates decline; across the country, the rate is down approximately a full percentage point from this time two years ago, and down nearly half of what it was in 2010. The declining of unemployment rates is very important, as it shows that the economy is beginning to recover from its downturn. This, however, makes the job arena an employee’s market versus an employer’s market.
What does that mean? Well, unemployment rates can only go down if people are getting jobs. This is good for the economy because one, there are fewer people looking for work, two, fewer people must rely on government assistance, and three, when people start to work, they have more money to spend and put back into the economy, strengthening it further. Businesses looking for new employees, however, are slightly less lucky in this situation.
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Topics:
john shepperson,
oates co,
recession,
economy,
human resources,
unemployment,
job market,
employment
Keeping up with keyword research, search engine optimization, handling orders from both a physical store and an internet “store,” and constantly keeping an eye on marketing in general is a challenge.
Well, get ready for another one. Your customers now expect to have a smooth interaction with your online presence – on mobile devices. Unfortunately, having an internet website that works with both a personal computer and a mobile device isn’t always easy. Whether you like it or not, the age of mobile computing is fully upon us, and if your customers can’t navigate your website on a mobile device, you’ll lose sales.
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Topics:
john shepperson,
oates co,
tablets,
smart phones,
apps,
mobile website,
search engine optimization,
mobile friendly,
keyword research
The amount of conflicting information floating around out there can make it difficult to decide in which direction to take your business’s marketing strategy. Marketing, as you can imagine, is not a one-size-fits-all matter, and what works for one type of business won’t work for another. In fact, what works for a company in, say, Chicago, might not work for the same company in San Antonio.
There are, however, a few “marketing don’ts” that span all industries – make sure that you steer clear of these errors.
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Topics:
social media,
Quiznos,
Dos Equis,
Old Spice,
android,
iphone,
unique selling position
Some small businesses have been reluctant to adopt cloud computing, but they shouldn’t be – there is much to be gained from it if you learn to harness its full power.
To briefly define cloud computing, we’re going to quote an article written by SalesForce – a leader in cloud services based in the UK – that states:
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Topics:
cloud computing,
Salesforce,
flexibility,
john shepperson,
oates co,
CRN,
reduced costs,
easy to use,
information technology,
expandable
Business analysis is crucial to keeping your business growing and moving forward and therefore will certainly demand some of your time. That being said, if working on your business analytics is eating up more and more of your life, then it’s time to explore more effective methods.
Keeping a small business afloat in these troubled economic waters requires using all of your resources efficiently, including your time. It’s easy to get stuck in a business rut where you pour over all your data for weeks or months without coming up with any new insights to help you reduce costs or increase income.
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Topics:
oates,
john shepperson,
oates co,
business analysis,
small business,
business data
The business of medicine is one that holds surprises around every corner. From insurance delays to clients who refuse to pay to the ever-shifting prices of medical supplies and equipment, being able to track profitability to ensure success can be an extremely challenging endeavor – one that has kept business professionals on their toes for years.
The issues are the aforementioned variables, plus others. The nature of a medical practice can make collecting payments extremely difficult, as self-pay patients may not be able to pay and insurance companies are notorious for refusing to pay full charges. Despite the difficulty of dealing with these issues, however, they are unavoidable.
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Topics:
oates,
medical accounting,
medical practice,
john shepperson,
oates co,
insurance,
affordable care act,
hipaa
Is our economy recovering or not? How will your business deal with what has become the “New Normal” economy?
Every business and health care facility in North Carolina & throughout the entire country is dealing with the new reality of low job growth, increased competition, globalization, and savvier than ever customers.
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Topics:
john shepperson,
oates co,
recession,
economy,
recovery,
new normal
Whether you use Sage 100 ERP, Sage 300 ERP, Sage 500 ERP, or Sage CRM for your business, you will welcome the recent announcement that BrainSell and Sage have extended their long-standing partnership. This extended partnership means that the focus of the Sage’s existing software will be complemented with the addition of Human Resource Management (HRMS) software.
Sage's HRMS software will provide a very agile way to manage the complex and often confusing processes involved in human resource management, from payroll and time/attendance to the changes in health insurance resulting from the Affordable Care Act.
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Topics:
Sage,
customer relationship management,
Sage 500,
enterprise resource planning,
crm,
Sage 100,
sage 300,
brainsell,
sage hrms,
human resources,
human resources management
Is defining leadership possible? If you look up the word, there are more definitions than you can count.
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Topics:
oates,
flexibility,
john shepperson,
oates co,
leading,
leader,
authenticity,
leadership,
encouraging
Sales tax is evolving every day – at both the state and federal levels. If pending legislation is enacted, certain key industries could be impacted, dramatically affecting your customers' businesses.
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Topics:
Avalara,
taxes,
john shepperson,
oates co,
sales tax rules,
webinar,
free webinar,
tax legislation,
cloud based managment
