Archive for August, 2009

Small Business Team-Building on the Sands of Newport

Wednesday, August 26th, 2009

newport-sea-baseArguably one of Orange County’s best kept secrets is the $6.8 million Newport Sea Base, where children learn how to navigate mini marine vessels and executives can steer their company to the Newport Beach Harbor for a day of rejuvenation away from the office. The Sea Base boasts a history dating back to 1937 and recently completed the multi-million dollar construction project. The new architecture is beautiful, modern and sits along 400 feet of water’s edge in the Newport Beach Harbor. Not an exclusive yacht club, this is a facility for everyone.  The folks at the Sea Base, also called the Sea Scouts base (the Sea Scouts are a division of Boy Scouts of America), have extended an invitation to small businesses to utilize the facility for team-building functions, parties and other social and professional events.

 The Newport Sea Base was originally host  to the youth of and Sea Scouts of Orange County, with the intention of developing character and instilling a love for maritime in the hearts of youth, according to the Orange County Council, Boy Scouts of America. Part of the plan in building the new sea base was to reach out to the small business community of Orange County. The Newport Sea Base offers a uniquely coveted venue where orange county small businesses have the opportunity to revitalize company morale and engage with their employees in fun team-building sessions.

Small businesses are known for being efficient and streamlined. The few employees they do have are highly valued and keep their organization running. Small businesses do not have layoffs, usually; their doors are either open or closed. They typically leverage the skill sets of their few but strong employees, and small business owners understand the value in rewarding their people. Savvy entrepreneurs periodically invest in the vibrancy of their people. What a difference a half a day can make: When small business owners reward their employees by breaking free from the office and heading to the beach, everyone will see each other a little differently, noticing employees and owners both shine brighter in the sun.

Click here to contact the Newport Sea Base today and schedule your company’s team-building event.

Author: David Meacham

Facebook Steps up to the Twitter Challenge: Tweeting or Feeding

Thursday, August 20th, 2009

friendfeed-twitter-facebookFacebook has plans to buy a web service named FriendFeed, which is similar in functionality to Twitter. FriendFeed allows its users to see what their friends are doing on other social media sites and is apparently bridging the gap between a host of social media applications. FriendFeed could be Facebook’s answer to the Twitter challenge.

Bob Marley sang about a timeless truth that big businesses are facing more every day: “You can’t please all the people all the time.” The folks at Facebook understand that 250 million users is an enormous, and diversified, audience to keep captivate, especially as they have watched millions of their own users join Twitter.  From junior high school kids to major media personalities, so many people are tweeting.

Where is the allure with FriendFeed? The real-time search capability that FriendFeed offers is an attractive feature, not only for its users but also to its soon-to-be parent company, Facebook. More importantly, both companies share similar core values – building technologies based on user feedback and fashioning those technologies to leverage relationships, according to Facebook’s VP Chris Cox. The 12 employee company of FriendFeed is purported to stay intact during and after the merger of the two companies, which should allow for a seamless integration of cultures and technologies. So what’s next for the users of Facebook? Tweeting or Feeding?

Author: David Meacham

Budgeting for IT: Budgeting to Win

Tuesday, August 18th, 2009

tightening-budgetEvery successful company has a budget. What’s in your budget? More importantly are you budgeting to win? Winning means maintaining existing, and forging new, sustainable business relationships. And if you don’t yet have a budget, get one for free, courtesy of Intuit. If you are not budgeting for IT you are not budgeting to win. In the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression, most businesses today are drastically cutting costs, according to a recent New York Times article. But at what cost have these cuts come? How is your business performing? According to the NY Times article, a beneficial cost cut is moving away from in-house operations and toward contracted relationships.    

Never before have companies depended so much on technology for their day-to-day operations. When this technology fails them what do they do? Who do they call? StoneHill Technical Solutions partners with small businesses to insure their IT environment is maintained at the most optimal performance level. And it is StoneHill’s winning combination of performance and customer service that makes them a coveted team member and outsourced computer services business partner.

By budgeting for IT you are investing in a critical component of your company’s operations. What does your workplace look and feel like in the event of a computer crash or a server crash? What happens when e-mail is down? StoneHill Technical Solutions is your winning relationship. You can’t afford a monthly expense for computer service? Can you afford to go without use of your computer or deal with a failed network for a day? What you probably cannot afford is long-term contracts and non-performing partners. StoneHill Technical Solutions is the partnership that will keep your business infrastructure running smoothly and efficiently, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Take advantage of StoneHill’s free network review today and let them share their findings with you and help you to win!

Author: David Meacham

Bing’s economic recovery plan offers double cash back

Monday, August 10th, 2009

moneyBing is offering double cash back when you search and shop through Bing Shopping.  Dubbed “double savings day”, this promotional gig will pay users twice the amount of what they usually get when they do use Bing shopping search to purchase stuff online. This could go as high as 50% total cashback.

The Double savings day gig will run until the whole month of August, so if you have some stuff to buy and you’re planning to get it online it might actually save you some extra bucks if you use Bing Shopping and Bing Cashback.

Check out the Double savings days FAQ for more details.