Source: The Globe and Mail

But workplace meetings are here to stay. Managers and experts say it’s important to make them more efficient. Here are 10 tips to help you run effective and productive meetings.

Source: American Express OPEN Forum

Source: The Small Business Advocate (audio)

In his recent State of Union Address, President Obama stressed his vision for a renewed commitment to investments in research and development. Public and private groups alike are using this “I” word when speaking of job creation and rising standards of living. Innovation is even being associated with things like immigration policy, tax policy and monetary policy. The Consumer Electronics Association, a Washington-based trade group representing more than 2,000 companies in the United States, went so far as to create an innovation manifesto called “The Innovation Movement” to foster these ideas and goals as the power behind a U.S. economic resurgence.

Source: The Washington Post

While you may think a million dollars will give you financial security, it will not. Given the volatility in economies, governments and financial markets around the world, it’s no longer safe to assume a million dollars will provide you and your family with true security. In fact, a Fidelity Investments’ study of millionaires last year found that 42 percent of them don’t feel wealthy and they would need $7.5 million of investable assets to start feeling rich.

Source: Entrepreneur

There our many points in our lives when we decide we need a change. Whether it’s starting a business, changing jobs, losing weight, the list goes on…it’s the thing we fear the most and what we have to go through to achieve our goals.

Whatever the change, we set goals and work toward them. And for awhile there is some progress. Then we start to slip, and before we know it we are back where we started.

Source/Read More: OPEN Forum

Why do some presidential candidates campaign better than others? Ruth Sherman joins Jim Blasingame to discuss the challenge of presidential hopefuls to communicate the story of their campaign and emotionally connect with voters.

Source/Read More: The Small Business Advocate

Professional-looking print materials are essential for making a good real-world first impression, which is just as important–if not more so–as an online first impression for a small or midsize business.

Hiring a professional designer and ordering reams of professionally printed materials may be more than your budget allows. Luckily, you can design your own essential print collateral on the cheap–or even for free–using premade templates and programs you already own. Depending on how much print material you need, outsourcing to an online print shop also can be extremely budget-friendly.

Source/Read More: PC World

Your best friend may not make a great business partner. David Gage joins Jim Blasingame to discuss why good personal relationships don’t always translate into successful business partnerships.

Souce/Listen: The Small Business Advocate

If you watch the nightly news, you would assume there’s a murder on every block, and if you’ve been reading TechCrunch recently, you would assume Groupon is murdering a small business in every city.

Given the hundreds of thousands of merchants who have run daily deals in the past year, it is inevitable that a few will have had bad experiences.  However, to assume that a handful of these anecdotes fully represent merchants’ experiences with daily deals is insufficient and irresponsible.

Source/Read More: The Washington Post