Here is an excerpt from an article written by Kasey Wehrum for Inc. magazine. To read the complete article, check out others, and obtain information about subscription discounts, please click here.
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Each day, Inc.‘s reporters scour the Web for the most important and interesting news to entrepreneurs. Here’s a portion of what we found.
Why money’s not the best motivator. Today’s Fortune offers tips for retaining your star performers, even when the budget for bonuses is tight. According to a Corporate Executive Board survey of 20,000 “high-potential employees,” when people feel “connected to corporate strategy,” they’re more motivated than when they receive a bonus. This means on top of giving qualified staffers a chance to steer the company in the right direction, companies should also look to employee-referral programs. According to one University of Michigan professor, “When people behave as if they’re committed, they become more committed.” For more on what employees really want, check out our story here.
Florida eateries suing each other over water “Brooklynization.” Back in July, we told you about Larry King’s new gig as pitchman for the Brooklyn Water Bagel Co., a Florida-based bagel chain which claims it has developed a technology that Brooklynizes water. Now, as the Sun Sentinel reports (and as crazy as it sounds), the Brooklyn Water Bagel Co. and nearby Mamma Mia’s pizzeria have filed suits against each other over their similar water filtration processes. To add another level of absurdity to the story, stuck in the middle of the suits is Donald Kurtzer, the father-in-law of Brooklyn Water owner Steve Fassberg, who helped the company get off the ground, then went off to start his own company and sold a water treatment system to Mamma Mia’s.
Keeping cool under pressure. Admit it, there have been times when you’ve flubbed an interview, dropped the ball on a client, or have just plain choked under pressure. And you never want it to happen again. In today’s Chicago Tribune, James Sprayregen, the bankruptcy lawyer who handled the United Airlines reorganization, along with other experts, offers tips and pointers to keeping cool. First tip: being a little vague can work in your advantage. Never say “I have three pointers,” because you might just blank on one of them. Also, he recommends keeping a cheat sheet, “sort of like Sarah Palin with the writing on her hand.” Want more advice on keeping cool? Check out our recent article with expert tips on giving an important speech.
Bootstrapping your blog. The Internet is a precarious place for a blog without investors. Yet The Awl, not yet two-years-old with nearly half a unique monthly visitors, has managed to perform surprisingly well by keeping costs low (read: no office), creating sponsorships from advertisers, and finding smart editorial content from a group of hand-picked writers. The New York Times reports that the site will earn more than $200,000 in revenue this year, and notes “the owners don’t have to get rich–The Awl has no investors–they just have to eat.” One of the site’s owners, Choire Sicha, a “veteran blogger,” noted that the business plan was fairly simple, if there was one at all. “All it takes is some WordPress and a lot of typing,” he said. “Sure, I went broke trying to start it, it trashed my life and I work all the time, but other than that, it wasn’t that hard to figure out.”
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To read the complete article, please click here.
Kasey
Staff writer Kasey Wehrum has written for Inc. magazine on subjects ranging from the businesses behind professional bull riding to gadget inventor and father of the infomercial, Ron Popeil. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Worth, Budget Travel, and on MSNBC.com. He lives in New York City.