Business Commons^™

January 2012, Inland Empire Business Journal

Inland Empire Business Journal

5 Ways to Drive Customer Conversion Rates in Your Stores If you don’t track traffic or measure conversion rate in all your stores today, you are missing out on an entirely new way to drive sales. You can’t improve conversion if you don’t measure it

Estate Planning Mistakes of the Rich and Famous We think celebrities and famous people have their estates in perfect order. Think again. Attorney William Hayes gives us examples of well-known people who did not have their estates in proper order. People from all walks of life make the same mistakes over and over again

For …

December 2011, Inland Empire Business Journal

Inland Empire Business Journal

Harsh Realities: Five Truths Halting Your Company’s Organic Growth Making a lasting change is usually easier said than done. Most of us spend more time talking about change than actually going through with it. Businesses have just as much difficulty going through with change as individuals and Fired?

How to Sell Yourself When No One is Buying The toughest interview of all is the one you face when you are over 50. The over 50 age group has the highest rate of unemployment today. However, Tucker Mays and Bob Sloane give five important ways the over 50 job seeker can …

November 2011, Inland Empire Business Journal

Inland Empire Business Journal

One Question Every Small Business Owner Must Answer — Understanding Your Competitive Advantage Every business owner must be able to answer one very basic question, “Why should a prospective customer buy my product or service rather than a competitor’s?” If the owner cannot answer this question, he or she should probably cut his or her losses and seek alternative employment

The 3 R’s for Dealing With Workplace Bullying Workplace bullying is a pressing problem in today’s workplaces. According to the Workplace Bullying Institute (WBI), 35% of the U.S. workforce report being bullied right now! Danita Johnson Hughes gives some tips …

October 2011, Inland Empire Business Journal

Inland Empire Business Journal

From Social Brand to Social Business Many organizations today are on a quest to become a social brand. They are investing in Facebook applications, branded communities and blogs

The Consequences of Living and Dying Without an Estate Plan Most of us expect that tomorrow will be another day like any other. But, as Euripides said, “No one can confidently say that he will still be living tomorrow.” If you don’t have the proper documents for your estate, the court will make decisions for you and your family

9 Timely Tips for Pre-Presentation Preparation If you ever find yourself invited to …

September 2011, Inland Empire Business Journal

Inland Empire Business Journal

Avoiding Consensus Overload: Seven Tips to Help Leaders Make Thoughtful, Yet Rapid Key Decisions To take advantage of a competitor’s weakness, as a leader, you have to be able to move quickly, and you can’t do that if you spend too much time trying to figure out what every last person on the team thinks

How to Get the Feedback You Didn’t Want to Hear (But Really Need to Know) There is only one way to find out the key things you are missing in business that could help you get even better results—and that’s by getting feedback

Sick of …

August 2011, Inland Empire Business Journal

Inland Empire Business Journal

How to Say “No” the Right Way People who don’t mind saying no may lack the skills to do it gracefully and often instill hard feelings, even when that is not their intent. For those who have no problem saying no, but need a little guidance, Carl Van gives some tips on saying no more effectively

10 Tips to Optimize Your Email Marketing Campaigns With the multitude of laws, spam filters and confusion over the best method in using emails, Gregg Brown gives 10 tips to help you get the best results from your email marketing campaigns

Can’t Live With …

July 2011, Inland Empire Business Journal

Inland Empire Business Journal

Practice Nets More Benefits for Public Executive ‘Airtime’ allows workers to receive credit toward pension for years they didn’t work

Building Outrage: How Corruption Has Crippled the Construction Industry Stories of corruption should warn every major construction project owner of the dangers of placing millions—and sometimes tens and hundreds of millions—into the hands of companies with very questionable business practices

Resisting the Steve Jobs “Innovation Temptation”; Steps to Creating Great New B2B Products Steve Jobs method of creating products without his customers’ input won’t work for most businesses, especially B2B (business-to-business) suppliers. Dan Adams offers his advice on how you …

June 2011, Inland Empire Business Journal

Inland Empire Business Journal

The Galleano Winery—a National Landmark The Galleano Winery remains much the same from 1927 when the land was first purchased by the Galleano family. It is a national landmark right in our own backyard

Economic Forecast Employment in Riverside/San Bernardino is beginning to show signs of an imminent recovery, per California State University, Long Beach

The Exchange: Four Tips for Having Conflict-Busting Conversations in the Workplace The trick to moving past office conflicts and on to increased productivity in your organization is knowing how to broach the topics in ways that leads to improved working relationships

Getting Organized Doing too …

May 2011, Inland Empire Business Journal

Inland Empire Business Journal

How Much Does Depression Cost? Government statistics released in November show that 6.5 percent of U.S. adults suffer from depression

The Engagement Factor: Four Ways to Use Your Customers to Boost Innovation (and Profits!) at Your Company The best way to ensure your company will be a success is to deliver more than your share of customer value

Do We Run Universities as Businesses? CSU System is facing challenges at this time. This means that for CSUSB the budget will be around $18 million less

How to Protect Yourself Against Medicare “Gaps” Every Medigap policy has to follow federal and …

April 2011, Inland Empire Business Journal

Inland Empire Business Journal

Get Hired 2011: Nine Best Practices for Using Social Media to Win Your Dream Job If you’re one of the many Americans today braving the job market, you’ve probably learned that your social media presence can make you or break you. Maribeth Kuzmeski explains how to use your online presence to leave a great impression with potential employers

Regaining Conference Attendance and Maximizing Your Conference Experience Uwe Janssen gives us up-to-date tips in gaining conference attendance seeing the struggle with the decline in conference attendance due to budget cuts, rising travel expenses and concerns over impact to productivity

I Made …

March 2011, Inland Empire Business Journal

Inland Empire Business Journal

The Mommy Trap—Family-Prenup for Financial Insurance Susan Spencer discusses the Jack and Jill Syndrome—mothers who become single parents with no savings, no child support and no career. She suggests that a “family prenup” might be helpful before marriage —insuring the couple’s children have some financial security

Five Ways to Make the Most of the Recovering Economy at Your Company Many economists are saying that the U.S. economy is finally on an uptick. Now that more growth is possible, Dan Adams warns that it’s the time to make sure your company is poised to get its share of the economic recovery …

February 2011, Inland Empire Business Journal

Inland Empire Business Journal

Toward a New American Century Michael Milken believes America can extend pre-eminence on competition from China and other countries if we assume greater responsibility for its common destiny. He gives six areas in particular that provide opportunities for positive change

Create a Mastermind Group That Works for You Joelle Jay outlines six steps of mastermind creation—a small group of dedicated peers who share and support each other through the challenges of life and leadership.

The Future of Your Business is in the Palm of Your Hand—Using the Power of Smartphones to Grow Your Business What started as a must-have device …

January 2011, Inland Empire Business Journal

Inland Empire Business Journal

We Are the Champions: Seven Tips for Turning Your Customers Into Fans for Life There are tons of ways to win over your customers and create brand loyalists who keep coming back. Maribeth Kuzmeski gives us seven tips and easy-to-implement ideas that will help you turn any customer into a fan for life

The 2010 Execution Round-Up: Companies That Couldn’t “Get It Done” This Year and Those That Did Rick Lepsinger outlines several world-known companies that either could or could not “Get It Done” in 2010 and the lessons learned by their mistakes or accomplishments

The Future of Business Is …

December 2010, Inland Empire Business Journal

Inland Empire Business Journal

What Planet Are You On? Six Steps to Simplify Remote Management Managing people and projects from different cities, states, time zones, or countries is infinitely more difficult. You might as well be on different planets. Jim Bain gives us some tips that can make sure that they are on the same planet as their remote team members

The Impact of Caregiving on Business Did you know that the average cost to employers per working caregiver is $2,110 per year. This costs U.S. employers $33 billion a year. However, programs designed to help employees deal with eldercare and other caregiving issues …

November 2010, Inland Empire Business Journal

Inland Empire Business Journal

Inland Empire City Profile 2010 This annual city profile by John Husing, Ph.D. provides a good source of information and available data for population, taxable sales, assessed valuation, housing prices and volumes, and income for Inland Empire’s 50 cities

Who Owns Your Strategy? Having a good and great strategy is critical to organizational success. With all good resources, most organizations largely fail to successfully implement their strategy. Why? The answer can be found in who actually owns the strategy

Top Ten Pitfalls to Avoid When Going Social in the Business World If you are looking for fans, followers, and friends …

October 2010, Inland Empire Business Journal

Inland Empire Business Journal

Largest Tax Hike in History of America Read Joan Pryde’s article concerning the largest tax hikes in the history of America. These taxes will hit families and small businesses on Jan. 1, 2011. Big surprises await.

Nine Body Languages Dos and Don’ts to Win in the Business World If you think you’ve been saying all the right things, but you still can’t get ahead, author Sharon Sayler suggests you consider what you’ve really been saying to potential employers—not just verbally, but non-verbally

The Uncertain Economy David Shulman, senior economist, UCLA Anderson Forecast, tells us what ails the economy against a …

September 2010, Inland Empire Business Journal

Inland Empire Business Journal

Real-Time Performance Reviews According to Jim Whitt, performance reviews end up being “check the boxes” exercises that have little influence on performance because they take place after the fact. Employees need and want direction. How and when it is done is what makes the difference

Expand Your Ideas Using Google Find out how a good search engine, such as Google, can make developing a new product or service much more efficient and insightful. Often its use leads to results for first-time users trying to find solutions to new problems

Budget Challenges Lie Ahead for County of San Bernardino To balance …

August 2010, Inland Empire Business Journal

Inland Empire Business Journal

The Four Gs of Smartly Growing Your Business in Good Times and Bad Professor Ed Hess counsels corporate executives and small business owners to pursue growth strategies based on the 4Gs (Growths)

Don’t Hit Send! Avoid These Common E-mail Pet Peeves If you ever wondered why people don’t take action on your e-mails or why this productivity tool seems to waste more of your time than it saves, you may be guilty of exhibiting a few e-mail pet peeves

Stopping “Slack-Off Summer” Syndrome: Six Ways to Keep Your Company Ruthlessly Focused This Summer Summer is when everything slows down—including your …

July 2010, Inland Empire Business Journal

Inland Empire Business Journal

Retooling the Economy: Four Key Steps to Breaking Wall Street’s Obsession With “Short-termism” and Achieving Real, Authentic Growth To achieve a true economic turnaround, we must turn our focus to a pursuit of growth and innovation. Our current capital system is structured to impede those aspirations

Reference Checks Remove One in Five Job Candidates From Consideration A new survey from OfficeTeam finds the results of a reference check can be the real deal maker—or breaker. Managers interviewed said they remove more than one in five (21 percent) candidates from consideration after speaking to their professional contacts

Are Values Back in …

May 2010, Inland Empire Business Journal

Inland Empire Business Journal

Opinion: True impact on working people of AB 32 is no mere numbers game A report by the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education found that green jobs represent less than one percent of the jobs in California. Green jobs would expand under AB 32 and could potentially impact three million blue-collar or 20% of California’s workforce

Making a Comeback: 6 Strategies to Overcome Your Professional Setback and Define Success on Your Own Terms Andrea Redmond and Patricia Crisafulli gives advice on how you can lead not only to a comeback, but potentially an even better outcome than …

April 2010, Inland Empire Business Journal

Inland Empire Business Journal

Kelly Space & Technology, Inc. vision and mission for Technical Employment Training, Inc. After Fontana High School closed its machinist training program, Kelly Space & Technology immediately volunteered to store the equipment and tooling in its facilities. It also took this opportunity of fulfilling a business, education and workforce development approach to training students in need of employment skills

TV Battle of the Sexes, Part 2—Men are from Muntz, Women are from Zenith 3D is coming to your living room. Just as you have invested in a new and larger flat screen TV, Hollywood has gone full throttle in …

March 2010, Inland Empire Business Journal

Inland Empire Business Journal

A “Fixed” Fight: A Peek Inside One Construction Expert’s Campaign to Make Fixed-Price Contracts and Cost Containment the Industry’s New Normal Construction cost overruns have run rampant for decades. It is an industry that has seen per-worker productivity fall by nearly 25 percent over the past 40 years

Leadership & Little White Lies: How Those Seemingly Harmless Fibs and Half-Truths Can Hurt Your Business Author Dave Anderson says that white lies can do serious damage to your reputation and can lead to much bigger issues down the road. Read to see why cleaning up your act can help save your …

December 2009, Inland Empire Business Journal

Inland Empire Business Journal

News and Features

Harvard Ignored Warnings About Investments

Warnings fell on deaf ears on the president of Harvard,

Lawrence Summers, as the market crashed m the fall

of 2008. He and other Harvard officials were warned

that the school was being too aggresive with billions of

dollars in cash by investing in stocks, bonds, hedge

funds, and private equity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …

November 2009, Inland Empire Business Journal

Inland Empire Business Journal

News and Features

Is Your Leadership Strong Enough? Three Pillars of

Strength to Help Leaders in Tough Times Some leaders think

that doing extra work. staying late, and taking on

more responsibilities will keep them strong. Joelle Jay

say it's time to upgrade that way of thinking. "Getting

ahead" has less to do with time and effort than it does with

thoughtful. reflective consideration. She outlines an "inner

work" that can weather any storm. . …… . …… . …… . ………8

Ho …

September 2009, Inland Empire Business Journal

Inland Empire Business Journal

Columns

Management and Motivation…... 8

Investments and Finance ...................9

Computers ........................10

Corporate Event………………..11

The Lists:

Inland Empire's Largest Hotels...................13

Banks in the Inland Empire.........................15

Golf Courses in the Inland Empire.................16

Commentary..............................................18

Management ...............................................19

People. Places and Events ............................28

Sales.........................................................30

Manager's Bookshelf….......................38

New Business Liqs:

Count) of San Bernardino……...............40

County of Riverside....................41

Executive Time Out….......................43

Motivating and Inspiring...............8

Plan a memorable Corporate Event...............11

The Five ways Leaders Lose Their Edge...............19

Build a Better Sales Force...............30

Hot Olympic Spots in British Columbia...............43

July/ August 2009, Inland Empire Business Journal

Inland Empire Business Journal

Columns

Sales ……………………..............................................................8

Investments and finance …………………………………………9

Commentary .................................................................................10

Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . ………………………………………12

Management. ........................................................................13 & 18

The Lists:

Certified Public Accountant Firms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Commercial Printers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

SBA Lenders Serving the Inland Empire. . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Public Relations …

June 2009, Inland Empire Business Journal

Inland Empire Business Journal

14 tips for small business to thrive in a down economy

Pomona valley Hospital Medical Centers Satellite Facilities

The Blessing in Adversity

Why California Must Save its Educational System

Is your Company Stuck in the Muck?

Columns

Commentary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... · · · · · · · · .... 2 & 13

Management . . . . ............. · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 7 & 33

Sales . . . . . . . …

May 2009, Inland Empire Business Journal

Inland Empire Business Journal

Columns

Management……………………………………………………… 7 & 16

Motivation…………………………………………………………8 & 15

Investment and Finance ……………………………………………9

The Lists

Environmental Companies Serving the Inland Empire…10

Independent Banks Serving the Inland Empire…………13

Employment Services/Agencies... ……………. . . . . . . . . . 14

Law Firms……………………………………....……….. . 19

Dental Plans ..... ............... …………………………………37

Commentary………………………………………………………12

Computer …………………………………………………………18

Inland Empire People and Events .......………………………… 26

Restaurant Closures ..... . ………………………………………31

Manager's Bookshelf …………………………………………….38

New Business Lists:

County of San Bernardino ……………………………... 40

County of Riverside ...............……………………………41

Executive Time Out. . . . . …

April 2009, Inland Empire Business Journal

Inland Empire Business Journal

Columns

Executive Notes……………………………….. . . . 3

Commentary ……………………………………... 6 & 7

Close-Up ……………………………………………8

Investments and Finance………………………………9

The Lists:

Top Travel Agencies ......……………………12

Meeting Facilities……………………………16

Visitors and Convention Bureaus……………16

Indian Gaming Facilities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Management. ..............…………………… . . . . . I 0 & 13

Executive Time Out... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Computer ........................………………………………17

Real Estate Notes. . . . . . …

March 2009, Inland Empire Business Journal

Inland Empire Business Journal

Columns

Sales and Marketing................................7

Executive Notes ......................................8

Investments and Finance..........................9

Real Estate Notes.................................10

Management............................................12 & 26

Commentary/Letters to Editor....................14

The Lists:

MBA/Executive Programs in the Inland Empire.......20

The Top HMOs ........................................25

The Top PPOs..........................................25

Residential Real Estate Brokers................11

Sales ........................................................28

Technology..............................................29

Restaurant Review. ..................................35

Inland Empire People and Events...........37

Manager's Bookshelf .............................38

New Business Lists:

Count) of San Bernardino..................... 40

Count) of Riverside................................41

Executive Time Out................................43

Customer care=cash…………………........7

Real Estate Experts Focus on Challenges in Tough Economy.......10

Rally Your Employees in tough times........12

A Thousand Resumes.................................26

Beyond the basics.......................................28