A worker shortage might be excellent news for the economy! Maybe, just maybe, firms will awake and see workers’ substantial contribution to their success. Some CEOs take unconscionable sums and destroy their firm’s value, unlike many frontline workers who create value. During the pandemic, CEOs took vast sums as they laid-off workers. Some firms sought bankruptcy protection, but hat didn’t stop their greedy CEOs from snatching hefty bonuses.

We have a worker shortage and firms are scrambling to hire whomever is willing. Some firms, like McDonalds have paid signing bonuses. Canada’s Loblaw and its competitors paid a bonus to frontline workers when the pandemic began. They stopped it after three months in unison with their competitors. When government confronted them about this collusion, they claimed it happened independently. Go figure! It’s like you caught your three-year-old with her hand in the cookie jar and she said, Mom, “Cookie Monster did it!”

Worker Shortage Inevitable With Shoddy Treatment

Loblaw’s behavior disturbs me. During the bonus period, profits soared. Per se, that’s no problem. I favor firms making profits. To be sure, I am against government taxing profits. But paying workers the bonus during the pandemic shouldn’t hinge on profits. It was just right. Meanwhile, my wife and I shopped at a Loblaw store and workers continued their excellent service despite Loblaw’s slight.

Leaders must realize frontline workers are the firm’s foundation and treat them well, not as cogs turning out CEOs bonuses! When employers treat workers like machines, they disengage. Gallup said, over several decades, they and other researchers found a strong link between employees’ workplace engagement and the company’s overall performance. Yet employers refuse to accept this. But there is good news: surveys show some firms break the mold and treat workers with respect: Cisco, Apple, Accenture, IBM, FedEx are a few.

Next Quarter’s Earnings Drives Businesses

Companies see next quarter as the prize, so they exploit workers and fudge next quarter’s numbers. I repeat: I am against government taxing business. However, I favor the Biden Build Back Better provision to tax share buybacks that the House passed, and it is before the Senate, even if it might have only a modest effect on share buybacks. Companies shouldn’t be spending billions buying back shares while exploiting workers.

Firms should present to shareholder meetings options to use buyback funds. Choices might include effects of paying bonuses to frontline workers with buyback funds. Shareholders should hear about potential strategic investments, too. Another option is stopping buy-backs for five years after layoffs. Executives, too, shouldn’t get bonuses within five years of layoffs. We must get rid of worker exploitation that enhances CEO bonuses.

Promoting your Brand is easy. Following my 10 basic business tips you can guarantee that your business and brand climbs on the shoulders of your competition and screams look at me, over here, OVER HERE! You will pull away from your competitors and leave them scratching their heads and wondering where their customers went!1. Do Your ResearchFind out what your competition is offering and how they are promoting their brand. Search on Google and find informative articles about your industry and gather ideas, concepts and websites that you feel deliver the message effectively. The idea is to keep this journal of information constantly updated and refer back to it regularly, and don’t be afraid to call the companies in question and ask them how effective their branding is.2. Find a Reliable PartnerFind a reliable studio that has experience in developing brands. This is likely to be a long-term business partnership, so choose carefully. Bear in mind that branding in today’s day and age is very different to the pre-internet days. Now your logo and business identity has to work across a wide range of media, from print to interactive applications, and at a variety of sizes. Be sure your agency has experience in a wide range of creative disciplines, especially print and web. (Okay, it’s a shameless plug but it’s our website. So there.)3. Be BoldBe proactive on your brand promotion. Use whatever means you have available: word of mouth, newsletters, emails, leaflets, ads, gimmicks, press, the web, affiliates, resellers, networks, etc, etc, etc. Never stop in your pursuit to find avenues to promote your business. As the world famous marketer and showman P.T Barnum said – Without promotion something terrible happens… Nothing!4. Be ConsistentIf you have developed a brand – keep the message and ethos consistent across printed material and on your website. As customers interact with your promotional material, they must be able to instantly recognize your brand should they come across your website, or miss-spell the domain name and accidentally land on your competition’s page. The customer must be able to recognize, in an instant, when they are at the right or wrong site.5. The Power of The InternetHow things have changed with the Internet! We absolutely love it – all the information in the world at your fingertips in an instant. As great as the web is, it’s becoming a crowded place and the public expect information faster, and to get to what they want easier. A good website is just the starting point – the need to get to the top of the search engines for your industry is what every business aims for. It’s the grand prize that all search engine specialists offer, but be warned – there’s a right and wrong way to go about this and you could be wasting a lot of money for short-term results. Don’t be duped by slick sales people offering instant online results, they don’t exist. It’s a steady and meticulous process that requires time and patience, but the sooner you get started, the better your chances of getting seen by your customers. There are two avenues when approaching the search engines. There’s generic Search Engine Optimisation and Pay Per Click, both work and both require a considered approach, and ask your supplier for evidence of their effectiveness and then double-check for yourself that what they say is true. Needless to say, we build our sites to be as search engine friendly as possible.6. Web AddressIf you haven’t got a web address – It’s worth spending the time to find a good domain name, preferably containing your business name and kept as short and memorable as possible. Although it’s not vital, it is worth finding a domain name with both the .com and .co.uk extensions available. The last thing you want it someone else registering the other extension and stealing your thunder, it happens. Make sure that you put your web address on all of your promotional literature. Whenever and wherever you promote your company, be sure to promote your web address too.7. Printed LiteratureWe don’t care how cost effective it is, getting cheap or even free business cards from some web printer is not a good idea. They look cheap or free and your competition has just had some 400g, matt laminated, embossed business cards made. Printing has come a very long way in recent years and high quality, full-colour printing is readily available at very reasonable prices. Although nothing is quite like Litho printed literature, digital printing is catching up very quickly and is ideal for a short print run. Don’t be afraid to try various print finishes such as embossing, spot varnish, block foil, cutting forms or experimenting with different types of papers. Your design studio and printer will be able to show you lots of examples of quality printed literature and it’s always worth spending a few extra pounds on good business stationary, as it makes the world of difference.8. InteractionDon’t forget your existing customers. If you have some new service or products – let them know, and ask them to let other people know. This can be done through effective email marketing – so long as you’re not annoying your customers with too-frequent email offers, a short monthly email will usually be read and will keep your customer base informed of business developments.9. The Customer is KingOnce you have a customer, treat them like royalty. Your hard work has paid off and you have a return on your investment – It’s a lot more cost-effective to get business from existing customers than constantly finding new ones! Encourage repeat business and ask for referrals and testimonials on completion of successful trades. A happy customer will tell his friends and make recommendations on your behalf, so treat them well and resolve any outstanding issues should they arise.10. FeedbackAlways ask for feedback. Use the completion of your trade as an ideal opportunity to learn about and improve your business and brand. Ask them about their shopping experience, how the website looked, what they liked about your branding, how they found you and what made them go with you in particular. Was it the price, availability, or something else? Effective feedback will ensure you have the information required to adjust and develop your brand to meet your customers’ requirements.

Human beings are branding creatures. Businesses rely on socializing to flourish.Wait… shouldn’t that be swapped? No, not really. The two have always meant the same thing.Let Your Shadow Precede YouHuman beings have and will forever remain social creatures. In gathering do we become strong, and it is in our ties that we achieve great things. Social interaction is why are brains got so large and complex, and is likely why our intelligences developed the way they did.We like socializing, either directly or indirectly. Social impressions drive many of our motivations and feelings. Why do we use social networking so much? So we can stay in touch. Why must we stay in touch? So we can better participate in social interaction. Why delve into social interaction? Because we’ve been programmed to work and exist within social circles.Before, the great social stage existed within the abstract plane of prestige and reputation. A man’s word was as good as he made it.All advertising efforts (flyers, posters, early commercials) strove to reaffirm the product’s prestigious elements of reliability, stability, integrity, etc. Because communication was so much slower, gauging a person meant heavily relying on their reputation. So people had to live up to that reputation.People were recognized by their deeds. Many surnames came from these accomplishments, like John Smith, or John Peterson (son of Peter). Sometimes even first names, like Victor or Christopher. These deeds allowed individuals to be instantly known when introduced. At the same time, this prestige allowed knowledge about these individuals to be spread far from that person’s physical presence; “let their deeds be known.”This reputation and prestige is a form of remote socializing. Before actually arriving on the scene one’s reputation has acted as the vanguard, preparing the audience for one’s arrival. It’s an advertisement in the aspect of its introduction. This reputation is, for all intents and purposes, a brand.Branded A1What is a brand? It’s a remote presence, bringing awareness to places the actual entity is not. The very word Pepsi makes us think of the soda beverage because we’ve so closely associated ‘Pepsi’ with it; the word itself is a brand. Whereas the word coke could refer to other things, such as the byproduct derived from coal.The word-that-is-a-brand, Pepsi, has served its purpose in bringing the beverage to our thoughts even when no soda lies within physical reach. Just as in the same way a branding mark immediately brings to mind identity and subsequently, reputation.But it doesn’t stop there. Pepsi elicits the reputation of thirst-quenching, sweet, cooling, and more. When we are in need of those things, we wish we had a Pepsi. Much in the same way a medieval king who desires victory in battle seeks to hire the most skilled warrior, whose prestige in fighting precedes them.Pepsi has a specific brand, just as the warrior does. Just as Sally has the brand of being a gossip, or Ted has the brand of being a workaholic. If I’m being nefarious I’ll recruit Sally to help with my smear campaign, or if I need a dedicated employee I’ll hire Ted. These brands are important, but not just when we need them specifically. They’re important socially.I get a Facebook Friend request, so naturally I look over that person’s page. I look to their status updates, pictures, and other friends to determine if they’re worth associating with by accepting their Friend Request.Or perhaps I’ve been introduced to someone but I want to find out more about them. I’ll scope out their social networking profiles to learn more about their interests and personality. Do they post up sappy poetry? Funny pictures? Frivolous banality? Gossip? Who is this person?I judge by deed, and in this case the deeds are what content they share. This content helps towards my impression of them, and works towards my perception of them. This content is that person’s reputation, their brand. And based on what I see of that brand will determine whether I like them or not. This is no different from the brand of a company; like whether a car manufacturer is known for reliable and safe cars or gas-guzzling and high-maintenance ones.Facebook and Twitter didn’t force businesses nowadays to socialize. Businesses have always socialized in the form of advertising and branding. What’s the difference between taking my torn pants to a tailor and taking them to a friend who’s good at sewing?The difference is one is making a profit off the task, and the other is not. If my friend has a reputation, a brand of late, shoddy work while the commercial tailor has one of expedient, literally seamless work; then I’m going to decide the cost is worth it and go to the tailor. The kicker is [I]all[/I] tailors were originally friends who were good at sewing; they just decided to make a living off their talent.So if that tailor wants to be successful in business, they’ve got to make their presence known. They need more friends to know about their excellent craftsmanship and keep coming to them. They must expand their reputation. Spread their brand. Advertise.Everything New Is Old AgainFacebook is a place for socializing. Therefore it is a place for branding.This applies to people and businesses alike. A brand is a social interaction. A social presence is an advertisement. Social media allows reputation/branding to precede us, and allow existing connections to continue to learn about you for either better or worse.William the Snitch is forever associated with his loose-lips, and BP will forever be remembered for that terrible and callous oil spill. Their reputation precedes them, and those incidents are now a part of their brand. Is this accurate and fair? Well, just ask everyone back in the day who was labeled a witch. Social interaction works off of this branding, and bad reputations can inhibit further social advancement. Or in the case of business and/or personal survival, progression and growth.At the same time, “being as good as your word” or “hailed as the mightiest in the land” used to be archaic. But what about those traits in regards to reputation and branding have changed today? Well nothing at all, really.So what do you think? Does social networking equal branding across the board, or do sociological nuances drive a much more inherent separation between the two?