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How to keep employees motivated, however, can be somewhat of a challenge. Faced with such a task in the movie Office Space, managers could only think of stock options to satiate the need for an improvement in morale. While a viable option, not all businesses have stock to provide to employees.

Another common method is to up a benefits package or wages, or to pay a bonus to those employees who finish extra units. This has limited advantages, though, and commission-based pay is rarely a good way for a business to be structured. It may lead to the most sales at times, but few employees will be happy with their pay structure. Another problem with this is that not all businesses can afford to pay their employees extra money (either up-front or through benefits).

Because of all this, this article is about how to motivate employees without paying them.

What’s in it for me?

The first principle many marketers learn is to always answer one question with everything you do: “What’s in it for me?” The first thing you must do to keep employees productive is to satisfy this same question.

Answer me this: What do your employees get out of you shipping a few extra units, or selling another hundred dollars of merchandise? Will you actually be returning anything to them, or are you just in this for yourself?

The key to satisfying this is to be selfless, even if it is just for a moment.

Talk with them

After deciding what is in it for your employees, have a heart-to-heart. Share your concerns, your worries about what may happen if they perform poorly. Tell them you really need more productivity, because business is at stake. When you do this, you are no longer a pointy-haired boss, but rather have become a human being. Additionally, nobody wants to lose a job. If you think your business may be at risk of closing, tell your employees. They will appreciate the time they have to look for another job (should the need arise) and in turn will work harder to keep things afloat.

What are your ways for keeping employees motivated without money?

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The PCEO is a collection of 5 printable worksheets for goal tracking, task tracking, daily planning, planned versus unplanned tracking, and individual task tracking. (More about each after the jump.)

Shea came up with this amazing set of working because he didn’t have the ability to focus on moving his company forward:

[It] comes from the idea that a good CEO should focus primarily on those things that move the company forward; since I can’t afford to hire my own CEO, being able to print one out seemed like the next best thing! :-)

It’s about that simple to use PCEO: print, fill out, conquer.

Concrete Goals Tracker

The Concrete Goals Tracker worksheet is about “identifying what tangible things you can do that move you toward your goals.”

It was created for freelancers (Seah is a freelancer) to help track progress of goals on a week-by-week basis and ingrain a goal oriented mindset. Many people have adapted the worksheet to work with their specific goals.

On the worksheet’s post on Seah’s website, he lists several variations including a web-based task tracker based on the PCEO system.

Task Progress Tracker

The Task Progress Tracker worksheet is glorified to-do list that helps to motivate you to work on specific projects in an unstructured way.

It tracks tasks in fifteen minute intervals (with a grand total of four hours per task). It gives you a way to see exactly what work you’ve done on a task. It’s pretty glorifying that way.

Personally, I use the Task Progress Tracker for my daily to-do list in addition to my projects. At the end of the day, it feels really good looking at the form and seeing all the check marks and bubbles. My challenge—Shea’s as well—is getting that first bubble marked. After that, it’s a breeze.

Emergent Task Timing

The Emergent Task Timer worksheet is diagnostic timesheet that you write down what you do and track the amount of time you spent on it. In contrast to the Task Progress Tracker, you don’t have to plan out your tasks before you get to work… You just get to work.

Set a timer for 15 minutes and then get to work. Once the timer goes off, write down what you were doing and fill in the appropriate time bubble. Do that every fifteen minutes. Once you change tasks (or begin a significant subtask), write it down.

The worksheet goes on for 8 hours (there’s a 12 hour one for all you workaholics out there) in 15 minute intervals. At the end of the work day, you know exactly where your time has gone.

Shea did an excellent job at explaining how to analyze your Emergent Task Timer worksheet on the original blog post.

Task Order Up!

The Task Order Up worksheet focuses on individual tasks by “maintaining context and continuity.”

In the business world, these can be an invaluable tool for both the employee and the manager. The employee knows exactly when a task is due (and, at a glance, see all due dates) and what the manager expects out of the employee. The manager knows exactly what an employee has done, how long it took to work on it, and if the employee is being over or under worked.

Shea uses an Ex-cell Noteminder Check Rail to hold his Task Order Up worksheets. It’s a really ingenious way of holding these and helps you to get an idea of your (or your employee’s) workload.

Other PCEO Worksheets

This concludes what I refer to when I speak of the Printable CEO. However, there are four other worksheets in the series.

• Network Catch-O-Matic: This worksheet lists the steps to get to know someone. The six stages: being seen, talked with, exchanged information, planned to talk to again, followed up with, and currently collaborating.
• Emergent Task Planner: This worksheet helps you to somewhat structure your day and allocate time for tasks and other nuances (such a the plumber).
• Resource Task Quantizer and Resource Scheduler: This worksheet is somewhat like the Emergent Task Planner in that it allows you to structure your time and allocate time for your task, except this works on a week-by-week basis.
• Day Grid Balancer: This worksheet: This worksheet helps to balance your work week. “It’s really just a glorified to-do list, designed around the idea of noting when you’re doing the kind of things that you’d like to be doing every day.”

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Google has seen great success with this program and so will most companies, not only in IT. Allowing creative and imaginative time keeps brain power refreshed and at full supply, which can be very important in demanding environments including (but certainly not limited to) technology and software, accounting, and marketing. Let your employees roam and you will see new ideas for the company, increased productivity and morale, and definite loyalty. After all, if somebody enjoys his or her job, why would changing jobs become an issue?

I encourage all managers out there to take this chance to make a change in the workplace. Give your employees an hour one day next week to feel free to let their minds wander. See where it takes you. Increase the time spent gradually, until you have a fair amount of time for creativity and exploration.

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From a business perspective, this is not such a bad thing. If people are complaining, at least the company is not being ignored – a far harsher fate than being despicable. But interruption advertising is a dying art, as Seth Godin et alii have said for years now. They are correct. People do not want to be disrupted. They want their advertising to be relevant and they do not want to know they are being sold to. This is why Google’s Adsense program has been so successful.

Now onto the advice. It is of no concern to you how people are perceiving your advertising. As long as it gets your name out, it is doing its job. After this, it is up to them to buy or to fly, and to share with others. Your only concern is that people are perceiving your advertising. You want to be seen. You also want to be liked, but that is up to your PR person.

Balance your advertising with actual, good value. Baking soda commercials should show tips for how to use it to clean or to bake, or to make your teeth bright and shiny. Never say, “Buy this product,” but rather, “This is what my product can do for you.”

Alas, many companies have failed to learn this lesson. Have you had your life intruded upon by advertisements lately? Anything particularly infuriating or otherwise upsetting for you?

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There is one main point you must know, and that is to always be networking. Every single conversation, hand-raising, sharing of personal experience, and discussion (or debate) must have networking at the primary goal.

Be Task-Oriented

Keep thinking that the point of every conversation is to build your network in some way. Perhaps you drop your career or new projects in conversations if you think they are relevant. Be sure to find out who else the person to whom you are talking knows, and address them later if you would like, opening the conversation with, “I spoke with your friend [John Smith] and he [or she] recommended you to me. Hi, I’m…”

Remember Your Manners

The key point of the above paragraph is to keep it relevant. To break this rule is to become rude. Also, always keep an open mind. While argument is allowed, sarcasm of closed-minded, blatant ignorance is not. Support your side fairly but also hear out the opposition, and you will make a friend. Remember: if you wouldn’t say it to your mother, don’t say it to anybody else.

Ask for Recommendations

If you have a problem or a solution you think may interest friends-of-friends, feel free to bring it up and ask the other half of the conversation whether he or she knows anybody who may be interested or who can help. This is a quick and easy way of building your network from just friends to including acquaintances and relevant strangers (which is suspiciously similar to a mailing list, only with a better chance of success as people like faces).

Say “Yes” Accordingly

If you receive an offer or are asked to perform a service, be sure to agree to it then and there if you ever plan to at all. Do not check your schedule. Do not say, “I’ll let you know.” I know from experience that people forget and get too busy. Make an obligation or tell them, “I’m sorry, but I have been very busy and will not have time to help you with this right now. You can try John Smith, or you can get back to me in a month when life has slowed down.”

It gets easier…

As you continue to network, networking gets easier. If you have built up rapport with your audience and you have a reputation worth spreading, people will begin to do your work for you, so long as you have not broken any of these rules. Expect to get calls from people who were recommended by friends-of-friends and people with whom you have never even spoke.

What are your tips for networking? How do you do it? Do you see the advantages – the greatness of your labor coming to fruition?

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Marketers, advertisers, and business owners are constantly trying to dream up new ways to get the word out about their products and convince consumers that their products are the only products which fulfill a want or need. No matter what industry, this is the constant struggle. Whether successful or unsuccessful, there have been extreme measures taken I would like to discuss today. Some measures are okay, while others are completely immoral, unethical, or even illegal.

Sex in Advertising

Anybody over the age of three knows: sex sells. And because of its potential power, many advertising agencies turn to it for selling anything from beer and cigarettes to Swiffer and Febreze. Shampoo and deodorant have little to do with sex (at least, as far as I know), so I fail to see the connection when watching Herbal Essences or Axe commercials (As many know, I have many other things against Axe).

Do you think it is appropriate to use sex in advertising, considering who has the potential to see it and be harmed by it? If a company is so desperate to sell their products that they turn to this form of advertising, do you stop using it, or do you go out of your way to fund more nonsense just from the immense sympathy and pity you have?

Ethics: Cigarettes and Booze

Many people watch the Superbowl every year, meaning hundreds of millions of people around the world are staring at a pair of breasts trying to sell them on Budweiser. Cigarettes have many limitations, and there are very few advertisements for tobacco since laws were passed against certain things a decade ago. Unfortunately, alcohol is still known and advertised as a fun product to be consumed at every party. Their only limitation is to say, “Please drink responsibly,” while showing irresponsible commercials. Children are exposed to this every day across the country, leading them to becoming careless and irresponsible adults. While we cannot solely blame advertisements – surely, parents are to blame, as well – we can hold this behavior against them.

Should alcohol companies be allowed to air commercials? How much exposure is too much?

Marketing and Pedophilia

In a business class, I once watched a video on marketers and how they are targeting children, attempting to turn them into consumers and transform them from agreeable and satisfied to needy. One such practice was to watch small children in the bathtub in order to see how they interact and respond to bubbles, so that they could make more realistic commercials. A psychologist explained there is only a small difference between this behavior of marketing and pedophilia. Marketers try to sell a product, while pedophiles try to sell themselves.

Is this even close to being ethical? Why is this not illegal? Is it because the politicians also need to target children with their political campaigns?

Is it even remotely appropriate to have such things in our society? What do you think? How far would you go to sell a product?

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Balancing work with home life can be difficult, especially in this age of technological advancements that have led us to being able to work from home with relative ease. If you make money while you sit around in your pajamas, however, how do you balance home time with work time? It can be a difficult art, which is why I have put together a rough guide to balancing work with life, specifically meant for small business owners or college students who study often and study hard.

Know your limits

To begin with, know how much work you are capable of doing before you will go insane. This could be expressed in hours, to-do list items, or numbers of units processed, but either way, know how much you want to do. This is a basic rule for any work, but it becomes especially important while working from home. Know how much you want to do before retiring for the day.

Know your schedule

Do you work better late at night when the kids are asleep and the parties have died off, or do you prefer to do everything first thing in the morning, before the Sun is up? Perhaps you would rather work in between, during the afternoon when it is warm and you can easily go outside to stretch your legs. Regardless, know when you do your best work and plan around that time.

No interruptions

When doing work, make sure the children are away, the phone is off, the television is muted or powered down, the Internet is unplugged (unless, of course, you work online like I do), and there will be no drop-in visits. Just like working out of the home, anything unrelated needs to be gone and out of mind, or you will be distracted and your productivity will decrease.

Have a space

Similar to dismissing the interruptions mentioned above, it is also distracting to be in the same place for all activities. If you do not have a home office, try working at the dining room table, at a desk, or on a different computer which is separate from your personal usage. If you cannot afford any of these, try a different profile on your operating system and only install useful things for that profile. Remove everything else.

Clean it up

Not only is it important to have an official work space, but it is also necessary to have a clean one. Keep pictures of family and other personal items limited as if your boss will be coming over to check it out. Act like you are in a cubicle (albeit a much more cozy one) and you will work as if you are in one. On the other hand, however, some people do not work well when they feel their surroundings are cold and lifeless. If this is the case, and that is why you are working from home, especially, you should break this rule. Just keep distractions at a minimum without hampering creativity.

End the day

Have a ritual you perform at the beginning and end of your work time. Perhaps you switch on the radio, or turn on a fan, or open the blinds. Whatever you choose, perform it at the beginning and end of every period of work. When you do this, let your mind wander to the next phase (work or play) and do not return to either until your time is through. This is the most important part and also the hardest to perform. Many working from home either work all day or play all day. Neither is healthy. In order to be successful, this step must be fulfilled.

What are your tips for keeping yourself sane while you work from home? Do you work more efficiently at night or at other times? How about your ritual? What has worked for you?

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Managers have some of the hardest jobs in the world. Every day, they go to work knowing they will have to make tough decisions and pray they will not have to disappoint anybody for the day. Ethical and moral dilemmas are bountiful in positions of leadership. I do not want to talk about every day, though. I want to specifically talk about Christmastime and other winter holidays, when the line between appropriate and not-so-much becomes more likely to be crossed. It is polite to give presents, but impolite to assume too much of a friendship, not to mention the horrible times to be had should a person felt forgotten or unimportant. This is a guide to giving polite and appropriate presents to your employees.

Make a list

The first step, as usual, is to make a list. List every employee you feel deserves special attention and needs to get a present. Now expand the list to their close friends and those who are emotionally needy. The first people get presents, while the latter shall receive cards.

Set a budget

To avoid going out of business or giving one employee favoritism over another, decide how much you are going to spend on each person. A $5 limit is usually sufficient and $10 would be the highest I would recommend. Obviously, adjust this depending on where you plan to shop and how the local economy is. If a bookmark costs $10, feel free to spend $20.

Get cards first

Cards are a cheap way of covering every close friend and acquaintence, or even every employee company-wide. They cost between four for one dollar and three dollars, depending on where you buy them and if you get them in bulk. Generally, I recommend buying bulk, generic holiday-themed cards to save time and sanity. You may splurge on personalized cards if you so desire, though.

Design cards, too

If you would like to save money but want to show some folks that you care, do it by creating your own Christmas cards for the special few in your life. They will appreciate the personalized touch, especially if it is well-executed. Cards are also wonderful because they can be personalized inside depending on what you choose to write (never send a blank card).

Be sneaky

Hand out cards during one-on-one or quiet time, with few or no surrounding people. I recommend you avoid making a scene about giving out cards, and would prefer all to be quiet and polite about it. When you hand over a card, say, “I got this for you. Thank you for being such a great employee this year.”

Try gift cards

Gift cards have a few advantages in this situation. While family members should never receive gift cards, cards provide a personalized yet impartial attitude. If you know one of your employees is a bibliophile, get them a card for Barnes and Noble. If you know somebody else is addicted to clothes shopping, try a Kohl’s gift card. Everybody else can get a Visa universal gift card or similar. This is how I show that I listen without showing favoritism – I simply buy many cards in the same denomination.

Since there is always the risk of forgetting somebody, on the day you hand out cards, take an extra few just in case. You can sneak quickly back to your office and fill them out at your own convenience to avoid embarrassing either yourself or another.

What are your tips for remaining impartial when giving gifts to employees? How do you avoid choosing favorites and spending extra on some subordinates? Share in the comments.

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So if you have a small business, especially online, how do you get people to talk on your $0 advertising budget? The same way you got that good job you quit (or are working on quitting): networking. We won’t get into how to network right now, but rather why to network.

Marketing

Let’s start with a rundown of what marketing is good for. Marketing is a process based on expensive research – ideally, a budget of millions or billions of dollars – in the hopes that advertisements and trials generate enough attention and goodwill to achieve a 1/1000 rate of leads becoming customers.

Marketing is good if you want to target a very large audience across an entire nation – or country, or planet, as the case may be – and do not care where your leads come from, but only that they are coming.

Marketing is bad if you want to sell to a very specific population in a very small area. Sure, it is useful, but it can be very costly, and for many small business owners (including myself), if it can’t be done DIY-style, it can’t be done at all.

Networking

Networking is different from marketing because it is not the act of targeting, but rather doing something with a target. Networking is talking to others about yourself and your product and explaining why they need you and why you should be allowed to stick around for a while. It is generating a sale by creating a relationship, which is a major goal of marketing that very few advertisers seem to remember.

It is much easier for many people to build rapport one-on-one rather than hoping a 30-second television placement will be good enough to at least break even.

So why should you network if you have a small business?

Let’s say you talk to somebody about your duct tape wallets, and he decides he really doesn’t want one. But let’s also say he has a son-in-law who would love one, and that you conveniently slipped in your accounting classes and he needs an accountant. You could get freelance work plus generate business for both gigs just by casually talking about what you do.

Let’s also say you never network. Who’s going to buy from you when your commercial fails?

Nobody.

Balance your marketing with networking, or your business will not reach its full potential, or may completely fail. Remember: networking isn’t about selling your product; it’s about selling yourself.

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