IT professionals can do a lot to avoid layoffs, but they could be unwittingly doing even more to make themselves a target for downsizing.
By Denise Dubie

September 08, 2009 — Network World —

IT professionals can do a lot to avoid layoffs, but they may be unwittingly doing even more to make themselves a target for downsizing.

How to make yourself layoff-proof

“No one can get too comfortable in their position right now. If you get complacent and have no intentions of improving upon yourself, you will lose your job to that person – and there is always at least one – who is constantly looking for ways to better himself and add more value to the business,” says Colt Mercer, a network engineer at Citigroup in Dallas and a Network World Google Subnet blogger.

Here IT professionals and career experts point out five ways high-tech workers could earn themselves a spot in the unemployment ranks.

1. Be invisible

Now is not the time to go unnoticed.

“It’s not the time to shrivel and try to be invisible to management. Many people tend to default to hide-and-retreat mode when layoffs come up, but that could call more attention to you and make it appear you aren’t contributing enough to be kept around,” says Adam Lawrence, vice president of service delivery at talent and outsourcing service provider Yoh.

Even those working hard could unknowingly be at risk due to their in-office time. Some IT workers who operate from a home office might need to make a few extra trips into work to remind managers, in person, of all that they do.

“Being visible during downtime is a big deal. If you are always remote and people at the office don’t see you as part of the team, that could cause problems,” says Bryan Sullins, principal tech trainer at New Horizons in Hartford, Conn., and a Network World blogger covering Microsoft certifications and training. “Often it can be a case of out of sight, out of mind, and remote workers could unwittingly become a target to be cut.”

2. Let skills stagnate

There may be no training dollars, but that doesn’t mean managers won’t be considering IT pros’ lack of updated skills when making layoff decisions. Regardless of the current economic trouble, high-workers should always be looking for ways to advance their knowledge.

“IT staffers that don’t maintain their certifications and stay trained show poor strategic thinking and will very quickly find themselves behind the curve,” says Chris Silva, senior analyst at Forrester Research. ‘Turning a blind eye to new technology and thinking it can wait will wear thin in a down economy. Managers don’t want staff that add to the ‘can’t do’ list in times like these.”

And the employee who uses the excuse about lack of dollars won’t make points when it comes to cutting staff.

“A pet peeve of mine is people asking companies for more than they are willing to give,” says Rich Milgram, CEO of Beyond.com, an online job board. “There has to be some level of mutual understanding about what contributions can feasibly be made on both the employer and employee’s side. There are low- and no-cost training options if the employee is willing to make the effort.”

3. Snoop in systems

It goes without saying that IT workers shouldn’t abuse their access to company confidential systems, but industry watchers warn that if layoffs are going to happen, those high-tech pros with questionable practices will be the first to go.

“It is really easy for an IT person to see what others are doing and to look at confidential data, without being caught,” says Beth Carvin, CEO of Nobscot Corp., a maker of employee retention and other HR-related software based on Kailua, Hawaii. “But if you are suspected of some shady stuff, that would be reason enough to bring your name to the top of the layoff list.”

And even if the practices aren’t breaking corporate policies, IT professionals need to be on their best behavior. Try to avoid abusing a flexible schedule with long lunches and don’t use your high-tech position as a reason to spend too much time on the Internet for non-work-related activities.

“If you are the person viewed as someone just logging their hours to collect a paycheck and don’t plan to contribute more than the minimum, management will see that and you will become vulnerable,” says John Reed, district president with Robert Half Technology.

4. Make demands

Pay cuts, hiring freezes, layoffs – none of these factors suggest it’s an appropriate time to ask for a raise. Yet experts say some will use their ongoing service to a company during a recession as a reason to demand more money and other benefits.

“Now is not the time to ask for a raise; now is not the time to complain about needing more time off,” Sullins says. “In these cases, the squeaky wheel will get the shaft.”

While it may seem to IT pros they are going above and beyond and deserve compensation for their efforts, those in the position to fire staff might not want to hear it.

“Right now, employees should be nodding their heads a lot, not being surly or pushing back on responsibility,” says Sean Ebner, regional managing director for IT staffing and recruiting firm Technisource

5. Spew negativity

Employers now more than ever want positive attitudes on staff, and those spewing negativity will be weeded out.

“The truth is that everybody from a technical standpoint is replaceable. I notice more than anything the negativity an employee displays. Negativity is contagious, and once an employee goes that route, it is nearly impossible to turn them back,” says Michael Kirven, principal and co-founder of IT resourcing firm Bluewolf.

Smartmoney-Several months ago, asking your manager for a raise may have gotten you an incredulous stare. But with the worst of the economic downturn seemingly behind us, today you may have a better chance.

Since the recession began in December 2007, 6.7 million workers have lost their jobs, according to the Department of Labor. Some economists project the unemployment rate, which stood at 9.4% in July, will reach double digits by 2010. But signs that the recession is over have started to spring up this summer, including good news on the housing front and a marked rebound of the stock market.

Still, the economy will take a while to heal completely, and those looking for work may find little improvement in the job market, especially if the country enters a period of “jobless recovery,” a trend typical of past recessions in which the labor market lags behind other measures of economic growth.

But if you’ve held onto your job through the recession, now may be the time to ask your manager for a promotion — assuming, of course, that you can prove you deserve one.

“Companies are so thinly staffed right now that any surge in their business puts pressure on them,” says John Challenger, the chief executive officer of outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. “They need to keep their key people and that gives you more bargaining room than you had before.”

Here are eight tips that will help you prepare for that conversation.

Have realistic expectations

Even if business is picking up, a 10% raise may not be a possibility in this year’s budget. In 2009, employers budgeted for the lowest base-salary increases in 33 years: 1.8%, down from 3.7% in each of the previous two years, according to a recent study by benefits consultant Hewitt Associates. “An employee thinking about a raise needs to be aware that there’s less money available,” says Ken Abosch, the compensation practice leader at Hewitt. “High performers are first in line. Companies are going to work harder to take care of who they think are their outstanding employees.”

Time it right

“You do want to go see your boss after you’ve done something that really made an impact,” Challenger says. A good time to have the talk is after you’ve finished a project or results have come in that make your value to the organization clear. At many companies, management meets to make promotion decisions once or twice a year: Talk with your manager ahead of those meetings.

Know what to ask for

A promotion is different from a raise, and in today’s environment you may have better success asking for the former. Companies are still too mindful of the bottom line and convincing your manager to pay you more for the work you’ve been doing all along is difficult, Challenger says. “But when you get promoted to a higher-level job, more pay will in most cases come with that extra responsibility.” If you’ve been given additional responsibilities in the course of company downsizings, for example – and have demonstrated that you can handle them successfully – be sure your manager is aware of your accomplishments.

Showcase your value

Your boss probably doesn’t keep a list of your accomplishments – so prepare one to share with him or her before you have the conversation. “You need to convince your boss that you are truly adding value to the situation,” says Lori Dernavich, an employee performance advisor based in Hoboken, N.J. “If you can, tie a dollar amount to it.”

Keep the personal out of it

Your boss doesn’t want to hear that you need to make more money because your spouse lost his or her job or that you’re falling behind on your mortgage payments. “Chances are, your boss is having a hard time, too, in this recession,” Dernavich says.

Prep for the 'no'

Even if you’re convinced you deserve a raise, assume that you’ll hear ‘No,’ says Tory Johnson, the CEO and founder of Women for Hire, a New York-based employment company. In that case, ask when you can revisit the question: in three or six months, for example, or after a certain milestone has been achieved (such as landing a certain number of new clients). Ask for specific recommendations on what you can do to get your manager to approve your request and follow up on your conversation with an email thanking your manager for his time and confirming the details you discussed. “Then mark your calendar to follow up and get busy on making it happen,” Johnson says.

Negotiate

Turned down? Negotiate other benefits, Challenger says: more time off, a better title, work place flexibility. Or ask for a performance-tied bonus. Companies spend almost twice as much on so-called variable pay today as they did 15 years ago, according to Hewitt Associates. “The real upside pay opportunity is coming through bonus arrangements,” Abosch says.

Step up your game

Even if you’re denied a promotion, now is the best time to earn one in the future. “As organizations go through layoffs, that creates opportunities for people to step up and get additional responsibilities,” says Ed Rataj, the managing director of compensation at CBIZ Human Capital Services (CBZ: 7.19*, -0.09, -1.23%) in St. Louis. If you’ve been asked to work longer hours or perform additional duties, don’t complain that they’re not in your job description. Instead, take the opportunity to showcase your value to the company and earn that promotion for when you ask again down the road.

Matthew Herper, 08.25.09, 06:52 PM EDT
Beth Jacobson pushed doctors to try a novel approach in an effort to save her dying husband. Now she wants $300 million.


Forbes-In 1996, Beth Jacobson was watching her husband, a 35-year-old cardiologist, die from the blood cancer multiple myeloma.

She spent her nights reading medical journals at his bedside and her days calling doctors. One Saturday night, Judah Folkman, the famed Harvard cancer researcher, returned her call, and they came up with the idea of trying thalidomide, famed for causing birth defects as an anti-nausea drug, but also then being tested to treat leprosy.

Thalidomide didn't help her husband, who soon died. But the next patient who got it had an amazing response. Now thalidomide (brand name: Thalomid) and a related drug, Revlimid, generate $2.2 billion a year for Celgene ( CELG - news - people ) of Summit, N.J. And Jacobson believes Celgene stole her idea. She filed suit against the drug company in the U.S. District Court of New Jersey and is asking for $300 million in damages and 25% of future profits from the drugs.

"I'm proud of the work I have done, I'm proud that so many people are alive today because I came up with this idea," says Jacobson, a lawyer in private practice. She says she "reluctantly" decided to sue when it became apparent the company had no intention of compensating her for her contribution.

A Celgene spokesman says her "allegations have no merit," and that the company is confident in the patents that protect its medicines.

Jacobson's lawsuit illuminates the tension in the increasingly complex relationships between drug companies and patients. In recent years, research funding and expertise from patient advocacy groups has become a powerful force in the invention and development of new medicines. Vertex Pharmaceuticals ( VRTX - news - people ), Gilead Sciences ( GILD - news - people ) and Novartis ( NVS - news - people ) all have had medicines sped up through the efforts of organizations like the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.


The worst fear of companies benefiting from this new trend is that they'll have to pay the patients back somewhere down the line. Until now, Jacobson's story has seemed like an illustration of how patients and companies could work together.

There is no doubt Jacobson played a pivotal role in developing Celgene's drugs. In a 2001 letter to shareholders included in her complaint, Celgene's chief executive and chief scientist said her efforts provided "an important first step in identifying Thalomid's potential as a multiple myeloma therapy."

It was her husband's doctor, Bart Barlogie of the University of Arkansas Medical Center, who ran the first clinical trial to show Thalomid's effect in multiple myeloma. The results were published in The New England Journal of Medicine in 1999. Thalomid had been approved for leprosy the year before, but it very quickly became used mostly for myeloma. Celgene quadrupled the price of the drug over the next eight years.

The New England Journal article thanks Jacobson by name "for her persistence in recommending the clinical evaluation of thalidomide in the treatment of multiple myeloma."

But just because she played a key role in Thalomid's development doesn't prove that Celgene owes her a dime. Jacobson's lawsuit appears to rely on a novel legal gambit: suing under New Jersey law on counts of "misappropriation of an idea" and "unjust enrichment."

Those arguments are "a long shot" says Linda Fentiman, a professor of law at Pace Law School in White Plains, N.Y. "We allow people to make gifts," says Fentiman. "There's no evidence there was a bargain. It doesn't seem fair on a gut level that they profited, but I don't see any legal basis for either misappropriation or unjust enrichment." She also notes that in the lawsuit it is disclosed that Jacobson had been asked to apply for a seat on Celgene's board in 2005, but that after a new chief executive took over the idea was nixed.

Jacobson's lawyer, Douglas Kline of the Boston firm Goodwin, Procter LLP, says Jacobson was "plainly in mind that there was real economic value in this idea. Beth had the novel idea, she disclosed the idea in confidence to Celgene, and Celgene has used the idea to generate for itself financial profits."

In some previous press accounts of Jacobson's phone call with Judah Folkman, including one published in Forbes, he is the one who suggests thalidomide as an option. In her current lawsuit, the story is told somewhat differently. The filing says that he mentioned thalidomide as one option in childhood leukemias, but that using it in myeloma was her idea. Folkman died last year.

There is absolutely no doubt that Beth Jacobson had an idea that changed the lives of thousands of patients and transformed a tiny biotechnology company. We'll have to see if she is owed any money as a result.

HarvardBusinessSchool-Older Internet users may remember the battles over the commercialization of the Web in the early 1990s, when the first Mosaic browser was introduced. Back then, pioneering adopters passionately condemned the first Web advertisers and tried to bring down their sites with "flaming" attacks. The fight was lost as consumers voted for free information supported by advertising over subscription services.

Ironically, online advertising and the commercialization of the Web achieved important goals of the resisters: to preserve the Web as a medium for free publishing and communications. A recent TNS study reported the leading activities of Internet users as: used a search engine to find information (81 percent); looked up the news (76 percent); used online banking (74 percent); looked up the weather (65 percent); researched a product or service before buying it (63 percent); visited a brand or product Website (61 percent); paid bills (56 percent); watched a video clip (51 percent); used a price comparison site (50 percent); listened to an audio clip (44 percent ).


All of these activities either are subsidized by advertisers, or take the place of traditional advertising, information search, and purchasing and banking transactions. Free access to information entertainment, along with speedier and more convenient transactions, are a great deal for consumers. Social networks and the easy connections they facilitate are transforming social life and have helped to elect a President. They also increase productivity in the larger economy.

How can we quantify the economic impact of the Internet? A recent study we prepared with Hamilton Consultants for the Interactive Advertising Bureau uses three methods to value the contribution of the advertising-supported Internet to the U.S. economy:

1. Employment value. The Internet employs 1.2 million people directly to conduct advertising and commerce, build and maintain the infrastructure, and facilitate its use. Each Internet job supports approximately 1.54 additional jobs elsewhere in the economy, for a total of 3.05 million, or roughly 2 percent, of employed Americans. The dollar value of their wages is about $300 billion, or around 2 percent of U.S. GDP.
2. Payments value. The direct economic value the Internet provides to the rest of the U.S. economy is estimated at $175 billion. It comprises $20 billion of advertising services, $85 billion of retail transactions (net of cost of goods), and $70 billion of direct payments to Internet service providers. In addition, the Internet indirectly generates economic activity that takes place elsewhere in the economy. Using the same multiplier as for employment, 1.54, then the advertising-supported Internet creates annual value of $444 billion.
3. Time value. At work and at leisure, about 190 million people in the United States spend, on average, 68 hours a month on the Internet. A conservative valuation of this time is an estimated $680 billion.

The advertising-supported Internet also helps the economy by fostering innovation, entrepreneurship, and productivity, particularly among small businesses that create most new jobs in the U.S. In addition, larger companies in this sector, such as Cisco, Google, or Adobe, have been a haven of relative stability through the current economic downturn and boost the U.S. balance of trade through their global sales.


Consider also the social benefits of the Internet, harder to quantify but including the power of access to information as well as greater flexibility in balancing work and family obligations through telecommuting. The economic downturn is accelerating consumer interest in social networks and online communities as a source of support. And 19 percent of all U.S. marriages are now the result of bride and groom meeting via the Internet.

When regulators start trying to constrain the Internet, let's be aware of its enormous and ever-increasing economic and social impact. The Internet is an economic powerhouse that drives U.S. competitiveness and productivity.

John Baldoni
1:17 PM Monday August 3, 2009


HarvardBusiness-The fire chief is clearly displeased. He angrily upbraids his firefighting team for disregarding his direct order to evacuate a building that was on the verge of exploding. The firemen had their reasons for doing what they did, but in overriding direct orders they put themselves and their unit in added danger. Notably as the chief is chastising the team, he makes it clear that he considers the unit to be among the very best at what it does.

This scene is from Rescue Me, the long-running drama series created by and starring Denis Leary. While the particulars are fictional, the behavior of the chief and the firefighters should be a lesson to anyone in management. Highly performing teams, especially those that have worked together for a while, often abide by their own rules. On the one hand, it is a secret to their effectiveness; on the other hand, when teams ignore directives from their management, it can spell trouble.

Managers of such teams are blessed with effective productivity, but cursed with dealing with attitudes that lead to teams doing what they want to do when they want to do it. This makes for good drama in a television series, but causes rifts that can fracture organizational effectiveness. The challenge for the manager is to insist on discipline as well as underscore respect for the team's abilities and accomplishments. Here are some suggestions for mining the team's effectiveness but maintaining organizational unity.

Pay tribute. Recognize the team for what it has achieved. Make certain individuals on the team know how much you respect them and their work. Go out of your way to make them feel welcome. Talk up their accomplishments to higher ups. In short, make the team feel special. Compensation should reflect how well the organization regards the team's contributions.

Instill values. Critical to team success is cohesiveness, pulling together for the greater good. The same applies to teams within the organization. Make it clear that no team is above the company. At the same time, respect the fact that individual members will have greater allegiance to their team members than to members of other teams. A savvy boss will find ways to leverage the team's cohesion to benefit the entire organization by putting the team into positions where its success will reflect well on the entire organization.

Adhere to policy. High-performing teams like to do things their own way. This is a key reason for their success. Allow the team, as you would individuals, to figure out things for itself and execute its ideas in its own way. However, make it clear that whatever the team does must be done on time and on budget. Above all, hold the team accountable for both good and not-so good results.

Finally, strike a balance between creativity and discipline. You want to challenge the team to think and act creatively because its ability to do things differently contributes to its success. At the same time, its creativity must be in service to organizational strategies and objectives. That is, the team can "freelance" methods but not objectives. Projects it undertakes must complement the organization's mission.

Let's face facts. When push comes to shove, a highly productive team should be given the latitude it needs to achieve. Treating this team as a first among equals is appropriate. All teams need to be treated fairly but those that do more than most deserve special treatment. So often it is the collective triumphs of high-performing teams that enable the whole organization to succeed.

Bottom line, a savvy manager will give a highly productive team plenty of room to succeed. Experienced managers learn the boundaries so they can keep all of their teams, not simply the high achievers, on a path that maintains individual team pride and benefits the entire organization.

Note: The reference to a scene in Rescue Me is from Season 5, Episode 15.

By Mya Frazier • Bankrate.com

A few years ago, using the Internet to market a small business simply meant to create a presence online with a simple, informational Web site.

Then came the demands of search engine optimization to ensure Google and Yahoo searches yielded top-ranked results for your company. Was your business's Web site chock full of the key search terms that would bring it to the attention of customers?

Today, social media is transforming the small-business marketing landscape. Social media are Web- or mobile-based tools for sharing and discussing information. It's not just for seeing who your high school sweetheart married. Businesses can tap into powerful networking sites and other social media to drive customers to their shops or companies.

If done right, small-business owners might even be able to slash their traditional marketing spending to zero. Writing blogs (short for "Web logs") or ongoing online commentary and using social-networking sites, such as Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube, can provide inexpensive but powerful online marketing.

Because it's free, people think it's easy to create a social media presence. But this attitude can lead to missteps. So before you dive headlong into social media, take some time to observe the customs and social norms of these new forms of communications, says David Spark, founder of Spark Media Solutions, a San Francisco-based firm that helps companies tell their story through social media.

"Think of social media as a cocktail party," says, David Meerman Scott, author of "The New Rules of Marketing and PR" and "World Wide Rave," books about how to create buzz online. "You don't go into the cocktail party and go into the middle room and scream at the top of your lungs and say, 'Buy my products.' ... What works is you have some meaningful conversation first. And that's just how social media works."

If you decide to take the social-networking plunge, here are five ways to harness social media to help your business.

1. Use free sites. Use free online services, such as the mobile short-message site Twitter, and popular networking sites Facebook and MySpace, to post significant news, specials or events. For example, you run a small Italian restaurant with a loyal following. You could create a Twitter account and upload the lunch or dinner specials via "tweets," or short messages of up to 140 characters, daily to customers' smart phones or to other Web sites.

"All you have to do is give a (Twitter) handle and start a conversation. You could put the Twitter handle on the menu or in the restaurant," says Chris Abraham, Abraham Harrison LLC, a Washington, D.C.-based digital public relations agency. Granted, social networking sites are still for early adopters.

"You aren't going to get Aunt Matilda to tweet about the experience she had at dinner," Abraham says.

Abraham considers Twitter one of the easiest ways for a newbie to social media to get started.

"It's more challenging to do Facebook," Abraham says. "You have to create a personal profile, create a page and so on. With Twitter, if you're Joe Smith with Motorcycle Emporium, you don't have to create a page. And you can create Twitter updates via a phone or mobile device easily."

"Don't try to reinvent the wheel," he says. "There are lots of people sold on really expensive solutions, but two of the best investments for reaching out to people and engaging with them are free on Twitter and Facebook."

2. Shift marketing costs to social media. After learning how social networking operates, use social media to free up traditional marketing dollars for your small business by putting it online. You can quickly learn which of your Facebook or MySpace "friends" or online "group" members received and responded to your message.

Stanya Doty has cut her print marketing budget to zero. As owner of Simple Indulgences, a wine and high-end gift shop in Delaware, Ohio, she began using Facebook in December 2008 to communicate with her brother but quickly realized the online marketing possibilities.

"I thought, 'Oh, my gosh, there are so many people here,' " she says. Indeed, Facebook boasts 200 million users worldwide.

In April 2009, she began promoting monthly wine tastings via a Facebook page for the shop that quickly attracted 100 members. Combined with an e-newsletter created using the do-it-yourself, e-mail marketing Web site Constant Contact, she keeps enough buzz going about her shop that her advertising budget for local print ads no longer seemed necessary. She usually sends out about 700 e-mails, with the response rate sometimes reaching nearly 50 percent. It sure beats a postal mailing.

"If I sent out a postcard with postage and paid for all that, I'd still have no idea who read it and who threw it away," she says.

Indeed, unlike a print ad, Doty gets instant, measurable results. "On Facebook, you can see who has responded to invites," she says. "It's easy, it's cheap and I'm actually appealing to people that at first know me from the store and then hopefully … pass the word along throughout their networks."

3. Do your own social-media optimization project. Learn about the competition in your industry and geographic region that are tapping social networking. Spark recommends starting by researching the competition in the major search engines -- Google and Yahoo.

"Type in keywords and phrases that people would use to find you, like 'plumber' and 'San Francisco.' If you don't appear in the top percentage of pages, take a look at the Web site of those plumbers that do show up," says Spark. "Look at their pages, and usually they will have a lot of content on their sites."

To increase a business's presence on the Internet, Spark advocates companies create blogs, newsletters and other articles on their sites to bolster the number of keywords -- terms that search engines recognize -- to boost their ranking in all-important Web searches.

"That's the way people discover you," he says. "Take that plumber in San Francisco. The right search terms might just be 'clogged toilet and San Francisco.'"

"That tells me I should write ... in my blog about how to fix a clogged toilet and mention that I am a plumber in San Francisco," he says.

4. Take social-network marketing to the next level. Create and post richer content about what your customers would expect from someone in your business. Don't view social media sites as a place to simply hype your wares. It's a place for conversation.

"Social media is about earning attention," says Scott.

"What's most important is to forget about what your company does. Instead, think about the people who are buying your products. Simply hyping products and services online and in social media sites completely backfires. People are not looking for products but for something fun. They are looking to make connections," Scott says.

So it's all about having something interesting to say or show. It could be a blog or a video on the video-sharing Web site YouTube.

For example, if you're a caterer, instead of talking about your service, create engaging culinary content. Imagine positioning yourself as a gourmet magazine on the Web, complete with links to a video you uploaded to YouTube.

"A caterer could create a blog with information about how to create a fantastic party, and each blog post or YouTube video could be another installment," Scott says. "On the Web, you are what you publish and being on the Web is about publishing information."

So back to that plumber faced with the prospect of dropping an expensive Yellow Pages listing but worried about customers not finding him if they have a burst pipe or a misfiring shower head. Scott recommends the plumber post a list of "the 100 home fixes for common plumbing problems."

"All of a sudden you are going to get indexed very highly in the search engines, and people are going to share that content with their friends," he says. "When someone puts an update on Facebook asking if anyone knows a good plumber in Boston, a friend might point to your content."

5. Use blogging to drive search results and help new customers find you. Lately, blogging has gained greater attention, with the advent of "microblogging" on Twitter. But consider the time commitment and strategy before launching an account.

Even with the spread of microblogging, Abraham remains a big fan of traditional blogs, which are lengthier and show up on Web sites. In general, no matter what form the blog takes, it should be consistent over time.

"If you can't keep up one (blog) post a day or 12 tweets a day, do one tweet every Thursday. Consistency in blogging or tweeting will create a relationship of trust with your followers or readers. Do it once a week, but for the next two years," Abraham says.

And don't spend extra money on blogging software, technical help or a ghost writer for your blog.

"To get started, try free free services like WordPress or Blogger," he says. "The technology should not get in the way of the communications."

Kevin Plank, founder of Under Armour, on motivating employees and improving employee morale during a recession.
By: Inc. Staff

Published June 2009

Q: I run a start-up. How do I keep my team motivated, passionate, and focused on our product in this challenging economy?

A: Motivation, passion, and focus have to come from the top. I'm a big advocate of the power of positive thinking, particularly for small businesses. Your attitude is contagious. There's been a lot of negative news about the economy lately, but if you have a good product or service, I believe you'll find a way to make it. So keep on moving and don't use the economic climate as an excuse to fail. I'm convinced that there's no better time to start a small, nimble business.

You should also make sure you communicate with your team on a regular basis. When we had fewer than 25 employees, I brought the entire team together at least once a week. We'd talk about a lot of things, including major decisions that were on the table. I listened to everyone's opinions, and, without fail, they'd bring up things I hadn't thought of. More important, my team members knew that they were part of the process and that their voices mattered. Employees are more motivated when they feel needed, appreciated, and valued.

At our size now, it's tough for me to meet with all of the employees, but I still think face-to-face communication is important. We have casual gatherings a few times a month, called MVP lunches. I meet with six or seven people who have been identified as potential stars, and I just listen to them talk about what's working -- or not working -- in their departments. I learn a lot, and they get a chance to be heard.

I'd also recommend hiring employees who have leadership skills. At Under Armour, I call them engines, and I place them strategically around the organization. Look for people who aren't afraid to make the big, tough, decisions -- people who want pressure and responsibility. They are innately passionate and inspired, and they make other people want to work hard for them. When you find people with these characteristics, use them wisely. They'll certainly make your job easier, especially when it comes to keeping the rest of your team motivated.