eCommerce and

I recently read Jason Calcanis’ newsletter regarding the current hiring environment entitled, "How to Hire – and Get Hired – in a Recession".  This newsletter spoke mostly of how important it is to be a hard worker and how important it is to hire someone who is willing to work hard. He admitted that it sounded a little obvious, but still had many legitimate and important suggestions regarding the subject. I would like to advise readers of Jason’s newsletter that our economic position can cause a lax attitude when it comes to the subject of hiring and reply with a few things to consider before making any drastic changes.

1. Understand what the unemployment numbers are really saying:  Yes, the overall unemployment rate might be 10%, but that doesn’t mean the employee you are looking for necessarily comes out of that unemployment pool. High school grads have the highest unemployment rate at (10-15%), while college grads are in the middle (7-9%), and graduate degree earners have little unemployment problems at all (2-3%).  Jason said he received 200 resumes for one $10/hr job posting. That would make sense considering that the $10/hr job would most likely (not always) be picking from the high school graduate pool with the highest unemployment rate.  So the next time you’re thinking, “I know the pickins are good and I can just replace that person”, think of what group that person comes from and how hard it might really be to replace someone. This leads to my next warning…


2. Don’t let your attitude turn into “my employees are dispensable”.  Remember that your employees are the people that you have entrusted to run the day to day functions of your business and these responsibilities shouldn’t be taken lightly. They can mean the difference between profits and losses. If you treat your employees as if they are dispensable, they will treat your business as if it was dispensable. This leads to my next point…


3. Pay the Price: Jason talks a lot about hiring someone who is obsessed with work and who is willing to work late, extra hours etc.  Remember that type of employee comes with a price and you better be willing to pay that price for that type of commitment.  This doesn’t mean that you have to pay more money necessarily. Really, paying the price can be as simple as recognizing that your employees are working hard.  I’m not sure any staff member would appreciate being told that they are replaceable let alone the “work-a-holic”.  Rarely being recognized for the hard work that they do can be a larger detriment than monetary compensation to some.  Individuals that are that dedicated to their work, who spend their personal hours to improve your business, look for recognition.  A little encouragement goes a long way.

Jason is right; I agree that hiring the hard worker will be the best for your business.  Please remember however, not to take advantage of these people or let the unemployment rate change your appreciation of your employees.  Your employees are the ones running your business. Treat them with respect and they will keep making your company a profitable one.

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Over at GigaOm, Stacey Higginbotham digested some data showing that the Gordian Project is in the minority.  Apparently, "the demographic with the highest rate of entrepreneurial activity consists of those between the ages of 55 and 64, according to a study released today by the The Kauffman Foundation. The study found that folks in the 20-34 age range were the least likely to start companies."  As a majority of our founders, including myself, represent the latter class, we're glad to carry the torch for the "tweens" of entrepreneurs.  Nonetheless, as we age, given our unquenchable desire to build creative solutions, I predict that we'll climb into the ranks of majority, venture after venture.  True entrepreneurs are built to build, over and over again, regardless of demographic.

The author of the study, Dane Stangler, also a senior analyst at the Kauffman Foundation, posits that “Recent economic trends—away from lifetime jobs and toward more and more new companies—will thus gain even greater cultural traction".  Considering Stangler's predictions moving forward, Stacey fears that we're headed toward an era of forced entrepreneurship and wonders how much of this entrepreneurial activity is voluntary versus carried out by those who have headed out on their own after buyouts or layoffs.

If a healthy percentage of this activity is being orchestrated by those who had no other options, for the sole reason that they had no other options, it will, no doubt, be interesting to watch the outcome.  Although successful startups have emanated from founders who were forced into entrepreneurship when the absence of opportunities eliminated other avenues, I doubt it's the norm.  Moreover, for the "plan b" entrepreneurs who are successful, a strong argument could be presented that they were likely entrepreneurs at heart who had yet to realize their passion or been given the opportunity to do so.  By and large, entrepreneurship is difficult, daunting and daring, and successful entrepreneurship requires founders with brains, brawn, and bellies with an iron stomach (as well as the ability to integrate clever, albeit unnecessary, alliteration, at will).  Building a successful enterprise, although not impossible with a bunch of luck, isn't likely if the only motivating force is the fact that there isn't anything else to do.

Although I don't discourage these "plan b" entrepreneurs from joining our ranks, regardless of what demographic they fall in, I warn that entrepreneurship is incredibly challenging and admonish that if success is to be given a fighting chance, it will be in the wake of promoting "plan b" to "plan a".  Those who remain "plan b" entrepreneurs should have a "plan c" at the ready ...

For the best prices, on the largest selection of faucets, from your favorite brands like Kohler, Danze, and, American Standard shop PlumberSurplus.com 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

As I waited patiently – well for the most part, for a response to an email I sent a supplier a few hours ago I began thinking about the email I had sent, and about the response time I was expecting.  Dealing with suppliers, potential providers, consumers, upper management, industry partners, etc. we need to realize that an email says a lot about a person and the company. There are also rules that need to be followed when communicating as a representative of your company, whether your organization has chosen to publicize them or not.

As I continued to wait for the supplier’s response, I began realizing that I demanded more of those receiving my emails, then what I provided to those who sent me emails. So what is the rule, if any, for how fast or how slow we can or should be responding to emails? Should our first response should be as soon as possible?  Or does it depend on the circumstances?  The reality is that we only have so much time in a day, and some emails are more important than others. We have to keep in mind that the sender knows that their email is in our inbox waiting to be read, if we disregard the email with no follow up of “Let me work on this and I will reply shortly” the sender may assume that we are just ignoring them. This is how I feel when I don’t receive a timely response, but I also realize that there are some people in our organization that literally can’t get to every email they receive in a given day so that’s not a realistic thought either. After looking for a specific time frame on what an appropriate email response time would be, and not finding it, I decided to suggest my own. I believe that 48 hours from the time an email is received is a suitable time frame for best practice.  Keeping someone else held up any longer on a given project and the perception of being dependable and communicative goes straight out the door.  

We have to remember that an email is not just about us and how busy we are; it is also about the sender who is expecting a response to their issue or question. Showing the courtesy of responding with our status will portray efficiency and someone who is dependable with correspondence. Often times a simple “I will get back to you as soon as I can”, response will avoid misunderstandings and hurt feelings. Business partners will not only appreciate our timely responses, but in return will feel a sense of delight when they see our email in their inbox.

So next time we skip over that email that has been in our inbox for over two days, we need to remember the golden rule: Treat others as you would like to be treated.

In the infancy of eCommerce the environment could be described as, laid back, which helped lead to a miscalculation of the importance of email, and even the use of email as an informal business tool.  There are many reasons why people need to be careful with what they say in an email.

Keeping three basic rules in mind should alleviate email communication faux pas:

Communicate with Clarity
Make sure that the information provided in an email is communicated with clarity. Many times we respond to emails with one-line replies. Not only can we not provide enough information in a one-line reply but we can also come off as rude and demanding. Communicating with clarity can be simple when an email is broken down. For example if there is a question to be answered and the answer has multiple parts number them or utilize bullets.  Also remember, that when replying to an email always try thank the sender for the information they provided in their previous email, it’s just good manners.

If you wouldn’t Say it to their Face…..then DON’T Write It.
Because an email helps avoid face to face confrontation people tend to be daring when emailing. When you are upset in an email, this first thing to remember is to take deep breaths and re-read the email to make sure that you understood it correctly. Speed reading is one of the main pitfalls that lead to miscommunication.

You are your Email
Think of the email you are sending as a description of you. If you are rude in your email, then you probably look like a rude person; but if you are helpful and understanding in your email then that IS probably who YOU are. Politeness in an email shows that you are professional, courteous, tactful, and educated – all attributes that a Business person should encompass.

It seems that the younger generations are getting closer and closer to utilizing email in the same ways they are using texts and instant messages. Please remember that grammar is still an essential part of an email; they are nothing like IM conversations or texts. Emails need introductions, a body, and a conclusion. Though these guidelines may be forgotten one day, let’s try to keep emails as professional as possible. 

For the best prices, on the largest selection of faucets, from your favorite brands like Kohler, Danze, and, American Standard shop PlumberSurplus.com 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

• Tim Berry and his wife Vange collaborated on what they have learned over the last 22 years as small business owners and came up with a list of ten lessons they learned.  They point out that these lessons may not work for every business but in my opinion Tim and Vange may be too humble about their list.  Businesses are still failing today because they either don’t know about the topics discussed in this article or they choose to ignore them.  I chose three points to reiterate for our audience:
  • 2. We built it around ourselves
    Our business was and is a reflection of us, what we like to do, what we do well. It didn’t come off of a list of hot businesses.
  • 5. We spent our own money. We never spent money we didn’t have.
    We hate debt. We never got into debt on purpose, and we didn’t go looking for other people’s money until we didn’t need it (in 2000 we took in a minority investment from Silicon Valley venture capitalists; we bought them out again in 2002). We never purposely spent money we didn’t have to make money. (And in this one I have to admit: that was the theory, at least, but not always the practice. We did have three mortgages at one point, and $65,000 in credit card debt at another. Do as we say, not as we did.)
  • 7. We minded cash flow first, before growth.
    This was critical, and we always understood it, and we were always on the same page. See lesson number 5, above. We rejected ways we might have spurred growth by spending first to generate sales later.
    
    

• The Palm Pre comes out this weekend, and I am quite excited about it!  Search Engine Land reports on Google’s excitement for the release of this smartphone that has Google Search, Maps and YouTube already built into the device.  What’s important about this article is the trend toward mobile apps and how advertisers will choose to plan for future PPC campaigns.


• Bing seems to be the word of the week and (#badabing) the tweet of the week.  Bing even managed to become the number two search engine for a day, which isn’t all that surprising considering the dollars that Microsoft is tossing at their ad campaign, but will it last?  Some think not, and I tend to agree.  I tried to use Bing for a day, but I couldn’t even make it that long.


• Adobe BrowserLab is making it easier for developers to test cross browser compatibility.
  


• We pride ourselves on being problem solvers, in fact that is how Gordian Project came to be our name.  We go about discovering problems and implementing solutions in various ways, but I enjoyed this simple outline for those in their infancy of tackling issues.
  

Kohler is arguably one of the most innovative brands in the home improvement industry. The new Karbon faucet has completely transformed the kitchen and more specifically revolutionized the kitchen faucet. Meanwhile Kohler seems to effortlessly create bathroom fixtures that are not only sleek but save water, like the Escale toilet.

A Business Process is a way of defining what steps to take, what responses are required, and actions that need to be taken for any given task. As I prepared to create a Warehouse Process and corresponding flowchart I realized that finding a starting point was just as difficult as the task itself. What I found that helped me the most was creating and documenting the process in the form of a Business Process. I am not quite done with this project, but these steps are making it a lot easier for me to stay focused and clearly work toward the end result. There are three steps that I found to be the most helpful in creating our processes and flow chart.

Identify

The first step is to identify the processes. For example a Warehouse Process Map will need sections for inbound, outbound, inspections, etc. Figuring out all of the processes to identify in a process map will make the process organized. It is recommended that the processes be outlined in the way the processes are played out. A Warehouse Process Map would have the first process be Outbound, then Inbound, then Inspections and so forth, all in which the order of operations is performed.

Discuss and Document

The second step is to discuss and document. It is essential to get a full understanding of ALL the steps involved in any given process. Often times a process map creator, like me for instance, lays out the steps without fully understanding them. Discussing the steps with employees that carry these functions out will ensure that the process map is as accurate as possible. This is often the most time consuming portion of the project. Obtaining the required information involves sitting with employees and having them describe what they do step-by-step. After this, time is spent in documenting the steps in a word format. Below is a simple example:           

I. Inspection
        1. Don’t Want Returns
            a. In Resalable Condition:  Check Qty Approved → Check Qty to Stock → Click Process
                  →  Refund Tab → Add to Warehouse Inventory → Complete

Chart

The third step is to create a flow chart. A flowchart is a visual presentation of the steps involved in the process that is being mapped.  The process map consists of many different symbols that indicate a decision, or the beginning and end of a task. The flow chart is the tool that can be used to train new employees to clearly explain the tasks that need to be followed in order to complete a task.

Sample Flowchart

Review

The final step is reviewing the process map and flow chart. The easiest way to do this is to again take time with each employee and get their thoughts or suggestions in making the process map and flowchart better, more accurate, inclusive of process responsibilities, and amend it accordingly. Remember that these processes are not set in stone. Methods can change periodically, especially if new technologies or tools are obtained.

The time taken to create a process and flowchart may be substantial, but knowing that each employee has a tool that diagrams exactly what is expected of them is beneficial not only to the employees, but to the company, and ultimately to the customer. 

Kohler is arguably one of the most innovative brands in the home improvement industry. The new Karbon faucet has completely transformed the kitchen and more specifically revolutionized the kitchen faucet. Meanwhile Kohler seems to effortlessly create bathroom fixtures that are not only sleek but save water, like the Escale toilet.

Some business models are more difficult than others.  Many times, difficult business models are a direct result of businesses attempting to solve hard problems that need solved.  Enter eCommerce...

Ecommerce is Difficult

Ecommerce is difficult.  Extraordinarily difficult.  Drop ship eCommerce is even more difficult, magnitudes more.  Scaling a drop ship eCommerce model is, for all intents and purposes, all but impossible.  If it wasn't for the talented people we've surrounded ourselves with at the Gordian Project, we certainly wouldn't have been able to win at it.

The incredibly daunting task of managing a multitude of vendors while creating lasting relationships that encourage strong performance, competing in various independent verticals, housing a massive product selection and an accuracy of the product data, efficiently managing the returns of these products, designing complex algorithms and logic, maintaining quality and future-safety in an industry where the primary requirement is immediate results, developing a custom platform, stitching that platform to numerous third party systems, meshing with a plethora of partners, traversing dozens of advertising and marketing channels in order to develop the right mix of paid and free marketing that drives revenue, managing thousands and thousands of affiliates while controlling spend and analyzing and understanding consumer trends, catering to every beck and call of marketplaces, leveraging tools available to meet the increasing expectations of customers, while managing and balancing the needs of the company with the wants and expectations of team, in one of, if not the, most competitive spaces in the world, is seemingly insurmountable.

Now, try doing that profitably.

Now, try doing that profitably, while bootstrapping.

Now, try doing that profitably, while bootstrapping, while growing.

Oh, and do all that scalably.

What’s that?  You're up for the task?  Oh, hold on.  Just a minute.  Let me get some popcorn and some friends, this is gonna be hilarious ...

Online Advertising is Difficult Too

Since eCommerce is so freakin' tough, it's refreshing to notice other industries that are difficult as well.  Online advertising isn't as difficult as eCommerce, but its pretty close.

Last year, journalism lost an icon with the passing away of NBC commentator Tim Russert, the longest serving host of "Meet The Press," the longest running television program in history.  Russert's fervor for politics, understanding of politicians and the media, aggressive yet elegant interview style, knowledge of the landscape, and hard working attitude revolutionized both news and politics.

Of course Matt Drudge headlined with the story, and, as a fan of politics and taken aback by the loss of Tim Russert, I followed Drudge's link to washingtonpost.com's article headlined "NBC's Tim Russert Dies at 58".  A glance at the article I landed on made me sick, if only for an instant.

This is what I saw ...

Amalgamation

The reason that we are different is that we have successfully amalgamated the brilliant execution of a million on-the-verge-of impossible problems in an arena so very hard that even the most well funded and sophisticated players barely stand a chance at success.  The VC wants us to spend a morsel of our hour long conversation, and try to tell him why we're different.  Well, I could tell you that "amalgamation" thing.  Does that help?  Otherwise, it's impossible.  The VCs question can only be answered by getting in the trenches.  The VC would have to successfully apply for a job at the Gordian Project and work here for, I don't know, six months?  In that time they won't answer their question entirely (remember the whole infinity thing), but they'll know we were telling the truth about the "amalgamation" stuff.  However, that whole "brilliant" thing might work against the VC in the job application process, which means he may never get close to his answer. ;-)

Venture Capitalists Searching for the Silver Bullet

In recent conversations with VCs, we've fielded their question with the "amalgamation" answer and invited them to come spend some time with us, to get their hands dirty with us, to experience the amalgamation and brilliance.  It's so funny.  Venture Capitalists and the Silver Bullet

They know it’s true, and an incredible answer, and that it makes our company so much more valuable than the silver bullet they were hoping for, and that it’s so much better than anything else we could have said in the very few minutes they afforded us, and that if they took us up on our offer they would clearly see opportunity or see its absence.  However, when we give that answer, they just seem to squirm.  They pause, "But, um, ok, hmmm, so, I see, yeah, well, right ..." then they pause again. It's like they know it is true, and wants it to be true, but wish that there was some teeny, tiny, little morsel that we could cite that was the difference.  Sorry VC, teeny, tiny, little morsels that can be described in ten minutes can be duplicated overnight.  Not amalgamation though.  Not brilliance.  They've got their Checklist-O-Good-Company-To-Invest-In, and halfway down the list is "Silver Bullet".  They know they should check it off, but their pencil just fights them.  Screw triple digit growth.  Screw profitability.  Screw negligible debt.  Screw scalability.  Screw talent.  Screw success.  Screw solving the most difficult business problems on earth.  I want TEENY-TINY-LITTLE-MORSEL-O-SILVER-BULLET that can be described in ten minutes but can't be duplicated overnight!!!

Ok, ok, ok, Mister VC... I know you want to hear how we have no idea how big the market is, and that you have to find five other VC's to tag along in order to aggregate $100,000,000.00 to keep us afloat for another year, and that we have no idea how to monetize our product or service, and that we don't have a solid business model, and that we're not even sure what the product is going to look like at go live, as long as we have a clever domain name and our idea is SEXY.

How's that strategy working for ya?

Yeah, Yeah ... Reality

The reality is that it's hard to sell a difficult business to VC's, in an hour, on the phone.  For the most part, VC's aren't stupid, but this issue is a challenge to the smooth flow of a potential transaction.  And, of course, certain VCs, such as those dedicated to retail, may be better than those dedicated to Green.  Moreover, part of the challenge is that VCs can't get their hands dirty with everyone they end up on the phone with who swears they've got amalgamation and brilliance.

This is an exciting and difficult challenge.

If our best answer is "amalgamation" and "brilliance" and they can't afford to see if we're right or not, in their eyes, then how do you get through that impasse?  Maybe it boils down to financial performance as the key factor when they decide who to get dirty (due diligence) with and who not to?  If a company is brilliant, and has solved a very difficult problem, and simply needs money to scale, a VC should see it in the financials, right.  However, what if a company needs money to scale, in order to reach those financial targets that demonstrate brilliance ...?  Yep, we're back to getting in the trenches...

I wonder how many VCs have punched themselves in the face over and over and over again reminiscing about a chat that ended without a silver bullet...

VC: "So guys, in ten minutes or less, what is the one thing, the one morsel that makes Google different from everyone else?"

Larry Page and Sergey Brin: "The reason that we are different is that we have successfully amalgamated the brilliant execution of a million on-the-verge-of impossible problems in an arena so very hard that even the most well funded and sophisticated players barely stand a chance at success."

VC (unsatisfied and confused look on his face): "But, um, ok, hmmm, so, I see, yeah, well, right ..."

Larry Page and Sergey Brin: "Why don't you stick around with us for a few weeks, and hang out in the trenches with us?  You'll see soon enough."

VC (tone of Bill Lumbergh from Office Space): "Yeah ... We're gonna have to get back to you on that."

VCs would be well advised to tread cautiously. Heaven forbid we be tempted to just make up a pretend morsel that will satisfy the thirst for the silver bullet, skip the trenches, and end up with a bunch of rich VCs...

For the best prices, on the largest selection of faucets, from your favorite brands like Kohler, Danze, and, American Standard shop PlumberSurplus.com 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

A botnet named “psyb0t” has made recent news for being “The First Linux Botnet.”  Psyb0t is actually a worm that targets routers and DSL modems that run Linux, and might be the first of its kind. The worm “psyb0t” takes advantage of default and weak passwords on these embedded devices by using a dictionary attack. Then, after gaining access it installs itself and starts harvesting usernames and passwords from the user’s web traffic.

So it is not a vulnerability of Linux, or the software installed on the router, or DSL modem, but poor user or default passwords that provide the vulnerability. Many routers have their default password set to 1234, admin, or even blank.  As you can see these are certainly not very secure passwords.  To make a long story short, default passwords are insecure.

Whenever possible change default passwords and make sure everyone in your department has done so as well.  Every device connected to your network, including the printer, can be compromised and used to access your network.  This worm is a strong reminder that strong password standards not only apply to your computers but also embedded devices on your network.  

If you are unfamiliar with the term “strong password”, a strong password at minimum contains: a capital letter, a lowercase letter, a number and a character or symbol.  For more tips on strong passwords I recommend this article.  Posters are available for those in IT that want to call attention to the importance of strong passwords. Just remember that default passwords are about as secure as an unlocked padlock.

Managing any area of business invariably means pouring over a myriad of reports. Reports created from queries with sophisticated refinements like sales by criteria, supplier, manufacturer, and date ranges, or downloaded as raw data into excel to be manipulated with “Vlookups” and array formulas, to numbers pinned on Staples yellow note pads.  If yellow note pads are your preference I suggest the five by sevens.  Whether generated monthly, weekly, or daily for performance or projection; the bottom line when reviewing many reports is identifying areas for improvement.

My confession here is that I’ve looked at all the aforementioned reports in both numerical values and colorful charts and at times have been less than clear on how to use them effectively to improve performance and not head into a finger pointing session, particularly when attempting to advance supplier performance. With the current economic environment Cash is King.  Not that it hasn’t always been, but it’s much more pronounced in this climate.  In focusing on driving net cash I was able to find a reporting motivator by combining several individual reports, “Ready to Ship”, “Open Orders”, and “CRAC” (Cancellations and Returns), into one cohesive performance report.

Understanding the Data:

Ready to Ship - Identifies the suppliers communicated inventory as a percentage of total inventory.  (SKUS In Inventory  / Total SKU Offering = % Ready to Ship)  It should be anticipated that these orders would ship within a predetermined timeframe based on warehouse fulfillment rates, let’s say 48 hours from the time in which the order was received.

Ready to Ship Cancellations - Identifies the total dollars cancelled as a percentage of total volume sold ($ Cancelled / $ Sold = Cancellation %). The total lost dollars are included.

Dollars Lost - This is an important piece of information to know if you want to effectively move the conversation into a positive light. Communicating the opportunity of dollars lost positively, without getting into the finger pointing that can happen if the cancellation numbers become the focus of the conversation, should motivate the supplier to make improvements. I frequently hear from suppliers that our extensive product offering negatively impacts their cancellation rate because our business model turns their inventory that they consider C’s and D’s, or items that they normally do not have to replenish as often. This is in fact true but the actual impact is seldom a part of that conversation.  This is where “Dollars Lost” data helps turn the conversation back to performance as we are already only considering “Ready to Ship” inventory. This percentage identifies Cancellations as a percentage of Ready to Ship items ($ Cancelled / % Ready to Ship = Dollars Lost). This is where the customer expectation is no longer being met by the supplier.

Overall - By assigning a simple ranking to where each supplier stands, related to the average, in each of the areas reported, you provide a point of reference for how an individual supplier is performing related to your overall business. Again this helps move the conversation from finger pointing, to a more productive “search for solutions” focus as suppliers see their competitive comparison.

You’ll note I’ve chosen to not focus on open orders or returns in an effort to focus suppliers on those improvements yielding the greatest impact to net cash. Aging open orders naturally turn into cancellations.  These are accounted for in our data after refining return’s into their respective categories.  Once the returns have been categorized into “Don’t Want”, “Damaged”, “Defective”, or “Wrong Product”, the impact to net cash, with improved supplier performance, is relatively insignificant as compared to “Dollars Lost”. Don’t get me wrong, in a perfect scenario those dollars would be nice, but prioritize, prioritize, prioritize.

Opportunities to be communicated:

Cancellation Changes - I’ve provided here the average cancellation % and total dollars cancelled at the bottom of each respective column. Rather than discouraging struggling suppliers by pressing them to perform relative to your top performers; encourage them to drive towards the average cancellation rate, in this case we are using 4%.  In order to show the impact of such an improvement, calculate what their numbers would look like if they did meet our set cancellation goal of 4%.   Not only does the supplier then have a reasonable goal, but the available dollars is also clearly represented. Your impact to average cancellation rate is significant, by focusing on only two of the poorest performers in our example our average cancellation rate moves from 6% to 4.13%.

Long story short, ship what you’ve communicated is in stock + stock more = $$.

A recent study from the University of Melbourne goes against the pretense that personal website browsing at work negatively affects employee productivity. Dr. Brent Coker says, “People who do surf the Internet for fun at work - within a reasonable limit of less than 20% of their total time in the office - are more productive by about 9% than those who don’t... Firms spend millions on software to block their employees from watching videos on YouTube, using social networking sites like Facebook or shopping online under the pretense that it costs millions in lost productivity, however that’s not always the case.”

This recreational browsing helps prevent burn out by letting the mind rest. In the long run taking a break from time to time leads to a more focused concentration level for the tasks at hand that day. Some of the examples given were online banking, YouTube, social networking or sending a personal e-mail.

Though I agree with the study, there are some reasons why a business would want or need to control or limit the personal browsing of employees. One reason may be as simple as scheduling.  Take a call center for instance, in a call center proper phone coverage is necessary for day to day business activities.  While personal browsing may be good for overall productivity, if everyone in a given call center decided to start their personal browsing at the same time how successful would that call center be as employees adjust from personal activities to business tasks?  Could the company depend on these employees to make their personal activities second to what is going on at the company? Other concerns could be bandwidth issues.  Having multiple people watching video online could seriously diminish productivity to those still engaged in tasks associated with work.  Another issue to be wary of is the security hazards that can be associated with some social networking sites.

The key, as in most things, is moderation.  A little bit of personal browsing is most likely good in the workplace. A lot of browsing will most likely lead to a decrease in productivity and employers may not like it. On that note, be sure to check your workplace policy on browsing the web so you know the consequences of personal website interactions at work. Happy Browsing!

• We are working in an economic climate that requires retailers to be efficient and cut unnecessary costs.  That being said if you offer promotional codes at your cart page you may want to read “How Much is Your Coupon Code Box Costing You?” by Linda Bustos.  This has been a topic of discussion here for a while now, yet we haven’t come to any definite conclusions about what our strategy will be moving forward.  Linda’s article offers valuable insight about how coupon code boxes at the cart page is likely affecting your bottom line.
• Ever sent out an email that you wish you could take back?  If you are like me, then you are probably a bit clumsy and can totally relate to this question, so I am really glad that I am a Gmail user.  Gmail users can take a deep breath and let out a sigh of relief, as Gmail has added an “undo” feature.  After you send a Gmail message you will have five seconds to change your mind and undo your email, and although the previous message says “message sent” it actually hasn’t until the five seconds is passed and the “undo” feature is no longer available.  You will have to activate the feature in labs to take advantage of it.
• TechCrunch’s review of Internet Explorer 8 is optimistic when it comes to the improvement of features like tabbed browsing, and search suggestions, but is bleak when it comes to the speed of the browser.  The article points out that IE’s market share has been on a steady decline for a while now.  This begs the question, “Is speed the most important feature when web browsing?”  If so retailers will need to make sure that their websites performance can keep up with consumer expectations.
• I hope that this doesn’t come as a shock to anyone, but Google knows a lot about you.  Most of us know this, but you may be surprised exactly how much they know.  E-Justice reveals 25 things you may not think Google knows but likely does.
• Entrepreneur Magazine published an interesting article on how generational differences may be the root problem of work conflicts.  The article states that you should watch for certain red flags, most of which I believe are too generalized, as they may be indicators of a generational conflict.  Even if the red flags mentioned are general and often present in most work environments, it doesn’t mean that generational conflicts aren’t the origin of the problem so, it is worth the read.