Make sure your Facebook strategy is the one that works best for your business.

Strategies for capitalizing on the new 'experience economy'

Don't wish for success--plan for it.

Sampling isn't just for ice cream shops--put the technique to work for your business.

3 entrepreneurs offer tips on how to have a full-time job, sideline business and a great life.

Make networking part of your relationship-building strategy, and you'll see real results.

When your home is your office, it's all about presentation. Prove you're professional from the get-go.

Why franchises play it so close to the vest when it comes to money--and what it means to you

A focused vision and a can-do mentality made Shez Zamrudeen's fashion dream a reality.

Attract new customers and increase revenue with a niche application.

Making nimble changes now could avert disaster and save your company.

The L3C designation is helping entrepreneurs start for-profit businesses with non-profit souls.

Tracking expenses consistently and accurately can help you shrink your tax bill.

How to make sense of the information you already have

New technologies let you target prospects with an engaged-marketing response--just beware privacy laws.

Run down this checklist before you start your own business.

It doesn't take a big budget to create big-time buzz for your business.

Spur potential customers into action by using these cues in your marketing campaign.

Follow these tips for creating promotional materials that work as hard as you do.

Confused about the best way to book air travel? You're not alone.

Tips to sharpen your powers of perception

Car sharing is an easy way to reduce your business costs.

Evaluation is the key to keeping your business on track.

A pay-per-click affiliate program is a great way to leverage the keyword skills you already have.

Online communities offer everything from tips to mentoring for time-strapped mothers.

A few guidelines to help you work from home efficiently--no pajamas allowed

Before investing in a franchise, consider how the franchisor has reacted to the recession.

Show them love year-round, and they'll return the favor.

Time really is money, so treat it that way.

A local investor group led by current Milwaukee Forge president and chief executive officer David Mesick Wednesday announced that it will submit a competitive bid to purchase substantially all the assets of the Bay View-based forging company.

Scott Eldredge has left the Santa Ana Star Casino general manager post to take a new job with Cherokee Nation Entertainment in Oklahoma as corporate vice president of marketing.

The Missouri Department of Transportation plans to cut $203 million in spending and 400 jobs in response to stagnant state revenue, uncertainty with federal funding and rising employee benefit costs.

The Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation, in partnership with the Florida Department of Children and Families, Workforce Florida Inc. and the Regional Workforce Boards, will get its first installment of $61.2 million of funds from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service in the $200 million Florida Back to Work initiative.

Retail job cutbacks following the end of the holiday season lead the jobless rate in the Sacramento region to jump in January by the largest margin in more than a year, landing at 13.1 percent, the state’s Employment Development Department said Wednesday.

The Greater Louisville Health Enterprises Network has announced its class of Louisville Healthcare Fellows for 2010.

The unemployment rate in the Silicon Valley was 12.4 percent in January, up from 11.5 percent in December and above the year-ago estimate of 9.2 percent, according to a report Wednesday from the state Employment Development Department.

With March Madness just around the corner, a new survey finds 45 percent of workers have participated in an office pool. Of them, 56 percent have placed their bets in a March Madness pool.

K&L Gates LLP, Pittsburgh’s largest law firm, has hired Terrence J. Murphy as a government affairs counselor in its public policy and law practice. Murphy most recently served as president of Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania and Maryland. He will be based at the firm’s Downtown Pittsburgh office.

More Floridians were out of work in January as the state’s unemployment rate hit its highest level since May 1975.

Blaine O’Connell, chief financial officer for Froedtert & Community Health, said Tuesday he will retire Jan. 1, 2011, following a 30-year career in health care.

The state of Wisconsin’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for January was 8.7 percent, up two-tenths of a percentage point from December 2009, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday.

More U.S. CEOs quit, retired or lost their jobs in February than in any month since September 2008, according to a report by Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

The University of Oregon Index of Economic Indicators jumped 1.7 percent in January to 88.5, based on a 1997 benchmark of 100.

While hiring in information technology departments remains modest, a new survey from staffing firm Robert Half points to a slightly more optimistic second quarter for Ohio and nearby states.

Visa said it plans to open a new customer service center in Miami-Dade later this year, creating more than 350 new jobs it its Global Customer Care Services Group. (V)

Unemployment in North Carolina rose to 11.1 percent in January from 10.9 percent in December. The rate in January 2009 was 9.2 percent.

Unemployment in North Carolina rose to 11.1 percent in January from 10.9 percent in December. The rate in January 2009 was 9.2 percent.

North Carolina’s unemployment rate increased to 11.1 percent in January, up from 10.9 percent in December, according to data released Wednesday by the N.C. Employment Security Commission.

Chief financial officers in Colorado and neighboring mountain states are more likely to be in a hiring mode in coming months than their counterparts elsewhere across the nation, a new survey by Robert Half International indicates. (RHI)

More U.S. CEOs quit, retired or lost their jobs in February than in any month since September 2008, according to a report by Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.

Alabama’s unemployment rate rose in January to 11.1 percent from December’s revised rate of 10.9 percent, the state Department of Industrial Relations reported Wednesday.

The number of unemployed workers has risen by at least 50,000 in 16 states during the past year, according to a report released Wednesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Metro Jacksonville’s unemployment rate rose to 12.1 percent in January from 11.2 percent in December.

More Floridians were out of work in January as the state’s unemployment rate hit its highest level since May 1975.

Lewis B. Freeman, one of South Florida’s best-known forensic accountants, pleaded guilty this morning to conspiracy to commit mail fraud before U.S. District Judge Paul Huck.

San Francisco thinks it can save $110 million over the next year and two months using a shorter work week, according to a report in the San Francisco Examiner.

Kansas unemployment escalated to 7.1 percent in January, up from 6.2 percent in December mostly because of seasonal factors, the Kansas Department of Labor reported Wednesday.

More U.S. CEOs quit, retired or lost their jobs in February than in any month since September 2008, according to a report by Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.

Analogic Corp., a developer of medical imaging and security-detection technologies, padded its bottom line in the fiscal quarter ended Jan. 31 on strong sales of its explosive-detection systems and improved cost management that boosted gross margins by roughly 5 percentage points.

A majority of readers in the most recent Business Pulse survey say there may be legitimate reasons for prospective employers to do credit checks on job applicants.

Firehouse Subs co-founder Robin Sorensen and Chief Financial Officer Stephen Joost are in Haiti this week providing hands-on support for earthquake relief efforts.

The employment outlook for legal professionals is looking brighter for the second quarter, according to a report Wednesday by the Robert Half Legal Hiring Index.

The unemployment rate in the Wichita area rose 0.8 percent in January, to 8.6 percent, from 7.8 percent in December 2009, according to numbers released Wednesday by the Kansas Department of Labor.

American Eagle Outfitters Inc. is shutting down its MARTIN + OSA store concept, the company announced today.

Texas Secretary of State Hope Andrade has been named the Texas Census Ambassador.

Optimal Solutions Integration Inc., a North Texas consulting shop specializing in software from Europe's SAP, has acquired an East Coast company called Budgetec LLC.

The U.S. job openings rate rose to 2.1 percent in January, with 2.7 million openings on the last business day of the month, according to preliminary figures the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released Tuesday.

A daily roundup of senior-level executive hires and board appointments: Tuesday, March 9

Jim Williams, the head of Federal Acquisition Service at the General Services Administration, will retire April 3.

Thomson Reuters has named Karl Florida president of its FindLaw business unit that provides web marketing solutions for small and mid-sized law firms.

Catholic Charities of Buffalo’s "Closing the Gap in Student Performance" program has been recognized by the agency’s national body for work in the Buffalo Public School District.

More chief financial officers in the U.S. anticipate an increase in the hiring of full-time accounting and financial employees in the second quarter, according to a new survey from Robert Half International. (RHI)

If the case of a disgruntled financial services client who opened fire against his financial advisers in North Dallas can teach us anything, it’s that workplaces should not ignore threats or unusual behavior exhibited by employees and clients.

Amid the national bluster about creating jobs, one of the most robust sources of new jobs — high-growth startups — tends to be overlooked, according to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

Businesses in the Austin-Round Rock area expect to hire at an active pace through the second quarter of 2010, according to a report issued Tuesday by employment firm Manpower Inc.

Apria Healthcare has laid off 22 of its employees at its division office in Morrisville.

Washington state has 574,000 union members, which is the eighth-highest total number among states, and at 20.2 percent of the work force, the fourth-highest percentage of unionized workers in the U.S.

BB&T Corp.’s profit plunged 42 percent in 2009, but its top executive’s total compensation rose by $1 million. (BBT) (WFC) (BAC)

For the first time in its 74-year history, Winston-Salem Industries for the Blind Inc. is the leading employer in the United States of the blind.

First Niagara Financial Group Inc. executive John Koelmel’s total compensation rose nearly 50 percent last year due in part to additional stock awards and cash-incentive payments, according to documents filed Tuesday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Chief information officers expect an uptick in hiring in the second quarter, and Wisconsin and its neighboring states are expected to be among the strongest performers, according to the latest Robert Half Technology IT Hiring Index and Skills Report.

Employees at St. Luke's Hospital in Chesterfield, Mo., are among of the happiest health-care workers in the nation, according to a recent survey.

John Koelmel, the president and CEO of First Niagara Financial Group, took home 47 percent more in 2009 than he had the year before.

Roughly a week after predicting 20 percent revenue growth for the current fiscal year, network equipment maker and services provider Netezza Corp. has set hefty executive bonus targets that largely hinge on the company's top-line expansion. (NZ)

The hiring outlook for the Columbus area is improving from a dismal start to the year, according to new survey conducted by staffing firm Manpower Inc. (MAN)

Net employment growth in Raleigh/Cary is expected to hit 16 percent in the second quarter of 2010, a rate putting it of the list of the nation’s strongest employment metros, according to a new survey by Manpower.

It looks as though hiring in the Dayton area will not pick up in the second quarter.

Silicon Valley employers expect to hire at a "mild pace" during the second quarter, according to the latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey released Tuesday.

Milwaukee-area employers expect to pick up the pace of hiring in the second quarter of 2010 enough to make the metropolitan area the fifth-best job market in the nation, according to the latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey. (MAN)

An increased number of Birmingham area employers are expected to be hiring in the second quarter, according to an employment outlook survey released Tuesday.

Metro Atlanta employers plan to add staff at a “reserved” pace in the second quarter, according to the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey published March 9.

Seven percent of chief financial officers plan to add full-time accounting and finance employees during the second quarter, the highest forecast since the first quarter of 2009, according to a report Tuesday.

Momentive Performance Materials Inc. reported a 20 percent drop in revenue last year, but was able to cut its losses as well, the company said. (GE)

Businesses in the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown area expect to hire at an active pace through the second quarter of 2010, according to a report issued by employment firm Manpower Inc. Tuesday. (MAN)

A quarterly survey of the Buffalo labor market released Tuesday looks favorable in the coming months with employers expecting to hire at a healthy pace.

Local employers plan to hire at a vigorous pace during the second quarter, according to an employment outlook survey by Manpower Inc.

Hawaii will be one of the hardest places in the nation to find a job, according to a new ranking by the Daily Beast.

Readers have been flooding reporter Brandon Gee's e-mail with comments about Walt Baker, whose business and reputation are in tatters after he forwarded a message that compared first lady Michelle Obama to a chimp. He was fired Monday by the Tennessee Hospitality Association, as well as the Greater Nashville Hospitality Association. His business partner at Mercatus Communications, Phil Martin, has also said that he is leaving the now-damaged company, and taking clients with him. You can also comment by scrolling to the bottom of online stories. Here is some of what we've heard so far:

Best Buy will close its store on Milwaukee’s far northwest side, affecting 62 employees. (BBY)

Drug developer CombinatoRx Inc. said Monday it will pay its new CEO an annual salary of $450,000 and dole out $325,000 in cash bonuses to several senior executives following the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of its pain drug Exalgo.

More than 400 people turned out Monday afternoon for the first day of the Rivers Casino's table games job fair, officials said, and that was at the day's halfway point.

Sunoco Inc. has hired EquaTerra, a consulting firm based in Houston and London, to explore the possibility of outsourcing parts of its human resources, finance, information technology, accounting and procurement functions, a spokesman for the company said Monday. (SUN)

The Conference Board Employment Trends Index has risen for the sixth month in a row, prompting a prediction that the nation is on the verge of job growth.

Three out of 10 New York state residents are worried about losing their job in the next year and employment anxiety is highest in New York City.

Workers distracted by March Madness could cost employers as much as $1.8 billion in unproductive wages during the first week of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, according to Chicago-based outplacement agency Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.

Six Middle Tennessee companies officially reported mass layoffs in the past week, the Department of Labor and Workforce Development reported Monday.

Walt Baker was fired Monday afternoon by both the Tennessee Hospitality Association and the Greater Nashville Hospitality Association — and will split with longtime business partner Phil Martin — days after he created a political firestorm by forwarding an e-mail that compared first lady Michelle Obama to a chimpanzee.

The gender wage gap narrowed slightly last year, with the median weekly earnings of female full-time workers at $657, compared with the male median weekly earnings of $819.

A daily roundup of senior-level executive hires and board appointments: Monday, March 8.

U.S. Rep. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., is hosting a job fair Mar. 8 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. to help connect local employers that are hiring with qualified job seekers.

K&L Gates LLP, Pittsburgh’s largest law firm, said Monday it will officially operate from its new Downtown Pittsburgh office at 210 Sixth Avenue as of March 22.

Affiliated Computer Services on Monday said it plans to hire 190 to staff its growing Portland call center. (XRX)

Parametric Technology Corp. said shareholders last week reelected directors Paul A. Lacy, Michael E. Porter and Robert P. Schechter to the company’s board, while also endorsing a slate of compensation- and auditing-related measures.

Affiliated Computer Services is hiring for 280 new call center positions in Raleigh, the company announced on Monday. (XRX)

CNH Global NV, parent of Case operations in Racine, said Monday that it has appointed Richard Tobin as its new chief financial officer, replacing interim CFO Steve Bierman. (CNH)

Two additional employment lawyers have left Cranfill Sumner & Hartzog to join Jackson Lewis.

People on the Move: March 8 This is a weekly roundup of promotions, appointments and employee accomplishments in the Birmingham metro area. For more People on the Move, check out the Birmingham Business Journal’s print edition each week. Send announcements to ccrawford@bizjournals.com.

Bovie Medical Corp. hired Leonard Keen as vice president and general counsel.

Missouri is one of the hardest places in the nation to find a job and is ahead of only Ohio and Michigan for job prospects, a new ranking shows.

Looking to trim expenses?

Stephanie Cole enjoys using online social networking sites, and says there are things to keep in mind to protect a company’s trademarks, copyrights and other information. As general counsel at Niagara University, she is often asked to be a guest speaker on the topic.

Brittany Machmer wanted to work behind the camera.

The Triad’s 50 largest employers are currently looking to fill more than 1,850 job openings, a Business Journal analysis has found.

RALEIGH – Recovery from job losses caused by the Great Recession could stretch to five years or more in North Carolina, two to four times longer than after prior economic downturns.

A Georgia immigration reform law that currently is limited to businesses seeking government contracts soon could apply to all companies.

Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz PC has created a gaming industry service team and hired five attorneys in Mississippi and Louisiana.

If Albertsons LLC or another suitor takes over Bashas’ Supermarkets Inc., they likely will cut existing management and close under­performing stores, analysts tell the Phoenix Business Journal.

By now, we’ve all heard the cautionary tales about posting unsavory photos or explosive rants online because they could come back to hurt you — professionally as well as personally.

The layoffs that thinned the ranks of associates at Boston-area law firms have subsided, and legal recruiters say firms are more receptive to hiring as business picks up in a variety of practice areas.

The desire to set a positive example for his daughter was the final straw that led Anthony Stankiewicz to a midlife career change.

J.C. Penney Co. Inc. has laid off 55 workers in its custom decorating business at McClellan Business Park.

North Carolina’s recovery from job losses caused by the Great Recession could stretch to five years or more — two to four times longer than after previous economic downturns.

Age discrimination complaints in Massachusetts have hit a four-year high, highlighting the vulnerability of older workers in a tough economy.

When Adam Halperin lost his job at a Houston employee benefits consulting firm in 2004, a subsequent job search became an education, in more ways than one.