Thursday, September 13, 2007

Getting To Know Facebook

I'm so lame and behind the times because I'm just now "poking" around on Facebook. 'Bout time, huh? Yeah...probably so.

I've noticed a huge increase in industry-related groups popping up here and there on Facebook and that's honestly what really got my attention. In addition to who you'd expect to find like Sugar Rae, Todd, and Neil; you'll also find some cool offshoot groups like the one Chris Hooley put together called "Drinking Your Way To Popularity." This one seems to have some shtick and I'm in! Drinking, puking, and being stupid is right up my alley...let's get this on.

I started a LinkWorth group and I'm looking forward to having some fun with that. Maybe some of the people that join can show me what the hell to do next! :D

Thursday, September 6, 2007

The Problem With Employees

Is there a bigger x-factor in the world of small business than the employee? I mean happy, hard-working, loyal, enthusiastic employees are hard to come by and when you've got one; you should do everything in your power to keep them because chances are you're going to find far fewer of them than you will the ones that can be considered "expendable."

Since our inception almost 4 years ago, two employees have quit. Before yesterday, that total was one. (And the first guy that quit rejoined us soon after learning that the grass was browner on the other side. So I guess you could really say we lost our first one yesterday, in a sense.)

Several have been fired (mostly by me) and those were just bad hires to begin with. Sometimes you have to take chances on people...especially in an industry with a relatively small pool of talent.

But this one has been tough for me to deal with because it came down to money. Simply put, there were two conflicting perceptions of the value this employee brought to us: his and ours. He wanted more cash, we didn't think his experience or quality of work demanded it....so he bailed. And to be honest, it sucks.

I'm pissed-off, bitter, and sad all at once because I liked this kid. And now I have to put more shit on hold until we find a replacement and that makes me very grouchy at this point. Damn.

So what's the point of this post? I'm not sure, it was just something on my mind, I guess.