Here’s a loaded question: If you were renting a piece of equipment for your business that stopped working anywhere from 30 minutes to four hours every day, how many times would you tolerate that performance before you demanded a replacement?

For most, once would be more than enough to warrant action; yet study after study is showing an alarming trend among employees: they’re admitting to wasting that much time at work on texting, social media or simply trolling the Internet on non-productive, non-work-related activities. Worse yet? Many employers KNOW it’s happening, but overlook it because they’re either too busy themselves to babysit or believe that “it’s not that bad.”

But here’s the reality: Distracted employees are crushing your profi ts. Study after study has proven that even a simple three-second distraction can double the chances of that employee making a mistake—so even if a cell phone rings and it goes unanswered, the distraction has occurred. But that’s the least of your worries; people are CREATING their own distractions. An Internet trend report published by Kleiner Perkins Caufi eld & Byers found the average user stops what they are doing to check their smartphone approximately 150 times per day. The average person spends over seven hours a month on Facebook alone, and that doesn’t account for Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr and the millions of news, sports, gambling, porn and gaming sites. To think some, if not all, of your employees are wasting your time and your money during work hours on non-work-related digital media is ignorance; but to ignore it is sheer stupidity.

Although it may be politically incorrect to state it this way, an employee is a “rented” asset. You are paying an agreed-upon price for a set number of hours worked to produce a specifi ed result, whether that be sales, happy customers or work product created. You are “renting” their time and behavior. If an employee is NOT actually working during the time you are paying them to work, they are essentially stealing from you, just the same as you would be stealing from them if you asked them to work overtime but then refused to pay. Never forget, it’s called a “workplace” for a reason.

So how can you ensure your employees aren’t tempted to goof off or be distracted while at work? First and foremost, make sure they understand your expectations regarding cell phone and Internet usage while at work. If you’ve never told them you expect them to work during work hours and NOT check personal e-mails, Facebook, text their friends, etc., don’t be mad at them. Give them suffi cient breaks during the day to take care of personal matters or to troll the Internet—just be clear you don’t want them doing it on YOUR paid time. Second, set boundaries. You can implement content fi ltering on work PCs and devices that prevent employees from going to certain web sites during work hours. Of course, if you need help in developing a productivity plan for your workplace, give us a call! We can assist you with everything from acceptable-use policies to content fi ltering.

The Biggest Profit Vampire Sucking Your Business Dry

The Biggest Profi t Vampire Sucking Your Business Dry ...Page 1

The 4 BEST Apps Every Business Owner Should Have On Their Smartphone...Page 2

FREE REPORT: The Business Owners’ Guide To IT Support Services And Fees...Page 2

Inside This Issue...January 2015

3 Easy Steps To Make YourCompany Meeting MoreProductive...Page 3

“As a business owner, youdon’t have time to waste

on technical andoperational issues. That’swhere we shine! Call us

and put an end to your ITproblems!”Earl Foote,

Nexus IT Consultants

Get More Free Tips, Tools and Services At Our Web Site: http://www.nexusitc.net

Security Watch: Should YouTrust The Cloud...Page 4

The 4 BEST Apps Every Business Owner Should HaveSo many apps, so little time! As a busy entrepreneur, you have to maximize your time—so here are four apps that should reside on every business owner’s smartphone:

Microsoft Office Mobile: Create documents, look over spreadsheets or edit presentations on the go. Office Mobile brings Word, Excel and PowerPoint into one convenient place. Each program features many of the functions of its full-sized counterpart, but does tend to lack in a few areas. You won’t be able to make certain changes to Word documents (such as changing typeface or text alignment) and you can’t create new PowerPoint presentations (but you can edit existing ones). These limitations aren’t crippling, and what is available is exceptionally robust for a mobile app. Get it for your Android, iOS or Windows Phone devices for free.

Hootsuite: Managing several social media accounts across many services can be overwhelming. Hootsuite brings them all to one place. Access Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and several others with intuitive ease. It makes managing your company’s social media accounts a cinch and you won’t miss anything. Stay in touch with followers, customers and collaborators. It’s free and on Android and iOS.

Expensify: This app lets you capture receipts and track mileage, business travel and time, while making the creation of expense reports absolutely painless. It all

Ever wonder what you SHOULD be paying for IT support? Curious to know what type of support plan is the most cost-effective? This new report will answer those questions and reveal:

• The three most common ways IT services companies charge for their services, and the pros and cons of each approach.

• A common billing model that puts ALL THE RISK on you, the customer, when buying IT services; you’ll learn what it is and why you need to avoid agreeing to it.

• Exclusions, hidden fees and other “gotcha” clauses IT companies put in their contracts that you DON’T want to agree to.

• How to make sure you know exactly what you’re getting to avoid disappointment, frustration and added costs later on that you didn’t anticipate.

begins when you take a picture of your receipt through the app and your device’s camera. The app scans the receipt and creates or adds the pertinent information to an expense report. It doesn’t get any easier than that! The app is free and you can download it to your Android or iOS devices.

Google Drive: When collaboration and sharing documents is a priority, Google Drive gets the job done. With Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides integrated into the app, it’s slightly more accessible than Mobile Office and it’s easier to share documents with others versus Dropbox. Create, edit and share documents online or work off-line. Drive isn’t as fully featured as Mobile Office, but collaboration with others in real time across multiple platforms—mobile, desktop and everything in between—may make up for that for many users. It’s available on Android and iOS and it’s free.

FREE Report: The Business Owners’ Guide To IT Support Services And Fees

January 2015The IT Insider

Download Your FREE Copy Instantly At:http://www.nexusitc.net/ITbuyersguide

Get More Free Tips, Tools and Services At Our Web Site: http://www.nexusitc.net

3 Easy Steps To Make Your Company Meetings More Productive And Effi cient For All

One of the challenges that all business owners face is how to share information and ideas ef iciently among your staff, and also get them engaged. Here are three steps I’ve discovered that will revitalize your meetings:

1. Develop meeting objectives as a group. Start with your premise and ask every participant to contribute. Write each objective—along with the name of the person who contributed it—on a board at the front of the room. If people feel responsible for the content of the meeting, they’re far more likely to participate. Participation is important. Make sure that every person voices their objective in their own words, even if you have repeats.

2. Consolidate the list. Combine and condense your group’s objectives to a manageable number—three to ive is achievable in a brief meeting. Then move on—share the information you need to and work through solutions to problems you’ve identi ied.

3. Finally, con irm that each objective was achieved. When you model this ef icient approach, your team members will see the bene its of your goal-oriented approach, and they’ll not just pay attention, but they’ll participate. You’re demonstrating measurable progress—and achieving their objectives.

Another tactic for keeping your team engaged: discard hour-long sit-down meetings for tightly focused, 15-minute stand-up meetings or huddles. You’re a team, and it’s essential that you all be focused on the same end result. Providing a regular huddle for each member of the team to share progress, request help or resources and ask for feedback lets you quickly check in with your players and send ‘em right back to the ield to score. You’ll need to prepare for these huddles a little differently, so here are a

few micro-tips for great micro-meetings:

If you’re running the meeting, you’ll need to be extra-prepared. The idea here is to have only 15 minutes, every one of which is productive. You must have a clear idea of what will be accomplished, and you must get to the point.

If your meeting is a team check-in, establish a protocol. Let each participant share successes or challenges, and you’re getting information to team members who can share skills to solve problems. Make the structure clear so you don’t get bogged down in anything off-topic or irrelevant.

Have a stand-up meeting area with no chairs and with raised tables suitable for taking notes. The idea is to get in, work hard and get out.

Appoint a timekeeper to keep the meeting on track. The focus on time helps you prioritize. If you can accomplish only a few things in each meeting, you’re going to work on the most important.

If you’re clear about the purpose for a meeting, and if you directly engage every member of the team, you’ll be astonished at how productive your meetings will become. It doesn’t matter if it’s a monthly upper-management event or a sales team huddle, you can build a better, more productive meeting.

MIKE MICHALOWICZ (pronounced mi-KAL-o-wits) started his first business at the age of 24, moving his young family to the only safe place he could afford–a retirement building. With no experience, no contacts and no savings, he systematically bootstrapped a multimillion-dollar business. Then he did it again. And again. Now he is doing it for other entrepreneurs. Mike is the CEO of Provendus Group, a consulting firm that ignites explosive growth in companies that have plateaued; a former small-business columnist for The Wall Street Journal; MSNBC’s business makeover expert; a keynote speaker on entrepreneurship; and the author of the cult classic book The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur. His newest book, The Pumpkin Plan, has already been called “the next E-Myth!” For more information, visit http://www.mikemichalowicz.com/

January 2015The IT Insider

Lexmark OfficeMachines

Don’t let technology downtime be your downfall.Nexus IT offers the perfect solution when you need areliable, cost-effective print source that can serviceyour entire floor or office. Let us know the size of yourteam and your monthly paper output, and we candevise a personalized printing solution from our widerange of Lexmark office machines.

Personalized Printing Solutions

From high-volume printer needs common in a modernoffice setting to a more streamlined way to connect anentire office to a single copy machine, the printersolutions offered from Nexus IT just make sense. Weknow that no two offices run exactly the same way.We also know that choosing a multifunction officemachine from among the hundreds currently on themarket can be overwhelming. That’s why ourapproach is tailored to your unique needs andsituation.

When devising a networked printing solution, we lookat things like:

Business output Goals and growth expectations Daily usage patterns Print/copy volume Current technology platform Management style Monthly budget

By considering all the angles in this way, we can ensurethat you have a printer (or suite of printers) capable ofhandling your workload. At the same time, we arealways on the lookout for ways to improve yourbottom line, which means we include efficiency andcost-effectiveness in our approach.

Lexmark Office Machines Set Up and Installed

Lexmark is known throughout the technology industryas a robust and reliable source of printers, faxmachines, copiers, scanners, and replacementcartridges. The company’s goal has always been tosave their consumers both time and money, and withthat in mind, they’ve developed a number of officemachine innovations that cut back on space, waste,and noise.

At Nexus IT, we’re also in the business of saving youtime and money, which is why we offer a range ofprinter services. In addition to connecting you to theright equipment for your needs, we are happy toprovide:

Printer setup and installation Network configuration Troubleshooting and ongoing support Cartridges and supplies Workflow management

Your computer network might be the backbone of youroffice, but your printer and copy center is where thehard work gets done. Don’t lose out on daily output byrelying on a substandard office machine. With NexusIT, we make it easy for you to access the equipmentyou rely on every day – and to keep it runningsmoothly throughout.

Get More Free Tips, Tools and Services At Our Web Site: http://www.nexusitc.net

it diffi cult to avoid the cloud, putting emphasis on it with the popular Google Drive and Gmail.

But with seemingly constant security breaches, is it worth the risk? There are several questions that need to be asked, centered squarely on security. Is anything you put in the cloud truly secure? Or what happens if the cloud-hosting company goes under?

In reality, what you have in the cloud is just about as secure as anything on your computer’s hard drive at home--if not more so—as long as you choose a reputa-ble provider to store your data. As cloud services be-come more prevalent, companies are putting increased emphasis on security. Their clients are demanding it, and when your clients are multibillion-dollar compa-nies, you listen. As for the likelihood of a company going under, this again decreases to negligible rates when you choose larger and more widely known com-panies. While it might be tempting to go with a small start-up whose offering or price differs from their big competitors, it can be risky. So this risk must be weighed against the benefi ts of the provider to deter-mine if it is worth it for you and your company.

The bottom line is the cloud isn’t something to fear or avoid. From a small business perspective, it comes down to what you feel comfortable storing “out there.” If you have concerns about your cloud usage or are thinking about expanding your cloud services and are looking for advice or suggestions, we would be happy to help.

It seems like everything is stored on the cloud these days. Photos, documents, applications and much more. In early November, an Amazon Web Services executive, Adam Jassy, stated, “The cloud is the new normal.” He said this after discussing the move many major compa-nies are making into the cloud computing realm.

This brings in the renewed question of reliability--and trust. If major companies put trust into cloud systems, and some even move a bulk of their web services and applications to the cloud, what does this indicate for smaller businesses?

Many cloud services, such as those offered by Google, Microsoft and Oracle, have proven cost-effective for these and many other companies, big and small. Not only that, businesses say it makes them more “agile” and they can connect with customers much quicker. Of course, some companies, such as Google, are making

Should You Trust The Cloud?January 2015The IT Insider

Get More Free Tips, Tools and Services At Our Web Site: http://www.nexusitc.net

Nexus IT Consultants6420 North Business Park

Loop RoadSuite B

Park City, UT 84098877-660-0089

Nexus IT Consultants6420 North Business Park Loop RoadSuite BPark City, UT 84098

http://www.nexusitc.net

- The Biggest Profit VampireSucking Your Business Dry- The 5 BEST Apps EveryBusiness Owner Should HaveOn Their Smartphone- Security Watch: Should YouTrust The Cloud