By: Emily Gallagher, Marketing AssistantCOVID-19, politics and economic factors impacted nearly every business in 2020, but small businesses were especially hit hard. In 2021, small business owners need to re-establish their presence and reach customers. To meet this need, LinkedIn is offering a new feature for small businesses to promote their business. The #OpenForBusiness campaign is a LinkedIn service that enables small business owners to share the services they offer and connect with people...

By: Emily Gallagher, Marketing AssistantSocial media engagement can easily be maximized by strategically scheduling posting days and times. Posting at the right time is critically important to ensure your content and messages are reaching your audience. The more your followers interact with the post -- such as likes, comments and shares -- the more you will maximize the reach of your content. Understanding when your audience is active on different social platforms is extremely important. Posting...

Word of mouth is an important aspect of marketing and in the construction industry, in particular. Local construction markets are often a small world, and potential customers and project partners typically trust the opinions of friends and colleagues about working with your company. When word of mouth is taken online via social media and customer review sites, it becomes amplified as it reaches a larger audience.This is why establishing a presence on social media channels and crafting messages o...

Editor’s Note: AOE provides outsourced HR services to the associations we work with and if there has ever been a year in which we all need more human resources expertise, it is 2020! To this end, we sat down, virtually of course, with Lori Purdom, AOE’s Director of Human Resources, to discuss trends and the outlook for 2021 from a people perspective.   AOE:  What has been the biggest challenge from an HR perspective this year?Lori: Aside from the obvious challenge of s...

Most everyone would agree that 2020 has been challenging. Working from home, social distancing and significant economic impact have taken a toll. Educators have also struggled to ensure that students from kindergarten through college are getting the best education possible under the circumstances. Similarly, the working professional and our industry associations have had to evaluate how to earn and offer continuing education and training needs with the elimination of traditional in-person opport...

No one is an island—addressing the real threat of isolation when working from home.Working remotely is not something most of us imagined we would be doing at the start of 2020. COVID-19 has forced many of us to shift from the workplace to the home office and, while we may not have embraced the concept in the beginning, both employees and employers are seeing the benefits. Beyond the obvious reduction of risk for COVID exposure, work-from-home (WFH) employees are also celebrating the elimin...

The first two posts in our blog series on conquering Zoom fatigue included tips for mastering your virtual meetings and how to turn participants from passive to active. Now that your virtual meeting is over and, using the tips and techniques provided, you conquered Zoom fatigue for attendees, right?While your virtual meeting hopefully energized your participants, what happens once it’s over? For many, it is on to the next Zoom call and the one after that. While you are not responsible for ...

In our last blog we introduced our series on conquering Zoom fatigue by sharing questions we should ask ourselves when planning our virtual meetings. While technology has been embraced as a great business tool during these challenging times, the initial enthusiasm for virtual meetings has worn off. How do we fight the fatigue and turn our meeting participants from passive to active?You have asked yourself the questions, considered meeting length and frequency, and included relevant and fun exper...

Whether you use Zoom, Google Meet, GoToMeeting or any of the many virtual meeting platforms, fatigue is a very real issue many of us are experiencing in our businesses’ “new normal.” Leaders are challenged with how to fight the fatigue, increase participation and keep the spirit of in-person meetings alive.Thankfully, there are some simple steps you can take to master the art of virtual meetings, ranging from the planning to the post-meeting stage. According to Andrea Driessen,...

2020 has certainly brought a wide range of challenges to most every aspect of organizations’ operations. Business development in the construction industry has taken a significant hit as companies and associations navigate the myriad of challenges. Trade shows, education-focused conferences and industry events have been postponed or cancelled. Businesses struggle to stay relevant and present for their employees and customers. Likewise, associations face the same challenges with their member...