If you’ve ever dealt with (or considered doing business with) a placement firm or online hiring website, you know how costly it can be. There’s a fee to place your opening or there’s a fee if you hire someone or there’s a fee for the fee. It’s nuts.

So it was coolio when I found out about RealMatch.com.

The deal is employers can post a job for free (nationwide or regional) and allow RealMatch’s “matching technology” to line up potential hires that are a good fit for the available position.

Employers can view the qualifications of applicants . . . for free. You read that right–for F-R-double-E!

Once an employer sees an applicant he or she wants to contact/interview, at that point the employer pays a minimal fee–like a paltry $40 to review three resumes.  Schweet!

Gone are the days where employers have to follow a pay-per-post model. RealMatch.com is a stronger and better alternative to Monster.com. And once it becomes even more popular, it’ll be the clear solution for SMBs. Be an early adopter.

Anyway, I was reading through the recent (OK, I know it’s from October!) Downtown Women’s Club “Online Networking: How Social is Your Media?” survey, and its results show that “businesswomen in all generations now prefer e-mail (82 percent) to the telephone (64 percent) when it comes to networking.”

I can honestly say I must agree.  I see telephone calls as a bit of an intrusion, and I usually only pick up the phone when I’m totally “over” e-mail (which lasts about an hour or so) or if I feel that it would be quicker to communicate what I have to say by voice mail or speaking directly to the person.

People are doing exactly as Faith Popcorn predicted. We’re cocooning. We’re sitting at our desks, behind our computers and not answering our phones–at least, most of the time, I am–and I know I’m not alone.

I know that I mostly connect colleagues that I think need to meet one another–and they connect me to people they feel I need to meet–via e-mail.  None of that calling back and forth stuff.

I recently had a very painful conversation with a businesswoman whom I respect immensely. She has a stellar track record, and I have watched her career skyrocket. I’ve always wanted to meet her. What made it so painful? The person who introduced us insisted that we talk on the phone.

Wrong move. I knew it was wrong when I agreed. It’s not that I didn’t want to meet her. Heck, no! I just think we should have built up our rapport a bit via e-mail first, and then we probably would have increased our chances of having a fabulous conversation–when it was time.

You can listen to all the pundits who say that e-mail is dead, but do so at your own peril.

Image credit: Crunch Gear

It knocks conventional thinking on its rear.

After all, didn’t NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg fire a city employee for playing solitaire at work? Yep, that would be affirmative.

Well, now hear this, Mister Bloomberg . . .

A snazzy employee incentive consulting firm, Snowfly Inc., has the answer to Dilbert’s dreams. They’ve “legalized” playing games on company time–and you might just get a promotion in the process. The games look a tad juvenile, but that’s the whole point, right? My word, I’m in the wrong business!

Here’s how it works:

A web-based software program designed by Snowfly allows your employees (with your approval, of course) to earn playing time on games online during work hours–with the goal of raising productivity and morale in their day. Winnings from game play are immediately posted to a Visa debit “game card,” which every player has.

The flagship product, Capstone (Bourne Identity, anyone? Whoops that’s TREADstone . . .), provides random point-yielding games and real-time results to maximize an employer’s ROI. Games can be played from any browser with internet access, desktop, a kiosk in the break room, lunchroom or from home.

Surprisingly, employees lose very little work time. Keep in mind, they are awarded playing time only if they have performed well first. Ahhh, dangling the old carrot. And they spend fewer than 12 minutes per week playing games, redeeming points and logging goal accomplishments.

Loads of REAL companies are using Snowfly as an employee reward system and, whaddaya know, so far it’s working.

People who are allowed to play games as a reward for performance have higher productivity, higher morale and lower turnover. This is particularly true for Gen X & Y employees who grew up with the constant stimulation and immediate gratification of game playing. And 42 percent of employees who earn game tokens in the workplace take the tokens home and play them online with their children in exchange for chores, exercise and homework.

Play on, player!

I’m pleasantly surprised to see that the folks at PBWiki are addressing areas of concern for today’s businesses.

If you’ve ever wondered about wikis . . . what the heck they are, what they can do for your business and how they can help improve productivity, this webinar is for you.

The shindig goes down on Tuesday, October 21, at 1 p.m. EST–that’s tomorrow–and the best part is, you don’t have to go anywhere: Everything will be available online.  So saddle up your computers and prepare to learn.  Register for free today.

Chances are, if you’re online, you are or have engaged in some sort of online networking. Maybe you’re using Entrepreneur’s social networking community, or perhaps it’s Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter.

The Downtown Women’s Club is aware that there are big changes in online networking and, because it is a forward-thinking organization, it’s keeping up with those changes, compiling that information and sharing it with you.

The group wants to see how businesswomen have changed their online networking habits and how we really feel about Sarah Palin (Gasp!).

The same organization that brought you the 2006 Online Networking Survey needs your input on its “How Social is Your Media?” survey.

Before I wrote this post, I took the survey myself and I timed it. Total: six minutes.

You can swing that . . . take the survey here: http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/?p=WEB22893KN9VK5

Oh, and did I mention? All survey participants earn discounted DWC+ memberships or free renewals for completing the survey. That’s a $50 membership for six minutes. You do the math.

And in the game of social media, the counterculture brand du jour would be NOSO. Although not for long. This anti-social social media movement is quietly becoming all the rage.

The intro video, in a Hal-ish voiceover, explains NOSO as a “. . . real-world platform for temporary disengagement from your social networking environment . . .”

And, though I love social media and all that it offers, I must admit that the whole concept is very attractive. No agenda, no texting, no Twit’ing . . . just existing and navel gazing. What’s not to like about that?

However, I’m one of the fortunate ones. Although I write for several blogs and have a monthly column at WomenEntrepreneur.com, blogging and social networking activities have not taken over my life. That is due, in large part, to how I manage my schedule. I really do like writing, so it would be pretty easy for me to get caught up in the rapture of needing to post pithy blog post after pithy blog post. I avoid that by dedicating one day for writing blog content and a portion of two other days to blog management and social media/networking activities (i.e. reviewing friend requests on Facebook, responding to LinkedIn requests, making sure my blog has my most recent speaking schedule, etc.)

I know that not everyone has the same work style or approach that I do. Many people don’t know when enough is enough. They blog and blog and blog until they have nothing left–their content is all spent, then they suffer from burnout and die. Those types need a virtual chill pill. Permission and a means to disconnect momentarily–and NOSO offers that.

NOSO is not right for everyone. Ask your doctor if NOSO is right for you.

From now on, instead of doing all the around-the-barn search engine, Wikipedia legwork, I’m going to take a Mediabistro course.

I was supposed to interview Laurel Touby at the Small Business Technology Summit, but somehow I missed her fuzzy orange sweater (that’s what people who saw her told me she was wearing whenever I asked, “Have you seen Laurel Touby?”) and she missed me in my aqua-green fuzzy sweater. Be that as it may, I did have a chance to catch up with her to get the skinny on Mediabistro.

I was amazed to find out that they had built *ALL* the technology for the Mediabistro site from scratch, AND they’ve got this cool conference circus coming up AND, AND, AND…well take a listen…

Here’s the skinny:

Web 2.0 media and technologies are transforming business, society and life. Although Web 2.0 is a lively topic of debate in boardrooms, blogs and in the mainstream media, there is a lack of practical insight into how businesses are using these emerging technologies. What does Web 2.0 mean for your business?

Invest three minutes telling us what’s in your 2008 emerging technology project plans, and we’ll provide you with the data on how other California businesses are using Web 2.0.

Click and be counted.

Bottom line: Invest three minutes, get access to the data when it’s available–and leverage the data to make key business decisions.

I don’t think small businesses as a whole have any desire to turn into international conglomerates. Maybe some do, but most don’t.

Small business owners know how to run the show with our buying power and still stay small and agile.

Now, THAT’S progressive.

Check it out: http://futureboy.blogs.fsb.cnn.com/2007/12/03/video-why-small-business-is-the-future/

This article is based on the results of a recent survey, Solutions and Sophistication, done by the Center for Women’s Business Research and IBM.

It really shows how women entrepreneurs are embracing technology in record numbers – and there’s also room for growth. Check it out…

* * * * * * * * * *

Women Entrepreneurs & Technology: A New Study Sheds a Bright Light

Every minute five women start a business in this country.

Are your perceptions of the American women business owner accurate? Given that women-owned firms are generating $1.9 trillion in revenues, providing employment for 12.8 million people and growing at twice the rate of all firms, you may want to find out.

A Center for Women’s Business Research study released in June provides insight into this vibrant market segment. The study, Solutions and Sophistication: Comparing Women and Men Business Owners’ Use of Technology, provides demographic and psychographic perspective on women business owners nationwide and in four geographic regions. This summary level perspective on the survey findings is based on my interview with CWBR Executive Director Dr. Sharon G. Hadary and Advisory Council Member and xynoMedia Technology CEO Lena L. West.

The good news is, perhaps, not news at all to women in technology: women business owners are on par with men business owners overall in their use of technology. Specifically, 70% of the women business owners surveyed leverage technology to achieve profit, innovation, quality and efficiency goals. What may be less of a given is that women business owners are “hands on� technologists: 83% of women are personally involved in the evaluation and selection of technology. A side note: women business owners are more likely (24% vs. 18%) than women in general to be willing to adopt new technology.

Graphically represented, the technology adoption continuum is a classic bell curve, with 51% of women business owners rating themselves as “average� in terms of their rate of technology adoption, 25% falling behind the curve and 24% at the leading edge. The key insight – and opportunity – is the finding that there is a direct correlation between technology adoption rates and revenue. Net-net, as Lena noted in her Women & Technology Battlecry post on the Lip-Sticking blog, there is an opportunity for 76% of women business owners to improve their business performance through better use of technology.

In general, women are very strategic in their use of technology, focusing on achieving customer service, scalability and efficiency objectives versus the wow factor of speeds and feeds. What is particularly intriguing from a leadership trend standpoint is the finding that the majority of women business owners are using technology to achieve quality of life as well as business performance objectives. For example, 61% use technology to integrate business and personal responsibilities and 44% use technology to enable remote offices and flexible work schedules.

What may be limiting further progress on the technology adoption and deployment front is women’s concern about the protection and security of data, including issues of Internet security, computer viruses, data protection and system failure. Although approximately three-quarters of women-owned businesses rated security their primary technology concern, less than a quarter had a plan to address these issues. This gap represents a significant educational and consulting opportunity for women’s associations and businesses.

Perceiving women-owned business as being less viable, trend- or technology-forward as men-owned businesses or businesses in general is a strategic error that organizations can’t afford to make. To quote Executive Director Sharon Hadary: “Women-owned business is good business. This is a point we can’t afford to miss!� If you consider a tech-savvy, economically vital, entrepreneurial market an attractive demographic from a sourcing, career, community or revenue standpoint, the Solutions and Sophistication survey provides critical market insight.

The Solutions and Sophistication: Comparing Women and Men Business Owners’ Use of Technology survey was conducted by the Center for Women’s Business Research and underwritten by IBM. The Center for Women’s Business Research provides data-driven knowledge that advances the economic, social and political impact of women business owners and their enterprises.