I've heard them called by many names as of late: Generation Y, Gen Y, The Plug-and-Play Generation, The Gotta-Feel-Good Generation. What they're all referring to is the new young generation - our current 20-somethings. Every generation "deals" with the generation who comes after them. Their different views, their different ways of doing things, and so on; this generation is no exception.

Why is everyone talking about this new generation now though? They've been coming along for years. They're in their 20's now, after all! Because now they're starting to impact the workforce and because we couldn't predict their group characteristics until we saw them in action. In some ways they're changing the landscape for the better, in some ways we oldies would say for the worse.

Regardless of the nostalgia we feel for the "old days" this generation is plunging headlong into the workforce and will impact you and your business at some point. There's really no sense fighting it. No generation has ever changed the generation which came after it; not once that generation reached its 20's anyway. These are the kids we raised and we did raise them this way, so let's figure out how to work with them. To work with them we first need to understand them.

What makes this generation tick (or turn off) and what is the impact on businesses looking to hire them?

Problem: They're not called The Plug-and-Play Generation for nothing. This generation grew up on video games and television while their parents were out working and making (what they viewed as) better lives for their families. This led to a whole generation of children, now entering the workforce, who need instant gratification in whatever it is they do. Whether its work or play, the satisfaction must be immediate.

Solution: What this means to the business owner looking to hire qualified workers is that you need to be diligent in assigning tasks to (or rather asking the worker if they'd be happy to do the tasks) that they enjoy doing. You must challenge this generation to the capacity in which they want to be challenged.

Problem: This generation waits for nothing and no one. If they don't like the game, they find a new game to play and new people to play it with - now - not tomorrow or next week. Simple as that. Think pulling the PS2 game out of the player and inserting one they think they may like better.

Solution: This goes back to speed again. They're used to moving at the speed of the internet, not the speed of the horseless carriage. You're going to have to give this generation what it's looking for or prepare to lose them. Regular check-ins individually to gauge their interest and excitement is critical to keeping this generation happy and working for you.

Problem: The Generation Y's demand that they feel good about what they're doing. If they don't feel good about it, they're not going to do it. Again, simple as that and no amount of money will convince them otherwise. Remember: they watched their parents work and work and work to earn a few extra bucks and what did it get them? Absentee parents who were rich. This generation wants quality, not necessarily quantity.

Solution: Sometimes the work just isn't all that gratifying. However, you can combat that by showing your gratitude in the work being done. Often the sheer pleasure of helping someone else and that person being grateful is enough for the worker to receive the gratification they need.

Problem: The generation of ADD. Oh yes, this is where ADD became popular. The Gen Y's are not going to pay attention for long. They want their information fast and to the point.

Solution: Don't waste time with long drawn out memos and information. Just shoot it straight and fast!

Problem: A recent study suggested that the average tenure in a job for Generation Y's is 18 months. Wow, what happened to life, or even a few years? Unfortunately those days are but a memory. As older workers retire and leave the workforce, we're left with the generation we raised and we need to count on them to fill the open positions within our companies. Remember again that this generation watched their parents stick in jobs for life, only to be spat out by the very corporations and unions who claimed they'd protect them - when they were juuuuuusssst about to collect that pension. The Generation Y's aren't going to hang around to let that happen to them.

Solution: There's no changing this generation's stick ability. So as a business owner you have two options: 1) Make the work enjoyable or 2) Prepare in advance for every single worker's eventual departure. If you opt with number 1, you need to figure out what it is that makes each and every one of your workers happy. They must be regarded as the individuals they are and with their own set of needs and instructions. Prepare to meet those needs or move on to number 2: The most crucial thing any business owner can do is to have instructions written for every task that is performed within their company. Put all those instructions in a safe place and hang on to them so you can pass them on to the worker's successor. In staffing, one of the biggest complaints we hear from clients is the need to retrain the next person. I'm sorry - that's the way it is nowadays. We train and we retrain and we need to be ready for it.

Problem: Lack of office etiquette. Check out this recent article on Yahoo! News about modern office etiquette (and lack of it) http://finance.yahoo.com/expert/article/careerist/40342. Unfortunately, as the article suggests, the new generation may not even know they're breaking the rules! Etiquette in their world is far different than that of other generations.

Solution: As my husband and business partner says, "But wrong is still wrong and right is still right". However, with the internet and a new generation, is this perhaps the new "right". Maybe, maybe not. If most families are dysfunctional, doesn't dysfunction become the new "normal"? Unfortunately I think the new generation has us beat in sheer numbers folks. In this writer's opinion there's not much we can do but learn to deal.

Problem: As another article http://finance.yahoo.com/expert/article/careerist/38889 on Gen Y's by Penelope Trunk suggests: "They won't play the face-time game." That means they're not going to sit in the office just to make you happy. They know that work can be done from home (or from the beach) just as well as it can be done sitting in the office.

Solution: Let 'em work from home! Why not!? Working from home offers the ultimate in flexibility (something this generation demands) and helps keep this generation of workers happy and working for you.

As a virtual staffing agency, we deal with the same things as you do day in and day out. We're not immune to the caveats of Generation Y. We deal with the unique issues of this generation through increased back end staff which checks in with and coaches our virtual assistants regularly. We also take great pains to make good matches between clients and virtual assistants and quickly offer to change assignments if it doesn't "feel right" for the virtual assistant.

Yes, this (generation's issues) results in a higher turnover of virtual assistants but no higher than what you'd experience in the bricks and mortar world. In many respects we shield our clients from the impacts of turnover by quickly locating new help, interviewing and screening for the right skills and attitude. But even as a virtual staffing agency, we still can't change a generation or their attitudes so we can't stop the turnover - we can help our clients get through the turnover.

Even with a high-turnover generation, companies can still benefit from all of the pluses of virtual assistance and virtual staffing. The cost savings over hourly in-office staff still exist; office politics is still absent; the speed of bringing in additional help is still present; the benefits of not having someone sitting in your office holds ground; start up capitol needed (desks, computers, phone lines) of hiring help is not a concern; and ultimate flexibility still exists.

In many ways, hiring virtually is a great way to deal with the issues businesses must face with this generation. This generation wants flexibility. Working virtually offers the ultimate in flexibility, which helps keep the generation happy. Virtual staffing fits this generation like a glove and is one of the best ways to put them to work for you.

If you'd like more information on how to set up a virtual office, please check our article at http://teamdoubleclick.com/news/free_articles/SetupYourVirtOffice.html.

Remember the days when presentations before an audience consisted of boring lectures told from a podium while someone clicked slides or moved transparencies?  The world has changed.  Both in education and business, presentations are now more visual, more interesting, more dynamic.

And the furniture industry has jumped on board.  No longer do you need a second person to run that Power Point projector for you. No more turning around to make sure he/she switched the slides at the right time.  You can do it all yourself with a projector cart—something no university lecture hall, conference center, or meeting room should be without.

So what exactly is a projector cart?  We found an excellently designed projector cart from Versa Tables, called the Projector Fusion Laptop Cart.  Available in two colors and for under $300, the Projector Fusion Laptop Cart provides four distinct surfaces designed to help you keep your presentation organized.  The first is an adjustable, pole-mounted laptop tray with a raised lip and locking mechanism to keep your laptop securely where it should be—at your fingertips!  Adjust the laptop for your most comfortable standing or seated height and control the laptop yourself.  In addition, the cart also offers three more adjustable platforms constructed from high-density wood; ideal for holding a projector, printed handouts, visual aids, and more.  The frame is made of scratch-resistant steel and the entire cart is mounted on liquid-ease rolling casters.  The casters also lock, keeping your cart in place even on uneven surfaces.

Base storage trays and cable management units can be added for a nominal charge giving you even more storage space and easier cable organization.  The carts fit easily into a closet or storage space when not in use.  The platforms can be added or removed as needed and adjust independently, giving the user the option to customize according to the needs of his/her presentation.  The platforms, as well as the laptop tray, also rotate around the core pole, so they're perfect for right-handers or left-handers.

Show the speakers you invite to your venue that you care about their comfort by providing them with everything they need to give a successful presentation.

Podiums are great for debates, but with today's business and education trends leaning toward the visual, a laptop fusion cart is perfect for any speaker.  They're also ideal for trade shows, medical offices, and retail stores.

Several manufacturers of computer furniture are now offering similar products, but Versa Tables' Projector Laptop Fusion Cart carries Versa's no-hassle, lifetime warranty, and ships for absolutely free to any customer in the contiguous United States.  Versa also offers a quantity discount on this product—like all of their products—which is a great bonus for institutions like hotels, conference centers and universities which need to furnish multiple lecture halls or meeting rooms.

Available in Warm Gray or Black River, the colors are pleasing to the eye.  An additional pole-mounted monitor arm can be added for a fee, but the cart is truly functional without it.

Especially if you happen to be one of those unflinchingly ambitious micro-business entrepreneurs, I’ve been reading about everyday in pubs like Crain’s Chicago Business, you’ll eventually find that designing and offering up an attractive employee-benefits package will be an essential component of your future growth. An attractive health plan will do just that – attract – helping you recruit and retain crucial employees (meaning those fought over creative class/knowledge worker types Richard Florida is always yammering about). You’ll also find that a generous group plan will help link your employees' interests to your concern’s.

That said, there are a seemingly unlimited number of group benefits options to consider. One that you’ll want to move to the top of your list is a Cafeteria Plan. The cafeteria brand of benefit plan can add a lot freedom to a employee compensation package, allowing your workforce to choose benefits options ala carte, if you will – selecting only the benefit options they’re most interested in.

Perhaps I should start closer to the beginning … cafeteria plans, also known as the flexible spending account, the choice spending account or the section 125 plan, have become increasingly popular over the last few years because they’re designed to offer employees a truly convenient way to pay medical expenses with pre-tax dollars; relieving them of the burden of federal, and state taxes.

To take advantage of a flexible spending account, eligible employees set aside a pre-designated amount each year, in order to pay for medical expenses aren’t already eligible for coverage. The two most common types of flexible-spending accounts are dependent care reimbursement (also known as DCRAs) and health care reimbursement accounts. Employees pay for non-reimbursed expenses from these accounts. Unfortunately, flexible-spending accounts are "use-it-or-lose-it" accounts; meaning that any funds leftover at the end of the year can’t be “rolled over,” so to speak.

Exceptions To Those Limits Apply to Key Employees

Typically, funds set aside in a cafeteria plan's flexible-spending account are exempt from income, payroll, and unemployment taxes. This exemption generally also applies to payroll and unemployment taxes paid on behalf of employees. (Take a look at IRS Pub. 15-B for exceptions, including treatment of highly compensated employees and certain shareholders of Subchapter S Corporation’s.)

Premiums paid to a group life benefits policy are typically exempt from income and unemployment taxes. In addition, premiums paid for up to $50,000.00 of benefits coverage per employee tend to be exempt from payroll taxes. For additional details, see IRS Publication 15-B.

You see, cafeteria plans offer you some versatility in putting together a benefits plan for your workforce. There are other categories of fringe benefits that you can offer your employees in a cafeteria plan that may be excluded from taxable income under IRS benefit-exclusion rules. Using a flexible-spending account -- namely, establishing a DCRA and HCRA -- may help to jump-start a cafeteria plan for your workforce. If you maintain a cafeteria plan, the IRS requires you to complete IRS Form 5500.

To help you keep track of employment-related costs, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) publishes a quarterly statistic called the employment cost index. The cost index measures changes in employee-compensation costs, which include salaries, wages, and benefits. In addition to publishing the quarterly cost index, BLS publishes an annual survey of compensation costs.

One last thing … the information above is practically for entertainment purposes and shouldn’t be interpreted as financial advice. For advice specific to your firm’s circumstances, don’t hesitate get advice from a financial, tax or benefits consultant.  You may even want to flat out hire an Interim benefits consultant or a full service benefits consulting firm. There are also a number of good sources of information on the Web you can take advantage of. The Employee Benefits Research Institute (EBRI), International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (IFEBP), and American Benefits Council are independent sources of truly “actionable” employee-benefit plan information.

Simply because the Reverse Funnel System does exactly what it’s suppose to do.  The Reverse funnel system is an expert system designed by expert internet marketers to automate the building of a highly profitable internet business.

The reverse funnel system allows entrepreneurs and marketers to do nothing other then focus on traffic generation.  That way you don’t have to spend countless money, hours, and time developing offers that can prove to convert at a decent rate.

The reverse funnel system has ALL of that created for you.  That’s why the reverse funnel system is breaking records throughout the internet marketing community.

There has NEVER been a system designed that converts as high as this system does.  The entire system was designed by expert copywriters, for over $25,000 per page.  This system has allowed average people to take advantage of systems, copywriting, and a funnel process that they normally never would have access too.

Because of this, many entrepreneurs from all over the world have created more full time income from home using highly converting systems like this then has ever existed before.  Any one who is truly interested in marketing, needs to focus their attention on marketing a funnel that CONVERTS the highest based on the traffic you run through that funnel.

This simple equation is the key to getting paid the most for what your effort and energy is worth.  If you affiliate marketers and entrepreneurs keep promoting products that have low conversions and low commissions, they will continue to limit the amount they could actually be making for that same marketing effort.

$3.39 per gallon I paid for gas today 5-19-07 in Rio Rancho, NM. I heard some stupid citizen/person being interviewed on the news last night say that gas prices are no big deal and that she is getting used to it. Stupid! How many interviews did Albuquerque’s local news team have to do before they found some little girl that is okay with spending mommy and daddy’s money on gasoline? I do believe that if she was spending any of the $5.15 per hour that she is earning, she would then have a problem with the cost of fuel. If we become complacent big business will and is walking all over us just like they do with the UK, which is currently paying $5.64 per gallon of regular gas. We will eventually pay $10.00 per liter before we know it if we don't speak up now. Speak up America write your congress men, write blogs, and post your local gas prices world wide on the web. Everyone in the world is invited to www.zz2p.com to post your local prices. Why is VENEZUELA only paying $0.14 per gallon, what does Venezuela have that the world’s super power doesn’t? They have the foresight to act now to keep fuel prices down. Venezuela has the refineries and plans to develop more by 2012. We "America" have a greedy bunch of Politicians and big business jerks running our country and using conservationists as an excuse not to build refineries. Technology has grown by leaps and bounds we no longer need fossil fuels to the degree we once did, "In 1996, electric cars began to appear on roads all over California. They were quiet and fast, produced no exhaust and ran without gasoline...........Ten years later, these cars were destroyed." (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0489037/taglines.) You can see a short video about the electric car and get information about other low or no fuel vehicles at: http://www.sonyclassics.com/whokilledtheelectriccar The big oil companies put a stop to the electric car thing, they knew that they would loose billions to an era of vehicles that needed little maintenance and absolutely no gas. We the people are in control of our country. Don't forget it, we elect and we impeach. The countries biggest mistake is that we have fallen short by letting the government have to much say in our daily lives. The government is over powering the people buy stepping into our lives and dictating whether or not we: buckle up, discipline our children, smoke legal cigarettes, making air travel a living hell by searching everyone but the target profile, Yes there is a target profile but according to the government that would be discrimination or racial profiling. Racial profiling wasn’t a problem when the FBI rounded up all the Arabic looking foreigners working in Santa Fe, NM after 9/11. I had several friends working at jewelry & rug shops that were deported for reasons I don’t pretend to understand. Our current government deals in fear and as long as we are scared of our shadows they are able to do as they please with our country. Another problem that is compounding pour current state of affairs is that our growing welfare population keeps the greedy in office in order to keep their government checks coming in. Kick the government out of our homes so maybe they might have time to see how the American people are being raped by big business. Speak up America your only crazy if you’re Okay with bending over for the man.

In the mid-1990s, coal was not king, but today, it may be taking back its throne. Back then, natural gas was at center stage as the preferred energy source of environmentally conscious Americans everywhere.

But in 1998, a slight, yet significant, change occurred. According to a U.S. Department of Energy study, "The trend towards reduced levels of consumer coal stocks was reversed." This change coupled with continuing low prices for coal brought it back to the forefront, revitalizing the coal industry to this day.

For example, more than half of America's electricity is now generated from coal. Coal mines that had been shut down in the 1990s are reopening, and former workers are going back to the mines and getting back to work.

America has a lot of coal to be mined. With 274 billion tons of recoverable reserves, coal is 39 times more abundant than natural gas and 54 times more abundant than oil.

Coal is also becoming safer for the environment. Because of efforts by the coal-based electricity industry, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions have dropped.

The most recent study on these emissions shows that between 1980 and 2001, the sulfur dioxide emission rate dropped 38 percent, and the nitrogen oxide emission rate dropped 32 percent.

The largest source of electricity in the United States, electricity from coal is crucial to America's energy present and future. Quest Minerals and Mining Corp. (OTC BB: QMMG.OB), is playing a major role in the future of the coal industry. Quest acquires and reopens properties in the southeastern United States that produce coal in compliance with Clean Air Act requirements.

Quest recently announced that it has signed and closed its acquisition of Gwenco Inc., through which it gains more than 700 acres of coal leases with almost 13 million tons of coal in place in six seams. Quest plans to reopen two of Gwenco's former drift mines and begin commercial coal production. Coal produced at these mines will be sold to public utility companies in Kentucky and Ohio.

Many people who search the internet to improve their standard of living simply don't know what it takes to make a home income online. This article includes the most important steps to build a home internet business which successfully generates online income.

The world wide web offers anybody with a home computer and internet connection, the opportunity to set-up a home based business with a click of the mouse-but beginning to build a successful home based business is where the hard work,training,determination and excitement starts.

Many thousands of people get totally depressed and disillusioned when they do not make any money online, after a few weeks of starting their own home based business.They simply do not appreciate the time and effort to build a successful home business.

Starting a successful home based business is not a get rich quick overnight business.

The maintaining aspect of your home internet business never slows, as you need to make constant changes,altering content,scripts, graphics and advertising to keep your site and content fresh with the aim of receiving targeted traffic and more importantly repeat customers. When you have successfully done this and hit pay dirt, you then will be making a great income online.

As companies face the challenge of improving productivity and efficiency with ever-shrinking budgets, the need for outsourcing certain operations has grown. And ironically, although digital technologies become more important in business, the idea of a paperless office seems more distant than ever.

In fact, Bill Gates has proclaimed that the paperless office is "one of those 'any day now' phenomena that never seem to actually arrive. ... Paperwork is increasing faster than digital technology can eliminate it."

As a result, document management and imaging outsourcing has become big business. Companies looking to image capture their paper documents are increasingly turning to service providers because it's less expensive than hiring permanent staff.

According to a report by research firm IDC, the industry reached $13 billion in 2003 and was expected to expand at a compound annual rate of 19.7 percent over the next three years.

In fact, major companies like General Electric now take advantage of what is called business process outsourcing, or BPO - the delegation of operational responsibility for a business process's execution and performance. This applies not only to paperwork but a variety of organizational tasks.

"Seventy percent of our business processes should be outsourced," said former chairman and CEO Jack Welch. GE's outsourcing strategy delivered 26 quarters of increasing profitability, despite market instability and ever-changing conditions.

Quintek Technologies Inc. is one company focusing on BPO solutions, providing services to enable Fortune 500 and Global 2000 corporations to reduce costs and maximize their revenues.

Benefits of BPO services include: reducing costs by lowering overhead and improving the efficiency of processes; allowing organizations to focus on their core business; and providing access to scalable operations and on-demand resources.

Most BPO processes begin by organizing data into digital formats, and this has increased the need for support from companies like Quintek.

So while the paperless office seems to be a far-off goal, that just leaves plenty of room for the BPO market to grow. According to one report by Forrester Research, the BPO market is expected to grow from $19 billion in 2004 to $146 billion in 2008.

Before you can understand why Google AdSense is so important to content sites, it’s important to know how AdSense works. The concept is really simple. The publisher or the webmaster needs to inserts a java script into his webpage. Each time the page is accessed, the java script will pull advertisements from the Google server. The ads that are targeted should therefore be related to the content that is contained on the web page serving the ad. If a visitor clicks on an advertisement, the webmaster serving the ad earns a portion of the money that the advertiser is paying the Google for the click. The Google handles all the tracking and payments, providing an easy way for webmasters to display content-sensitive ads without the hassle of soliciting advertisers, collect funds, and monitor the clicks and statistics.

BENEFITS OF GOOGLE ADSENSE

• One of the most impressive advantages of AdSense is that Google has a huge database of advertisers that are looking for space. Because of this huge base of advertisers, AdSense can provide you with a steady stream of advertisers that can match just about any type of content that you can think of. Advertisers are segregated based on product, service, geography, and company size. This helps to both provide local advertisement opportunities to companies, as well as provide your site with relevant content.

• Another no cost benefit that AdSense offers is the use of their Google search box technology. You can add this feature to your website, which will encourage visitors to stay at your website longer, and it will encourage them to return to your site. You can even earn money from this technology. When a visitor enters a keyword or keywords the results appear in a box at the top of your web page. You earn money for every ad that they click on that was generated from their search.

• In addition to these benefits you also are able to control what kinds of ads that you want displayed on your website. You can filter out ads from specific company genres, and you can also filter out companies that compete with what you are trying to sell. You can also design the look of the ads that are displayed on your website. You can choose their color pallet, layout, and size of the ads that are displayed, and where they appear on your website. Finally, you can customize your AdSense to run on only certain pages of your website. All of these options allow you to stay in control of how AdSense is displayed to your customers.

• There isn’t a fee to participate in AdSense, however, you do need to invest time in setting up AdSense features and filters. You will also have to pay for the design, hosting, and domain name of your website. These set up costs should be minimal depending on the complexity of your web site. There are free website hosting sites available and often home page hosting is provided as a free service with your ISP. To determine if your ISP offers free hosting and web page design assistance you should contact your ISP representative.

• While most ads that promote this type of affiliate program boast of fast and easy money, if you truly want to make money with this program there is going to be substantial work involved. In order for you to make money, you will need to attract visitors to your website. To do this you will need to provide your viewers with quality content that appeals to a large audience. One popular way to do this is to provide a blog of current events, issues, opinion, commentary, etc. Another way is to produce original content that people will drool over. Be creative. There is a lot of competition out there, so learn how to produce content that will top the search engine results, and learn how to use keywords to your advantage in order to attract more viewers.

• Adsense is essential for content sites because it has come a long way in understanding the needs of publishers and webmasters that allows full ad customization. The different formatting expands the possibility of more clicks from visitors who may not be aware of what they are clicking on. Thus making them take the next step of clicking on a relevant ad. This way the people behind Adsense will get their content read, and you make a profit.