What is the best technique for washing my hands to avoid getting the flu?
Washing your hands often will help protect you from germs. It is recommended that when you wash your hands -- with soap and warm water -- that you wash for 15 to 20 seconds. When soap and water are not available, alcohol-based disposable hand wipes or gel sanitizers may be used. If using gel, rub your hands until the gel is dry. Other ways to prevent the spread of illness:
Take everyday actions to stay healthy.

• Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread that way.
• Stay home if you get sick. CDC recommends that you stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.

Follow public health advice regarding school closures, avoiding crowds and other social distancing measures. These measures will continue to be important after a 2009 H1N1 vaccine is available because they can prevent the spread of other viruses that cause respiratory infections.

Vaccination is the best way to prevent influenza infection and its complications. This is the reason that Center for Disease Control, national health organizations, and healthcare providers intensively promote vaccination for seasonal influenza and for the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus.

What is the best technique for washing my hands to avoid getting the flu?
Washing your hands often will help protect you from germs. It is recommended that when you wash your hands -- with soap and warm water -- that you wash for 15 to 20 seconds. When soap and water are not available, alcohol-based disposable hand wipes or gel sanitizers may be used. If using gel, rub your hands until the gel is dry. Other ways to prevent the spread of illness:
Take everyday actions to stay healthy.

• Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread that way.
• Stay home if you get sick. CDC recommends that you stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.

Follow public health advice regarding school closures, avoiding crowds and other social distancing measures. These measures will continue to be important after a 2009 H1N1 vaccine is available because they can prevent the spread of other viruses that cause respiratory infections.

Vaccination is the best way to prevent influenza infection and its complications. This is the reason that Center for Disease Control, national health organizations, and healthcare providers intensively promote vaccination for seasonal influenza and for the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus.

A national study by The Schapiro Group, an Atlanta-based market research firm, reveals a number of important findings about how consumers and business owners perceive the local chamber of commerce and the businesses that are their members. For example:

Consumers are 63% more likely to buy goods and services in the future from a company that they believe is a member of the local chamber of commerce.

When consumers know that a business is a member of the local chamber, they are 44% more likely to think favorably about it.

Consumers who are told that a business is a chamber member are 51% more likely to be highly aware of it and 57% more likely to think positively of its local reputation.

The study also has good news for businesses that sell to other businesses.

When business decision-makers believe that a business is a chamber member, they are 37% more likely to think favorably of the business, 51% more likely to be highly aware of it, 58% more likely to think positively of its local reputation, and 59% more likely to buy goods and services from it.

Supporting the previous findings, the study also reveals a positive perception for the local chamber itself:

Regarding the chamber's impact on the local economy, 82% of respondents believe that the local chamber of commerce helps create jobs and promotes local economic development.

The results of the Schapiro study are clear: Positive perception increases among consumers and business owners when a business is identified as a member of the local chamber of commerce.

1. Keep Selling
Purchasing agents are reporting sharp drops in weekly sales calls across many industries, Rauseo says. That means less competition for your products or services. "It's easier to get a commission - only sales force going today" with so many individuals looking for jobs, he says. "Give your salespeople the tools they need and have them redouble their efforts."

Faced with the need to cut costs, businesses of all sizes regularly resort to "reducing headcount." But unlike their counterparts at large, publicly listed companies, owners and managers of smaller businesses have much more than today's share price to think about when they have to reduce costs.

For a small business, replacing experienced, talented individuals will be both costly and necessary in the longer term. So, how can they cut costs in the short term without compromising their long-term interests? Here are a few ideas:

1. Enlist your team's help.
Your team can help you make your business more efficient. Maybe your team has identified a bottleneck that the management hasn't seen. Perhaps they know how other businesses are cutting costs. Everyone is incentivized to help you make the savings needed to avoid lay-offs.

2. Shop around for big-ticket purchases.
Whether it's insurance, business travel or printing essentials.

3. Connect over the Web.
You can use the Internet to shrink the cost of long-distance business. Services like Skype and GoToMeeting let you meet "face-to-face" with your counterparts in other cities and countries at little or no cost.

4. Get your services on demand.
You can avoid costly investment in things like e-mail servers, high-spec printers or expensive software by tapping into "cloud" or "as a Service" solutions. Microsoft Office Live, Earthtone, Google Docs and others specialize in providing the resources businesses need while helping them avoid unnecessary upfront investment.