Over the past few days many people have felt the damaging effects of Hurricane Sandy. Here at Grasshopper, we want to help. While we can’t rebuild houses or bring back possessions, we can help your businesses stay open, or at least connected during this time.

If you are a business affected by the recent hurricane, we would be happy to provide you with a free three-month Grasshopper account to help you keep your business open and connected.

You can get set up in five minutes, have incoming calls forwarded to your cell phone or to other employees’ cell phones and create custom greetings letting your customers know what’s happening. Simply update your website, email signature and social profiles with your new Grasshopper number so that customers know how to connect with you for the time-being.

Just give us a call at 1-800-820-8210 and we’d be happy to help you get set up.

The decision of whether or not to hire remote workers is often based on two competing ideas for a small business owner. First, think of all the money you could save with fewer employees under your roof! And second, think of all the money you could lose if they end up sleeping on their couches all day!

Worry not. LifeHacker reports that remote workers tend to be more productive than office staff. Scott Edinger, founder of Edinger Consulting Group, believes this is due in part to remote workers trying harder to make up for their absence.

What can you do to ensure those remote workers continue to try harder? Here are four tips to get the most out of remote workers for the long term:

In Part 1 of our “Get Out and Network” series, we shared some online tools to help you identify networking events. So now that you’ve put some events on your calendar (we hope), in Part 2 we discuss how to network with flair and initiate business relationships that will last well beyond the first introduction and handshake.

BEFORE THE NETWORKING EVENT

Find Out Who’s Going

In the olden days, getting a hold of the event’s attendee list ahead of time was impossible. Today, thanks to the Internet, it’s easy to find out who plans to attend. You also can learn a person’s job title, current and past employers, how long they’ve been in the industry and their alma mater. Krista Canfield, LinkedIn’s Senior Manager of Corporate Communications and PR, encourages attendees to find out if the event sponsor or host has created a LinkedIn Event. If so you’ll be able to review the LinkedIn profiles of those planning to attend. Best of all, if an attendee’s LinkedIn profile has a photo, you’ll easily recognize them when they enter the room. Other event sites such as Eventbrite also list registered attendees.

At Grasshopper, our core purpose is to empower entrepreneurs to succeed. We live out this core purpose in everything we do, and here in our office, there’s no shortage of entrepreneurial juices. It’s not uncommon for an employee to leave to start their own business, like Jonathan Kay who left to launch Apptopia and Mike Arsenault who left to launch Rejoiner, a company he started with 2 other Grasshopper employees.

Today is a sad (but exciting!) day because we have yet another employee leaving us to follow their dreams. If you’re a regular reader of our blog, I’m sure you’re familiar with our culture evangelist Andy. Andy has been here for over 8 years and he’s the guy behind our manicotti Mondays, gourmet grilled cheese days, pancake breakfasts, parties and more!  Andy has always had a passion for cooking (and man, is he good at it!) so it only makes sense that he share this skill with others.

Andy will be heading out to Las Vegas, NV later this month with his family to start his very own food truck! We couldn’t be more excited for him. Las Vegas, you guys are lucky to have him!

Tempting as it may be to sit in front of your computer 24/7, sales and deals don’t happen behind your desk (or kitchen table, or makeshift office space). Businesses grow via handshakes, business card exchanges, and casual encounters. Don’t know where to go? Can’t figure out where to network to meet the people who can take your business to the next level? No problem. We’ve got you covered. In fact, after you read this, you’ll be so busy attending events that you’ll need to carve out time to sit in front of your computer and get some work done.

In Part 1 of our “Get Out and Network” piece, we share a list of resources (some obvious, some not) that will help you identify the best networking events, conferences and gatherings to meet the right people and make the right connections. So clear your calendar and get ready to network.