Author: anwaryusef

Anwar Y. Dunbar is a Regulatory Scientist. Being a naturally curious person, he is also a student of all things. He earned his Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Michigan and his Bachelor’s Degree in General Biology from Johnson C. Smith University (JCSU). Prior to starting the Big Words Blog Site, Anwar published and contributed to numerous research articles in competitive scientific journals reporting on his research from graduate school and postdoctoral years. After falling in love with writing, he contributed to the now defunct Examiner.com, and the Edvocate where he regularly wrote about: Education-related stories/topics, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), Financial Literacy; as well as conducted interviews with notable individuals such as actor and author Hill Harper. Having many influences, one of his most notable heroes is author, intellectual and speaker, Malcolm Gladwell, author of books including Outliers and David and Goliath. Anwar has his hands in many, many activities. In addition to writing, Anwar actively mentors youth, works to spread awareness of STEM careers, serves on the Board of Directors of the Friends of the David M. Brown Arlington Planetarium, serves as Treasurer for the JCSU Washington, DC Alumni Chapter, and is active in the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace Ministry at the Alfred Street Baptist Church. He also tutors in the subjects of biology, chemistry and physics. Along with his multi-talented older brother Amahl Dunbar (designer of the Big Words logos, inventor and a plethora of other things), Anwar is a “Fanboy” and really enjoys Science-Fiction and Superhero movies including but not restricted to Captain America Civil War, Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Prometheus. He is a proud native of Buffalo, NY.

Mother’s Day 2019: Thankful For My Upbringing

A Quick Plug

Hello. Thank you for clicking on this link and I hope you enjoy this essay. Writing a book was the genesis of me blogging and becoming a video content creator. I am close to publishing part one of my book project entitled, The Engineers: A Western New York Basketball Story. Please consider visiting the page to learn more about the project and see promotional content I’ve created surrounding the project. And now on to our feature presentation.

Concise Storytelling

The original version of this piece looked much different then this published version. After much consideration, I cut it down. I realized that as a storyteller/writer sometimes less is more and more is less.

With a million and one things on my plate right now, I wondered if I’d have time to craft something for Mother’s Day 2019. After creating pieces in 2017 and 2018, I’ve decided to continue the ritual. If you’re a man and thinking about marrying someone and paying for it yourself, you should read my 2017 piece. It may save your life and sanity. The 2018 piece is a tribute to my maternal and paternal grandmothers. In this 2019 piece, I’m going to reflect on the home my mother created for me and my brother early in our lives.

Every Home Was Different

In the process of discussing my upbringing and some of the tools I had to develop after leaving my home ecosystem, I may have sounded unappreciative of my parents which was an unintended effect. Regardless of how ungrateful I may have sounded of my upbringing as a child, I’m actually VERY thankful for it. As I got older, went away to college and started dating, I slowly realized that everyone’s home wasn’t like mine. I can discuss numerous examples, but I’m just going to highlight a few.

I’d say that Mom masterfully walked the line between “grace and legality” as Dave Ramsey said in one of his Financial Peace University modules. She established discipline and a behavioral standard that lasted all the way through adulthood for both my brother and me. I picked up on this early in the company of my best friend, who either didn’t have as tight a ‘leash’ on him at home, or he just rebelled against it. I hope reflecting on this doesn’t get me in trouble with him. In a way I admired his rebelling at the time, but it had consequences.

We Were Well Fed

Mom always made sure we were well fed and that we ate together. The first time I realized that all homes weren’t like ours was when we spent the night over one of her close friends’ home who also had boys around our age. After a night of playing around and doing what boys do, I woke up the next morning expecting our typical ‘royal’ Saturday morning breakfast. At our house, breakfasts usually consisted of homemade pancakes or waffles, a meat, and scrambled eggs. Instead we had only had cereal that morning. It was better than nothing, but it was different than our home.

Yes, the pancakes were homemade and they were good. Sometimes we had French Toast instead. On Sundays before church we had donuts from “Tops Friendly Markets” instead of the pancakes. Mom also made those breakfasts for us on Wednesdays before we went to school and before she went to work. We had cereal the other four days, hot cereal during the long Buffalo winters.

Non-Race-Related Privileges

“You all had privileges growing up that I didn’t have.” A cousin told me this at a family gathering within the last year. I’m going to keep returning to this revelation because in my community, there’s a fixation on ’white privilege’, but there are in fact ‘privileges’ that black families have over other black families, many of which are driven by the personal choices of the parents.

The cousin who told me this is black, and I agree with her assessment. Yes, my mother was college educated and hers wasn’t, but let’s strip it down even further. As kids, this particular cousin annoyed the hell out of me in terms of her behavior, and she always wanted to come over to our house and stay a while. It wasn’t until I got older that I understood the depth of her situation, and that her coming over was good for her.

I’ll just say that our house was safe and there was a lot of love there from my mother and grandmother. There was no cursing (except when my Uncle Po-Dee came to town), violence, no abuse of any kind, and there were no illegal drugs being used or sold. In general, there was a certain level of peace normalcy there. Without going into detail, my cousin’s house was the exact opposite of ours which is why she always wanted to come spend time with us.

The point I’m trying to make is that my mother made conscious choices to create a safe and love-filled home environment for us. Had I been born to a different mother, my nurturing at home could’ve easily been very, very different. Check out my YouTube video on the concepts ‘Nature vs. Nurture’ if you don’t understand the interplay between these two concepts and how they impact who we become later in life.

Love and Positive Affirmation

I could expound further on some of these things, but I’m going to shift the discussion to the concepts of love and positive affirmation. How important is it for parents to tell their children that they love them? How important is it for parents to tell their children that they’re proud of them? They’re very important. Some kids never hear these two essential words from their parents.

They’re critical as hearing them impacts our socialization and also the adults we go on to become. As I transitioned into adulthood, I discovered that not every one of my peers received positive affirmation at home, and in most instances, it impacted their abilities to give it to others. In my home, we heard these words all the time.

Why would the parents not give their kids positive affirmation? Well maybe those parents didn’t get it themselves. Maybe those parents received it, didn’t appreciate it and didn’t pass it on. In some instances, maybe they endured some life circumstance that beat it out of them so they couldn’t pass it on. As we get older, we do start to see that our parents are people themselves with their own experiences, flaws, shortcomings and vulnerabilities. They have their own scars and have made their own mistakes.

Winning Life’s Lottery and Filling Gaps

In terms of our upbringing and home, yes, I think both my brother and me did win the ‘lottery’ of sorts in terms of growing where we grew up and growing how we grew up. My Aunt Adele told me several times when I got old enough to understand things that my brother and myself were ‘sheltered’. When she came to town to visit us, she was frequently amused by how my mother seemed to ‘baby’ us in the mornings as we headed off to school.

As a pre-teen and a teen, yes, I did intuitively see that the other kids knew about more mature things than we did early on. Many of them were more ‘street smart’ and there were pieces socially that needed filling when I left our house to go to college. The lack of some of this ‘Consequential Knowledge’ definitely manifested in the dating arena, and that’s all I’ll say. According the great Dr. Thomas Sowell, Consequential Knowledge is knowledge for which there are consequences if you don’t have it.

As a man being raised mostly by a single mother, many of these gaps have taken years to fill, and for some it’s an ongoing process. A part of my personal message now is that single mothers can’t do everything. Many have their hands full just paying the bills and keeping food on the table. They might not be able to come to every basketball game for example. They might support you playing and may make sure you’re nourished enough to go to school and to participate in your sport of interest, but to succeed at the craft, you’ll likely have to find the expertise you need elsewhere, and you might not find it at all. I’m working on a book project on that right now.

My Most Loving Child

“Of my eight children, your mother is my most loving child Anwar.” My grandmother told me this frequently when we talked, and it might be the thing I remember her saying the most. Not taking anything away from my two aunts and five uncles, but I think myself and my brother did win the lottery in this case because we grew up with a lot – not necessarily all the material items that my best friend and other peers had, but a lot of things you can’t buy with money. And those are the most valuable things in life.

I’m more careful these days about discussing the tools I did and didn’t get in my home ecosystem. If I do venture into those waters, I’m sure to do it with an understanding mind as it’s never to demonize anyone. For ourselves and for our community at large, some discussions with my contemporaries and peers need to be had, and interestingly many of us black ‘Generation X-ers’ have common experiences.

We’ve realized that there was some consequential knowledge that we somehow arrived at adulthood without knowing. Wealth-building and relationships are examples, and we’ve still had to line up with everyone else and run life’s ‘marathon’. Our parents, like all parents, could only teach us what they knew, and it’s up to us to make up as much ground as we can in the race using the tools we have.

Closing Thoughts

I’m going to close by saying that I’m thankful and grateful for everything my mother did for us. Everyone’s home is not the same. At the end of day, it’s about being grateful and content about what you do have. What are you grateful for that your mother did for you? Happy Mother’s Day 2019.

The Big Words LLC Newsletter

For the next phase of my writing journey, I’m starting a monthly newsletter for my writing and video content creation company, the Big Words LLC. In it, I plan to share inspirational words, pieces from this blog and my first blog, and select videos from my four YouTube channels. Finally, I will share updates for my book project The Engineers: A Western New York Basketball Story. Your personal information and privacy will be protected. Click this link and register using the sign-up button at the bottom of the announcement. If there is some issue signing up using the link provided, you can also email me at bwllcnl@gmail.com . Best Regards.

How To Build A Great Father-Son Connection

A key focus of my blog is Health/Wellness. A key aspect of growing into a healthy man is a health father-son relationship. There certain keys to becoming a great father. The following contributed post is entitled, How To Build A Great Father-Son Connection.

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Raising children is one of the best and most rewarding jobs you’ll ever have in your life, but if can also be one of the most terrifying and confusing. You constantly doubt yourself and wonder if you’re messing them up at every turn, and although they say it gets easier as the years go on and you have more kids, it really doesn’t – it just becomes different.

Just as the relationship between a mother and daughter can often be a complex one, the relationship between a father and his son is equally complex. The main issues that men often face is that the way we’ve been brought up to view men is that they have to behave in a certain way – they’re not allowed to display emotion because it’s seen as weak, and although these paradigms are shifting within our society, it’s definitely taking a bit of time.

So, in this post we’re going to share with you some of our top tips for building a great father-son connection that will hopefully help you build an unshakeable bond with your son as he grows from a small child to a man you can be proud to say you raised.

Build mutual interests:

Whilst it’s important to let your son be his own person, as one of the foundations of building a connection with anyone lies in the commonalities you share, the same logic applies when building a connection with your son.

This isn’t to say you need to have every interest be the same – for example, he may like football and you prefer basketball, but then you can identify other areas where you share some common interests, such as fly fishing, so you can teach him how to fly fish, and even when he’s a child you can look for things that you may even want to develop as a common interest since often it’s the aspect of nostalgia that really creates an interest in the first place. If you’re worried that you and your son have no common interests, there’s likely going to be something – although it’s not impossible, it’s pretty rare for a parent and child to be real polar opposites in every area, and the funny thing about that is, even in cases where people think they’re polar opposites, they actually have so much in common but can’t actually see it because this commonalities in their personality, such as stubborness often causes a clash of personality.

Don’t wrap them in cotton wool:

It’s absolutely normal for a parent to want to protect their child at every turn, and we’re certainly not saying let them play with knives or go wandering away from home after dark – safety precautions should always be taken when it comes to your child and as the parent you get to say what boundaries you set around that because you do know best.

However, wrapping your son up in cotton wool and never doing things like playing rough or the typical things that fathers and sons do together and have done perfectly fine with for generations is something that could definitely cause problems for him later in life because he’ll be too afraid to do anything and could end up in some pretty dangerous situations if he doesn’t know how to take care of himself.

These things like wrestling with your son or even playing the occasional video game are great for bonding and as long as you’re keeping your communication open and letting him know that violence isn’t a solution to life’s problems, then you’re probably going to be doing just fine.

Make time for father-son activities:

As mentioned above, if you have some common interests that you and your son both enjoy, then why not take these to the next level and enjoy some father-son bonding time? Even if you haven’t yet established what your common interests are, then you can think of the things you enjoyed as a child, whether it was with your father or just with your friends. It can be things like playing football together, going to watch a game together, going hiking or camping, or even riding bikes or a hover board together. The point is, it’s really not so much about what you do, but more about the fact you’re doing it together and using that time to really focus on building your relationship and connection with your son.

Take on projects together:

Taking on projects with your son can, not only be a great way to bond and build your relationship, but it’s a great way to show him some responsibility, build his confidence and also be able to see that you trust him and believe in him enough to let him take on important tasks. Even just asking for his input in things like renovating the garage or fixing up your car will do wonders for his confidence and self-esteem, and although you may not notice the difference immediately, these are the things he’ll carry into his adult life and that will really have the biggest impact, so maybe start thinking about any projects you have or potentially could have that you could do together with your son.

Making Your Office A Healthier Place

The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success, and two key focuses are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. No matter what type of organization you’re running, you want to make the work environment as healthy and friendly to your employees as possible. The following contributed post is entitled, Making Your Office A Healthier Place.

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Whether you are trying to encourage motivation and productivity in your company, or job satisfaction in your employees, making the office where everyone works into a more healthy environment can be very beneficial. In fact, there are several different tactics you can use. A topic you can find out more about in my post below.

A light and bright environment.

Studies show that human do less well in environments that are dark and dingy. What this means is that if you want your office to be a healthier space you really need to make it as light and bright as possible. Happily, there are multiple ways of doing this so even if you are stuck in the basement office you can still get a lighter and brighter feel.

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One option is to maximize the amount of natural light that flows into the room. Something that can be done by installing additional windows, skylights, and even sun tubes which are channels that redirect natural light to areas without it.

Of course, if none of these things are an option then painting the wall white to reflect as much light as possible and installing natural looking artificial lights can help too. The same goes for lighter toned furniture and fittings.

You can even further enhance the look of your office by adding plants too. Something that can provide a much more green, and more oxygenated atmosphere to complement the light and airy space you have created.

Standing desks and office exercise equipment.

Next, there is a considerable trend towards standing, and variable height office desks at the moment and this is because it can help to break up all the sedentary sitting behavior that offices are so infamous for. In fact, standing for just a small portion of each day can reinvigorate your workforce, and health them to be healthier overall.

Additionally, adding in office exercise equipment like under desk cycles, posture ball seats, and even steppers can make a massive positive difference to employee health. This is because not only will employees gain the endorphin boost from working out, but it will ensure that the blood is being pumped around their system efficiently. Something that can help with concentration and performance as well as make them a lot happier in the workplace as well.

Outdoor working areas.

The next change that you can make around the office is to include some outdoor areas for your employees to use. I’m not just talking about a single picnic table for smokers or those eating lunch here either. Instead, why not consider installing some outdoor areas in which people can take their laptops and work, or even have meetings?

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Break out areas outside can be fantastic for employee well being.

After all, getting outside into the sunlight and fresh air can have numerous health benefits such as increased vitamin D absorption. Not to mention that the opportunity to get away from their desk is bound to make most people at least 50% happier at work, with minimal effort.

Offering refreshment options.

Next, when it comes to healthy eating in the office, you can run into some issues. The problem is that you don’t want to end up prescribing what your employees can eat and drink. Oh, and the fact that if you ban caffeine, you may well just have a riot on your hands.

Happily, there is an alternative that can work wonder and its to use a company like Associated Coffee that will also deliver fresh, healthy and customized snacks to your business for your workers to consume. All along with your beverage order.

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In fact, if you are feeling particularly generous, you can include such beverages and snacks options as part of the benefits that you offer to employees free of charge. Something that means not only will your workers be eating the right thing to stay healthy, happy, and productive at work, but you’ll get the extras credit and employee satisfaction associated with offering such an added bonus as well.

A nap zone.

OK, so a nap zone might sound as if its something for preschool or a nursery rather than a professional workplace, but that isn’t necessarily the case. In fact, studies have shown that short naps or medications where employees can relax their mind and think of something other than the problem they are working on can be incredibly effective.

Of course by providing things like nap pods and bean bag beds, as well as pillow and blankets your business will be recognized by your employer for its forward-thinking, and focus on wellbeing too. It really is a win-win.

Stay goodbye to open plan offices.

Open plan offices can be bad for employee wellbeing.

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While many employers prefer an open plan set out, it is often the case that employees don’t. In fact, many people feel as if they are on show, or being watched. Something that, rather having a positive effect on employee morale and productivity, can damage it instead.

In fact, for some workers that rate highly on the introversion scale, an open plan office can be seriously damaging to their mental health. To that end, if you want your office to be a healthier place, it’s essential to have alternative working arrangements that are available to all employees.

Office wellness schemes.

Finally, you can also make your office a healthier space by devising and implementing particular wellness schemes. The idea of these is that they are small initiatives that can make a big difference to your employees’ physical and mental health.

In particular, many businesses find that it’s beneficial to offer yoga classes during the workday that are subsidized by the company. Something that cannot only help workers to beat stress but also help to protect them from strain and injuries that working at a desk in set position can cause as well.

Of course, there really is no limit to the type of things you can do in office well scheme from offering counseling and conflict resolution services, to providing blanks and earphones that allow people to get cozier at their desks. Just remember that as long as it promotes your workers emotional, physical, and mental health and they are onboard, then it’s probably a smart idea for creating a healthier office environment.

Could You Run a Business Green? Details to Consider Before You Decide

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. A lot of businesses are going ‘green’ and doing their part to help the environment. Before attempting to go green, there are some things you need to consider before updating your operations. The following contributed post is entitled, Could You Run a Business Green? Details to Consider Before You Decide.

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If you have a small business, you will have to make the most out of your point of differentiation, and make your brand stand out from the competition. It is also important that you align your personal values and your business ones with your customers’. Below you will find a few pointers on how to make your business more sustainable and whether or not you can run it off the grid.

Image via Wikimedia Commons

Communication

One of the things you can do to reduce the carbon footprint of your business is to work through the internet and avoid flying to meetings and meeting clients in person whenever necessary. Thanks to the latest technologies in communication, you can now set up a conference call in your office with people from all over the world. You might even run all your advertising online, setting up social media marketing campaigns, instead of advertising in print magazines. This would certainly be a good start if you are looking to improve your business.

Transport

One of the things you have to consider is the transport you and your colleagues use to get to the office. If you have more than a dozen employees, you might be thinking about setting up a car pooling scheme, offering bike discounts, or an incentive to buy electric vehicles. This will help you align your values with your employees’ and create a shared vision and mission for the company.

Energy Use and Generation

Image via Dugway Proving Ground – Army.mil

There are loads of ways you can make your business sustainable and ensure that you are not putting too much pressure on the environment. You can get solar panels installed on the roof of your building, create wind energy, or set up a gym that your employees can use for free, as it is hooked up to a battery, and they can generate electricity while working out. There are plenty of great ideas you can use to make your business greener.

Water Supply

Preserving water at the office is another area you should focus on. There are several ways you can reduce your water usage. If you are in the manufacturing business, you might want to install your own water treatment system to eliminate waste and ensure that you are minimizing your impact on the environment. There are great ways of measuring your water use, such as getting a 10000 litre water tank to see how long the water can last.

Sustainable Materials

When it comes to your office carbon footprint, it is also important that you invest in sustainable materials and furniture. You might need to pay more in the beginning, but your investment will pay off. Whenever you are installing new insulation or windows, consider the carbon footprint of the materials.

If you want to make the most out of your mission and vision alignment, you should consider going green as a shared goal between you, your staff, and your customers. This goal will help you create value and strengthen your brand long term, too.

Adding Fun Flavour To The Kitchen

A key focus of my blog is Financial Literacy/Money. A primary residence is the largest investment many people will ever make. To increase the value of your investment, you have to know what updates to make to your home. One place is the kitchen. The following contributed post is entitled, Adding Fun Flavour To The Kitchen.

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Now that the New season is well and truly here, you might be looking at your home as a whole and wondering what you can do to make it more exciting. The kitchen is the heart and soul of the home, and if you are looking to update your living space this year, it could be one of the first places you start. Today we are going to look at some fun ways to add colour and flavour to your home this year.

New knobs

One method of making the kitchen feel refreshed and new without even really trying is to replace your old door knobs with new ones. If you had boring wooden or silver ones before, upgrade these to copper or gold for a stunning setting which will be ideal for you.

A bright floor

If you want to be outside of the norm this year and more exciting in your home, epoxy floor coatings are the way forward. Rather than sticking to traditional marble, wood or stone effects on your floor, why not try a colour? Covering the floor with a bright colour such as yellow or blue could be a great way to life the whole room and it will be a talking point every single time someone comes to see you in your home.

Acrylic patterned splashbacks

Speaking of bright colours, another method to add some extra colour to the home would be to add an acrylic splashback which is bright and bold. A splashback can be a great feature for the kitchen and a centrepiece of your design, and you can be as bold or reserved with the colour as you like!

Fun artwork

Artwork is always something which is great for the home, and in the kitchen it is no different. If you find that you have a lot of empty wall space in the kitchen this year, it could be a great chance to add some artwork. You could either choose images of the outdoors and flowers to help feel as if the kitchen and garden are linked, or you can instead think about something more abstract with bold colours and patterns. Find inspiration online and have fun with it.

Hanging herb garden

A herb garden is not only a great decoration for the garden but it also provides a great way for you to spice up your cooking, literally. Hanging a herb garden on the wall with your favourite flavours can be a wonderful feature and the ideal way to make sure that your cooking is top class.

If you’re happy and you know it….

Hang your pans! If you have a lot of space up above in your kitchen and you are looking for a countryside vibe for the space, hanging your pans in the middle of the room above your heads can be ideal. It is a feature which is stunning and modern and classic at the same time, and it allows you to show off those fancy copper pans you bought last Christmas!

Website Words: 3 Tips For Perfect Copy

Three of my blog’s key focuses are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship and Technology. Important aspects of your business are your branding and technology. You have to be sure that your website and all of the messages you communicate on it are clear. The following contributed post is entitled, Website Words: 3 Tips For Perfect Copy.

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Pixabay / CC0 Licence

When considering your business’ website, your focus will primarily be on the design and functional elements. You’ll want to ensure that your site looks good and works exactly as you expect – which is undoubtedly important, but there is a final part of the puzzle that can often be overlooked: the text.

The text on your website – which is more conventionally referred to as the “copy” – is just as important as the look and performance of any business website. The text is how you convince customers to buy from your company and how you affirm your brand’s voice, so getting it right is critical. In an effort to help you achieve this goal, below, we’ve assembled five tips that will help you to make sure that your website copy is at its absolute best.

#1 – Be cautious of tone

When writing website copy, there’s a line you have to walk: the text should ideally have an element of personality to it, but it should also remain professional. To achieve the right balance, it’s usually best to try and use the same writing style and word choice you would use if you were writing an email to an acquaintance – someone you know well, but not well enough to consider them a ‘friend’. Viewing your text through this lens should help you to keep things light, but without crossing the line into over-familiarity.

#2 – Consider translation

To work well, website copy has to be understood. As a result, businesses whose target audiences are likely to be bilingual may want to consider opting to translate their website copy to benefit some customers. While translating your entire website’s copy sounds like a dramatic, time-consuming undertaking, professional companies such as Para Plus Translations can help to simplify the entire process and allow you to display perfectly-translated text with ease.

#3 – Watch out for typos

No matter how well written your copy is, if it’s riddled with typos, your customers will notice – and may even judge your company as a result. Unfortunately, finding typos in text you have written yourself is inherently challenging, so you’ll need some form of assistance when seeking to overcome this issue. The best option is to hire the services of a professional proofreader, but a combination of using a service such as Grammarly and then asking a friend to proofread can also work well.

#4 – Too much information is preferable to not enough information

With website copy, convention suggests that you should provide information succinctly. However, while the quality of the words you choose is more important than quantity, the amount of quality copy needed is more up for debate. While some customers may be more than happy with a few sentences about your products or services, others will want to know more before they commit to a purchase; we all have different opinions about how much is enough when it comes to information. To account for this, it’s best to opt for a higher word count; it’s easier for customers who prefer short text to pick out the most pertinent details for themselves – perhaps aided by short summaries – than it is for those who would like more information to convince themselves to settle for less than they would like.

In conclusion

With the tips above, your copy can join your great design and flawless functionality to create a business website that your customers are sure to love.

Holding Your Own as a Woman in Business

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“Women with experience in industry are eager to go it on their own, knowing that their unique skills could make them very successful and many of these women are more than holding their own.”

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Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Now more than ever, women are competing and forming their legacies in the business world. There are unique challenges and distinct for women learning to compete in this arena. The following contributed post is entitled, Holding Your Own as a Woman in Business.

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The big world of business, as well as many other industries, is unfortunately very much still a man’s world. Men still dominate many companies, and certainly upper management. Women are still less likely to start their own business as men, partly because they are put off by male domination or because they are worried about going into negotiations and meetings with a room filled with strong, powerful men.

But, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t women doing it. Many mothers start their own businesses to avoid having to find expensive childcare or leave their children. Women with experience in industry are eager to go it on their own, knowing that their unique skills could make them very successful and many of these women are more than holding their own.

Women are often well organized and great at managing their time. They are passionate, and great at arguing their cause. Women inspire others and don’t take risks without preparation. All of these skills can make them excellent in business. But only if they have got the confidence to take a chance on themselves. Here are some of the ways that you can hold your own in the man’s world of business.

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Find Strong Role Models

There are many, many strong women in business. They launch their own startups, they become CEOs of major firms, they slowly climb up the ladder, and they do it with confidence, grace, passion and even style. Women like Belinda Stronach can be fantastic role models, and having them will help you to pick yourself up on the bad days and draw strength when things are tough.

Build a Support Network

Role models are all well and good, but as a woman trying to hold your own in business, you might also need people close by. You need a strong support network of supportive and understanding people. Friends and family that will pick you up when you are down, understand that you need to work long hours, and commit time and effort to your job if you want to do well. This might also mean cutting those people that bring you down or tell you that you can’t do it. Make sure that you are surrounded by people that make you feel confident and like you can take on the world.

Strengthen Your Financial Foundation

Packed with unique challenges, the business world rewards those who understand its financial underpinnings as well as its daily operations. Take the initiative to deepen your fluency in budgeting, cash-flow management, and funding options—skills that will empower you to make data-driven decisions and negotiate from a position of strength. Seek out specialized resources and advisors, and don’t hesitate to learn directly from experts such as Cindy Couyoumjian, whose insights on financial literacy can help you secure the capital and confidence needed to fuel your ventures and safeguard your success.

Dress for Success

As a woman in business, you’ve probably heard some frightfully sexist comments about how you should dress. You might have even worked in places that insist upon skirts and high heels.

Well, dressing the right way can have a significant impact on your career. But, the right way should be right for you, not everyone else. Wear clothes that make you feel confident and powerful, but also comfortable and ready to work.

Never Stop Learning

As a woman, you might feel as though you always have to prove yourself and that people are always questioning your knowledge and experience. It might help you to feel better if you know the answers. Keep an open mind and never stop learning and you’ll always be on top of your game.

What’s New In Tech?

One of the key focuses of my blog is Technology. For career, investment and lifestyle purposes, it’s important to keep up on the latest advances in technology. The following contributed post is entitled, What’s New In Tech?

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You probably think of yourself as being reasonably efficient when it comes to technology. You have your smartphone, smart speaker and all manner of gadgets that help to make your life that much easier. But there’s always more out there under development, waiting to surprise us all with clever, evolving technology.

In this blog we take a look at some emerging technologies and what you might see in the headlines over the next 12 months.

Image from Pixabay

Gaming

If you’re big on gaming you might already have your name in the hat for the brand new Playstation 5, coming out, well, no one really knows when. Rumours that 2019 would be the big reveal were quashed by Sony so it looks likely that gaming fans will have to wait until 2020 to get the hands on this fantastic console.

Arch rivals Xbox aren’t to be ignored with the much-anticipated Xbox 2 due to hit the shops soon too. Like the Playstation it looks likely that it will be released next year much to the delight of loyal Xbox fans.

Entertainment

Does your television swamp your living room? While you love the idea of a big screen that makes movies exciting and gaming extraordinary, when it’s just sitting there, it looks kind of big. Then you should consider a television that rolls away when you’re not using it, into a handy table top box. That’s right, it rolls away.

Due out later this year from LG, the technology allows the screen to stretch to 65 inches before disappearing. There’s currently no price listed for this brand new kit, so watch this space.

Transport

Electric cars? Tick. We’re all on board with transport that allow us to create less pollution but that still perform to the standards we expect from our cars. But how about an electric motorbike from iconic name Harley Davidson? This fully electronic vehicle still maintains the classic Harley lines but it super quiet and fully automatic meaning no clutch or gears to take care of.

Get yours towards the end of the summer from around $30,000,

Government

Making it easier and more secure to vote, governments around the world are looking towards Artificial Intelligence to prevent fraud and keep the process as transparent and easy to deliver as possible. With automation from smartmatic, keep abreast of the latest ways in which countries are encouraging the democratic process.

Leisure

Keen on mixing up the real with the not so real? Give NReal’s glasses are try. Sure, they look like ordinary streetwear but allow you to mix reality with augmented reality with their smart lenses. You’ll be plunged into a world of high quality sound and images as you figure out what’s real and what’s not on your way to work

Useful tech

Charging your phone has been covered by a great many companies with handheld chargers but the latest charger from Mophie acts as a hard case as well as charging your phone, which is just plain useful. It promises more than 30 hours battery life and fits the more recent iPhone models.

If that wasn’t enough, how about a watch that tracks all your activity and your sleep. Yes, that sounds familiar but the difference with the model from Withings is that it comes in much cheaper than its rivals and only requires charging after around 18 months of wear. Not only smart but much lower maintenance than its high street rivals.

In the kitchen

There’s always something budding chefs so get yours a toaster with a difference. How about a toaster that’s see through, completely clear. You’ll never have suffer the disaster that is burnt toast again and bagels will toasted to perfection, thanks to this unusual design.

If that doesn’t tempt you then pick up a KitchenAid Connect for a snip at more than $1,000. It does everything from stirring as it sautees, chopping up vegetables to your prefered size to measuring and weighing. Truly a chef’s best friend in the kitchen.

Whatever you’re into, there’ll be a piece of technology out there with your name on. From sunglasses that merge realities to new realities in the form of the latest gaming consoles. From kitchen gadgets that take all the work out of cooking to chargers that work on the go and protect your screen.

Tech is evolving at a rapid pace with new, fun and exciting gadgets hitting the high streets every year. The next 12 months promises to be an exciting adventure as more and more emerge for every taste and for every budget.

The Next Big Thing: Steps To Ensure Your Brand Is The Name On Everyone’s Lips

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Potentially the most critical piece of your business is the branding and marketing. In today’s age with all the technology at our disposal, it’s important to make sure your brand is out and well-known. The following contributed post is entitled, The Next Big Thing: Steps To Ensure Your Brand Is The Name On Everyone’s Lips.

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One of the most crucial aspects of succeeding in business lies in beating the competition. If you’re eager to entice new clients, increase sales, and ensure that your brand is the name on everyone’s lips, here are some steps to take.

Get social
Social media marketing is an increasingly potent weapon for modern businesses. If you don’t already have social media campaigns running, you may be missing a trick. There are several platforms to choose from, and you can select different sites based on your target market. Facebook is the most popular social media platform in the world, but options like Snapchat and Instagram tend to be more effective when targeting a young demographic. Research social media trends, define your ideal buyer and start using the power and popularity of social platforms to get your brand name out there. Start by creating pages and profiles and offer incentives to encourage people to like and share your posts and sign up for updates. Focus on creating and sharing quality content, which is going to appeal to the target user, and interact with your followers. If you’re getting comments, for example, take the time to read them and respond. If you’re considering posting adverts on sites like Facebook, take advantage of the audience tools, which enable you to define specific groups you want to target.

Image from https://pixabay.com/illustrations/social-media-blocks-blogger-488886/

Revamp your website and SEO strategy
Even if you don’t have an online store, having an online profile is vital in this day and age. If your website isn’t up to scratch, or you’re not getting much traffic, it’s wise to revamp your site and review your SEO strategy. If you don’t have expertise in web design or digital marketing, consider outsourcing. Consumers like to research online, even if they plan to place an order or shop in-store, and ensuring you appear at the top of the search results page will stand you in good stead to outshine your rivals and increase lead generation.

Make the most of trade shows
Trade shows offer a brilliant opportunity to showcase your products and get people talking about your brand. If you are planning to attend an event, you want to make sure that your stand attracts attention. There are several ways you can do this. Aesthetics play a key role in drawing crowds. People are much more likely to gravitate towards a stand that looks enticing and interesting than one that looks drab and dull. Giveaways are also a great idea. If you can offer samples, for example, if you’re selling food or drink products, or you’re handing out branded keyrings, caps, pens or USB sticks, you may find that you get a lot more visitors. For more ideas for promotional products, click here. Interactive displays and demos are another way to pull people in. If you’re selling toys, pet products, kitchen or office gadgets, for example, demonstrate how they work, and let customers have a go. It’s also important to make sure your staff is well-versed in answering questions and dealing with queries about pricing and special offers.

Picture credit https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2235564

Connect with clients
Marketing plays a vital role in breaking the ice, generating leads and starting conversations, but to make your brand the next big thing, you have to follow up on expressions of interest and make sure your customers feel valued. Take the time to connect with your existing clients and make an effort to communicate with potential customers who have shown an interest in what you do. Send out periodic emails, respond to questions and queries online, and add features like live chat to your website. Customer engagement can help to enhance the user experience, tighten ties and ensure loyalty. Adding a personal touch can go a long way when you’re trying to enhance your brand reputation and raise brand awareness. Even simple things like addressing people by their names in emails can make a difference. Research suggests that click-through rates are significantly higher for personalized emails.

Image source: https://pixabay.com/illustrations/chat-icon-social-network-1873543/

Do some good in the world
As a consumer, you may be aware of certain brands because of initiatives they support or causes they fund. As a business owner, you want people to recognize you because of the products and services you offer, but you also want your customers to have a positive impression of your brand ethos. If you want people to talk about you, consider using your status to do some good in the world. You could support a local charity, get involved with a green initiative or donate some of your profits to charities chosen by your customers.

Are you dreaming of creating a global brand? Do you want to see your business name up in lights? If you have grand plans, hopefully, these tips will point you in the right direction.

Making Home Care More Dignified

A key focus of my blog is Health/Wellness. All of us eventually age, and many of us get to a point where we can’t take care of ourselves. In many instances, the care we get in our last days, is just as important as the care we get in first days. The following contributed post is entitled, Making Home Care More Dignified.

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There are many points in time when you might need care in your life. From infancy to recovering from an injury and old age, you could need care at many stages in your life. How would you expect that care to be? Effective, comfortable, dignified? These are all within the fundamentals of care and should be shown to everyone. So when it comes to caring for someone else at home in your life, how can you make things more dignified? You’ll find some of the answers below.

Image Credit: Unsplash under Creative Commons

Discuss needs and expectations

Having to care for someone else, or help them plan their care, is never an easy thing. Having conversations with elderly relatives or someone who is usually independent about their needs and expectations can be difficult, but being upfront and honest is the best way for both of you to move forward. There could be several issues that need addressing when it comes to providing care, but once you work through it you can help to deliver that care in the most beneficial way for the person who needs it.

Be kind and considerate

Kindness goes a long way, and no matter what you’re feeling, it can’t be easy for the person needing care. Often being cared for can lead to a loss of independence, as well as feeling a lack of purpose – something that can lead to mental health issues in addition to the others that need caring for, Always be kind and considerate when caring for someone else, it really can help make the best out of an unfortunate situation.

Bring in professionals

While many people are classed as careers for their relatives, not everyone has the skills, or even the time, to offer the right care. Sometimes professional help is needed, particularly for more medical tasks like fitting catheters. Bringing in professional careers can cost money, but it can be a cost worth spending to make sure your loved one is cared for properly. Take a look at local agencies and make sure you’ve taken advantage of any health benefits they could be entitled to.

Look beyond the obvious

Some care needs are obvious, such as the need to wash, dress and feed someone. However, some elements of care are not so clear. Being able to see beyond the obvious and go that extra mile can really make the difference to someone’s life. Help your loved one develop new interests and get them out of the house, especially if they’re retired and looking for what to do next. Care doesn’t always have to be in the home, so it’s important to get your loved ones out and help them to keep doing the things they enjoy.

Care can take some getting used to, especially at the beginning. By being as respectful as you can and being open about the whole process, you can help make home care more dignified and help loved ones retain some independence. Always seek professional help where appropriate, even if it’s just to give you some advice or a helping hand. We all need care at some point in our lives, and treating people as you’d want to be treated can go a long way.