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.

Dr. Quinn Capers IV Discusses Implicit Bias and the #DropAndGiveMe20 Campaign

Buffer

“Implicit bias is a negative or positive attitude towards a person or group that occurs outside of our awareness, intention, or control.”

Buffer

One of the focuses of my blog is STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), and my most central principle is “Creating Ecosystems of Success”. While we tend to think of clinical medicine as strictly a ‘healthcare’ profession, its foundations are actually rooted in the ‘Basic Sciences’. In late 2017, I discovered Dr. Quinn Capers IV on Twitter one day by chance and started following him when he was tweeting about medical education at the Ohio State University. The hashtag he used in most of his tweets, #BlackMenInMedicine, further piqued my curiosity.

Representation in the healthcare sector is absolutely central to bridging the gap between doctors and their patients. Representation comes in different shapes. On the one hand, solutions such as EHR systems that enable healthcare to better practice what they preach and represent medical excellence for their patients, catch our interests. But, on the other hand, a varied team of healthcare specialists from different social, racial, and economical backgrounds is also crucial for a more inclusive representation in the medical sector. Here, we discuss inclusive representation in the current medical landscape.

Last year I had the honor of interviewing Dr. Capers about his path and #BlackMenInMedicine. To see our 2018 interview go to Dr. Quinn Capers, IV discusses his path, #BlackMenInMedicine, and the present landscape of medical education. Dr. Capers recently granted me the opportunity to interview him a second time. In this follow up interview we discuss the concept of ‘Implicit Bias’, why it’s important, and the hashtag, ‘#DropAndGiveMe20’. The images in this interview were graciously shared by Dr. Capers himself. Click on any of the images to enlarge them.

Anwar Dunbar: Hello, Dr. Capers and happy New Year. I want to thank you for the opportunity to interview you again. As the Dean of Admissions at the Ohio State University’s Medical School, your words are very, very valuable, especially for students aspiring to attend medical school. Before we get into ‘Implicit Bias’, the last time we spoke we spent quite a bit of time on the hashtag #BlackMenInMedicine. I now see you using a second hastag, #DropAndGiveMe20. Where did this hashtag and the whole push-ups piece come from? Did you start that?

Quinn Capers: The #DropAndGiveMe20 campaign is a great story. I’m a big fan of Ohio State University (OSU) Football. For years, while watching the games on television, I’ve had a fun routine of doing 10 push-ups every time they score a touchdown. I picked push-ups because they don’t require equipment or much physical space. They’re a good measure of overall upper body strength and they get your heart rate up. Mostly, I wanted to feel like I was exerting myself while the players were on the field exerting themselves. It’s just fun.

I’ve done it at sports bars and experienced both strange looks and strangers joining in! In November 2017, my wife recorded me doing this after an OSU touchdown and I thought it’d be cool to put it on Twitter to spark excitement among OSU football fans. I got a few responses, but the best one was from an interventional cardiologist at UCLA, Dr. William Suh (he is now a great Twitter friend or a “Tweep”), who said he could top that; and would do 20 for every UCLA Bruin touchdown. So he did 20, then when OSU scored another touchdown, I did 20.

AD: Ohio State Football. Yes, you all beat my Michigan Wolverines yet again (laughing).

QC: Well, we both had Twitter followers who are cardiologists and since heart doctors love promoting exercise, they joined the fun and challenged other cardiologists. I guess you could say that Dr. Suh and I are the “co-founders” if you must, but it has grown so fast and so many are responsible for spreading it that it really is a group effort now. It grew quickly to include other specialties, non-physicians, and even patients. In fact some of the most regular and awesome participants are patients; one a heart transplant survivor. They’re simply incredible.

It grew fast under the hashtag “#DropAndGiveMe20” and it’s now international with participants all over the world posting clips from places like the following: Sydney (Australia), London, and Lagos, Nigeria. We post daily and give each other positive feedback, hold each other accountable, and promote wellness and exercise. One of my main goals is to promote exercise as a way to improve heart health and to show that you don’t have to wait to go to a gym, since it can be hard to work a full day and plan to go to a gym afterwards. I’ll usually post clips of myself doing push-ups during my work day in the cardiac cath lab, in my office between meetings, or even in an auditorium after giving a lecture. Others have posted clips in unusual settings, like at dinner parties.

AD: Nice.

QC: I’ll tell you about two of my favorite clips. There’s a very famous female cardiologist who posted clips of herself doing push-ups at the airport terminal awaiting her flight. A prominent British cardiologist topped that by doing his on a moving walkway at London’s Heathrow Airport (not recommended, by the way)! We have great fun adding humorous wrinkles to it, like adding more and more people in a clip. I suppose I took it to new heights recently when I concluded a live simulcast lecture to a group of medical residents in Cameroon by asking them to do push-ups with me! They complied and we completed what might be the first, simultaneous, international push-up session!

I also take the opportunity to share my love and knowledge of jazz, hip-hop, and R & B/Funk music. My clips are always accompanied by a musical selection from my collection. I always credit and tag the musicians (if they have a Twitter handle), hoping to spark curiosity about certain hidden gems and send my Twitter followers “digging in the crates” to support the music. I was beyond thrilled when two different artists supplying the soundtrack to my push-ups responded to my tweet, the hip hop group “Digable Planets” and saxophone legend Branford Marsalis!

It’s great fun, and a very friendly Twitter community has grown around it. We now arrange to meet up at conventions (cardiology or otherwise) and do a “#DropAndGiveMe20!” Regarding the health benefits, doing push-ups can provide positive reinforcement in a relatively short period of time. Last November I could barely do 25 at one time, now I can max out at 43. Anyone is welcome to join the fun. If you can’t do 20, start with 1 or 2 push-ups! By the way, Dr. Dunbar, you and your readers are welcome to join anytime. Just record yourself, post it on Twitter with the hashtag “#DropAndGiveMe20” and tag your colleagues to get them involved.

AD: Okay, Dr. Capers. I haven’t done push-ups in a while, but now I may have to see if I can crank out 20 (laughing).

I noticed that after starting to follow you, ‘Implicit Bias’ became something you started addressing. How did this come about? What should the general public, and particularly those looking to get into medical school, understand about it?

QC: Implicit bias is a negative or positive attitude towards a person or group that occurs outside of our awareness, intention, or control. Although these biases occur outside of our awareness, they can influence behavior, possibly resulting in well-meaning people treating others differently based on race, gender, age, etc. I came across the concept as a cardiologist interested in racial healthcare disparities. Disparities have many causes, like social determinants of health, housing discrimination, unequal access to the best care, outright racism (explicit bias) of practitioners, structural bias in the healthcare system, etc.

I became intrigued with the notion of implicit or unconscious bias and its potential role in unequal treatment. Several studies have shown that a physician’s unconscious association of negative thoughts or words with a particular race or gender can be associated with therapeutic decisions that are harmful to persons in that group. For instance, one widely quoted paper had physicians take the computer-based implicit association test (IAT) that’s designed to uncover implicit associations or biases (free, available at implicit.harvard.edu) and then review case vignettes of a black or white male suffering from a heart attack.

Doctors were asked if they thought the symptoms of chest discomfort were indicative of a heart problem and if they’d treat the patient with a life-saving drug to terminate the heart attack. Physicians whose IAT showed “implicit white race preference” or an unconscious association of a white person’s face with good words (love, joy, warmth) and a black person’s face with bad words (danger, misery, trouble) were less likely to treat the black patient with the drug despite the black and white patients having identical presentations (1). It is important to note that this is not racism, which is a conscious, explicit bias. But implicit bias can potentially have life-and-death consequences in healthcare. While not all studies of implicit bias show an association with a doctor’s decision-making, enough do to cause alarm.

AD: That’s interesting.

QC: In addition to being a cardiologist I have the great privilege of serving as the Associate Dean for Admissions at the Ohio State University (OSU) College of Medicine, and I’m responsible for overseeing the recruitment, interview, and selection processes for our incoming medical students. When I reviewed a paper that showed that approximately 70% of a large group of physicians taking the IAT have implicit white race preference (2), I immediately pictured our medical school admissions committee and the fact that it is composed largely of physicians, and I had several questions: Do the physicians charged with the awesome responsibility of deciding who will become a doctor have implicit racial biases? If so, to what extent? If so, might it influence their decision-making and put black and Hispanic applicants at a disadvantage?

We set out to answer these questions and had our entire committee take the race IAT in 2012. Aggregate results revealed that a significant portion of the committee (between 50 and 70%) had an implicit white race preference. Next, Dr. Anthony Greenwald, implicit bias expert and one of the inventors of the IAT, led the committee in a discussion of implicit bias and how to reduce it. In the very next cycle we matriculated the most racially diverse class in the history of the college, suggesting that we are able to overcome implicit biases. This was the first paper to document the presence and extent of implicit racial bias in the medical school admissions process (3).

Our results indicated to us that we could have what we thought was a fair, objective process, on the surface, but that unconscious biases could put certain groups of candidates at a disadvantage. Since then we’ve had robust discussions about implicit bias and annual workshops on bias mitigation. I recently completed a training program leading to certification to moderate implicit bias workshops, and I do so twice a month. This goes beyond admissions and is open to the entire medical center. So far we have trained over 1,000 physicians, nurses, staff and students in bias mitigation strategies. It is a real passion and we are trying to make a difference.

AD: Thank you for that in depth explanation. Is there anything new at the Ohio State Medical School?

QC: We’re always tweaking the curriculum to help produce physicians who are ready to advance healthcare. We’re on the cusp of a new expansion with blueprints for a new hospital building and a health professions education building. And finally, we are continuing to leverage the fact that we have one of the most diverse medical student bodies in the country to enhance medical education and community outreach. In other words, we are continuing our forward progress.

Thank you for the opportunity to share some thoughts with you and your readers. Best wishes for a happy, healthy new year!

AD: Thank you, Dr. Capers. I look forward to talking again and trying the push-up challenge.

Thank you for taking the time to read this interview. If you’ve enjoyed this, you might also enjoy:

• Dr. Quinn Capers, IV discusses his path, #BlackMenInMedicine, and the present landscape of medical education
• The story of how I earned my STEM degree as a minority
• How my HBCU led me to my STEM career
• Researching your career revisited: Wisdom from a STEM professor at my HBCU
• A look at STEM: What is Pharmacology?
• A look at STEM: What is Toxicology?

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.

Why Your Business Will Benefit From Outsourcing

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. In order for your business to go to the next level, you may want to think about outsourcing. Not only can you leverage the skill sets of others in certain areas, but it can free you up to focus on other important tasks. The following contributed post is therefore entitled, Why Your Business Will Benefit From Outsourcing.

* * *

You’ve probably heard of outsourcing before and wondered why or how it can be useful for your business. Outsourcing is where you pay a freelancer or another business to help you with your business without the need to hire them full-time. So, here’s why your business will benefit from outsourcing.

Photo by Fancycrave.com from Pexels

Helps lighten the workload

If you’re running a business where you’re in charge of a large chunk of tasks, you’ll soon find (if you haven’t already) that you’re overrun with administrative tasks that although they are important, they simply aren’t a priority. Outsourcing in a situation like this will allow you to lighten part of your workload without having to hire someone full-time.

Peace of mind

There’s likely to be aspects of your business that if and when they go wrong, you wouldn’t know where to turn. Things like the toilet leaking or your computer systems breaking down could indeed, have a negative impact on your business. Did you know that you can get IT consulting for businesses, where they can come out when there’s an issue? Rather than hiring a full-time IT consultant you can have them ready and waiting. Also, you can eliminate the worry of ‘what if’ when you have companies like these lined up.

Cost-effective

We’ve mentioned a fair few times about the benefit of not having to hire someone full-time, and that’s exactly what makes outsourcing so cost-effective. Only paying for their services as and when you need them will save you plenty of money that you could be injecting back into your business.

Increased efficiency

While you may already have members of staff that could take on some of these tasks, will they be completed in good time? It’s likely that everyone in your team has enough tasks on their plate as it is, and that’s why outsourcing can help. The person or company that you choose will be able to complete your tasks and allow for better efficiency in your office.

Expert help

Finally, your team may be packed to the brim of intelligent and skilled people, but nobody knows everything. Outsourcing gives wiggle room for expert advice and help. So, if you’re outsourcing say, a web designer, they’ll be able to give their knowledge across so that you’re getting the most out of your money.

4 Reasons Why You Should Take Focus and Specificity Seriously in Your Life

The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success. One of the keys to being successful is focusing in your goal and not becoming distracted. Approaching your life with focus and specificity can all but ensure you success. The following contributed post is thus entitled, 4 Reasons Why You Should Take Focus and Specificity Seriously in Your Life.

* * *

Image via Pixabay

It’s generally pretty common for all of us — at least at certain times in our lives — to be somewhat chaotic, disorganised, and to lack specificity and focus as we go about fulfilling our day-to-day obligations and moving towards what we hope will be prosperous and meaningful futures.

While it’s understandable, however, to fall into this kind of pattern every once in a while for a limited amount of time, allowing yourself to go through life in a permanent haze of unfocused vagueness, can be absolutely devastating to your ability to live a fruitful, uplifting, and successful life.

If you listen to many of the more influential coaches, advisers, and commentators on personal and professional growth and success out there, you’ll find that there’s a commonly recurring theme that focus and specificity are essential to success and happiness alike.

Here are just a few reasons why you should take focus and specificity seriously in your life.

Often, being precise in how you handle matters can forestall later troubles and complications

It likely won’t take you too much time spent reflecting, to notice that there are just certain things in life which require a high degree of attention, specificity, focus, and care, in order to turn out right.

If, for example, you are installing a new complex network infrastructure at your workplace, failing to have a data cabling installation expert on hand to perform — or at least, oversee — the procedure, is likely to result in some pretty serious trouble if not immediately, then certainly a short way down the line.

When all is said and done, many of the problems that we encounter in our lives — including many of the most pressing and difficult to come to terms with — happen as the result of the fact that we failed to perform our due diligence at the onset of a given project.

In fact, the same is often even true of our interpersonal relationships. When marriages break down, for example, it very often happens as the final straw in a long and drawn out process, during which one or both parties failed to attentively and specifically address the issues that they saw arising in the relationship, when it would have been possible to handle them without them devolving into major crises.

Whenever you’re dealing with something that really matters — you should be as focused and specific as you can in handling it. That focus and precision can often forestall serious problems and complications down the line.

Time is limited, and to achieve meaningful things, it has to be leveraged effectively — therefore, failure to focus can have catastrophic consequences

It can be pretty disconcerting, to say the least, to reflect on your own mortality. And yet the hard reality of life is that life itself is finite, and we each only get a certain amount of time with which to do everything we want, forge meaningful relationships with other people, and leave something behind that we’re proud of.

Of course, it should go without saying that achieving meaningful things, and doing meaningful work, is difficult and requires a high degree of focus, specificity, and attention.

When you see people who are very successful in a given area of life, it is typically the case that they have been extremely focused and disciplined with their time, and have dedicated a major chunk of their waking hours to that particular field.

Allowing yourself to exist in a chronically chaotic and unfocused state, on the other hand, only means that your time, and your opportunities, disperse as a result, and that you end up with nothing meaningful to show for things as a result.

Of course, this is a nightmare scenario for most of us. So, for the sake of achieving something meaningful and uplifting with your life, it’s by far in your best interest that you leverage your time and energy effectively, and spend them on the things that matter most.

Being specific and precise in your words and in the formulation of your goals and intentions, can keep your actions in line with your true values

It would be difficult to convincingly argue that living with integrity isn’t one of the most — perhaps the very most — important thanks in life.

No matter what hardships you’re facing, or whatever other goals you may have, if you always abide by your own moral code and stay true to your values and principles, it’s possible to live life in a way that makes you proud of the person you are, and justifies and counterbalances the struggles in life, too.

On the other hand, people who betray their morals and principles for anything else, such as in order to make more money, are always figures of scorn and contempt for the rest of the world — and usually for themselves, too.

Of course, people often go against, or at least fail to live up to, their own values, not due to conscious choice so much as the fact that they just weren’t thinking very clearly about things.

If you always put an emphasis on being specific and precise in your words and in the formulation of your goals and intentions, you can exercise a much greater degree of consciousness over the way you’re conducting yourself through life, and can live with significantly more integrity as a result.

Specificity may force you into a more action-oriented mode of living, which in turn has various benefits

A lot of people are, so to speak, essentially addicted to abstract hypothesising on any number of different topics.

Sometimes this is conscious and intentional, but very often it’s just the consequence of failing to make coherent plans and to construct effective strategies for implementing those plans.

By always holding yourself to the principle of specificity, you are more likely to work through the details of your plans and goals in a systematic manner, and to turn them into things that can realistically be actioned.

The result of this — a more action-oriented mode of living — can, in turn, have various benefits, not least of all greater productivity.

The Benefits of Outsourcing For Your Small Business

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. When taking your business from the startup phase to the next stages of growth, it’s important to figure out which tasks you can still handle yourself, and what tasks make sense to outsource. The following contributed is thus entitled, The Benefits of Outsourcing For Your Small Business.

* * *

When you are starting up in business there will be many things that you will be looking at and need to take control with, as well as looking to keeps costs as low as possible. Of course, there will be some things that you do need to spend on regardless of cost, but there will be plenty of other things that you can be more frugal about. And saving in those early stages is such a good idea, simply because it help with cash flow, mean less interest or debt for your business, as well as give you some peace of mind.

One of the things that can cost a lot of money for your business, are employees. You as the owner may or may not have chosen to take a wage from the business. But there may be others working for you that will need just that. Plus, when you become an employer, there can be other things that you need to factor into your costing, such as insurance or pension contributions, depending on what the guidelines are where your business is. So how can you eliminate some of those costs? Of course, you need a team to help your business to grow, as you’ll be unlikely to be able to do it all yourself.

image

Outsourcing is something that is pretty big business at the moment, just because of the cost saving benefits. But it is also pretty big business because of the technology that we now have that makes this kind of remote working much easier. And as a result, it means that you are able to hire experts in their field to get the work done, regardless of where they are located. So outsourcing is something that can really help the cost of starting out.

An example, would be outsourcing something like your IT services. If you had to have a person or team dedicated to that, even though it may not be something that is relevant all of the time, then you will be paying them for when they don’t really have much work to do. But if you visit SimplyClouds, for example, it shows that you are just hiring the outsourcing IT team for the jobs that you need to have done (like setting up the cloud or using backup IT services). So in those early days when things are tight, outsourcing really is a great way to go. It can take a little time to find the right people and set it all up, but once you have done so, it can mean there are there to call on when you need them.

As the business owner it is your job to make sure that you are doing the things that can help your business to grow. And outsourcing is a great way to do just that, as it means you don’t have to be doing the smaller day to day to jobs. They still need to be done, and it is important that they get done. But as the business owner, the core focus of the business is what you should be spending your time doing.

4 Reasons You Should Invest In PR As A Business Owner

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Depending upon the type of business you’re running, Public Relations (PR) can be critical in terms of your perception by the community in numerous instances. The following contributed post is therefore entitled, 4 Reasons You Should Invest In PR As A Business Owner.

* * *

If you’re thinking about the services that you need to arrange for your business, you shouldn’t forget about PR. As you’re probably aware, PR stands for public relations. This is an individual or typically a team of individuals who will liaise with the press. They will handle issues with presentation and make sure that your business brand is protected as much as possible. While some issues can not be avoided, if you have a strong PR team the impact can typically be limited dramatically. So, let’s look at some of the main issues that a PR team can help fix for you and why you should hire this service in your company.

Blue Diamond Image

Avoiding The Wrong Side Of The Media

Have you heard the saying that there’s is absolutely no such thing as bad publicity? In the business world, this just isn’t always true. There are plenty of times where bad publicity will damage your business and hurt sales. Examples of this include the Weinstein Scandal. The scandal here was catastrophic and so detrimental that eventually the business had to be liquidated, even with the main CEO stepping down.

While a PR team can’t completely dodge issues like this, they can make sure that similar problems don’t kill your business stone dead. Instead, they will be able possibly spin the story, diverting blame or even distracting the headlines. This is incredibly useful if negative content is being published around your business.

Another scandal that might cause issues is a death in your company. During this time, family members rightfully seek out justice for the wrongful death victim. Negative publicity is a given but with PR you can show that your company is firmly on the side of ensuring that justice does prevail and accountability is accepted.

Handling Poor Reviews

It’s not just about scandals either. It’s again worth looking at the film industry to understand how PR can help with poor views. If a film is reviewed poorly, a PR team is tasked with focusing and emphasizing any positive reviews that exist. You see this all the time. A film can perform horrifically with critics and yet still receive a critics promo with positive reviews for broadcast and ads.

With a PR team poor reviews won’t impact sales and can be handled effectively.

Free Publicity

Beyond damage control, you should also see the press as a fantastic opportunity. It’s important that if you can you make sure the media is writing about your business. A PR team can help you do this, creating stories and context that the press will focus on. Ultimately, they’ll keep your business in the spotlight and guarantee that people are always seeing your name.

Getting The Word Out

Last but not least a PR team will act as a speakerphone for your business. Messages and goals or updates will be professionally broadcast and delivered to various news sources. They’ll make sure that any big announcements from your business do get the attention that they deserve or indeed, require.

Free Publicity

Getting The Word Out

Is American Democracy Really Under Threat?

A key focus of my blog is current events. There is some talk that democracy is under threat in the United States. Some would attribute this to ‘voter fraud’, while others would attribute it to tampering from other countries. The following contributed post discusses some issues with the voting process and is entitled, Is American Democracy Really Under Threat?

* * *

Voter fraud is a hot button issue at the moment and there are a lot of accusations flying around. In October of last year, a bus full of minority voters in Georgia on their way to the polling station was ordered to stop and they were not allowed to vote. The official reasoning was that the people on the bus were engaged in barred political activity. Unfortunately, this isn’t a one off and there were actually a total of 53,000 people that had their applications for registration denied for very minor reasons, like the information being slightly different from their driver’s license or registration forms. Most of the people that were barred from voting were minorities which sparked a lot of accusations about unfair treatment on the part of the Republican Party.

Statue Of Liberty New York United States Sunset

Maxpixel

This isn’t just happening in Georgia either and if it is allowed to continue, it has far reaching effects on democracy. The Republican party have defended their decision stating that it is necessary to have the power to stop people from voting to combat voter fraud. Critics of the Republican Party point to a long standing tradition in history of people in power trying to quell opposition from expanding voter groups by using accusations of voter fraud as a way of stopping them from voting entirely.

There have also been accusations about tampering with votes and trying to influence recent elections. Trump has come under fire over links with Russia and evidence that they used social media to boost support for him during the presidential election. Bush came under fire when he was elected when there were accusations of vote tampering and vote theft in Florida. In the end, it was not a recount that settled the argument. Instead, it was decided by a partisan split in the Supreme Court. These are all worrying accusations and a lot of people are starting to question whether American democracy is really functioning properly and whether the people actually have control over who is in power. But is democracy really under threat and is voter fraud a legitimate concern?

The issue of electronic voting has been called into question in recent years due to fears of cyber security problems. It’s a well known fact that some of the largest organizations in the world, like the FBI, can be vulnerable to online hacking attacks, so surely an electronic voting system isn’t completely safe? The FBI has already reported breaches that released registration details of voters in Arizona and Illinois, but what about direct attacks on the vote counting systems that would allow hackers to change the results of an election? The bad news is, there’s no clear answer here because the systems that are used are not uniform throughout the country. Each state and local authority chooses their own electronic voting system. Some, like the Smartmatic Electronic Voting Company have better security than others so it all depends on where you live and vote. However, there have not been any reported attacks that have changed the results of an election so far, but it is still a possibility.

In terms of other kinds of voter fraud, it’s incredibly rare. There have been a lot of studies by the National Republican Lawyers Association to look into this and see just how likely it is to happen and they only uncovered 332 cases between 1997 and 2011. When you consider how many millions of votes are cast in an election, you can’t consider voter fraud a huge danger.

However, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a threat to American democracy, it’s just not coming from voter fraud. The real threat comes from a low turnout. Only 38 percent of Americans voted in the 2014 midterms which means that there were millions of eligible voters that didn’t cast their vote. That means that the US ranks very low on the list of voter turnout and that’s a far bigger threat to democracy than voter fraud has ever been.

Turnout is low for a lot of different reasons. First off, the allegations of voter fraud that the Republican Party are using to stop people from voting are making harder for a lot of people to register so they’re simply not voting. The system, in general, is quite difficult because policymakers are yet to introduce same day registration and make the process a lot easier for everybody.

There are also problems with a lack of faith in government. Allegations of Russian collusion and a whole host of different conspiracy theories mean that a lot of people think that they’re completely powerless to change anything anyway so they don’t bother voting. Whatever the situation, that’s not true.

American democracy may well be under threat but it’s not from voter fraud, it’s from low turnout. So, always make sure that you get out and vote.

Give Back and Gain Loyalty: How to Get Your Small Business Involved in the Local Community

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. One way to strengthen your business enterprise, is to strengthen its ties with the community. You can do this in numerous ways. The following contributed post is therefore entitled, Give Back and Gain Loyalty: How to Get Your Small Involved in the Local.

* * *

It is common sense to all that small businesses are the economic backbone of our local communities. These small businesses from local accountants, florists, and coffee shops will create new jobs for the community, as well provide the services that the community needs. Many like to shop local to support, so there is still a need for these kinds of businesses. Small businesses play a large role in the country too, with it being reported that over half of citizens work for or own a small business. But as a small business owner, you can really make the most of the community where your business is placed; giving back can boost your business as you gain loyal fans and customers.

If you want to get your small business involved with the local community, then what are the best ways to do just that? Here are some ideas and tips to help. It is a practice that is definitely worth it.

image

• Local Expertise

If you are known in the community for your skills, whether that be an account or a hairdresser, then people will come to you with their questions (like tax advice or hairstyles). So being able to establish yourself as a local expert can really be a good idea. Get involved with local groups on www.Facebook.com, go to community events, write for local newspapers or media, and show your expertise in those ways.

• Support Charity

If there are some local charities that are doing great things or that are a cause close to your heart, then why not get involved and support them? It could be something as simple as donating a certain percentage of profits to the organization, or helping to arrange events or fundraisers for the charity. It gets your business name out there and show you’re doing good, as well as those local people within the charity knowing all that you do, and then being more likely to come for you when they need the services of your business.

• Sports Teams

From children’s soccer teams to high school football, sports in the local areas is what helps bring people together. If your business is able to be a part of that, then it can only be a good thing. Think about sponsorship for a sports team perhaps or donating things for where they play, such as display bricks from www.brickmarkers.com, for example. Getting involved in the best way that you see fit can help to expose your business to local people on a regular basis.

• Local Schools

No doubt there is some kind of school in your local community, whether that be a nursery school to a high school. They will always be looking for help with things, as well as donations to fundraisers. If you are a local builder or decorator, for example, you could help the school with a project to clear up the play area or painting the walls. Being seen out there doing good in their local community is such a great thing for a small business to be doing.

Presenting The Best Of Your Business

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Part of the success of your business will be impacted by how people perceive it. As such you must consider how it comes across to the others. The following contributed post is thus entitled, Presenting The Best Of Your Business.

* * *

Pexels

Presenting the best of your business isn’t always as guaranteed as some people might like to make out. It can take time, dedication, and error in order to learn how your business should present itself. What might work for you might not work for another business and vice versa, despite you both selling extremely similar products at an extremely similar price point. Businesses don’t live and die by their presentation, but that doesn’t mean they can’t necessarily struggle or flourish because of it. Presenting the best of your business is often something that gives you room to grow, room to attract an audience, and a pride in that which you offer.

There is no shame in refining your strategy and learning as much as you can to find where the sweet spot lies. Nor is there a shame in rebranding if you think you’ve gotten things wrong. There are a range of benefits you might consider when dealing with this mindset, so be sure to allow our advice to help you get there:

Focus Groups

Focus groups can help you refine your product over and over again, or perhaps gain a deeper understanding of how your business is perceived. It is extremely important to get this outsider perspective, even if you decide not to act on the information you gain. Figuring out how your branding works on a random sample size of people, or how your product is used, or exactly if your product would be necessary for them can help you redirect your understanding, help you develop a more cohesive idea of where in the market your product might work, and often help you learn things about yourself and your business that might have evaded you thus far.

This kind of raw, brutally honest feedback can often let you cut away some of the dead weight from your idea, but be sure not to give this feedback an unlimited amount of credence, because sometimes the public aren’t always completely understanding of what they want, especially when it comes to new innovation. That being said, focus groups are an essentially useful tool when hoping to present the best of your business in the future.

Visit An Expo

Expos can help you in a range of ways. Not only can they motivate you to express the absolute best of your business, and help you present that in a celebratory tone, but it helps you directly engage with those you may hope to sell to. With the use of a brilliant convention display, the willingness to enjoy a large, focused presentation effort, the potential growth of customer engagement, and the development of your best ideals, you can learn just how your branding, product and scriptwriting comes together to help your firm show itself as you had imagined it. This can not only help you learn more for future expos, but potentially begin to craft a customer base of loyal fans, that might take interest in your product for a good amount of time.

Metrics Of Success

Finding the metrics of success can help you try to repeat that which went very right, or reduce that which might have gone wrong. For example, considering the demographics of those who signed up for your Facebook promotions at the trade expo, or seeing who responds to customer feedback surveys, or considering just how many eyes your social media marketing has reached (but most importantly who engaged with the post) can help you understand a little more about that you’re offering. It can be quite interesting to see just how your product can become extremely important to a select community over time, and sometimes you may want to cater to that. For example, if someone shouts out your brand in a genre of music you might not have expected them to, you might redirect your future branding or marketing efforts to potentially capitalize on that fact, among a range of other things.

When Branding Works

It can be essential to figure out how your branding is perceived, so you can develop its presentation even further in the future. You might ask those who have never purchased your product what words come to mind when presented with your logo or simple name of your business, and if any of your advertisements, watched blind, motivates a purchase. You might try and find what social media posts worked where over others, and just what response you get from risky posts.

With these tips, you’ll learn how to present the best of your business as the years pass on.

How To Run Your Business On The Road

Three of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Money, and Technology. In today’s digital age, it’s now possible to conduct business on the road, free of any office or store front. While this provides many, many advantages you have to the systems to do it. The following contributed post is thus entitled, How To Run Your Business On The Road.

* * *

Image Credit

Whether you’re attracted to the idea of being a digital nomad full time or you just like to travel a lot and know that running an online business can actually allow you the freedom to travel all over the world as you please and still make money from your business at the same time, then you might be wondering how to get started with living such a lifestyle.

Of course, running a business is still going to be hard work no matter where you do it – of course nice beaches can certainly make it more enjoyable, so in this post we’re going to share with you some simple things you can start to implement that will allow you to run your business on the road.

Automate:

Even if you’re running your business from home, then you should still be looking at automating it as much as possible since this is what creates freedom for you and allows you to focus your time and energy on the things that you’re actually going to be seeing make an impact in your business, so using tools like schedulers as well as things like Zapier, and different apps that can work together to automate your systems and processes will really make a big difference and help you run your business on the road so that even if you’re not able to do things manually, they’re still getting done thanks to automation.

Create digital systems:

Having systems in your business is a must, however, if you run a business from home or use a physical office, then you can choose how to set up your systems and have them on paper if you want – although this isn’t recommended. However, if you want to run your business on the road and make your life easier, especially if you’re traveling around a lot between different countries, then you’re really going to want to go as digital as possible with your systems – unless you really do want to be carrying lots of notebooks and pieces of paper around with you between countries.

Use cloud storage:

Cloud Computing and storage systems are one of the best things you can start using for your business – no matter where you run it from, but if you run it on the road, then these are even more essential since they ensure that everything is backed up securely and that even if your computer was to be lost, stolen, or simply crashed on its own, that you’re not going to lose anything important, which is always a big risk when using non-cloud based systems that don’t back up and save automatically.

Sync your devices:

When traveling, it’s not always going to be convenient or possible to pull out your laptop and access something you need, so if you’re able to sync this to your phone, then you could start accessing things from there, which is going to make your life so much easier when running a business on the road or just when you’re unable to access your laptop.

Going Up In The World: Building A Multistory Office

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. At some point if and when you’re business becomes big enough, you may want to consider building your own office space. There are multiple steps involved which are discussed in the following contributed post which is entitled, Going Up In The World: Building A Multistory Office.

* * *

Image

If launching your own empire has been a dream of yours for some time now, and you have taken the time to save up and prepare for this feat, one of the things which can be amazing is to build an office for yourself this year. 2019 has the potential to be your best year yet and it can be an amazing year to spend building your business and soaring high above the competition. Today we are going to take a look at some of the steps you will need to take to build an amazing office building for your business.

Test the land

When you are searching for the ideal plot of land for your office building you will likely think a lot about the location and the budget you have. One thing you may not think about is contaminated land and your ability to build on it safely. It is crucial to make sure that you test the land to make sure the soil is safe and this will allow you to build on the land without any worries.

Lay a great foundation

Building an office which is tall and sturdy is always going to be a challenge and you will need to really think about the logistics of a crane hire company for the higher levels and the materials you use for the site. The first thing though is to make sure that your foundation is solid and perfect for the job. Your foundation is the most important part of the building process and you should take your time to ensure it is absolutely perfect to ensure a stable structure later on.

Create light for the space

When designing an office building with an architect at your disposal it can be helpful for you to think about light in the space. The natural light you get inside the office is super important and it will have an impact on the productivity of your workers. Be sure to add as much light as you can to the office and you can do this with floor to ceiling windows for the ultimate modern effect. The light will penetrate your space all day long and this can actually cut down your need for switching the lights on. This can be a huge help for you when you are trying to save money and grow as a business.

Add facilities

A kitchen, some bathrooms, a communal space, a games room… these are all options for things you can add to your office to make it feel like a well rounded and happy building for all involved. As much as you want your employees to work when they are in your office, you also want to make the office feel like a home. Add fun elements and quiet spaces for people to escape to and your workers will appreciate you for it. If you really want to, you can have a small bar in the basement which you can use at 4 pm on a Friday for happy hour!