Big Words start conversations and open doors to new places.
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.
Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. In 2021, many ‘creatives’ are launching their own podcasts and becoming good at it. As the old riddle says though, “It takes money to make money.” If you want to start a podcast a budget might be helpful for you. The following contributed post is entitled, How Creatives Can Launch a Podcast on a Budget.
It seems like everyone these days has a podcast. But if you take a look at some of the most popular podcasts, you’ll find that a lot of them are hosted by middle-aged white guys, often talking about true crime or occasionally other factual content. Fortunately, there is a more diverse range of podcast options out there, covering many different topics and hosted and produced by people from many different backgrounds. The great thing about podcasting is that it’s actually really easy to get into, even if finding your audience can take a while. Creatives can practically create a podcast for free, especially if you already have some of the necessary equipment.
Get Basic Equipment
There isn’t much that you’re going to need to get started with making a podcast. The most essential piece of equipment that you’ll need is a microphone or possible multiple microphones if you’re going to have several people on your podcast at once. Microphones are actually easy to pick up very cheap and can even give you a good quality recording without spending a lot. Of course, if you want better quality, you might need to spend just a little more money. However, it is a good investment.
Find Cheap Ways to Improve Sound Quality
Even if you have a cheap microphone, you can do some things to improve the sound quality of your podcast. One problem that you might have is popping from the microphone. You can buy a filter to stop this from happening, but there are also tutorials that show you how to make a DIY pop filter for your microphone. A DIY filter can be made for practically nothing, so there isn’t really any need to spend money on a professional filter if you don’t want to. Shielding your mic on all sides will help with the sound quality too.
You also need the right software to edit your podcast. You have a couple of free options that you can use, which will mean you don’t have to spend money on a software license or subscription. If you already have an Apple computer, you can use Garageband, which comes free on any Mac. Another option is Audacity, which you can use to record and edit your podcast, as well as export them when they’re finished. If you don’t have a Mac, this is a great free alternative for you to use.
Choose Free or Cheap Hosting
You need hosting for your podcast before you can put it on streaming sites, such as Spotify, iTunes, and Google Play. Podbean offers a free plan, which can be useful if you’re just getting started with your podcast, as well as a paid option if you want more storage, bandwidth, and stats. Other cheaper options are available, such as Libsyn. If you’re willing to spend a little more, Blubrry offers slightly more expensive monthly plans that come with plenty of features.
It’s easy to start a podcast without many resources. You just need to have a great idea and someone to host or appear on the podcast.
A key focus of my blog is Health/Wellness. All of us will at some point deal with some form of anxiety. If in fact you are stricken with it, one of the keys is knowing how to manage it. The following contributed post is entitled, How To Calm Anxiety.
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For people struggling with an anxiety disorder, it’s important to look into methods that can be used to help manage or reduce anxiety in the long term for better health, such as talk therapy or medication. Anxiety disorder or just worry, everyone can benefit from other methods of reducing stress and anxiety with lifestyle changes such as eating a well-balanced diet, limiting alcohol and caffeine, and taking time for yourself.
As well as these changes, there are steps you can take as soon as anxiety starts to take hold. Try these suggestions to relax your mind quickly and help you regain control of your thoughts.
Stay in your time zone
Anxiety is often worrying about the future. So instead of worrying about what’s going to happen, bring yourself back to the present. Ask yourself some simple questions; What’s happening right now? Am I safe? Is there something I need to do right now? If there’s not, block out some time to check in with yourself later in the day to come back to your worries so those distant scenarios don’t throw you off track, she says.
Relabel what’s happening
Panic attacks can make you feel like you’re having a heart attack. Remind yourself of what is actually happening, with phrases like, “I’m having a panic attack, but it’s harmless, it’s temporary, and there’s nothing I need to do”. Keep in mind that a panic attack is in fact the opposite of a sign of impending death. What’s happening is that your body is activating its fight-or-flight response, a system that is designed to keep you alive. CBD edibles could help you to lower your panic levels after a panic attack.
Fact-check your thoughts
People with anxiety often get stuck thinking about worst-case scenarios. To battle these worries, think about how realistic your worries are. For example, maybe you’re nervous about a presentation at work. Rather than tell yourself it will be a disaster, tell yourself that you’re nervous, but prepared. Getting into a pattern of rethinking your worries can help train your brain to think about rational ways to deal with your anxious concerns.
Breathe in and out
Deep breathing helps you to feel calm. You might know about specific breathing exercises, but you don’t need to worry about counting out a certain number of breaths in the midst of a panic. Instead, just concentrate on even breathing. This will help you to slow down and quiet your mind.
Follow the 3-3-3 rule
Name three things you can see around you. Next, name three sounds you can hear. Lastly, move three parts of your body, such as your ankle, fingers, or arm. Whenever you feel your brain running away with you, this clever trick can help to focus your mind, bringing you back from an anxious place.
Just do something
Take any action that will break your anxious train of thought, and do something else. Take a walk, make a cup of coffee, or tidy something.
Two focuses of my blog are General Education and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). While some students are going back to schools, many are still doing their schooling at home. In some instances, parents are challenged in terms of conducting science experiments at home with their students. The following guest post is entitled, Enjoy Science with the Kids and with STEM Activities.
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Everyone has had to adjust these days. Due to the extended quarantine measures against COVID-19, parents are working from home and so are the kids. It has been a year since the pandemic; by now, parents have somehow adjusted to holding school at home. But there are always new ways to liven up your kid’s in-home schooling experience.
To inspire creativity, parents are holding piano lesson instructions, scheduling reading time or coloring with the kids. But if you’re planning to hone their skills in science while tapping into their sense of wonder, integrate STEM into their program.
The integration of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) activities do more than hone the scientific and deductive skills of your child; it also promotes interactive and meaningful learning experiences for young children. STEM activities give your kids educational opportunities to solve problems, think creatively and discover the world on their own.
Make schooling more fun this year by incorporating the following STEM activities in their usual school day at home.
Build a Balance Scale
For this activity, you’ll need a plastic hanger, string and some cups. Create a hanging balance your children can use to experiment with weights. If you have older kids, have them build the balancing scale. Let the younger siblings watch.
To encourage interaction during the experiment, ask questions like “How many LEGOs does this doll weigh?” Add variety to the activity by sorting by materials or by shapes. If your children need to weigh items for their assignments, you can use this STEM project, too.
Create Craters
Take your child to space and still stay at home by making craters with flour, Play-Dough, weighted balls and rocks. Sphere up some Play-dough to represent the moon and add rocks to create craters. Explain that craters are the result of comets and asteroids. Invite your kids to make craters with the rocks and other materials on their moons.
For the younger kids, fill your sensory bin with flour and have them drop different sizes of balls into the bin to create craters. Compare the craters’ sizes.
Make Magnetic Slime
Children are all about slime. Also, homemade slime activities are staples for many teachers and parents looking a fun science experiment. This activity adds a dash of science by adding magnets and iron oxide power into the mix. To achieve the right slime consistency, you’ll have to add more liquid starch or glue. Once the starch is ready, you’ll need a strong magnet (preferably a neodymium magnet) to play with the slime.
This science experiment serves as a conversation starter for children who have questions about how magnets work.
Build Some Jellybeans
Introduce the kids to simple engineering with some jellybeans or large marshmallows and toothpicks. Connect the jelly beans and toothpicks and ask your child which of the shapes stack well, hold together or are more interesting to look at.
This activity serves as a simple introduction to the thought, technology and design behind structural engineering. Make it more interesting by challenging the kids to build a specific structure or their jellybean home.
Enjoy Explosions with a Lunar Volcano
Take kids to see some moon volcanoes by making your own. All you’ll need are baking soda, black paint, cookie sheets or trays, vinegar, and squeeze bottles. Mix the baking soda with black pain. You can also add some glitter. Spread the mixture on the cookie sheets or trays before filling the bottles with vinegar.
Next, have your child draw and make craters on the moon. During this experiment, explain to them how scientists believe that volcanoes erupted on the moon’s surface. Let the children create their eruptions by dropping vinegar into the craters. Discuss the chemical reaction with the kids after.
Pipe Cleaner Counting
For children who are just learning how to count, understanding the increase in numbers can be confusing. Simplify math with some help from beads and pipe cleaners. These items can help the kids learn how to count while visualizing how numbers increase in size.
Take small pieces of paper and label each pipe cleaner with a number. Next, have the kids arrange the pipe cleaners in order (from greatest to smallest or vice versa) while stringing the correct number of beads. To improve their memory, have them count aloud.
STEM Projects Liven Up School Days
Now that you have more ideas on simple STEM activities for children, you are well-equipped to help the kids explore science, technology, engineering and math. There are many other STEM activities available for all ages. So, have fun exploring with your kids at home!
Three focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, Home/Living Discussions and Technology. If you’re in the market for a home, you may want to consider a smart home. These homes have advantages over traditional homes. The following contributed post is entitled, Time To Buy A Smart Home?
The world of sustainability is racing forwards and when it comes to making a decision to buy property, it’s vital to ensure that you’re indeed finding a property that aligns with your morals and views. For example, you may wish to purchase a green zoned property. The way in which we adapt our homes and the places that we choose to live, may offer us less or more opportunities.
Why choose a smart home?
A smart home goes from future to present. Today, when almost every home has a computer and a smartphone and technology is evolving, it is a mistake to design a home that is not at least part of it is a smart home. Changing the infrastructure is so complex that in fact a house that was not designed with infrastructure for a smart home will need a major change total electrical overhaul to comply with new standards and to be able to implement all the new tricks. However at some point, it is likely that you will have to make the shift and change a few aspects of your home to keep up to modern standards. So even if you are not making a smart home now, it is advisable to prepare a suitable infrastructure.
Smart electricity is a system for command and control of electrical systems through dedicated controllers with a user-friendly interface. It may be run purely through solar power too, which is a modern concept that is still in its infancy in many ways. A smart home allows deep control over all home systems, washing machine, air conditioner, heater, electric gate, alarm and almost everything else. Even temperature sensors! Imagine that you can program your home so that the stereo system will turn on in the morning and the boiler will turn on and off at another time – you can even have the washing machine set on a timer! With the right design of the system you can achieve almost anything that the imagination can think of.
Higher efficiency
When the house is run smart the savings will be noticeable every two months in the monthly bills. This is beyond raising the standard of living and quality of life in the home. Smart homes will greatly increase the value of your home too which is what makes this worth the investment. The market is saturated with multi-application and user-friendly smart electrical equipment but when done properly, you can look at a major increase in value. Precisely because of this it is important to note that a smart home should be well designed and not rushed in any way. Do not be tempted to entrust such an important subject without a professional who understands this designing your home and electrical systems. Some homes today are being pre-built to these high standards but most people are adapting their homes themselves. If you’re considering buying a smart home, be sure that it is everything that you need and still be sure to do independent checks.
A key focus of my blog is Health/Wellness. Something many people struggle with is self-esteem and body image. There are reasons for this, but the key is finding your comfortability. The following contributed post is entitled, Improve your Body Image and Rocket your Confidence with These Guide.
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Body confidence can be tough to say the least. It’s safe to say that we now live in a world where you are constantly being told that you are not good enough. It may be that you don’t have washboard abs or a defined jawline, and with the rise of social media, it’s becoming more evident that this is having a huge impact on your confidence in general. If you are sick of this and want to make a positive change, then now is the time to take that next step.
Accepting Yourself
You have to make sure that you focus on your values as well as your morals. You have to think about how you treat people, and you also need to look at how you treat yourself as well. Self-acceptance really is the best gift that you can give yourself. If you can, you need to make sure that you are comfortable in your own skin. If you can get to this point, then you will soon find that you experience liberation as well as a complete life transformation. If you believe that this is possible for you, and if you are ready to accept this, then the only thing that you need to do is take a look below.
The main thing that you need to do is stop looking at other bodies. This is absolutely pointless, and it won’t do you any favours. You have very different DNA to every single person out there, and you also work in a different environment. You are never going to look like everyone else because if you did, then you wouldn’t be unique. Stop the comparison, and also make sure that you embrace how you really are.
Recognise Social Media
This cannot be stressed enough. Every image that you see on social media is most likely retouched or even filtered. The person in the photo probably doesn’t look anything like the person in real-life. You have to try and stop comparing, and you also need to make sure that you really focus on being who you are, which is a genuine person.
Identify What you Love
Focus as much as you can on the positives and do away with the negatives. You also need to make sure that you focus on the good points about your body and not just the negatives. If you love your eyes, take note of this. If your hair is styled nicely on a particular day, take a selfie and appreciate your good points. This will help you to build the foundation for what will eventually become body confidence.
Focus on your Values
At the end of the day, focusing on your values will also help you to feel better about yourself. People will remember and respect you if you can do this, not to mention that it will help you to see past your body.
Diversify your Instagram
Unfollow anyone who may make you feel bad or anyone who makes you feel as though you have to be somebody else. Don’t worry at all about hurting people’s feelings. At the end of the day, your mental health should always be your priority, and you have to make sure that you give yourself the chance to be happy when on social media. If you have removed anyone who may be toxic, you then need to go ahead and follow a diverse range of people. The more bodies you see on social media, the more you will realise that not everyone is perfect and that you do have a place in this world.
Accept who you Are
Stop thinking about what you could be. It is time-consuming, and it will have a huge impact on your self-esteem too. You need to realise that you are truly good enough as you are, and if you can do this, you will be able to put negativity to one side for once.
Think about What Makes you Happy
Think about it, what makes you feel good about yourself? What makes you happy? Try and come up with a list of everything, as often as you can. If you love working out, write this down. If you want to make the most out of your workout routine, then remember that it’s more than possible for you to buy peptides online so that you can rocket your results without having to push harder or put yourself at risk of an injury.
Focus on What you Can do
A lot of people tend to focus on how their body looks, as opposed to what it can do. Forget about what it looks like. Instead, spend some time focusing on the amazing things that you can do. Think about how fast you can run, how you can lift or even how much power you have. If you don’t workout, then think about the skills your hands give you. How fast can you type? Can you crochet? What about gaming? Are you able to get a high score that beats most people? If so, you need to focus on the empowerment that this gives you, and you also need to think about everything you can achieve. Stop listening to yourself when your body is telling you that you cannot do things, and also make sure that you find a new respect for the body that you have.
Find out Who you Are
You are certainly not your body. At the end of the day, you are a person. Grab a pen and paper and write down everything that you are, whether you are a good friend, a mother, a whizz at maths or even if you have a great sense of humour. If you can come up with things like this, then you need to write everything down and then stick it somewhere you can feel good about yourself. You are truly a wonderful person, and the sooner you can see this, the better.
Don’t Focus on Numbers
Sure, it’s always good for you to be healthy, but at the end of the day, your mental health is important. If you know that the number on the scales is making you feel bad about yourself, then quit looking at them. You are far more than those numbers say, and if you want to improve your health, you can do so without looking at the scales themselves. You can run, walk, dance, eat well and go to the gym with your friends. If you can do this, then you can keep those bad feelings at bay. You can also begin to focus on the way that you feel when you do those activities, as opposed to the way that you feel when you look at the scales.
Be Kind to your Body
One way for you to greatly influence how good you feel about your body would be for you to start taking better care of it. You need to stop mistreating yourself by drinking too much or even by smoking. You also need to take the time out of your week to visit the spa. If this is not an option, then you can always run a bath, or you can pamper yourself by buying some nice nail varnish. If you can do this, then you will soon find that you are able to feel much better.
Dress Well
It’s very easy for you to hide a body that you don’t love in clothes that are drab. If you can, you need to throw open your doors and then pick out your most colourful and fun clothing items. Your body is unique at the end of the day, and you deserve to wear clothes that really do light up rooms. This may sound silly, but at the end of the day, the clothes that you wear can easily boost your general mood. If you dress confidently, this will help you to feel more confident in general. Wear whatever makes you smile when you look in the mirror.
Pose
It’s time for you to step in front of the camera and strike a pose. If you have low body confidence, then there’s a chance that you hate photographs. It doesn’t matter if you have rubbish clothes on or if you are not wearing make-up because you need to make the effort to be photographed more. Get in the family photos and jump in front of the camera on a night out. One day, when you are older, you will look back at these times and know how great they truly were. It will also help to give you a sense of youthfulness when you look back at them as well, so keep that in mind.
At the end of the day, it’s more than possible for you to really feel good about yourself when you follow this guide. If you need some more help, then it may be worth you hiring a personal trainer and a life coach, as they can guide you to more positivity on a mental and physical level.
A key focus of my blog is Health/Wellness. In modern times, dads and father figures aren’t always celebrated and if they are, they arguable aren’t celebrated enough. The following contributed post is entitled, Ways to Celebrate Dad.
No matter the time of the year, there is always a reason to celebrate your father. Between Father’s Day, other holidays, and his birthday, there are endless ways to show your dad how much you care about him. The most important thing to remember is to celebrate why your dad is special to you. This means focusing on what he likes, what you enjoy doing together, and things that remind you of him. Here are some ideas to help you get started if you are stuck.
Go on a Trip
If you have a favorite childhood trip you went on with your dad or someplace your dad has always wanted to visit, then you may want to consider going on a trip with your dad. This can be a great time to bond and spend time together and take a break from your busy lives.
You can go on a road trip to your destination to see more of the country and spend even more time together. Road trips are a great time to remember the past and talk about the future. If you don’t want to go on a location-specific trip, you can also plan a camping trip. If you and your dad enjoy the outdoors, then a camping trip can give you time to enjoy all the outdoor activities like hiking, boating, and fishing.
Support His Hobbies
It can also be a good idea to support your dad’s hobbies and do them with him. It can be a great way for him to teach you something new and for you to get to know him a little bit better. If he is into guns you can look into the top 5 rails for DPMS Oracle AR 15 and go shooting with him. If he is into animals, you can go horseback riding with him. If he is into cars, you can go to a car show or to a race. If he is into music you can go to a concert or a record store. The possibilities are endless, you are only limited by what you know about your dad and his hobbies.
Learn Something Together
Instead of supporting his own hobbies, you can always try a new hobby together. There are fun classes and workshops that you can go to in order to learn a new skill together. This new experience can work as a fun memory and give you more ideas of things you can do together in the future.
You can try fun things like martial arts, ax throwing, or learn to cook. Most cities have a variety of activities that you can go to in order to be exposed to new experiences and learn new skills. If you don’t want to learn a new skill, you can always just try something new. Try a museum you have never been to before. Or you can find a fun club that plays music you don’t normally listen to. Even if you don’t love it and never do it again, it is a fun experience that you get to share together and remember forever.
Two key focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Technology. An important part of understanding money is investing. Many investors now have their sites on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as lucrative investments to get into. The following contributed post is entitled, Why Is It So Easy To Make Mistakes When Investing In Bitcoin?
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Making money is challenging. If it was easy, everyone would be rich. The key is to search for value, and to be decisive when you find it. Otherwise, the opportunity will slip from your fingers. With Bitcoin, investors feel as if they have the value they have been looking for their entire lives. After all, the price value is currently at record highs.
However, it’s easy to make mistakes with cryptocurrencies, and errors lead to losses. Why are mistakes so common? It’s because investors fail to research the entire fund before channelling their money into trades. When it comes to crypto, the smallest detail can have the biggest impacts.
The ecological element of Bitcoin is a prime example. Most people don’t understand how damaging the process is, and how mining for Bitcoin can lead to energy wastage that’s akin to the usage of nations. A single dollar of Bitcoin is equal to 17 megajoules of energy, which is an incredible amount.
Unfortunately, investors don’t recognise the links between Bitcoin’s carbon footprint and the effects it has on their chances of success. For instance, as mining for coins gets tougher, the need for specialist equipment is vital if you’re going to find enough currency to make it worth your while. And, expert tools don’t come cheap.
Thankfully, you can learn more about the ecological effects of cryptocurrencies via the infographic below. By doing that, you’ll be more aware of the potential drawbacks of investment opportunities, meaning you should take fewer risks and make fewer errors.
A key focus of my blog is Health/Wellness. A significant number of posts on this platform involve money and business but arguably our most important resource is our personal health. The following contributed post is entitled, Boss Your Health in 2021 With These Awesome Tips.
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Taking charge of your well-being is essential for living a happy, healthy, and more fulfilled life, and this starts with your health. Many people are much more focused on mindfulness and a healthier way of life since the global pandemic hit, and this is a great opportunity for you to be able to make changes in your life that are going to help you come up with some excellent ways of improving health and wellness.
There are new fitness challenges you can take on, and plenty of dietary options to consider, but above all, this is about lifestyle changes. There are a lot of factors that are going to play a part in helping make the most of this right now, and you’re going to need to keep these in mind. Check out these epic tips to help you prioritise health and wellness as much as you can this year.
Fitness is a massive part of getting (and staying) healthy, and there are plenty of ways you can go about keeping fit in 2021. Of course, going to the gym may not be viable, due to things like lockdown restrictions, but you can always work out from home, and get out of the house to go running or cycling. Having some kind of fitness routine is really important when it comes to keeping fit, and this is essential for your physical and mental health.
Tackle Your Diet
But, as well as exercise, it is also important for you to make sure you think about the way you look after your body through dieting. You’ve got plenty to consider here, and there are a lot of elements that you should keep in mind. Changing your diet and thinking about what you’re putting into your body is really important, and you can do a lot to improve this.
Stocking Up
You should also think about stocking up on medical care products and equipment that can help to improve your life and enhance the process of getting healthier. Check out sites like PharmaMed where you can find a great selection of medical material to help improve your life and the way you look after yourself these days. This is definitely an important step in the process that will help you improve the way you do things.
Sleep Better
Making sure you sleep better is also a huge part of the process of improving health and well-being, and you need to make sure you get the right amount of sleep to allow you to function as well as you can. There are so many ideas that can play a part in helping with this, and it is essential that you get this right. Come up with a structured sleep routine to maximise the amount of rest you’re able to get.
There are a lot of key elements to think about when you are looking to improve health and wellness, and these are some of the things that you can use that will help you with this. There are a lot of ideas that play a part in helping with this, and you can use these ideas to help make better choices moving forward right now.
Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. While most people think that the most important part of your business is its profits, and important component is your business appeal. The following contributed post is entitled, 2 Easy Ways To Improve Your Business Appeal.
Attracting and keeping the right customers to your business requires more than having the best products or services. The aura that your business generates plays a significant role in determining your future business.
If your space is untidy and rugged, it is challenging to lure the appropriate long-term clients. Improve the way people see and their experience by using these three easy ways to boost your appeal.
Improve Internal Conditions
When your business lacks the proper internal atmosphere, it barely maintains a consistent consumer base. One day you may experience a surge in customers and during the others have a problem landing any.
Quickly resolve this problem by:
Conducting Repairs
It is not enough to have the right equipment for operations; you need to conduct frequent maintenance for optimum functioning.
For example, if your floors wear out, sourcing for epoxy installation helps keep your flooring fresh and robust.
Other essential components such as air conditioning contribute highly to improving your indoor conditions.
Automate
Automating some of your business functions goes a long way in promoting the right look for your business. Apart from turning your business into a fortress, technology also gives your customers the best impression of your commitment.
Successful automation always relies on:
● Having a goal ● Using the appropriate tools ● Prioritizing the essential tasks
Keep Employees Happy
Customers always spot unhappy and tired employees from a mile away. When your workers lack the proper motivation to work, internal operations may not operate normally, and buyers hate this.
Instead, keep your employees satisfied and working by listening to their grievances, interacting with them, and organizing outdoor team-building activities.
Clean the Outdoors
The front of your business premises needs the most work as this is where clients see first before venturing further.
An unkempt space is often a deal-breaker for many potential customers. No one wants to transact in a dirty and toxic environment.
Instead, make the effort of not only cleaning your outdoor but also sprucing it up and keeping it in the best possible conditions.
You can achieve this by:
Nurturing Plants
If your front yard lacks different plant species to beautify it, you’re missing out on business because of this. Besides having health benefits, plants give your landscape an aesthetic look that captivates the eye.
While you may not cultivate a garden, you should have container plants at the gate and flowers by the porch for the place to feel welcoming.
Maintaining the Driveway
When clients drive into a driveway full of potholes and dirt, it is difficult for them to come back again because they care for the vehicle’s welfare.
Ensure your driveway is in mint condition by covering up the holes and cleaning the entrance to the parking area. The path leading up to the door of your business should also be spotless.
Lighting
Apart from improving your business’s security, lights also beautify the landscape, making it attractive to clients at night.
Final Thoughts
For your business to have long-term success, you must make it as attractive as humanly possible. Without the proper appeal, no one will take notice of your small business. Instead of losing business, improve your business appeal using the above tips.
A key focus of my blog is General Education. Many students launch off into their educations eager to study one major, only to find that they want to study something else. Changing your major can have long last ramifications though. The following guest post is entitled, 4 Things to Consider Before Changing Your Major.
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You’ve taken STEM in senior high and fell in love with it, but now that you’re studying a hard science major in college, you’re thinking of shifting to something else, something that you know you truly want and would make you happier than your current major.
If you’re already decided that you want to pursue something else, congratulations. The hard part is over. However, there are still several things you should consider before rushing into the college secretary’s office. And putting more thought into these factors will help ensure that you’re making the right decision:
1. Timing
Most students can change their majors at any point in their college career, but it doesn’t always lead to making good use of one’s resources. For instance, if you’re thinking of changing your major in your third year, the huge changes in your academic plan may not be worth it. After all, you’re probably looking at adding four or more semesters of college, and that’s four more semesters of spending money on your education. Unless you’re made of money, changing your majors too late in your college career is not always a feasible option.
That said, switching to a new major is best done in your first or second year (but some students in their second year may still be hesitant to do so). If you’re already past this point but not changing your major is simply not an option, make sure that you know the implications–which brings us to our next points:
2. Financial needs
Like we said before, changing your major can mean extending your stay in college, which, of course, comes with more semesters’ worth of expenses. Even if you have a full-ride scholarship, you still have to spend money for your other necessities as a college student. And if you don’t have a scholarship, extending your stay also means paying for more years of tuition.
Be sure to mull over this particular factor, maybe even more than the others on this list. If you find the extra costs of staying a few more years is worth it, then, by all means, apply for that major change.
3. Future career options
Many students change their majors with the goal of improving their post-college opportunities. However, many of them do so with poorly informed decisions, and some don’t even know that they can get into their target industry without changing their majors to something else. If you don’t want to make the same mistake, do due diligence as early as now.
Attend career fairs, do online research, and interview professionals who are in the industry or field that you want to pursue in the future. Find out what kind of credentials you need to be able to put your foot in the door. With that, decide if you still need or want to change your major to pursue your future career. And if the answer is yes, you have to be a hundred percent sure that that career is the one you want.
Many college students don’t even know what kind of job they want to apply for after graduating. Hence, it’s always a good idea to start figuring out what you want as early as possible. In this way, you can better plan your academic route toward this future career, which can make it easier to jumpstart it after you graduate. However, remember to keep your options open; a lot can change before graduation, including your career goals.
4. Academic capabilities
Classes between two majors can have stark differences, which means the ease with which you breezed through the courses in your current major may not be present in the next. However, the opposite can also be true, and you may have an easier time with academics in your target major.
Either way, it is important to evaluate your academic capabilities before changing your major. If you’re not sure what skills or knowledge you need to complete the courses in the major that you want to shift to, you may want to take introductory or prerequisite courses in that major to gauge your academic capabilities–as well as the things you need to work on to be able to succeed in that major. If you find that it’s going to be more challenging than your current major, you have to steel yourself and perhaps rearrange your academic strategies before making the transition.
Changing your major in the middle of college can set you on a completely different path than the one you’re on now. That said, it’s only right that you think twice before making such a drastic change. So, if you’re thinking of shifting to a new major, these are the factors that you need to consider first.
