Category: Contributed Posts

3 Places Where Branding Really Matters

Two of the principles of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Properly branding your business is today’s world is critical to your success. As such it’s important to understand where to you place you branding so that it’s most effective. The following contributed post is entitled, 3 Places Where Branding Really Matters.

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In business, you of course need to make sure at all times that you are fully focused on your branding if you are to be successful. It is only with good branding that you can expect the business to be successful and to retain its reputation in the industry you are working in, so it is hugely important to make sure that you are focused on this as best as you can be. As it happens, there are a few places in particular where it turns out that branding is especially important, either because it is so powerful to utilize those places or because it is essential to use them for your business for some reason or another. In this post, we will take a look at some of these places where branding really matters, so that you can much more readily make the most of it.

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Your Offices

This is one that a lot of businesses fail to consider, and yet if you do it right it can be an especially powerful one that you might want to think about. Your offices offer you a wonderful chance to be able to utilize and promote your branding, and if you can make use of this you will find that it really does make a huge difference to your business’ chances of success overall. The best way to go about doing this is to obtain signage supplies from Eurotech and then get to work on building displays outside your offices with your business’ branding plastered all over them. This will ensure that you are able to much more easily brand your business, even if you feel that it might be challenging to get it right.

Social Media

It’s hard to think of marketing these days without focusing on social media to at least some degree. Your social media is likely to be important and central for many reasons, but one of the main ones is that it is where all the people are. So how your business appears there is very much how it appears in the minds of your customers and the public more generally. If you want to be able to make this work out okay, you need to ensure that you are branding well on social media. That will absolutely lead to a much more successful marketing venture in general, so it’s definitely worth the effort.

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Product Packaging

The packaging of your products is hugely important for many reasons, and one of the main ones is that it is actually a powerful opportunity for you to be able to advertise your wares and promote your business generally, as well as advertising the specific product itself of course. With the right product packaging, you can expect it to do wonders for your branding, so this is absolutely something that you are going to want to think about as best as you can. If you can get this right, you will find that you are going to be able to expect huge improvements generally.

5 Things To Be Sure Of As An Employer

The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success and a key focus is Career Discussions. As an employer, you often have competitors and have to make sure that you’re doing everything you can do to attract and retain quality employees. Failure to attract and retain the right employees will make the completion of your mission that much harder. The following contributed post is entitled, 5 Things To Be Sure Of As An Employer.

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When you’re an employer, there are many things that you have to consider. Sure, you have a business to run, but you also need to be certain that you’re following all of the right guidelines, and keeping your staff as happy as possible. Striking a balance here can be difficult, but there are some things that you should keep in mind if you want to be a great boss with a happy team of employees behind you. We’ve noted down 5 of them here.

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#1: That you pay well

One of the first things to be sure of as an employer is that you’re paying your staff at least the minimum wage. However, going above and beyond this will really help you to retain the right team members, and you’ll find that they have a lot more respect for you if you pay them a fair amount for what they’re doing. Lift them up, and you’ll find that they lift your company up as a result.

#2: That you look after health and safety risks

The health of your employees is integral to your business, and your staff should never feel like their safety is being compromised as a result of your laziness or lack of concern. Whether you’re keeping risks to a minimum or sharing information, for example, pages like what is an ankle sprain – and what should you know? you should be doing all that you can to make them feel safe.

#3: That you respect them

With great power comes great responsibility. That’s what Spider-Man said, anyway. And it’s true; if you let your status as a business owner get to your head and think that you can start disrespecting your staff as a result, then you’re not going to be very well-liked. Sure, you may not see this as a problem, but when your employees move to a company with a better boss, you’ll be sorry!

#4: That you door is open

Being approachable is also important if you want to have happy staff members, because you don’t want to end up with problems just because they feel that they can’t talk to you. Encourage them to bring new ideas to you, and make yourself as open and friendly as possible. This will help with any issues, but will also improve your business when you all work together in an open environment.

#5: That you don’t overload them

Sure, you hire your staff on the understanding that they’re going to do a certain amount of work for you. However, don’t overload them with tasks, and don’t make them work through lunch hours or demand excessive amounts of overtime. Your team are only human just like you are, and they don’t owe you a mental or physical burnout just because you want to get things done quicker!

So, if you want to be a great employer, then keep these 5 things in mind. You’ll have happy staff who are contributing amazing things to your company, and you’ll all benefit as a result!

4 Ways To Ensure Patient Safety In Your Medical Business

Three of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship and Health/Wellness. When working in patient care, you’re holding people’s lives in your hands. If and when your medical gets a reputation for being unsafe, it could be difficult to recover. The following contributed post is entitled, 4 Ways To Ensure Patient Safety In Your Medical Business.

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When you run a healthcare business, patients are literally putting their life in your hands in some cases. You have a responsibility to protect your patients, and if you don’t do that, your business is likely to fail. If patients are not safe in your practice and they experience complications with their treatment, that has a big impact on your business and you will struggle to find any new patients. If complications arise because of a mistake on your part, you could even end up in legal trouble. Patient safety should always be your first priority as a medical business, and you should do anything you can to improve it. These are some of the best ways that you can improve patient safety in your medical business.

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Work-Life Balance

Work-life balance is a big problem in most industries. People are working longer hours and increasingly taking their work home with them, and that means that a lot of people burn themselves out. It has a big impact on productivity, which is an issue for all businesses, but poor work-life balance can be dangerous in the medical industry. If you are going to keep patients safe, it’s important that you eliminate human error in your business, because that can lead to mistakes. When people are not getting enough rest, they will not have full concentration, and that can lead to some dangerous mistakes when working on patients. If you find that you are stretched, you may need to hire some more employees to ensure that people are not working long hours all the time.

Monitoring Systems

Investing in technology is vital to success in the medical business, but if you have a limited budget, you should direct it towards monitoring systems. If you invest in the right patient monitoring systems, like pulse oximeters (like these at Medtronic.com), temperature sensors, and heart rate monitors, it’s easier to manage patient care. You can monitor their condition in real time and ensure that they are seen to immediately if there is an issue.

Infection Control

Infection control is absolutely vital if you want to keep patients safe. When you have a lot of patients that are in a vulnerable state, infection can spread quickly and it can be incredibly dangerous. Basic precautions like hygiene are important, so make sure that you give your employees extensive training in this area. It’s also important that you are following proper procedure when sterilizing equipment and administering injections, so you can reduce the chance of blood infections.

Improve Communication

Miscommunication can be fatal in the healthcare business. If your employees are not communicating the needs of their patients to one another effectively, it’s so much easier for people to make mistakes and administer the wrong treatments. If symptoms are not communicated properly and records are not thorough, that could also lead to a misdiagnosis for patients. In some cases, giving the wrong treatment due to a misdiagnosis could be dangerous. That’s why it’s important that you find ways to improve communication and avoid these mistakes.

If you do not prioritize patient safety, you are putting lives at risk, so it’s important that you follow this advice and make sure that all of your patients are receiving the best possible care.

Keep Your Business Secure In 3 Simple Steps

Two of focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. One of your goals in running your business is to keep it secure. There are some simple steps you can take to do this. The following contributed post is entitled, Keep Your Business Secure In 3 Simple Steps.

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Keeping your business safe needs to be your number one priority, and if that is not the case right now, you need to make sure it is as soon as possible. If you don’t know how to do this, then you have come to the right place because we are going to be talking about three of the simple steps that you can take to keep your business secure. If you want to know more about this topic, keep reading down below.

Erase Your Non-Important Files

The first thing that we are going to suggest to you is that you erase any files that you no longer need whether they hold sensitive information or not. Erasing computers can be easy, here’s how with WipeDrive, so you don’t have to be worried about your business being at risk. If you get rid of the files, then there is nothing that anyone can do to your company as they won’t have the evidence or the data that they require. We suggest that you do this a few times per year so that you can be sure there is nothing on there that you wouldn’t want to get out to the public.

Invest In Anti-Virus Software

Something else that we highly recommend is that you invest in anti-virus software. Now, there are a number of places that you can purchase this from, and if you go online, you are going to find a list of the best antivirus softwares on the market right now to help you choose which one you are going to use to protect your company. If you make this investment, then your online presence is going to be far more secure, and you are at less risk of someone gaining access to your network remotely. If this happens, your network is going to be completely vulnerable to the whim of the attacker, and this is not something that you want to happen which is why it is so important that you take this precaution.

Hire Security

It is not just online that you need to be thinking of, you are going to need to protect your business premises. Security guards are going to be a good idea and having CCTV installed around the building is going to give you that extra layer of security. You don’t need to panic about the cost either as you need to treat this like it is an investment into your business, because at the end of the day, it is. You need to know that your business is secure no matter what the cost is. This isn’t a difficult process to do, you just need to make sure that anyone you hire is trained properly and knows what to do in case of an emergency.

We hope that you have found this article helpful, and now know how to keep your business secure in three simple steps. Put these steps into practice, and your business is going to be far safer for it both online and offline.

Everything a Small Business Owner Needs to Know About Shipping

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. If you’re creating a product for use by others, you must figure out how to ship it to your customers. Businesses which ship products to their customers must understand the most efficient ways to do it. The following contributed post is entitled, Everything a Small Business Owner Needs to Know About Shipping.

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Nowadays, it’s increasingly easy for businesses to engage with customers spread all across the country – or even all over the world. E Commerce is on the rise, which means customers don’t have to come into a brick and mortar store. Instead, they can just visit a website, place and order, and have the item sent to them in the comfort of their own homes. This is highly beneficial for small business owners. After all, it means more custom and more profit. But it does mean that you have a huge are you need to lay a lot of focus on – shipping. An effective shipping plan is essential to getting your products to your customer in good time and maintaining good customer bonds. So, here’s everything you need to know on the subject!

Packaging

You need to make sure that anything you send is correctly packaged. There are all sorts of packaging out there. From standard parcel paper and parcel tape to these polymer mailer bags here. All packaging should be secure and tightly taped together. This will prevent items falling out and you losing profit (and potentially a customer) in the process. Make sure that the recipient’s name and address can be clearly read – sometimes it’s better to print out labels than handwrite these details. You should also ensure a returns address is clearly visible on the back of the parcel. This will ensure the items make their way back to you if they do get lost in the post.

Different Shipping Methods

When you first start out, it’s highly likely that you’ll make use of your standard national postal service when it comes to sending goods to buyers. But as you grow and expand, you may find that you begin to cause queues in the post office as you’re trying to send too much. You will also end up spending more than necessary. At this point, you might want to consider using a courier. This service will be able to deliver larger numbers of items and at a lower cost.

Tracking

If you’re sending items of high value, it’s generally best to have some sort of tracking on them. This will ensure you know where the item is at all times and that you know if the customer has received it or not. Unfortunately, some people will pretend items haven’t arrived in order to request a refund. Tracking will let you see a signature of the recipient once they’ve received the item, meaning you needn’t worry about this sort of theft. It can also help to trace items that seem to be taking longer than expected. A tracking number gives customers peace of mind that their item is definitely on its way to them.

These are the bare basics of shipping for small business. But they’ll help to get you started out on the right foot. At the end of the day, shipping is something you’re likely to have to deal with at some point or another. So, it’s best to start familiarising yourself with the process as soon as possible!

3 Top Tips For Launching A Business in a Foreign Country

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Business takes place all around the world. In some instances businesses are based in specific countries but have operations all around the world. Expanding your operations overseas is a major step. The following contributed post is entitled, 3 Top Tips For Launching A Business in a Foreign Country.

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So business is booming and you think you’re ready to expand into a foreign market. Congratulations! Exciting and lucrative times lie ahead.

However, launching a business in another country is hard work and there are lots of things to consider before you take the plunge. You can expect it to be considerably tougher than getting set up at home, and certainly more time-consuming.

The good news is, with careful planning, some fantastic opportunities may be available to you. So check out the list below for some pointers.

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Patience and Planning

There’s no way around it – this is going to take time. Rushing the process is only going to cause problems later down the line.

So do your research, seek experienced counsel, and make considered decisions. Some countries are more welcoming than others to foreign start-ups moving in, and some even provide useful benefits for those that do.

New Zealand and Denmark have made the process of launching a business easy with their online registration procedures and pro-competition regulations.

Singapore has a super quick system for solving commercial disputes, something which can really slow down businesses in other countries. Whilst setting-up in a location like Mauritius can save you on tax – check out mauritius offshore company formation to see exactly how.

What is going to be essential for the success of your business abroad? And which locations will aid, rather than hinder this? Once you’ve picked a location, study the laws and requirements of that country thoroughly before laying the groundwork.

Consider the Political Climate

The laws, economies and business practices of any given country evolve over time. This is a given. But some areas have a more stable political history, providing a less risky prospect for your start-up.

You are making a long-term investment, so it’s essential you consider the political climate of the country you’re entering, as well as its history regarding taxation and asset seizure.

As a business owner in a foreign country, you don’t want to find your profits are being unexpectedly taxed, or that your assets are available to be seized because the political climate is spiraling into turmoil.

The key word here is ‘stability’. Read into the modern political history of your chosen country and be sure to exercise caution where necessary.

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Legal and Local Advice

When searching for a legal representative, the ideal candidate is an expat lawyer from your home country who has experience of the country you wish to set-up in, or better yet – someone who is currently living and working there.

This way you get the best of both worlds. A lawyer with the same cultural background who can clearly explain everything you need to know, who also has the knowledge and contacts to help you navigate a foreign environment.

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However, the sooner you start making your own connections locally, the better. Finding friendly business allies in the country where you plan to open your business will provide invaluable support and advice, and help you find solutions to problems you might not even be aware of yet.

And there we have it. There’s lots to consider when launching a business abroad so take your time and plan carefully. Use these tips to get you started and of course – best of luck!

3 Ways To Boost Your Chances Of Getting A Promotion

The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success and a key focus is Career Discussions. If your career choice has landed you in a government agency, private company or a non-profit, a key to your advancement is getting promoted. Some individuals get promoted while others don’t. What are some ways to get promoted? The following contributed post is entitled, 3 Ways To Boost Your Chances Of Getting A Promotion.

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It can be so frustrating when you keep getting passed over for promotions. If it happens once or twice, that might just be a bit of bad luck. But if you lose out to somebody else over and over again, you need to make some changes. It might just be that your boss isn’t treating you fairly and you should think about moving to another company where there are more opportunities. But sometimes, you might be missing out on promotions because you aren’t presenting yourself in the right way or you don’t have the right skills. The good news is, there are some simple things that you can do to improve your chances. These are the best ways to boost your chances of getting a promotion.

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Invest In Education

A lack of skills and experience may be the reason that you are not getting promotions. If there are other candidates that have a higher level of education than you, that might be the deciding factor when it comes to choosing, so you will miss out. But if you invest in your own education and personal development, you can pick up new skills and show your employer that you are willing to go the extra mile. There are some great online education and career training courses available in all sorts of different areas. You can take these online courses in your own time, and fit them around work, so when it comes time to promote somebody, you will be a more attractive prospect.

Be Confident

People are often overlooked because they are not confident and they don’t put themselves out there enough. Your employer won’t promote you if you don’t make it clear that you are looking for opportunities to progress. So many people are held back by their fears and it limits their career progression. If you are going to get anywhere, you need to let go of any self-doubt and be more confident in the workplace. You also need to make it clear to your boss that you want a promotion, otherwise, they might assume that you are happy where you are.

Take Initiative

Somebody that does the bare minimum is never going to get promoted because that is not what your boss is looking for. If you come in, do your job, and collect a paycheck without going above and beyond, you won’t even be considered for promotion. You need to demonstrate that you are capable of doing more than your current job requires of you, which is why you need to take the initiative sometimes. Look out for opportunities to improve processes and do things more efficiently at work, and try to take a leadership role and help out your colleagues with their work. If you can demonstrate that you have good ideas and you can be a good leader, you’re far more likely to be considered for senior roles.

If you want to climb the career ladder, you will have to put a lot of hard work in and be patient. But if you follow these tips, you can improve your chances.

Life After The Army: Now What?

The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success, and two key focuses of my blog are Career Discussions and Health/Wellness. Our Military Servicemen and Servicewomen have made the ultimate sacrifice for your country. While some decide to make a lifetime career our of military service, some come out early, and some even come out earlier than expected. For many the transition to civilian life is difficult. The following contributed post is entitled, Life After The Army: Now What?

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When people leave the army, they do so for various reasons. It might be down to a wish to return to civilian life. Or, it could be because of unforeseen circumstances, such as health problems. Whatever the reason in your case, you will no doubt be wondering what to do next.

For many veterans, it can feel alien going back to a civilian lifestyle; this rings true if they have devoted many years of their lives to the army. Still, one thing is for sure: there is a life after military service. If you’ve recently left the army, you may be wondering what’s in store for you as a civilian.

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Today’s handy article is by no means a “do this all right now” list. It’s a guide to give you some ideas of where you can go from here.

Register with Veterans Affairs (VA)

You might not realize it, but you could get practical support and financial help from the VA. There is help available with things like education, health care, and disability benefits.

All you need to do is contact your local VA office and ask for their requirements. You can check out their website at va.gov for more details.

Spend quality time with your family and friends

One of the downsides to being in the army is that you spent a long time away from your old civilian life. Now that you have come back to it, you should start reconnecting with everyone.

Make a conscious effort to spend time with those closest to you. Remember: you’ve got a lot of catching up to do!

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Look for employment

There is a vast choice of career options for you out there. You may not realize it, but you will have a lot of skills transferable into the civilian world!

Take a look at the Military Skills Translator over at military.com. You can use that as a guide to see what kinds of civilian jobs you could do.

Find somewhere to live

For the first time in a long while, you can now decide where you are going to live! As you can imagine, you have an almost limitless choice. You might even choose to move to another state or even another country!

If you’re thinking of buying a home, it’s worth speaking to a VA loan lender first. That way, you will know for sure what you can afford.

Update your wardrobe

There is no denying that you may be lacking somewhat in the clothing department. After all; you’ve only had to wear a uniform while you served in the army!

Now is the time to update your wardrobe. Remember: when you’re out looking for a new job, you need to dress for success. Invest in some suits and smart shoes. It will result in you looking AND feeling good too.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help

Last, but not least, if you need help adjusting to civilian life, or for anything else, don’t be shy. You are not an island – ask for help if you need it.

Good luck!

The Advantages of Building a Good Relationship With Other Businesses

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Business is a team sport. You’re far more likely to run a profitable business if you’re establishing relationships with other businesses versus doing it on your own. The following contributed post is entitled, The Advantages of Building a Good Relationship With Other Businesses.

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A good working relationship is always a huge positive when it comes to growing your company. Having friends in different industries and companies, especially if they can work together with you, will help your business grow faster and scale to greater heights. Unfortunately, building these relationships is difficult and it takes a lot of networking in order to get your foot into the door.

Building good relationships with other businesses means that you should be attending as many networking events and trade shows as possible. Handing out business cards, following-up on interactions and generally just being a helpful and approachable manager will go a long way. But what exactly are you aiming to do and what are the advantages of building a good relationship with other businesses?

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You’ll get professional assistance with things you aren’t familiar with

Whether it’s cybersecurity, networking or even construction, building a good relationship with other businesses will ensure that you get professional assistance with things you don’t completely understand. There are many advantages of having IT companies on your side and having legal professionals on your side is pretty much a no-brainer when it comes to building a successful company. Industry professionals are always capable of helping you grow your business with their advice and connections, hence the importance of developing good relationships with other businesses.

Superior service, better prices and exclusive discounts

Plenty of companies offer better pricing and exclusive discounts when you’ve built a good relationship with them. However, some companies like Ridge Concrete offer 24/7 delivery regardless of the size and time of the order, meaning that you don’t need to develop a strong relationship before you can start seeing benefits. Even so, building a good relationship with companies that are known for their customer service will just mean that they’re willing to go the extra mile when you need help.

This can mean 24/7 consultancy, advice and even recommendations for businesses that you wish to work with in the future. They may even offer bespoke services as long as you’re willing to describe the issue carefully and also offer a contract that is beneficial to them. In other words, the closer your relationship with another business, the more personalised the services will become.

Building a good relationship with other businesses

Now that we’ve explained some of the big advantages of building a good relationship with another business, here are a couple of suggestions on how you can do so.

• Reach out to different businesses and don’t be afraid to break the ice
• Always pay on time so that you don’t make things difficult for the other company
• Give other companies plenty of lead time to ensure that they can provide you with the services and products you need with minimal rush
• Don’t be afraid to talk more to other businesses, such as sharing industry information, visiting their offices in person or even inviting them to events hosted by your company

Looking After Your Intellectual Property

The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success. Two key focuses are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. In most businesses, the product being created or sold is some form of intellectual property. If you’ve created something, it’s important to consider how to protect it. The following contributed post is entitled, Looking After Your Intellectual Property.

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Whether you operate within a business or you are a freelancer of some sort, you are always going to have some kind of intellectual property, and that is something that you are going to want to protect as well as you possibly can. The truth is that looking after your intellectual property is something that you can be sure of as long as you are aware of what you need to do – and that is easier than you might think. Doing this will mean that you feel a lot safer in your business or personal endeavours, whichever it might be, and that you can expect for your ideas to remain yours in law. So what do you need to do to protect your intellectual property and look after it as well as possible?

Seek Advice

Although there are generally things which you can say for anything to do with intellectual property, it is also true that each case varies from the next. As such, any help you can get on a specific case is going to be very useful, so that is something that you might want to try and seek out as soon as you can for that reason. By seeking advice, you will know that you are doing everything you should be doing to protect yourself. So what advice should you look for? One of the best places to go is to IP consulting, as they are going to be able to inform you as to what you need to do and where your personal dangers are and so on. That will absolutely make a difference when it comes to taking care of your intellectual property in this way.

Remain Legal

It is hugely important that you make a point of remaining legal at all times. If you fail to do that, then it could mean that you struggle to actually get what you need out of the whole situation. It’s easy enough to remain legal, however, and mostly it amounts to not abusing others’ rights in the process. As long as the property is really yours, and you are not stealing from someone else, then you will find that there is no reason you can’t hope to protect it as well as you would want to. That is something that you should absolutely aim for if you are keen to keep on top of all this as best as you can.

Seek Protection

Finally, make sure that you seek protection from the law in whatever way you feel might be necessary. It varies hugely on how to do this depending on your property and what it is, but the main thing to be aware of is that anything you create which is original work is already copyrighted by law. If you want to protect something further, then you will need to look into what you need to do to make sure of that. Seek protection in whatever way you can, and you will find that it is going to make a huge difference.