Contributed Posts – Page 149 – The Big Words Blog Site

What Could Enhance Your Local Community

The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success. If you’re involved in your city’s urban planning, you want to figure out how to get the most out of your area for your residents and your community. Addressing a few areas can make more community a place everyone will want to move to. The following contributed post is entitled, What Could Enhance Your Local Community.

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When it comes to your local community, you may feel like you have a solid connection with it. It may have been a place that you grew up in, or somewhere that you have grown to love having recently moved into the area. However, is your local community thriving? More people are doing what they can to improve the areas they live, and because of that, it can benefit you in other ways such as an increase in property values. So what can you do to enhance your local community? Here are some of the best ways you can do it.

Image source – Pixabay – CC0 License

Add a golf course if you have the space

It is always going to be a good idea to encourage more recreational activities in your local area, and one of the ways you could do that is through opening up a golf course. It could be the type of golf course that has a clubhouse that can hold events, or just simple a recreational space that can be enjoyed by all. This is when you may need the help of experts in Golf Course Building Consultation to help come up with a plan and make sure that things are on the right path. This could be a great way to help encourage more activity in the community and give the local people lots more options.

Make fitness a focus

Fitness is really important for people to enjoy a healthy lifestyle, but often the worry of costs of gym membership can be too much. So this could be a great opportunity for the community to make fitness more of a focus. This could be easily done through things such as adding free equipment in the parks. They can be easy to install and makes fitness available for the masses. Then there is the introduction of bike lanes and pathways for runners. This encourages more people to feel confident in getting out and enjoying activities like this without the worry of getting in peoples way.

Encourage small businesses to thrive

The heart of the community is the small businesses and the shops that line the high street and the local area, and these are often the things that suffer within the community when things are not going the right way. The way that people can support their community is to shop locally and support the local businesses in the area. This can help them to thrive, and it can also help you to make the most of what you have on your doorstep.

Create local events all can get involved in

Finally, the last thing to consider doing would be to organise local events. This could be ones that have a family focus, or ones that are specific for businesses to get involved in. It brings people together and it can also be the perfect way to boost the economy in the area and make it thrive.

Let’s hope that these tips help you to encourage more people to enhance the local community in different ways.

Making Your Business Future Proof With The Cloud

Three of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship and Technology. Inventions such as the cloud have changed the world and how business is done. There are certain protections that the cloud can provide. The following contributed post is entitled, Making Your Business Future Proof With The Cloud.

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When you’re just starting up and getting your team together, chances are you saw yourself working in a bright, airy office with plenty of natural light, the latest technology and perhaps even a handful of office plants to add that green touch.

The problem is that office space is expensive, technology is expensive and the plants need a lot of maintenance. While working together certainly adds to a sense of team cohesion, it might not be the only solution for collaborative working.

In this blog, we take a closer look at what it means for teams to work remotely using the latest Cloud-based technology, of which you’ll find more information on this website.

Staff First

As the boss you know that your staff are your greatest asset and finding fresh new ways to motivate them and boost productivity is an on-going challenge.

But rather than relying on gimmicks to keep them interested, take a look at what your staff value best. Chances are that a good balance between working and home life is going to come close to the top, if not top every single time.

It’s a brave move but why not give them that choice? Remote working is proven to be an option that enhances the lives of employees. It gives them more control over their working hours, it gives them the chance to balance family life around their job and spend more time with the people they love and care about. It also motivates them and pushes up productivity.

Image courtesy of Pixabay: CC0 licence

Money Second

It also saves you money. That beautiful office and all its associated costs and technology can disappear. The daily commute in whether on public transport or in the car goes away, helping your pocket and the environment. It’s a win-win in so many ways.

You probably will still want to meet with staff every now and again and there are options for this with co-working spaces and the chance to hire out meeting rooms on an ad hoc basis.

Your Security

It will have crossed your mind that Cloud-based working might not be the safest way of sharing and storing files but a lot has changed since this concept first started. Today’s Cloud services are fully managed and secure.

It will rely on your staff avoiding the use of open networks and sticking to password protected options but that doesn’t mean you should encounter any problems. On managed sites help is just a phone call or an email away, so any routine glitches should be sorted out quickly and easily.

Put your trust in the Cloud and take a chance on a new way of working that will save you money, inspire your staff and ultimately make you more efficient. Do your research and find a Cloud service provider that offers you great value for money and ticks all the right boxes when it comes to making your business future proof. Your wallet, your staff and your customers will all thank you for it.

How SEO Blog Posts Can Increase Profit

Four of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship, Blogging/Writing and Technology. The advent of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has a created a new way of doing business for those involved. If you’re strictly writing for the love of it, or to increase your business, there are some keys to SEO. The following contributed post is entitled, How SEO Blog Posts Can Increase Profit.

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The power of words is often overlooked and relatively neglected by small businesses that are just starting out. Of course, the quality of the product or service you’re selling needs to be top notch – you need to have something that proves itself worth your customers’ financial investment. However, if you’re going to sell your goods and services in the first place, you’re going to have to use carefully crafted words to get there.

Words can play a major role in any sale. From effective product descriptions to catchy product names. But this isn’t the sole role of words in marketing. You can also use words to encourage people to visit your website and become exposed to your goods in the first place. This process is often referred to as SEO.

SEO stands for search engine optimisation. It involves using words on your webpage that not only offer human value (introducing people to what you have on offer and why they should buy it), but also search engine value. You want your website to appear as highly in search engine results as possible. The best way to go about this? Using carefully chosen keywords in SEO based blog posts.

The infographic by rankfire.agency below should help to introduce you to this concept and help you start crafting your own high-quality SEO blog posts before you know it! This could all aid sales and boost overall profits!

Infographic Design By rankfire.agency

Getting Your Brand Out There: Tips For Small Start-ups

Two of the focuses of my are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Your brand is how the public gets to know your business. It’s like wise to get it out there circulating as often and as effectively as possible. The following contributed post is entitled, Getting Your Brand Out There: Tips For Small Start-ups.

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Image Credit Pixabay.com License CC0
When you are starting your business, nobody will know who you are, or what you do. Creating the kind of brand recognition that you will need to be a success will take a great deal of time and effort. However, this is an area of your start-up planning that you cannot afford to overlook.

Understanding what your brand is yourself is the first step in communicating this to other people. Figure this out as early as possible. Work out what exactly you want to offer the world, and how you will go about it. Identify the core goals that are of significance to your company and create a mission statement that owns those values.

There are several ways of building a brand, and if you have a great deal of start-up capital, you can invest in the services of a branding specialist. However, for many companies who are in their earliest stages, this may not be financially viable. Here are a few ways that you can increase the awareness of your brand from day one, without having breaking the bank.

Brand All Company Vehicles

If you have any vehicles that are used by the company, you could look at getting branded vinyl with your company logo on them. Using the services of Lucent Graphic Solutions, you could create some stand-out graphics that will really get your name out there on the street.

This obviously will only have a limited reach, unless you have a large fleet of vehicles. But it does, however, create a sense of professionalism about your company.

Use Social Media To Full Effect

Harnessing the power of social media need not be expensive. You can go down the route of using sponsored posts, but there is no substitute for building up a reputation through engaging with followers and building up brand recognition with regular posts.

Social networking is now quite a broad church, and you may want to look at gaining exposure on a number of platforms. Create a professional profile on the sites that offer the best return for your demographic. If you want to capture the attention of a younger audience, you may want to look at Instagram and Snapchat. Whereas, if your appeal is wider, Facebook might be a good option.

Understanding your audience will allow you to create posts that are likely to appeal. And if you can elicit a reaction, then this will widen your audience through likes, comments, and shares. Be sure and build up a relationship with your following by replying to messages and comments, And remember, to always stay on brand with everything that you post online.

Sponsor Events

Offering up prizes in events is a good way of getting your name out there. If you can provide something worthwhile and desirable, then this will help you stand out even more. You need not spend too much, but the synergy of getting involved with causes that you put value in can do your brand a world of good.

Pruning Your Own Business Operations Leads To Efficiency

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. One of the keys to your business thriving over time is keeping all aspects of its operations as efficient as possible. In order to build and maintain efficiencies in may involve pruning certain aspects of its operations. The following contributed post is entitled, Pruning Your Own Business Operations Leads To Efficiency.

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Image Pixabay License CC0

The day that you started your business, your goals were clear. You knew how you would make your money, and you knew all about the type of service and products that you had chosen to delivery. Your ideals were fully intact, and you knew where you were going.

Over time, when you are starting in business, you will meet a significant number of hurdles that you will have to face. These may require you to add more strings to your bow and undertake more tasks to support the operational functions of the business. Pretty soon, your business will need to consider areas such as day-to-day record keeping, IT support, payroll, recruitment and HR, logistics, warehousing, and building maintenance. The escalating costs and drain on your time and resources can be immense.

Farm Out Your Workload

Having all of these functions in-house requires you to have a full set of policies and procedures to govern each business function. You may be required to meet strict regulations, and this will mean additional training for you and your team.

However, there is an alternative to managing these areas of your business in-house. By outsourcing as many aspects of your day-to-day operations to other companies, you could save yourself the need to spend time on them.

For example, you could use a company such as Hudson Valley IT Services to provide support for your technological requirements. You will get access to a high level of experience through a well-trained team. You would be able to take advantage of systems and software that may not have been within your scope if you were to run these functions in-house. You will do this without the need to regulate or manage the team responsible for delivering it. You will be the end-user, and as such, enjoy the benefits that come with being the customer.

Streamline Your Functions

Another way that you could address the level of commitment that you are showing to your primary business aims is to undertake a full review of how and why you do everything in your operation. Often, over time, the reason that tasks are carried out is lost. You may be handling or processing data that is not useful to you. All of these things can multiply and mean that a great deal of time and money is being wasted. All of this detracts from your business aims, and ultimately from your bottom line.
Spending time refocusing and retraining your team, you can bring these areas of concern under control. You should create a culture where the only work that is carried out is designed to meet a company objective. If there is no return on your investment in an aspect of the business, then you should remove it.

Hold Yourself To Account
As well as reviewing the practices of your team, if you are to be a great and successful business leader, you need to consider the way that you go about business too. If you are not focused on delivering the services that you set out to, then you are failing. By redressing this balance, and continuing to review your performance, you may well find the route to true success.

Tips that will Help you to Effectively Market your Small Business Website

Three of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship and Technology. A key aspect of successfully running a business is its marketing much of which today is done using websites. Successfully marketing, in this case using websites is often what separates the businesses that survive from those that perish. The following contributed post is entitled, Tips that will Help you to Effectively Market your Small Business Website.

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Marketing can be complicated, after all, you have to think about your target audience, your website, and even your budget. Luckily, there are ways for you to try and simplify the process and if you take the below tips into account, then you’ll soon find that it’s easier than ever for you to drive results.

Focus on Lead Generation

Every single page on your site should be focused on capturing new leads. It’s important that you have a newsletter and that you also offer great content. This will help you to obtain the name and email address of anyone who accesses your site, and it will also give you way more opportunities to convert too.

Source: Pexels (CC0 License)

Cart Abandonment

Cart abandonment is very common in the world of eCommerce. If you want to make the most out of your site, then you have to send out emails whenever someone leaves something in their basket. You could offer them a discount code if they checkout within the next hour or you could simply remind them that they never completed their purchase. Little things like this will help you to stay connected to your customers and it also keeps that open line of communication too.

Blog Frequently

Blogging is a fantastic way for you to market your business. Your prospective customers use Google every single day to try and find what they want, and if you have a blog then you increase your chances of being found. If you’re stuck when it comes to blogging or if you just don’t know what to say then consider researching your competitors, or even post about any industry changes that are happening right now. Little things like this can go a long way and it will also make it way easier for you to establish an online presence.

Invest in the Right SEO

There are plenty of SEO techniques out there that will actually do your site more harm than good. If you invest in the wrong techniques, then this will make your site less reputable and it will also give your customers a bad impression too. If you want to get around this, you need to hire a quality SEO firm. It also helps to make sure that they are experienced in your website niche too. For example, if you have a marijuana site, then it may be worth checking out: https://www.marijuanaseo.com/best-marijuana-packaging-businesses/.

Build an Active Presence

If your prospective aren’t using Google, then they are most certainly using social media sites such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and even Facebook. If you want your site to be successful, then you have to make sure that you have a presence on at least 3 of these sites. If you don’t then you could be limiting your own success and you may even find that you are not able to get the leads you need. If you’re not quite sure how to post to social media efficiently then there are plenty of marketing companies out there who can help.

3 Medical Careers For People That Don’t Want To Be Doctors

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“Some people also feel that they cannot handle the stress and long hours of being a doctor or a nurse. But those aren’t the only jobs in the medical industry, it takes a lot of different skills to keep a hospital running.”

Buffer

Three of the focuses of my blog are Career Discussion, General Education and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). Many individuals don’t understand the multiple career paths they can go into beside becoming a medical doctor. There are actually quite a few options for medical careers. The following contributed post is entitled, 3 Medical Careers For People That Don’t Want To Be Doctors.

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Working in the medical industry is an incredibly rewarding career choice because you get the chance to care for people and improve their lives on a daily basis. But a lot of people are put off pursuing a career in health because they think that it means having to do the training necessary to become a doctor.

Some people also feel that they cannot handle the stress and long hours of being a doctor or a nurse. But those aren’t the only jobs in the medical industry, it takes a lot of different skills to keep a hospital running. There are so many great medical careers that most that you might not even know about and some of them might be perfect for you. What you need right now is research. You need research, and you need to determine where you’d want to work even if you did find a career in the healthcare industry that suited you. If you’ve worked in a caring capacity before, there’s every chance you’ve used Care.com reviews to help you to figure out your next move. Well, research is what you need to do to pivot into the next caring job you have in the health industry. The right job is out there for you! These are the best medical careers outside of being a doctor or a nurse.

Image From Unsplash CCO License

Pharmacologist

Developing new drugs to treat patients is an incredibly important part of the medical industry. Innovations in medicine can save countless lives and the people that are pushing the research forward have a very rewarding role to play. If you have a keen interest in science and you think that you would be well suited to a research and development role, you could consider becoming a pharmacologist. You will need to get an undergraduate degree in pharmacology and possibly a graduate degree as well, so it can be difficult to move into this field in later life. But if you are willing to invest in education, this could be a great career choice for you.

Phlebotomist

Most people have never heard of a phlebotomist but it’s likely that you’ve been seen by one at some point in your life. They are the people that deal with drawing blood, usually for tests or donations. There are some people that are specifically phlebotomists while others incorporate it into a wider role, like nursing. It’s quite common for people to go through phlebotomy training and then use it as a stepping stone to other medical careers. If you think that you might like to work in the medical field but you aren’t quite sure what you want to do, this is a good place to start.

Medical Science Liaison

Medical science liaisons are a middle man between the companies that develop new technology and treatment methods, and the medical facilities that use them. The majority of medical science liaisons are people that have worked in the medical field in a different role already, so this isn’t a great choice if you’re just trying to enter the industry. They require a different set of skills to what you would find in other jobs in the medical profession. A lot of the time, being a medical science liaison is more similar to a sales job, so if you have good people skills and you like a job that gives you the chance to travel around a lot, this could be ideal for you.

You don’t have to be a doctor or a nurse to work in the medical industry, these are just some of the other amazing career choices you could consider.

5 Signs You Need To Think About Improving Your Health

The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success and a key focus is Health and Wellness. Maintaining and improving your health, is a key component to a successful and prosperous life. The following contributed post is entitled, 5 Signs You Need To Think About Improving Your Health.

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Image by skeeze from Pixabay

One of the hardest things to do during your adult-life is to think about your health. Although you may feel as though you don’t need to make any changes when it comes to staying on top of your health, there are lots of reasons why you should be making it your main priority. Whether you’ve had a recent health scare or you’re experiencing lots of health-related issues, you need to ensure you’re doing all that you can to look after yourself. With that in mind, here are 5 signs you need to think about improving your health:

Someone In Your Family Has Suffered From Bad Health

If you have someone in your immediate family who you know has suffered from health problems that are hereditary, you need to think about whether or not this can impact your future. Although it is not written in stone that you will have the same issues, you need to think about what you can do to prevent them from having a serious effect on your life. If it helps, it might be worth speaking to your doctor about any preventative measures you can take. To find out more about hereditary illness, you can visit this site here.

You’ve Had A Recent Health Scare

If you have had a recent health scare, it’s definitely a sign you need to be doing more to look after your health. Whether this means improving your diet or ensuring you get regular exercise, you need to be sure you’re doing everything you can to live a healthy lifestyle. For tips and tricks when it comes to living a healthy lifestyle, you can visit this site here.

You’re Experiencing A Lot Of Issues

If you find you’re experiencing a lot of major (or even minor) health issues, it’s definitely time to start thinking about what you can do to improve your health.

Although some issues cannot be helped, there are lots of things you can do when it comes to working on your overall healthy lifestyle. Whether that means working with a macrobiotic counselor or finding yourself a personal trainer, you need to ensure you’re making changes for the better.

You Want To Improve Your Overall Health

One of the most obvious reasons to improve your health is because you want to start leading a healthier lifestyle, of course. If you have started to notice that you’re spending a lot of time eating out and drinking, or you think your exercise routine is starting to slip, taking the time to look at the potential changes you could make could be the motivation you need to live a healthier lifestyle.

You Want To Encourage Others Around You To Be Healthy Too

Finally, if you want to encourage your friends and family to live a healthier lifestyle, you need to look at whether or not you’re being as healthy as you can be first. After all, you may find that you need to lead by example in order to encourage them.

Are you worried about your health? What lifestyle changes could you make to ensure you’re being as healthy as you can? Let me know your thoughts and ideas in the comments section below.

4 Awesome Ways To Start Your Day Off Right

The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success and a key focus is Health/Wellness. Starting you day off right can set the stage for the rest of its success. There a couple of keys to starting your day off right. The following contributed post is entitled, 4 Awesome Ways To Start Your Day Off Right.

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The way you start your day can have a massive impact on how the rest of the day goes for you. If you start it lethargic, snoozing your alarm, and dragging your feet, you can pretty much guarantee that the rest of your day will go the same way. Here, you’ll find 4 awesome ways to start your day off right. Take a look and you’ll take control of the day ahead of you.

Get Hydrated As Soon As Your Feet Touch The Floor
Set yourself up for your morning the night before by leaving a pint of fresh water by your bed. Drink it as soon as you get up. Not only will this wake you up and help you to rehydrate after a night of sleep, it’ll kickstart your good habits for the day ahead.
Make Your Bed
Making your bed will give you a feeling of accomplishment before the day has even begun. It sounds too simple to work, but it’s one of the best things you can do to start off a series of wins for the day.
Get Some Exercise
Whether you choose to run, pilates, or swim doesn’t matter. What matters is that you get your heart rate up a little and you enjoy it. This warms up your body, including your brain, and helps you to prepare yourself for whatever the day throws at you.
Fuel Your Body Right
The whole ‘breakfast is the most important meal of the day’ thing is a myth. However, fueling your body right with lots of micronutrients is the perfect way to start the day, so how about a cold pressed juice?

credit to goodnature.com

5 Ways To Reduce Workplace Injuries

Three of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship and Health/Wellness. Depending on which industry you’re in, there can be a lot of potential for workplace injuries. Figuring out how to reduce workplace injuries, can ultimately save you money and increase the morale of your workforce. The following contributed post is entitled, 5 Ways To Reduce Workplace Injuries.

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Pixabay – CCO Licensed

It’s essential that your workplace is a safe environment for employees. Accidents will happen in almost all trades – even if there aren’t any obvious hazards – but you should still try to minimise the risk, if not to protect your employees, to at least protect your company from the threat of a lawsuit. Here are just a few ways in which you can reduce workplace injuries and keep it a safe environment.

Point out hazards with signage

The easiest way to prevent injury is to clearly point out hazards with signage. Such hazards could include anything from a hot water tap to a low ceiling. In the case of multiple hazards, don’t be afraid to provide a large informational sign or even a manual to make guides aware of multiple hazards. It could also be important to provide temporary signage such as wet floor signs when mopping.

Supply safety equipment

Safety equipment such as these men’s work boots could also be necessary for reducing injuries. By making it mandatory to wear such equipment, you can ensure that employees are physically guarded against dangers. There could also be tools such as step ladders and fire extinguishers to consider.

Introduce health and safety protocols

Health and safety protocols require employees to carry out tasks in a specific way. This could be something as simple as how to safely carry a box to something complex such as how to put out a kitchen fire. Try to introduce a series of steps that employees have to follow and make sure that employees carry out the task in this exact order so that no step is missed out.

Train your employees thoroughly

There’s no point having protocols in place if you’re not going to train your employees how to perform these protocols. Make this a vital part of your training whenever you hire a new employee. Refresher training could also be worth undertaking with older employees to ensure that they’re still doing everything correctly and not cutting corners. Certain aspects of health and safety such as fire safety or using heavy machinery may even require enrolling employees on a course.

Supervise hazardous tasks

If you have the manpower, it could be worth having employees supervise one another when carrying out particularly hazardous tasks. For instance, you may not need someone to supervise when lifting a box, however if an employee is climbing a tall ladder, supervision could be essential in order to keep the ladder steady.