Three focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship and Current Events. My businesses were obliterated by the Covid-19 Pandemic while others made it through, thrived, or were even started. If your business is still alive, you want to consider how to keep it going as the pandemic may be nearing it’s end. The following contributed post is entitled, Bringing Your Business Through The Pandemic.
Many businesses have been impacted by Covid-19, and while things are improving, firms are still battling to get back on track. Let’s take a look at some of the ways you may help your business grow stronger during this difficult time:
Keep Track Of Your Cash Flow
Identify any cashflow issues as soon as possible, and predict with the worst-case scenario in mind, ensuring that your company is ready for any future socio-economic shifts. Employees should be assigned to procedures that are critical to cash flow, even if this implies cross-training. Many businesses lack a proper, regularly updated cash flow projection, resulting in a lack of awareness of their finances and potential consequences; if this is your company, make it a point to build one. Using tools such as Wefunder Agency could help.
Examine The Dangers In Your Supply Chain
You must prepare for the worst, just as you must for cash flow. What if one of your suppliers is unable to supply you with the things you require? If possible, ensure you have viable backup providers, speak with them, and confirm that they can deliver what you require, as things may not be as advertised on their website at the time. You might also need to make certain strategic supply chain decisions, such as concentrating on your most profitable products or services while reducing other offerings and supply chain risks. While these may be temporary decisions given the current state of the economy, it is always necessary to risk analyse your supply chain.
Keep Yourself Updated
As a business leader, you must stay up to date on the newest COVID-19 developments on a daily basis, as the advice is constantly changing. However, double-check official recommendations, avoid sensationalised news and social media posts, and carefully consider what to tell your employees, suppliers, and customers. Avoid panic and perplexity! When planning your strategy for the coming months, keep in mind the government’s response and business assistance policies. The most recent advice can be found here.
Be Flexible And Open To New Ideas
Many firms that survive and prosper through a crisis like this will have open-minded CEOs who can adjust swiftly to change and inspire their employees to do the same. Given how our lives have significantly and rapidly altered recently, your business model may no longer be feasible and will need to be updated. There may also be fresh prospects for you to take advantage of and diversify your business. Check out the rest of my essay on how to adapt and diversify your business.
Make Preparations For The ‘After’
Start thinking about how you want your business to look once the pandemic is ended once all of the big obstacles have been addressed. It is preferable to begin planning now rather than face the shock of returning to ‘normalcy’ with no awareness of the significant changes we have all through. Make a list of everything that is functioning well for your team and that you might want to keep in place in the long run, as well as anything you want to get rid of. Are you looking for ways to work that are more productive and cost-effective? Is your team collaborating more effectively? Have you taken steps to reduce your company’s environmental impact? Consider how your customers and suppliers will function in the future and include them in your strategies.
Two focuses of my blog are Current Events and General Education. A key term into today’s modern world is “tolerance” which means to become accepting of other people’s differences. In order achieve this society-wide, the population must become educated on it. The following contributed post is entitled, How To Teach Children About Tolerance.
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We can all take responsibility for teaching tolerance, whether we are parents, aunts and uncles, teachers, or just neighbors to a child. We must begin with children if we want to make the world a more empathetic place. They are the impressionable ones who are still establishing their worldviews, and it’s critical that they have strong role models and positive influences in their life. Tolerance is promoted not just in terms of religious and ethnic diversity, but also in terms of gender, physical and intellectual disability, size, shape, and everything in between. With words like woke and discrimination being part of our daily lives, we must make the world a more tolerant place. Read on to find out more.
Aside from never allowing your kid to bully or taunt others, be mindful of what you say yourself. Children are like sponges, and if they hear you say something disrespectful, they will feel it’s okay to say it; after all, you are their role model.
This is why, if you want your child to be a good, tolerant person, you must also respect others; your child will do the same. And remember, this isn’t just about talking about other people. Even remarks about your own physique (such as saying you look fat or that you’re stupid for not thinking of something or that you don’t like a particular part of yourself) might cause a youngster to form opinions about the people in their environment or even about themselves.
Encourage Self Confidence
A youngster who is secure in themselves is more inclined to accept differences and appreciate the worth in others. You will often hear that bullies are those who are unhappy in their own lives and have to lash out against others because they are afraid or worried about their own personalities.
The more confident a child is about how they are and what they can do, the less chance there is of them bullying or worrying about anyone else. As a parent or guardian, this is something that you can control – you can help your child be much more self-confident.
Talk About Differences Respectfully
Discuss the distinctions and differences between your family and friends (hair color, skin color, personal likes and dislikes, special traditions, and so on), and take the chance to discuss why it’s wonderful that people are so diverse. You might also talk about how people might be different, but that there will always be similarities. This can help a young child understand that differences are just a part of life and that there will always be something you have in common with someone, whether this is how you look, what you believe in, or something else entirely.
Answer Their Questions
Children might ask difficult questions about tolerance and discrimination, and if you don’t give them an answer, your lack of action can teach them that it is not acceptable to discuss differences or ‘uncomfortable’ things. This leads to more intolerance and misunderstandings.
Even if you’re stumped for words, assure them that you’ll come back to them with a response later. And make certain that you do. This is the ideal opportunity to learn something important yourself.
Three focuses of my blog are Current Events, Business/Entrepreneurship and Technology. If you’re in the automotive industry, you’re likely feeling the effects of stresses on supply chains just like other industries. No matter which aspect of the industry that you’re in, it’s important to figure out how to navigate these new adverse conditions. The following contributed post is entitled, Simple Ways To Chase After Shifting Automotive Supply Chains.
The automotive supply chain has long been one of the most globally complex in the world, consisting of as many as 30,000 parts overall, an astounding 15% of which are sourced out of house. This has always made competitive advantage in the industry imperative, and still-existing pandemic disruptions have especially highlighted the need for all supply partners to come together to ensure the agility necessary to avoid further unexpected setbacks.
In part due to this, but also because of significant shifts in consumer expectations/priorities over recent years, the automotive industry is currently facing some of the most significant changes that we’ve seen in generations. For auto manufacturers, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and tiered suppliers, this is both a significant challenge when it’s needed the least and an opportunity to rise from the industry ashes stronger than ever.
Unfortunately, with supply expectations and lucrative trade opportunities changing at an astoundingly fast rate, there’s no time to take stock and decide the best path moving forward. Instead, companies need to remain ahead of the game, continuing to offer the most viable supply options to both keep hold of existing partners and attract new ones. The question is, how exactly can you chase supply chains that are shifting faster than the seasons?
#1: Develop processes around current trends
The most recent automotive trends have changed the priorities of all car manufacturers, meaning that companies at all tiers are increasingly onboarding with modern requirements in mind. Current trends especially revolve around eco-conscious vehicles that, thanks to carbon emissions which fell by 6.4% during the pandemic, are more of a pressing consumer priority than ever. Further to this, and perhaps in direct correlation with that figure, EV sales largely defied Covid, increasing by an astounding 186% during lockdowns.
All of this has especially seen some of the largest new onboarding intakes across the industry, all of which are tailored towards EV-compliant suppliers that can particularly provide the limited and sometimes location-specific battery components required for success. Only by adapting processes according to this need, and creating demand by remaining at the forefront of EV development, can suppliers realistically hope to gain back the almost 30-50% decreases in spending that have had a major impact across the last eighteen months.
With most supply chains already consisting of more partners than is reasonably manageable, it’s also vital to note that increasing competitive value is dependent on ensuring that you’re able to offer benefits across the board. Most notably, far from forgetting legacy processes in place of environmental concerns, it’s also fundamental to continue offering old processes that, for now at least, continue to be relevant. Certainly, making sure to continue teaching new recruits about things like the maintenance and creation of standard engines using resources like these OEM Ford workshop manuals, ensures that you’re providing the most possible value as a trade prospect. This is especially imperative at a time when delays and operational setbacks continue to shake the industry, allowing you to perfect just-in-time (JIT), multi-purpose inventories and timely, frictionless deliveries that differentiate you from the rest.
#3: Always focus on optimization
While interest in private car ownership is on a steady increase once more, automotive trade right now is largely in recovery mode. Lost profits, parts shortages, and ongoing Brexit-based setbacks across all-important European markets are especially proving to be the nails in the coffin for countless suppliers, preventing them from perfecting processes that help them to recoup losses, get partners back onside, or even impress consumers at the other end. With all of this already in the way, processes that lack optimization and the increased visibility/agility that focus can make possible are guaranteed to leave businesses floundering.
Instead, then, optimizing using the right technologies and systems at every level is fundamental. Certainly, suppliers looking to continue as viable prospects for new trade need to consider the benefits possible from implementing systems that integrate artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) for the automation of otherwise convoluted manual processes, as well as simplifying data handling, supplier communications, and everything necessary to more easily share, foresee, and work around the delays that continue to rein.
The need for speed in automotive supply
Fundamentally, suppliers need to transform processes and fast if they’re to uphold the positive supply relationships imperative to ongoing success. Environmental diversification, and expansive supply offerings, are certainly imperative for competitive advantage that makes it possible to finally tap into the 7-9% of market growth across the industry right now.
Three focuses of my blog are Current Events, Money/Financial Literacy and Business/Entrepreneurship. The pandemic was life changing for everyone, and not everyone survived in the business arena. Whether or not you fared well or did not, there were lessons for everyone. The following contributed post is entitled, What Business Lessons Can You Learn From The Pandemic?
It has been a tough 18 months or so for businesses everywhere, and the people who keep them running. Many people in business have struggled to keep their livelihoods alive, which in turn has affected their employees. Nobody wants to have to deal with such a difficult set of circumstances, but we’ve learned that sometimes you need to be prepared for something unexpected to come your way. Many businesses haven’t survived the pandemic, but those that have took steps to adapt and try to survive. Whether you have an established business or you’re setting up a business right now, there are some great lessons you can take from the pandemic.
Here are some of the things you can keep in mind, not just for the current situation but also for the future.
Be Prepared for Anything
While it’s not entirely true that we couldn’t have predicted a pandemic (they have occurred before), most people weren’t expecting to have to deal with one anytime soon. If there’s one lesson that every business owner has taken from the pandemic, it’s that you need to be prepared for anything. It’s not exactly an easy feat to achieve, especially for a small business, but there are multiple things that any business can do to help them prepare for anything that might come their way. Having good savings and good insurance, as well as being ready to adapt your business to new circumstances when necessary can help to prepare your business for the future.
It’s Important to Support Other Businesses
Something that many businesses have learned recently is that you can’t necessarily rely on the government or anyone else for help when you’re in trouble. For many people, the help that was given came too late or wasn’t enough. With this in mind, a lot of business people have realized how important it is to support other businesses and to stick together as a community. The #OpenForBusiness Campaign aims to recognize the resilience of American entrepreneurship and how important it is for small businesses to support each other. The campaign’s helicopter tour of each of the lower-48 states will involve visiting small businesses and speaking to owners about adapting to the post-pandemic economy.
Work-Life Balance Is Important
Working from home has become the norm for many during the pandemic. Business owners have continued to run their companies from home where possible or have found alternative ways to use their business premises if they can. Something that this has highlighted is the need for work-life balance, both for business owners and their employees. Working from home has made it even more important to maintain a line between work and home, ensuring there’s a separation between the two. People who have been working long hours know that it’s crucial to have the time to rest and dedicate to your family and other parts of your personal life.
One of the effects of the pandemic that we’re seeing is an unwillingness from employees to work for poor pay and in poor conditions. Previously, many people might have felt like they had to take what they could get. But after more than a year has shown why some of these employees are so essential, people are changing their mindsets. They want to be appreciated and adequately compensated for their work. For businesses that are struggling to find employees, offering something more for anyone who works for them could be the key to turning things around.
Keep Your Customers Loyal
As well as treating your employees well, it’s also important to keep your customers loyal. In times of trouble, knowing that you have customers who are likely to stick with you through thick and thin is reassuring. So be sure to treat your customers well, both when things are going well and when circumstances aren’t so rosy.
Know How to Adapt But Stay True
Adapting your business during tough times is often an essential way to survive. Many businesses took this step during the pandemic, especially those that were unable to operate as normal, such as restaurants. Knowing how to adapt is important, but it’s also necessary to know how to stay true to your business and its values. Whether you’re making a temporary change or pivoting on a more permanent basis, you should think about how to maintain your values and what your business stands for, especially if you want to keep some existing customers around.
If there are some positives to take away from the pandemic, some valuable business lessons can definitely be useful.
As many of my readers and YouTube subscribers know, here on the Big Words Blog Site, most of the content published is now coming from collaborators and customers in the form of shorter informational pieces. With multiple YouTube channels and now another blog for more literary writing, I only have time to write and publish a few pieces of my own here. While others opted for the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, I took the Johnson and Johnson Covid-19 vaccine within the last month and as a scientist, I wanted to write something about it.
As described in my initial submission on the new ScoonTV publication, one of the videos on my science and technology YouTube channel was taken down for ‘violating community guidelines’. I have since been hesitant to talk about the vaccines in any way, but with this platform belonging to me, I can discuss whatever I want to. Whether or not the social media platforms allow it to be shared, remains to be seen.
As you know there was a lot of controversy surrounding the Covid-19 vaccines, in addition to the pandemic itself. When talking with a good friend, I pondered that the pandemic may have been the younger generations’ World War 2 or Vietnam, in addition to maybe the 911 attacks. That is no disrespect to anyone who lived through those wars and tragedies or participated in them, but none of the younger generations have lived through a crisis like this.
My Reasons For Getting Vaccinated
I decided to take one of the Covid-19 vaccines for a number for reasons. As described, for a period I uploaded several videos on the pandemic on my science and technology YouTube channel. In short, I honestly was not one of the individuals who was in a rush to get vaccinated. In my opinion there were some very peculiar circumstances surrounding the pandemic which I will not go into here, but to some degree, the need to vaccinate everyone did raise my antennae along with those of other people. In short, I wasn’t going to be one of the first to get vaccinated and took a “wait and see approach”.
In that regard, seeing my relatives get vaccinated with no adverse reactions helped allay some of my concerns. Other individuals who were close to me received their vaccinations was also another line of evidence for me. Ultimately, like most everyone else, I wanted to be able to move about freely without concern and get back to a level of normalcy.
Returning To Normalcy
On that same vein, the featured image for this story is from my trip to the Albany area for Father’s Day 2021. Prior to the pandemic, I made two to three trips a year to New York State’s Capital Region to visit my father via train. During the pandemic, I defaulted to making the five-hour drive to the Albany area and the eight-hour drive to Buffalo to see family. Needless to say, that driving is more work than simply closing one’s eyes, or looking out of the window and daydreaming on a train or an airplane.
Going back to the featured image, it was taken trackside next to my Northeast Regional Train in Alexandria, VA. Amtrak did not mandate its passengers to be vaccinated, though we did have to wear masks once boarded, a rule that was respected by some and not by others. The first leg of my trip from Washington, DC to the New York City area got a little more crowded than I was comfortable with. The second leg from New York City to Albany was relatively empty though. The same was true for the return trip.
What’s In The Three Vaccines?
Now in terms of the vaccines themselves, having backgrounds in Pharmacology and Toxicology, my focus was always on what was in the vaccines in terms of ingredients (active and inert). I wanted to get a feel for their “pharmacodynamics” and potential side effects. In today’s information age, there were lots and lots of rumors and theories floating around about nanotubes and microchips being injected into us. My mother told me that someone in her circle believed that the vaccines would ‘magnetize’ our bodies. It was like the hysteria surrounding 5G technology when people attempted to make it the cause of the pandemic.
While many people are skeptical about the work done of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), their mission from the regulatory context is to protect the health of the nation and to make sure that the foods and medications we take are safe. The vaccines thus had to go through the FDA for approval for “emergency” usage. To determine the safety of the vaccines, I pulled the memoranda for each of the three vaccines approved in the United States from the FDA’s website to ascertain what was in the vaccines.
The following are the ingredients contained in the vaccines. The verbiage and characterization were lifted directly from the FDA memoranda which are hyperlinked in case readers want to go and look for themselves. The “efficacy” and side effects are also characterized in each memorandum.
The Moderna Vaccine
The Moderna vaccine is an off-white, sterile, preservative-free frozen suspension for intramuscular injection. The vaccine contains a synthetic messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) encoding the pre-fusion stabilized spike glycoprotein (S) of SARS-CoV-2 virus. The vaccine also contains the following ingredients: lipids (SM-102, 1,2-dimyristoyl-rac-glycero- 3-methoxypolyethylene glycol-2000 [PEG2000-DMG], cholesterol, and 1, 2-distearoyl-sn-hocholine [DSPC]), tromethamine, tromethamine hydrochloride, acetic acid, sodium acetate, and sucrose.
The Pfizer Vaccine
The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine is a white to off-white, sterile, preservative-free, frozen suspension for intramuscular injection. The vaccine contains a nucleoside-modified messenger RNA (modRNA) encoding the viral spike glycoprotein (S) of SARS-CoV-2. The vaccine also includes the following ingredients: lipids ((4-hydroxybutyl)azanediyl)bis(hexane-6,1-diyl)bis(2- hexyldecanoate), 2-[(polyethylene glycol)-2000]-N,N-ditetradecylacetamide, 1,2-distearoyl-sn- glycero-3-phosphocholine, and cholesterol), potassium chloride, monobasic potassium phosphate, sodium chloride, dibasic sodium phosphate dihydrate, and sucrose.
The Johnson And Johnson Vaccine
The Janssen COVID-19 vaccine is a colorless to slightly yellow, clear to very opalescent sterile suspension for intramuscular injection. The vaccine consists of a replication-incompetent recombinant adenovirus type 26 (Ad26) vector expressing the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein in a stabilized conformation. The vaccine also contains the following inactive ingredients: citric acid monohydrate, trisodium citrate dihydrate, ethanol, 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HBCD), polysorbate 80, sodium chloride.
Getting My Shot
Assuming none of the ingredients were intentionally omitted, nothing I read personally in any of the vaccines alarmed me. I chose the Johnson and Johnson vaccine because I liked the mechanism of action more (a DNA Adenovirus vs micro RNA), and I just wanted to take one shot and be done with it. I was discouraged, though, after the Johnson and Johnson vaccine was initially pulled for a rare side effect, blood clots, I believe. When I decided to get vaccinated, I could not find it initially and then one day when doing a random search online, I saw that the CVS pharmacy that I frequent at Pentagon City was, in fact, offering it. After making a reservation, I went and got it on a Friday around noon.
I was cautioned from the nurse or pharmacist that I might experience symptoms of some sort over the next 48 hours. There was the inevitable pinch/sting from the needle and then I felt a sensation in my shoulder which radiated up towards my neck. That went away quickly. I hung around in the pharmacy area for the next 15-20 minutes as instructed. I then took my complimentary 20% off coupon, purchased something and left the store. I did not expect any adverse reaction(s) as I keep myself healthy and have faithfully taken vitamins C, D, E and Magnesium since the pandemic started.
Abandoning Our Masks?
And that was my vaccine experience. I did not write this to sway anyone. Again, as a member of the science community, I just wanted to share my story. I am happy that I got the vaccine I wanted, though I saw an article on Yahoo that said that the Johnson and Johnson vaccine has not rebounded from the initial pulling in terms of popularity. I do not know if this means that it will be abandoned altogether, but I hope not, especially if it has efficacy against the new “Delta Variant”.
I have not completely abandoned my masks. I honestly will have to get used to not using them again. As described earlier, Amtrak insisted on its passengers using them and at least initially and when I fly, I am certain the airlines will also err on the side of caution. For the type of mask I had, it was not that bad for the seven hour ride.
Some stores and proprietorships are still mandating mask. Interestingly, before making my Father’s Day trip, New York State, one of the most vigilant of all the states during the pandemic, lifted all its restrictions. I met up with some old friends at Latin Dance Night in Albany, and no one wore masks as they danced up a storm, respired all over the place and socialized that night.
Do you have a vaccine story? Please feel to leave some comments below this piece. Also please subscribe to my science and technology YouTube channel to hear more science-related discussions like this. I am about 225 subscribers away from the holy number of 1,000.
Two focuses of my blog is Current Events and Political Discussions. Politics can be a very, very divisive topic and some would argue that it’s not safe to talk openly about it today. The more you know, the easier it may be to understand and discuss ideas with others. The following contributed post is entitled, Broaden Your Political Knowledge With These Vital Steps.
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You have a lot to think about when it comes to improving and broadening your political knowledge, and this is something that plays a massive part in this. Try to focus on doing as much as possible to enhance and improve your political knowledge so you are more aware of what is going on in the world and how global events are going to affect you.
Make sure you focus on doing as much as possible to improve your knowledge and keep yourself informed as much as you can. Try to focus on being able to come up with the best ways of achieving this, and you need to come up with the best ways of doing this. Here are some of the best ways of being able to broaden your political knowledge this year.
Reading up on global news is vital because you need to know what is going on in the world, and not just where you live. Global events impact the entire planet in some way, so you should educate yourself as to what is happening in the world. There are also important global publications covering news and current affairs in particular countries, such as The Times Kuwait, which covers Kuwait news and events. This is particularly useful for Kuwaitis living abroad and wanting to stay in touch with developments back home.
Study Manifestos
Another great way of broadening your political knowledge is to read the manifesto and policies of the parties or candidates in your country. Familiarise yourself with what these policies are, and try to do your best to make sure you understand them and what they are about. Having knowledge of the political stance these people or parties are taking is important for helping you to make informed decisions when it comes to voting. Most party or candidate manifestos are going to be available online to read at your leisure, and this is something that you have to try to do as best you can.
Listen to the Other Side
One of the biggest problems with modern politics is how tribal it can be, and this can so often create a toxic environment. So it is imperative that you take the time to listen to other opinions and motivations that people have for their political viewpoints. There are a lot of benefits to this, and it is really important to make sure you listen to other people and debate with them. Ignoring or shutting down conflicting opinions only causes them to fester, and this can often make the whole situation worse. Debating people and showing them the merits of your beliefs is the best way to encourage them to come around to your way of thinking, and this is something you should be looking to do.
Try to do the best you can to improve your political knowledge, and these are a few of the best ways of being able to achieve this. Politics affects our lives in almost every way, and due to the growth of social media, politics has become a wider issue than ever before. So you need to brush up and know your stuff so that you are able to improve upon the best ways of being able to approach political topics, as well as chatting about this with other people.
Two key focuses of my blog are Current Events and Organizational/Management Discussions. The Coronavirus/Covid-19 pandemic has significantly affected the landscape of most workplaces. A continual consideration for managers is how to maximize employee productivity. The following contributed post is entitled, Effective Ways To Boost Employees Productivity Levels In 2020.
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2020 has been a strange and scary year for everyone thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic. Out of what seemed like nowhere, the entire world was hit hard by the virus, causing many countries to go into complete lockdown and forcing businesses to adapt around these rules. Whether your team worked from home, or you were able to stay open due to being key workers, if your business has made it this far then congratulations! It’s likely that your team has worked hard during these strange months, and you may be beginning to notice a little lackluster in their efforts – and that’s totally understandable given the year we’ve had! However, to ensure your business continues to thrive, it’s your job to keep productivity levels high, and here are some effective ways to boost your employees productivity in 2020.
As a boss, you expect your staff to work hard but sometimes, motivation can drop and a great way to boost their productivity is by giving incentives to your staff. Your employees may already have the advantages of using your Health Reimbursement Account, so you may want to look for more creative incentives! You could offer a day off completely paid if targets are met, or vouchers for money off their favourite brands. Having something exciting to work towards is an extremely effective way of boosting productivity levels, and it’s a great way of saying thank you to your staff for working so hard!
Reevaluate your office layout
Sometimes motivation and productivity levels can drop because of your surroundings. Rooms with little to no natural light, boring and dull decor, and even an office layout can affect this, so shake things up! Provided you’re complying with COVID-19 office regulations, you could experiment with different seating plans, the direction desks are facing, or even treat your staff to brand new office chairs to maximise their comfort while working. A great way of achieving this is by speaking directly to your staff so they can voice their opinions and ideas. Creating an environment where everyone works well will help your business thrive.
Switch up roles
Job roles can become mundane when you do them day in and day out for months or years on end, so why not switch up your employees job roles a little? If possible, allow your team to switch roles for a day or two each week to keep things interesting. Not only that, more ideas and opinions for each job role could lead to bigger things for your business. Obviously, this might not be applicable for specialist job roles, but generic roles such as answering the phone or data entry could be switched up to keep things interesting for your staff.
Millions of businesses have been forced to close thanks to the pandemic, and if yours is still going but your staff are struggling with motivation or productivity, then use this guide to help bring those levels back to where they should be. Remember that showing gratitude for all of your employees hard work will make the world of difference.
Two focuses of my blog are Current Events and Health/Wellness. In addition to impacting everything else in our society, Covid-19 has impacted our holiday celebrations. After impacting Thanksgiving, it will impact Christmas as well for those who celebrate it. There are still ways to enjoy you holiday though. The following contributed post is entitled, Making The Most Of A Locked Down Christmas.
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Many people around the world are likely to be caught in the middle of some kind of lockdown during Christmas – or at the very least, having some kind of restriction on what they can do during this period. Indeed, these are very challenging times. Even if things are looking to improve slightly, there is no doubt that Christmas is going to be very different this year. With that in mind, let’s take a look on how you might be able to make the most of Christmas this year, even if things are in lockdown where you are, or something very much like it.
Now that you might have some idea about what you are allowed to do during Christmas, you might want to start planning for it in some way or another. As long as you do that, you are going to be much more likely to make the most of it, and you should be able to mitigate against any unwanted or unforeseen incidents as well that might crop up. You can’t plan for every eventuality, but if you start thinking now you should be able to find out what you can do. The more you plan, the more you will be able to make of this strange Christmas.
See Some Family
If you are able to and it is within the rules where you are, you should aim to try and see some family at the very least. However, make sure that you only do this if you feel okay about it – and try to keep everyone as safe as possible while you are doing it. That means not going too overboard and ensuring that you are always keeping up with the latest restrictions. But there should be nothing wrong with seeing some family at least, even if it is not always going to be simple to do this.
Take A Short Holiday
If you would normally take some kind of a holiday during the Christmas winter period, you might want to try and do this still this year. Of course, your options are bound to be limited compared to most years, but even so you should still find that it is perfectly possible to have some kind of holiday with at least a couple of family members or friends. For instance, you might want to go on a winter road trip with your 4×4 wheels and see some of your home country that way. Or you could find an indoor ski centre that is open and try to replicate a skiing holiday that way. However you do it, taking some kind of holiday is going to really make it easier to feel like you are having a normal Christmas.
There is a good chance that you are going to struggle to get all your Christmas presents in the same way as normal, and in all likelihood you are going to have to think about doing this earlier than usual. You will probably need to do much more of it online than you would normally have to too. It’s therefore wise to start thinking about this now – and over time you should find that you are going to have a lot more in the way of appropriate gifts by the time Christmas comes around. This is one year when it might be worthwhile thinking outside of the box a little, so that you can find some gifts for people easily and without causing yourself too much stress. If you can do that, you are going to be helping everyone to make the most of Christmas this year.
Different families and friend groups tend to have a variety of different ideas around the concept of Christmas cards. But if you are keen to make sure that you are still buying people cards, you should consider the easy option of going online to buy them. Although you could buy Christmas cards the traditional way and simply post them, using an online service is going to mean that you can have them delivered straight to the person as part of the process. You can often customise these cards more than you could normally too, so that makes them much nicer to receive on the whole.
Host An Outdoor Christmas
If there are some people you are not going to be able to see on Christmas day itself, you could try and organise an outdoor Christmas event on a different day earlier in December – or just after Christmas – and in that way, be able to have a socially distanced Christmas with those people. This could be as simple as having a decorated Christmas tree in your garden and sharing gifts around it with some hot drinks, or it could be more along the lines of a night-time fire. However you do it, you might find that this is a fair compromise, and a great way to see your friends safely without breaking rules, while still having a wonderful Christmas.
If you are wondering just how seriously you should take the restrictions for this year’s Christmas, you might want to spend a little time thinking about where your priorities lie. Truly, nobody else can tell you what you should be doing or what is right and wrong. It’s up to you to decide. But you should make sure that you are clear on your priorities. For most people, this will probably mean that the obvious step is to have a slightly less active Christmas than usual, and therefore keep everyone safer on the whole. It’s all down to you, but make sure that you spend some time before Christmas itself comes around deciding what you want to do. The sooner you get clear on this, the less of a shock it will be when Christmsa time comes and you find it is not quite the same event as usual.
Delay Celebrations
One option, and one that quite a lot of people are thinking about, is to simply delay certain Christmas celebrations until next year. There is every chance that things could have massively improved by February or March, at which time you could decide to have a Christmas celebration then instead. This is a great way of having the best of both worlds. You can simply have a quiet Christmas at home this year, and then see friends and family in the new year once it is perfectly safe to do so. Although this might seem like a bit of a sacrifice, it’s actually a great way to get the best of both worlds, and it will mean that everybody can keep as safe as possible along the way too. It’s certainly something you might want to consider.
Keep It Quiet
Finally, why not make use of this year’s strangeness to simply have a quiet Christmas at home? If you are someone who generally gets a little overwhelmed by Christmas at the best of times, you might even be secretly looking forward to this one. There are certainly benefits to keeping it quiet, and you might find that you are able to save up some energy for next year instead. If this appeals to you, give it a go and see whether it improves your experience of Christmas this year.
As you can see, there are a lot of things to consider this year for Christmas. The most important thing is that you think logically, plan ahead, and don’t let the stress get to you.
Two focuses of my blog are Current Events and Career Discussions. The year of 2020 has forced a lot of changes on everyone and one of the biggest changes has been working from home. Even after Covid-19 subsides, working from home may become more permanent. The following contributed post is entitled, How To Prepare For A Future Working From Home.
While you might have enjoyed working from home temporarily this year, are you prepared for a future of working from home? Who knows if life will ever go back to normal, and even if it is safe to return to work, your company may decide that it is going to be more beneficial to them financially to have everyone working from home for good now. If this is the case, are you prepared for this, and do you have everything you need?
A Decent Office Space Working from the kitchen table may have been acceptable as a temporary measure when you didn’t know how long it would last, and everything was out of sync. But as life gets back to normal, then it’s time to look for a more permanent place to set up your office. You don’t even need a whole room to do this as you can create a great office space in the corner of a room or under the stairs if you have enough space. All you really need is a desk for your laptop and papers, some storage and some peace and quiet. Also, check there are enough electric outlets.
Technology If it’s going to be a permanent way of working, your company is responsible for making sure that you have the right technology to do your job as best you can. You’ll need a good internet connection and access to everything you would have in your office. Having 5G would make working a lot easier too, and according to Vertical Consultants, telecommunication companies have not quite delivered as promised when it comes to 5G, so that doesn’t make it an easy option right now; however, is something that will be important in the future.
Security Cybersecurity will need to be up to date, and again this will really be your company’s responsibility to make sure the equipment you’re using is safe. But when it comes to your home, you may need to make it even more secure than you would have done before. For example, if your job requires you to handle confidential documents, then you’ll need a safe place to keep them. It might even be worth looking at video door entry systems for your home too, which will not only reduce your distractions but also keep your information extra secure.
A good routine Many people struggle with a good routine and motivation when working from home, but once you get used to it, it becomes the norm. It’s essential to have a structure to your day and treat it still as if you were going into work, so make sure you get up, shower, and get dressed (even if it’s into something comfy), have your breakfast, and then get to work. Also, make sure that you separate your work from your home life and home admin, and when it’s time to finish work, you switch off completely and enjoy your evening.
Three focuses of my blog are Current Events, Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship. Covid-19 has changed the way business is conducted in many instances. Those businesses that have been able to survive will need to think about how to adapt and survive in this new environment. The following contributed post is entitled, Business Marketing Tips in Challenging Times.
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This year has been a rollercoaster year for most businesses. With many businesses forced to limit hours and cut staff because of Covid-19 closures, many must evaluate what’s next? Maybe the way you used to do business won’t be viable moving forward. When your customers’ needs shift, your business must do too. Challenging times mean tweaking your marketing techniques as well.
Communicate with Your Customers
The number one rule in business is keeping the communication going. Your sales funnel may be a process of months for some products or even years for others. A normal newsletter and social media updates are great ways to keep your business in front of your customers. Everybody loves a good story. So, make your customer outreach like storytime: what’s new, what’s aligned with pop culture, and what’s funny. You can find memorable, free images online that connect with popular hashtags like #MotivationalMonday, #ThankfulThursday, and #FridayFeeling. Marketing doesn’t have to be salesy. The new buzz phrase is content marketing. These are some marketing do’s and don’ts during a pandemic. Don’t just stick with social media, though – you can make the most of the number of time people spend on their mobile phones. Put your data to good use, start sending more regular newsletters, chat groups and use a mass texting service to stay engaged.
Focus Your Strategy on Solutions to Current Challenges
Whatever you are doing, whether email marketing, print marketing, or social media marketing, present solutions to current challenges. You may need to unschedule previously planned campaigns to shift to the “new” normal. Just a few topics that may resonate with your customers this year are how to work from home without losing your job, how to design the best interior layout for home-schooling, or how to make homemade masks easily and with things you have around the house. In particular, topics that help with the boredom of staying at home are ideal, including new technology, virtual activities, and online courses. Remind your customers that can help them overcome the obstacles of 2020.
One method that can help you to identify the unique needs of your customers is to use an AI advertising company. AI advertising uses machine learning tools to identify complicated patterns in data. These patterns can point to all kinds of conclusions, including the current challenges of your customer base. It can also be used to predict and build advertising strategies that are far more likely to succeed in the current market, as well as to provide the solutions that your customers are looking for.
Find Niche Experts for Your Industry
Although you know your business niche well, how well do you know how to reach your customers. There are specialists in marketing to very niche industries such as HVAC marketing as well as in healthcare and childcare service marketing. Well-targeted design, marketing copy, and even tight slogans can make all the difference. It is important to find niche experts for your industry so that you can get the most bang for your marketing buck and stand out from your competition.
2020 is winding down, but that doesn’t mean your business marketing does. In fact, the end of the year is where you need to finish strong. It is a great time to outreach to share your thanks, spread holiday cheer, and offer limited-time offers before the holidays or New Year. Maybe it is time to add a small business Saturday sale to your roster. Perhaps a virtual Q&A or roundtable to answer the most common questions of your customers could be added to your marketing calendar. By continuing to tell your business’ story with fun and helpful tips, tricks, and tools pays off. Sometimes you need a bit of encouragement, so reach out to the business marketing experts for niche advice as well as some fresh marketing trends to try.
