Open Learning – How to Survive and Thrive – Top Ten Tips

“How to Survive and Thrive in Open Learning”. Top Ten TipsTop Tip No 1: # Motivation Keeping motivated and staying on track for the duration of your studies is the single most important hurdle that the independent learner must overcome. My first tip is to find a good motivational quote that creates a fire in your belly and frame it (preferably A4 size) and display it in your office or bedroom where you can see it every day. How’s this for starters? “You can do anything if you put your mind on how to do it rather than why you can’t”. Bob ProctorTop Tip No 2: # Study SkillsIn their book ‘A Guide to Learning Independently’ Marshall and Rowland tell us to use all our senses when studying. Most students [me included, until lately] use only one of their senses (sight) when studying or maybe two (touch) to write. However, research suggests that we should read a difficult text out loud to (hear) the words and draw pictures (sight) again, to get a better understanding of the topic. Put the main themes of the text on ‘Post-It’s’ and put them in order of importance on a wall to get a better understanding of the subject.Top Tip No 3: # Time Management As mature students we are very aware of the social and family issues that compete for our study time. Most universities that deliver Open Learning deal with this topic in their orientation open day. However, it has been my experience that they over complicate the subject with exact times and dates on a spreadsheet format that no one will follow. My tip is to keep it simple, get an A5 sheet of paper and mark it out as follows:Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Morning Afternoon EveningTop Tip No 3: # Learning Journals The majority of third level institutions require their students to keep a learning journal; my advice is to start this practice as early as possible in your studies. Get hold of and A5 size notebook and use this to put down your ‘feelings’ and ‘thoughts’ about what you’re learning. You will be surprised by how much more a subject comes to life when you ask yourself questions on the topic you are studying. For example, I enter stuff like: “What was that chapter about? Where can I get more information on this? I have not got a clue what they are talking about here”.Top Tip No 4: # English Grammar I cannot stress the importance of the correct use of grammar when submitting assignments to tutors or professors for correction. Most universities award 10% of the overall mark for what they refer to as [layout and structure] of assignments. It is important to know such stuff as… the difference between ‘Parentheses’ and ‘Brackets’, see what I mean? I didn’t know either. If you can get a copy of ‘Plain English’ by Diane Collinson et el, it is a great book as a foundation for understanding and using good grammar. By the way ‘et el’ is Latin for ‘and others’ when there is more than one author.Top Tip No 5: # Referencing This author has witnessed fellow mature students getting into hot water with their university’s academic review boards through lack of referencing [whether intentionally or not] in their assignments or essays. Galway University for example uses the ‘Harvard Referencing Style’, which this learner learned in detail as early as possibly in his academic studies. To help you on your way, the University of Limerick has an excellent free download booklet called ‘CITE IT RIGHT’, ‘A Guide to Referencing in UL using the Harvard Referencing Style’, which is available at http://www.ul.ie/library.Top Tip No 6: # Note-Taking The gathering of information forms an integral part of all academic study; whether we are reading a course module, or preparing research, attending lectures, all of which require us to take ‘useful’ notes. Andrew Northledge in his book ‘The Good Study Guide’ suggests that we use ‘highlighting and underlining’ to place emphasis on topics that need to be remembered. This learner discovered that using ‘Mind Mapping’ to take notes has been very successful as I now remember and retain more information using pictures to form links between topics. For more information on the use of ‘Mind Mapping’, Google Tony Buzan, for an exciting and highly practical alternative to linear notes.Top Tip No 7: # Essay Writing The majority of tertiary institutions require their students to produce written essays as part of the teach process. The reasons for the use of essays are simple; they are an excellent method for testing a student’s comprehension of a subject together with their ability to express this new learning. Why therefore, do so many of us mature students make it very difficult for the tutor to follow our arguments or thoughts? We can solve this problem by using ‘Sign Posting’; which tells the tutor where we have been in a chapter and more importantly where we are going. The tutors will thank you for it, trust me. My ‘Sign Posting’ goes something like this…. “Having discussed and explained such and such, in the next chapter the project will investigate such and such”.Top Tip No 8: # Presentation SkillsWorkshops and small group discussions are methods used by tutors to introduce critical thinking and debating of subjects to increase a learner’s understanding of a topic. Therefore, I find that if you practice the following mantra it always helps in creating clarity in discussion:Tell them what you are going to tell them.Tell Them.Tell them what you told them. (Author Unknown)Top Tip No 9: # Research Methods Discussion about the preparation for an end of term research project could take up an entire seminar, but for starters we will concentrate on ethics in our research. Remember, we need informed consent from the people/respondents we use in our research. My top tip is to prepare a ‘Statement of Informed Consent’ and attach this to your submission as an annex to your project.This ‘Statement of Informed Consent’ should include the following: Your name and address on top of the page, Date, a Friendly Greeting, The title of the research, and the institution to which you will submit the research project. The purpose of the research for example (In part fulfilment of a Diploma/BA/Maters Degree in Training and Education) should also be included in this statement. The statement should also include information on how you intend to use the data gained from the respondents. Finally you should also state the level of confidentiality that you can give to the respondents, for example: “The contents of this research project will only be viewed by myself and the correcting tutor of our university”. Extracts on ‘Statements of \informed Consent were taken from ‘Practical Research and Report Writing’ Module, National University of Ireland, GalwayTop Tip No 10: # Taking ExaminationsMy final top tip relates to the taking of examinations, which as all students of third level education will know is part of the academic system, and for good reason. Examinations are superb forum for establishing quality control and therefore will be around for a long time to come. To help me with my examination preparations I regularly refer to Andrew Northledge’s ‘The Good Study Guide’ for techniques while I prepare for an examinations. Some of Andrew’s suggestions are as follows:Gather all the relevant information from a single module and put it onto an A4 size sheet of paper. Repeat this process for all your modules and depending on the number of modules in each semester this should be five or six sheets.Now, highlight all the important points from each of the five or six sheets (modules) and put these onto one A4 sheet.Finally, place the major points from the final sheet on an A5 size index card, back and front. This is an excellent method of focusing on relevant and important themes in the modules. Now, one word or link on our index card creates a mental picture which allows us to go back to our six sheets from the modules and recover the information. It works try it!!

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Schools in Spain – Educating Your Children in a Foreign Country

Schools and Education on the Costa BlancaAs in any other country, there are two types of school/college for your children –
public (in Spain this refers to state run schools), or private.Private International Colleges throughout the Costa Blanca provide an english
curriculum taught in the medium of english. Fees are generally much cheaper in the
private schools than they are in the UK and some of them, in an effort to appeal to
spanish parents, now offer the spanish speaking student the opportunity to sit the
national spanish ‘Bachillerato’ exams in order for them to be able to enter the
spanish university system.If you are at all worried about whether your child will be able to cope with the added
trauma of a new language as well as a new school and a new country, take heart
from my own experience. I have two daughters who were aged 6 and 10 when we
came to Spain 5 years ago. Although I considered the private route of education, I
liked the smaller classes and friendly atmosphere of the local state-run village
school. Now 11 and 15 respectively, both girls are fluent in Valencian (the local
regional language, which is a cross between French and Italian) and Castilian (the
national spanish language). It took them just 12 months to learn and my youngest is
consistently the only member of her all spanish class to get full marks in her
spanish exams! Generally speaking, the younger your child is when you move to
another country, the easier they will integrate with their classmates and so learn the
language.Under the spanish curriculum, your child will be taught, maths (bear in mind that
calculations are done in different ways on the continent, so you may find it hard in
the beginning in helping with the homework!), Castiliano (like english grammar but
obviously in spanish), Conocemiento del Medi (a mixture of geography, geology and
biology which is studied up to the age of 12), Plastica (art), Gym – which in Spain
includes a degree of theory/written course work, Religion (Catholicism – although
your child can opt out of this and take Etica – which should be another subject but
ends up being free time to catch up on homework), Sociales (history and geography
for the older students), Naturales (natural sciences/biology for the older students),
Drama, Prensa (history of journalism and print), Tutoria (an hour of student/teacher
communication to discuss work or social issues), plus also languages – French,
English and Valencian (the regional language). In some schools, more than half of
your childs’ lessons will be conducted in Valencian rather than Castilian (the national
spanish language), great if your child is of an age where they will absorb new
languages easily (normally up to the age of 10), more difficult for older children
where the level of study is more complex.In many of the villages, Valencian is the
language of choice by most spaniards, although without exception they will also
speak Castilian. But if you want your child to integrate with the local village children,
it would be a good idea to learn the two languages. You’d be surprised how quickly
they pick it up in the playground. If you do opt for a spanish school, don’t expect to
be shown around by the head teacher when you go to enrol your child – for some
reason, this is not the ‘done’ thing in Spain, so you may get faced with a blank stare
if you ask !! Also, books and lunch are chargeable. Books will normally have to be
bought from a local shop, and can amount to quite a lot of money. You will be
provided with a list when your child starts school. Lunch will be paid by standing
order from your bank account, so you will have to provide the school with your
details. Each school sets it’s own rate, so ask first.To enrol your child in the spanish school you will need to provide the school with a
Certificado de Empadronamiento, which is a certificate of proof of residency in your
village (you can get this at the local Town Hall or Ayuntamiento by supplying your
passports and title deeds to your property or a rental contract), and your childs’
passport. As the school needs the paperwork for each child enrolled in the school, it
is a good idea to get a Certificado de Empadronamiento for each member of the
family and keep copies as they will be needed for other things as well.In September, my eldest daughter started at Xabia International College in order to
take her GCSE’s. As she is now fluent in Spanish, she will be able to sit her A level
Spanish at the same time, as well as the Spanish School Leaving Certificate – ESO
(Educacion Secondaria Obligatoria), giving her the option to choose between an
English further education or Spanish.If you would like more information on living in Spain, visit Costa Blanca World.

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How to Become a HR Manager in the UK

A human resources manager (or HR manager or short) has a number of responsibilities, which are centred on the recruitment, development and welfare of company personnel. They implement and maintain good policies and practices in regards to training, development and salaries. They oversee the recruitment process, and ensure that employees are managed and resourced correctly and to the organisations’ full potential. HR managers also play a role in developing and maintaining positive working relationships between management staff and employees.A human resource manager has a large number of other responsibilities, although some depend on the sector and size of the company. They will contribute to advertising job vacancies within the organisation in newspapers, magazines and online, and are usually assigned the task of responding to the applicants. They will also help with the interview and selection processes for new staff. They will plan weekly staff rotas, ensuring that all shifts are fully staffed, and deal with any related issues (e.g. a member of staff wanting to alter their working hours for a particular day). There are many other duties, and the sheer number of responsibilities may be off-putting to some. However, every company has a HR department, and as a result each organisation requires a HR manager capable of performing any and all of these tasks. If the manager of human resources is not contributing to his/her full potential, the organisation as a whole will suffer.Qualifications
The qualifications that one must have to become a human resources manager will depend on the nature of the industry, and the size of the company. Nevertheless, there are a number of qualifications that are shared by the majority of those who have succeeded in the position.Human resources managers should have a good set of GCSE and A Level results. They should aim to work towards a qualification that relates to HR management. Two examples are the Certificate in HR Administration and the Certificate in Personnel Practice, both from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. CIPD is certainly an industry standard qualification, and on most job descriptions this is certainly a must have if you are to pursue a career in HR.CIPD Qualifications can and will be paid by employers if you are lucky enough, but if you really want to break into this career path, it has to be self funded. CIPD qualifications range from foundation, intermediate and advanced. Investigations have shown that with these types of qualifications you can earn up to £5,000 per year more than someone without the qualification! Deciding which one depends on your experience.There are other worthwhile qualifications that can assist one as they aim to become a HR manager. They include a BTEC HNC/HND (Higher National Certificate/Higher National Diploma) in human resource management, business management, and perhaps psychology as well. For those graduates who have a degree in a subject unrelated to human resources management will often choose to take a postgraduate qualification in this area. This isn’t considered to be essential, but it can be advantageous for those trying for more competitive human resources roles.What Employers Are Looking For
Even before you become a manager, there are a number of key skills that an employer hopes to see in someone who works within human resources. Those working within HR should possess good computer skills, and be able to remain calm and collected when working under pressure. They should also have excellent written and verbal communication skills, be careful when it comes to attention to detail, and have the ability to multitask. It also helps to be able to build healthy working relationships, both with and between personnel. For those who aspire to become a manager, having a good knowledge of employment law and company policies, in relation to personnel, is vital, as is being able to work both independently and in a team.Once you become a manager, many of the core elements of what an employer wants to see remain, but others take on a greater level of importance. You should always be able to meet deadlines, and managing your time properly is essential, but as a HR manager these skills have to become second nature to succeed.As a manager, many people will come to you for information and/or advice. As a result, you will have more responsibilities within the organisation. You should be a confident leader, and obviously possess strong management skills. You should be aware of how to correctly handle any disciplinary issues, and to diffuse potentially difficult situations, or incidents involving conflict, between members of staff. You should take an approachable and compassionate nature, so that people will warm to you and respect you more, and feel that they can discuss anything business related with you.You may be a manager, but you should still be able to take instruction from senior management on what you should be doing and how. And, in the event that advice is not available, you should be able to use logic and your own initiative. All of these are just some of the key skills employers want to see in someone who aspires to be a human resources manager.How Much Money Will I Make as a HR Manager in the UK?
The starting salary for those working in human resources (usually personal administrators) is generally between £15,000 and £18,000 per annum. Once you make it to the position of a human resources manager, your annual salary will increase, possibly as high as £25,000. Those who possess a wealth of experience as a human resources/personnel manager will inevitably earn even more money on a yearly basis as much as £40-£60,000 with HR Business Partners and HR Directors earning in excess of £100,000 per annum.Pros and Cons of Becoming a HR Manager in the UK
As with every position, there are positives and negatives to being a human resources manager. Some of these are related to the managerial position, whilst others apply to human resources in general. Nevertheless, the list below shows the key pros and cons of being a human resources manager.PROS
• Make a valuable and important contribution to the company
• You will help many employees, as a lot of enquiries will go through you
• The chance to progress further up the company ladder
• Your earnings will increase as you gain further experience as a managerCONS
• Could often be working under pressure
• Occasional problems in any company between a manager and some staff
• A great deal of responsibility, which may be too much for some to handle
• Managers usually have to handle a lot of awkward/difficult situationsHelpful Contact Information
For those interested in becoming a human resources manager, there are a number of contacts to be aware of. They can provide further information, and go into extensive detail, on the different qualifications that are required to succeed as a HR manager.For more information on the Certificate in HR Administration and the Certificate in Personnel Practice, both accredited by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, contact:
Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
151 The Broadway
London
SW19 1JQ
Telephone 020 8612 6200
Certificate in HR Administration: http://www.cipd.co.uk/training/CHRAFor details on the BTEC HNC/HND qualifications relevant to human resources, contact:
Edexcel
190 High Holborn
London
WC1V 7BH
Telephone 0844 576 0026
BTECs: http://www.edexcel.com/btec

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Marketing Strategies: Flapping Beyond the Struggle to Fly

Marketing strategies that move you out of the water into the sky, and keep you happily flapping your wings in formation to your destination of success?When you consider the goose as he takes off into flight, flapping and slapping the water, running along on webbed feet in an attempt to lift off into the wild blue yonder, you might see yourself as a business startup. I know, I did. I struggled for the longest time to figure out how to flap my wings with marketing and bring in enough buying clients to move my business off center. Then it happened. Like magic, the clients began to arrive at my door.If you’re not a bird watcher, you may have missed snow geese flying south each winter in V formation. But having grown up in the cross hairs of goose hunters, I learned to watch for the signs of their arrival. What a magnificent time for a drive to the lakes… During the day, when goose hunters were likely resting up for their early morning hunts, we would take off for the lakes and watch the geese. Snow Geese are predominantly white, with magnificent wide wings that catch the air in flight. They fly with a mix of systematic flapping and lunging forward to push the current.After thirty plus years of watching them, it isn’t hard to connect the dots between the persistence of the snow goose and workable marketing strategies. I’ll share my insights.1 – Geese know a good market when they see one. Every year, as they head south for the winter, Snow Geese find their way back to the lakes and fields of southeastern Colorado where they know they’ll find good water and plenty of food for their trip. They lounge around on early ice pads, dip into the water for bugs and minnows a plenty, and fly to nearby fields to graze until their bellies are full. Then, they rest for the trip.Finding a good market means knowing what you need. Your business needs buyers that are hungry for what you offer. Once you know your product or service is viable, valuable, and desired, the only thing left to do is offer it up to the right market of buyers. Taking your products to the right buyers and fulfilling those needs is key to making bank. Marketing strategies include a good buyer market.2 – Geese return to the same market year after year. Geese come back year after year. Some brilliant scientists and observers tagged some of the geese with little wristlets on their legs and started following their migration. Once they arrive in an area, they return to that area year after year for the same resource.Residual markets are important to your professional and business success. Once you find the right market, it’s important that you keep going back year after year, to be sure that market remains yours. Find ways to check back with your customers, because they may not remember your name. Call them. Return and offer any new products or services. Make sure they know you’re still available to serve them. Marketing strategies include repeat buyers.3 – Geese never leave stragglers behind. When you watch geese lift off, you’ll notice some of the younger, stronger geese always stay behind to make sure the whole flock is in flight, before they take off. And they circle. Their V formation begins as they lift off, and they circle the area until all geese are in flight. Then they take off in the direction of their chosen path.In business, you reach out and connect. You network to bring in all of your market share. Invite referrals. Talk to people and share what you have. Invite them to visit your website. Ask them to try your products. Offer your services to everyone in your market, because if you’re not serving them, they miss out on the opportunity. Be sure you don’t leave stragglers behind. The best marketing strategies keep track of buyer markets.4 – Geese take turns leading the flock.The V formation of flying allows geese to naturally rotate out the lead birds. Flying is hard work, and remember I said their flight is a combination of systematic flapping and lunging? That lead bird is breaking the way for the flock, and when he tires, someone else steps up and takes the lead.When you’re watching a larger flock of geese, sometimes you’ll see three or four V formations within the same flock. That’s because there are leaders at different levels. The larger the flock, the more V-Leaders you’ll see.As a professional marketer, you’ll need to rely on others occasionally to get the job done, or to learn new processes. Like geese, we can’t always be leaders, sometimes we need to step back and follow. Don’t be afraid to fall into line behind another strong leader occasionally. You’ll be ready to take the lead again when it’s your turn. Marketing strategies have room for both leading and following.5 – Geese are strong and capable, resilient even. That lead goose has to be able to withstand wind and air turbulents, and strong enough to keep moving forward, even through storms. He has to know the direction they’re traveling and be able to maintain good speed. Last I knew, geese don’t have GPS, but they do have great memories, because like I said before – they always return to the same locations. They’re strong and capable of battling winds and nature to get where they need to go.Mother nature isn’t always kind, she occasionally sends them on their way, and greets them with a storm before they arrive. Geese weather the storms well.Being a business owner requires you to be strong and capable. Keep learning. Keep growing. Keep up your strength and abilities to get things done. Don’t hesitate to ask for help – mentors are plenty – and everyone needs sustenance to keep going. Marketing strategies must be resilient.6 – Geese encourage each other always. All that honking you hear when a flock of geese fly over, is encouragement. They’re encouraging each other to keep flying. Now, those of us who know geese, understand that it’s generally a noise geese make when they lunge forward, because they’re exerting a tremendous amount of effort. But the honking encourages other geese to keep lunging too. The longer they’re in flight, the more they honk.However, here’s a point you need to know. When the leader is at the point of the V, he doesn’t honk. When he takes the lead, he isn’t honking, he’s flying. The other geese keep honking to encourage and motivate him to keep flying.Encouragement can take you where you need to be. Seriously. More often than not, when I feel like I can’t get through the day, all it takes is a little encouragement to go on. As a leader, it’s your job to listen and know where you’re taking your team. You don’t have to talk all the time, sometimes you need to listen.In my hometown, there’s a group called Honkers. They’re part of the local Chamber of Commerce and they recognize new business owners and show up to HONK them. They promote new business owners and invite them to join the Chamber. It’s a great way to acknowledge, support, and encourage business owners.Marketing strategies that work best encourage others. 7 – Geese mate for life. Geese pick a mate and mate for life. They travel with their mate, raise geese with their mate, and their flocks are made up of matched pairs. Except when they aren’t.I’m sure there’s an animal lover somewhere who will be offended by this, but geese are food. Hunters hunt food. And the key here is that sometimes geese lose their mates. Whether it’s to a hunter or a storm, the result is the same, and one goose goes on alone with the flock.They take flight and fly away.All this to point out that in business, we often have struggles. We lose our business partner, or a business, and we must carry on. We have to step up and over, and take flight. I’m not going to tell you it’s easy, but I will tell you that it’s easier if you’ve built a tribe of support to surround you, and you can lean on your leaders and those around you to motivate you and keep you using your marketing strategies and building your business.Marketing strategies can help you overcome the worst business disaster, and are considerate of your personal life events. They don’t end when things get rough, the best ones are designed with support systems to help you through.Don’t let a life struggle or a business disaster take you down.

Know a good market when you find it.

Think residual. Market to the same folks again.

Never leave a client behind.

Take turns in leadership. Sometimes, follow well.

Be strong and confident.

Encourage and be encouraged always.

Life isn’t easy, do it anyway.

Your clients are counting on you to find a marketing strategy that works, because they need what you offer. Don’t let them down.

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3 Social Marketing Services That You Should Be Using To Get Traffic

There are some social marketing services that you should definitely be using if you want to start getting more traffic to your website. The ultimate aim of social marketing is to spread the word. It’s a form of viral marketing. In the old days of internet marketing, you had to manually set up referral marketing campaigns and do things such as eBook marketing to get people to pass around your content, and get free visitors back to your site.In today’s times however, social marketing has highly evolved. There are more than 1 way to get referral and viral traffic back to your site automatically without you doing a thing. But you have to make sure that you know what you’re doing with the traffic once you get it. But that’s a topic for a different day. There are tons of social marketing services out there that can boost your credibility, reputation in your niche, and ultimately income.Now what you don’t want to do is use poor social marketing services that can get you banned from sites, or even get you blacklisted. Some people find this out the hard way. If you think buying 5,000 Facebook likes, or 5,000 subscribers to your Twitter account is an effective way to market and get more sales online, you’re definitely wrong. Some people think that if they just can “look good” online people will think they’re an expert and then will start buying from them. This couldn’t be farther from the truth.People don’t buy because they think you’re popular. People buy because they believe you have a good solution to a bad problem that they have. If all you have to offer is 5,000 Facebook likes to a person who’s having acne problems, then you won’t get the sale. So don’t invest in social marketing services that will only make you look good, but doesn’t have any effect on how much sales and profits that you get.Now I mentioned that I wanted to go over some social marketing services that you should be using to get traffic to your website. I’m about to list some of my favorite tools to use and how I use them, and how you can use them also to get the positive results in your business that you’re looking for. And don’t be afraid to invest in paid social marketing services also, because sometimes these paid services offer automation tools that are worth the money. Here’s the first social marketing service that you should be using:1) TwellowTwellow is like the “Yellow Pages” for Twitter. If you want more Twitter followers, this is where you should start. You can sign up here and browse through your niche categories, and start following people who have similar websites or Twitter profiles that you have. This is a free and easy way to start getting more Twitter followers without having to resort to a software that may get you banned from Twitter.In fact, a long time ago there was this paid automated software that was very popular called “Tweet Adder”. It was so popular that a second version was made and it was called “Tweet Adder 2″. It allowed you to massively get thousands of related Twitter users to follow you and start marketing to them.Needless to say, it was so successful and popular (and against Twitter’s terms of service) that anyone who was found to have used it at any point was banned from Twitter.People were building massive Twitter followings and using their “direct message” box (DM) to solicit leads and traffic from people. This got out of hand and a solution was needed to stop this poor practice from continuing. So peoples’ accounts got disabled, and they were no longer to use their Twitter profile to acquire business. And ultimately, “Tweet Adder” was shut down and discontinued. Here’s another social marketing service that you should be using:2) HootsuiteNow I did mention earlier that there are some paid social marketing services that you can use to automate your marketing. Hootsuite is one of these tools. Hootsuite provides a wide range of social marketing tasks that can be performed. And it’s 100% legal and doesn’t violate any terms of services on the social media platforms and websites online.One of my favorite features of Hootsuite is its ability to have your social media content posted automatically. What you would do is input some pre-inserted content into Hootsuite and specify when you want the content to be sent out. This saves a lot of time and if you have a website that already has a ton of content on it, this would be a great way to get it syndicated on the internet.And as you already know, if people on your social media accounts like what you are sending them, they are going to forward your information to their friends and colleagues also – give you more free eyeballs to your website and content. Hootsuite is great, and offers a TON of other social marketing services, but just this 1 alone is worth the investment.Here’s another social marketing service that you should be using:3) AddThisAddThis is social media button platform that allows people to instantly share your content automatically on their social media accounts. AddThis allows you to insert code onto your website or blog, and have social media icons appear on every page of your site. If someone lands on a page on your site or blog that has great content, they can instantly click on a social media button on your page and share your content with their followers.This is a quick and easy way to get free syndication without you doing a thing. And AddThis is free!These 3 social marketing services are tools that you will want to use if you want to strengthen your social marketing campaigns and obviously get more traffic to your website. They’re simple, and while 1 is paid (Hootsuite), it’s highly recommended that you invest in it for the longevity of your website and business.

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Short, Intermediate, And Longer – Term Impacts On Home Sales, When Rates Rise!

For many reasons, some, economic, while others, related to the pandemic – related, so – called, fatigue, etc, home prices, in most areas, have gone up, at, or, near, record amounts! Because of the prolonged period of artificially – created, low – interest rates, mortgage rates, have been at historic lows! Since, for most home buyers, using financing is essential to affording a purchase, when a low rate, causes cheap money, and, thus, the ability to afford more home – for – the – buck, prices usually rise! It permits qualified buyers to qualify for more money/ loan, because the ratio of monthly mortgage, to overall income, is artificially – reduced! How long will this trend continue, will it become the new – normal, will previous trends/ cycles return, and how will pricing be affected, in the immediate, intermediate, and longer – run, are, all factors, to consider! With, that in mind, this article will attempt to, briefly, consider, examine, review, and discuss, some possibilities, to consider, and understand.

1. Short – term: Since, the Federal Reserve Bank, announced, they planned to raise rates, three times in 2022 (of course, this was before the potential implications, and ramifications, from the Omicron variant), many feel pressure, to act quickly, to take advantage of today’s low rates, before they go up! Three increases will probably translate to, at least, a 0.75% higher rate, which will translate, for most mortgages, to hundreds of extra dollars, per month. Some things to consider, and pay attention to, is, this rate of increased home prices, will, probably, not continue, especially, at such a large degree! How longer one, expects to keep a specific house, is, one issue, to consider, thoroughly, and wisely, before proceeding!

2. Intermediate – term: Although, many believe, to – know, the precise timing of any projected rate – hike, is uncertain! The Fed has changed, and/ or, altered its strategies and approaches, in the past, What the intermediate – term, may bring, including potential inflationary pressures, how long the economic conditions, and unknown factors, related to the pandemic, etc, will determine, largely, what this phase, may bring! In addition, the attitude, and perceptions of buyers, and their confidence, etc, largely impact this real estate market!

3. Longer – term: In the longer – run, will things, restore, to what we have seen, so often, in the past, which is, alternating cycles, between, Sellers, Buyers, and Neutral Markets? The possibilities, include: a continued large escalation; a more – gradual, but persistent – one; some leveling; and/ or, will we see, at least, in certain areas, some sort of falling prices, for a period.

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Affiliate Marketing Coach – Speed Up Your Affiliate Progress With A Coach

An affiliate marketing coach is someone who can help you lift the invisible ceiling which may be holding your affiliate business back. So much in business it is the limits of our thinking which stop us from achieving the things we set out to achieve.

In affiliate marketing this is very much the case. You don’t know what you don’t know! You may even be running down a rabbit hole in the complete wrong direction. I did this for years before finding an affiliate marketing coach who helped me.

Before this point I was trying to do everything alone. Many affiliates are doing the same but don’t realise their actions aren’t aligned with their desired outcomes. For me, I was focusing only on the things I liked to do, not the things which would drive my business forwards.

A clear perspective from a coach who isn’t so myopic in their thinking can change everything. If you keep doing what you’ve always done as an affiliate, your results will likely be the same. But if you’re prepared to step outside your comfort zone, you can make far greater changes in a small amount of time.

Much of affiliate marketing is about trial and error. You try several things and focus on the things which work. This is Pareto’s principle, or the 80:20 rule. But if you have no results to draw from, you could easily be focusing on strategies which will take years to gain any traction.

A few of the small shifts I made in my affiliate marketing endeavours are: shifting to promoting products which offer recurring commissions, I stopped promoting small value, low commission products, and I started using high ticket digital products instead.

These steps alone hugely helped me start generating tactics in my affiliate business. But I also got coaching and mentoring, and decided to take affiliate marketing more seriously. In the beginning, it was just a hobby, and I treated it like a hobby. But if you look at your affiliate business like a hobby, you’ll earn a hobby wage from it. Treat it more seriously, and focus on building a sustainable income which can replace existing work, and you can achieve much more. You get what you focus on!

Goals are useful signposts for affiliates too. For such a long time I was without a rudder as an affiliate. A goal gives you a specific destination you can measure and work towards. If you don’t have either a goal, or a strategy you can stick to with affiliate marketing, it’s easy to lose purpose and drift off in another direction.

When you’re looking for results and don’t have any, it can become completely demoralising! You need to stoke the fire of your own enthusiasm continually or you’re likely to become disillusioned and drop out. This happens to around 95% of affiliate marketers.

But you need to be in the 5% who stick at it and eventually break through and start making consistent sales. When this occurs will depend on the actions you take and how long you keep going for. If something isn’t working, try something else. Focus on the small wins like a hit on a website, or an email lead. Keep your enthusiasm high and you’ll be able to surmount the obstacles which come with the territory. But if you allow yourself to become dissatisfied, it’s much more difficult to keep going.

Affiliate marketing isn’t easy. It’s performance related which means that if you don’t make a sale, you don’t make any money. This is tough in the beginning because you can do a lot of activity which is unrewarded. But once you make a sale, there’s some light at the end of the tunnel. This is the goal of many new affiliate marketers – to make their first sale.

Once you have some positive feedback in terms of success, you can focus on the activities which brought it about. But until this happens, you very much need to trust the process. If you’re also paying a membership fee while this is happening, there can come a point where you decide it’s simply not working! This is common, and people drop out. But if you have a coach you can trust, things are so much more sustainable.

An affiliate marketing coach can help you overcome negativity, indecision, hesitancy and self belief issues. A coach can help you see things in a different light and to notice limitations in your thinking.

For me this has been a complete game changer, and not just for affiliate marketing. When you notice your own self talk is talking away your success and happiness, you realise you are the creator of your own outcomes. As you remember to change your self talk and thinking habits, you realise without belief there is no action. So belief is everything.

The person we listen to more than anyone else in life is ourselves. We talk to ourselves in our head constantly. Re reaffirm what we think and believe about ourselves continually. If we can learn to tap into this power, and start giving ourselves more positive commands, then we can grow both personally and professionally in a much more congruent way than simply through thinking, planning and attempting things in only the physical aspect of our affiliate business.

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7 Benefits of Custom Aluminum Cases

If you want to carry your expensive electronic items or any type of fragile instrument, we suggest that you be on the safe side. We suggest that you pack your expensive stuff in a reliable case. In other words, you may want to invest in a dependable custom aluminum case to carry your items with you. After all, you don’t want your stuff to get damaged during transportation. In this article, we are going to talk about some major benefits of custom aluminum cases. Read on to find out more.

1. Durability

First of all, one of the major advantages of these units is that they are extremely durable. In this case, we suggest that you go for a case that is splashproof, air-tight, and watertight. This is essential if you want the unit to stand the test of time. If it is not strong enough, your stuff inside may not be safe.

2. Withstand Extreme Conditions

Another major advantage of these units is that they are designed to withstand extreme conditions. Even if you use them on a daily basis, they will be good for years to come. In other words, you don’t need to worry about the durability aspect of these units.

3. Customizable

Some of these cases are designed to be customized. The idea is to make sure that you get a unit that you can customize to cover your requirements and needs. Since one size cannot fit everyone, we suggest that you get a customized aluminum case.

For example, you will need a specific type of case to store your tools. Similarly, there are specific aluminum cases if you want to carry delicate items. And the beauty of these things is that they are available in different sizes and shapes.

4. Custom Interior

If you want to protect your delicate items, we suggest that you get a case that comes with custom interiors. In this case, your delicate items will be safe even if the road condition is extremely bad.

5. Timeless Look

We suggest that you get an aluminum case that features a timeless look. After all, you don’t want to get a case that looks ugly or unappealing. So, if you are worried about the aesthetic aspect of these units, we suggest that you get a unit that seems appealing.

6. Corrosion-Resistant

With the passage of time, metal cases tend to face corrosion. Therefore, it is better to get an aluminum case as they are corrosion resistant.

7. Withstand Temperatures

The good thing about an aluminum case is that it can withstand extreme temperatures. Since aluminum features high thermal conductivity, this type of metal can easily transfer heat from your fragile items. Therefore, you don’t need to worry about the effects of the elements when it comes to getting your expensive or fragile items from one place to another.

Long story short, these are just some of the benefits of customized aluminum cases. If you have never purchased one, we suggest that you get one today. The beauty of these units is they are much better than other types of metal out there. So, the next time you need to purchase one, you may consider one made from aluminum.

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How Cromacoin Functions to Enhance Businesses Productivity?

Instead for entire details relevant piece of information in this world of modernized technology Cromacoin usually operates on wide-spread public ledger known as Blockchain where entire confirmed transactions. Entire ways where users are aware of each transaction avoid stealing and spending the same currency within stipulated time. This process also supports Blockchain as it is trustworthy for an appropriate piece of content. Cromacoin is one of excellent digital currency which has been stepping up to correspond with better digital currencies exchanges.

Where to store your new ICO’s tokens after procure?

There are diversified applications which one should utilize while obtaining new ICO’s tokens some of the vital key elements are visualized below for better appearance:-

• Full Client Satisfaction- It is one of email server which is encountered without dependent upon third-party servers. It also controls whole transaction from start to an end.

• Trivial Clients- The mandatory vital piece of server surely rely upon customer’s satisfaction as everyone acquires access to the network for uppermost transactions.

• Web Clients- It is the opposite of full client resembling which totally dependent upon the third-party server and operate entire transactions instantly.
Where can you find Cromacoin?

In order to get evolved with this cryptocurrency digital exchanges one can firstly purchase Cromacoin from steps involved below:-

• Cryptocurrency Exchanges where one can exchange regular new ICO tokens.

• One can find a seller or just by SING UP process available for procedural module.

• After Signing up Cromacoin is precious for customers for better investment plans.

Input important credentials to obtain freeway service to your account by SIGN UP process.

• It is recommended to utilize a strong elongated password with a mixture of letters, alphabets and other special characters.

• One will be able to find information about the product in our whitepaper which proffers an extreme most reliable piece of information rapidly.

• Get a proper financial report as ICO’s can be started with crowdfunding.

• Companies utilizing ICO at an earlier stage for traditional businesses acquire whitepaper which is the most likely concern.

One needs explanations about Cromacoin just by examining the whitepaper in ICO’s.

• Get a ratio for cryptocurrency along with procedural modules in accordance to digital currency exchanges.

Where are your tokens? Know more from defined information evaluated

Firstly, it is important to bring tokens for your ICO which is associated with your tokens available as per needs and requirements. It can suffer bit of project keeping in mind a trustworthy project which one can send for Cromacoin analyzed. It is suggested to deposit your new ICO tokens where tokens actually bare and help for your new token repeatedly.

• Set up for a coin and participate in ICO to buy tokens.

• The need of wallet which supported tokens for purchase.

• Participate in ICO to buy tokens from Cromacoin.

• Send ETH for a token purchase and one will be tied to private key of wallet.

• Acquire few pieces of information to accomplish with Cromacoin.

• Send ETH address for ICO and proffer tokens constantly.

• Don’t ask for a deposit which wallet supports for a new token or one can access to your New ICO tokens on Blockchain with appropriate security enabled policies.

How to import ICO tokens into a supported wallet?

If one has contract address for token one can import tokens into wallet. Likewise, our wallet has the capability to hold numerous tokens keeping in mind entire terms accuracy, precise along with efficiency which play a vital role to enhance one’s business productivity. Our wallet is encompassed with unique wallet address which is thereby sent just by input for tokens.

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Why Business Owners Seek to Enter Foreign Markets

It is no longer news that business investors from around the world look at entering foreign markets in order to expand their local business operations or diversify their investments and establish new operations in the international market.

Every year, hundreds of entrepreneurial and growing companies consider international expansion as a marketing and growth strategy.

If you have been successful in your business for some time and you have already mastered everything about running a business, overseas expansion may just be the logical next move you have to make.

On the flip side, for a majority of others, just having an overseas registered company and business address makes more sense to them than moving over to these foreign countries to establish a brick-and-mortar office.

Whichever the case is, there are at least 7 reasons entrepreneurs incorporate an overseas company, subsidiary or a representative office.

1. EXPANSION. About 95% of the world’s consumer’s reside outside Nigeria. Entrepreneurs whose vision and target market is a global one would consider to enter new markets abroad thus increasing their company’s overall market share and growth potentials.

2. POSSIBLE UNTAPPED MARKET. The possibility of an untapped market in foreign jurisdictions may motivate a Nigerian entrepreneur to incorporate an overseas company, subsidiary or representative office of his/her local company. Nigerian entrepreneurs who produce and package local foodstuffs for sale abroad fall into this category.

3. PROXIMITY TO INTERNATIONAL CLIENTS/CUSTOMERS. Truth be told, the Internet hs done enough to bring businesses closer to buyers. However, for some reasons, several business transactions may still warrant a traditional business presence in the city or country of operation. An overseas office of a local company need not be that big, and may be a home business address, a paid virtual office, or a small/liaison office just for the sake of getting customer feedback and linking back to the Nigerian office.

4. CORPORATE IMAGE. In order to boost their corporate image in the eyes of customers, suppliers, investors and businesses, some entrepreneurs just register an overseas subsidiary of their Nigerian company. This gives their target audience an impression that they are a company with international networks. In situations like this, the “international entrepreneur” need not set up a brick-and-mortar office abroad, he/she only pays for a virtual registered office in such country plus a mailing and telephone forwarding service.

5. COMPETITION. The fact that competing businesses or brands are entering the overseas market and are doing well motivates entrepreneurs in similar businesses to follow suit.

6. INTERNATIONAL PAYMENT. There are quite a number of international banking options available to companies registered in overseas jurisdictions – whether you are currently established in the overseas country or operating the overseas company from Nigeria. Having a corporate checking account abroad makes international payment much more easier by direct deposits, cheque or international wire transfers.

7. MIGRATION. Entrepreneurs considering a migration or move to an overseas country may incorporate a company in the destination country pending the time of their travel.

The United Kingdom, for instance, grants an Entrepreneur Visa to persons outside the European Union to gain entry to the UK for business reasons.

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