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The Five Pillars of Marketing Success

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Does the following give a pretty good picture of your current marketing activity?

You have a website but you’re not really satisfied with it. You go to networking events once in awhile. If someone asks you to give a talk, you’re happy to do it. You post on Facebook and/or LinkedIn semi-regularly. When you find the time, you send an article to those on your relatively small email list. You occasionally set up meetings with colleagues to explore opportunities.

Now there’s nothing wrong with any of those marketing activities. And usually, they will result in landing some new clients.

But this is not the approach that works to get a steady, predictable stream of new clients.

Please don’t tune me out here, thinking, “Well, I really can’t do more than this. I’m already stretched thin. If you give me too much to do I’ll get overwhelmed.”

I agree. It’s not that you need to do more marketing, it’s that you need to shift your marketing paradigm from one of “Randomness” to one that is “Focused.”

Random marketing is just that; it’s all over the place. You do a little bit here and a little bit there on an inconsistent basis. You are trying to keep your face, name, and message in front of your prospective clients but the results are unpredictable.

The Random marketing paradigm is not very effective because it doesn’t gain a lot of momentum. You don’t do enough of one marketing activity to grab the attention of your prospective clients and move them to take action.

The Focused Marketing Paradigm is very different. It’s based on repeatedly communicating very directly to your target market with a very definite end in mind. It gets the attention of your prospective clients and they ultimately take action.

The Focused Marketing Paradigm has Five Pillars

Understand and implement these five pillars and I promise you’ll see a shift in your marketing results.

Pillar One: Focused Goals

A Random goal is saying something like, “I’d like to attract a few more clients to my business.” Not very compelling is it?

A Focused goal is much more specific. “My goal is to land 3 new clients in the high-tech plastics business in the Houston area with an average project size of $30,000 each by the end of the year.”

The more detail, depth, and specificity about the goal, the better. You’ve really thought through what you want to achieve and also have confidence that you could deliver if you did reach your goal. It’s so real to you that you can taste it.

What is the Focused Goal for your marketing?

Pillar Two: Focused Program or Service

Random programs or services are generalized consulting, coaching or training programs. “I offer management consulting and training to corporations.” Kind of vague, right? But this is what I hear all the time.

A Focused Program or Service is more tangible. “I offer the high-tech plastics industry Management Acceleration Programs for emerging leaders in the industry.”

In my business, I’ve always offered programs: The Marketing Mastery Program, the Marketing Action Group, and the More Clients Club. And each program has very specific parameters, deliverables, and objectives. It sure makes intangible services easier to market and sell.

What is the Focused Program or Service you’re offering?

Pillar Three: Focused Target Market

In the above example, the target was the “high-tech plastics industry.” But it’s more common to hear things like, “I work with large companies who want to increase productivity.” This is too general and it makes it hard for clients to know if you understand them and can help them.

A Focused target market is where you are absolutely clear what kinds of people or companies can most benefit from your expertise. And then you articulate that clearly.

I worked with a financial planning company last year that targeted middle class families in the Buffalo New York area. Guess who they attracted to their practice? When people read about who they worked with on their website, they said, “That’s Us!” and called them.

Who exactly is your Focused Target Market?

Pillar Four: Focused Message and Value Proposition

A Random message or value proposition tends to be too general and can be hard to pin down. It avoids making a promise that is meaningful to the prospective client.

Messages such as, “We offer the best service in the industry,” or “Smart insights into great management,” are meaningless to your prospective clients. The value is not immediately obvious.

A Focused message or value proposition zeros in on exactly what your clients get and what it means to them. I admit that this can be the marketing pillar that is hardest to pin down. Ultimately you have to test a number of different things.

For the re-launch of the More Clients Club, my current value proposition is: “Everything Self-Employed Professionals Need in One Place to Attract More Clients.” And now, of course, I’m bending over backward to deliver on that promise.

And a marketing message or value proposition is much more than a sound bite. Your message must permeate every aspect of your marketing, from your website to the emails you send out. Your prospects need to be constantly reminded of the value you offer.

What is your Focused Message or Value Proposition?

Pillar Five: Focused Marketing Strategy

A Random marketing strategy is much like the collection of marketing activities I outlined at the top of the article. You’re just all over the place, throwing something at the wall, hoping it will stick, with no organized system or plan.

A Focused marketing strategy is more like a putting on a theatrical production. You have the script, the actors, rehearsals, and opening night, all executed on a strict timeline.

Two examples:

For my Marketing Mastery Program, I held a series of introductory teleconferences, invited those interested to apply for the program, interviewed each applicant, and then converted 50% into participants. Over a 6-week period, I filled my business for a full year – four years in a row.

A career coach in one of my programs recently filled her practice in three months with a focused campaign of personalized emails designed to get appointments with her ideal clients. Then she converted a large percentage into paying clients.

That’s the power of a focused marketing strategy.

You need to identify the right marketing strategy for your business, but even more important is the way you organize and implement the strategy.

Developing a focused strategy is the most complex and challenging of the Five Pillars. You can’t just put together something haphazardly and hope you get the equivalent of a professional Shakespearian production.

What is your Focused Marketing Strategy?

If you work to build a focused plan with these five solid pillars, your marketing will work better and faster, attracting more of your ideal clients, usually at a higher rate.

I recommend you work on one pillar at a time. Write them out and fine-tune them until you feel confident and excited about them. Yes, you will need to do some research and study to make sure your plan is viable. But this is certainly better than spinning your wheels with a random strategy that is going nowhere.

Cheers, Robert

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Source by Robert Middleton

Views: 0

November 9, 2022
Successful Entrepreneurship – Cracking the Code

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We've heard stories of penniless immigrants who came to Canada with nothing but a dream, but within a single generation accumulate a lot of wealth. How do they do it?

This is a mystery to the typical person who graduates with a post-secondary education and goes on to work in the labor force as an employee (ie, most people!). This is because our educational system specifically trains its students to become employees rather than entrepreneurs.

So when we hear about these rags to riches stories, we ask ourselves – "how did they do it?" As someone who grew up in an entrepreneurial household, here is my take on Cracking the Code to Successful Entrepreneurship:

1. In most cases, one will never become truly financially independent working as an employee. Whether you are an entry-level bookkeeper or the CEO of a large organization, you can be unexpectedly fired at a whim by whoever you report to. You are therefore susceptible to financial catastrophe.

2. Therefore, the only way to achieve financial independence is to build and maintain a successful business.

3. There is a "magic formula" that will allow to evaluate a businesses' odds of success:

[( Sale price of product – Variable cost of product) x Units sold] – Fixed Overhead Costs = Profit

This formula will be very familiar to accountants – it's called the Contribution Margin Ratio.

Let's demonstrate this formula using a Bubble Tea business. Wonder why there are so many Bubble Tea shops in Toronto? Because they make a heck of a lot of money with little risk:

Price per bubble tea drink – $ 4.00

Cost to make per drink (water, powder, sugar) – $ 0.50

Drink sales per month assuming 100 sold per day – 3,000

Monthly rent for shop – $ 3,000

· Assume no labor costs – in the early years, the owners will work the shop themselves

· [($ 4.00 – $ 0.50) x 3,000] = $ 10,500 in sales

· Profit after paying rent: $ 10,500 – $ 3,000 = $ 7,500

Once you apply this formula to the multinational soft drink companies to analyze their beverage businesses, you can begin to understand why soft-drinks companies have grown from humble beginnings to global companies they are today.

You can also use this formula to evaluate almost any small business you might be thinking of getting into: restaurant, nail salon, hair salon. You should quickly realize that it's best to choose businesses with a high profit margin (ie, high selling price for produce / service and low cost of supplying the product / service) and high customer traffic (ie, units sold, people serviced).

Seeing the Future – Cash Flow Projection

You want to know if you'll be making a profit before going any further. If you skip this step, your chances of failing increase significantly.

Investigate your costs to start up and run your business. The most common are:

· Rent – how much will it cost to rent at the location where you want to set up?

· Wages and payroll tax – will you need employees or can your run the business yourself? How much do you need to pay yourself to meet your personal living costs?

· Advertising costs – what types of advertising will you use – TV, radio, internet – and what is their cost versus their potential return on investment?

· Cost of inventory or raw materials – will these be imported? If yes, you'll need to factor in the impact of exchange rates on your profitability.

· Purchase of equipment – general office equipment like a phone system, computers and IT network, and furniture, as well as specialized equipment for your specific line of business like restaurant equipment (if you're opening up a restaurant).

· Business liability insurance – to protect yourself from liability if someone is inadvertently harmed by your product or service, or if someone is injured on your premises.

· Pricing – how much will you be able to sell your product or service so that's it's competitive with others in your line of business

Once you've figured out your monthly costs (ie, your overhead) and pricing, you're now in the position to determine how many unit sales you need to make to breakeven – remember the Contribution Margin Ratio that we looked at. Use a spreadsheet to build a cash-flow projection model.

Protecting Yourself – Creditor Proofing

If things don't work out for your business you could be financially ruined. Therefore, consider the following techniques to protect your personal assets from your business creditors.

1. Incorporate the business. This will provide you with a level of creditor protection – most of a corporation's obligations are limited to its assets so this structure can provide protection for personal assets. This structure also has income tax benefits, which will not be discussed here.

2. Always pay statutory debt on time, specifically:

· Payroll source deductions;

· Federal and provincial sales tax collected; and

· Employee wages and vacation payable.

Corporate directors can be personally responsible for these debts, notwithstanding that the business is incorporated. In many incorporated small businesses, the shareholder (ie, the business owner) and director are the same person.

3. If you can, avoid giving personal guarantees of your corporation's business obligations (eg, landlord, suppliers) unless it is absolutely necessary.

You will need a financial expert on your team to deal with the issues raised in this article. Therefore, I would strongly advise that you contact a CPA who can help you further.

For all you aspiring entrepreneurs out there, I hope that I've helped take out some of the "mystery" behind successful entrepreneurship. Use this tool wisely and never stop dreaming!

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Source by Victor Fong

Views: 0

July 29, 2022
5 Top Video Marketing Tips You Cannot Afford To Ignore

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Are you deploying online video for marketing purposes? If not, then you should know that visual clips trump all other forms of online communication. Let us explore 5 top tips that you need to follow in order to succeed in this ever-growing online marketing segment.

1 – Visuals and Animated Clips Are Simply More Effective

If you have heard that the use of video clips for SEO and promotional purposes is the latest trend, than you have heard correctly! Streaming and general animated content is the most effective marketing strategy when it comes to reaching your potential customers and creating an unforgettable impression.

A question might arise as to how a video marketing strategy can really increase organisational visibility and draw in more customers. If you are already in business, you most likely have the initial tools right at your fingertips.

2 – Video Is Far More Effective Than Pictures

We have all heard the expression, “a picture speaks a thousand words”. So why use a photograph when we can now use video? Creating an online video clip for advertising purposes will always be a more dramatic marketing strategy when compared to articles and pictures.

The likelihood is that your video will leave a memorable image in your potential customer’s mind. At the same time it also sets yourself apart from your competition. Research has shown that short clips that are created for marketing purposes are more likely to be retained in one’s memory. In addition, they are remembered far longer than descriptive writing or audio segments.

3 – They Convey More Information Than Articles

As opposed to merely reading about the benefits of your products or services, your visuals will be able to dramatically communicate this information. Customers will also be able to hear the enthusiasm in your commentary. To make this point, you probably have heard the following expression associated with this particular advertisement even though it was ten years ago.

This refers to the phrase “set it and forget it”. It was used in a marketing clip created a good few years ago, but still relevant in modern-day marketing. The commentator continuously repeated the expression at various points during the presentation. This is an excellent example of how effective video marketing can be.

4 – Video Engages Your Site Visitors

As indicated, if you are already in business, no doubt you have an email contact list. Therefore, one of your daily functions revolves around emailing various individuals. With regards to your customers, you are most likely providing them with information pertaining to special deals, new products or services. What this means is that you now have the ability to send video emails as opposed to written ones.

Traditional platforms such as Outlook Express do not have the ability to fully accommodate online video. However, there are other relatively new business and advertising platforms that can and offers a phenomenal capability to interact with your customers and prospects.

5 – It Can Directly Increase Your Sales

Using active online imagery as part of your overall marketing strategy dramatically enhances the possibility of increased sales and your general success. Your product brand and promotional communication is far more likely to remain in your potential customer’s mind’s eye through clips or video streaming.

In addition, using visual imagery on your website and sending out video emails will prove to be the most direct and cost efficient method to reach your market when compared to other marketing strategies.

Video marketing as a promotional platform is rapidly gaining momentum in the business arena and you now have the opportunity to implement your very own effective online campaign.

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Source by Gerard Mohamed

Views: 0

July 29, 2022
Hemorrhoid Cures With Ginger

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No hemorrhoids cure would be complete without the ingredient, ginger. It is more often recognized as a cooking spice rather than an herbal ingredient that can naturally heal your body of its many ailments. Regardless of your preconceived notions, ginger is a great addition to any solution or formula that you may be entertaining.

Ginger serves a number of purposes when used as part of a hemorrhoids cure. This remarkable herb serves two main functions for your body. Both functions are very important to your optimal health and well being. The function it serves is to increase the circulation of the blood. By doing so, it is one of the best ways to cleanse the body from excess waste as a part of your hemorrhoids cure.

You see, poor blood circulation means poor ability to cleanse waste from your system. And when you are unable to cleanse waste from your system, you often end up with extra build up of waste on your cells. It can also lead to thicker blood. Thicker blood can cause small blood clots. Your hemorrhoids cure must absolutely help to prevent blood clots, cleanse and thin the blood, as well as to improve the circulation. If your hemorrhoids cure does that, nutrition and waste can be properly transported throughout your system.

Ginger extracts have been shown to have both antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects upon cells. What hemorrhoids cure could possibly be complete without this remarkable substance? Not only does this herb improve your blood circulation and help to naturally cleanse your blood, it is also mindful of your bowels. Every hemorrhoids cure is in need of a good stool softener and mover. Ginger helps with both.

Many cooking spices are also used in bulk as natural healers of all sorts of ailments. That is actually why they came to be used in cooking; for the health of the body. Now days, there is not enough nutrition in our day to day meals to keep our bodies from developing these uncomfortable situations. Your treatment needs to provide some nutrition and fiber to help you with your problem as well. Ginger is great, but cannot do it all by itself. You will need a combination of other health promoting properties in your hemorrhoids cure if you want to get healed.

Your hemorrhoids cure should also include additives that help to strengthen your veins, provide nutrition, sooth irritation and aid your body in absorbing the nutrition. Make sure that your hemorrhoids cure has all of these key points and you will be well on your way to relief.

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Source by Erin Celeste

Views: 0

July 29, 2022
Entrepreneurship Development

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Who is an entrepreneur?

An entrepreneur is someone who manages and organizes any form of business. Who has the capability to take initiatives, motivate others, work in a team, and become a leader. He is a man who starts his own venture not seeking for a job but providing many people a hope of life.

Why Entrepreneurship?

Entrepreneurship plays an important role in case of economic development of a country. A lot of problems of our country would be solved if people will start considering entrepreneurship as the first option for their career.

Employment:

One of the greatest problems of our country is “Unemployment”. Let’s see how entrepreneurship tackles with this problem.

Current employment opportunities can only cater 5 – 10 % of population. Entrepreneurs generate employment both directly and indirectly, directly by self employment as an entrepreneur and indirectly by starting many industrial units where they offer jobs to millions of people. Thus entrepreneurship is the best way to fight with the evil of unemployment.

National Income

National Income consists of the goods and services produced in the country. The goods and services produced are consumed within the country and can also be exported to other countries. The domestic demand increases with increase in population and increase in standard of living. The export demand also increases to meet the needs of growing imports due to various reasons. An increasing number of entrepreneurs are required to meet this increasing demand for goods and services. The manufacturing rate of any developed country lies between 60% – 70%. But unfortunately in our country this rate is below 40 %. If you want to become a great entrepreneur or want to do something for your motherland, become a manufacturer not just go for a service industry.

Dispersal of economic power:

Industrial development normally may lead to concentration of economic powers in a few hands. This concentration of power in a few hands has its own evils in the form of monopolies. Developing a large number of entrepreneurs helps in dispersing the economic power amongst the population. It may help in weakening the harmful effects of monopoly.

Better standard of living:

Entrepreneurs play a vital role in achieving a higher rate of economic growth. They are able to produce goods at lower cost and supply quality goods at lower price to the community according to their requirements. When the price of of the commodities decreases the consumers get the power to buy more goods for their satisfaction. There is a great demand of such entrepreneurs who can make this thought possible.

Creating solutions for society :

An entrepreneur is a person who creates solutions not only for the problems of his business but for the whole society. Entrepreneurs play a key role for innovations and creative ideas that solve different problems in the world with the efficient use of technology. What is needed? or desired should be created with appropriate use of technology. This gives a clear thought of “Creating solutions with technology!”

The benefits and needs of entrepreneurship is endless. The greatest demand of today’s world is simply “Be an Entrepreneur!” that will solve economic problems of your family, your society, your people and your country. Let’s create wealth,not just seek for a salary.

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Source by Mohammed Faizan Ansari

Views: 0

July 28, 2022
When You're Back on the Dating Scene

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With so many relationships breaking down and such a high percentage of marriages ending in divorce it's no wonder that many of us will, at some point, end up back on the dating scene.

We may be older and wiser, a little battered and bruised, but often, once we're ready to date again, thinking about rejoining the fray, we'll be harboring the fantasy of meeting someone special. Back on the dating scene means being optimistic, hopeful and looking forward to finding love again.

What do we need to consider when we're back on the dating scene?

– Our previous relationship experiences may have scarred our view and made us wary of what might go wrong. We may be keen to meet someone new but are nervous of trusting again. Cynicism of others' motives and being uncertain of our own instincts after getting it wrong may be sensible forms of self-protection, but if we treat all new dates with apprehension they will quickly sense our hesitancy and lack of enthusiasm. It's not going to bode well if we're on permanent alert, suspicious of their comments, behavior or intentions.

Counseling and hypnotherapy can be a useful start to the healing process and a good way to deal with past upsets. Therapy can help us to improve our confidence, self-esteem and remedy unwanted habit patterns, so becoming more assertive in an appropriate adult way. Don't forget that most potential dates will have their own story too, with their concerns, unease and fears. Starting out, second time around, can be a cautious time for both.

– This can be a good time to do things that boost your confidence. Maybe your wardrobe, make up or grooming regime need a refresh. Small changes can make a massive difference to how you feel about yourself and often cost very little to implement. Pay attention to current affairs, popular TV and local events so that you can easily join in conversations and offer relevant opinions. Think about picking up a hobby or interest, volunteering or joining a course. Exams don't have to be a factor!

– You may have to deal with children who are not too impressed at the thought of you dating again. They may have been through the damage of the breakup, witnessed the pain of the divorce and are used to you being around, more like your old self and always there for them. The thought of a new 'mum' or 'dad' arriving on the scene may fill them with horror.

Dependant on their age and awareness of the reasons for the breakup, they may have put your ex on a pedestal, especially if he or she is seen as the victim, all alone and struggling to recover. Giving you 'permission' to starting dating again might seem like a step too far and incredibly disloyal.

Children's jealousy, resentment and emotional blackmail may need to be navigated with kind but firm determination, especially if they refuse to share you or treat any potential serious new relationship with shock or disdain. Sometimes it's advisable to keep the fact that you're dating private until you're confident that this new relationship is right for you, even if that decision remains in place for months or even years, until the children are older or more settled.

And if they do insist on overseeing your love life it's important to refuse to allow yourself to be bullied by them. Older children are often determined to live their life on their terms, but equally they must allow you to do the same.

– Ageing, older parents can sometimes start to increase their demands just as you're ready to start back on the dating scene. They may be increasingly fragile and in need of greater levels of support. There may be concerns at leaving them unattended for too long, or that you could be called away at a moments notice. It could make the notion of dating again seem like too much hassle.

But supportive friends or the services offered by many local care agencies could potentially step into the breach and provide whatever level of support is required to help ease those concerns. And mobile phones make us all easily accessible.

– Friends too can send mixed messages. Sometimes at the outset, they may display great enthusiasm about getting you back on the dating scene. They may be keen to introduce you to single friends, arrange coffees, support you as you aim to lose a little weight and update your image. But then, if you become more committed to dating reality may sink in for them. The awareness that if you become serious about someone new and how it could significantly change your close, supportive relationship may hit them hard and prompt them to revise their approach.

Become aware of them starting to discourage you or of them regularly finding fault with your new love interest. Trust your gut and pay attention to any reasonable concerns they may have, but also appreciate that other people's perception of your date will be different to yours, especially if they're coming from a long-established, cozy, familiar relationship scenario.

Have some fun, take good care of yourself and enjoy getting back on the dating scene!

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Source by Susan Leigh

Views: 0

July 28, 2022
Importance of Evidence-Based Complementary Medicine
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The modern-day world has many challenges and thus good health is one of the greatest blessings in today’s era. For example, a rich man with a bad health will always be unsatisfied and unhappy! “Health is Wealth”. Improving your health is an opportunity that shouldn’t be missed. It is a fact that your health affects all the aspects of your life, be it professional, or personal. Probably that is the reason why evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine came into existence!

With increasing number of health-related apps and journals on the internet, you can now easily move towards a healthier lifestyle. Even the experts of medicine have admitted that the advice and products of work best when supplemented with a doctor’s standard care and supervision.

As the famous proverb suggests, “Prevention is better than cure” and evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine helps you achieve this goal. So, here are a few benefits that you might get if you follow an integrative healthcare protocol:
- It helps you in receiving specific treatment plans as per your physical requirements. As each individual has a unique body, it is not advisable to subscribe to a generalized treatment protocol. An effective biotyping assessment studies your inherited traits such as body frame, personality type, digestive capacity, metabolic activity, nutrigenomics, as well as environmental factors. In this way, it provides you with a personalized holistic Integrative healthcare medicine advice.
- It aims at examining and treating all the aspects of physical as well as emotional components. It is proven that daily stress negatively affects your emotions, biology and genetics. All this further results in greater risks of several chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease!
- It offers a wide range of Natural Cure and Remedies so that you are not completely dependent on pharmaceuticals, many of which have side-effects. The food that you eat is one of the biggest reasons behind your healthy (or unhealthy) life! Following unhealthy food habits can result in an increase in the risk of heart conditions, high blood sugar, obesity, etc. So, what could be better than utilizing food as a medicine?
- It focuses on the prevention of diseases before it even occurs. While conventional medicines are prescribed for a lifetime for chronic disease, alternative medicine examines the root causes of the disease. It also encourages the patients to focus on preventing a disease by eating healthy foods, exercise, meditation, etc.
So, if you also wish to treat or prevent any disease with Natural Cure and Remedies, evidence-based complementary medicine is the key! After all, it’s never too late for improving your health.

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Source by Luke Harper

Views: 0
July 28, 2022
Dangerous Driving Habits

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Many of today’s drivers have dangerous driving habits. You do not have to travel far to see people driving with risky driving techniques. Dangerous driving habits can be observed on highways, on residential streets, and in parking lots. Dangerous driving habits are not only fraught with danger to the driver performing them, but to the public as well.

Everyone eventually crosses paths with a reckless driver! Many of us survive these encounters, but some do not. Dangerous drivers kill people and destroy property everyday. As a result, Insurance companies cite dangerous drivers as one of the main reasons for the skyrocketing cost of automobile insurance.

There are drivers from all age groups that have dangerous driving habits. Younger drivers can be dangerous drivers simply because they lack experience driving in various environments, such as driving at night, or driving on interstate highways. Older drivers are sometimes dangerous because their senses and reflexes are not as sharp as they once were.

Technology has also added to dangerous driving habits. Cell phones are now more popular than ever, many drivers have cell phones. While driving in town or on the highway, it is rare not to see someone driving while talking on his or her cell phone. Another dangerous driving habit is applying makeup while driving. Applying make-up while driving is thought to be a leading cause of accidents, and is completely irresponsible. One of the most common dangerous driving habits is eating while driving. Many drivers leave the drive through lane of their favorite restaurant and immediately pull onto a road while trying to eat and drink the food they just purchased. All of those bad habits can distract a driver from paying attention to other drivers on the road and being aware of road conditions.

There are many kinds of driving habits that are considered risky. Speeding is a very common driving habit that can lead to a disaster. Drivers that speed are engaging in reckless and impulsive behavior. It is especially dangerous to speed in residential neighborhoods where children and pets may be playing. Speeding drivers can also be dangerous in neighborhoods where homeowners in their vehicles are entering and exiting their driveways.

Another category of dangerous driving habits is failing to use turn signals. Proper use of turn signals can help prevent most accidents. Failing to use turn signals properly can increase the rate of accidents with other vehicles and pedestrians. Turn signals are simple devices that can give advance notice to other drivers about your driving intentions. It is unfortunate that failing to use such a simple device can cause so many tragedies in terms of lives and property damage. Road rage is a one of the consequences of failing to use turn signals. Many drivers become enraged when they barely escape an accident due to another driver failing to use a turn signal to notify them before changing lanes or making a turn.

Many dangerous driving habits are a result of over confidence. Drivers with years of experience sometimes become dangerous drivers because they are over confident with driving their particular vehicle, or a particular route between home and work. They are not prepared when something out of the ordinary occurs.

There is an old saying, “Good habits are as hard to break as bad habits.” If you have dangerous driving habits you can change them by applying good driving skills for a few weeks, after a few weeks many of these good driving techniques will become your new habits. You should practice watching for speed limit signs, and adjust your speed if necessary. If you practice using turns signals every time you make a turn or change lanes it will quickly become a habit. Developing good, safe driving habits may one day save your life or the life of someone close to you.

(c) 2006, Marcus Barber

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Source by Marcus Barber

Views: 0

July 27, 2022
Entrepreneurship and Innovation: The Inconvenient Truth

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Entrepreneurship and innovation: The popular belief

Entrepreneurs are widely believed to be the agents behind economic growth and innovation. They are, we are told, the movers and shakers who create new industries, unseat current leaders from their thrones, and open new frontiers for everyone. Popular culture tirelessly propagates one success story after another – from Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, who was glorified in "The Social Network" movie, to Tesla's Elon Musk, an immigrant who became a household name, to Google's Sergey Brin, whose internet search engine name has officially become a verb in English.

So persuasive is the narrative of the entrepreneurial technological prowess and success, that many countries – including developing countries that feel they are lagging behind – develop comprehensive policies to support and promote entrepreneurship and even set aside sizeable funds to invest in startups via government-run venture capital programs. But is this fascination with and belief in entrepreneurs justified? How likely are entrepreneurs to push the technological frontier and bring about the kind of change that governments want? Entrepreneurship Professor Sergey Anokhin from Kent State University says the hard evidence is far less convincing than the popular culture makes you believe.

The dark side of entrepreneurship

In a study of 35 countries over a 7-year period, Professor Anokhin from Kent State and Professor Joakim Wincent from Sweden's Lulea University of Technology show that there is no universally positive relationship between entrepreneurship and innovation. While for the world's leading economies such as the United States the positive link between startup rates and innovation may be true, for the developing economies the relationship is actually negative. Such countries are more likely to see innovation championed by the existing companies, not startups. With few exceptions, entrepreneurs there pursue opportunities of a different kind that are based on imitation and dissemination of others' ideas, and are not equipped to produce truly advanced "grand" innovations. On average, startups are less efficient than existing firms. Accordingly, if local governments support entrepreneurship, economic effectiveness may suffer, and innovation is less likely to occur. In fact, successful technological development in emerging economies is often associated with an aggressive entrepreneurial behavior of large corporations, not individual entrepreneurs. Such is the case, for instance, of South Korea with its chaebols .

The figure below shows the vastly different impact of startup rates on innovation and technological development (as measured by patent applications) across countries. Only rich countries can expect more entrepreneurship to result in more innovation, says Dr. Anokhin. For the lesser developed countries, as the plot demonstrates, an increase in startup rates will only lead to less, not more innovative activities. The problem, according to Sergey Anokhin, is that developing countries often look up to the leading economies when trying to design their own policies. Moreover, quite naturally, the very textbooks that the students across the world use, are written by the scholars from the world's leading countries, and do not take developing economies' context into account. Taken together, it often locks policy makers in assuming the relationship between entrepreneurship and innovation that will not hold in their particular parts of the world. The pro-entrepreneurship policies will not bring about the effects expected, and the limited resources will be wasted to support activities that are largely detrimental.

What it all means

It is time to recognize that the relationship between entrepreneurship and innovation varies across countries, says Professor Anokhin. That is why World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council for Fostering Entrepreneurship explicitly acknowledges that Silicon Valley success stories do not necessarily resonate in other parts of the world. Broad-strokes policies that aim at fostering entrepreneurship to boost country innovativeness may well be misguided. A contingency approach that takes regional specifics into account should be employed instead.

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Source by Sergey Ahmetov

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July 27, 2022
Drug Use – Advantages and Disadvantages

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Rampant, often unchecked use of drugs is a malaise that has been plaguing our society, and especially our younger generation for quite some time. It has grown quickly from a psychological bad malaise, a bad habit to a dangerous social evil, and in many countries, invite strict punitive action. Countries across the world try to combat this evil using combination’s of public awareness regarding the evils of drug use, severe clampdowns on drug usage/trafficking and penal impositions. However, this is still not enough as drug trafficking has proliferated across social strata, and is not limited to isolated groups of the society. So why exactly is drug usage considered to be one of the most debilitating and potentially dangerous of social evils?

One of the most primary reasons why consumption and business dealings on drugs are declared illegal internationally is because of the tremendous damage they cause to the human body. Drugs usually are of two kinds, and act as general nervous stimulants that can almost supercharge the brain and the nervous system for brief amounts of time. For that amount of time, the user has no sense of personal identity and this phase is usually described as a phase of euphoric detachment, while the user loses common consciousness. However, this effect is fleeting and does not last long. Drug-induced euphoria lasts for a very short time, usually culminating in sever hangovers and strains on the human body, which might manifest in physical and psychological reactions.

Drugs are generally hallucinogenic compounds that are primarily of two types, Organic and inorganic. Organic drugs are usually extracted from plants, and processed and consumed usually by burning them like tobacco. Inorganic compounds are much more difficult to obtain, as they are manufactured in pharmaceutical laboratories and are generally available in the form of tablets, pills and fluid solutions. Scientific studies have actually revealed that inorganic drugs/narcotic agents are more life-threatening and potentially debilitating in nature than their organic counterparts, even though prolonged drug use of either could result in serious consequences.

It might be said that drug use is actually dependent on more than one conditions and criterion. There are, in reality, numerous reasons that increase the usage of drugs within a particular demographic cross-section. These reasons could range from social, psychological, economical or just out of biological dependency. One reason why sustained usage of drug is deemed so dangerous to life and health is that it creates a sense of dependency within the user, who feels habituated by the use of drugs. Irrespective of the original stimulus, the consumption of drug becomes the primary objective in these cases, and the user often goes to extreme lengths to maintain the habit of drug use.

Presently, there are widespread efforts to contain if not eradicate drug use within a particular section of the society through governmental as well as non-governmental/individual efforts. General awareness, support groups, supportive rehabilitation centers and clinics that help drug abusers have now become popular, and much sought after to help individuals kick this habit.

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Source by Efti Babu

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July 26, 2022