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Type 2 Diabetes – An Oral Drug That May Protect Against Heart Failure As Well As Lower Blood Sugar
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Dapagliflozin (Farxiga) is an SGLT2 inhibitor, given in the form of a pill for people who have been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and is used along with diet and exercise and sometimes with other medications. It works by making the kidneys secrete more sugar into the urine. According to a study reported on in October of 2018 in the journal Cardiovascular Diabetology, the drug is also helpful for treating heart failure, one complication of Type 2 diabetes.

Heart failure takes place when the left side of the heart is unable to take in blood from the lungs and send it out fast enough to the rest of the body.

The heart is made up of muscle tissue which grows when it is stressed. Inward growth of this muscle makes for a smaller space to accommodate blood flowing in from the lungs. This causes the heart to fail, filling the lungs with fluid from the blood.

In 2017 an estimated 26 million people worldwide had heart failure. In Type 2 diabetes high blood sugar levels damage the heart and blood vessels, and high blood pressure can result. It is vital to bring down the blood pressure reading to a healthy level to lower the strain on the heart. Heart attacks may not cause chest pain in people with Type 2 diabetes because nerve damage reduces sensation. That makes preventing heart disease even more imperative.

Investigators at Kobe University and several other research facilities in Japan looked at 58 people who had Type 2 diabetes and who also had heart failure. Dapagliflozin at a dose of 5 mg / day was added to their usual regimen. After six months the muscle tissue comprising the left side of the diabetic's heart decreased in size. Brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), a protein secreted by the heart cells in response to being stretched too far, lowered in the participants whose BNP was extremely high. From this information, the researchers concluded dapagliflozin could be helpful for improving heart failure in those who have Type 2 diabetes.

The natriuretic peptide is effective in making the kidneys secrete potassium into the kidneys, lowering the blood pressure and the amount of blood in the heart and blood vessels.

Dapagliflozin is given once a day, either with or without food. It is prescribed as part of an overall treatment plan that includes diet and exercise. Side effects include …
- urinary tract yeast infections,
- a stuffy nose with a sore throat,
- frequently urinating in more copious amounts and at night,
- dizziness or light-headedness,
- ketoacidosis (check for ketones in urine),
- nausea and vomiting,
- feeling very tired,
- having difficulty with breathing,
- abdominal pain, and
- kidney injury.
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Source by Beverleigh H Piepers

Views: 1
November 12, 2022
Selecting the Character's Emotion

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The last article covered the process used in selecting and portraying the character's objective. Many of the same principles also apply to the selection of the emotions. As with the objective, the ability to choose and convey strong emotions is a valuable tool for the actor. Many performances work mainly because of the powerful emotional portrayals.

In a dramatic sense, what are emotions and how do they affect the audience? Emotions, together with intentions and obstacles, are the forces that move the characters through the story. They are feelings so powerful that they can change the character's life or destroy it. And by destroy, I mean decimate one's inner powers, beliefs, even one's life. For the actor, such feelings must be larger than life. They must also be readable to stir and lead the audience in the desired story direction.

Emotions affect the audience in many ways. Most important is the empathy they create causing the audience to care about certain characters and follow their struggles. They likewise, create a for or against polarity for each main character as the audience observes, evaluates, judges, and even takes sides. As part of the behavior, emotions create deeper awareness of the character, often justifying their actions. In addition, emotions can change the audience perspective and the way they feel or think about a given issue. They are instrumental in leading the audience in the desired story direction

Like the intention, the emotion can intensify the conflict within or between characters. It can likewise, establish sympathetic or antagonistic roles, ones that make the audience root for the hero and boo the villain.

In choosing the emotion, the guidelines are similar to those used in selecting the objective. First read and study the entire play. Look for clues in the dialogue, the action, the stage directions, and in the resolution of the story. Select choices that result in the story line making sense.

Like the intent of the character, the emotion is derived from the character's viewpoint, what the character knows and feels up to that point in the story.

No one lives in a realistic world. We occupy a space of our own creation – bits and pieces of actuality mixed together with our internal perceptions, our hopes, our fears, our memories, and our anticipations. This "reality" we live in – half fact, half fantasy – is as much the product of our emotions as our rationality. Thus, in any given situation, what might be an acceptable intention and emotion for one character might be a contradiction for another character. Knowing the character's goals, flaws, and inclinations in context of the total story will aid in determining these choices.

Next, we need to answer the question, does the character's emotion assist the intention or does the emotion create an obstacle? Placing the objective, what the character wants, in conflict with what he or she feels will likely shift the focus of the scene to the character with the greater internal struggle.

Let's use the example where a man is at a dance and sees the women of his dreams sitting alone. His intention might be: To get to know her. But his emotion, fear of being rejected, would be in conflict with his intention. Thus the focus of the scene would be primarily on his internal struggle and the purpose of the scene might be to show the man overcoming his fear.

But let's say her intention, to marry rich, is assisted by the emotion, ambition. And the scene resolves when the women walks away when she discovers the man is dirt poor. If his initial emotion of fear were replaced by desire and his intention remained to get to know her then the focus of the scene would center more on the relationship and the impending discovery. The purpose of the scene could be to introduce his major obstacle in the story, the women, along with his over all goal: To win her love.

The initial choices for each character might look like this:

MAN

Objective: To get to know her

Emotion: Fear / Desire

WOMAN

Objective: To marry rich

Emotion: Ambition

The above choices set up confrontations, the inner doubts of the man, and then, his desire for her is countered by the revelation that he's not rich enough for her. After the woman learns this, her emotion changes to contempt for the man and she walks away. The characters' choices would now change to:

MAN

Objective: To win her love

Emotion: Determination

WOMAN

Objective: To marry rich

Emotion: Contempt (for the man)

These choices place the focus of the scene on the major conflict that is resolved later in the story when he wins her love. It, likewise, centers on what's important, the relationship.

As with the intention of the characters, the emotion need not follow the logic of the dialogue and action. Modern plays and movies do not always express the thoughts and emotions of the characters clearly, nakedly, up front. Today, we have to play the duality of people; playing what they appear to want against what they really want. And sometimes the two may have no connection what so ever.

In modern plays, every character has two behaviors. What is really going on and what they are willing to show to the world? So many emotions, to be played properly, need to be partially masked or repressed.

Using the man and woman from our earlier example, let's set up a scene later in the story, one that demonstrates the duality of the characters and uses of partially masked or repressed emotions. At a shopping mall, they meet by chance and their dialogue is mainly small talk. The scene ends with each alluding to errands undone. The only hint about what is really going on is found in the following script action lines:

He rarely looks directly at her.

They shake hands, each holding on longer than necessary, and then each goes their way.

In view of the story's final outcome, this is likely a scene where her objective, to marry rich, is weakening, and that she has some attraction for the man. Based on how their first meeting resolved, their selections might be as follows:

MAN

Objective: To not upset her / To win her love

Emotion: Desire / Determination

WOMAN

Objective: To show him I don't care / To make him want me

Emotion: Determination / Curiosity

This would be a scene where the characters are not open with each other, yet the audience (or camera) is aware of the inner conflicts and what's really happening. The behavior could best be reflected through masked and / or repressed emotions.

If the man were to play his emotion of desire openly, he would surely upset her. So he has to repress it or use a mask technique and unleash his desire when she is not looking at him. The woman is determined to show the man she doesn't care about him, but now he appears to have no desire for her. From her point of view, something has come to change the relationship and as a result, she alters both her objective and emotion.

His apparent disinterest makes her curious and her objective in now: To make him want me, like all men do. Her actions might be to get his attention, to entice him. But the problem is, he's not looking at her. How can she obtain what she wants? She uses the lingering handshake.

You can see where these choices create conflict both within and between the characters. They also create subtle shifts in behavior that move the story forward. Interest in the relationship is likewise increased because the audience is aware of something the characters are not. And as the scene ends, the audience has a pressing question: "What will happen the next time they meet?"

The foregoing example demonstrates one answer to the character's choices. These are, by no means, the best or only selections. In fact, the type of actor you are is also a consideration. If you were Jack Nicholson, your emotions might be different than if Arnold Schwarzenegger were he playing the same role. Each actor brings to the scene his or her own perspective and emotional latitudes. Furthermore, a scene played as a comedy versus one being played as a drama might result in different sets of emotions for the characters.

Here are some other factors that should be considered: Who are you in the story? What is the situation, and what is the relationship? For instance, if you were playing a love scene as a character that had little experience with the opposite sex, your emotion might be fear (fear of the unknown) rather than the expected desire or lust.

Now change the situation to your having a good dinner with your loving spouse. Your emotion would change to maybe contentment or joy. Now change the relationship to your having dinner with an important client. Your emotion might range from apprehension to ambition to greed. Who you are, the relationships, and the situation, all have a bearing on the emotion selected.

How many emotions can you use in a scene and how long do you play an emotion? As a general rule, work with only one dominant emotion in a scene – until something occurs to change it. These occurrences could be a change in the relationship, the situation, who you are, new information, overcoming obstacles, new obstacles, and succeeding or failing at one's intention. Any one of these events could have enough impact to motivate a change.

Most scenes have one dominant emotion running through them and while the actor may use subtle shadings of other emotions, that one feeling prevails – until something occurs to change it. If the actor were to change the emotion at each minor occurrence, the audience would question the character's integrity and loyalty to the cause for which he is fighting.

Too many changes cause the character to lose part of his identity. We become uncertain about who he is, what he's attempted in the past, or what he's after now. Credible characters are made up of consistent behavioral patterns. By that I mean, what has happened before will likely happen again should the same situation occur. There will, of course, be a few surprises, but for the most part, certain emotions will dominate each character's behavior as he or she progresses through the story.

So when you research and study the entire play, you will likely find certain emotions and emotional patterns repeated to reinforce the identity and commitment of the character. For instance, the repeated pattern of mischief – embarrassment – fear might be the dominant emotions for a small overly rambunctious boy. A young executive struggling with business ethics might have an emotion pattern of ambition – determination – greed – guilt. A woman in jeopardy might follow a curiosity-suspicion – fear – terror progression.

As you can see, certain emotions and their progressions make up a portion of the character. Also look for surprises where the emotion swings 180 degrees, ie, contentment to fear, desire to contempt, revenge to compassion.

When working on a play or scene, write down in the margin of the script your choices in objectives and emotions, where the changes occur, and the motivation for making the change. Beginning actors tend to be non-committal while experienced actors, however, take dramatic risks and commit themselves to their choices. By writing them down, you've made a major step to that commitment.

To aid in selecting the emotion, I've compiled discussions of root emotions , the primary forces in most scenes. These discussions explore the physical sensations, sources, forms, and dynamics of the most common root emotions. They will serve as a guide in stretching the clarity, strength, and polarity of your emotional repertoire.

This article has covered the basic skills used in the selection of dramatic emotions. Use these skills as tools to nurture and release the character's true feelings, to foster the isolation and control of emotional behaviors, and to achieve the desired strength (story importance), clarity (audience knowing / feeling it) and polarity (protagonist-antagonist orientations ).

Implementation of your selections is addressed in another article. This article will cover the various methods used to generate credible emotions.

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Source by Erik Sean McGiven

Views: 0

November 12, 2022
Top 10 Reasons for Studying Medicine or Dentistry in Eastern Europe
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Many students have been unsuccessful in pursuing medicine or dentistry in their home countries such as UK, Germany, USA. The nature of such courses is highly competitive. Here's why you should consider studying in Europe:
- The course is taught entirely in English, with a foreign language class taught a few hours per week to help you fit in to the country and culture. The foreign language class can assist you when you communicate with the local people or with your patients, as well as when interacting in typical every situations with your new international friends.
- You will be studying medicine or dentistry at some of the best universities in Europe. Even if your grades are not the best, you can still get accepted into some world class university as many Medical Faculties in Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, Ukraine and many more allow some flexibility with grade requirements. Universities will not disregard your application and will individually look at your overall performance to give you a chance. Medical Schools in Europe want you to be able to puruse your dream so they'll give you a chance to study. It then depends on you to keep up with medical school and show them what you're worth.
- You'll be studying medicine or dentistry at some of the largest medical campuses worldwide and largest teaching hospitals in Europe. The universities are all surrounded by very reputable teaching hospitals with many specialties and specialists. Some universities have specific centers like a military hospital or private hospitals with up to date technology, methodology and equipment.
- Thousands of UK students are opting for studying medicine in Europe. The international community of students from the UK and Germany and other countries is amazing! There are many students who were in your shoes and managed to pursue their dream career abroad, and so should you.
- Europe is alive, beautiful and safe, you'll experience a true culturally rich experience.
- You'll have an exciting additional option, as opposed to the limited four university options that UCAS in the UK allows you. You can apply to as many medical universities in Europe as you like – your options are limitless. Apply to each university with its procedures and have an unlimited option of universities to choose from.
- Annual Tuition fees begin from € 3000 per year. The tuition is paid in one or two instalments every year. Usually, non-EU applicants must pay the tuition upfront before applying for the visa
- Living expenses are very low, you can live very comfortably on under € 300 per month. Living costs are fantastic and you will love living like a king with such a small amount of money. A Euro or Pound is twice or sometimes thrice as strong as the local currency making everything super cheap.
- This will be a great back-up option and your safety net incase you are not accepted into medicine back home. Don't risk losing out on a year of your life because of medical school decided to not accept you, because you're not the best of the best of the best!
- You are guaranteed a job after graduation from medical school in Europe as a doctor, as the universities are accepted worldwide.
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Source by Osman M

Views: 1
November 12, 2022
Entrepreneurship Misconceptions

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Don’t let what others think about entrepreneurs hold you back from greatness,

Misconception is a thought or opinion that is incorrect based on the faulty thinking or understanding of people. Here, we want to clarify some of the misconceptions in entrepreneurship.

They work for money

Entrepreneurship isn’t all about money, it’s about solving problems for people and love what they do. Also, it’s about creating a name for themselves and making a positive impact in the world.

Money is also a way to do bigger and more exciting deals. The motivation of a new idea, and the risks involved have far more power to motivate the entrepreneurial spirit than money. In entrepreneurship, your business and success become an obsession not the money.

They lack courage

I’ve never seen anyone that is as courageous as an entrepreneur.

It takes courage to forego the predictability of a corporate job, It takes courage to take the risk of failure, It takes courage to make your dreams into reality.

And it takes courage, lots of it to hand over the reins when your startup grows beyond your ability to manage it.

That’s why entrepreneurs are rightly the true heroes of our modern world.

They are professionals

Most successful entrepreneurs are not highly qualified fellows, but are success driven. Surprisingly, attending an elite university or higher education doesn’t provide a significant advantage in entrepreneurship. What matters is that the entrepreneur gains a degree; the choice of major or college doesn’t play a big role in success. However, the greater the education of the entrepreneur, the lower the rate of business failure and the higher the business’s profits, sales and employment.

They sometimes have overnight success

It may seem to you that entrepreneurs made the huge amount of money, but do you know that there is a lot of handwork before he made it.

Overnight success is possible; entrepreneurs are inspired to start their own business by witnessing successful and established entrepreneurs. They study the success stories, the beginning of those success stories, which often includes massive struggle prior to the breakthroughs. As a matter of Fact, it takes years to become an overnight success in entrepreneurship!

Many entrepreneurs needlessly worry that they haven’t perfected their ideas. No idea is ever perfect. When you have an idea, go ahead and build a prototype or two, tinker with what works, make refinements as necessary, but by all means get it out there! You can always improve on a good idea. Let the market help you improve.

You don’t have to be a Harvard graduate to be an entrepreneur, but you do need to understand the characteristics of entrepreneurial. See you at the top!

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Source by Femi Adefioye

Views: 1

November 11, 2022
4 Little Understood Tricks to Ending Up Being a Successful Affiliate Online Marketer

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Affiliate marketing company has actually gotten a great deal of buzz in current times due to advances in web innovations and upswing of social networks channels like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and so on

Some affiliate online marketers particularly novices battle to make successfully due to the fact that they do not completely comprehend the service.

WHAT REALLY IS AFFILIATE MARKETING?

Affiliate Marketing is the procedure of making online commissions by promoting product or services. Your commissions are made each time you get a lead (Possible client) or offer items online.The fascinating element of affiliate marketing service is that you can make a lots of cash with a little financial investment.

You can begin the company without items or services of your own, work from house and make passive earnings even while sleeping if you have an efficient system in location.

HOW DOES AFFILIATE MARKETING WORK

Register under the affiliate program of credible business that have important services and products.

Get your custom-made affiliate tracking link for each item you choose to promote online.

Select the ideal traffic source to utilize in promoting the item.

Select the specific niche items to concentrate on.

Pick the marketing method to utilize I.e Blogging, video or social networks marketing.

4 MAJOR WINNING STRATEGIES TO BOOST YOUR REVENUES ONLINE

Concentrate on a single specific niche at a time

This allows you to quickly encourage your consumers to purchase your items. This will enable you to find out and obtain brand-new selling techniques that will increase your sales and increase your revenues.

Select traffic sources

It is suggested to concentrate on 2 traffic sources at a time. I will advise concentrating on one online search engine and one social networks traffic at a time. This allows you to appropriately track and enhance projects released on each platform consequently optimizing your revenues per product.The trick of incredibly affiliates is their capability to concentrate on a traffic source, screening and tracking projects efficiently.

Test marketing technique to utilize

You can never ever understand if either blogging, social networks or video marketing will be most rewarding till you evaluate marketing techniques such as:

Track the data/results received from each of the approaches then you concentrate on the technique that produces the best earnings.

Video marketing; You can make a video explaining the functions of the item then you publish it on YouTube for individuals to view.

Blogging: You can compose a post utilizing well research study keywords for SEO. This attracts your customers to your blog site and triggers them to decide.

Social Network Marketing: This is the commonest and the simplest approach particularly for novices. Facebook is a great platform since it has great deals of groups/forums where you can discover individuals who have an interest in your services and product. You can quickly send them a pal demand and pitch your items to them.

Select the traffic type

Paid traffic includes utilizing Pay per click or Pay per view marketing on online search engine and social networks platforms. This technique is much faster, related to increased conversion and earnings due to the fact that it enables you to target your customers particularly based upon interests and other functions.

The traffic type can either be totally free or paid traffic.

Complimentary traffic includes SEO, social networks groups, and short article marketing. The downside of this technique is that it does not permit you to target your customer based upon their interests and demographics.

Learn more about how to become a successful affiliate marketer.

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Source by Juan C Ruiz

Views: 0

November 11, 2022
Family Medicine And Family Physicians

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To become a family physician, men and women go through a four-year degree program, they study in an accredited family medical medicine residency program, and an additional three years of training before becoming board certified. A family physician is your one-stop healthcare expert. They treat everyone in the family and they exam, research, and diagnose medical conditions from head to toe. This type of care is called integrated care where a family doctor devises individualized health plans to treat mom, dad, and children of all ages. Family doctors treat a wide range of health conditions and they can be your primary care physicians at any point in your life. Unlike other specialties, family medicine involves coordinating all types of healthcare issues, from a common cold, pregnancies, to treating an acute or chronic illness.

Family physicians must practice at the highest level of medical care throughout the world. They are required to become re-certified around every six years, through American institutions like The American Board of Family Medicine, The American Academy of Family Physicians or the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, all of which have reciprocity agreements throughout the globe for family medicine training. A few of the advantages in being seen by a primary care physician, includes the following:

• family doctors have all of your personal and family medical history because they have been treating you for years.

• physicians that have seen generations of family members can help in researching various genetic diseases, like cancer, if it appears more than once in a generation.

• doctors involved in family medicine environments can perform minor surgical procedures without the added cost of seeing a specialist.

• they improve the lives of the underserved in America and abroad.

Research and clinical studies have proven that US and worldwide primary care physicians have been responsible for lowering the world mortality rates in diseases, such as in cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, low birth weight issues, obesity, and many other illnesses and health conditions. The statistical results associated with the care provided by family physicians, have proven that they help to increase life spans and control diseases from spreading. Their participation in healthcare has reduced healthcare expenditures, they help to lower hospital admissions, emergency room admissions, and they help to reduce surgical costs.

A family doctor focuses on preventive care, community oriented care, global health, plus they diagnose and manage a wide range of health problems to improve the quality of care in local, rural, urban, and large city health. Even if people are generally healthy, patients benefit by keeping a relationship with their primary care physicians. The physicians support individuals to stay healthy through dietary programs, they encourage their patient's to exercise to stay physically and mentally healthy.

One of the main reasons that family medicine works, is the relationship that patients have with their doctors. This specialized and confidential relationship is great for individuals who feel comfortable in talking about their medical health with their physicians. Physicians around the world, are available to answer their patient's questions in a way that forms a trusting bond. This bond creates a trusting relationship, whereby patients will listen and follow their healthcare provider's advice and directions, thus decreasing chances of spreading contagions .

Family medicine is all about treating the whole person, not just their symptoms. A family physician has a profound effect on the physical, mental, environmental, emotional, and spiritual health of each of their patient's. Physicians with an intimate knowledge of their patients can help introduce the healing power of hope, love, faith, and trust, as life presents challenges that can evoke depression, fear, grief, and anger. Also, if a physician's patient requires the need to see a specialist, a family doctor will help coordinate your care. Patients can often feel frustrated and confused when they have to manage the healthcare system on their own. With a family healthcare provider on your side, the whole medical care journey is made easier and less frightening of the unknown.

Refugees have always fled to foreign countries, including the US for a chance of better opportunities for themselves and their family. The present global news events are following refugees today, who are fleeing from their native countries for various reasons. Before being accepted for resettlement, all refugees must pass medical screening examinations, which is often performed by primary care physicians. The physicians perform a thorough examination of a variety of health problems that involve the mental and social health of the refugees. The family doctor's check for infectious diseases, chronic illnesses, the refugee's overall musculoskeletal system, and parasites, thus providing immunizations. The information that they gather is shared with that country main health agency, which in the US Is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Source by Ryan A Buffington

Views: 0

November 10, 2022
Problems Encountered by Nigerian Entrepreneur and Possible Solutions

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The success enjoyed by most industrialized countries can be attributed to the role played by technological innovation and entrepreneurship, both of which continue to drive their economies today. These two factors are seen as key components for the industrialization and development of African countries. The Nigerian government has recognized this fact and has taken measures aimed at promoting and cultivating the entrepreneurial culture in our country. Through the Nigerian Investing Commission (NIC), our government has in the past introduced a policy that required university students regardless of their area of study to take courses in entrepreneurship. While our government is putting extra effort in promoting entrepreneurship in Nigeria, there are still a number of problems that a Nigerian Entrepreneur faces. Below are some of the problems encountered and possible solutions.

* Diversifying the Economy

Though our country’s economy has over the last couple of decades relied heavily on its oil production, we must find ways to diversify our economy and avoid the over reliance on oil. Like other developing countries, Nigeria is facing an increase in its unemployment rate that is now at 6 % and is on the increase, with many graduates finding it hard to get jobs while most of those who get jobs are underemployed. This coupled with the global financial crisis in which massive numbers of employees are being laid off; entrepreneurship is seen as an essential key if we want our country to achieve its ambition of being an industrialized nation by the year 2020.

* Unfriendly Business Climate

Being an entrepreneur in Nigeria requires great determination as practicing and potential business owners are faced with countless challenges. Nigerian’s business climate should be made welcoming to those in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). The role played by these MSMEs should not be underestimated since majority of the thriving businesses fall in this category and for us to achieve our goals, adequate attention and support must be directed towards these institutions. To be able to help and protect entrepreneurs, we must first have a clear idea of the challenges facing our entrepreneurs in their pursuit of making Nigeria a prosperous country.

* Lack of Credit Facilities

Potential Nigeria entrepreneurs go through many hardships when trying to access credit for their businesses. Though there is a wide range of financial institutions that offer business loans, they usually charge high interest rates deterring aspiring entrepreneurs. For instance, major banks have pegged their lending rates to as much a 28% deterring potential entrepreneurs who are mostly low income earners. Other obstacles faced by our entrepreneurs include severe collateral conditions set by banks and other lending institutions. Though our government through the Central Bank and the Banker’s Committee came up with guidelines requiring banks to set aside 10% of their profits for funding MSMEs, majority of these banks have been reluctant to do so. This has led to the emergence of micro-finance institutions which though helpful are not sufficient for meeting the financial requirements.

* Multiple Taxation

One other sensitive challenge that is encountered by majority of Nigerian entrepreneurs is multiple taxation. Although we have a responsibility of funding the government through paying taxes, most of the taxes charged on entrepreneurs are not lawful and have the effect of increasing the cost of doing business. Although Nigeria’s Companies Income Tax Act (CITA) has approved only 39 taxes and levies, there are over 500 various levies and taxes that are imposed by state and local government agents. These taxes are questionable and in the case where they are genuine, they are mostly duplicated and this has the effect of increasing the cost of doing business.

* Poor State of the Country’s Infrastructure

The state of our infrastructure can be deemed to be a nightmare to both entrepreneurs and the rest of the country’s population. With the existing infrastructure deteriorating and in some places it is non-existent; the cost of doing business has tremendously gone up. The state of the country’s road network makes it hard for entrepreneurs in the agricultural sector to transport harvested produce from farms to processing factories. According to a report released by the World Bank, Nigeria’s pace of socioeconomic development and growth is way below what we can achieve. This is mostly because of the erratic supply of electricity which has negatively affected many businesses. The outcome of power problems has prompted entrepreneurs to generate power through expensive ways that have in turn increased their production costs and made their products uncompetitive due to high prices. Our government should put policies in place to perk up Nigeria’s infrastructure so as to promote successful entrepreneurship.

* Failure to Adapt to the Changing Business Environment

Majority of those who venture into MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) do so because of their need to make money and in almost all cases, such entrepreneurs lack relevant and adequate information about the businesses they engage in. In the event where problems arise, most of these business owners lack sufficient problem solving skills and in the end they find it hard to survive. With the telecommunications sector having grown by about 206.5 % between 2002 and 2004 and is continually expanding, Nigeria has become one of the fastest growing ICT market not only in Africa but also worldwide. This presents a challenge to entrepreneurs who have not embraced technology, and who are now finding it hard to remain relevant in the competitive business environment. For existing and potential MSMEs to survive and be relevant, we must adapt to the changing business environment and embrace technology.

* Addressing the Challenges

Solving the problems encountered requires a combined effort by both the entrepreneur and all concerned stakeholders. As Small and medium business owners, we need to increase our knowledge and skills of the market by acquiring relevant and up to date education particularly in your area of business. Our entrepreneurs need to collect information about their target market by seeking help from consultants and professionals who have experience in the particular market.

One strategy that can be used by our small and medium entrepreneurs to remain relevant and competitive in today’s market is to come up with fresh and creative ideas of doing business. Due to the increase in technology, business is fast changing, thus our MSMEs need to constantly re-invent the way they do business.

There is a great need of creating a strong link between MSMEs and supporting institutions if Nigeria is to fully benefit from such businesses. Though some financial institutions are still reluctant to provide financial assistance to MSMEs, there are some that give out loans at reasonable rates provided the business sounds viable. The key challenge is for our entrepreneurs to prepare sound business proposals. For our country to achieve its goals and stop relying on oil alone, we need to focus much attention needs on the private sector and our government must create a conducive atmosphere for such businesses to thrive and drive the country towards economic prosperity.

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Source by Peter O Osalor

Views: 0

November 9, 2022
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
Premium Email Marketing Tools For Business

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Email marketing is one of the ways to boost your business. Social media has become a platform for promoting trade, and email marketing help in that. Email marketing can be used to improve your services and app. "Email marketing is using the specific tools to send your advertising emails to a group of people." Its one of the easiest ways to make money. Marketers can send a targeted message to the intended group. Data regarding customer needs, products are, and then emails are sent to the specific customers. By email, the business can promote their services, offers and what new they have to offer. Transactional email, Direct email, Mobile email are the ways by which email marketing is done.

This is the cost-effective way, and it is cheaper as compared to others. Target customers are easy to reach within no time and as they are aware of the new things what business has to offer for them. Subscribers get the latest news and offer from the advertiser.

INSIGHTS ON THE TOOLS

There are various tools which help in marketing and making business an edge in the market.

Let's take a view at some of them

CAMPAIGN MONITOR is a template builder tool, and it assures that email can be read easily on mobile, so that customer or client miss no email. Like Google, Yahoo or any other email platform its uses the same interface so that the things don't get complex. You can upload HTML template and can format and edit when in need. Autoresponder can set only, and data segmentation ensures, that the email gets deliver only to the intended clients. Basic and Unlimited are the two packages which this tool offer.

VERTICAL RESPONSE helps to connect email campaigns to social sites like Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook. It helps to communicate with a large number of audience. With the help of email building wizard, you can build your advertising drive and by freeform HTML customize it to make your list for company. You can use only text no images, and other statistics are required. Up to 4,000 emails can be sent per month.

BENCHMARK key feature is that it offers multiple templates for greetings, promotions and many other events. You can use HTML AND CSS to give it a personalized look. With the built-in spam filter, you can check for objectionable material in your templates. They even have a community where you can provide your views and design. Packages are there and start with 600 emails and increases further.

CAMPAIGNER tool has a lot to offer. It has more than 500 templates which are categorized as industry types and need. Contact management tool is one of the efficient features which it provides, where you can import your contact from the list. Un-subscribed email is automatically removed. In a way, this tool simplifies everything and give more than marketing. You can give a try with the free 30-day trial offer.

MIL CHIMP allows you to take surveys and send it to people to know the opinion of them. Use of survey techniques in social media makes the most out of your advertising techniques. You have the option to customize your list and know who has received the mail or not and will also come to understand that which campaign has received the maximum clicks. It offers the free subscription for 2000 subscribers.

GET RESPONSE This tool lets you efficiently maintain your contact list. You can edit your contact list. This tool track and lets you know who have subscribed, unsubscribed and clicked on links. It also gives you a report in pie and chart form and informs you about the mail it got delivered or not. Different packages are offered depending on the need.

LEAD PAGES helps you to create interactive landing pages for your sites where you have a choice to choose from 50 templates. They are in sync with best email providers. Business can make a mark within no time. Various packages are there for customers. Lead pages can efficiently transform your business quickly.

MAD MIMI Saves your time; you can clone your previous ad campaigns and make the changes according to your need. Old drives can be used in a way and if delete you can undo it also. The detailing features provide you with the information about the number of emails opened, shared, and how many people clicked on the link. By integrating with Google Analytics, it provides the statistics and clicks targeting.

CONSTANT CONTACT Offers you several templates and lets you customize your own. It gives you the detailed report regarding the links and emails. Share on social media like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn can boost your business and gives your site the heavy traffic.

TOUT APP is the best regarding functionality and features. It has a large variety of templates to choose from. Integration with CRM gives you the details of every email, how they are proceeding. It provides the transparency, and produce reports on which emails have been clicked, deleted, attachment seen or not. In short, it gives the detailing of each activity going on. This helps you to track your business and changes can be made accordingly as it keeps you aware of every situation.

Email marketing is one of the efficient marketing techniques to promote your services. Effective marketing can give you the higher sales for the business. In this competitive era, the company should be at the prominent methods to attract the audience and make a profit. Sending manual emails to a group of people is a complex task, and it is time-consuming. To save your time and get the desired result email marketing can help you to reach the heights. For any business to succeed the market should be analyzed considering the loss also. It's not necessary that by adopting email marketing, you will always get the positive result.

By proper study and the knowledge of audience can make your business flourish in the market. So opt for this services and let your business boom in the market.

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Source by Anjali Shukla

Views: 0

July 30, 2022
Digital Medicine Platform for Treatment of Cognitive Disorder

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Akili, a pioneer in therapeutic prescription digital medicine has closed successfully it’s $55 million financing Series C trial of medicine. This funding follows a successful trial, including study, developing and testing a novel digital medicine named AKL- T01. This flagship product of Akili aimed to treat a type of cognitive disorder- attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Once approved and launched commercially, it would be the first digital and standalone therapeutic medicine for ADHD. Company’s other product in the pipeline and research, AKL-T02 will treat autism spectral disorder (ASD) or what simply known as autism.

Autism refers to another type of cognitive disorder, particularly in children, making them difficult to interact socially. The repetitive behavior and underdeveloped speech and verbal communication render them vulnerable in society. The reason behind autism could be genetic as well as environmental influence.

The above news has brought in a new ray of hope for an autism patient where there is no specific traditional medicine is available for its cure. This new development has the potential for treating this disorder, probably with more efficiency.

This funding will also help to advance products in the pipeline for treating multi sclerosis (MS) and depression. After approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), it will be launched commercially for the patients. According to Akili AKL-T01 would be a standalone treatment for ADHD.

The company’s founder and CEO Eddie Martucci is quite happy with the response of investors and welcomed the financing. He said this financing indicates faith of people in his company’s potential in digital medicines and growth. According to him, the company will continue to grow and supply novel solutions in the redefined healthcare sector.

Akini Interactive is a company who believes in transforming healthcare through its digital therapeutics medicine solving Neuro-cognitive disorders. It believes in targeting specific cognitive area or nerve which has been suppressed by the dysfunction. The treatment includes, interestingly, not any pill, but customized action video games for patients to play.

Video games are designed by neuroscientists and entertainer engineered with algorithms to treat a cognitive disorder like depression. According to the company, highly-interactive and highly engaging games provide a therapeutic experience to patients which actually benefit them. Through high-end therapeutics interactive video games, the specific regions of the brain could become functional which has been suppressed by the disorder, improving the condition of the patient. There would second by second tracking of patient’s cognitive response and data available for any improvement in the patient’s condition.

AKL- T01 if approved by the FDA and then it would certainly indicate towards the acceptance of new healthcare solutions for patients. It has the capability to transform the whole healthcare process and system in coming years. This funding will boost the confidence of other investors, which are planning to invest or come together for such digital medicine research and development in the future and those patients who are searching for new areas to treat disorders like autism could be more than happy to read such positive news.

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Source by Shalini Madhav

Views: 0

July 29, 2022