Month: March 2018

Diamonds As Gifts: How Do You Pick The Right One?

signordalLeave a comment

Love comes in different forms and different relationship dynamics.

First, there is young love that is restless, magical, all-consuming, and ready to conquer the world. Then, there is mature love which is calm and ever-present.

Just as love evolves, the little things that come with it should change, too. The unique gifts that remind you of how special you are should mature just like your relationship over time.

Jewelry is the most versatile of all gifts you can give to your special someone. With its versatility, it can also leave people confused as to what it really means. Keep in mind that every jewelry design calls for the right time and the right situation.

These diamond buying tips can help you decipher that.

Diamonds are for everyone

Let us start with young love.

You are a new couple and your relationship has attained a certain stability. Aside from Valentine’s Day, New Year’s Eve, Christmas, and birthdays, you are going to get quite a few opportunities to buy gifts.

The rule of love says that you should exchange gifts frequently to express your appreciation. You don’t have to go all out on one occasion. Instead, spread out your budget for at least ten events throughout the year.

Diamonds are everyone’s best friend and you can easily find several designer pieces that will fit those events. You may also get numerous choices within your budget.

But beware as not all diamonds are created equal or priced according to their quality. To avoid paying more than you have to, expert MichaelFried recommends buying only GIA Certified Diamonds and AGS Certified Diamonds.

For the special friend

diamond necklace

For her birthday, choose diamond stud earrings. You can go for colored diamonds if you know her favorite color or her lucky color. You can also go with a stylish pendant that she can wear regularly.

If you wish to buy something for regular wear, pick a metal like gold or platinum that is hypoallergenic. Titanium is also a good option. If you want something dazzling yet personal, go with a diamante charm bracelet. With a little time in hand, you can design the charms to signify her hobbies, interests, and passions.

For every kind of love

Buying a charm bracelet is a great gift idea for your mom, sister, aunt, best friend or even your grandma. As long as you know their hobbies, likes, and dislikes, you can easily impress them with your jewelry choices.

Pick a pendant for your mom if she has expressed a desire for one over the years. Pick diamond studs for your grandma if you know how she misplaced her first pair.

Jewelry as a gift allows you to touch the lives of the people who matter the most to you.

Lovebirds in mid-flight

If you are not yet ready to settle down, picking the right diamond jewelry as a present can be challenging. However, traditional holidays and anniversaries bring forth the need to buy the same at least five times each year.

Play safe with something personal yet neutral like diamond hoops, sleek diamond necklaces or even a statement pendant that goes perfectly well with evening gowns. Knowing what she likes and what she wants is the best way to woo her all over again.

For the happily ever after

diamonds are forever

Living together for years has probably added more charm and beauty to your relationship. That is what your choice of diamond jewelry should convey as well.

Though gifting a ring to a woman before you are ready to propose can be a risky move, giving her one after years of living together is just super romantic and cute.

You can add lots of romance and love to the occasion with a stylish and splendid promise ring. Do not forget to engrave a few loving words to give the item a personal touch.

Diamond for all occasions

For the more conventional lovers, diamond studs, bracelets, and pendants are great options for immortalizing any special event. Do not wait for an anniversary or a holiday to pamper your beloved. Seize every opportunity you get to remind her how lucky you are!

The thousands of available designs and their pocket-friendly prices are now making it possible to do just that. Diamonds can dazzle anyone’s senses and they are the best gifts for any occasion!

See Also: Choosing The Perfect Handmade Diamond Ring For Your Engagement

The post Diamonds As Gifts: How Do You Pick The Right One? appeared first on Dumb Little Man.

http://ift.tt/2IN289R

Happy National Puppy Day! 🐶 These little guys are the sled dogs…

signordalLeave a comment

Happy National Puppy Day! 🐶

These little guys are the sled dogs at Denali – the only national park in the U.S. with a working dog team. Sled dogs have held an essential role in the life and culture of Alaska for thousands of years, and since the 1920s, Denali’s team has helped protect the park’s wildlife, scenery and wilderness.

Check out more dogs of Interior: https://on.doi.gov/2HWALcv

Photo by National Park Service.

 

10 Easy Tips to Learn How to Negotiate Like a Pro

signordalLeave a comment

Tips for Improving Negotiation Skills

For many creatives, talking about money can be uncomfortable. Yet, the more skilled you are at knowing your value and fighting for it, the more you’ll see your business grow. And while there are some who think that negotiating should never be a factor when buying art, the reality is that it’s commonplace. Buyers like to feel like they are getting a deal, and so it’s up to the individual freelancer to come prepared with a good set of negotiation skills whether you are selling individual artworks or trying to close a deal for a job with a client.

Gone are the days when good negotiators conjured up images of large egos battling over who could stiff the other. Once you’ve created a good basis for your pricing and you know your market, you can begin to think about what leeway you have to negotiate. And it doesn’t have to be combative, in reality, respect and a willingness to work with the other party will often breed better results—and long-term relationships.

10 Tips to Improve Your Negotiation Skills

Let’s look at 10 tips for improving your negotiating skills, whether you are selling a piece of art or negotiating a commission with a large corporation.

Aim High

Often, in a move to make sure you get the job, it’s easy to undersell yourself and put in a bid just to close the deal immediately. But in doing so, you risk being woefully underpaid and set a precedent, if the client returns for future work. It’s crucial to get your ideal pricing correct at the beginning and aim high knowing that you may have to come down in price during the negotiations.

Know Your Bottom Line

Just as you should start with your ideal price, you’ll also want to know—in advance—what you’re happy settling with. Understanding what you’ll be satisfied with monetarily will let you go into the negotiations relaxed. The worst thing is to panic and blurt out a number to close the deal, only to feel as though it’s worked out unfavorably once you walk out the door.

Don’t Panic

The best negotiators have a poker face and never let you see them sweat. They come prepared with their reasoning and the logic behind the pricing they can offer and stay confident in their delivery. By panicking, you’re giving the other party power, and leave the impression that you are unsure of yourself. If you’re negotiating with someone who is skilled, they’ll capitalize on this to perhaps pull you into a deal you’re uncomfortable with.

Negotiation Tips

Put Yourself in a Position of Power

Aside from staying calm and confident, one way to leverage the negotiations is by getting the other party to throw out the first offer. It’s not always possible, but by getting the other party to toss out the budget for the project or what they were hoping to spend, you’ll quickly be able to adapt and see if you are way over or under their line of thinking. This will give you the upper hand to counter.

Find Creative Ways to Close the Deal

Sometimes, thinking outside the box can help close the deal in your favor. Knowing your numbers is essential to making things work, but often it’s just about letting the other party feel like they got something out of the negotiations. Whether it’s free shipping on an artwork or bundling together multiple services or paintings together at a discounted price, there are many ways to make a deal happen.

Think “We” Not “I”

We often think of negotiations as adversarial, but if you think about it as a team effort to leave both parties satisfied, you can change that dynamic. Instead of working against each other, use “we” statements that evoke the feeling that you are a team and want the negotiations to end successfully for all involved. This will naturally make the other party more willing to meet you halfway.

Sell the Value

Don’t assume that everyone knows exactly why the service or piece of art has a specific price placed on it. You should know better than anyone the market you’re working in and what makes your prices competitive and worth paying, so lay the cards out on the table. It’s harder for someone to argue against facts, and will also help them understand why the deal is worth the investment.

How to Become a Better Negotiator

Listen

One of the biggest mistakes people make in negotiations is not listening to the other person. When you sit back and truly listen, the other party will often give away subtle clues about what they will be happy with or what might make the negotiations move forward. For instance, did you notice them eyeing a screenprint at your studio? That could be incorporated into the deal as a “gift.” Or, in past conversations, did the client mention how much they love their dog? Offer to throw in some extra shots at their wedding reception with their prized pooch, no extra charge. Listening will also give you an idea of whether or not they’ve reached their maximum or if there’s still room to get them up to your ideal price.

Watch Your Body Language

Body language is important in general for clear communication, but even more so in negotiations when you’ll want to keep the dynamic warm and nonadversarial. Lean in and don’t keep yourself closed off, which will keep engagement high and the other party motivated to work with you.

Take Your Ego Off the Table

Remember, it’s just business, not personal. This can be a difficult concept when talking about something as personal as your artwork or your business, but it’s critical to keep your eye on the end goal and not be offended during the negotiations. By taking your ego out of it and focusing strictly on results, it’s less likely that the negotiations will escalate and get hostile. This doesn’t mean you can’t express concerns if you have them, but remember to be objective and respectful. In the long run, it will help you get things done.

 

Now get out there, practice, and take your business to the next level with your negotiating skills!

 

Related Articles:

8 Innovative Ways to Make Money From Your Art

6 Tips for How to Accept Art Commissions and Stay Successful

How to Successfully Find Gallery Representation as an Artist

5 Mistakes to Avoid When Starting a Freelance Business

The post 10 Easy Tips to Learn How to Negotiate Like a Pro appeared first on My Modern Met.

http://ift.tt/2G44EXN

Scrubbing Poland’s Complicated Past

signordalLeave a comment

There is nothing so reminiscent of Communist-era censorship culture as the coercive, patronizing ideological commentaries with which cultural officials of the Law and Justice party have in the last few years been responding to books, plays, and films related to the Holocaust. Among their crude moves to establish ideological control at home and flout opinion in the West is a recently passed an amended law criminalizing claims that the Poles were complicit in or jointly responsible for the Nazis’ persecutions of Polish Jews.

http://ift.tt/2G4iRUB

3 Easy Tips For Massive Personal Growth

signordalLeave a comment

If you’re like most people, you probably have a few aspects of your life that you’d like to improve. When you think of all the changes you want to make, you might feel a bit overwhelmed. Maybe you want to start exercising regularly, eat healthier food, develop better relationships, and improve your financial situation. Thinking about all of these goals can be quite daunting! Each improvement on its own would be a big change and require a lot of effort, so how can you possibly improve them all at the same time? Fortunately, you don’t have to. You only need one small improvement to start building the momentum required to make massive changes in your life.

1) Personal growth is compounding

When you’re solving a jigsaw puzzle, how do you solve it? Do you try getting all the pieces in place at the same time? Of course not! You start with one piece at a time, and each one makes adding the next piece a little easier until you complete the puzzle. You need to think of your own personal growth in the same way. Each small change builds on the last and makes the next change even easier. The more changes you make, the more confidence you build and soon enough, you’re a totally different person. You’re no longer overwhelmed by your goals because you’ve experienced your own ability to achieve them. You know that when you make a decision, you follow through, because that’s what you need to do if you want to achieve your goals.

Start with the low hanging fruit. Find something small in your life that you can improve without a massive amount of time or effort, and commit to making it happen today. Maybe that means cleaning your house or going to the gym. The scale doesn’t matter as much as the completion. Most people are so overwhelmed by their collective goals that they don’t even start, but even the smallest changes can snowball into a new mindset that allows you to make more changes with less effort.

2) Train yourself to think like a winner

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by all the changes you want to make, there’s one simple reason: You haven’t trained yourself to think correctly about personal growth. You probably haven’t experienced enough self driven positive change to remember that success is just a state of mind. If you spend every evening binge watching Netflix and eating unhealthy food, you might be training yourself to be lazy.

Every time you have the thought “I should start going to the gym” but instead just keep watching Netflix, you’re actually conditioning yourself to believe that you’re powerless. You have admitted to yourself that you want something, but don’t have the conviction to follow through with it. You’re putting that attainable goal on a pedestal and turning it into a pipe dream. Conversely, every time you commit to something and follow through with it, you are training yourself to have confidence. Even the smallest commitment and follow through can be the spark that ignites your engine of growth.

3) Push through the initial pain

Starting something new can be difficult, but most things get much easier after you push through the initial pain. Speaking from personal experience, I can tell you that in the last six months I went from barely exercising at all and totally dreading the gym to working out 4+ days a week with very little effort. In fact, it requires almost zero mental energy to get myself to the gym now, because I’ve learned to associate it with all the pleasure of exercising instead of the pain. The first two months were tough because I wasn’t used to exerting that much energy and being sore, but then it completely changed. I had broken through the initial pain and I became excited to go, considering it a treat to my body and my mind.

Right now, in this moment, make a small commitment and follow through with it. Make a solid plan so you can’t just reason your way out of it. Book an appointment, book a class, call a friend and arrange a time to go to the gym together. Better yet, start right now. In this moment, you can make a decision to become the type of person who lives the life they want, and that change happens instantly when you truly commit to it.

Pat Kelly is a self improvement writer and host of The Pat Kelly Podcast and Youtube Channel. Find more content like this at www.patkellypodcast.com

You’ve read 3 Easy Tips For Massive Personal Growth, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

>

Homo Orbánicus

signordalLeave a comment

Paul Lendvai, a Hungarian-Austrian journalist who spent several decades reporting on Central Europe for the Financial Times, has written a highly illuminating biography of Viktor Orbán, whom he calls “the ablest and most controversial politician in modern Hungarian history.” Orbán: Hungary’s Strongman also serves as a useful overview of Hungarian history since the fall of communism—after all, Orbán has been central to the country’s development since at least the late-1990s, when he was first elected prime minister. Lendvai portrays him as ruthless, absolutely relentless in the pursuit of power, and, on many occasions, outright vengeful.

http://ift.tt/2pCm3Qm

Raised by Wolves

signordalLeave a comment

In some instances, the dog–human relationship can be deep—some would argue as deep as that between two humans. But do humans and dogs think in similar ways? Until recently the question seemed unanswerable.

http://ift.tt/2ucW3jL

No persons are more frequently wrong, than those who will not admit they are wrong. -François de La Rochefoucauld

signordalLeave a comment

Trump’s staff turnover is higher than any administration in…

signordalLeave a comment

The Popular Connoisseur

signordalLeave a comment

James Stourton’s magnificent biography tells the story of Kenneth Clark’s life in all its complexity and contradiction. It also reminds us that in his time Clark himself developed an innovative method for studying works of art—one that struck a balance between the then-prevailing disciplines of connoisseurship on the one hand and iconography on the other. And just as the Tate Britain exhibition showed the misses as well as the hits, the story Stourton tells makes it clear that Clark’s apparently gilded career was marked by almost as many failures as successes. The time has come to look at the achievements of a man whose vision influenced the art-viewing habits of generations.

http://ift.tt/2HWsSDF