Knowing how to write quality content is not easy.

Most writers are not able to create good content which can hold readers’ attention. Some writers are too bothered about writing perfectly. Others tend to overlook quality and compensates for their lack of skills by writing extremely lengthy articles.

There are only a few who knows how to write quality content and those people can really create a difference for their audience.

If you are aspiring to improve your content, here are 9 hacks you can use:

Keep it Simple

Interestingly, readers can only concentrate on a piece of content for a very short period of time. Their attention span is so limited that your content must be relevant, concise, and devoid of metaphors to avoid losing their interest. For those who are passionate about writing, this can be a challenge.

Most readers are not likely to read the entire content of a page. Most of the time, they only want certain information and they want to see that quickly. When your reader can’t find that information within a couple of seconds, he leaves the site and never returns.

So, the trick to creating killer content is to use short, precise sentences, and short paragraphs. You can use the free Hemingway app for help.

See Also: How To Avoid A Content Crisis When Your Deadline Is Looming

Inverted Pyramid

While some readers are only interested in the hard facts, there are others who desire to find more information. However, no reader is going to be patient enough to scroll up and down a blog to get that.

So, it is wise to use the inverted pyramid in your content. Position key facts in the first paragraph and the not-so-important ones in the subsequent paragraphs. You can watch this clip to find out how you can do that:

Talk about Benefits

Instead of highlighting the features of a product that you want to sell, you must focus on the benefits the reader will get from it. A reader is at your website to get some new information or to solve a problem.

All they want is access useful information fast and you’ll need to create catchy headlines to attract them.

Create Catchy Headlines

An easy tip to create killer content is to make your headline eye catchy. You should keep it direct and without ambiguity. When you keep your headlines this way, your readers will know exactly what they’ll find in your article. They’ll be tempted to read the whole blog.

Designing Call-to-Actions

Once you have a dedicated group of readers, you must try to get them to act. For this hack to work, you will need to generate a feeling of urgency. Unless the reader senses this urgency, he will not fall for it. You must also realize that you have to work hard to make them convert because it’s not going to happen by itself.

Use the Right Keywords

The best way to showcase your content is to focus on SEO techniques. You have to know how to insert the right keywords in your content as well as appropriate links to other articles on your website.

Initiate Social Discussions

You can generate killer content by crowdsourcing your opinions on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. You may ask a pertinent question to see the kind of reactions it evokes.

You may even embed these responses into your blog. You can call for discussions by sending links to your original readers and share these further to create a debate-like atmosphere. This will mean more publicity for your post.

Interviews with Clients

When you interview some impressive clients and get them to share their experiences on Skype, for instance, you can generate a lot of interest among readers. You can embed call recordings as YouTube videos or get them transcribed for your readers.

You can also get others to write guest posts for you. This can add more value to your site and it can keep content creators coming back.

Use WordPress Plugins

There are as many as 40,000 plugins you can use for your site. These plugins can help you create killer content, which you’ll find hard to do on your own. You can create more quality content using those tools.

The Word Stats tool, for instance, gives you a range of tools to enhance content quality. The Editorial Calendar plugin lets you manage content better and the WP Keyword Suggest lets you insert the best keywords. Easy Content Templates plugin helps you create new posts faster while the Search Everything plugin lets you locate past data as you build new content.

See Also: 8 Common Content Marketing Myths You Should Stop Believing

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Very soon, you’ll be celebrating your sixtieth birthday and that means you’ll be looking at your retirement, too. It’s natural to feel jittery about it as one question keeps popping into your mind: Now what?

It’s not that everyone over sixty goes through the same dilemma of finding new pastures. Some people keep working because they either need money or they just don’t want to get out of what they have become conditioned to. Well, in any case, if sixty is just not a number for you, it’s time to rev up your passion and pursue your hobbies like never before.

Before you enter your twilight years, you have every reason and opportunity to make your life rocking more than ever. By this age, you have lived most of your life, worked hard for your family and achieved success in ways that you know more than others do. Isn’t now the time you do something for yourself?

Here are the top things to do in retirement that can make your life more engaging and exciting:

Define your passion and purpose

This is going to be a new chapter of your life, so just sit back and ponder what has been missing in your life so far. What have you always been curious about?

Defining your purpose here means thinking about how you are going to spend your time in fruitful pursuits. It is the time to reassess your life and revisit your personal purposes that you couldn’t accomplish before. Now is the time to revisit the things that you always felt very strongly about.

Think young and spend time with your family and friends

Thinking young at this time simply means being energetic and enjoying the time you now have in your hands. Fun and enjoyment is a lifelong process and getting past sixty doesn’t mean that your attitude should be old and obsolete.

It’s time to have fun with your family and friends by talking and meeting with them more often. You can organize small parties and invite your friends to have sweet discussions and little toasts. This is the perfect time to give your friends an exotic bottle of wine or get them their favorite box of cigar. It is also the time to create sweet memories with your grandchildren.

Continue your hobbies

Following one’s hobbies is the biggest stress buster at any stage in life. So, continue what your favorite pastimes were even before your retirement. Be it gardening, traveling, reading, singing, dancing or playing golf. You always need to follow your hobbies to keep you fit and enthusiastic.

But, more importantly, your main focus should be doing the things that you enjoy the most. Pursuing your hobbies with heart and soul can give a completely new meaning to your life. So, get ready to make that push.

Volunteer your expertise

It’s time to use your expertise for a philanthropic cause in our society. Maybe your local library, school or pantry need your skills? Perhaps your local hospital and nursing home need an extra hand?

This might not sound like one of the most interesting things to do in retirement but volunteering your expertise will enable you to give back to the society what you learned as a professional.

See Also: Retirement Activities that are Financially Viable 

Develop new interests

There must be something itching inside you. These could be the activities that you were never able to do before or any untapped talent you have. Getting to know people with diverse interests will help you in that. Consider your retirement as a golden opportunity for you to try something new. It can be learning a new language or traveling to a place where you have never been but always craved to go to.

See Also: 10 Amazing Business Ideas For Stay-At-Home Retirees

Final Thoughts

The age of sixty is not the end of your days. It is, in fact, a new beginning where you can do the things that you were never able to do due to obvious obligations. It’s a new freedom and new purpose that will shape your life for the better.

 

The post Turning Sixty: Top Things To Do In Retirement appeared first on Dumb Little Man.

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You were young and you just started your career a couple of years ago. You still have many years of work ahead of you. But then, someone talked to you about retirement planning. While he passionately shared his excitement about his plans, you pretended to listen when your mind was wandering around.

“Retirement plan is so not sexy”, you think.

When the person left, you happily shrugged everything he just talked about and moved on with your life.

Now, fast forward to your mid-thirties. Your career is booming and your family is expanding. Your expense is increasing and it seemed like despite the increase in your salary, your family’s demand is increasing as well. Somehow, your income is never enough to cover every need.

A thought of retirement plan crossed your mind, but it’s not a good time. You have a lot of important things to spend your money on.

Speed up to your mid-forties. Your kids are in high school or college. You didn’t know they would need that much money for tuition, clothes, prom clothes, studying tools and other countless things.

You started to worry about your retirement. You looked into some retirement plans and were amazed at how compound interest worked. Now, you wish you started it a long time ago.

If you saved $1,000 a month, when you retire, you could have around $500,000. But how in the world could you save $1,000 a month?

Then you thought about the medical bills when you age and the mortgage you are still paying. No way you could save more than $200 a month. You thought you were too late.

The truth is, the sooner you started your retirement savings, the better. But, that doesn’t mean you can’t start when you’re in your mid-forty, mid-fifty or even mid-seventy. No matter how late you start, an effective retirement plan could help you a lot in your future years.

Here are 6 secrets to effective retirement planning:

Never run out of money

The first thing to remember is to make sure you never run out of money.

If you start your retirement savings early, that’s great. If you start late, don’t get stressed out and try to make up for the past years by saving the highest amount of money you can.
Don’t confuse retirement money with emergency money. You always need emergency money. That comes first and retirement comes second.

Don’t be fooled by the big fat juicy yield

When deciding your portfolio, don’t go straight to the highest yield possible. Higher yield means higher risk. Be careful as all the stocks and bonds in the market try to emphasize their high yields with a little or no talk about the risks associated with them. That’s what they do to capture you.

Don’t be fooled by their lip-deep promises. Do your own research about the companies you want to invest in and diversify your portfolio. You will be much safer if you put your eggs in different baskets.

Watch out all hidden fees

This is an area that you need to put an eye on as those fees can take a bite out of your returns.

Think of all the scenarios that can happen and find out if there is any fee applied to them- from registration fee, investing fee, transaction fee to cancellation fee. You don’t want to find out you have to pay a penalty fee if you sell your preference bonds at the very last-minute.

Automate your retirement saving

Many people prefer to set up their retirement savings on autopilot. This way, you can’t touch that money and you also don’t have to worry about how much you should put into your pension plan.

If your employer offers a pension plan such as 401(k), make sure you register for it. If not, you can ask your bank to automatically transfer a sum from your account every month to your savings account.

Assess your retirement plan every year

Once you find your retirement plan, don’t abandon it. The market goes up and down and so does your portfolio.

Revisit your portfolio often or make sure to read notifications from your portfolio manager to assess how well your retirement saving performs. Make adjustments if needed. This way, you’ll be able to stay on track for a better retirement.

Increase your retirement savings every year

At the beginning, when you see a drop in your net salary, you would struggle to make it fit all your family’s expenses. However, once you are in a place that your net salary must work, things will work out. You would no longer pay for something you never use, like some cool gadgets or a gym membership.

Once you cut down all the unnecessary things you normally spend money on, you would save a bit more from your salary. Don’t use this leftover money to buy something fancy as a reward. Put it into your retirement plan and set a goal to increase it by 1% every year.

See Also: Retirement Activities that are Financially Viable 

Over to you

Creating an effective retirement plan requires hard work and commitment. It is not a sprint, it is a marathon. But, the hard work is definitely worth it.

Imagine your last working day before saying goodbye to 30 years of hard work. Your last paycheck is in your wallet. You drive home after a fancy farewell dinner and you have an exact plan on what to do next.

You come home to your spouse to start packing luggage for a vacation. Only this time, you don’t have to worry about getting back to work. Your vacation can last as long as you want to. You can totally afford it without a second thought because you have a great retirement plan to back you up.

And it really can. It is never too early or too late to start your retirement so start today.

See Also: 10 Amazing Business Ideas For Stay-At-Home Retirees

 

The post 6 Secrets To Create An Effective Retirement Plan appeared first on Dumb Little Man.

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Setting life goals is generally considered as a positive thing. I disagree with this. In my view, setting goals provides motivation in life but kills happiness

Relation between setting goal and happiness

There seems to be no relationship between happiness, wealth and prosperity.

The latest figures released recently by World Bank recently show that global poverty level has reduced by half over the last 30 years. This implies that the poverty level has now dropped below 10%. A report presented by CNBC Money on March 24, 2017 shows that the wealth and purchasing capacity of American people at present is stronger than ever before.

However, all the reports and statistics indicate that American people have been less happy. United Nations Happiness Report 2017 suggests that happiness in the United States is declining. In the article ‘Why Americans Have Gotten a Lot Less Happy’ by Martha C. White published in Time Magazine on March 16, 2016, Jeffrey Sachs, the head of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, asserted that “the United States, which is very rich, has gotten a lot richer over the last 50 years, but has gotten no happier.”

This is likely to be the picture too in other countries around the globe.

Despite having increasing wealth, people are not becoming happier because the source of their unhappiness remains. There is no way to measure how wealth can make a person happy as it will depend on one’s expectation or goal. If a goal is not reached, people can’t be happy- even if they’re billionaires. Goals always exceed achievements.

Setting goal is never ending

Take, for example, a floating ball. No matter how high the water level increases, the ball on the water will remain afloat. Our goals float always on our achievements.

The process of setting life goals is never ending because people keep on setting new goals. We set mainly result-oriented goals and we take them so hard that we are always in anxiety and tension.

I agree that pursuing a goal gives motivation. It could be possible to be happier if attaining the goal is possible.

When we reach our goal, we instinctively seek another goal to make us happier. This way, we are caught in the habit of setting goals continuously in our lives. The process of achieving goals no longer becomes fun; it becomes a burden on our shoulders

Why happiness is on the wane

All the statistics regarding the level of happiness are done by surveys. The results vary depending on how the survey is conducted. And because there is no other way to measure these statistics, we simply accept them as the truth.

Wealth is often associated with satisfaction in life. However, it does not have the same impact on happiness. Happiness is a psychosomatic, matter which cannot be improved by material things alone. We can explain that by the old proverb, “the more you get, the more you want”.

Not many reach the goal

Some researchers have identified ten things that make us unhappy while others have identified five things. However, I find only one thing that hinders happiness and this is setting a goal in life.

Setting a goal is seen as a positive thing by the majority of people. However, I do not see that in the same way.

According to a research conducted by the University of Scranton, only 8% could achieve the new year goals they set while the other 92% could not and, thus are left feeling frustrated and unhappy.

See Also: How to Set Personal SMART Goals To Succeed

Aiming high cause unhappiness

As human beings, we are naturally driven by ambition. My primary school teacher once asked us about our aim in life. Every boy and girl in my class had an aim in life. Some wanted to become billionaires, some had the ambition to become doctors, and some wanted to become famous singers.

However, none of us seemed to evaluate the possibility of achieving those aims. In other words, we did not evaluate if we are capable of reaching our ambitions or not. As a result, we realize with time that we may not reach those goals and that realization makes us sad and frustrated. If we take that seriously and if we focus too much on achieving those goals, we become constantly worried. This can make us extremely unhappy.

Goal setting theory and my own experience

Locke’s Goal-Setting Theory suggests that what you want to do and how you execute strategies to achieve a goal is applicable for companies that set strategies to accomplish that. I have not seen that many people set process goal in their lives. Even if they do, it would make their lives boring as they’ll behave like machines following their daily routine.

Even all successful companies are careful to guide their outlooks. If the target is not achieved, then share price tumbles.

Such high aims or target setting upset our lives. Last year, I was working for Danish Refugee Council among the Syrian refugees who were crossing the Danish border. I counseled many of them who clearly expressed their unhappiness in Denmark. Their target was to be accepted as refugees in Sweden, but they were unfortunately stuck in Denmark. They escaped from Syria where thousands of people were being brutally killed every day.

They arrived in one of the most peaceful and prosperous countries but they remained unhappy because they could not reach their target destination. It crossed my mind that even in a desperate situation, the refugees were not happy.

Goal gives motivation but not happiness

It is possible to attain a goal for material gains, but attaining a goal cannot bring about happiness. According to a professor of Psychology at Denver University, Iris Mauss, wanting to be happy can make you less and, if you explicitly and purposely focus on happiness, that can have a self-defeating effect.

More often than not, we do not set our goals based on our own desires. Instead, we set goals in our early lives based on the desires of our parents and social pressure. In other words, we set our goals to compete with others.

However, it is important to note that when we set goals based on desires that are not our own, it makes us frustrated and unhappy. It makes us undermine our own desires.

See Also: 4 Powerful Ways To Stay Motivated And Reach Your Goals Through Tough Times

How to eliminate problems of goal setting

The main drawback of goal setting is that there are many unknown factors that can come into play. In a fast-changing society like the one we are living in now, long-term goals often fail. If we persistently stick to such goals, it creates a constant mental burden.

Instead of setting long-term goals, we can set a number of short-terms goals. These goals are easily achievable and do not involve a lot of uncertainties. We just have to know ourselves, so that we can have an idea of what and how much we can accomplish.

Goal setting is not the only thing that determines our happiness. Happiness has many elements, like positive emotions, relationships, accomplishments and gratefulness. Eliminating goal setting alone will not make us happy. You also need to have positive emotions and a deep sense of appreciation in life.

The post How Setting Life Goals Can Undermine Your Happiness appeared first on Dumb Little Man.

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Like many girls, I have a passion for beautiful things and that includes luxury bags, especially the holy grail of handbags, the Birkin. I am neither a VIP at Hermes nor celebrity but I have brought back a total of five Birkin bags from the Hermes boutiques (New York and Paris) within three years. Some were obtained as a walk-in while others required certain purchase history.

With this, many people have asked me to share my experiences and tips on how to get a Birkin.

Here goes:

Try your luck as a walk-in at Hermes boutiques

It is rare to get a Birkin as a walk-in, but it doesn’t hurt to try your luck. I have successfully obtained two Birkins as a walk-in.

In my experience, dressing up nicely or wearing Hermes products do not guarantee you get offered a Birkin. Dressing up casually or not wearing Hermes products do not lower your chance of getting offered one, either. How you ask and when to ask for it matters.

Tips:

• Do not ask for a Birkin right away but show your knowledge of their products and slowly bring up the idea that you’re looking for a Birkin.

My first Birkin was bamboo 35 in palladium hardware (as shown below) and I obtained it from a Hermes boutique near my home as a walk-in in 2014. I remember wearing casual clothes and carrying a non-designer bag when I walked into the store.

The store wasn’t crowded that afternoon. I just walked into a friendly sales associate and told her that I wanted to buy a bag but not sure what to get.  Then, I looked at the garden bags and commented that the colors and leathers seemed nice but it would be nicer if they were Birkins or Kellys. That sales associate responded that she knew what I meant but they didn’t have any.

After chatting more about the new colors and designs they had for the season, she eventually opened up and asked me to wait. Then, she came back with a big orange box. She took me to a private room and showed me a 35 Birkin in bamboo color. It was an amazing feeling to get an offer and I happily bought it. Of course, I was extremely lucky then.

• Ask your husband/boyfriend to get it for you.

I have seen well-dressed men taken into private rooms and came out with big orange boxes. I know what those boxes have!

Sales associates know that men who walk into the store are ready to spend $$$. This means you’ll have a higher chance of getting one when your husband/boyfriend buys them as special gifts for you.

My husband walked into the same boutique that offered me the bamboo Birkin and told a lovely SA that he wanted to get something special for my birthday. That SA just walked back to the stockroom and returned with a beautiful blue electric Birkin in size 30 (as shown below).

• Try your luck at the mothership store in Paris.

The mothership store in Paris located on 24 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré definitely has the widest inventory of the bags. There, you have a higher chance of getting a bag without previous purchase history.

Of course, it depends on the SA, the timing, the manager who will approve the bags and how open-minded you are with the colors/leathers/hardware. It seems that bright colors and seasonal colors are offered more often to tourists.

• Shop on weekdays and avoid the month of August

Based on most people’s experiences, boutiques receive shipments mostly during the weekdays and rarely on Saturdays. Also, the artisans like to take vacations in the summer, especially the month of August. Thus, the inventory is the lowest then.

Build up purchase history at boutiques

In general, Hermes likes to offer bags to customers who enjoy all products of the brand and not just their bags. Buying other non-Birkin/Kelly items is a way to show them that. However, what you buy and who you buy it from matters.

Tips:

• Stick to the same sales associate in one store.

If you have multiple purchases from different stores, you need to spend a lot more from both stores to get offered a bag. Also, you need to build up a relationship with the sales associate in a store if you want to get a Birkin.

After getting one bag, it is important to maintain good relationships with the SA. You can try bringing some desserts during holidays or introducing your friends to the same sales associate.

• Build up purchase history by making small purchases over a long period of time.

If you only buy non-Birkin/Kelly items, it may take you longer to get a bag offer, especially as a new client. An SA has many clients and it is hard for her/him to remember each one’s spending and wishlist. You can visit the store often so your SA will remember you. You do not need to make purchases each time.

• Buy big-ticket items that have high sales commissions.

My third Birkin was purchased in 2016. It was a 35 black birkin in gold hardware (as shown below). That was offered by the same sales associate who sold me the bamboo Birkin a few years back. I waited for two months for that.

 

During these two months, I made few purchases of non-Birkin/Kelly items, such as cashmere shawls, silk scarves and fashion jewelries before I was finally offered a black Birkin in gold hardware. This one took a long time because the items I bought were popular Hermes products that had lower sales commissions. It would have been much quicker if I bought less popular products that had higher commissions, such as fine jewelry, clothing, and home products.

While different stores have different requirements, the current general standard in the States is:

• Spending $4,000 to $8,000 on non-Birkin/Kelly items to receive an offer for a basic leather Birkin/Kelly.
• Spending over $20,000 on non-bags to get offered a special order (where you can design your own bag).
• Spend a lot more and become a big client for an offer for a crocodile or ostrich Birkin/Kelly/Constance.

Whichever you prefer, you can buy many smaller items at different times (which will take longer) or buy one big item to get offered a bag relatively faster.

Paris FSH Store Experiences/Tips

I had great experiences shopping at this mothership store in Paris. As many of you are aware, this store requires an appointment to see a leather sales specialist. I have been to this store twice and received an offer for Birkin bag each time.

This is how I did it:

Day 1

The first time I went to FSH store was last Thanksgiving. My friend and I didn’t line up outside in the morning the first day. We arrived at the store around 5 pm when the store was about to close.

There, I went directly to the second floor to check out fine pieces of jewelry. I bought a gold ring and the jewelry SA immediately brought an SA from the leather department to help me with the bags. I wanted a neutral colored Birkin, but they only had bright colors left for the day. So, they asked me to come back the next day.

Day 2

I lined up outside of the store around 8:30 am and got an appointment to see a leather specialist at 11:30 am. During the wait time, I checked out the different departments of the store and bought a few belts and scarves.

Around 11:25 am, I went to see the jewelry SA who helped me the day before and he brought the assigned leather specialist to meet me at the fine jewelry area. The leather specialist asked me about my wishlist and went to check her inventory. She came back and told me that she had bright colors, but no neutral colors. She then asked me to come back the next day and directly ask for her.

Day 3

I lined up outside again around 8:30 am. I asked for an appointment specifically with the leather specialist who helped me on Day 2. This time, my appointment moved up very quickly and I met with her around 10:15 am. Again, no new shipments yet and she asked me to try again in the afternoon (no need for an appointment). I came back in the afternoon and directly went to see her in the leather department. Still, no shipments.

But, this time, she felt really bad and offered me a special order. I was able to select the exterior/interior leather/colors, the stitching and hardware. All the pain I suffered was totally worth it! Here is a picture of my SO.

 

The second time I went to FSH store was this summer. My mom and I arrived Paris in the morning and went to FSH around 11:30 am. The store was not full that time as most Parisians went to the south for vacation. The store has fewer visitors because the stocks were low, too.

We didn’t have to line up outside to get an appointment. The greeting team just assigned one leather specialist to see us immediately. We met with the leather specialist in the leather department. We chatted a little bit. I told him that it was a trip for my mom’s birthday and it would be lovely if I could get her a gift (a Birkin or garden party).

He took down our wishlist and my passport and came back with a big orange box! It was a black Birkin in size 35! We knew that stock was really low and we were so happy to get an offer.

I don’t know if my strategies will work again under FSH store’s new appointment system, but they are definitely worth trying. Here are some tips:

1. Try to buy fine jewelry, clothing or home products and have the sales associate in these departments to introduce you a leather specialist without an appointment.
2. Show up later in the day and see if there is one leather specialist available to help you without an appointment.
3. If you have an appointment with one leather specialist in the morning, ask her/him if you can come back to see her/him again in the afternoon.
4. Utilize all of your networks and get to know Michael Coste. He is the head of client relations at Hermes and works in the FSH store. He spends a lot of time with celebrities and important people and has the best bags to offer. You will be in good hands if you get into his circle :).

Good luck on your first Birkin. I hope you find these tips helpful.

The post How to Get Hermes Birkins (My Experiences on Buying 5 Birkins In 3 Years) appeared first on Dumb Little Man.

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Forget ‘5 tips for cheaper auto insurance.’ A quick google search will yield hundreds of thousands of article results and you’ve probably heard all of them already.

We all know about the basic insurance options. There’s home insurance, auto insurance, commercial insurance, travel insurance and even renters’ insurance. These are the most talked-about forms of liability protection. However, there are several other types of insurance that are equally important yet lesser-known.

Check them out:

Cyber Liability

Today, moving online is certainly exciting and futuristic. However, as with any online shift, there are inherent risks for the end-users.

For example, data breaches and lack of encryption are huge and likely risks. This is reflected in the recent Equifax breach that left millions of clients’ information compromised. The more we move our lives online, the more we are at risk of losing our personal information to hackers.

The solution is cyber liability and privacy policies. These things can protect companies against security breaches that can compromise their customers’ data. These data can include basic information, like names, addresses, email address and phone numbers. It can also involve more confidential pieces of information, like credit card information or social security numbers.

Data breaches can be extremely costly, especially for the companies who are targeted. Cyber liability insurance policies can cover these businesses in the event of emergencies. They can protect them against significant financial loss. Though different insurance companies offer different kinds of coverage, cyber liability insurance generally includes comprehensive cyber liability (third party) and expense (first party) liability.

See Also: Using Zero Trust Network Segmentation To Protect Your Business From Hackers

Change of heart/wedding insurance

The wedding industry is a multi-billion dollar industry. When you take into consideration each component – flowers, venues, menus, invitations, attire, alcohol, decorations, planning – it becomes easy to see why. Because a wedding is such a large investment, you should take steps to protect yourself against significant financial loss.

Wedding insurance protects the bride or groom from a wide range of contingencies. One good example is the financial loss in case the other party changes his/her mind.

Wedding insurance can also protect against loss resulting from venue closings, loss of physical property (photos, rings and videos) and accidents for up to $1,000,000. If you’re considering getting married or you are currently planning a marriage, think about getting a wedding insurance.

Adventure sports coverage

Some people are obsessed with the adrenaline rush that comes from adventure sports. Unfortunately, with great exhilaration comes great risk, regardless of how many safety precautions you take beforehand.

Regular life insurance and even travel insurance does not cover liability in the event of accident or death. This means you’ll need additional precautions if you’re an adventure enthusiast. With a policy against unfortunate accidents, you can enjoy as many adrenaline-fueled escapades as you want. Restrictions apply, of course.

Generally speaking, companies that offer this type of insurance have the following requirements:

• You only carry out the sports with a professional
• You have taken all necessary safety precautions beforehand
• You’ve signed any applicable waivers prior to the activity

Kidnapping and ransom insurance

None of us wish to be the next victim on a 20:20 episode. In fact, just thinking about the possibility is terrifying. But, would it surprise you to know that kidnapping and ransom insurance is a real thing?

Coverage for these incidents makes sense for celebrities, infamous pets, child stars and even government agents. Surprisingly, this insurance is available for anyone who wants it, too.

It’s popular with large corporations with high-profile or invaluable employees. It can protect employees in the event of financial loss due to ransom demands. It also allows the victim to recover the money once he’s been freed. If you’re part of a company that may put you at risk for either of these circumstances, consider looking into kidnapping and ransom insurance to protect yourself, your family and your assets.

Pet liability insurance

Owning a pet is one of the most rewarding things you can do as an animal lover. Getting a pet insurance, on the other hand, is one of the most responsible things you can do as a pet owner.

Pet liability insurance is sometimes included in home insurance policies. However, you should still take the time to read your policy just to make sure that it’s there. Check out its terms, too.

Your dog’s breed can greatly affect the type of coverage you can get. For example, some breeds, like Pitbulls or Rottweilers, are mostly not covered in basic home insurance policies.

Pet insurance is important because pet owners are responsible and liable in the event of biting, scratching or tripping. According to Humane Society of Canada, dog bites occur every 60 seconds and victims of aggressive dog behavior can seek compensation from the owner. They can ask payment for medical costs, interruption of work, destruction of property and more.

A pet insurance is available to protect you in the event of outrageous vet bills, too.

In Summary

In essence, there are a lot of unconventional insurance policies that most people are not aware of. Alien abduction insurance, body part insurance, werewolf insurance, hole-in-one insurance, bed bug insurance are some of them. Despite how unconventional they are, some of these insurance policies are important to have.

Cyber liability protects businesses against potential data breaches that could easily cost the company millions of dollars. Wedding insurance protects the finances of the bride or groom in case of a loss resulting from a change of heart from the other party, venue damages and loss of physical components.

Adventure sports coverage offers financial coverage for thrill seekers in the event of death, serious injury or damages incurred from inability to work. Kidnapping and ransom insurance protects high-profile corporate employees from a significant financial loss in the event of kidnap/ransom contingencies. Finally, pet owners should have pet insurance to protect themselves against loss if their pets cause bodily harm to others.

Standard insurance policies are useful for the everyday individual but consider looking into these 5 unconventional insurance policies if you feel you are at risk for any of these circumstances.

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Have you ever had one of those days when you wake up promising yourself that you’ll have a successfully productive day…but you end up sitting in front of the television all day instead?

This used to happen to me quite a lot when I first started working from home. I’d lounge around in my pajamas all morning, trying to find the motivation to do something. And, well, I never found it.

Then, one morning, I decided that enough was enough! I needed to change my routine. Otherwise, I’d end up being a lazy, unsuccessful and miserable woman- and that doesn’t sound appealing to anyone.

Here’s my list of 10 working from home tips that can make your day more productive than ever.

Get dressed

As much as I love being in my pajamas, I never ever get anything done in them. It’s just a fact for me now. Pajamas were invented to wear to bed or to watch TV in. So, get out of them now and throw on a nice (and clean) outfit and get to work. You’ll feel much better.

Make a list

This is one of my favorite things to do before I begin a productive day. Setting goals and writing them down makes me feel much more organized and I’m sure it’ll help you, too. Once you’ve completed a task from your list, you’ll get that great satisfaction of crossing the task off of your list and starting your next chore.

Clear distractions

Now, everyone has different distractions. These can be social media, your phone or the television.

You’ll never get anything done if you give in to these distractions all day. After all, they are just that, distractions. So, get rid of them! Hide your phone, throw away the biscuits, turn off the television and focus on the things you need to be concentrating on.

Don’t multitask

Not only does multitasking stress your brain out, it also stops you from giving your 100% concentration on your tasks. It’s much better to focus on one task at a time and complete it successfully rather than rush a bunch of tasks at once.

See Also: 7 Unhealthy Behaviors That Affect Your Mental Health

Eat healthier

This one may sound a bit weird. How will eating healthy make you more productive?

Well, it’s a fact that junk food can make you put on weight and make you mentally slower and less motivated, too. Try snacking on walnuts as they are a powerful weapon against binge eating and depression.

Take regular breaks

You don’t want to burn all your energy out by trying to take on too much at once. Set your alarm at regular intervals throughout the day and allow yourself some time to relax in-between tasks.

Go for a walk

For this one, you’re going to have to actually step outside your house. But, trust me, it’ll be worth it.

Just a 15-minute walk will help clear your mind and you’ll be feeling much more productive when you get back. After all, research shows that regular exercise can make you feel happier, smarter and more energetic. This walk can be included in one of your regular breaks.

Reward yourself

Now, this one I love! I mean, who doesn’t like rewards?

Refer back to your list and promise yourself that after completing 3 tasks, you’ll reward yourself with a little something. It can be a 5-minute Facebook break or one piece of chocolate. Whatever floats your boat.

Write tomorrow’s to-do list tonight

By this point, you’ve hopefully had an extra productive day, but you don’t want this to just be a one-off. So, write a list of all the things you want to achieve tomorrow. This will make your morning easier and you’ll wake up knowing exactly what you need to do. It also crosses one task off your list before the day’s even started.

Get an early night

Did you know that 1 in 5 adults don’t get enough sleep? Don’t let that 1 in 5 be you!

Lack of sleep can affect your alertness, productivity, stress levels and problem-solving skills. So, give yourself a regular bedtime schedule and try your hardest to get enough sleep. You’ll thank yourself in the morning.

See Also: Five Ways of Overcoming the Problem of Getting Sleep

And there we have it, my 10 working from home tips that are guaranteed to make your day more productive. They might not work for everyone, but they certainly worked for me. What’s the harm in giving them a try?

 

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Whether you’re rebranding your company or this is the first time that you’ll be launching your business, your brand image is an essential consideration. You know what they say, first impressions matter.

The process can be an extremely daunting and overwhelming task, but it doesn’t always have to be that way. If implemented and managed correctly, you’ll be able to launch your brand in the strongest fashion. This will instantly build high levels of trust and credibility for your business, giving your brand the best start possible.

Today, we’re going to explore four key points you’ll need to consider for your brand to make the best impact in the world. Here’s how to launch your brand.

Define Your Audience

Before launching, you need to absolutely know who your target audience is and what they want. If you don’t know, how are you supposed to launch your brand in the most effective way?

For example, you’re about to launch a new travel website. Your target market could be elderly people, young people, backpackers, couples or families. Each of these markets will need a different approach for your brand to be the most effective.

Defining your audience will help you choose what language you’re going to use in your launch materials. It will help you define what platforms you can market yourself on and how best to tailor your strategies.

When creating your brand image, try to look for ways to connect with your readers and followers. Try to give your audience the best experience you possibly can.

Create Hype Around Your Business

Launching your brand is an extremely exciting time and there’s no reason for you not to share this excitement with your followers. Before you even get close to your launch date, you need to start creating excitement about what’s to come.

One of the best ways to do this is using social media. However, initially, you’ll need to choose which platforms will work best for you. For many businesses, Facebook and Twitter are a must. This is due to their diversity as a website and the fact that majority of people use them regardless of who they are.

See Also: 5 Instagram Tools That Can Boost Brand Performance

Jessie A. Larson, an entrepreneur working for Academized who recently launched her own brand, claims that “Creating excitement about your upcoming launch is a very exciting time, and you should invest a lot of time in doing so. When launching my brand, I really placed emphasis on communicating with my followers by replying to their comments on my content. This helped to draw them in and create a community around my brand, without even having launched yet!”.

If you’re into B2B relationships, using websites such as LinkedIn would be ideal for creating hype. This platform can let you directly connect with other professionals.
As a side note, Instagram is ideal for all kinds of business. Its simple yet fully-featured nature allows people to connect with businesses, brands and organizations.

Creating Your Best Content

You need to ensure that all the content you produce is of the highest quality. As a source for what makes a high-quality piece of content, check out State of Writing.

Your brand will be massively stronger and will have higher levels of credibility and trust from your followers if you consistently provide them with valuable content. Instead of wanting to bombard your followers with post after post, it’s important that you focus on the quality and value of your content. Every single article, blog post and piece of content that you post, especially during this build-up stage, should focus and enhance your brand’s image.

For example, you may be looking into being a ‘green’ company and put climate change and the environment as one of your business’ core values. By posting valuable information about the environment and eco-friendly businesses, you’ll be able to educate the people with valuable information while making them aware that you’re focused on being an eco-friendly company.

Be Organized & Prepared

Although a big part of nailing a brand launch is trying different tactics, it’s important that you’re organized and have a strategy in place. This will help you to post regularly and consistently, so you can build and maintain the momentum of your launch.

However, that being said, it’s important that your strategy remains flexible. You might post something that you believed to be absolute gold but, as it turns out, it wasn’t as effective as you thought it was going to be.

It will also be extremely beneficial to have a backup plan in place. However, don’t make any drastic changes in your strategy without first researching whether it’s the right decision or not. This can drive away customers and followers that you had already initially gained.

See Also: 5 Smart Ways to Boost Brand Awareness

With all these points combined, you can proactively take full control over your brand’s launch. These tips on how to launch your brand will give you and your business the best start on its prosperous journey ahead.

 

The post Set Yourself Up for Success: 4 Tips On How To Launch Your Brand appeared first on Dumb Little Man.

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In the pre-industrial days, people were loyal to whichever brands were of the best quality. Quality things that were built to last were probably a little harder to come by, so when people found something that worked as advertised and lasted as long as you needed it to, that becomes their brand for life.

Then, around the second world war, quality improved across the board. The creativity of assembly lines and marketing departments played a huge role in that development. This is when we started to see things like jingles, contests, and soap operas. Whatever brands could do to safeguard their market share and create loyal customers, they did.

But then, something shifted. People started getting whatever they wanted at the tip of their fingers. Since everything was basically decent quality, people paid much less attention to brands and much more attention to the way those brands conducted business. These days, brand loyalty is evolving into customer loyalty.

Here’s why.

You Can Buy Anything You Want Online At The Lowest Possible Price

The incentive for buying the same thing every week at the grocery store is gone. Well, you don’t even have to go to the store anymore. Most Americans can get anything they want delivered right to their homes.

This has opened many markets to newcomers. One can easily get his product in front of tons of customers, thanks to the internet.

Business Practices Matter More Than Ever

Customers want to do business with a company that treats its employees well, cares about the environment, and has excellent customer service practices. Many customers say they retract their loyalty much more quickly these days.

With 29 loyalty program memberships per household in the United States, it is clear many are getting burned out on loyalty programs as well. More than half have switched brands in the last year and 23% say they have a negative reaction to being enrolled in another loyalty program.

Customer service and good business practices matter much more than loyalty programs in the present times.

Customer Service Is Your Company’s Secret Sauce

Millennials are the largest and most diverse generation in American history and they are changing things up. They say that they are still brand loyal and they report using many of the same products as their parents. However, they are more likely to switch brands for reasons of poor customer service and bad business practices. What’s more, their parents are more likely to follow them out the door.

Here are the numbers:

78% of Millennials say brands will need to work harder to earn and keep their loyalty
64% of Millennials say they are more brand loyal than their parents
63% of Millennials report using the same brands as their parents
59% of Millennials are loyal to mobile phone providers
56% of Millennials are loyal to clothing brands
39% of Millennials are loyal to health and beauty products
32% of Millennials will switch brands if the company is revealed to have poor business practices
37% of Millennials will try a new brand when it comes out
38% of Millennials will switch brands because of a personal recommendation

Having good business practices and empowering customer service representatives to make customers happy and staying on the cutting edge of product development are going to be the best ways to keep your customers coming back.

See Also: 6 Things That Can Help You In Understanding Millennials Better

The New Brand Loyalty Is Customer Loyalty

Customers hold all the cards in this new era of brand loyalty. Because of buying power and access, customers can easily take their business elsewhere. This means that companies have no choice but to give the customers what they want.

See Also: 10 Proven Ways To Build Your Personal Branding in 2018

The best companies are the ones that listen to what customers want instead of telling them what they will get. These companies interact with customers online when customers want to interact, instead of constantly pushing out unwanted and uninteresting social media posts. The best brands are constantly improving their products instead of constantly putting out the same old thing. This is very good for consumers who basically have their pick of which companies to do business with based on their own criteria.

Learn more about the new brand loyalty from this infographic.

Source: RaveReviews.org

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Rejection is normal. Whether you’re an ordinary man, a student, a small business owner or a big-time CEO, you’ve surely experienced some sort of rejection in the past.

Did a girl reject your confession? Did your teacher reject your presentation? Or did a client reject your proposal? All of these scenarios spell one thing.

A big fat NO.

And it hurts.

For some people, learning to deal with rejection is very difficult. They wallow in the pit of misery and these failures cause them to fail all the way through life. Some people bounce back over a period of time while others don’t recover at all.

That’s how destructive rejection is. If not properly handled, it could lead to more failures.

But, as business owners, there’s no other way for us but to suck it all in and move on. There’s no room for wallowing in self-pity because a lot of people depend on your business. Strong minded individuals don’t get discouraged by rejection; they use it to their advantage instead.

Here are some tips on how to handle rejection in business.

Give yourself some time

Don’t deny yourself the opportunity to mourn over your failure. Give yourself enough time to process your rejection, but don’t take too long. Pick yourself up after, gather your thoughts and plan your next step of action.

One step closer

Instead of treating rejections as failures, think of them as being one step closer to your goals. For example, if it takes 10 rejections before you get a positive answer for your proposition, then every No would serve as a step towards your much-desired Yes.

This way, you don’t get defeated by rejection. Instead, you use each rejection to your advantage and as a way to determine how near you are to your goals.

Rejection is inevitable, so get over it

There will always be people who will say Yes and there will be people who will say No. Rejection is a common thing in business. Don’t let a single “No” put you down and hinder your plans.

Although rejection may cause a temporary setback, remember that all these challenges will come to pass and you have so much future ahead of you.

See Also: How Not To Give Up When Your Head Tells You to Quit

Know why

When your boss rejects your draft, ask why. When your business partner rejects your business plan, ask why. When the university rejects your application, ask why.

Only by asking and listening to the answers would you be able to know what you’re doing wrong. If you know where you went wrong, then you can have an idea on how to fix it. And don’t forget to thank them for the insights.

Analyze the problem

Why do you keep being rejected? Which part are you doing wrong? Did you listen to other’s opinion? Does the problem lie with your business, with your people or with you?

If you analyze your mistakes, you’ll be able to have a deeper understanding of how things work. You’ll know where the error lies and you’ll have the opportunity to correct them.

Learn from it

They say that smart people learn from their mistakes while geniuses learn from others. I believe that it doesn’t matter who made the mistake, as long as you learn something from it. Know where you went wrong or what you did wrong, why it is wrong and what you can do when you’re faced with a similar dilemma in the future.

Be open to making changes

The most important thing to remember is to be flexible. Sometimes, a rejection is a blessing in disguise because it allows you to improve an idea or fine-tune your business pitch. Don’t attach yourself to the answer because it will only invite negative feelings. Focus your attention instead on how to get a positive answer.

See Also: 5 Women Entrepreneurs Who Failed Before Becoming Millionaires

Rejection hurts and it affects not only our emotional status but also our overall business atmosphere. Allow yourself (and your business) some time to let go. Process the pain but don’t wallow in it for too long. Dust yourself off, figure out what to do next and move on. This highlights one of the best ways on how to handle rejection in business.

 

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