I found this tool recently and decided not to spend advertising money for digital solutions due to the overall benefit versus cost that digital solutions has in Tampa Bay. The frame below is from How Much to Rank.

Jus playing around with other’s and found something that is quit appealing to me. Below is an out of the box one that I will enhance or replace when I get the time.

from: https://www.dummies.com/web-design-development/wordpress/wordpress-design/wordpress-web-design-for-dummies-cheat-sheet/

WordPress Web Design For Dummies Cheat Sheet

By Jisha Jamal

Sugar is sweet and the sugar granules are small. Can we cut the smaller sugar granules? Yes! we can. Imagine the size of the smallest sugar particle that can retain the sweetness when you cut it. If you keep cutting, you will reach a particle that cannot be divided again without losing sweetness. That smallest particle of the sugar that retains all the qualities of sugar is the molecule of sugar. The sugar molecule again can be divided, but it will not be sugar again. Dividing molecules again into smaller particles is possible. The smallest particle of matter when we divide molecule is known as an atom. That means molecules are formed by the bonding of two or more atoms. Thus atoms are the building blocks of molecules. Sugar molecule contains 12 carbon atoms, 22 hydrogen atoms and 11 oxygen atoms. Many such sugar molecules join together to form a sugar granule.

Before moving to know how these atoms are joined, we will understand what elements like oxygen, hydrogen, carbon etc are. In order to learn it, we should realize one more thing: an atom is made up of subatomic particles namely protons, neutrons and electrons. Each atom has a positively charged nucleus that keeps attracting negatively charged electrons. The nucleus is the permanent seat of protons and neutrons, whereas electrons keep revolving around the nucleus. An atom with only one electron and one proton is hydrogen(H) and Atom with 2 electrons and 2 protons is helium(He), 3 each with Lithium(Li), 4 each with Beryllium(Be) and son.Thus, atoms are differentiated on the basis of the number of subatomic particles. In that way carbon has 6 electrons and oxygen has 8.

Formation of molecules

Electrons are like small children. They do revolve around the nucleus in various shells and energy levels. These energy levels are called sub shells and are denoted by the letters s, p, d and f. The S subshell has the capacity to hold 2 electrons. If we are considering the formation of hydrogen molecule by hydrogen atoms, the only one electron of hydrogen atom is filled in the first S sub shell. Filling one electron in a subshell where 2 electrons can be kept creates imbalance and thus the atom looks to share its electron with another atom. So, it undergoes a mutual sharing of electrons with another hydrogen atom to form a hydrogen molecule.

Electrons thus are really like small children. They develop stress within the home and find friendship with neighboring electrons to become happy and stable! Isn’t it fun. This fun behavior of electrons is the reason for all the development we see around us. Learning about it also is really fun!

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Jisha_Jamal/2553088

http://EzineArticles.com/?Atoms-and-Molecules&id=9973396

If you look around the non-profit world, you might have noticed some significant changes over the past 5 to 10 years around how organizations are acquiring, maintaining and strengthening their membership bases.

Something that The Red Cross, The Humane Society and many other non-profits have in common is their successful online membership programs. They have all built global customer bases by creating a form of online communities among their members, and the potential is limitless.

Now, once they have these successful membership programs, they need a convenient and visually attractive way of presenting these programs on their website.

This creates a hub: a central space for admin and staff to access members’ information and showcase their offerings

The time, energy and resources non-profits are saving by having their membership programs on their website is significant. They’re easy to access, paperwork is not scattered across multiple laptops or offices and making updates is easy.

This is something that is often overlooked among the non-profit sector, when it really shouldn’t be. It’s vital for online membership programs to stay organized. By doing this, their members, donors and social impact will remain strong.

Here are more benefits for non-profits who add an online membership program to their website:

One significant benefit of a membership website for non-profits is they can grant their members access to areas of the organization that most people would never normally see. For example, The Council To Reduce Elder Abuse allows members access to meeting recordings, reports and even grant proposals.

Everyone wants to be in the know, and to understand what is happening within all these seemingly secretive organizations we interact with. This works so well for CREA, one of our clients who helps their donors understand where their money is going.

This saves the back-and forth communication staff might have to go through on these topics as info is displayed prominently on their website.

I think we can all agree on the phrase “Give credit where credit is due”, and that is exactly what the BC Farmers’ Institute is doing through their innovative way of creating a non-profit website.

All the members are growers around the province of British Columbia, and there is a special section on their website that highlights where the growers are located, a blurb about them and their unique logo.

This provides much-needed marketing for these growers in a hyper-competitive market, while also showing all visitors to BCFI’s website just how many farmers the Institute is supporting.

This provides a significant amount of credibility when you have 20+ farms featured. Also, having all your members visually displayed like this creates organization and cohesion like none other.

Content Creators Websites for non-profits are hard to maintain, and we understand how resources can be stretched thin most days.

Finding content that is fresh, exciting and industry-relevant to keep your website up to date can be a struggle. So, wouldn’t it make sense for your members to give you a helping hand on your website?

That’s exactly what Abbotsford-based FarmWest has achieved. With news and updates on their website that members can contribute to, they generate a very community-based feel about their non-profit online membership, as well as sharing an interesting website!

Members will feel like they are genuinely contributing to their industry and that goes a long way for the reputation of a non-profit. Not to mention, it’s a lot less maintenance for the hard-working employees.

READ: Competitive Positioning for Nonprofits Competitive Positioning for Nonprofits

Does your nonprofit have a positioning statement? It’s an important question every organization must ask themselves: what sets you apart from the competition?

Competitive positioning for nonprofits is more focused on the “why”: what is your mission? Your product is the good you’re doing.

Read this article for tips on how to create a non-profit positioning statement for your organization.

Read more on our website.

Saves Everyone’s Time

Do you ever feel like you spend a lot of time on the phone explaining the same benefits over and over to curious callers? Wouldn’t you save a lot of time with a beautiful website section that shows and describes all the benefits of joining your membership program?

The Music Therapy Association has an excellent introduction of its benefits for members in their information section, with clear and concise paragraphs to represent their information.

External links give a more in-depth picture and contact information is given for those questions that go above and beyond what’s on the site. So, you’re saving your members’ and your own time!

A searchable directory is also included with members ‘information, to show just how qualified their members are. Overall, they provide a compelling online advertisement for their credibility.

Music Therapy Association members directory

The non-profit industry is slowly becoming more and more competitive. From 2006 to 2016, the number of non-profit organizations registered with the IRS rose from 1.48 million to 1.54 million, an increase of 4.5 percent.

It’s time for each and every non-profit to be finding ways to remain competitive in the online space, just like every for-profit company is shifting towards. Building online communities, saving time and resources—while solidifying impact—are all goals non-profits should be working towards

These unique sections within a non-profit’s website are vital for organizations and maintaining the brand image each organization has worked hard to build. Do yourself, your employees and the non-profit a favour and see how this can benefit you today.

eVision Media has long-lasting success with integrating online non-profit membership programs into our clients’ websites for long-lasting results. Don’t hesitate to reach out to take your website to the next level!

To your business success, Susan Friesen

By J M Conner

Your retirement can be enhanced by technology. There is no better time to be retired and part of the reason is the increased capability brought about by the technology that is all around us. One of the ways to keep your mind sharp in retirement is to learn new skills and you can’t find a better subject than learning about all of the technological advances being made every day. If you can master the internet, a computer or a smartphone, you can open up your world in a way that would have been impossible just a decade ago.

The pandemic the world has struggled through has shone a spotlight on the advances that have been made with video technology and faster broadband speeds. It has also highlighted one of the ways that retirement and technology are perfect for each other. There are dozens of applications that will enable you to have not just a phone conversation, but an onscreen chat with just about any person in the world. It has been a blessing during this time of social distancing, but it has also brought a new focus on how important it is to keep up with technological advances.

Video conferences have been around a few years but, up until about three years ago, they were more of a problem than a solution. Long delays, poor sound quality and people speaking over each other marred the experience and, in some cases, resulted in a complete waste of time. Recent advances and better broadband capability have helped resolve these problems and it has not just helped the business world but has added greater fulfillment to the lives of many seniors.

If you’ve watched television lately, nearly every show now has a guest who is speaking from a remote location and, while there are occasional glitches, the technology has become amazing. If you have relatives halfway around the world you can basically do the same kind of connection and have them appear on the screen before you. Is it the same as being there? Of course not, but it can be a wonderful experience just the same and it can help you keep track of your grandchildren by checking in more often.

With the higher internet speeds, we’ve also seen the content available on the internet go forward by leaps and bounds. Almost any topic you can name and any course you ever wanted to take is now available somewhere. Virtual tours of cities and landmarks are quite easy to find, and you can find a tutorial for learning any skill you ever thought of developing. Do you want to learn how to bake bread or fix a leaky faucet? A quick search on the internet will give you all the information you need to get started.

And, if you’re not sure how to use the internet to its fullest capability, taking the time to learn is one of the smartest things you can do because it can literally change your world and how you get your information. There are courses for that as well but one of the most enjoyable ways to learn these skills is through the eyes of a young person. It’s especially rewarding if it’s one of your grandchildren but a child from the neighborhood will probably be more than happy to give you a quick course on the internet and upgrading the technology in your home. Technology can provide enhanced experiences that are so amazing you’ll wonder why you didn’t act sooner. It’s a great way to learn something new, expand your social circles and to make sure you continue to Enjoy Retired Life.

J M Conner is a writer and publisher who specializes in online information marketing. Newly retired, his most recent articles are on the art of enjoying Retired Life to the fullest. Areas of specialization are guiding future, new and seasoned retirees onto a path of emotional fulfillment and financial reward and making the most of their retired years. You can visit his website at https://www.EnjoyRetiredLife.com.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/J_M_Conner/103607

http://EzineArticles.com/?Your-Retirement-Can-Be-Enhanced-By-Technology&id=10427094

Traditional CMS tools typically require the use of specific frameworks and languages, whereas headless CMS tools let developers use whichever framework they are comfortable with. … A headless CMS is flexible and future-proof, allowing it to power other platforms even if they are not in your current product roadmap.

Market Recommendations

Application leaders transforming WCM should:

• Mitigate the difficulty of selecting vendors by including selection criteria that are more extensive than solely for the web channel.
• Replace their legacy project- and program-based approaches to WCM by adopting a blended approach of traditional and new methods aligned to the business strategy.
• Plan to include interactive evaluation techniques, such as demonstrations and proofs of concept, in the evaluation of WCM technology to mitigate the difficulty of selecting vendors purely based on functionality checklists.
• Recalibrate their strategies for deploying and managing content by using the “2020 Strategic Roadmap for Web Content Management” framework.
• Check customer references and speak to them about “softer” selection criteria such as cultural fit, ease of working with vendor, geographical coverage, partner network and availability of experts
• Evaluate the extent to which WCM requirements can be provided by other types of technologies they may already have in place.
• Define their long-term digital experience strategy and how a WCM (or DXP) would fit into their current and planned technology portfolio, as well as what adjacent technologies they will need to integrate with.
• Utilize the WCM technology selection best practices as highlighted in “How to Shortlist WCM Vendors for Your Digital Business Strategy.”

Today anyone who has writing ability or is dreaming to be a writer has written a blog in the net. There are blog soft wares that are simple and easy to use and a technically inclined and challenged individuals can easily acquire a blog online.

For some individuals, blogs are their projects of every day living, as they talk about their daily episodes as well as make tribute to friends and family. Furthermore, blogs assume a profound meaning written to compose and assemble political statements, endorse a product, supply information on research, and even offer tutorials. Any subject that are of your interests, you can be sure that someone has written a blog about it.

Blogs are now being written by musicians, politicians, sports figures, novelists, newscasters as well as other known figures. It is this blog fever that has raised controversy. The fact that anyone can compose and regarding any subject matter under the sun, complaints about certain write-ups are an issue. In a lot of blogs, names are being mentioned; do bear in mind that although you are entitled to write anything that interests you in a blog, you have to be very careful and take in a lot of responsibility. Do not make any statements which can become controversial; or else, be very prepared.

Why a Blog?

1. For personal acquaintances, relationships and hobby. A person can write a blog about his daily activities, what’s going on with his life as his way of telling his family and friends the things that goes on in his life. Likewise, one may also write a blog just so he can express what he feels about himself, or about a certain subject matter that is of interest to him.

2. Topical. Some blogs are committed to a precise topic, like computer hardware or politics. These are frequently read like magazines.

3. For marketing. Corporations are too, into blogging; when well written and implemented, this kind of blog can be a powerful instrument for business communications, forming eagerness and anticipation regarding their products and services offered, or used as tool within the company, keeping employees well informed about company issues and news.

Why someone else’s software?

A lot of Web designer and creators will laugh at the belief and idea of utilizing the software of someone else. This is can be correct especially when each software greatly differs from the particular requirements that a client may have. Yet on the other hand, when it refers to a Weblog software, there is no reason for apprehension in the use of a package that is pre-written, as most packages were developed through years of study; not just knocked together over a couple of days.

In addition, one may study its feature set. For a developer, it would take a lot of time and effort to write and compose from “nothing at all” every single feature in the Weblog software packages of today. For most people, a blog is there for the main reason that chooses to publish or make known your literature and texts on the Web, so you want to spend your time more on writing than coding.

Hosted Services

If one wishes to start broadcasting on the Web, yet does not have web hosting, one can consider looking into a hosted service, which includes Blogger, TypePad, Live Journal, and more.

These services are operated or handled for an individual, so there is no need to concern one about technical upkeep of one’s Weblog; instead, one can concentrate on his blog’s appearance and content. In just minutes, after signing for an account, one can readily start his own blog. Many such services are offered free, such as blogger. TypePad charges a minimal amount for monthly service fee.

Self-Hosted

When one has Web hosting on hand, or is eager to buy hosting, in which one feesl that the advantage will prevail over the problems of keeping up your own blog connection and installation, then you may want to take into account a package that is self-hosted, which includes Movable Type, Textpattern and WordPress.

Other hosting companies did construct the process of installation easier, permitting installation with just a click from a control panel that is browser-based. It is important that you check with a hosting company so you can view if this function is offered. Similar to hosted services, some self hosted packages are made available either for free or for a certain fee which is dependent on the type of package that you choose as well as the basis why you are using it.

Blogs are here to stay, and many Wahms are taking advantage of the trend. Making money with blogs is a popular choice for many work at home moms. Blogs are simple to set up, and relatively easy to update. This is especially true when you compare blogs to other types of websites. Within just a few minutes, you can set up a professional looking blog for free and start your Wahm blogging business.

A blog is an easy to update website that looks sort of like a journal. Entries are made at a minimum of each week, and the newest entries appear at the top. Entries are normally short articles of 200 to 500 words. Readers visit the blog or read the new blog entries through a blog reading program. Readers can also comment on entries and provide links between their own blogs and your blog.

With blogs, the opportunities are wide open. Choosing a blog topic is as easy as looking at your own life for inspiration. There are blogs about everything from celebrity news to bathroom cleaning tips. Before you start a blog, do some research on the Internet to see if people are interested in your possible blog topic. Your topic doesn’t have to be popular, but it does have to have a dedicated group of people who are interested in the topic.

When you pick a topic, make sure to stay within a fairly small niche. The term niche is used to describe a group of people who have a similar interest. There are big niches like working at home and small niches like tips for training your cat to sit on the toilet. Try to find a happy medium between a popular topic and a niche interest so your blog has plenty of readers. Some topics, like working at home or parenting, are too broad and have too much competition for readers.

You can set up your blog through a free blogging platform, like www.blogger.com or www.wordpress.com. There are also a half dozen others to choose from. The blogging platform will walk you through making your first entry into your blog.

After you’ve made a few entries into your blog, its time to monetize your blog. This means you’ll be making specific changes to your blog in order to make money. One of the most popular ways to gain income from a blog is by using a contextual advertising program, like Google Adsense or Chitika. Contextual advertising pays you for each time a reader clicks on one of the advertising links on your page. The advertising program will scan your blog entries for keywords, and then place advertising on your page that relates to your page content.

For example, if you have a blog on children’s television and write an article about Sesame Street, the ads appearing next to that article will have to do with that program. They might be links to shopping for Sesame Street items, or an ad for vintage Sesame Street collectables selling on Ebay.

One thing to note with contextual advertising is that you won’t have to worry about placing the ads yourself each day. Once you enter the code on your blog, the program will automatically refresh the advertising when you make a new post. You will be paid several cents for each click. It doesn’t seem like a lot per click, but it sure does add up quickly.

Contextual advertising is just one way to make money from your Wahm blog. You can also make product recommendations and suggest information products (e-books) to your readers. Each time someone buys a product you recommend, you will get a commission. Many bloggers find that making gentle product recommendations throughout their blogs are a way to garner extra income.

Background
Search engines are particularly interested in websites with constantly updated, relevant content. Websites that appear static without a supply of fresh content may be viewed as dormant and in their drive to provide the latest, most relevant search results to users, search engines may rank such a website lower than a website that is updated regularly.

What Is It?
RSS to Blog Pro is a fully automated blog posting tool offering self-updating websites. It’s a PHP script that is installed on a single web hosting account. From this centralised installation, multiple blogs can be maintained with fresh content from various sources. Also available is an earlier, non-pro version, which has the same basic functionality, but requires a separate install for each blog it maintains.

What Problem Does It Solve?
Adding fresh – and importantly, relevant – content to websites can be a resource consuming task. Either you spend time finding and creating new content or you pay someone to do it for you. Without fresh content, your websites can appear stagnant and drop off the search engines radar. This impacts your website rankings in search results and ultimately has a detrimental effect on any free traffic coming from the search engines. If your websites rely on search engine traffic then this can mean their downfall.

What Are The Benefits?
RSS to Blog Pro tackles the problem of needing to regularly update website content by automating the whole process from finding relevant content based upon keywords that you provide through to posting content to your website blog. In the eyes of search engines, updating a website with irrelevant content isn’t nearly as good as having relevant content. The tighter your niche, the better chances you have of ranking higher as you’ll be competing with a smaller number of websites. Using a scattergun approach to website content can mean you end up competing with websites across a large number of niches.

If you’re building content websites with the aim of earning an AdSense income then you’ll know that the ads shown are dependant upon the surrounding content on your webpages. Irrelevant content results in ads that are irrelevant to your website visitors, which means they’ll have no interest in clicking on them and your generated income will be poor.

Features

* Supports multiple blog types including WordPress, Blogger Blogs, Movable Type, Type Pad, Live Journal and MSN Spaces.
* Keywords and RSS feeds can be specified for automatic content generation or you can supply your own content.
* Posting to your blogs can be scheduled at random intervals e.g. once or twice a day so that posting appears natural.
* There are no ‘footprints’ to identify the content as being automatically generated.
* Log records are kept so you can see exactly what has been posted and to where.
* Built-in ping functionality for blog and ping.
* A single installation will post to an unlimited number of blogs.
* Regular updates.
* User support forum.
* Two tier affiliate programme offering 40% commission to the top level and 10% for any sales from affiliates you recruit.

My Experience With RSS to Blog Pro
Since August 2005, I’ve been using RSS to Blog Pro on an increasing number of blogs in various niches. I’m pleased to be able to say that my income from AdSense has increased month upon month since then. With the software installed on my virtual private server (VPS), I currently manage around 50 blogs, posting relevant new content every day or two. I’d recommend that you don’t install RSS to Blog Pro onto a shared server because if you’re updating a large number of websites or you’re running the script frequently (every couple of minutes) then your host is likely to take a dim view on it. Considering how inexpensive and how much more reliable a VPS is to operate there just isn’t any reasonable justification for risking a shared server. A VPS is like having your own server, completely isolated from any other peoples websites so you can’t affect them and they can’t affect you. There is the exception of disk IO, but that isn’t something that should be of any real concern.

The issue of relevancy is really what makes the difference between an effective auto content generation tool and one that will never do anything for your bottom line. I can’t stress it enough; without relevant content, search engines won’t be able to categorise your niche and won’t be able to rank you fairly amongst your peers. That means you won’t do well in searches in your subject area. It also could mean your website will serve ads for tennis equipment when your niche is dog care. Visitors looking for information about dog care are highly unlikely to be interested in tennis equipment when they come to your website because it’s not something which is relevant to their needs at that time.

There’s no doubt that this helps to keep those websites looking fresh and my website stats show a constant stream of visits to my blog pages each month. And of course, lots of targetted visitors and lots of targetted content means a lot of clicks on targetted ads!

Support-wise, Michelle (creator of RSS to Blog Pro) has answered my email queries promptly and there’s an active user forum for peer support. Michelle also visits the forum to provide assistance although some queries can take a couple of days for a response, however the user base, support forum and software is mature enough to be able to cope with almost every common question a new user might have.

Fortunately, the software is easy to install and set-up so you can expect to be running within an hour or two.

One feature that I haven’t used is the ability to ping blog directories from within RSS to Blog Pro. The reason for this is that if I pinged these websites for every post made to each of my blogs then I’d actually end up pinging up to 50 times a day from the same domain (the domain on which RSS to Blog Pro is installed). Rather than risk being blacklisted for pinging too much and hogging the resources of the directories, I use the ping facility from with my WordPress blog software instead so that the individual pings come from the individual domains. Again, this will appear to be a lot more natural and it also helps RSS to Blog Pro to work more efficiently by decoupling some of the work away from it.

Conclusion
After 6 months of constant usage, I’m pretty happy with RSS to Blog Pro’s performance. and would definitely recommend it to anyone who is wanting to have self-updating websites that attract targetted traffic. Care needs to be taken when selecting a host for the script, but once installed, operation of the script is simple and reliable. An excellent script in the toolbox of AdSense earners and affiliate marketers alike.

WordPress is one of the many options available to bloggers who are looking for free software online which makes it incredibly easy to publish their own blog. This software is easy to use, provides a variety of templates and offer excellent support to bloggers. There are many options available to bloggers and other blogging programs may be better known and offer slightly different features but many bloggers are quite pleased with WordPress. This article will offer some useful information for bloggers who are considering starting a blog with WordPress such as reasons to choose WordPress, tips on starting a blog and information about the support offered by WordPress. Based on this information as well as their own research bloggers can decide whether WordPress is right for them or whether they should seek out a different blog network.

Reasons to Choose WordPress

There are many great reasons to choose WordPress to start a blog. Some of these reasons include a great variety of templates, the ability to categorize and tag posts easily, features such as spell check, previews and autosave, the ability to post text, audio files and video files, a variety of privacy options and the ability to track statistical data related to the blog in addition to other great features. Some of these features may be more important to some bloggers than others so deciding whether or not WordPress is right for you will largely be a matter of personal preference. For example bloggers with little or no programming experience may enjoy the myriad of templates available on WordPress while bloggers who are concerned about privacy issues may be more interested in the privacy options available through WordPress. Carefully investigating these features will help bloggers determine if they should start a blog with WordPress.

Starting a Blog with WordPress

Bloggers who opt to start a blog with WordPress will certainly not be disappointed by the amount of time it takes to start a blog. A blogger can literally start a blog with WordPress within minutes. This is tremendously important to bloggers who are eager to get started and do not want to deal with a long process to start a blog. The only requirements for starting a blog are a valid email address and a username. The blogger enters this information into the signup page and receives a password almost instantly. Next the blogger simply has to check his email, follow the activation link provided and use the password provided and the process is complete. The blogger can start blogging immediately.

Support Offered by WordPress

For many first time bloggers the type of support offered is very important. This is because first time bloggers may have quite a few questions about the process of starting a basic blog and once they establish a basic blog they may have additional questions about using advanced features and customizing the blog. WordPress offers a great deal of support for bloggers of all skill levels. The support offered by WordPress includes the ability to contact the support staff as well as the ability to receive support from other members through online forums. Although the support staff is incredibly responsive some bloggers enjoy the ability to communicate with other bloggers in forums. This is because the forums are active 24 hours a day and bloggers can find support from peers at any time.

PPPPP

Word count 562

Choosing which blogging platform to use is one of the
most important decisions that you can make as a
blogger. The right platform can make blogging a
breeze, and the wrong platform can make blogging a
chore. Because the program that you use to blog with is
such a powerful part of your blogging experience, it is
well worth putting in the time to find a platform that
provides your ideal balance between a user-friendly
interface and a flexible framework that allows you to
make your blog look and feel unique. Finding the right
platform isn’t always easy, but with a little bit of
contemplation and a little bit of research, you will be on
your way to finding the perfect blogging platform.

Deciding what your priorities are in terms of ease of use
versus customization. Most highly customizable
blogging platforms, like moveable type, are a bit more
difficult to use than very automated platforms like
wordpress. If you are new to blogs and to internet
technology, you might want to sacrifice the ability to
create a custom background design or to integrate a
unique font into your template in order to find a
program that will be easy for you to use. On the other
hand, if you are a veteran web designer with knowledge
of html or javascript, you will probably find the
limitations of a user-friendly platform to be frustrating.

There is no such thing as a blogging platform that is
objectively the best platform, because every blogger has
unique needs. The blogging movement is very much
about individuality, so it makes plenty of sense that
there would be many different platforms available that
are designed to meet the needs of different kinds of
individuals undertaking different kinds of projects. This
diversity is a good thing, because it means that you will
almost certainly be able to find a program that suits
your level of technical aptitude.

However, the fact that no two bloggers need the same
thing from a blogging platform can make your search
for the right platform a bit tricky. When you are reading
reviews of different platforms, try to keep your
priorities in mind and do your best to take into account
the position that the reviewer is coming from. For
example, a negative review written by an accomplished
software designer who complains that a popular
platform is too limited may tell you that the platform in
question is ideal for a beginning blogger. There is no
such thing as the perfect platform for everybody, so
instead of looking for the “best” platform, look for the
best platform for your specific criteria.

(Word count 446)

PPPPP

From: https://www.americanexpress.com/en-us/business/trends-and-insights/articles/7-excellent-ways-to-attract-new-customers

I thought this was well written and correct.

As a business owner, you’re no doubt keenly aware that your client base is the lifeblood of your company. A steady stream of new customers allows you to grow your business and fulfill your company vision.

Former OPEN Forum community member Farzana Irani realizes the importance of a strong client base for all small businesses, including virtual ones, which is why the Web consultant with iAdControl.com/Fuzzworks UK recently asked the community: “what is your best approach in creating a client base for your online business?”

It turns out that a seven-step approach works best for attracting new clients.

1. Identify Your Ideal Client

It’s easier to look for customers if you know the type of consumers you seek. Without a composite of your ideal customer, you probably wouldn’t know where to start looking.

“Have a crystal clear picture in your head of exactly who you’re targeting,” says former OPEN Forum community member Nicole Beckett, president of Premier Content Source. “Think about what makes those types of people happy, sad, scared, relieved, and then think about how you can make their lives a little easier.”

Narrow down the focus of your ideal client and avoid making broad target market statements, such as every woman, every man or all baby boomers. Few products appeal to that vast of a group of people, and overstating your market will prevent you from developing viable targeted strategies for attracting clients.

2. Discover Where Your Customer Lives

With your targeted customers in mind, “identify those places where they are likely to be found (media, online, offline, mail, etc.), and then create messages for them,” says Jeff Motter, CEO and chief marketing officer of East Bay Marketing Group.

Where you look for customers will depend on the nature of your business. Some good online locations include forums and social media pages, including your own and those of similar or complementary businesses. Offline, you can meet plenty of potential customers at conferences and conventions in your industry.

3. Know Your Business Inside and Out

Thoroughly understanding your industry and having a firm knowledge of your product or service is critical to being able to attract interested clients. When you know your product backward and forward, that fact comes through. The people who would be interested in your offerings can see how knowledgeable you are and will seek your assistance.

4. Position Yourself as the Answer

Give potential clients you come into contact with a good reason to try your services, which is your first step to making them loyal customers, suggests Jason Reis owner and lead programmer for Flehx Corp.

“Provide value and establish yourself as having an in-depth understanding of the problems they are looking to solve,” he says. “This takes the form of creating content via webinars, blog posts, guest blogging, and getting out there and physically networking with people. From all this you will start to attract a following, and as long as you have a structured sales funnel setup, you will be able to convert the followers/fans into paying customers.”

5. Try Direct Response Marketing

Your best bet for reaching out and touching customers is to use tactics to encourage them to complete a specific action, such as opt into your email list or request more information.

Create messages directed at your target market, suggests Motter. “Learn to create ads that attract your ideal clients by giving them something of value for free to get them started in your funnel. Learn all you can about direct response marketing practices, because they will teach you to focus on results that matter. Create compelling messages that tell your ideal audience why they’d have to be a fool not to work with you. Show them you understand their pain, and can make it go away faster and cheaper than they could without you.”

6. Build Partnerships

Teaming up with businesses that offer complementary services offers you the opportunity to take advantage of synergy, which can be very effective in building a business. For instance, if you have a company that specializes in SEO, consider teaming up with a business that builds websites.

When all is said and done, nurturing relationships, either with other business owners or customers, helps you create a client base, Beckett suggests. “Focus on building human relationships. The stronger your relationships are, the more likely your customers will be to tell their friends about you. And, the more likely they’ll be to come back.”

7. Follow Up

After your efforts to bring in business, always remember to close the loop, suggests Josh Sprague, CEO of Orange Mud. “Remember to set follow up tasks (follow up to sample sent, etc.), and execute your plan. So many leads and great conversations are wasted because you forget to follow up.” Doing this simple step is sure to get your client base to grow.

Read more articles on marketing.

Richard Hay | Mar 11, 2020

From: https://www.itprotoday.com/collaboration/6-remote-working-tips-continued-productivity?NL=TECH-005&Issue=TECH-005_20200312_TECH-005_22&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_1_b&utm_rid=CPNET000011455463&utm_campaign=24556&utm_medium=email&elq2=4024726f006c47e7bba798c57e6a8a65

“The COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak is forcing more employees to work from home, many for the first time. How to approach a work schedule when we work in the same place we live is challenging and requires some new habits.

Even with a disciplined approach, suddenly being required to work from home will throw things off kilter initially, but you can still make the best of the current situation and learn to work from home efficiently.

Dux Raymond Sy, the chief marketing officer for AvePoint, a company that helps organizations find solutions for maximizing collaboration between employees, is well-versed in remote team collaboration and productivity. Here, he shares six remote working tips:

1. Establish guidelines and boundaries: Working remotely is not too different than working in a physical office. It is essential to establish clear communication and collaboration practices. Essential guidelines include:

• What are the standard working hours?
• When will you take breaks?
• What technologies should be used for meetings, group collaboration or asynchronous communication?
• Be it a desk or an extra room in your house, designate a space where you work. This helps set a mental and physical distinction of “being at work” and also helps set expectations with others that may be with you at home.

2. Get comfortable with the technology: The key difference between working in an office and working remotely is that you will rely on technology more to communicate, collaborate and engage with colleagues. Be open and learn how to best maximize these technologies

3. Encourage video calls: Nothing beats face-to-face interaction, but if you’re working remotely, seeing each other via video calls can be essential. Not only does this foster a closer work culture, but it also allows everyone to see important non-verbal cues.

4. Ensure mobile access to corporate resources is available, if possible: Mobile devices today are our secondary work tools. It is critical that remote colleagues can easily communicate, collaborate and have access to relevant corporate resources from their mobile devices.

5. Extend grace and accommodate for the unexpected: If working remotely is new to you, it’s also new to people you work with and live with. There will be occasional distractions such as unexpected noise, technology hiccups or unreliable internet connectivity. As such, be patient and show more grace to colleagues as they adjust to this new mode of working.

6. Set remote work goals as a team: Focus on the work output and deliverables by setting goals for the day, the week or the month. This way, similar to what you would do in an office, working remotely with your team is still driving towards a common outcome.

Those are Sy’s top remote working tips. Ultimately, the need to work remotely due to coronavirus will come to an end. This experience, however, will provide many with an awareness of the challenging aspects of this form of working. Hopefully, that will lead to overall improvements in the remote working process and potentially a more regular use of this option for companies and their employees.”

Good Job Example: Senior Cloud Developer

Specialism

IFS – Information Technology (IT)

Management Level

Senior Manager

Job Description & Summary

A career in Information Technology, within Internal Firm Services, will provide you with the opportunity to support our core business functions by deploying applications that enable our people to work more efficiently and deliver the highest levels of service to our clients. You’ll focus on managing the design and implementation of technology infrastructure within our company, developing and enhancing both client and internal facing applications within our company, and providing technology tools that help create a competitive advantage for the Firm to drive strategic business growth.

Our Information Technology Development team helps develop and supports internal information technology systems and applications for use by all staff levels. You’ll help our team develop programs and applications that cater to our company’s strategic technology needs using your knowledge of technical domains of application.

To really stand out and make us fit for the future in a constantly changing world, each and every one of us at our company needs to be an authentic and inclusive leader, at all grades/levels and in all lines of service. To help us achieve this we have our company’s Professional; our global leadership development framework. It gives us a single set of expectations across our lines, geographies and career paths, and provides transparency on the skills we need as individuals to be successful and progress in our careers, now and in the future.

As a Senior Manager, you’ll work as part of a team of problem solvers, helping to solve complex business issues from strategy to execution. Our company’s Professional skills and responsibilities for this management level include but are not limited to:

• Take action to ensure everyone has a voice, inviting opinion from all.
• Establish the root causes of issues and tackle them, rather than just the symptoms.
• Initiate open and honest coaching conversations at all levels.
• Move easily between big picture thinking and managing relevant detail.
• Anticipate stakeholder needs, and develop and discuss potential solutions, even before the stakeholder realises they are required.
• Develop specialized expertise in one or more areas.
• Advise stakeholders on relevant technical issues for their business area.
• Navigate the complexities of global teams and engagements.
• Build trust with teams and stakeholders through open and honest conversation.
• Uphold the firm’s code of ethics and business conduct.

Job Requirements and Preferences:

Basic Qualifications:

Minimum Degree Required:
High School Diploma

Minimum Years of Experience:
6 year(s) of progressive roles managing IT system/software development and project management processes

Preferred Qualifications:

Degree Preferred:
Bachelor Degree

Preferred Fields of Study:
Information Technology, Computer Systems Analysis, Management Information Systems

Preferred Knowledge/Skills:

Demonstrates intimate abilities and/or a proven record of success as a team leader in the following areas:

• Developing applications in serverless cloud environments;
• Possessing experience with Google Cloud, AppEngine, Cloud Functions, Cloud Run, Kubernetes, Datastore, Firestore, Cloud SQL and/or BigQuery;
• Working with AWS serverless services such as Lamda, Edge, Fargate, S3, EFS, RedShift as well as Heroku or Azure;
• Designing and building container based apps;
• Working with docker images, kubernetes, microservices architecture;
• Possessing experience with Devops and Continuous Delivery and Integration;
• Writing and automating test code for high levels of code coverage;
• Working with Google Cloud Build, AWS CodePipeline or CodeBuild, Jenkins, CircleCI, Gitlab, or similar; and,
• Using web services and APIs (e.g REST) and their application to serverless cloud environments, preferably Google Cloud.

Education (if blank, degree and/or field of study not specified)

Degrees/Field of Study required:Degrees/Field of Study preferred:

Certifications (if blank, certifications not specified)

Desired Languages (If blank, desired languages not specified)

Travel Requirements

Up to 20%

Available for Work Visa Sponsorship?

No

Government Clearance Required?

No

Job Posting End Date

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race; creed; color; religion; national origin; sex; age; disability; sexual orientation; gender identity or expression; genetic predisposition or carrier status; veteran, marital, or citizenship status; or any other status protected by law. We are proud to be an affirmative action and equal opportunity employer. For positions based in San Francisco, consideration of qualified candidates with arrest and conviction records will be in a manner consistent with the Fair Chance Ordinance.

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Epictetus: “Remember that it is we who torment, we who make difficulties for ourselves – that is, our opinions do. What, for instance, does it mean to be insulted? Stand by a rock and insult it, and what have you accomplished? If someone responds to insult like a rock, what has the abuser gained with his invective?”