Alexandra Levits Water Cooler Wisdom How to Prevent Business Tech Overload

Alexandra Levit's Water Cooler Wisdom How to Prevent Business Tech Overload Technology for technologys sake canhurt. We are so inundated with new solutions that its difficult to assess whats truly important. Idiscussed this issue with Amber Anderson, CEO of organizational advisory firm Kaysonin Phoenix; Rebecca Devaney, CEO of Hunter Creative Labs, a pro-social product development lab in Boston; and Thomas Smale, co-founder of online business brokerage FE Internationalin London. What business technology do you need to runa successfulcompany? AmberAnderson: It totally depends on the business. Every business is different, and the technology that you need to run YOUR business successfully depends on a variety of factors including what your business does, your teams capacity, your budgetand your goals. But for the most part, youll find all businesses nowadays should be using email,cloud storage, and a well-designed, easy-to-navigate, mobile-friendly and -functional website. Also, you need a list and email marketing tool, as well as a bookkeeping [and]accounting system. Rebecca Devaney: In addition to the obvious needs such as computers and hardware, there should be software systems in place to address casual project conversations, such as Slack, and project management systems, such as Project, Wrike,Basecampor Zoho Projects. The PM software you choose depends on a few things, including time-tracking and task dependencies. In addition, you will need bookkeeping software, such as Botkeeper or Quickbooks, and then a shared file service such as Dropbox or Google Drive. No document should ever live on a staff members desk. Thomas Smale:Agood portable laptop and smartphone are essential to keeping up on the go. I always carry a portable charger to ensure that I dont have battery issues. Tell me about a business technology youve employed for your business that hasnt been worth the time, money and energy. Smale: We tried to make everyone have a smartphone, tablet, laptopand desktop PC. We found that some people preferred using two or three devices and almost no one used all of them. Individually, each can be incredibly useful, but when you have them all, the benefits are mitigated. If your people work in an office with permanent desks, get them PCs with dual monitors and a smartphone. Thats really all that most will need. Devaney: Several years ago, we built a 16 terabyte, fiber-optic storage system to produce and share videos. It was great, except that there were about three people in the world who could fix the system.It broke all the time, and we couldnt upgrade our computers or add any new software to it. It would have been better to pass hard drives around old school! Anderson: In the beginning stages of my business, we implemented a customerrelationship management (CRM) system. The system was complicated and expensive, and we werent ready. We didnt have the team in place to manage it, nor the processes to make it useful. CRMs and other automated systems are amazing, but only when implemented at the right time and the right place. For the rest of the interview, head over to the AMEX Open Forum.

Getting Out of Debt When Youre Living Paycheck to Paycheck -

Getting Out of Debt When Youre Living Paycheck to Paycheck - There’s a trend in personal finance for people to share exactly what they did to get out of debt â€"  something along the lines of “Here’s How I Got Rid of [Amount] of Debt in Just [Time Period]!” While these types of articles and videos can definitely pass on helpful suggestions for tackling debt, they may actually have an alienating effect on some people. That is, it’s easy to read those articles and feel discouraged because it seems like the people involved often have some advantages, like a salary high above the national average or even a leg-up from family members in the form of a down payment or interest-free loan. What about getting out of debt when you’re living paycheck to paycheck? Many Americans are wondering how to go about eliminating their debt when they’re barely breaking even. Although challenging, it is possible to chip away at debts even when there’s little income left over after paying for essentials. Keep reading to learn more.  Create a Zero-Based Budget The first step in stretching every cent is making sure your budget is airtight. Many experts recommend trying a zero-based budget because it gives every penny of your income a specific purpose. A successful zero-based budget means your income and your expenditures will equal exactly zero at the end of the month. Essentially, zero-based budgeting forces you to categorize all your expenses and closely monitor your spending. In order to free up money to devote toward your debt repayment category, you’ll have to figure out where else in your budget you can cut back. Using an app to track your spending is a good way to hold yourself accountable throughout the month. Budgeting should help you identify areas in which you can reduce spending, even if it’s by just a few dollars per month. Then you can channel these “savings” toward debt repayment. Here are a few small ways you may be able to save more money: Switch to cash instead of credit for a period of time so you can avoid the temptation to put purchases on plastic. Wait at least 24 hours before making a purchase. During that time, think about the pros and cons of going ahead with the transaction. Apply a browser extension like Honey or search for online coupon codes on a site like RetailMeNot before checking out. Evaluate your current subscriptions and cut anything you can live without. It may seem like slow going at first but overhauling your budget and spending will free up extra dollars each month, which can go directly toward your most urgent debts.  Follow a Debt Elimination Strategy When you’re trying to figure out how to get out of debt on a tight budget, never underestimate the value of having a plan. Instead of trying to throw different amounts of money at different debts hoping you’re making a difference, aim to repay your balances in a systematic way. Using the snowball method means you’ll repay your debts smallest to largest â€"  while remembering to make minimum payments on each balance every month, of course. This strategy can give you a little psychological boost because it tends to make repayment feel more manageable and like you’re seeing results quickly. Using the avalanche method means you’ll instead prioritize your debts based on interest rate, eliminating debts from highest percentage to lowest percentage (while making minimums on every account). The advantage of avalanching is you’ll pay less in the long run by getting rid of the steepest interest soonest. Getting out of debt when you’re living paycheck to paycheck requires an effective budget and a plan of attack, and it is absolutely doable.

4 Amazing Book Series With Strong Female Leads

4 Amazing Book Series With Strong Female Leads Traditionally, men have always been the stars of the show. They were always the lead characters in books, and this made it hard for a lot of young girls to relate to some stories. It’s always easier to enjoy a book and understand the main characters when you can relate to them in some way.   Thankfully, times are changing. There are more female leads in books than there ever used to be, and this means there are some incredible series and novels to try out. So, for this article, I want to show you some amazing books with strong female leads as the main character:   The Hunger Games  By Suzanne Collins The Hunger Games is one of the best series out there today. It’s set in a dystopian world where multiple districts have to send off children to fight against one another in the hunger games. It’s a thrilling series of books that has loads of twists and turns. In fact, as this blog post from the University of Southern California shows, two of the books in the series ended up as the best-selling novels of the decade. The main character is Katniss Everdeen, a young girl who enters and wins the hunger games. She is a fantastic female lead as you really get a sense of how strong she is both physically and mentally. Katniss doesn’t depend on the men in her life to get her out of trouble, she’s the hero. It’s an excellent series to fall in love with, and there are film adaptations to watch afterward as well!   Divergent    By Veronica Roth Another book series that’s set in a dystopian world and follows an absolute badass female lead. Divergent is about a society that’s split into different warring factions. Like The Hunger Games, it was one of the bestselling novels when it was originally released. There are also film adaptations of this, so you can get more than your fill after you’ve read the books! The female lead is called Beatrice Prior, and she’s torn between her family and achieving her true potential. It’s a pulsating story that takes you with Beatrice as she goes through tough initiations and various trials. Soon, she discovers a conflict that could rock the society to its very core. So, she takes on the role of the ass-kicking hero who tries to save everyone she loves. Again, it’s a brilliant series if you love action-packed books that show girls can be just as fierce as guys.   Throne of Glass    By Sarah J Maas Fans of the fantasy genre will love this series. Throne of Glass is the first book, and it follows Celaena Sardothien. She’s a young assassin who falls foul of the Crown Prince and enters into a deal with him. She agrees to fight for him in a competition to find out who the best royal assassin is. The book takes us on a journey as we follow Celaena through a whole host of battles. She has to fight against other assassins, defeating loads of warriors along the way. If she wins all of her battles, then she gets granted her freedom! Things take a turn for the worst when people start turning up dead before the competition. She fears for her life as she could be next, so she tries to uncover the mystery before it’s too late. It’s a genuinely intriguing book as most fantasy novels have male characters as the core leads. Throne of Glass proves that women are just as good as men at delivering a thrilling fantasy adventure with all the necessary twists and turns.   The Fault in Our Stars  By John Green Many of you might have read this book already, but I couldn’t leave it out. If we’re talking about books that have strong female leads, then this is one of the best. The other three books on this list are similar in that the female character is a physically strong being. They get into fights, they go up against men, and they come out on top. This is different. Hazel, the main character, is fighting against a terminal illness. She shows a different kind of strength. It’s a heart-wrenchingly brilliant book that plays with your emotions throughout. You really feel like you’re dealing with a strong character at all times, and it’s a wonderful way to show how much strength we have inside us.   If you’re interested in reading books with strong female leads, then check out these four options. The first three are series, so you have plenty of reading to do! If you want to enjoy more books based on the brilliance of women, then check out my article on the best seven books that celebrate the success of women.  

4 Pieces of Advice Smart Executives Ignore

4 Pieces of Advice Smart Executives Ignore You really do not have to do much work to find business advice online.The problem is that most of the business advice applied last year, never applied at all, or represents the idealistic views of someone seeking to influence change.Here’s some advice smart executives know should be ignored. They know this advice never works when you are someone seeking out an executive career.1. “Good Things Come to Those Who Wait.”No, they do not. This advice is mainly ignored because it reeks of choosing to procrastinate out of an overwhelming fear of loss or facing potential obstacles. But executives know there is no better time to do what you know is right than right now. Your executive resume is more effective when you show you can execute strategies or plans.The meaning of this quote often gets lost in translation when someone starts believing, “I need to be more patient.”As an executive, the only way you know you will accomplish something is by doing and discovering all the obstacle s in the process.2. “Always Be the First in the Office and the Last to Leave.”Executives ignore this advice mainly because they understand today’s importance of “working smarter and not harder”.Sure, the struggle to succeed as an executive, or in any position, is very real. But unlike in the past, executives need to be flexible about when and where they work.Most importantly, they must deliver on promises made. Companies care very little about the amount of time you spend in the office. They care more about your executive ability to improve growth while managing all of the responsibilities surrounding that growth.Smart executives know technology has been changing the way they work for the last 20 years. Being confined to a desk and micromanaging every move in the office will not lead to big-picture results.Those big-picture results help shine a light on why an executive should be hired for future jobs.3. “You Have to Take It One Step at a Time.”In today’s current US work environment, this advice ranks up there with waiting for something good to happen in your executive career.There is no reason why, given the availability of information today, that an executive cannot manage several steps at once. If executives wait for one step to be completed before moving onto the next one, they will miss out on opportunities.Doing more than one step at a time requires creativity, managing relationships, and at times, breaking rules or ignoring established traditions.Those executives who job search, interview, or take business courses with a “one step at a time” approach often fall behind in career trends and take longer to get hired.Most importantly, these executives miss valuable opportunities that could have led to career growth and success.4. “Never Let ‘Em See You Sweat.”First things first, advertising slogans should not be seen as executive advice. This saying is from a 1984 ad campaign in the USA for Dry Idea deodorant by Gillette.Needless t o say, this advice is not relevant to the 21st century, globally connected workforce.The executive who has spent time sweating discovers what it means to be human and has plenty of inspirational stories to cement the executive as a leader. An executive who does not mind sweating also earns trust and creates more influence in an era of social media.Executives with these stories of times when they broke a sweat show they were willing to go beyond a job and went on an adventure to discover how to be a leader.

Strategies to use for Implementing Blended Learning in Classrooms or Companies

Strategies to use for Implementing Blended Learning in Classrooms or Companies One of the main advantages of blended learning is that it provides unique traits that bolster student engagement. It also helps promote collaborative work on any project and allows instructions or lessons to be more personalized in their approach so that it meets the needs of each and every student.In its core, blended learning Millions of students have already embraced this model of learning, and its growth pattern is steadily surpassing homeschooling and virtual schools. So, if you are interested in embracing blended learning, make sure to stick around, as we are going to go over its benefits as well as some strategies for its successful implementation.The Benefits of Blended LearningOne of the essential leverages of the blended learning model is that it allows the educators to work past the concept of “one teacher, one textbook” and to include all sorts of different sources in their lecture.This, of course, entails a variety of advantages on sub-levels like:More flexibility in terms of progress, as students will excel at their own pace;Increased number of timely interventions;More efficient forming of study groups;Better access to real-world experiences;Making more tangible learning connections by helping students construct meaning rather than relying on countless drills to memorize lessons;Increase the efficiency of problem-solving lessons;Embracing the 21st-century form of communication and collaboration through video conferencing;Exploring and gravitating towards learning opportunities on higher grade levels, or different departments.These are just some of the more notable benefits that deserve a mention; there are many more of course. Now, let us discuss some of the key strategies to use for implementing blended learning.1) Virtual Class Meetings with Collaborative ActivitiesevalOne of the most advantageous elements of blending learning is without a doubt synchronous virtual meetings. Teachers can give out lectures in a virtual classroom, while their ability to present content is not impaired in any way. On the contrary, every course attendant will have the same display on their screen, unlike the traditional set up where the students in the back row often face trouble hearing as compared to those seated in the front row.Recording these lectures provides yet another layer of convenience, as students can go over the parts they perceive as more challenging, without the need to interrupt the teacher to reiterate. As teachers gain more time during their lectures, the production part of the lesson can incentivize more collaborative work. They can easily engage the entire class to collectively work on problem-solving and for applying the knowledge acquired for different concepts.b) Facilitate Motivation by Providing PurposeevalTechnology can also be a major gambit in terms of motivation and engagement, as long as it is utilized in a correct manner. Teachers can design more authentic lesson projects that display a clear relevance, and the application of the skills, or knowledge being taught. These types of lessons are not limited to the virtual classroom, as they can be easily applied in the conventional classroom as well.The best way to put this plan into motion is via the administration of game-based learning. By implementing more metacognitive activities and fostering a necessity for knowledge through a task presented in an engaging game, teachers can ramp up both motivation and involvement.3) Set GoalsIn addition to providing more meaning to the lesson, you also need to set a progress curve, so that students can be aware of their advancement. The goals need to be measurable and student-centered, to successfully convert course attendants into true agents of learning.Again, these techniques can be used both online and offline. Basically, you should steer clear from teaching methods that involve students as passive recipients, and by setting and reflecting goals, the lecture attendees can develop a personal con nection to learning.4) Tools for Mobile LearningevalA recently published guide by Edutopia, Mobile Devices for Learning supply the readers with information on a variety of apps, and techniques on how to incorporate mobile devices into the learning environment. The idea is to leverage the flexibility of teaching and allowing students to learn even outside the classroom. Teachers can use applications to send relevant learning materials to their students and to help them grasp certain lessons even better.The same applies to corporate training as well. Employees can have access to insightful online content to help them get better at their job.5) Personalized InstructionsevalAs mentioned, online learning allows for more personalized lessons, as no two students learn at the same pace. You can focus on learning extensions for students who have reached the desired level, or clarification of misconception for those lagging behind. These targeted lessons have greater value for the students, a s they address their specific needs or shortcomings. Furthermore, it ensures more steadfast progress of your group overall.CONCLUSIONTo sum up, embracing blended learning model can bring positive results if you select the right LMS software. Once you find the right delivery tools, you can focus on implementing these aforementioned strategies to foster blended learning.

Associating Your Business With Quality

Associating Your Business With Quality Associating your business with quality is always important. But it can be easier said than done. It will not happen by itself. Of course, selling quality products and giving great service are always important. In fact, that is such an obvious aim that it will not be the content of the article. You needn’t hear about how giving a competent service can bring clients, as you know that already. However, you might be interested in learning how to associate your business with luxury, quality, good ideas and a premium nature. That can take a little more finesse to achieve but is more than worth it. It will also take a little more investment to fully embody in your client’s perception, but when this is achieved you will benefit again and again. To associate your business with quality from the ground up, consider the following: Branding Branding plays a large role in how you are perceived. It might be that the best way to take advantage of this is to care for your image completely. Consider what colors might be considered with quality in your industry. If you run a law firm, it’s likely that blacks, greys and browns are going to be considered learned and wise color spectrums. If you work as a wine company, it might be earthy reds, deep maroons and humble greens. Consider the emblem you portray, how the title of your firm sounds and what your slogan emphasizes. For example, a law firm named ‘Jefferson Associates’ will sound much better than ‘Jeffro’s,’ which sounds more like an informal restaurant. Even names that are made up have this connotation. For example, Lexus is a completely made up word for that brand of car, but it sounds like quality, professionalism and a prestigious product. Think about this long and hard, because your decisions will have an effect. Merchandise Merchandise can be a great method of cheap advertising, but it will speak to your branding well. Have you noticed that expensive hotels only use the best towels, the best complimentary shampoos, and other items? This is because the details matter. To use examples from the previous heading, it might be that the stationary with your law firm branding is more in the vein of a fountain pen and ink pot, rather than a cheap biro. It might be that your wine company will buy 6 bottle wine totes with a real quality and thickness to them, maybe even branded personally for your firm. This merchandise is not just a way of getting your brand name out there. The package matters. Make use of it with careful and curated choices regarding all of your branding outputs. Expressed Attitude Your firms expressed attitude will also make a difference. By this, we mean the expression in which you talk to your customers, or drum up sales through your advertising. To use previous examples once more, a law firm will be direct, clear, concise with promotions or contact information. They might try to digest complex information about their practices to an understandable and coherent presentation for clients. A wine distributor might use expressive and sensory language to describe tastes, promotions, and events they are involved in, highlighting the luxury and beautiful indulgence of using them. None of this is a mistake. Your expressed attitude is absolutely essential to consider and can develop your brand with only the use of words. That is powerful in itself. With these simple tips, associating your business with quality will become nothing if not achievable. Good luck!

How to Choose the Best Resume Writing Service

How to Choose the Best Resume Writing ServiceIf you are a job seeker or an employer, you should be well aware of the importance of hiring the best resume writing services. In today's world, companies are using resume writing services to make a better impression of themselves in the eyes of prospective applicants. Unfortunately, it's easy to see some companies out there who rely heavily on their resumes to win a position for which they're not qualified. There are also some companies who try to scam potential candidates by going overboard on the style and the contents of their resumes.So, what's the difference between hiring a resume writing service versus hiring the best resume writer? There are literally hundreds of different types of resume writing services out there. Some are a complete waste of money, while others are really worth the effort.A resume is a professional writing. It needs to be professional and it needs to be interesting. In fact, you can achieve far more with a well -written resume than you could ever achieve with the same information, written in your own style. People do have low expectations in life. After all, most people don't want to sit through a boring interview and then be asked to get through a bunch of tedious information before they get to the meat of the matter.So, the best way to go about hiring a resume writer is to look at the companies that offer resumes through them. Search the internet for the word 'resume writing' and you'll find hundreds of different companies. Unfortunately, not all of these companies offer excellent services, so you'll need to choose carefully.The first thing you'll want to consider is whether the company offers resume writing services. It's extremely important to look at the professionalism of the company you are considering, and you should never settle for anything less than a high quality service. Remember, you'll be paying for the service, so you want to be sure that the company is doing an excellent j ob.Once you've decided to hire a resume writing service, you'll want to make sure that they are reputable and that they are reliable. You can do this by researching the company on the internet. Check the reputation of the company before you even give them a chance.It's important to keep in mind that it takes time to learn how to write a good resume. When you go with the best resume writing services, you can avoid the common pitfalls and mistakes that occur as you get to the middle of your career. The right resume is important. So, once you've decided to hire a resume writing service, you'll want to make sure that they are well trained in resume writing and that they're able to help you with it.Now that you know how to decide on the best resume writing service, you can easily search for them online. Most of the top resume writing services offer free consultations. If you want to start right away, you can make use of the internet to locate these companies online.