Beauty. Fashion. Food. Lifestyle.

Monday, March 30, 2020

Peter Anton | Artist

Not Sponsored: I love art! I especially love food art! I was surfing the web and found artist (sculptor), Peter Anton. My eyes lit up, because I saw delectable doughnuts, an assortment of candy boxes, chocolate Easter bunnies, ice cream sandwiches, red candy apples and so much more. It was dessert for my eyes. Peter Anton's attention to detail is absolutely amazing. Oh, how I would love to have one of his pieces in my home. You can purchase his art on Artsy. Peter Anton is from Connecticut (wikipedia). He's had a number of amazing exhibits over the years. I've fallen in love with his Foodhist Temple (2015) exhibit. I added the video for you below. He also had a Sugatarium exhibit in 2017, which I will link here. His Instagram page consists of videos of his works and how he makes these beautiful creations. It's so interesting to watch. Such a talented man. I thought I would share my delectable find with you today :) If you're a foodie like me, also take a look at my Patisserie Moschino Couture and Kate Jenkins The Art of Love Bakery post.
All pictures are from the Peter Anton website.

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ThisWorks | Morning Expert Hyaluronic Serum Review

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. I get commission for purchases or clicks made through links in this post.

Not Sponsored: Back in January, I tried ThisWorks Deep Sleep Pillow Spray. I was SO IMPRESSED with it, that I wanted to try more products from this brand. So I decided to try ThisWorks Morning Expert Hyaluronic Serum. ThisWorks describes it as "a plumping 2% Hyaluronic Acid complex with Vitamin C to help hydrate and brighten tired-looking skin". I look for products that plump my skin (vibrancy) and I reviewed a lot of Vitamin C Skincare products last year. This serum contains, "a powerful Superblend of wheat-based Hyaluronic Acid to plump and Vitamin C to help firm, tighten smooth and improve skin appearance". This serum is very fluid. It has a clinical scent. My skin quickly absorbed the serum. Initially, there's a little tack after you apply it, but it goes away within a minute or so. My skin looked BEAUTIFUL after applying it (as you can see from the back of my hand in the picture below). My skin looked plump! It had a natural glow! What was lacking for me, was MOISTURE. Usually in skincare you apply an essence or serum and then a moisturizer. The serum or essence simply makes everything else you add to your face work better. I understand that ... BUT ... for me, after trying Fresh's Black Tea Kombucha Facial Treatment Essence  it is the absolute best (so far) in my book. It PLUMPS. It SMOOTHS. It MOISTURIZES/HYDRATES. It's also an ANTI-POLLUTANT (indoor and outdoor) etc. As far as Vitamin C Skincare, I love Fresh's Vitamin Nectar Glow Juice and Fresh's Vitamin Nectar Glow Water, REN's Radiance Perfection Serum and Glow Daily Vitamin C Gel Cream, and Sunday Riley's CEO Vitamin Brightening Serum and Sunday Riley Vitamin C Rich Hydration Cream (if you need a lot of vitamin c). If you want to try a really good Vitamin A serum, pick up Mad Hippie's Vitamin A Serum. ThisWorks Morning Expert Hyaluronic Serum may be enough for you! But if you need more (super dry skin), try some of my other suggestions.

Sweet-Bittersweet-NotSweet
supersweet(run & buy it) sweet(really good,buy it) bittersweet(ok, issues)not sweet(not good,don't buy this stuff) 
  ThisWorks Morning Expert Hyaluronic Serum is Sweet

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Kiehl's Avocado Nourishing Hydration Mask Review

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. I get commission for purchases or clicks made through links in this post.

Not Sponsored: Hey Everybody! I've been testing Kiehl's Avocado Nourishing Hydration Mask (Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Sephora, Harrods, Kiehl's) for the past couple of months. Kiehl's states this mask will nourish, hydrate, smooth and soften your skin. By the way, Kiehl's offers a number of mask options on their website. I chose this one, because it falls under their HYDRATION category for masks. As a matter of fact, it is the ONLY mask listed under their hydration category. There is also a DRY SKIN category for masks, which includes there Ultra Facial Overnight Hydrating Mask (but it seems to be more of an overnight moisturizer than a mask) and a Calendula & Aloe Soothing Hydration Masque (which is a hydrating and soothing face mask that helps revitalize and moisturize skin). Kiehl's Avocado Nourishing Hydration Mask contains Avocado Fruit Extract (helps seal in hydration and moisturize skin), Avocado Oil (moisturize, nourish and soften skin), Evening Primrose Oil (help maintain skin hydration and elasticity). This mask is avocado green in color. Its fragrance-free. Its easy to scoop out and is pretty thick & creamy. When you apply it to your face, you can apply a thick or thinner layer of this mask. I didn't use as much as the model in the video does. If you use that much, the amount of applications you get out of the jar will significantly decrease. This mask felt very nourishing to my skin as I applied it. I could feel it going into my skin. It also felt very cool (temperature). You leave it on for 15 minutes. It never dried down or cracked. When I rinsed the mask off, my skin looked plump, nourished and vibrant. To the touch, my skin didn't feel AS moisturized as I had expected or thought it would be. But it looked great! I have super dry skin, so that could be a factor. So maybe somebody who isn't super dry to normal (skin type), would benefit more from this mask. It's a very good mask! But I need more! If your skin is really dry like mine, I would encourage you to try REN's Evercalm Ultra Comforting Rescue Mask, The Cottage Greenhouse Orange Blossom & Honey Mask, Farmhouse Fresh Will Dew Probiotic Milk Balancing Facial Mask or Repechage Fusion Chocofina Moisturizing Mask. You can read all of my face mask reviews here. I've reviewed Kiehl's Avocado Eye Cream (Ulta, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, Sephora, Harrods, Neiman Marcus)(which should pair well with this mask) and was super-impressed with it. You can get both the face and eye mask as a duo here. You can read all of my Kiehl's reviews here. Another amazing product by Kiehl's is their Midnight Recovery Concentrate.

Sweet-Bittersweet-NotSweet
supersweet(run & buy it) sweet(really good,buy it) bittersweet(ok, issues)not sweet(not good,don't buy this stuff) 
  Kiehl's Avocado Nourishing Hydration Mask is Sweet



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Improving Business Cash Flow

When you own a business, things can go one of two ways. You can be running a business that is increasing in sales and your top line is growing and growing. The option being that you’re struggling and finding that you’re just about breaking even, if that. The latter can be common for small businesses, especially if there are issues with cash flow. When that happens it can mean that things aren’t running as efficiently as they usually are, and it can lead to problems. If you can’t pay staff, invoices, or other bills on time because of cash flow problems, then it does lead to big financial problems for the business. So looking to improve cash flow is a must. If you want to improve the cash flow of your business, then it is a good idea to start thinking about implementing some of these strategies; which will you try first?


Lease, Don’t Buy
The strategies that you choose to help your cash flow are going to vary business to business. But if you have a business that involves a lot of specialist equipment, then leasing can be a good way to help out with your cash flow, rather than buying. If you are still owing money on something that you have bought outright, then it will be trickier when you’re short on cash. If you’re only leasing, you can always cancel if need be. Leasing knows where you are at each month, as you’ll know what the lease payments will be each time.

Improve Your Inventory
If your business involves selling and having a range of products, then you can improve cash flow by checking exactly what you already have. There could be goods that you have that never sell, and they can be just sat there, taking up a lot of cash. You could sell onto a different business, or offer a discount on those items in particular (a great trick for seasonal items as well). Then you can clear space for more inventory that does sell, but generate some immediate cash.

Look for cheaper alternatives
There are many things that are a must for your business. For example, having web hosting for your website, as well as cloud storage for all of your data and business information. These things are needed, but you could be paying more for them than you really need to be. So instead, it could be a good idea to look for a cheap VPS to use instead of what you are currently using. There are a variety of different alternatives, depending on the areas that you are looking to save money on.

Increase Pricing
If you want to increase your pricing, then it can feel quite daunting. As a result, you can feel like you will lose customers if you start to charge more, and that could actually lead to a reduction in sales. It is a good idea to experiment with your pricing from time to time, though, in order to find the peak price that someone will pay for something. There isn’t a way to know what price people will pay, without taking a chance. 

Market Your Services
Another great thing you can do is market your services. If no one knows about what you have to offer it is highly unlikely that they will be able to make use of the service you provide. Be sure to use digital marketing as well as other traditional means to promote your business. It doesn't matter if you need restaurant, plumbing, construction, or even crypto PR, getting your name out there is vital. Do your research and see how your competitors are making a name for themselves and follow their strategy but add a personal touch for your unique needs.

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Friday, March 27, 2020

Now, More Than Ever, We Need Educators

With the world in the midst of a crisis and schools shut down, we need people who can educate the masses and improve their prospects. Finding such people, however, is no easy task. In ordinary times, the best educators are often in positions of power and authority elsewhere in society, leading the change that we need to prosper.

Today, though, that's all changed. With so many people at home, leaders are finding that they’re at a loose end. Demand is drying up. Businesses are closing.

At the same time, schools around the world have also shut their doors. When they reopen, education won’t be the same. Students will have become accustomed to an entirely new way of working - and that’s an opportunity for entrepreneurs.

Right now, we need to think about ways educators can innovate when educational establishments reopen. Kids will need services that can fast-track them to the next stage of development. The old model isn't sufficient.

So if you’re an educator at heart, what can you do to help in this brave new world? Where can you best apply your skills?

Take a look at some of these options.

Teach Kids About Entrepreneurship


If you’re a naturally entrepreneurial person, your skills are invaluable right now.  Don’t imagine that shutting down the economy is without long-term consequences. The future is grim compared to the recent past. Young people, therefore, will need business acumen to create new wealth in a society ravaged by economic hardship.

Entrepreneurship is the economic equivalent of green shoots sprouting after a forest fire. As companies fail - which they will - new people with new ideas will move in to create opportunities. It is only by starting firms that young people will enable the economy to recover.

Start A Further Education Center

Schools and universities provide students with a strong foundation - especially when it comes to technical skills. But many employers want more than this. It is not enough to have a science qualification - companies need people who know how to apply what they learn in the real world.

You can help here too. If you have experience in a particular role, then it can pay dividends to set up a further education center. You can teach pretty much anything you like, from accounting to financial skills. For some courses, you’ll need to seek accreditation, but once you have that, you can go in pretty much whatever direction you like.

While conducting sessions online is okay, most further education centers benefit from having physical premises and comfortable school chairs that are stackable. Bringing people together to a single location is often more effective than running courses through the internet. Physical proximity seems to make a real and measurable difference to learning outcomes.

Become An Online English Teacher

Sometimes, though, you don’t have the option to set up physical premises. English-as-a-foreign-language teachers, for instance, regularly have to teach people on the other side of the world. Meeting up is not practical.

Currently, there are several platforms available that offer one-on-one tuition for English teachers. You can either hop on one of these (and put up with paying a commission to the agency) or set up your own.

Teach Employee Skills

The current crisis is going to change the structure of the labor market. That means that there is going to be a large number of people who require retraining. The most recent job reports from the US, for instance, suggested that there were more than 3.3 million new unemployment claimants in March alone. Some of those will go back to work when the economy reopens, but many won’t - and they’ll need new skills.

Here again, you can help. Before the crisis, employee training companies were doing well - and they’re likely to continue to thrive as the economy adjusts to the new reality.

Before launching a new training business, be sure to take a look at what your competition is doing. Look for opportunities to specialize in specific industries. Ultimately, you want to become the "guy who knows about X." You want to be able to provide a “masterclass” in a particular discipline. Once you become known for your expertise, people will seek you out.

Design Online Courses


While online courses might sound a little cliched, they’re a great way to reach a lot of people at a low cost. You don’t have to have a school or college - just a few good ideas in your head and something that people want to learn.

Where possible, try to make your course unique.

One promising idea is to create an online course designed to help educators. You could, for instance:
  • Introduce teachers to better pedagogic techniques that enable students to learn faster
  • Update teachers skills in specific subjects so that they don’t rely on outdated textbooks
  • Provide courses for how universities can engender higher levels of engagement among the student population
  • Teach private schools how to manage their overseas student applications better
  • Provide a business-like approach to help educational establishments cut costs without affecting the quality of the service

Become A Test Prep Coach

While the number of people taking tests is likely to fall in the immediate future, exams aren’t going anywhere. You can bet your bottom dollar that they’ll be back next year with a vengeance.

As the pressure on young people to perform in their exams grows, so too will demand. Business as a test prep coach, therefore, might be slow for the first few months, but it will eventually pick up. And when that happens, it could become something you do full-time.

Anyone can become a test prep pro, but it helps to have a few qualifications in the bank first. If you’re the type of person who always did well on tests in the past, then you could be ideally suited. Your goal is to provide the intellectual and psychological tools that people need to do well on their exams. Covering course material is important, but putting people in the right frame of mind is too.
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Wednesday, March 25, 2020

How to Recognize and Treat Arthritis in Your Furry Friend

Prevalent in older dogs, and especially larger breeds, arthritis can seriously affect the life of your pet. It's an unfortunate by-product of growing old, as it is in humans. It can be hard to watch your dog struggling with activities they used to find comfortable and fun.

That said, there are ways to recognize the symptoms early and help treat and slow the development of arthritis in your dog.

How to tell if your dog is developing arthritis:

When you're spending time with your dog, keep an eye out for these behaviors, which may signify they are beginning to develop arthritis.

1.      Avoiding activity
If your dog begins experiencing arthritic pain or discomfort, they will likely try to avoid any strenuous activity. They may not want to go on walks or runs, may stop playing with toys, and will even try to steer clear of going out for the bathroom. You might see them avoiding stairs and struggling to stand up.

2.      Moody and vocal
When you notice an adverse change in your dog's mood, it could indicate they are experiencing joint pain. They might get vocal with you if you try to touch them, or even snap at you. You'll likely hear them making all sorts of noises, including groans and growls.

3.      Changes in the body
If your dog starts putting on some extra weight or losing muscle mass, arthritis could be the culprit. Since they aren't as active, and usually just laying down, it can cause them to begin gaining weight. You may also notice their posture changes and then start to hunch or favor one limb to lean on.

These can all be red flags that your dog may be developing arthritis. That said, never self-diagnose since they could also indicate other problems. Always take your dog to the vet if you're concerned.

How to treat arthritis in your dog:

Once you're aware that your dog is beginning to develop arthritis, here are some ways in which you can manage it and help make their quality of life as pleasant as possible.

1.      CBD
One of the biggest problems associated with arthritis is inflammation of the joints. CBD is an anti-inflammatory that can help to loosen their seized up bones and therefore reduce pain. With reduction of pain, your dog will be more likely to get moving again which can help them avoid putting on extra weight. You can even get CBD-infused dog treats from CeeBeeDoo that they will love.

2.      Hydrotherapy
Swimming is a great way to keep your dog's body moving without the pain and pressure caused on joints from walking. The water is soothing on their muscles and allows them to float and not have to exert much effort. Moving is essential to keep everything lubricated, so hydrotherapy can be extremely beneficial.

3.      Massage
Like with humans, massage is a great way to release tension in your dog's muscles. It also gets the lymphatic system moving, which can help with toxin elimination. It will feel good and help your dog relax. When massaging, make sure to avoid putting pressure directly on the joint and instead gently massage the area around it.

Just because your dog may develop arthritis doesn't mean their quality of life has to reduce. By identifying it and implementing treatments, your dog can still enjoy a happy and healthy existence.
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Monday, March 23, 2020

Ways To Look After Your Hearing Aids

Image by Peter Holmes from Pixabay

If you have hearing aids and you're unsure how to look after them properly then don't worry, you have definitely come to the right place. Whether you've been wearing hearing aids for years or you've only just started to use them, you need to be sure you're caring for them to the best of your ability. Whilst it may be hard at first, there are lots of tips and tricks you can pick up to ensure they stay in good condition. From only wearing them when you need them to storing them in a safe place at night, the more you're doing to care for them the better. With that in mind, here are a number of different ways to look after your hearing aids:

- Make Sure You're Only Wearing Them When You Need To
One of the best things you can do when it comes to looking after your hearing aids is to ensure you’re only wearing them when you need to. Whether that means wearing them all day or wearing them in a loud room, you need to be sure you’re not keeping them switched on at all times. If you’re unsure about when you should be wearing your hearing aids, you need to speak to your doctor. Not only will they be able to give you the best possible advice but they will also be able to offer you various different solutions when it comes to the best times to wear your aids. For a guide to when you should be wearing your hearing aids, you can visit this site here.

- Clean Them Before And After Every Use
Another great way to ensure you’re looking after your hearing aids to the best of your ability is to make sure you are cleaning them before and after every use. Although they may not be dirty, you need to be sure you’re protecting yourself from infection. If needed, you can buy a hearing aid cleaning kit alongside your hearing aids.

If you’re looking to buy a hearing aid cleaning kit, you can visit this site here.

- Keep Them In A Safe Place When You're Not Using Them
If you’re worried about looking after your hearing aids when you’re not using them, you may want to consider keeping them in a safe place. Whether this means keeping them in the container they came in or buying something a little more sturdy, you need to be sure you’re doing your best to protect them as you may not have a guarantee on them. For more information when it comes to guarantees on hearing aids, you can learn more here.

- Switch Them Off To Stop The Batteries From Going Dead
In order to protect the batteries of your hearing aids, you need to be sure you’re switching them off when you’re not using them. Although it can be easy to forget at times, this will ensure they’re not going to go dead.

- Have Regular Check-Ups With Your Doctor
Finally, you may want to consider having regular check-ups with your doctor. They’ll be able to tell you whether or not you need to buy a new pair.

Do you have hearing aids? What can you do to ensure you're looking after them to the best of your ability? Did we miss anything? Let me know your thoughts and ideas in the comments section below.
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Sunday, March 22, 2020

Everything You Need To Run Your Business From Home

Are you interested in running a business from home? There are significant benefits to taking this step. First and foremost, you will see reductions in your costs if you are already running your company from an office. As well as this, you can gain more freedom about how you run your business and ensure that your whole business model is more flexible. But, there are some things that you will need to have in place to ensure a model like this is successful.


Connectivity
It is absolutely vital that you are able to remain connected when you are running your business from home. You need to make sure that you can effectively engage with everyone from your business clients to your employees or outsourcing agents. The question is how do you ensure that this is the case.

One option would be to invest in cloud services. With a cloud server, you will be able to make sure that you can instantly connect with people and share the same information, regardless of how far away they may be. With a cloud server, you could easily connect with an outsourcing solution half a world away. You can learn more from sites like koshsolutions.com.

Of course, you also need to make sure that you have a strong internet connection. At the same time, you need to keep services like this within a set budget.

The Right Environment
You also need to make sure that you have an awesome set up for your home business. The right setup will guarantee that you are able to remain productive and effective. It will ensure that you don’t sit procrastinating for hours or even damage your health. This is why you need to make sure that you are investing in the best ergonomic furniture. Ergonomic furniture will ensure that you are able to reach max productivity without running into issues like RSI. This can slow your business to a crawl and damage your long term potential. Discover more about RSI on medicalnewstoday.com.

Great Security
Of course, you definitely need to think about security when you are running a business from home. A lot of people think that with a home-run business, you won’t have to worry about issues with hacks. It’s understandable but a flawed viewpoint. Unfortunately, while they don’t garner the same media attention smaller businesses are still hit by hacks. They can end up in serious trouble if this does occur and may not be able to recover from the damage caused to the business brand as a whole.

The good news is that the right security standards aren’t as difficult to achieve as most people think. You can easily fit this into a typical small business budget.

We hope this helps you understand everything you need to successfully run a home business. There are huge benefits of going down this path. For instance, you can make sure that you will be able to cut the costs of your business substantially. At the same time, you can ensure that your company is far more flexible and thus able to effectively deal with periods of economic uncertainty.
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Thursday, March 19, 2020

REN Skincare | Non-Drying Acne Treatment Gel Review

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. I get commission for purchases or clicks made through links in this post.


Not Sponsored: I had a couple of breakouts due to the current stressful situation the world is dealing with now. So I purchased REN's Non-Drying Acne Treatment Gel (Nordstrom, Sephora, Dermstore). The reviews on Sephora's website range from raving about the product to it hardly doing anything. I've tried it for several weeks now. This product comes in a small tube. It has a copper color and is very liquidity. It has no offensive scent (just medical) unlike the Sunday Riley acne products I tried (they worked, but the smell LOL). REN states to put a small layer on your skin. There was no irritation or sensitivity to my dry, sensitive and reactive skin. That's good because some acne medication is too strong for my skin type. REN states this products has, "White Willow Bark Naturally-derived Salicylic Acid 0.5%: Aids the body’s natural skin renewal to help reduce spot size and keep skin clear. Maritime Pine and Thyme Complex: Helps soothe skin. Prebiotic Chlorella Extract: Supports a healthy skin microbiome." Two things happened with me while using this product. For two little pimples I had, it brought the acne to the surface (but I still had two little acne bumps in the end). And then one pimple spot I had, dried and flaked off ... but not completely gone. So this acne treatment is really gentle. Those areas have gotten better, but they're not GONE! And I've used this product a couple times a day for THREE WEEKS. I like Sunday Riley but the smell. LOL I'm finding clay does a faster job at getting rid of my acne, like REN's Clay Cleanser (cleanser and spot treatment). But it's too visible to use during the day (if you plan on going somewhere). Only at night. With acne, you want something to work fast and be gone.

Sweet-Bittersweet-NotSweet
supersweet(run & buy it) sweet(really good,buy it) bittersweet(ok, issues)not sweet(not good,don't buy this stuff) 
  REN's Non-Drying-Acne Treatment Gel is Bittersweet


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Indie Lee De-Stress Body Wash Review

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. I get commission for purchases or clicks made through links in this post.

Not Sponsored: I don't think I could've picked a better goal (topic) to talk about for 2020. With all of the stressful things going on this year, we all need ways to de-stress, relax, stay calm and sleep (as much as possible). Have you heard of the brand Indie Lee? I hadn't until I started researching products that promote such things this year. I noticed the brand Indie Lee on Nordstrom's website, while doing a search for relaxing/sleep products. Let me give you a little background. Indie Lee is the name of the actual owner. She was diagnosed with a brain tumor and only given 6 months to live in 2009. The brain tumor was removed and she lived. She believes in clean beauty (ethically sourced, supported by science, Leaping Bunny Certified, and FSG Paper). I purchased the Indie Lee De-Stress Body Wash (Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Dermstore) that promises to help calm and (help you to) unwind. Indie Lee's description states, "Unwind with this gentle coconut derived cleanser with Calendula, Panthenol and hydrolyzed Quinoa, rich in protein and Vitamins A and B. Soothing Patchouli and relaxing Lavender essential oils help to instill a sense of calm, while antioxidant Rosemary and cooling Eucalyptus boost the spirits and promote clarity of thought." I love this body wash! It's fluid and creamy. It's low lather. You really pick up a eucalyptus scent. The scent reminds me when I enrolled at a ritzy gym YEARS AGO! In their showers and steam rooms, was a spray bottle where you could spray the room. I was naive to all of this, but a lady and I were sitting in the same steam room and she spritzed it. It was so good. I could breath better and it was so calming. Well this body wash reminds me of it. But it's not overwhelming. You just feel refreshed after using it. Your bathroom will smell like a spa :) The shelf life of Indie Lee products are 18 months and the company advises that products are used within 6 months of opening.

Sweet-Bittersweet-NotSweet
supersweet(run & buy it) sweet(really good,buy it) bittersweet(ok, issues)not sweet(not good,don't buy this stuff) 
  Indie Lee De-Stress Body Wash is Supersweet

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Calm | Sleep More. Stress Less. Live Better.

Not Sponsored: Have you heard of Calm? They have a website and there's also an app for your phone. They offer a lot of resources that help with stress and ways to calm anxieties. One category they offer is MEDITATION. Under meditation, they offer ways to deal with depression, anxiety, deep and restful sleep, mindfulness, calm, kindness, commuting, kids, walking and so much more. Another category is SLEEP. Under sleep, they offer a number of sleep stories not only for adults but also for children. There are also short stories when you want to take a nap. Calm also offers a MUSIC category. It's an assortment of lullaby's and music to promote quietness, calm, hope, healing and sweet dreams. On CALM's website they also offer MASTERCLASSES that promote sleep, stillness, gratitude, parenting, health, eating, depression, rest, and even social media & screen addiction. CALM offers several free resources, but they're mainly a paid app and website. I've been using them for over a year now and its been really helpful. I've also recommended them to friends. I think it costs $69.99 a year but I think they're currently offering a 40% discount. Try their free resources and take a look around their app/website to see if its for you. It's really helped me a lot and others I know. It pairs well with my goal this year to relax, sleep better and maintain calm.

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Wednesday, March 18, 2020

5 Ways To Ensure Your Business Runs Smoothly


Once your business is all set up and running, you need to make sure that you have everything in place to ensure it continues to run smoothly. If there are any bumps in the road or unexpected illnesses, your business needs to continue to run. Having measures in place and people you trust that can help to manage situations can help your business to become one of the successful ones. Here are a few ways that you can ensure that your business continues to run smoothly:

Build a solid team
Your employees are an essential part of your business, so you need to do all you can to ensure that you have a solid team that you can rely on. The first step is to hire well. Make sure that you are hiring people who have the skills for the job. There are some things that employees can quickly learn, but if a job requires a particular qualification, make sure they have it. It is also a good idea to gauge whether they have integrity and can use their initiative as much as you can from the interview.

Once you have your employees, you need to make sure that you communicate well with them. Listen to what they have to say, and take things on board. Creating an environment where your employees feel comfortable talking to you is the best way to create a positive work environment.

Another way to ensure that you have a solid team is to invest in training that will develop your employees' skills. The more knowledge that they gain, the more they can come back to work and help you to develop and grow your business.

Investing in them also means giving them a competitive rate of pay and doing things to show that you appreciate them. Buy them lunch, or cakes now and then, and say thank you to acknowledge when they have done a good job.

Doing all of this will ensure that you have a solid team that knows they are appreciated, so will be reliable, trustworthy and hardworking when you need them to be.

Develop good relationships with customers
Customers and clients are also an essential part of your business. Without them, you have no business. Make sure that you have great customer service so that people know that when they come to you, they are going to be treated well. Once you have loyal customers, you need to do things to keep them coming back. You could set up a mailing list and send out regular updates about what is going on in your business, and even include an offer every now and then.

These good relationships with your customers and clients may even get you more clients as your business will get positive reviews and word of mouth recommendations.

Hire skilled IT technicians
Most businesses now have to use some kind of technology. Paperwork can be done digitally, and there are a lot of useful software programs that you can use for certain jobs. If your business relies on technology and computers, you need to make sure that you have skilled IT technicians so that any problems can get fixed as soon as possible so you can get back to business as usual. If your business doesn't have the funds to hire a full time IT technician, you can outsource your computer support to a company like charlesit.com. They will be able to give you high-quality computer support when you need it.

Stay well organized
Making sure that you have everything to do with your business properly organised will keep everything running smoothly. It would help if you have all of your finance tracked so that you know what is coming in and going out. You also need to be prepared for tax season so that you don't get caught out. If this is not your expertise, you could hire an accountant to help. Make sure you keep important documents appropriately filed because you never know when you will need them.

Keep learning
Just because you own a business doesn't mean that you know everything. You should be open to learning new things and being flexible to try something new. There will be training programs and conferences that you can attend to learn more, and there might even be others that offer you some good advice. Taking yourself out of your comfort zone and developing your skills can be a great way to breath new life into your business when it needs it.
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Is Your Business Rolling With The Times?

One of the most important things that you need to be aware of at all times in business is whether or not it is moving along with the times effectively. If it is, then that is something that is going to be absolutely essential in ensuring that the business continues to grow and develop in strength. But if you find that you are not quite doing that effectively, then it might prove to be an area that you want to work on as best as you can. In this article, we are going to discuss how to ensure that your business is rolling with the times, so that you can hope for it to have the strongest possible future.


Green Initiatives
What was once a pie-in-the-sky idea is now an absolutely essential part of running any modern business. You need to make sure that your business is doing everything it can to be as green as possible, as far as you can without disrupting your internal processes too greatly. Being green is something that a lot of your customers are going to judge you on, and you need to ensure that you have a lot of green credentials that you can display to potential clients too. There are of course some very easy and simple ways to do this. You might choose to go paperless, or allow for remote working, or set up a cycle to work scheme. You will also want to put thought into how you create your products in the first place in a way which is not wasteful. Do all that, and you are going to look greener.

It is important that at the same time as doing all that, you are making a point of marketing these issues well. That’s the only way that people are going to know that you are doing it, and that will help to keep your business strong in this way too. Even if you are mostly doing these green things because you genuinely care about the planet, you should also try to make use of it in the traditional business sense as far as you can - and it is one of the most central ways to ensure that your business is rolling with the times.


Technological Changes
The nature of technology is that it is constantly evolving, and because it is so closely tied up with the world of business that essentially means that business always needs to change as well. If you want your business to be leading the way here, or to at least not be left behind, then you need to think about how you are going to keep up to date with all of the technological changes that you are no doubt going to find useful. The first thing is to remember that you don’t need to use a new technology just because it’s there - you can simply pick up that which is going to be useful and not worry about the rest. You also need to make sure that you are going to have a good way of integrating any new tech that you do take on board, and there are many ways of doing that if you want to do so.

Something that a lot of businesses do to make that process a little easier is known as digital transformation. As you can see if you visit https://www.intellectsoft.net/blog/what-is-digital-transformation/, this is essentially a process of having a strategy for transforming the kind of tech you use in business and how you use it. It is only really by having such a strategy that you can expect your business to make good use of those changes and to stay ahead in a strong and powerful way, so this is something that you are going to want to think about as best as you can. It should help your business to stay ahead more securely.


Security
That fits nicely into another important concern: security. See https://www.alphr.com/technology/5370/data-protection-how-to-protect-your-business-database for some examples of this. You need to make sure that you are keeping your business secure at all times, which essentially means that it has to be aware of the kinds of security threats that are out there at any one time and what you can do to protect against them. In many ways, this is the most important way in which you have to keep your business moving with the times, as it ensures that it is actually going to be kept in working order. So be sure to look into this.
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