Featured Post

William Lloyd Garrison :: essays research papers

William Lloyd Garrison: Uncompromise During Times of Compromise      William Lloyd Garrison (1805-1879) was an American writer ...

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Art Show On the UWG Campus essays

Art Show On the UWG Campus essays The faculty art exhibition at the University of West Georgia campus was diverse and fascinating. The different pieces in this show were done in a variety of styles, such as photography, watercolor, metalwork, and sculpture. There were also many different themes being portrayed. The most common theme was landscape. Though every piece of artwork was creative and interesting in its own respect, a painting by Clint Samples is what I will be discussing. The painting Gallatin River II by Clint Samples was beautifully done in watercolor. The colors used were soft and the dark and light colors blended well together. The paint-brush strokes in smooth, horizontal lines gave the impression of movement. The artist leads the observer through the painting from the upper right-hand corner to the lower left corresponding to the visual movement. The shading on the rocks, the plants, and on the water itself gave the image depth. The theme of nature in this piece as well as the style in which it was done, and the colors and technique used, give this painting a soft and tranquil feel. The most dominant element is line, though the shapes were amorphous. The reason I chose this piece of work was because I was immediately drawn to it. It caught my attention because of how smooth the texture was and how soft and harmonious the colors were. The painting was realistic and captivating. I really enjoyed examining it because, although most of the shapes were large and the colors were layered to give it more dimension, I was still surprised to find smaller, more deliberate details that added an introspective quality to it. It was just as beautiful as if it were a photograph. ...

Friday, November 22, 2019

Homemeade Kinetic Sand Recipe

Homemeade Kinetic Sand Recipe Kinetic sand is sand that sticks to itself, so you can form clumps and mold it with your hands. Its also easy to clean up because it sticks to itself. Kinetic sand is an example of a dilatant or non-Newtonian fluid that increases its viscosity under stress. You may be familiar with another non-Newtonian fluid, oobleck. Oobleck resembles a liquid until you squeeze or punch it, and then it feels solid. When you release the stress, oobleck flows like a liquid. Kinetic sand is similar to oobleck, but it is stiffer. You can mold the sand into shapes, but after a few minutes to hours, they will flow into a lump. You can buy kinetic sand in stores or online, but its a simple and fun science project to make this educational toy yourself. Heres what you do: Kinetic Sand Materials Fine play sandDimethicone [polydimethylsiloxane, CH3[Si(CH3)2O]nSi(CH3)3] Use the finest sand that you can find. Fine craft sand works better than playground sand. You can experiment with colored sand, but be aware the dyes may not work for the project. Kinetic sand that you buy in the store consists of 98% sand and 2% polydimethylsiloxane (a polymer). Polydimethylsiloxane is known more commonly as dimethicone, and it is found in hair anti-frizz gel, diaper rash cream, a variety of cosmetics, and in pure form from a cosmetics supply store. Dimethicone is sold in different viscosities. A good viscosity for this project is dimethicone 500, but you can experiment with other products. How to Make Kinetic Sand Spread dry sand out in a pan and allow it to dry overnight, or place it in a 250 F oven for a couple of hours to drive off any water. If you heat the sand, let it cool before proceeding.Mix 2 grams of dimethicone with 100 grams of sand. If you want to make a bigger batch, use the same ratio. For example, you would use 20 grams of dimethicone with 1000 grams (1 kilogram) of sand.If the sand wont stick together, you can add more dimethicone, a gram at a time, until you get the consistency you want. Homemade kinetic sand is similar to what you would buy, but the commercial product uses super-fine sand, so it may behave a bit differently.Use cookie cutters, a bread knife, or sandbox toys to shape the kinetic sand.  Store your sand in a sealed bag or container when you arent using it. Recipe for Homemade Kinetic Sand Using Cornstarch Cornstarch is the material mixed with water to make oobleck and ooze. If you cant find dimethicone or are looking for a cheaper alternative, you can make homemade kinetic sand that is essentially oobleck with sand. It will not be as easy to mold as dimethicone sand, but its still fun for younger explorers. The advantage over regular play sand is that this recipe will stick together, so you can have an indoor sandbox without tracking as much sand all over your home. Materials Large plastic tub or a small pool6 cups cornstarch6 cups water50-lb bag of play sand ​​Instructions First, make the oobleck by mixing the corn starch and water.Stir in the sand until you get the consistency you want. Its okay to add a bit more of any ingredient to get the perfect sand.If you like, you can also add a squirt of dishwashing detergent or a couple of spoonfuls of tea tree oil to help prevent bacteria or mold from growing on the sand.The sand will dry out over time. When this happens, you can add more water.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

An investigation into the current success factors for small and medium Essay

An investigation into the current success factors for small and medium enterprises in Thailand - Essay Example That is, identifying those characteristics of the enterprise relating to its management, relationships with other entities, contextual variables, etc. that either lead to or contribute in some way to the enterprise being successful. This research thus makes use of the construct of ‘success factor’, which is also mentioned in the hypothesis. The success factors themselves are qualitative because they are not quantifiable. These are possible underlying factors, which could indirectly contribute to the success of the SME based on the information gathered during the literature review. Examples are as a highly knowledgeable manager or a strong link to a supportive larger enterprise so they are not apparent as such. The success however, is measurable, for example, in terms of total sales growth, number of customers, and amount of profits as done by Vichitdhanabadee et al. (2009) or volume of exports. The major research question, which derives directly from the stated purpose o f the study, has been framed as follows: What are the underlying success factors for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Thailand?The major hypothesis that will be tested in the quantitative phase of the study will be: There is a significant degree of positive underlying success factors that are contributing to the success of the SME. We assume that it is the preponderance of underlying success factors, such as those identified in Chapter One that lead to the success of a SME. A number of null hypotheses can be constructed, as in the two examples below, for testing the validity of the major hypothesis based on measurable quantities. There is no causal relationship between the value of capital and business performance. There is no causal relationship between the size of the enterprise in terms of the number of employees and total sales. 3.3 Research design and method This study will combine both quantitative and qualitative methods for the data collection and data analysis. It will thus take a mixed method approach, as il lustrated in Figure 1. These will then be compared and combined to construct a composite model of the study findings. This research design is shown in the figure below. It is to be noted that the quantitative phase will commence first followed by the qualitative phase. This will therefore be an explanatory sequential model. Figure 1: Mixed method (explanatory sequential) research design to be employed During the quantitative phase, data will be collected from the return of questionnaires from a mail-administered survey. During the qualitative phase, data will be collected by conducting a few case studies, which will involve carrying out interviews of Thai SME managers. In addition, some document analyses will also be conducted for gathering relevant information, such as from company profiles, reports and websites. The analysis of the quantitative data will be in the form of descriptive statistics of the data gathered from the survey. Descriptive statist

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

FINAL REPORT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 9000 words

FINAL REPORT - Essay Example The researcher was appointed as an accounting clerk and placed at Almajal security firm where the individual’s fundamental responsibility was to support accounting operations which mainly involved filling up of documents. In addition to that the researcher was also responsible for settlement of financial statements as well as run a simulation package. This reflective report has primarily been segmented into two sections. The first segment involves an exploration of different learning curves attained during the placement program. Alongside that, a thorough analysis of learning outcomes will be done via a self reflective report with the help of theoretical models that emulate the overall mechanism of learning. Thereafter is the second segment where the research topic will be addressed. In this segment the researcher will basically conduct an in-depth research by means of an investigative study over the implications of automating the process of accounting followed within an organization. This analysis will be presented in context of the organization where the researcher was placed. One of the major issues witnessed in contemporary accounting organizations is accounting error, manipulation or fraud. On one hand where accounting regulators such as the Internal Accounting Standards Board is trying their level best to unify accounting principles in order to enhance the transparency and understandability of financial statements, accounting officials are either committing huge errors or indulging in fraudulent activities which in turn is increasing the cost borne by the company. This is where the relevance of an automated accounting process lies, that strives to minimize the probability of error and in turn enhance efficiency of the organization under concern. This in turn would enable the company to increase its profit margin while bringing down the cost. As conclusion, it was stated that incorporating technologically enabled

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Dansk Minox Case Study Essay Example for Free

Dansk Minox Case Study Essay Problem: A/S Dansk Minox is a company based in Copenhagen, which specializes in branded vacuum-packed meat and other food products. Through consumer survey, the company found that there was a large untapped market for a ‘Complete meal’ product which included sliced pork along with a vacuum-sealed bag of red cabbage salad. After long discussions among the marketing and finance departments, the complete meal pack was introduced at a price of $ 8.20 per pack of 1 kg. It sold only 30 tons as against the budgeted sales of 85 tons. The problem facing the company is that whether it has to stop further production of the ‘complete meal’ product or establish a new consumer price of $ 6.85 per pack, in order to boost sales. Considerations and Analysis: In order to decide the course of action we may look at the following facts and considerations. Consumer Price 8.20 6.85 Retailer Price 5.72 4.78 Variable Cost 3.49 3.41 Volume Sales (in kgs) 30000 85000 Advertising Costs 0.3 0.3 Impact on Profit 41,400 90,950 As we can see, impact on profit is higher when 85000 kgs of complete meal is sold at $6.85/kg, rather than selling 30000 kgs at $ 8.20/kg. Now, another point to note is if production expenses are to be revised to $ 1.20/kg, then on a full cost basis, the complete meal would cost. Total unit cost (new) = Total unit cost (old) Production expenses (old) + Production expenses (revised) Total unit cost (new) = 4.64 0.54 + 1.20 = $ 5.30 And Profit per unit would be = Retailer price Total unit cost (new) = 4.78 5.30 = (-0.52) (i.e) there would be a loss of $ 0.52/kg, on a full cost basis, when the ‘complete meal is sold at $ 6.85. Conclusion and Recommendations: The point to be focused here is that though the new product might sell 85Â  tons at a revised price of $ 6.85 per pack, it will incur losses on a full cost basis. Also it is not feasible to lower the production costs anymore because, the resources of A/S Dansk Minox which were specialized for meat processing were now processing Vegetables. This is not their core competency and hence they would incur more costs in performing activities that they do not specialize in. Furthermore, the need for a single package containing sliced pork and red cabbage salad is itself questionable because the same packs are also individually available and these individual packs are of better quality because slice pork is Dansk Minox’s speciality and red cabbage salad is its competitior’s specialty. Hence, it is recommended that Dansk Minox stop further production of ‘complete meal (because red salad is not its core competency) and concentrate on selling its ‘standard packs, which are in fact having a significant boost in their sales or the management can look to collaborate with the best ‘red cabbage salad making company and together give the customers the best quality of ‘complete meal at the best price. The final decision would however be dependent upon managerial discretion and organizational guidelines/objectives.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Changing The American Language :: essays research papers

My brother and i are alike in that we both often have very strange dreams. A couple of months back, he dreamed that he was driving in Mexico with his best friend Jacob, when he got pulled over by the Mexican police. When asked if he was drunk, he replied with, "Of course not, sir. I dislike drunk drivers. I disapprove of drunk drivers. I discringe drunk drivers." Hearing this, the police simply let him go. As he was driving away, however, Jacob turned to him and said, "Dude...discringe?" After reciting this story to me the next morning, he asked, "Amber...is discringe a word?" When i told him that it wasn't, he decided that from then on it would be, and ever since has been using it as part of his everyday vocabulary. After hearing him use this made-up word as if it were real for awhile, I realized that he was right. Discringe, although not a real part of the English vocabulary, ought to be a real word, as should many other expressions used in everyday vernacular. There simply aren't enough words to express the many varying and complex emotions we have. Because of the fact that it would add to the creativity of our language, help students differentiate between proper and improper grammar styles, and let us express ourselves in ways that before were very difficult to achieve, the English language ought to be revised to accommodate the changing needs of our society.From "spanglish" to ebonics, the English language is constantly being manipulated into all sorts of different forms to best suit its purpose. This is part of what makes the American culture so unique. Our language comes from three basic sources: what was brought over from the mother country, England, during settlement a mix of different languages and cultures all brought together into what is called the "melting pot" of American society and lastly, experiences and social reforms brought about by the ever-changing needs of a growing country. The third reason, however, has largely been neglected by professors and bureaucrats alike as a viable source of new vocabulary. Although many terms that are commonly used in everyday speech are perfectly functional as well as able to express their intended purpose, they simply are not acknowledged as part of what is considered to be "proper" grammar. For instance, the term "How are you doing?" has evolved into "How are you," then to "What's up," and finally the phrase commonly being used on the streets today, " Å’Sup?

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

IKEA’s Global Strategy Essay

Swedish company IKEA was the world’s largest furniture retailer since the early 1990s. It sold inexpensive furniture of Scandinavian design. The company operated in 55 countries with a workforce of 76,000 (the company referred to its workforce as its ‘co-workers’). IKEA offered nearly 12,000 items to the home furnishings market worldwide. It sold a wide range of products including furniture, accessories, bathrooms and kitchens at 186 retail stores in 30 countries across Europe, North America, Southeast Asia, Middle East and Australia. IKEA enjoyed high brand equity. | | In 2003, Manhattan US-based Interbrand, a marketing research and consultancy firm, valued the ‘IKEA’ brand at $6.92 billion and ranked IKEA 43rd on its list of the top 100 most valuable global brands, ahead of Nestle, Harley-Davidson, and Apple.3 | Analysts attributed IKEA’s success to its skill in combining good product design and superior quality with an affordable price. IKEA’s low-pricing strategy was aimed at young people. For several decades, IKEA had looked for international markets, which were culturally as close as possible to the Scandinavian market. The basic assumption behind IKEA’s global strategy was ‘one-design-suits-all.’ Anders Dahlvig, the CEO of IKEA, had once said, â€Å"Whether we are in China, Russia, Manhattan, or London, people buy the same things. We don’t adapt to local markets.†| IKEA had, in fact, been quite successful with its ‘one-design-suits-all’ global expansion strategy in many markets. However, industry experts were doubtful as to whether this strategy would translate well into new, culturally diverse and riskier markets. They felt that a higher degree of localization was essential for companies like IKEA to be successful in diverse markets. The Asian markets, together with the Middle East and Australia, accounted for only 4% of IKEA’s total revenues in 2004. The company was keen to increase this share in the future. Upon entry into the far eastern markets, IKEA faced a number of challenges in terms of varied cultural, demographic and market specific needs.| | IKEA opened its first store in China in 1998.  Although the company’s global strategy had worked well in the past in most of the markets it had entered, it quickly learnt that success in the Chinese market required a different strategy in the areas of Marketing and HR. | IKEA also had to alter two of the most important aspects of its time-tested and proven global strategy when it came to China; while elsewhere in the world, IKEA had always located its stores in less expensive areas and sold its furniture on the do-it-yourself (DIY) principle, these elements had to be changed in China. IKEA claimed that it had decentralized most of its functions incl uding HR and stores management in China, but despite this, there was criticism that IKEA was far too bureaucratic with many of its operations being globally controlled and systematized. Commenting on this, Ian Duffy, IKEA’s China retail manager commented, â€Å"We need time to learn and change in the (Chinese) market to become a success.†| IKEA should have many innovations to adapt to the China market. â€Å"At IKEA our vision is to create a better everyday life for the many people. Our business idea supports this vision by offering a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them.†(Our vision and business idea, http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_US/about_ikea/the_ikea_way/our_business_idea/index.html) It seems not achieved in China market yet. Firstly, IKEA should have greater cooperation with local suppliers to get more competitive advantage of cost leadership. Secondly, according to the specialty of China market, IKEA should have some more adjustment to satisfy so many China picky customers. Thirdly, IKEA should intensify propaganda work to let more customers understand and accommodate the IKEA model. As an outcomer, there is a long way to be the winner in this huge and potential market.After a long time to research the China market, IKEA already understand the China market more than before. With accelerating the speed of expand, the success of IKEA in China market is only the problem of time.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Should Girls and Boys Be Given Exactly the Same Type of Education?

Should girls and boys be given exactly the same type of education? In Singapore, girls and boys are entitling the same type of education. Gender equality is ensure by our government. This was done so to make sure there wasn't any discrimination among each gender, and there was equal opportunities given to the citizens, to voice out their discontented. However, this was not implemented throughout the world. To begin with, girls should be entitled the equal right as boys to receive education. It is not a major problem in developed countries, but in less developed country like Saudi Arab, they do not pay much attention to girl’s education.In their views, girls are born to tend the house, and do the laborious chores. Therefore, religious views are the root towards the type of education given to both genders. In addition, whether to apply the same education for both genders also have a further impact on the development of the country. The development of country would determine whet her the same type of education should be given to both genders. For example, in Singapore, being a fast-tempo country and with small population, we need both genders to help to boost the economy.Whereas, slow-tempo country like Vietnam but with large population, there are limited job opportunities. Males are needed to work in the rice field, while the females stay home to do house chores. Therefore, girls and boys should be given the same education depends on the country’s quality of life. Lastly, school fees are not a small sum. Not all family are able to afford to send their children to school. And in the traditional views, females are married off to the males; they do not need much education.Whereas the males have to raise the family, thus education opportunities are given to them. Therefore, expenses are one of the factors that contribute to the entitlement of same type of education. However, when both genders are given exactly the same type of education, they are given t he same opportunities in the social world. Research also has proven that girls are more competence than the boys. Girls also tend to be perfectionist in their field of work and so, whatever work is given to them, and they will end up doing their best to complete it.With more girls in the working society, this will eventually help to boost the competency between companies and also the company profits as well. To sum up, girls and boys educations are given according to the circumstances such as area of development, religion beliefs and expenses. Gender discrimination will not be demolished within a short period of time. Therefore, policy against gender discrimination should be implemented to protect the rights of the ladies even though they do not have education.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Socrates, Plato & Aristotle essays

Socrates, Plato & Aristotle essays Socrates, Plato and Aristotle were famous Greek philosophers who questioned the most basic and widely accepted ideas. Their philosophy was also based on virtue, or moral excellence. Socrates based philosophy on the idea that virtue is knowledge, Plato believed that virtue is a form of understanding and Aristotle believed that virtue is the basis of truths. Socrates believed that to do wrong is to damage one's soul, and that this is the worst thing one can do. Also it is always worse to do wrong than to be wronged, and that one must never return wrong for wrong. Socrates also maintained that virtue is knowledge, called the Socratic paradox, and therefore no one can do wrong in full knowledge. Socrates also insisted on being given a definition that universally covers its subject. This was of the greatest importance for the subsequent development of philosophy because it led to the concept of a universal or a general quality that may be present in many individually existing things. Also important is Socrates' implicit assumption that any person to whom he talks has within him or her, the resources to answer questions correctly. Socrates therefore believes that he can teach merely by asking the right questions. Plato teaches about the power of reason to reveal the intelligibility and order governing the changing world of appearance and to create a harmonious and happy life. He believed that virtue is a form of understanding and that the good life must consequently be grounded in knowledge. The philosopher is pictured as in love with the world as it truly is. His wish to see through the world of flux to the true principles of its being is thus basically an act of love. This love is not simply an attraction to the good but a creative force for the procreation of the good. Plato was impressed by the fact that language has the capacity both to articulate the intelligibility of the world and to belie the world's true being. He constantly a...

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

This Is The Best 30-Minute Content Marketing Brainstorming Process

This Is The Best 30-Minute Content Marketing Brainstorming Process Consistently coming up with strong content marketing ideas  is  challenging. You  have deadlines to hit. There are performance goals to meet.  The drive to be creative on-the-spot adds more pressure that you dont need. What you do need, however, is a reliable process for generating genius ideas fast. What if we told you it was possible to come up with 30 content ideas  in just 30 minutes? Not just any 30 topics, either. We mean topics your audience  will actually want to read about. Most things that sound too good to be true are usually garbage. However, this is the actual (garbage-free) process we use here at . We can confirm from first-hand experience that this process works, and the results speak for themselves.Table Of Contents Why It Is Important To Have A Content Brainstorming Process Write Down As Many Potential Content Ideas  As You Can (10 Minutes) How To Rank Your Content Ideas  On A Three-Point Scale (10 Minutes) Narrow Down Your Best Content  Topics (10 Minutes) How To Apply This Brainstorming Process If You’re Working Solo 4 Important Tips For Making This Content Brainstorming Process Work How To Validate Content Ideas  With Keyword Research What If I Can’t Find Keywords With High Search Volume For My TopicThis Is The Best Way To Generate 30 Incredible Content Ideas  In JUST 30 Minutes In this post, we'll teach you how to: Use a free-writing exercise to generate tons of topics fast. Use a 3-point scoring system to  sort out your top blog topics. Identify only the very best topics you'll actually write about. There isn't a secret involved. There is, however, a smart methodology behind our brainstorming process. It just involves a little bit of quick thinking and intuitive judgement to make the best use  of your limited time. Pro Tip: While these techniques work best with a team, you can use the same process if you're working alone too. Why It Is Important To Have A Brainstorming Process Creative ideas don't always appear out of thin air. Sometimes you'll have the most awesome inspiration when you least expect it. Some of us do our best thinking in the shower, or right before we head to bed at night. However,  bloggers and marketers don't always have the luxury of waiting for inspiration to strike. Your boss likely expects brilliance from you all the time (doubly so when deadlines are approaching). You have no excuse not to deliver, either. Consistent creativity keeps you paid and keeps your content  efforts  moving forward. Recommended  Reading:  20 Ways To Be Creative When You Don't Feel Inspired Establishing a formal brainstorming process is the best way (or at least the most reliable way) to never run out of ideas. It achieves the following three things: It forces you to consciously  consider what your audience wants from you. It helps get the creative gears turning in your head, producing ideas you might not otherwise have thought of. It leverages the power of your team to generate more ideas than one person could alone (although it's still a useful process for those going solo too). Back To Top #Creative ideas don't always appear out of thin air. #inspirationWrite Down As Many Potential Ideas As You Can (10 Minutes) The first step is to write down as many ideas as you can think of. This works best with a whiteboard and markers, Post-It Notes, or anything else you can pin up on a wall later. Give all your team members something to write with. Set a timer for 10 minutes. Instruct everyone to free write as many ideas as they can think of before the timer runs out. It's important that no one looks at each other's writing or talks to anyone (yet). Don't worry whether your ideas are any good right away. The goal is to simply get your thoughts out of your head and out into the world. If in doubt, write it down anyway. You'll have time to sort out what's good and what's not later. Pro Tip: Aim for  quantity over quality at first. Overthinking cramps the creative process. Back To Top How To Rank Your Ideas  On A Three-Point Scale (10 Minutes) Now it's time for some constructive criticism. If you wrote your ideas down on note cards or sticky notes, now is the time to paste them up on a wall. They can be posted anywhere as long as everyone can easily read them. Here's what our board looked like after using this process: Position all your ideas on the left side of the wall or white board. Then, to the right, make three columns labeled 1, 2, and 3. How To Score Each Topic There are two ways you can approach this. Let's walk through each one. Method One: Read Your Ideas Out Loud Have one person on your team read each idea (or read them aloud to yourself). Then, have each team member rank each idea a 1 (weak), 2 (average), or 3 (exceptional). Say each response out loud. Place each idea into its respective column on the board. This approach lends itself well to collaboration. It gives the team an opportunity to discuss why they think an idea is good or bad. However, it also has a tendency to encourage group-think. Members might hear another person say "3" and be compelled to follow suit. This makes it important to stress honesty with each answer. Method Two: Score Ideas Silently Have one person read off each topic. Then, each team member submits their score to the reader via chat message.  You can use essentially any messaging system you'd like. We use Hipchat at , but Slack is another popular option to consider. You could even simply use Facebook Messenger or Google Hangouts. The reader then looks at each score, and places them into a document (you can use Word, Google Docs, Google Keep, Evernote, or anything else similar). Keep track of every idea that scores a unanimous 3. You can keep track of other ideas too if you'd like, but the unquestionable 3's are what you want to remember. Finally, the reader presents the team with a list of 3s. Your team can then discuss  which of those ideas are worth writing about. The advantage to this technique is that it provides more honest feedback. When people can't hear what other people are saying, they tend to respond the way they truly think, without outside influence. However, it also cuts down on collaboration and discussion. This makes this approach faster, but sometimes, added communication can be beneficial for sorting out the best ideas. Pro Tip: You have to be fast when scoring each topic. Use your gut. Give yourself just a few moments and don't dwell on one idea for too long. Which Content  Brainstorming Method Does Use? We've used both Method One and Method Two. Generally, our content marketing team prefers Method Two. It produces slightly fewer ideas overall, because less ideas get scored highly. However, these ideas tend to be stronger. Both approaches  are effective, however, and Method One might be a better choice if  having a higher quantity of ideas is important. Back To Top Narrow Down Your Best Content Ideas  (10 Minutes) You've now generated a ton of ideas in 30 minutes. Now, the final phase of this process is to sharpen  your best concepts. For our team here at , we usually leave a brainstorming session with around 30 to 50 ideas. From there, you'll narrow down the best ones that you'll actually write about. Review your final list of 3's and identify the following for each idea: What problem would this post solve, or what question would it answer? What angle would this post take? What are some quick, hypothetical headlines that might work with this post? The goal is to make sure you have a clear picture of what each post will look like. 4 Key Indicators For Strong  Content Ideas We need to further clarify what  makes a topic a 3 (versus a 1 or a 2). A 1 does not satisfy the following requirements while a 2 might satisfy one or two (but not all four). Strong ideas that should qualify as a 3, however, meet the following standards: Strong ideas are unique.  In this context, we'll define "unique" as something you haven't already written about. If a given topic is something you've covered previously, you'll need to ensure you're taking a different angle, or are exploring a different facet of that topic. Strong ideas  match your audience's interests. If you're just starting out, you might not know what your audience is interested in. However, if you're getting a lot of questions about something, that's probably a good topic to write about. Strong ideas fit within your expertise.  Your ideas should fit within the topical scope of what your brand or company  is about. For example, a great post about how to change your own motor oil  wouldn't be a good fit for a food blog. Strong topics are well aligned with your expertise and with what readers expect from you. Don't let this deter you from thinking outside the box. Just be sure that the topics you choose are: Relevant to your audience. Things you're an expert on (or something you can make yourself an expert on through research and testing). The strongest  ideas are those you can do better than anyone else.  This ties into the previous point about staying within your topical area of expertise. In order to write a blog post that's going to drive organic search traffic and kick up a storm on social media, it needs to be good. The strongest content  ideas  are those you can do better than anyone else.In fact, it needs to be better than good.  It needs to address its given topic with more and better information than at least 90% of what else is out there. If you're in a competitive niche, this might mean using the skyscraper technique to build off what larger competitors have already done. The main takeaway  is to ask whether you can write a better post on a topic than any other post that already exists. If that answer is no, the next question to ask is "Can you can write a post that's different from any other post out there?" That could mean your post introduces a new perspective on a topic. It could also mean your post adds information or provides findings from your own original research. Pro Tip: Make it a point to monitor social media chatter about your industry or  the areas your content covers. Then, when it comes time to plan content, you'll have more ideas in your head to pull from. Back To Top How To Apply  This Content Marketing  Brainstorming  Process  If You're Working Solo Let's say you're working alone. If you're a one-person blogger or marketing department, then how do you make this process work? The short answer is much the same as you would with a team. The only difference is you write and rate your ideas yourself. However, there are a few tips to keep in mind: You'll need to be your own worst critic. Without outside perspective, it might be tempting to say, "All of my ideas are genius!" However, you only want to publish your very best ideas. Make sure you filter accordingly. Read your ideas out loud, even if only to yourself. Like we said earlier, posts that sound good on paper occasionally sound weak out loud. You will need to be your own worst critic. #writing #bloggingBack To Top 4 Important Tips For Making This Brainstorming Process Work The more you run through this process, the more efficient you'll get. You'll also likely find yourself coming up with better ideas over time, too. In  order to get the most from this approach to brainstorming, there are some things you'll need to keep in mind. Don't think, just act. Go with your gut when judging ideas. The ones that get you the most excited right away are usually the ones you know you should write. Focus on quantity first, then edit for quality. Letting yourself free write ideas loosens up your creative muscles. This can help surface ideas you might not have otherwise. Monitor your success. Once you have written a few posts using this process, pay close attention to which posts do best. If a post underperforms, then ask yourself why it didn't do well. Conversely, note what goes right with posts that really take off. This will help you better identify what a "3" looks like for your blog. Don't take it personally if your ideas get shot down. If an idea gets shot down, try not to take it as a commentary on yourself. The idea behind this process is to generate lots of ideas quickly. A lot of those ideas naturally won't make it. Back To Top How To Validate Blog Post Topics With Keyword Research Once you've invested your half-hour into your blog topic brainstorming  process, the next step is to do some keyword research. If you have a team member who is particularly interested in SEO, this is a good additional task for them to take on. The goal here is to find keywords related to your topics that you can use in your blog posts. This may take a little bit of additional time. However, it's worth it to ensure your blog topics drive traffic. Use these three quick keyword research tactics to gauge which of your proposed topics are best: 1. Use the SERPs.com Keywordini tool: 2. Then, copy the keywords from the CSV export: 3. Next, paste those keywords into the Google Adwords Keyword Planner: Need help with the keyword planner? Watch this video: 4. Try using those keywords in searches on Facebook or Twitter. Then, see what discussions are happening around those keywords. This will give you an idea of what kinds of words and language people use when discussing your topic. 5. Manually search those  keywords in Google as well. Review the top 10 results. Next, ask if the posts that currently exist for that keyword accurately match the same idea behind your topic. Pro Tip: It's important to understand the search intent behind keywords. For example, let's say you want to write about carpet cleaning. That could mean home carpet cleaning or commercial carpet cleaning. If it turns out that most people who are looking for that keyword want their home carpets cleaned, but your business only works with commercial clients, then you might need to find a better keyword. Back To Top What If I Can't Find Keywords With High Search Volume For My Topic? You might have an idea that you know your audience would love, but isn't relevant to any keywords with strong search volume. Does this mean you should abandon that idea? Not necessarily. Writing a blog post without backing it up with strong keyword data is a risk. #Writing a blog post without backing it up with strong keyword data is a risk. #blogYou could spend a lot of time creating something that gets a strong initial push on social media and email  but then fails to drive sustained traffic from search engines. However, it's possible that your idea doesn't get searched a lot because it answers a question people don't know they should be asking. In these cases, it's helpful to find a way to align your idea with something people are searching for. Struggling To Find Good Keywords? Here are three tips you can follow when you're struggling to find good keywords (when you know you've got a strong  topic): Ask your social media audience  for their thoughts on a given topic. If you get a lot of responses or stir up some discussion, that's a good indicator there's interest out there. Try searching for keywords around topics related to your suggested topic. This might help you come up with more ideas that are better matched to your audience's interests. Keyword Studio is an excellent paid tool well suited to this purpose. Use Hubspot's Blog Topic  Generator. Just enter three nouns related to your topic: You'll now have five fresh blog topics related to your main idea.  These hypothetical ideas may include keyword variations or other verbs or adjectives, too. Those additional words, combined with nouns related to your topic, may create keyword phrases you  might not have thought of. Try taking some of the variations this tool produces, and look them up using  Google's Keyword Planner (or another keyword tool). It's possible you could come up with some strong keywords after all. Here's how to never run out of #blog #topics againBack To Top Now Try Brainstorming Some Blog Topics! This process provides us with roughly a month's worth of ideas each time we run through it. Depending on how often you publish, you may need to try going through these steps more often. However, one thing that's for certain is you'll never run out of blog topics. Try putting this process to use with your own team. Then, come back and let us know how it went. If you have additional tips or difficulties, we want to know! This Is The Best 30-Minute Content Marketing Brainstorming Process Consistently coming up with strong content marketing ideas  is  challenging. You  have deadlines to hit. There are performance goals to meet.  The drive to be creative on-the-spot adds more pressure that you dont need. What you do need, however, is a reliable process for generating genius ideas fast. What if we told you it was possible to come up with 30 content ideas  in just 30 minutes? Not just any 30 topics, either. We mean topics your audience  will actually want to read about. Most things that sound too good to be true are usually garbage. However, this is the actual (garbage-free) process we use here at . We can confirm from first-hand experience that this process works, and the results speak for themselves.Table Of Contents Why It Is Important To Have A Content Brainstorming Process Write Down As Many Potential Content Ideas  As You Can (10 Minutes) How To Rank Your Content Ideas  On A Three-Point Scale (10 Minutes) Narrow Down Your Best Content  Topics (10 Minutes) How To Apply This Brainstorming Process If You’re Working Solo 4 Important Tips For Making This Content Brainstorming Process Work How To Validate Content Ideas  With Keyword Research What If I Can’t Find Keywords With High Search Volume For My TopicThis Is The Best Way To Generate 30 Incredible Content Ideas  In JUST 30 Minutes In this post, we'll teach you how to: Use a free-writing exercise to generate tons of topics fast. Use a 3-point scoring system to  sort out your top blog topics. Identify only the very best topics you'll actually write about. There isn't a secret involved. There is, however, a smart methodology behind our brainstorming process. It just involves a little bit of quick thinking and intuitive judgement to make the best use  of your limited time. Pro Tip: While these techniques work best with a team, you can use the same process if you're working alone too. Why It Is Important To Have A Brainstorming Process Creative ideas don't always appear out of thin air. Sometimes you'll have the most awesome inspiration when you least expect it. Some of us do our best thinking in the shower, or right before we head to bed at night. However,  bloggers and marketers don't always have the luxury of waiting for inspiration to strike. Your boss likely expects brilliance from you all the time (doubly so when deadlines are approaching). You have no excuse not to deliver, either. Consistent creativity keeps you paid and keeps your content  efforts  moving forward. Recommended  Reading:  20 Ways To Be Creative When You Don't Feel Inspired Establishing a formal brainstorming process is the best way (or at least the most reliable way) to never run out of ideas. It achieves the following three things: It forces you to consciously  consider what your audience wants from you. It helps get the creative gears turning in your head, producing ideas you might not otherwise have thought of. It leverages the power of your team to generate more ideas than one person could alone (although it's still a useful process for those going solo too). Back To Top #Creative ideas don't always appear out of thin air. #inspirationWrite Down As Many Potential Ideas As You Can (10 Minutes) The first step is to write down as many ideas as you can think of. This works best with a whiteboard and markers, Post-It Notes, or anything else you can pin up on a wall later. Give all your team members something to write with. Set a timer for 10 minutes. Instruct everyone to free write as many ideas as they can think of before the timer runs out. It's important that no one looks at each other's writing or talks to anyone (yet). Don't worry whether your ideas are any good right away. The goal is to simply get your thoughts out of your head and out into the world. If in doubt, write it down anyway. You'll have time to sort out what's good and what's not later. Pro Tip: Aim for  quantity over quality at first. Overthinking cramps the creative process. Back To Top How To Rank Your Ideas  On A Three-Point Scale (10 Minutes) Now it's time for some constructive criticism. If you wrote your ideas down on note cards or sticky notes, now is the time to paste them up on a wall. They can be posted anywhere as long as everyone can easily read them. Here's what our board looked like after using this process: Position all your ideas on the left side of the wall or white board. Then, to the right, make three columns labeled 1, 2, and 3. How To Score Each Topic There are two ways you can approach this. Let's walk through each one. Method One: Read Your Ideas Out Loud Have one person on your team read each idea (or read them aloud to yourself). Then, have each team member rank each idea a 1 (weak), 2 (average), or 3 (exceptional). Say each response out loud. Place each idea into its respective column on the board. This approach lends itself well to collaboration. It gives the team an opportunity to discuss why they think an idea is good or bad. However, it also has a tendency to encourage group-think. Members might hear another person say "3" and be compelled to follow suit. This makes it important to stress honesty with each answer. Method Two: Score Ideas Silently Have one person read off each topic. Then, each team member submits their score to the reader via chat message.  You can use essentially any messaging system you'd like. We use Hipchat at , but Slack is another popular option to consider. You could even simply use Facebook Messenger or Google Hangouts. The reader then looks at each score, and places them into a document (you can use Word, Google Docs, Google Keep, Evernote, or anything else similar). Keep track of every idea that scores a unanimous 3. You can keep track of other ideas too if you'd like, but the unquestionable 3's are what you want to remember. Finally, the reader presents the team with a list of 3s. Your team can then discuss  which of those ideas are worth writing about. The advantage to this technique is that it provides more honest feedback. When people can't hear what other people are saying, they tend to respond the way they truly think, without outside influence. However, it also cuts down on collaboration and discussion. This makes this approach faster, but sometimes, added communication can be beneficial for sorting out the best ideas. Pro Tip: You have to be fast when scoring each topic. Use your gut. Give yourself just a few moments and don't dwell on one idea for too long. Which Content  Brainstorming Method Does Use? We've used both Method One and Method Two. Generally, our content marketing team prefers Method Two. It produces slightly fewer ideas overall, because less ideas get scored highly. However, these ideas tend to be stronger. Both approaches  are effective, however, and Method One might be a better choice if  having a higher quantity of ideas is important. Back To Top Narrow Down Your Best Content Ideas  (10 Minutes) You've now generated a ton of ideas in 30 minutes. Now, the final phase of this process is to sharpen  your best concepts. For our team here at , we usually leave a brainstorming session with around 30 to 50 ideas. From there, you'll narrow down the best ones that you'll actually write about. Review your final list of 3's and identify the following for each idea: What problem would this post solve, or what question would it answer? What angle would this post take? What are some quick, hypothetical headlines that might work with this post? The goal is to make sure you have a clear picture of what each post will look like. 4 Key Indicators For Strong  Content Ideas We need to further clarify what  makes a topic a 3 (versus a 1 or a 2). A 1 does not satisfy the following requirements while a 2 might satisfy one or two (but not all four). Strong ideas that should qualify as a 3, however, meet the following standards: Strong ideas are unique.  In this context, we'll define "unique" as something you haven't already written about. If a given topic is something you've covered previously, you'll need to ensure you're taking a different angle, or are exploring a different facet of that topic. Strong ideas  match your audience's interests. If you're just starting out, you might not know what your audience is interested in. However, if you're getting a lot of questions about something, that's probably a good topic to write about. Strong ideas fit within your expertise.  Your ideas should fit within the topical scope of what your brand or company  is about. For example, a great post about how to change your own motor oil  wouldn't be a good fit for a food blog. Strong topics are well aligned with your expertise and with what readers expect from you. Don't let this deter you from thinking outside the box. Just be sure that the topics you choose are: Relevant to your audience. Things you're an expert on (or something you can make yourself an expert on through research and testing). The strongest  ideas are those you can do better than anyone else.  This ties into the previous point about staying within your topical area of expertise. In order to write a blog post that's going to drive organic search traffic and kick up a storm on social media, it needs to be good. The strongest content  ideas  are those you can do better than anyone else.In fact, it needs to be better than good.  It needs to address its given topic with more and better information than at least 90% of what else is out there. If you're in a competitive niche, this might mean using the skyscraper technique to build off what larger competitors have already done. The main takeaway  is to ask whether you can write a better post on a topic than any other post that already exists. If that answer is no, the next question to ask is "Can you can write a post that's different from any other post out there?" That could mean your post introduces a new perspective on a topic. It could also mean your post adds information or provides findings from your own original research. Pro Tip: Make it a point to monitor social media chatter about your industry or  the areas your content covers. Then, when it comes time to plan content, you'll have more ideas in your head to pull from. Back To Top How To Apply  This Content Marketing  Brainstorming  Process  If You're Working Solo Let's say you're working alone. If you're a one-person blogger or marketing department, then how do you make this process work? The short answer is much the same as you would with a team. The only difference is you write and rate your ideas yourself. However, there are a few tips to keep in mind: You'll need to be your own worst critic. Without outside perspective, it might be tempting to say, "All of my ideas are genius!" However, you only want to publish your very best ideas. Make sure you filter accordingly. Read your ideas out loud, even if only to yourself. Like we said earlier, posts that sound good on paper occasionally sound weak out loud. You will need to be your own worst critic. #writing #bloggingBack To Top 4 Important Tips For Making This Brainstorming Process Work The more you run through this process, the more efficient you'll get. You'll also likely find yourself coming up with better ideas over time, too. In  order to get the most from this approach to brainstorming, there are some things you'll need to keep in mind. Don't think, just act. Go with your gut when judging ideas. The ones that get you the most excited right away are usually the ones you know you should write. Focus on quantity first, then edit for quality. Letting yourself free write ideas loosens up your creative muscles. This can help surface ideas you might not have otherwise. Monitor your success. Once you have written a few posts using this process, pay close attention to which posts do best. If a post underperforms, then ask yourself why it didn't do well. Conversely, note what goes right with posts that really take off. This will help you better identify what a "3" looks like for your blog. Don't take it personally if your ideas get shot down. If an idea gets shot down, try not to take it as a commentary on yourself. The idea behind this process is to generate lots of ideas quickly. A lot of those ideas naturally won't make it. Back To Top How To Validate Blog Post Topics With Keyword Research Once you've invested your half-hour into your blog topic brainstorming  process, the next step is to do some keyword research. If you have a team member who is particularly interested in SEO, this is a good additional task for them to take on. The goal here is to find keywords related to your topics that you can use in your blog posts. This may take a little bit of additional time. However, it's worth it to ensure your blog topics drive traffic. Use these three quick keyword research tactics to gauge which of your proposed topics are best: 1. Use the SERPs.com Keywordini tool: 2. Then, copy the keywords from the CSV export: 3. Next, paste those keywords into the Google Adwords Keyword Planner: Need help with the keyword planner? Watch this video: 4. Try using those keywords in searches on Facebook or Twitter. Then, see what discussions are happening around those keywords. This will give you an idea of what kinds of words and language people use when discussing your topic. 5. Manually search those  keywords in Google as well. Review the top 10 results. Next, ask if the posts that currently exist for that keyword accurately match the same idea behind your topic. Pro Tip: It's important to understand the search intent behind keywords. For example, let's say you want to write about carpet cleaning. That could mean home carpet cleaning or commercial carpet cleaning. If it turns out that most people who are looking for that keyword want their home carpets cleaned, but your business only works with commercial clients, then you might need to find a better keyword. Back To Top What If I Can't Find Keywords With High Search Volume For My Topic? You might have an idea that you know your audience would love, but isn't relevant to any keywords with strong search volume. Does this mean you should abandon that idea? Not necessarily. Writing a blog post without backing it up with strong keyword data is a risk. #Writing a blog post without backing it up with strong keyword data is a risk. #blogYou could spend a lot of time creating something that gets a strong initial push on social media and email  but then fails to drive sustained traffic from search engines. However, it's possible that your idea doesn't get searched a lot because it answers a question people don't know they should be asking. In these cases, it's helpful to find a way to align your idea with something people are searching for. Struggling To Find Good Keywords? Here are three tips you can follow when you're struggling to find good keywords (when you know you've got a strong  topic): Ask your social media audience  for their thoughts on a given topic. If you get a lot of responses or stir up some discussion, that's a good indicator there's interest out there. Try searching for keywords around topics related to your suggested topic. This might help you come up with more ideas that are better matched to your audience's interests. Keyword Studio is an excellent paid tool well suited to this purpose. Use Hubspot's Blog Topic  Generator. Just enter three nouns related to your topic: You'll now have five fresh blog topics related to your main idea.  These hypothetical ideas may include keyword variations or other verbs or adjectives, too. Those additional words, combined with nouns related to your topic, may create keyword phrases you  might not have thought of. Try taking some of the variations this tool produces, and look them up using  Google's Keyword Planner (or another keyword tool). It's possible you could come up with some strong keywords after all. Here's how to never run out of #blog #topics againBack To Top Now Try Brainstorming Some Blog Topics! This process provides us with roughly a month's worth of ideas each time we run through it. Depending on how often you publish, you may need to try going through these steps more often. However, one thing that's for certain is you'll never run out of blog topics. Try putting this process to use with your own team. Then, come back and let us know how it went. If you have additional tips or difficulties, we want to know!

Sunday, November 3, 2019

GBST300 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 5

GBST300 - Essay Example World Bank is mainly an institution concerned with development whereas the IMF focuses on maintaining orderly payment systems between countries. IMF has no subsidiaries while World Bank has subsidiaries across the world. The structure of World Bank is also more complex than that of IMF. It means different things to diverse people but the most vital aspect is the economic dimension of globalization, which has led to opening up of economies to global competition, giving room to ideas, goods, capital and people to interact and move freely between countries. Free market, justice to all people, and personal freedom are the main elements of neoliberalism. It relates to Washington consensus in the sense that it encourages economic policies that aimed at reforming and repairing the damaged economies of third world countries. Both neoliberalism and Washington consensus focus on making the world a better place to live in for all people around the world. He thinks so because via education and government accountability, poverty can be eliminated. However, the movie End of Poverty disagrees because corruption and poor policies to eradicate poverty does not exists. Poverty eradication demands sound policies and zero tolerance to corruption, which is deficient in many governments. In sum, government is not committed to eliminating poverty. The four gaps include human trafficking, lack of education, over population and corruption. These gaps make leaders in developing countries fail to take responsibility of their actions. The four traps drain most governments of the energy required to make progress in development because governments of developing nations tend to have their attention diverted to other things that just affect development negatively. As such, the countries remain contained within the poverty cycle. Globalization has destabilized the economies of poor states and uncovered people to