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purplesurveys · 5 years ago

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Name something that you saw within the past week that made you smile: A local celebrity posted the very first photo of her newborn on her Instagram and tbh it was something we’ve all just been lowkey waiting for because that couple is super attractive and stylish and we’ve always wanted to see how the kid would look like. Simply put, the baby is the cutest ever and she’s so pretty and gah she just looks like such an angel. Name something within the past week that made you frown: There’s been a lot of upsetting stuff on the news, but the worst has been when policemen shot a man that they thought was going to pull out a gun. Turned out that said man was 1) pulling out a water bottle and 2) a former soldier suffering from PTSD and the standoff was actually greatly upsetting him. Welcome to the Philippines where the police are still hellbent on using their guns in the middle of a public health crisis. Name somebody who you wish would cut you a break sometimes: My mom always has something to criticize about me. Name somebody you know who deserves a better life than they have: Andrew. I don’t want to share their life story on here but suffice it to say it’s been a lot and it’s been rough, and they deserve a goddamn break. Name something you own that has high sentimental value: Probably the tickets to the first museum Gabie and I went to together, six years ago. Museum dates have long been my dream date and that was one amazing day, so I'm really glad I made the decision to keep it.

Name something that you hope is different by this time next year: Obviously the virus being gone but also the terms that are in place for now because of it, like halting foreign travel or not being able to go to the mall. Name something that you're good at but don't like: Arguing or confrontation. I can come up with good arguments and I pride myself on being able to speak well whether publicly or not; and in fact my parents have always asked me why I never took up debate or if I have any interest in pursuing law – but I actually hate it. I hate the ever-looming possibility of suddenly not knowing how to respond or rebut; plus the very nature of two clashing sides simply stresses me out. Name something that you're bad at but DO like: Singing, at least when I’m alone in my car. Also baking! I find it really fun but I always have to bake with someone who’s more experienced than I am. Name something that you like about the person you argue most with: She’s very organized and can make anything clean and spotless no matter how dirty and stained they’ve gotten. Name something that you strongly believe in: That the world will eventually be a lot kinder to LGBT couples with families. I have to believe in it; I want the world to be gentle to my kids. One day at a time, folks. Name something was funny to you but not to anybody else: Idk man, if it isn’t funny to anyone else it’s probably offensive. Name somebody who has tried to help you and ended up hurting you: My mom’s love languages seem to be criticism and a lot of tough love. Long story short, they are not mine. Name something that you had to learn the hard way: No matter how nice you are to everyone, there’ll always be people who will remain extremely cold and shitty for absolutely no reason and you can’t blame or be upset with them if that’s just the way they are. I learned this in PE class when I forgot to follow a certain instruction and I personally went to the coach to apologize, but she literally turned her back on me and completely ignored me. I wasn’t used to such a treatment so I vented to Angela about it after and told her how unfair I felt it was, but I understood it after she told me that no matter how much Catholic school (and common sense, tbh) taught us to have good manners and greet everyone we see and be nice and polite, none of that shit will always matter in the real world, when we get thrown in the mix with people who now come from different, sometimes rougher backgrounds. Name a date that has a lot of significance to you: March 16. It’s the birthday we made up for Kimi. Name something that you didn't like when you were younger but like now: Chicken curry. I found the flavor too strong when I was a kid, but I had no idea Indian food was gonna end up being my favorite cuisine when I got older lol. Name something that you liked when you were younger but don't like now: I’d say Spongebob? To this day I’ll still only watch the episodes I grew up seeing but I can’t bother with the newer seasons. The way they are drawn is too different and unfamiliar, the humor isn’t the same anymore, and they’ve introduced so many third-party characters it’s hard to keep track. I’ll always give it a lot of credit for being a very important part of my childhood though. Name something in your life that was a blessing in disguise: Deciding to skip out on joining my current org in freshie year. I joined the year after and the batch I turned out to be a part of was the biggest applicant batch for the org in recent memory, and all my closest friends in college have been from that batch, like JM, Laurice, Aya, Jo, Kate, Jum, and Hannah. Name something that you've done that would be considered rebellious: I didn’t submit a single final project for home economics in 6th grade. That year’s home ec was focused on embroidery, sewing, and crocheting and I just didn’t give a shit about all three back then. I still have no clue how I left that class with a mark of 91. Name something that you wish you never found out: If it’s something I wish I never found out it means it greatly upset me, and I don’t wanna go racking my brain for stuff that greatly upset or triggered me. Name something that you dislike about the majority of girls: Not majority anymore but some girls will still have the let’s-pit-these-two-women-against-each-other mindset and it’s just so old now. Name something you like about the majority of guys: I don’t think there’s one. Name something you wish you had enough money to do: Keep traveling, durrrr. Name something that you wish you could say to somebody: I had very high expectations for you as a prof but your response to the virus re: online classes has been disappointing to say the least. To think we all thought you cared for students’ welfare. Name something that you wish somebody would say to you: That they were gonna come over to my place in a bit. Name something that you wish you had the ability to fix: I wish I had enough money to go ahead and fix the stuff that that piece of shit Jeff Bezos and other selfish billionaires are too lazy to fix, like ending world hunger or providing clean water. I’m feeling so strongly about that now after seeing this amazing infograph someone made about just how much money he has. Name something "bad" you've done on purpose to somebody else: I was feeling petty on the first Sunday that my mom made our entire family sit around her phone to watch a livestream of a mass, so before it started I made sure I had Netflix (which HOOOOOGS bandwidth) turned on both my laptop and phone. The stream ended up being shitty and skipped a lot of parts of the mass. Definitely wasn’t the best daughter that day and even I was surprised at whatever came over me for me to do something that mischievous. I never did it again lmao. Name something you could never forgive a person for: If they abused their pet. Name something you're lucky to have: My dog.

#survey #surveys

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optomstudies · 7 years ago

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Hey, so usually I'm very early and prepared for exams but this time for my Christmas exams, I've left EVERYTHING until 5 days before the exams! There's too much to memorise in such a short amount of time! And I have a busy schedule so I can't do revision 24/7! Any tips?

Pssst! The best tip for cramming is actually to not cram!! 🙃 But if you have to, here are some tips that actually work! 💲💲

Throw out all distractions, and palm off as many commitments as possible to others.

You’re a student at the end of the day. That’s your job, so do it properly. Before you are a retail worker, a movie buddy, a chauffeur for your siblings, or a studyblr blog manager, you are a student.

You don’t have a lot of time left, so give your phone to your parents or someone you trust to keep it away from you. Add StayFocusd to Chrome and turn on the nuclear option so that you only use the internet for study purposes. Get your friends/siblings or parents to do chores for you and make it up to them after the exams.

Know what’s likely to be tested.

This is much more important than anything else. There are going to be important concepts that you learn that are not going to be tested. No point studying for something that won’t be asked about. Pro tip: think about the homework exercises that you got and what they tested.

Just as a general rule, the most basic things such as definitions (skim read these), as well as the most complex cases, will not comprise the majority of the test. For complex cases, you can’t just skim read them, but you should get an idea of the skills/processes that you need to solve them.

For example, when learning about different diseases, the point is to make you a practitioner which can deal with the most dangerous (life-threatening, sight-threatening no matter how rare), most common (>1% prevalence) and uncommon (0.1-1%) diseases, which will comprise the majority of the points. The rare conditions (<0.1%) will either be right near the end of the test or be bonus point questions. The other thing is that if even if they do ask about rare conditions, it’s going to be a distinguishing sign, or it is related to a more common condition. And the question they most likely ask is “what further tests would you do to aid diagnosis?” which relates to basic concepts of disease diagnosis.

Also, just keep in mind that there are university exams which literally ask you minutae in the multiple choice questions. For example disease exams have asked things like “What percentage of people with diabetes mellitus have diabetic retinopathy?” and have four really similar options for percentages. You just have to had studied that, and odds are you won’t be able to remember a hundred different stats prior to your exam if you’re cramming (just don’t cram, you literally can’t cram for uni exams).

Divide your time appropriately (not necessarily equally) between understanding the course content and doing practice exercises/ examination style questions.

If you just launch into doing practice questions without having some sort of knowledge, you’ll get stuck on a lot of questions, get the questions wrong, and need to refer back to your textbooks and do a lot of searching and flipping through pages, which wastes your time.

So start off by going through the concepts first so that you know enough not to constantly look back. You should try to allocate as much time as possible actually answering questions though, because there’s no better way to prepare for an exam than to do exam-style questions.

Step-by-step: Count the number of chapters/lectures you need to cover, and divide it equally amongst about 40% of the time that you have left, so that you know how long to spend revising each lecture.

Focus on one exam at a time, and study the hardest concepts which require a lot of reasoning and understanding in the morning.

Studying in the morning allows you to be at your freshest and most switched on. If you’re strapped for time, focus on being able to explain things. Explain it to your parents, siblings, or gudetama plushie. Explaining is an exercise in summarising which tests your ability to understand causative elements and how they relate to different consequences.

Ask questions to yourself whilst studying.

This tests your knowledge, and is a good way for you to check what you know and what you don’t know. When you’re cramming, you likely don’t have someone to help you at such short notice, so you need to be that person for yourself. Plus, it primes you to think like an examiner/exam paper - you’ll start realising what’s likely to be tested, which helps you narrow down what to study, and it helps you for the next part: practice questions.

For example: geometry - to give a simple example, yes, you need to know what an angle bisector is, but are they likely in the exam to ask you to “Write the definition of an angle bisector.”? No. They’re going to get you to actually get your tools and bisect one. 90% of the time, you don’t need to know a definition in maths - it’s only the foundation knowledge so that you can answer actual questions.

For example: medical/health science. Yes, you need to know differentials for diseases, but are they going to ask you to “List the differentials for ___”? No, that’s too simple, they’re obviously going to get you to eliminate a differential by considering the similarities and differences in signs and symptoms. So it’s much better to spend your time learning which conditions have similarities and what the distinguishing signs are e.g. Fuch’s Uveitis has stellate KP that is scattered all around the corneal endothelium - all other forms of uveitis pretty much have the KP scattered in Arlt’s triangle because of the convection currents in the anterior chamber.

Chunk information together.

This is a much more effective way of summarising all the information you need to study. Think of your memory as a mind map or a expandable list or like a set of folders in My Documents. You should try and sort things into topics and sub-topics that you can simply expand by just thinking of the title of that sub-topic.

Step-by-Step: Cover up the information you’ve written under the sub-topics, and then try to recall it all just by looking at the title (acts as a trigger word).

Topic/Chapter/Lecture 1

“Sub-Topic 1″ #Try and recall all the info below by reading this#

#cover up this information#

“Sub-Topic 2″

“Sub-Topic 3″

Not only does this 1) actually test your knowledge through a smaller form of the blank paper method (previously written about here) but it also 2) allows you to chunk and remember massive amounts of information just by seeing the trigger word (the title of the topic).

It helps to make a mental note of how many points were written for each section.

Tie everything together with a mnemonic.

Of course, the issue now is that if you don’t have the trigger word then you won’t remember that chunk of information - so you need to counter that by using a mnemonic to remember the top level of topics and link everything together in your mind.

Using this method is what I’ve always done to remember large chunks of information. That way, when key words turn up in the question, you will be able to remember all the information under that category and hence answer the question flawlessly.

Practice by doing one exercise for each type of question.

Particularly useful for studying for maths/science. You just need to know how to solve one question in the set to know how to solve the rest. Pick the hardest question at the end of the question set because it will involve the most skills to complete.

Study in a different order. Study your concepts in reverse.

Make sure you change things up, because you don’t want your brain to only be able to answer a question if all the topics lead on to the next. The questions in the exam are going to be covering all your topics in all different orders. Jump from Chapter 3 to Chapter 5 to Chapter 2, and do the same for the sub-topics.

Secondly, study concepts in reverse because this is how exams test who really knows their stuff. For example: instead of learning that Disease A has Symptoms 1, 2, and 3, force your brain to think “What Disease has Symptoms 1, 2, and 3?” - because this is exactly the type of question that comes up in exams.

Drink water, take breaks, sleep.

Still needs to be done to maximise your productivity. Not taking breaks will make you less efficient and less effective. You also said that you have other commitments so try to get that stuff done in the short breaks between your study sessions so that you can be productive. Take a 5-10 minute break every hour and get out of your seat and stretch. Sleep is essential for our brains to consolidate information and retain information.

Best of luck!!

MY STUDY TIPS

My study tips directory (web only) for the full list (over 80+ original posts/guides!)

NOVEMBER STUDY TIPS

29/11 How to Be Fluent in Languages Masterpost 3 👂 27/11 How to Be Fluent in Languages Masterpost 2 📰 26/11 Thinking about Stress 1 and 2 23/11 Motivation to Make You Study! 🏃 22/11 How to Be Fluent in Languages Masterpost 1 🙊 20/11 Advice: Art School vs. College 🎨 19/11 Exam Study Tips 💯 15/11 Digital Organisation System 💻 14/11 Library Adventures! 📚 11/11 Budgeting for Students 🏦 10/11 How to Deal with Leeches 🐛 08/11 Extra-Curriculars Tips 🤹 07/11 More Handwriting Tips ✍️ 07/11 APUSH Masterpost 🤠 06/11 Memorising Tips 💭 06/11 How Your ATAR is Calculated Infographic 💯 04/11 Reading a Scientific Journal Article 📜 02/11 Tips: Tackling Assignments while Sick 🤒

UNIVERSITY STUDY TIPS SERIES

Part 0 Choosing a Degree - what’s right for you? popular!!

> Things to Consider Before Switching Degrees!

> Changing Degrees

Part 1 Administration - choosing majors, available services, choosing class times etc.

Part 2 Getting to Class - pros and cons of attending class, when you should choose not to attend, advice about choosing a backpack and other essential equipment.

> Laptop Considerations and Recommendations

Part 3 Studying - differences between high school and uni, basic tips on how to keep on track, class types like lectures, tutorials, etc.

Part 4 Extra-Curriculars - what clubs to join, what to do outside class, and other great things to discover around campus.

Part 5 Exams - everything to know about examiners, how to prepare, what happens during the whole examination process.

Part 6 Social Life - differences between high school and university, some hard learnt lessons, etc.

Part 7 Part Time Work

Part 8 Four Secrets The Uni Tells You

Part 9 Best Study Spots On Campus

Part 10 Saving Money 1 - Food, Transport, Entertainment

Part 10 Saving Money 2 - Textbooks, Tax, Scholarships

Part 11 Adapting to Uni Study - 3 big differences from studying in high school popular!!

Part 12 How to Study From Textbooks in Uni

Dealing with Lazy Group Members - five options for what to do and how to do it! popular!!

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES

US Amazon sellers were told via email that they will have to pay taxes on some Amazon fees, as Etsy has been doing with sellers in the EU and in Quebec.

The Instagram look may be dropping out of favour; apparently, reality is in. “Instagram museums and walls were built to allow normal people to take influencer-quality photographs—but they worked so well, those types of photos became common enough that they don’t resonate like they used to. “#unfiltered

In case you missed it, my review of Etsy’s Spring & Summer Trends Guide, including all of the keyword data (which you do need to check out, as they reveal some interesting search info).

ETSY NEWS

Etsy published a new census/survey of sellers in its 6 core countries, and also did a summary (if you don’t want to read the whole thing). “More than nine out of ten Etsy sellers (91%) are the sole owner of their businesses.”... “The majority (82%) of Etsy sellers would like to grow their business, but more than three out of five would not want to grow so big that they would have to hire more help.”

The bugs & errors with financial statements and records continue; Etsy botched the VAT statements yet again, even overwriting them all the way back to 2016. No word on whether any sellers have notified EU authorities on this yet.

New seller handbook article covers advertising; not much new or gripping, but it does discuss general ad approaches, not just Etsy’s.

There is also a new free shipping tool, in case you didn’t realize that Etsy wants more sellers to offer free shipping more often. “When we talk to shoppers during research, many say things like “I want to feel like I’m getting a deal!” and “I would love to see free shipping across the board, even if it meant increased prices.” Offering free shipping can be a great way to give customers like these the shopping experience they are looking for.”

CEO Josh Silverman participated in The Wall Street Journal’s “In the Elevator” interview series [video link]. Every 90 seconds, an engagement ring or wedding ring sells on Etsy. He also talks about free & fast shipping not always being a reasonable expectation when shopping on Etsy, unlike Amazon.

Speaking of free shipping, a limited number of US customers will be getting it from Etsy, with Etsy reimbursing sellers for the costs. Non-US sellers and buyers get nothing.

Etsy’s 2019 1st quarter results will be available May 8.

SEO: GOOGLE & OTHER SEARCH ENGINES

Rand Fishkin released Part 5 of his Learn SEO in 1 Hour series: technical SEO [video & written transcript]. This is the one most of you can skip or just skim over, as it does talk a lot about coding.Some tips are important to everyone, however, like page linking/site structure (for websites), and having https set up.

Part 6 covers link building, in 10 minutes. Remember, if you are going to put effort into getting links, do it for your website & not your Etsy shop or other marketplace page. If you are creating traffic, make sure you own it.

Don’t forget looking beyond Google for your search engine traffic; this podcast [with written transcript] breaks down an approach to several of the biggest ones beyond Google. Spoiler: they only recommend worrying about the biggest, Bing, if you have around 1000 unique search visitors to your website per day.

How to get keyword ideas from the Google search results: there’s a lot more available now, beyond the search bar suggestions.

Google is asking local businesses if they would pay for their Google My Business listings. This possibility raises concerns about the impact on organic rankings.

More SEO tips for Amazon, including discussion of the various factors involved.

If pages on your website aren’t indexed by Google, there are some steps you can take to fix them. (For websites only, not Etsy shops)

Advanced/semi-advanced content: Great tips on using bookmarklets in Chrome to get SEO things done quickly. (A lot of these involve tools that work best in the paid version, so I suspect most of us will not have much use for this, yet.)

Possible Google algorithm update last week. (I am seeing changes)

CONTENT MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA (includes blogging & emails)

Looking for new hashtags for your social media accounts? Try: https://www.tagshitter.com (apologies for the name; that’s what they call it. It’s good, too! Just like its regular keyword research partner, http://keywordshitter.com/ )

Email subject lines [infographic] are crucial to top interaction with your newsletter etc. Includes Dos & Don’ts, plus the shockingly low open rates in most industries.

Selling through social media directly is a great way to avoid people losing interest as they keep clicking. Note that this seems to work best with items under $50, though, which they suggest solutions to in the next part of the article.

Despite all the scandals and negative media coverage, US social media use hasn’t really changed in the past few years. “A 2018 Center survey found that some Facebook users had recently taken steps to moderate their use of the site – such as deleting the Facebook app from their phone or taking a break from the platform for some time. But despite these findings and amid some high profile controversies, Facebook users as a whole are just as active on the site today as they were a year ago.”

Facebook scandal watch: FB’s “stock price jumped after it said it expects to incur a fine of up to $5 billion from the Federal Trade Commission. And that’s all you really need to know about whether the historically large penalty matters to the company.”

Also:

they admitted to asking for your email password then importing all of your contacts. “...Facebook disclosed to Business Insider that 1.5 million people's contacts were collected this way and fed into Facebook's systems, where they were used to improve Facebook's ad targeting, build Facebook's web of social connections, and recommend friends to add.”

The Canadian Privacy Commissioner is taking FB to court over breaches of Canadian privacy law.

But hey, it’s all fine, because they beat earnings expectations in the first quarter.

70% of YouTube videos watched are recommended by its algorithm. “ The recommendations are fueled by the artificial-intelligence arm, Google Brain, of YouTube’s parent company. The machine-learning models help identify videos that aren’t exactly what you just watched, but similar enough that you might like them.“

Does directing people to the link in your Instagram bio really work? Testing says that it probably doesn’t work for most accounts, and more importantly, that Instagram may be limiting the algorithm visibility of posts that direct visitors to the link in your bio.

Twitter has now limited the number of accounts you can follow in 1 day, to 400 down from 1000; this is intended to cut back on spammers.

US Twitter users are better educated & better off than the average American.(Good article for target market considerations)

ONLINE ADVERTISING (SEARCH ENGINES, SOCIAL MEDIA, & OTHERS)

Amazon is reducing/removing the ads for its own products, possibly due to increased complaints of unfair competition. “Amazon is now the third-largest digital advertising platform, behind Google and Facebook”, and could grow 50% this year alone, based on projections.

Facebook retargeting tips. And everything you need to know about the Facebook pixel for tracking your ad performance.

STATS, DATA, OTHER TRACKING

Some Google Analytics tips for websites - almost beginner level!

The Google Search Console delays are nearly all fixed.

Stats programs all give you different numbers, and that isn’t likely to improve. (This piece is semi-advanced; don’t bother with it if you aren’t a stats geek.)

ECOMMERCE NEWS, IDEAS, TRENDS

eBay’s Spring Marketplace Updates include several back end changes and a fee increase for sellers who run afoul of eBay’s seller performance standards.

Amazon sellers can buy so-called “black hat” services to beat its algorithms. These include tips from Amazon employees who are making money by reporting on Amazon’s inner workings. Amazon “also said it takes action against sellers who pay for internal information; penalties include terminating their selling accounts, deleting reviews, withholding funds, and taking legal action.” No doubt the company already has closed some of the loopholes discussed in the article.

Amazon also fires warehouse workers by algorithm, based on productivity.

GoDaddy launches an ecommerce sharing tool that lets you list across multiple websites including your standalone. Current marketplace options include Etsy, Amazon, eBay, Jet & Walmart. They bought Sellbrite as part of this move. Quite a few different entities are releasing this type of service, so shop around if it is something you are interested in.

eBay released their 1st quarter 2019 results on April 23. Total sales were down 4% from 2018 (they were close to even when currency fluctuations were accounted for), but eBay’s own income from seller fees was up. “eBay reduced their marketing by a significant amount where their cash was being used to effectively subsidise the sales of high value items. Put simply, eBay have been buying sales and now they’ve stopped and this has seen a reduction in high ticket items being sold in comparison to sales of lower value items.” Easter being later this year may have slowed ecommerce growth overall in the quarter.

...but Amazon reported record revenue, up 16.9% over 2018. Despite that, analysts note that growth is slowing, & that Amazon’s own projections for the second quarter are lower than many predicted. “Amazon’s CFO Brian Olsavsky said during the call with analysts that part of the lower guidance is due to an $800 million investment in making free one-day delivery shipping the default for Prime members.” - if you thought buyers wanted stuff yesterday already, wait til this becomes the norm ... I mean, Walmart & Target stocks fell after the announcement. Walmart is already hinting at offering the same.

You can return your Amazon purchases at Kohl’s in the US, starting everywhere in July. Ease of returns is going to be a bigger battleground in the next few years, as retailers continue to increase free & speedy shipping options.

BUSINESS & CONSUMER STUDIES, STATS & REPORTS; SOCIOLOGY & PSYCHOLOGY, CUSTOMER SERVICE

Generation Z will be making 40% of US retail purchases by next year; they are going to change a lot about selling. “ Fair trade products, ethical business practices, and a strong mission statement have never been more essential. Vend reports, “Research has shown that this particular generation cares about various environmental issues (76% are concerned about humanity’s impact on the planet) as well as social causes such as racial, gender, and income inequality.” [Gen Z come after millennials, and are currently more numerous than millennials or boomers.]

Millennials & Gen Z are big gift card buyers in the US - over 1/3 buy a card every 3 months.

Brick & mortar stores & malls are using your phone location data (location analytics) to make marketing and product decisions. “Every company interviewed for this story said it chooses not to use information that could identify individuals. But for the most part they’re on an honor system because rules governing data remain relatively lax.” This surprised me: “To glean details, including an individual’s age, income, ethnicity, education level, number of children and more, firms connect the phone’s evening location with U.S. Census data”

MISCELLANEOUS

US copyright law: the USSC rules that your copyright registration must be finished/approved before you can sue an infringer in federal court.

If you hate Gmail’s current layout, you will love this Chrome extension.

And if you use Google Sheets fairly often, you will likely learn something useful from these tips.

Google’s parent company, Alphabet, missed industry revenue expectations in the first quarter of 2019.

#seo #search engine optimization #etsynews #analytics #stats #social media #contentmarketing #ecommerce #smallbiz #cindylouwho2newsupdates

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colemanaarohan1996 · 4 years ago

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is jetty insurance legit

BEST ANSWER: Try this site where you can compare quotes from different companies :cheapinsurecar.xyz

is jetty insurance legit

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Best Renters Insurance Near You

Best Renters Insurance Near You (RENTERS) Insurance Company may offer the cheapest rates in your area. That’s because renters often have special circumstances on their own—like opening a home, moving into a new home, or buying a second home. They may not realize they just paid for more insurance, even if the older one is no longer in use. The more you pay for rental car insurance, the higher your premium probably will be. What happens if the rental company finds out you’re not buying it? It’s a possibility, but you need to make sure you’re not paying a total of $1,200 for a rental. If you’re able to find the most competitive rate for your particular situation, you’ll be happy to pay as much as $2,200 for a rental. You may also want to keep reading to learn more about how you might be able to lower the price of your rental car insurance. Renters insurance can help protect.

Best Renters Insurance Companies for 2020

Best Renters Insurance Companies for 2020 Company Company Name: National General Company Website: www.nationalgeneral.com Phone Number: 1 (800) 711-8683 Website: www.nally-general.com Website: www.nally-general.com/products/insurance/life-insurance-with-insurers Website: www.namans-group-news-article.com/2013/09/18/life-insurance-with-insurers Website: www.nasa-group-news-article.com/2012/04/09/life-insurance-with-insurers Website: www.nasa-group-news-article.com/2011/03/09/life-insurance-with-insurers Website: www.nasa-group-news-article.com/2011/03/09/life-insurance-with-insurers Website: www.n.

How Does Renters Insurance Work?

How Does Renters Insurance Work? Renters insurance is coverage to protect against a landlord’s obligations to pay a rental agency’s liability insurance. This coverage protects your personal belongings (closet) and liability from losses due to illness or a collision with another insured person, or by accidents they caused. When purchasing coverage, most typical policies have a deductible that is the amount deducted from your credit card’s insurance. The higher the deductable, the lower your premium will be. This deductible would be the amount that you’re responsible for before your insurance company can pay for anything out of pocket. The higher your deduction would be, the lower your premiums. When you file a credit card’s insurance claim, an adjuster will be needed to come to inspect your belongings, determine the cost of repairs, and determine the cost of the payout. A car might contain a few thousand dollars in jewelry, or a set of shiny silverware with a high degree of commercial value. And if you�.

Your Renters Insurance Questions Answered

Your Renters Insurance Questions Answered By JRC, It is a requirement. To get renters insurance in your state of residence, you need to know exactly where exactly you are on the front of your home in the event you have to rent a house. If a landlord changes the ownership over to a single tenant, most landlords will have multiple insurance policies. It is in your best interest. Your landlord will likely change the rental insurance, so you need to look into the policies carefully. When your landlord is the one who sells their policies to their tenant, you are required to consider the insurance and what are available. You also need to consider what the insurance might cost you, and if the other parties are insured, whether the tenant is covered or not. A small liability alone can cost $500, with the greater the coverage of the roommate, the higher the value of the property you own. You may want to look into the renters Insurance companies for coverage, but make.

How to Get Quotes and Apply For Renters Insurance

How to Get Quotes and Apply For Renters Insurance We all think about the idea of a renters insurance plan. When someone buys a policy through , most people don’t realize they’re insurance agents. When you’re shopping for renters insurance or renter insurance, you can get a sense of how much coverage you may need. There are a few simple things about insurance that make or break for a renters insurance policy. Some of these factors are not as important or as significant as others. There are certain things about the renter’s insurance policy that are not considered by renters insurance policy models: If you want to avoid the hassle that comes with owning a home or expensive expensive appliances, you should look into a or . Renters insurance provides protection for all your belongings and provides liability coverage that covers injuries and property damage to others. Most policyholders do not have that much of a problem with the renter’s and their personal property. It should also cover liability to anyone who is hurt during the.

Quick Summary: Best Renters Insurance Companies

Quick Summary: Best Renters Insurance Companies Insurance Type Auto Home Life Medicare Health Is it insurance that gives me this Well, if it covers only I like . I like how they did a few It’s a 10 or 15 It’s 21 So there I was I can drive into this in front you can make sure I was injured so I can what would that cause you to fault. I don’t know I get to look into the is it a good deal? I’m the new insurance company and I had a problem with the customer I’ve done some insurance and they said that they were in charge of what you have the company has a few reasons why you can’t even buy it from them? I’m not sure when.

Why Do I Need Renters Insurance?

Why Do I Need Renters Insurance? If you already own a home, renters insurance costs are usually determined by the size of your home and your home’s replacement cost. To determine costs, homeowners should check their own coverage limits and whether they have homeowners insurance. Homeowners and renters insurance, however, can differ by the type of coverage they have and whether they cover personal property or liability to other people. This might indicate fault for an accident. The home and personal belongings coverage type of coverage may be important in a disaster situation. For instance, if someone gets into an accident without protecting their property, and they get sued, their insurance will pay them to reimburse them. Homeowners insurance in particular is often worth the cost due to its coverage for personal possessions, so the most cost-effective option is to go with a smaller policy. You may be asked to prove you need additional coverage, such as the purchase equivalent of liability coverage and medical payments coverage. Some small renters policies may include the ability to reduce the cost of renters insurance.

Renters Insurance Companies by Market Share

Renters Insurance Companies by Market Share of Consumer Productivity, January 2019) Allstate Insurance Company, Inc is a wholly owned subsidiary of Allstate Insurance Company. Allstate offers various types of insurance products. Allstate offers many types of homeowners insurance, including dwelling fire insurance, fire insurance, and even insurance for custom built homes, jewelry and antiques, and personal property. Allstate offers a variety of homeowners insurance policies, including homeowners fire insurance, dwelling fire insurance, fire insurance, and even insurance for custom built homes, jewelry and antiques, and personal property. If you own a home that uses your garage, a fire protection system might be your best choice. Compare loading Fetching your data... .

What You Need to Know About Renters Insurance

What You Need to Know About Renters Insurance Coverage In South Carolina In South Carolina, renters insurance is mandatory. You must pay the insurance company and any employees who work for the company—known as “” in South Carolina—unless you get a waiver. Renters insurance covers personal property, loss of use, and liability for damage or theft to your car after it’s totaled or stolen. You need to be able to walk into any restaurant and ask for plates—so you don’t have to worry about selling your car. Most restaurants in South Carolina offer “free” plates instead of carrying a large plate of expensive food. The plate you’re presented at the counter doesn’t matter to the platewasher. What you need to know about renters insurance in South Carolina. Are you looking for the best renters insurance in Charlotte, NC? Before you start shopping for renters insurance, it’s important to understand the basics of renters insurance in North Carolina, where you live.

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scotthogsett · 5 years ago

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Main page

About Section

I’m Scott, a student at the Belfast School of Art studying Interaction Design, developing my design skills. I am interested in UI and UX design which I am doing for my current projects, I also enjoy creating websites using HTML and CSS and I am excited to learn more about these toools.

I hope to achieve my degree and persue a career designing UI/UX, but I am open to learning about other paths in the design industry. I want to cover different plaforms and continue to learn more about the design industry.

Contact Section

Get in touch

Let's work together and create something to cool and exciting.

[email protected].

07395 401183.

Case study

Branding case study

Monogram

This is the final version of my monogram design, I would’ve liked to have my monogram done and completed earlier in the design process but I reminded myself that the quality of the design is the most important thing and I wanted to show that I could deal with setbacks in the design

The monogram design has a vertical line as the connecting line of the H, but it also completes the right verticle line of the 'S' I experimented with the thickness of the lines but I ended up going with something that was both measured and consistent and I like the way that it ended up.

Visual Marque

My visualmarque was created as a cartoon character of my face and my characteristics, I wanted something to stand out on the character so I choose my glasses I took a photo of my actual glasses and brought them into illustrator to then draw around them and I used the pattern I did previously and did that in the glass of the frames, I did this because I felt that it would show my characteristics and reinforce my brand.

I also had other designs of the glasses where there are different illustrations in place of pattern, but I really like the design I have got.

Brand Guidlines

These are my brand guidelines, they are a visual representation of how and how not to use my brand and when and when not to use it. It also demonstrates the reasoning behind the placement of certain elements in certain situations.

I also wanted to get across the tone and feel of the way I want my brand to be communicated to employers and also to potential clients.

Infographic case study

Research

For the research I will take the infographics from my tumblr that I analysed and sum up everything that I seen. I think it woulf be best to have two or three.

Illustrations

I originally was going to use the original icon characters but then the sections were too similar and needed to be separated, one technique I used colour to differentiate each section from the other, but I also wanted to change the icon character to not only to make each section more unique but also to change them so that they would better suit the continent that they were representing.

I am happy with the results because they all have a consistent style to them which I was going for and I am also fit together in threes together because I was able to do different combinations which worked really well.

I also illustrated the earth, I designed it and gave it a rounded effect to make it look realistic, I also used a drop shadow to make it more 3D looking. I wanted it to be the only thing that came off the page with the drop shadow effect.

For this part of the infographic I wanted to have a lot of icons/illustrations to indicate what the statistics were going to show, it also makes the infographic stand out and gives it a bit of character as well. I also considered the colours I used on this infographic and made sure they all complimented each other.

I also added an illustration of the continent that this part of the infographic is on, I made it green just so that it made sense and it didn’t fade into background I also think that it balances the infographics because of the amount of detail of the illustrations on one side.

Changes I made

In the critique Kyle made a big point of the boxes of information were to small and that there was to much information in them for anything to stand out, when he made this comment it completely made sense and I think that the newer version look much better and far more engaging than before the critique. getting the numbers in there and making them big to catch the eye of the reader so that they could then see it and investigate further and find out what the number is and what the story is behind it.

Although not part of the critique I wanted to fix this part of the infographic because after review it didn’t make much sense so I moved the numbers so that the numbers were in between the lines so that they are parallel with the bar showing the data. With this change it actually makes sense. It also saves space and creates a bit more white space on that side.

Stadium tour app case study

research

as before I will add my research when I have the pictures to accompany for context.

final Design

I really like the way it turned out becuase this was a project that I was really interested in because I am a football fan and I like the idea of touring and travelling around the different countries around europe.

The illustrations I did was something I was really happy with because they were detailed but they didn't look suashed and they didn't lose quality when put on a phone screen which I was really happy with.

Prototype video.

This is a short video to show the user flow, it shows what it will be like for the user to go through the app, it also shows what the animation is when you tap a button and what it looks like when the pages change from one to the other.

I created this animation on Adobe Afterreffects and I like the way it turned out because I think that it shows the user journey well and it accurately shows the animation when the user will press buttons.

#IXD301

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cecillewhite · 5 years ago

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Podcast 27: What Makes Microlearning Work? – With Karl Kapp

WELCOME TO EPISODE 27 OF THE TALENTED LEARNING SHOW

To learn more about this podcast series or to see the full collection of episodes visit The Talented Learning Show main page.

EPISODE 27 – TOPIC SUMMARY AND GUEST:

Microlearning. I hear about it on a daily basis. But when I ask clients to define it their own words, the answers are all over the board.

It’s time for clarity and consensus. That’s why I’m glad that Dr. Karl Kapp and Dr. Robyn Defelice are tackling this topic in their new book, “Microlearning: Short and Sweet.”

Today, I’m fortunate to talk with Karl as part of a virtual book tour that he and Robyn are conducting. If you’re a regular listener, you’ll recall that Karl joined us nearly two years ago to discuss gamification in business applications. That episode is now the most popular interview in our show’s history. And I bet this one will be just as well-received.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

Microlearning is a deceptively simple concept. Perhaps that’s why it inspires so many myths and misconceptions.

Effective microlearning is not just bite-sized content. Successful applications approach microlearning as a process.

Microlearning and gamification are related in several ways. It’s useful to consider how they can work together to improve learning outcomes.

Q&A HIGHLIGHTS:

Welcome back, Karl! It’s hard to believe that nearly 2 years have gone by since you were on our show for the first time.

Thanks, John. It’s good to be back.

Why did you decide to write this new book about microlearning?

Well, it’s important to recognize that people have less time available for learning. So there’s more interest in learning based on short pieces of information.

Many learning management systems are now mobile-enabled, so we can receive these pieces of information on our phones. But that raises some questions:

Exactly what kind of information should we send to a phone?

How often should we send it?

What’s useful?

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Right.

So microlearning is this concept of providing highly targeted information that covers one or two topics in a very short amount of time.

How do you define short?

There’s all kinds of talk about whether it’s 5 minutes or 15 minutes or whatever. We don’t define it by time. We just say short, targeted information that is delivered through your phone or desktop – whatever you prefer.

So if you’re a financial professional, maybe it’s a brief update about three of the latest accounting rule changes. Or if you’re an HR manager, maybe it’s a list of three ways you can be sure your organization is in compliance with overtime guidelines.

Makes sense…

This could be standalone information or how-to content. But “one-and-done” training doesn’t always work, so microlearning may also be integrated into a larger curriculum, where continual reinforcement is very effective.

For example, say you’re a subject matter expert who delivers free webinars. As a follow-up, you can offer monthly updates about each topic to webinar attendees who pay for an annual subscription.

This kind of reinforcement helps people focus and remember information. It also helps change their attitudes or behaviors related to that information.

So microlearning is less about making the content short and sweet – and more about proactively pushing it out and extending it over time?

It’s a little bit of both. There are many ways to classify microlearning, but we define six types. One is to push out content over time. Another is to refresh content over time.

You could also use one of many apps that support microlearning experiences. For example, we talk about a really cool app called Presentr. It’s designed to teach individuals how to give effective presentations.

You download the app and practice speaking. It tracks your pace, volume and other key factors, and recommends ways to improve. We classify this as a “coaching” type of microlearning.

Great idea!

Although there are many types of microlearning, here’s the common ground: It’s an instructional unit that supports brief engagement in an activity that’s intentionally designed to elicit a specific outcome from participants. And we intentionally use the term “participant” rather than “learner.”

Why?

Well, the other day I had to change my bathroom shower head. So I pulled up a 5-minute how-to video on YouTube and followed step-by-step instructions.

Could I tell you those steps if you quizzed me today? Probably not. That video wasn’t designed for me to remember how to change a shower head forever.

But it helped me perform in the moment. And that fits into the microlearning realm.

You’re known as a gamification expert. Do you see overlap between gamification and microlearning?

First, while I’m known for games and gamification for learning, I’ve always been interested in learning in general – which is what got me into games and gamification. I’m deeply interested in the underlying mechanisms of how people gain new information and learn. That was one driver.

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Also, I’ve found that most gamification platforms use microlearning to deliver gamified content.

Let’s say you want to level-up to the top level in a gamified learning environment. To accomplish that, you need some kind of learning, training and behavioral change. And that happens through microlearning.

Got it…

But the content isn’t always effective. One vendor told me that their platform works well and everybody likes the gamification experience, but the content that clients create is sometimes off-base, so the learning experience doesn’t jell.

For example clients sometimes:

Cut a large course into smaller segments without making other adjustments

Focus on more than one objective

Create vague content

Mix multiple learning domains.

So platform providers are frustrated because they may have a great package, but they don’t have great content – and they’re not in control of that content.

Sounds frustrating.

Yes. And it makes a lot of sense. There are so many microlearning vendors that obviously have great technology. But I wonder about the design of a microlearning intervention. Because the rest doesn’t matter if the content isn’t designed effectively.

You can’t just copy and paste from a policies and procedures manual written in Microsoft Word and call that microlearning, right? You need some kind of design behind it.

Yep.

So that got me interested in how to help people design better instruction. How can we help them develop content that’s more meaningful, effective and comfortable for people who use it?

That’s how I got involved in microlearning. There was a big need and people were asking me how to do it.

For better results, should we tie microlearning to a skill and competency model?

It can be independent. But it’s usually most effective when you’re improving skills and competencies. Think of technology sales reps who need to remember product features or key elements of the sales model, itself.

They can listen to a brief audio clip that refreshes their memory when traveling to a sales call or waiting in the lobby. This quick bit of reinforcement helps them practice so they can bring this information to the sales conversation.

Is there a preferred medium for microlearning?

Video is definitely the hottest choice right now, for a variety of reasons. It’s great for conveying emotions. It’s also ideal for showing procedures step-by-step or transporting somebody to a specific location, like a technical environment.

Good point.

Animated explainer videos are also popular because you can share a lot of information in a short timeframe. In addition, podcasts are attractive because they’re relatively inexpensive to produce and they’re easy to edit into a short, focused package.

Text messages are another viable option. For example, an interesting study from India involves men whose glucose intolerance predisposed them to Type 2 diabetes. They participated in a microlearning intervention where they received text messages twice a day. This actually changed their behavior and helped a large proportion of them avoid Type 2 diabetes.

We also talk about infographics and flashcards as methodologies. There are digital flashcards as well as physical flashcards. You could even use a laminated job aid posted in a work cell.

So it doesn’t need to be digital?

Right. Microlearning doesn’t need to be driven by technology to make a difference.

People may think analog content isn’t cool, or you won’t get funding or participants won’t pay attention. But there’s actually a lot of value in analog instructions, job aids and performance assistance. All of these are forms of microlearning.

But video is getting most of the glory these days?

Yes. In part, video may be so attractive because people assume it’s easy. They may think they can simply set-up a camera and record someone talking. But that’s not necessarily effective.

You need to plan what you’ll say. You need to set it up. You need to reinforce it. You need to include on-screen interaction to illustrate what you’re talking about, so people get it. Many elements are involved.

The platform guy in me is wondering – is an LMS the best way to support microlearning?

Good question. With some older learning management systems, delivering small bits of content can be challenging.

It takes more time for people to get into an LMS and find what they need, so content isn’t available. Plus, a lot of content in legacy learning systems is too large or isn’t designed for microlearning consumption.

Of course as you know, there are many different LMS platforms. Some seamlessly support microlearning with no problem. But that’s not the only choice.

Now there are also gamification/microlearning platforms. These solutions have been developed specifically to provide frictionless content access in only one or two clicks.

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So, would you recommend a specialized microlearning platform? Is that incremental to an LMS?

Often, gamification/microlearning platforms are separate. Some integrate with the LMS through deep linking or other methodologies. Some can sit right on top of the LMS. So there’s some integration with existing systems.

Okay…

But microlearning platforms often compete directly with the LMS. They usually include many LMS elements and they can be integrated right into your everyday workflow.

For example, imagine you’re a big-ticket retail sales rep. Recently, when completing several financing applications, you forgot to ask customers for their credit history.

Many microlearning platforms will notice that oversight. They’ll send you a message that points to a brief refresher video about when and how to request credit history. Or they’ll reach out with another quick intervention.

Interesting. So is the cost of developing microlearning less than other types of content?

Many people assume the word “micro” means lower cost. And that would be true if you could replace all the instruction in your company with just one piece of microlearning. But it doesn’t work that way.

Sometimes it can even cost a bit more. For instance, say you want to convert a one-hour compliance course to microlearning. You’ll probably need to think carefully about how to reshape each of those 60 minutes of instructional content to work more effectively in a microlearning context.

In other words, you can ramble on in a class or in an elearning module. But if you want to develop concise, high-impact content that changes behavior, you’ll need to give it a lot of thought and effort.

Sure…

However, once you get used to creating microlearning, you become more efficient. You start understanding almost intuitively what needs to be done. So over the long-haul, microlearning development costs may decrease.

That makes sense. So of course, in the extended enterprise world, we love measuring everything. How should we measure microlearning outcomes?…

…FOR COMPLETE ANSWERS TO THIS QUESTION AND MORE, LISTEN TO THE FULL PODCAST NOW!

BUY THE BOOK Microlearning: Short and Sweet is available now! You can find it at Amazon.com or the ATD bookstore.

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How to prioritize fluid customer education needs

How to build a convincing business case

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ollybenson · 6 years ago

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Evaluation

Olly Benson

Curiosities Evaluation

Introduction

This FMP ‘Curiosity’ is the first time that I have been presented a brief where I have been able to largely dictate pretty much every aspect leading up to an outcome as well as the outcome itself. This was an exciting challenge to me as it allows me to explore aspects of graphic design and 3D that interests me most, showcase my skills I have learnt throughout the past 2 years as well as continue to develop these skills even more.

Given that the name of this brief is ‘Curiosities’, the only real guideline is that the project has to be based around something we are curious about. This guideline is very flexible as with the correct explanation in my blog I could have based my project around whatever I wanted.

While being able to work so loosely to no specific theme was seen as a exciting idea in my eyes, I did consider that there could be a number of negatives to working in this way. For example, I think it would be very easy to lose the general sense of direction at any point throughout the project. I imagined that it could be very easy to get lost or confused leading onto more confusion and an eventual break down. Along with this, without the help of a tutor I felt as though it could be very easy to conduct the wrong/unnecessary research with no clear theme.

My initial idea for this project was to base my theme around architecture. This is because I am strongly interested in architecture and it is the field of work that I desire to study at university. To explore this, I planned to create something 3D using at least 2 different materials such as wood, plastic or metals, as well as create some digital Illustrations to compliment my 3D outcome. I started to look at architects such as Malevich and Le Corbusier and this gave me the idea to create a modern 3D model of a building that had a removable roof and moveable modern furniture. However, this idea is very similar to my ‘Glitch’ project where I created a series or geometric, futuristic models of building along with some 2D digital Illustrations that showed a 360 degree view of one of the models. Whilst that project was probably my most successful one, in terms of what grade I got up to that point, I think it was important that I don’t just replicate it as it wouldn’t show that I am able to create work with a variety of approaches and styles, and would ultimately make my portfolio quite boring. Also looking at the timeframe I had, I think it was quite unrealistic that I would be able to create the model as well as the separate pieces of furniture to a high enough level.

Considering this, I wanted to focus my project on a certain field of architecture so that I could learn about new processes that I could eventually go on an use when I go into Foundation next year followed by university.

At our trip to the Design Museum, I got a collection of pictures of visually creative chairs each made with different materials; wood, plastic and cardboard. I was really interested in how these chairs were made and the thought process behind designing them. Additionally, we were asked in class to choose from our pictures of this trip and create some Illustrations in the style of Michael Craig-Martin. For this task I chose the picture I had taken of these chairs. This is what kickstarted my project ‘Graphic Chairs’.

Research and Influences

To generate some initial ideas, as a class we each collected 10 objects from a list of 30 given to us in a list. These were objects such as; something brand new, a house plant, 5 words to describe us. The reason behind this was to look at these objects and generate mind maps consisting of what ideas these objects gave us. For example I looked at an ice cream scoop shaped as a cow, this gave me the ideas of; children toys, looking at kitchen utensils in a graphically interesting way, dairy products (advertising, branding), infographics about food/sugar etc. Breaking down 10 different objects like this, creating mind maps and sketching, allowed me to generate loads of different ideas that I could have potentially explored for my FMP.

When we collected all the 10 objects, we inserted them into a display box that we had created ourselves that would be a visual representation of the contents within our proposal. I created my box mainly out of wood, but I also applied metal sheets around the outside of my box. These sheets I had tempered with before I applied them. This showcased that one of my strongest areas was in the RM/ WMP workshop. My box came across rather gothic as I added a chain and lock to the front of it, this gothic style wasn’t something I had initially aimed to go for as it isn’t my favourite styles. Despite this I think my box worked quite successfully.

Along with this, I created a few different mood boards that visually explored graphics that interest me; Clothing/Street wear, Advertising, Architecture and Sports. While this didn’t necessarily generate loads of ideas, it allowed me to identify what styles interest me most and made me consider how I could use my personal styles and interests to adapt my developments and outcomes throughout ‘Curiosity’.

As I was initially hoping to base my project on architecture, I went on to research renowned architects such as Malevich, Le Corbusier and Eliot Noyes. I looked at their different styles and approaches to architecture and asked myself questions such as; What Is more important; purpose or aesthetic? How can I combine both visuals an practicality to create something interesting? How can I use simple forms to create something visually complex?

What is more appealing; simplicity or complication? These are good questions to ask as even if my project change direction to something like advertising, these questions would still be just as relevant.

After this, we went to the Design Museum in London. This trip opened my eyes to all the different types of design such as street signs, architecture (materials and styles), gadgets (phones, typewriters), chairs and furniture. Most noticeably, chairs. I gathered a collection of visually unique and interesting chairs. At this point, I knew I wanted to base my project around architecture but I wasn’t exactly sure what area specifically. I think this trip was the strongest influence on my project as it opened my eyes to chair design and how it can actually be quite interesting when you think creatively. Before when I thought of chairs, I would think of something very simple with four legs that looks very generic. However once I saw the chairs on display at the museum I thought about all the different ways you can make a chair look interesting. Chairs are a vital part of buildings as well as our every day lives, so they still link in with architecture and would still be viable to put in my portfolio when applying for architecture courses for university.

Going to the museum was also important for my project as It was my first piece of primary research, as it was important that I hadn’t conducted all of my research over the internet using secondary sources. Once I had decided to base my project on chairs, I researched using books such as ‘Design as art’ by Bruno Munari that showed me a variety of sketches of chairs, exploring different shapes, lines and styles. Along with this, books such as ‘Design as architecture’ - Marcel Breuer, and ‘How to design a chair’. In previous projects I hadn’t used books for research as much as I should have and these books were very influential when I was sketching and designing my final chair, so in conclusion I think I am going to look to use books more than I have in previous projects.

When I was considering the composition of my chair, I researched famous chair designers such as Marcel Breuer and Charles and Ray Eames. Charles and Ray Eames were very influential on my project with their use of ply wood. Before when I would think of plywood I would think it was a very rough and messy looking wood. However if it is used correctly It can look very polished. Charles Eames used the process of moulding plywood using heat and moisture, however I didn’t have the equipment necessary to do this. Despite this, I still wanted to use plywood cause I liked the finish it gave. Along with this, plywood was a good option as the college have an abundance of it. Generally, plywood is quite cheap, so that means my chair would be very versatile and cost friendly.

To gather more ideas when I was designing my chair, I asked a number of students around class to simply ‘Draw me a chair’.That was my only instruction to them as I wanted them to draw their initial interpretation of a chair whether it be simple or complicated. This allowed me to compare the designs and analyse what styles and shapes people favour over others. This research was also vital as it was another piece of primary research.

Along with this, I looked online at unique chairs made from unorthodox materials such as rope, old cans or bottles and even full-sized chairs made from purely cardboard. This allowed me to consider the practicality of my chair but also how can I make it stand out? Could I realistically make it out of random materials? During this research, I messaged one of the designers on Instagram called Tom Price whom created a chair solely from rope that he had moulded a chair seat out of using a metal chair-shaped former which he heated with a combination of heaters and hot air guns. While I found out that It would not be possible for me to do this, It still inspired me to use a material like rope in my chair as it gave it a unique appearance.

Finally, during the construction of my chair I researched a number of processes of chair making. This includes different joining methods; What looks the best? What are the strongest? What is easiest to create? Along with this I researched different methods of wood sculpting and sanding; the artist Haroshi opened my eyes to a different type of sculpting that I had never thought of before. Additionally, I researched the different types of varnishes/finishing oils to eventually determine which one I would apply to my finished chair.

Throughout the project my research was quite consistently evidenced on my blog complimented with mind maps breaking down different artists quotes, approaches to design and aspects of their work that I put into my production file. Along with this I had sheets that allowed me to compare the work of multiple chair designers, looking at what I think work well or not, allowing me to come to a conclusion on the design or my chair.

I have been able to develop my critical thinking in all areas, but especially on the design of chairs which is an area of architecture that I hadn’t explored before. This will prove to be beneficial to me in the future where I will be able to showcase my skills in chair design in any job or course I do in years to come.

Experimentation and Development

First of all, as a class we completed 3 workshops that allowed us to experiment with different areas of Graphic Design such as typography (using different materials), screen printing (Inspired by Robert Rauschenberg) and also letter press (Inspired by David Carson). These workshops were important as they ensured that our projects were open to a variety of processes and not just our one idea that we want to do. They also gave us a number of artists that we could research and look at their approaches to graphic design, even if it wasn’t relevant to our final idea, It was still important to have a open mind.

When I decided to base my project on chairs I decided to create a variety of 3D experiments of models of chairs. To do this I used a large variety of materials such as cardboard, polystyrene, wood, metal and plastic. This allowed me to experiment with these materials and figure out which are most practical when creating a chair, but also which looks more effective than others. I went on to conclude that wood was the most practical material to use especially in the time line that I had. These experiments were also very important as they allowed me to explore different forms of chairs.

Further developments of these chairs included spray painting one of the wooden models and one of the polystyrene models. This was very beneficial to me as I have never spray painted before so I have learnt a new process. But I have also learnt that It may not be the best type of paint to apply to my chair as it has quite a shiny un natural appearance. Along with this, I decided to slightly burn one of the wooden models so that It had black burn marks around it. I think this worked very successfully as it added character to the model and made it quite visually interesting to look at compared to before. However this is also a process that I would have to be careful with if I was applying it to my final piece as once you do it there is no going back.

One of the new skills I learnt during this project was using the Hot Wire Tool in the RM room that Is used to slice through polystyrene. I quite enjoyed using this tool and was happy that I was able to learn something new whilst also generating ideas. However my polystyrene models weren’t very good as I wasn’t very good at using this tool. It has given me room to expand and develop on though when I go onto foundation as I would be quite interested in exploring sculpting with polystyrene, eventually going onto sanding it down to create smooth but precise details.

Alternatively, I created lots of sketches exploring different designs. I have a page consisting of simple geometric shapes, then a page consisting of generic chair forms. And then pages consisting of abstract shaped chairs using weird materials such as plastic tubes. From simple forms using basic shapes to quite complex designs; I was able to think of an idea that was inspired by The Eames, Tom Price and my own ideas that I am very happy with and proud of.

In class we was introduced to Michael Craig Martin, an artist who creates loads of simple

Illustrations exploring the shapes and lines of simple objects. This style interests me as I am intrigued by how he is able to make something so simple work so effectively.

At first, I wanted to also have a Illustration in the style of Michael Craig Martin that I could potentially install behind my chair in the exhibition that I would imagine would have complimented my chair quite nicely. However I did not have time to do this as I just about finished my chair on the day it was hand in, so I didn’t have time to take a picture of my chair then create a high quality digital illustration of it.

Once I had created a couple sketches of my final design before I started reading it, I decided to create a accurate digital sketch of my idea to present to Dave and the technicians in the work shop. I had done this as I thought this would be a much clearer way to show people my idea where as a sketch has the potential to be confusing. I annotated it with measurements that I based on chairs within the college. I decided to make my chair slightly larger than normal to ensure comfort as if the base of the seat isn’t wide enough it could seem more narrow than normal considering it is made from rope.

I was initially told I could either use MDF, plywood or try buy some wood myself to bring in. However I was running out of time so was hoping to use a wood that the college already had. To buy my own wood could cost me a lot of money as well. So my choice was between plywood or MDF. To experiment, I created the base of my chair 2 times using either one of these woods. I concluded that plywood was far more attractive to the eye and it would require less cutting out of wood as MDF is a lot thinner. This means that it is less likely that I would make a mistake.

The development of my final piece took roughly 2-3 weeks to finish. This included cutting out all the the strips of wood using the chop saw, laminating the plywood together, inserting dowels to ensure strength, piecing the wood together to overlap the corners, then sanding each individual piece of wood using 6 different types of sandpaper to ensure a really smooth finish, piecing all the pieces together, painting over it with finishing oil with 2 layers and finally applying the rope.

I thought that I used my time creating a body of work quite efficiently as I was able to create a wide variety of experimentations along with a refined outcome that is supported by the research and the development throughout the project.

Solution

I think the message of my project is that although chairs are very often overlooked and considered mundane by most people, they have the potential to be very visually exciting and in my opinion can bring a whole room together in terms of appearance and function. Different aspect of chair design such as form, material and size can all come together to create something that can draw people in that originally may have no interest in them before. For instance, before this project I don’t think I had ever really looked at and considered the forms of different chairs. It wasn’t really an area that I had any interest in before. However, since I have done my research and thought of loads of different ideas and eventually created a refined outcome, chair design is something that I am now very interested in. Every time I look at a chair I will consider its practicality against its appearance/ function over form.

My initial curiosity into architecture has drawn me into a more specific area of architecture that I will now be able to say that I have experience with. Along with this once I had conducted my research on chairs, my curiosity into the use of different materials and styles has allowed me to create a design that I believe is unique. I feel as though the use of laminated ply wood has worked very effectively. When I was initially told that I could either use MDF of plywood I was quite disappointed as my impression of these woods were that they both looked quite messy and cheap. However plywood can look very good when sanded down and laminated. The appearance of my piece is very much catered towards my personal style. I also think the use of soft cotton rope as the base of the chair has worked quite successfully as this rope is very soft and stretchy.

One of the negatives of my chair is that it rocks very slightly. If I had more time I would sand the bottom of the chair down so that It is all completely flat so that it wouldn’t rock.

Another one of the negatives of my project is that I haven’t worked tightly to a plan. As I have been quite busy outside of college, I haven’t been able to create a strict time plan to allow me to consistently finish off my blog posts and experimentations. My blog posts have been something I have gone on to push aside as I have developed my final outcome.

Along with this, I feel as though I could have generated more experimentations building up to deciding my decision on what I am going to base my FMP on. Apart from what we had done in workshops I feel as though there wasn’t much experimentations in my own time that explore different aspects of graphic design.

Some of the successful part of my project are that I feel as though I have created a creative chair that could catch the eye of some people. Considering that I had no history with chair design before this project, I am quite proud of my outcome and the different processes that I have learnt throughout. Along with this, I have created something that I can put into my portfolio when applying for university or jobs in the future.

To analyse the effectiveness of my chair, I plan to apply my chair in real life situations such as dining rooms, class rooms or offices to see what environments they fit in. From here I could give out a peer feedback sheet and ask my peers to choose which one works most effectively. Alternatively, I could email my chair to a professional architecture firm to get their feedback.

Overall, I think I can get more positives from this project than negatives. I have learnt a lot of new skills both technically and in terms of how to build and follow a project that I have largely created myself. I have really enjoyed this project and would probably consider it my favourite one during this course.

Throughout the past 2 years I have learnt loads of new skills, both technical graphic skills as well as general life skills. These practical skills include; a strong understanding of the majority of tools on digital packages Photoshop and Illustrator. These are programmes that I had never used before and now I would say I would be able to teach someone quite a lot if I need to. Along with this, my confidence with my general sketching skills have improved greatly. Even before this project I would have said that my sketching was one of my weakest areas which is concerning considering sketching is a large part of architecture. Throughout this project I have taught myself to sketch freely without putting too much pressure on myself to make the sketch accurate. This had allowed me to create a large quantity of sketches that prove to be a great foundation the the planning of my chair and my project as a whole. Additionally, I have also improved a huge amount with my resistant materials skills. Before starting this graphics course, I had never really worked on materials such as woods or metals. Now I have created a fully functional chair that (to me) is aesthetically appealing and unique.

Along with these technical skills, I would say that my general confidence has grown a huge amount over the past 2 years. I am now able to successfully hold group conversations with people, brainstorming ideas. This will prove to be hugely beneficial to me in the future as a huge part of being an architect is being able to discuss ideas with clients, responding to them and generating something that works with everyones best interests.

It is hard to say which one of these skills are most important as all sketching, resistant materials and confidence skills are a huge part of architecture. They will all prove to be very beneficial to me as I go on to develop and refine these skills next year on the foundation course, 4 years after that at university and then when I eventually go on to full time employment, hopefully as an architect.

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topicprinter · 8 years ago

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Hey Reddit! Here's a post I put together detailing my team's mission to drastically increase the number of leads we were generating. Hopefully, RES allows these images to expand - let me know if they're not working and I'll put them in an imgur album. :)Hope you enjoy!Late last year, we on the Wishpond growth team put on our hard hats and went to work with the purpose of turning our blog into an effective lead generation machine.In this detailed breakdown, I’m going to go in-depth into everything we did in 15 hours to achieve our lead generation goals, along with some takeaways you can use to generate leads for your own business.Hour 1: Strategizing for Lead GenerationBefore starting our lead gen optimization process, we thought long and hard about lead generation as a strategy. Though many businesses can make use of leads, we examined our product, our target market, and the industry around us to see if it was the direction we wanted to take - or if we should have been optimizing our blog to do other things.Leads are made to be nurtured. They’re particularly effective when you need to put a little more effort into convincing potential customers that your business or product is right for them. If you’re selling phone cases, you probably don’t need to rely on extensive lead nurturing to sell your products.On the other hand, if you’re a subscription-based software product like we are here at Wishpond, lead nurturing is a major factor when it comes to getting more customers.We spent hours poring over the pros and cons of lead generation for our business versus a variety of KPIs, discussing the benefits we could reap and the potential risks we could have been taking on.After some time, we were set: lead generation was the right direction for us. So, we set out to build a rock-solid lead generation strategy.Hour 3: Brainstorming Effective Lead MagnetsThe first key to converting traffic into leads is the creation of engaging, high-value lead magnets. Much of our success in lead generation came from creating lead magnets that were interesting to our target market.If you’re not quite sure what a lead magnet is, let me explain. A lead magnet (as the name suggests) is something that pulls in a potential lead - it’s some form of content that people are willing to trade their lead information for.Though lead magnets can vary drastically based on your industry, I’ll go over the ideas for lead magnets we brainstormed during our ideation process.Article PDFs/Content UpgradesThe Wishpond blog publishes 4-5 times a week, and has amassed over 1,000 articles with nearly 300,000 monthly views. That’s a lot of content, which means a ton of ripe opportunities for effective lead generation.One thing we pride ourselves on is having a strong content strategy. This means articles that are substantial - we’d rather publish a 3000-word tome over a 700-word quick read. Though this means we provide as much value for our readers as we can, it also means marketers with little spare time might not be able to make it through an entire article before they need to get back to their work.To capitalize on this, we took our most popular blog articles and turned them into PDF content upgrades, giving people the opportunity to read them later in exchange for their email. Other types of content upgrades we employed included infographics and checklists.https://d3ds0r8ijvk7u6.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2017/04/28144953/infographics.jpgPDFs upgrades are awesome for a few reasons. First, they’re incredibly simple to make. Tools like Google Docs (or your editor of choice) make it incredibly simple to take your articles - images, formatting, and all - and turn them into downloadable PDFs. Next, they address a common pain point: “I love this article so far, but I just don’t have time to read it all right now”. Giving your blog readers an increased number of options when it comes to taking in your content is a no-brainer.EbooksAn ebook is a bit of a step up from an article PDF or content upgrade. It’s a piece of content that can stand alone on its own merit and value - of course, it’s still important that it’s relevant to the content you’re already publishing so it appeals to the traffic you’re already getting.For our own lead gen efforts, we were lucky enough to have a pretty stacked library of awesome ebooks we had already created for previous lead generation pushes, covering a variety of topics that were interesting to our readers like Facebook Ads and Instagram marketing.The thing that differentiates ebooks greatly from other content upgrades is their content and quality. In addition to simple text and images, ebooks are often longer and feature detailed infographics, along with a visually-pleasing ebook “theme”. For example, take a look at one of the ebooks we created, The State of Social Media:https://d3ds0r8ijvk7u6.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2017/04/28145608/ebooks.jpgHowever, creating an ebook is a bigger time investment; you’ll want to make sure it’s a topic that’s general enough that you can link to it from multiple articles or pages on your website. You want to maximize the value and longevity of the lead magnets you create, especially when it’s something with as much depth as an ebook.WebinarsWhen we take a step back and look at content marketing as a medium, we can see that really, it’s rooted in education. People read blogs, articles and ebooks because they’re interested in learning more about a topic they’re interested in.Here at the Wishpond blog, we know our readers come to us for the latest and greatest when it comes to digital marketing - and that’s why we run webinars. Our webinars teach our potential customers about digital marketing in a manner related to the Wishpond platform; they get people excited about digital marketing and help to build our brand as a marketing leader in their eyes.https://d3ds0r8ijvk7u6.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2017/05/01092413/webinar-screenshot.jpgWebinars fall into this educational mindset - they’re valuable to people because they take a deep and educational dive into a single topic, in a different, more personal format compared to another content form like an ebook or article.If you’re planning to run a webinar, remember that what’s important is planning, planning, planning. From preparation to promotion, you want everything to go just right when you’re on the air. If you feel like you’ll be lacking in viewership, reconsider the strategy or consider running targeted ads to bring in new traffic.Free TrialsBelieve it or not, even free trials can be thought of as lead magnets. No matter the plan, we allow all of our users to try Wishpond out free for 14 days so they can see the product and how it can work for them.Our free trial is set up in a way that users need to create accounts when they’re starting a trial. If a user starts a trial and decides not to stay with us, they become a lead.A hot, hot lead.Basically, we already know they’re interested in our product - as opposed to someone who’s a good sales prospect because they’re interested in digital marketing, somebody who was interested enough to try our product is somebody who’s done most of the work for us. Though they may have canceled, they’re valuable because we can identify their biggest pain point and seek to remedy it.Trials won’t work for everyone, obviously. Still, if that’s an option for your business, you should keep a close eye on the people who start one.ContestsAs the marketing team for a platform with some powerful contest tools, we’d be hypocritical if we didn’t use them for our own marketing efforts.We’ve found huge success with contests in the past, and we knew this would be an integral strategy when it came to finding success with lead generation. Everyone loves free stuff - and offering them the chances to win a prize of significant value isn’t a bad way to get them to fork over their name and email address.https://d3ds0r8ijvk7u6.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2017/04/28135213/snappa-contest.jpgWe find our contests drive the best results from us when we’re running them with a friend of ours - another company that shares a similar target market. Partnering with another relevant brand can drastically increase the reach of your lead gen efforts.Implementing Content UpgradesAt this point in time, we had our arsenal of lead magnets. And they were good ones, as you can see. The next step we needed to take was one of the most important - we had to find a way to get these lead magnets to our readers.And trust me, it was no easy feat.Everything - well, most things - we do are data driven, and this was no exception. We wanted these lead magnets to reach as many of our readers is possible, in a manner that would give us the highest chance of generating a lead.Of course, time and resources are limited. Our first lead generation push focused on a single key strategy we felt would bring us the greatest results based on past successes. We decided to focus on implementing two specific lead magnets: content upgrades and ebooks. Webinars, contests and others would come eventually, but not until later on.Hour 5: Creating Content UpgradesAs I mentioned earlier, the Wishpond blog has a lot of content. Like, a lot. This turned out to be both a blessing and a curse when we were implementing these our new lead generation strategies.To give you a better idea about the distribution of the view count on our content, I’ll share a little insider information. Our 10 highest-traffic articles gather about 90,000 views monthly, which accounts for about a third of our total monthly blog traffic.That’s not too shabby, I’ll admit, but we’re the “think big” type here at Wishpond. We knew that only implementing a lead generation strategy on our top 10 articles meant we were wasting traffic from the other 210,000 pageviews on our blog each month.So we made our “top 10” our “top 300”, which added up to over 290,000 pageviews, a much more respectable proportion of our readership.Then we got to work.The task we thought would have the highest impact on our KPI was adding PDF content upgrades and ebooks to each of these posts, as it was the most efficient way for us to create a huge number of lead magnets tailored to each post. Over time, this strategy did indeed end up being our biggest driver of leads, and it’s the strategy I want to dive most deeply into in this breakdown.As I mentioned earlier, we were lucky enough to have a pretty massive library of ebooks, which made our jobs much easier as we simply had to focus on creating our PDF content upgrades.Let’s take a look at a specific article: 10 Amazing Examples of Branded Facebook Contests Done Right. It’s one of our highest-performing pieces, garnering thousands of views for our blog each month. We took the article and turned it into a neat little PDF.https://d3ds0r8ijvk7u6.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2017/04/28145851/content-upgrade.jpgThough our close friend Google Docs made it easy to turn the article into a PDF, that was the easy part - we still needed a way to get each viewer to download it in exchange for their lead information.Hour 8: Creating CTAsOnce we had created all 300 content upgrades, we put Wishpond’s CTA builder to use, creating simple CTAs that could be added to each the article. Our CTAs were simple, allowing blog readers to click through so they could download the PDF of the article they were reading (or a related ebook or infographic). Here’s what our original CTA looked like:https://d3ds0r8ijvk7u6.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2017/04/28140347/CTA-original.jpgYeah. Not so pretty, huh? Thankfully, we got help from Marya, one of our wonderful designers, to create a CTA that felt more true to the style of our blog (we’re pretty design-illiterate here on the Wishpond marketing team).https://d3ds0r8ijvk7u6.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2017/04/28140345/CTA-new.jpgThough it still ended up being pretty simple, it was important to us that our CTAs looked as inviting as possible. You’ve probably heard the famous adage, “If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck.” Our readers aren’t dumb - they knew it was a CTA, and what it was built to do. That being said, we wanted something that felt like a part of our blog - not a sore sight like the previous yellow CTA.We also put together a few marketing packages, combining multiple content upgrades and ebooks related to one topic into a single resource. Here’s a CTA we created for one of those:https://d3ds0r8ijvk7u6.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2017/04/28135044/CTA-3.pngWe then needed to send interested CTA-clickers to a form...Hour 10: PopupsTwo hours later, we had quite a few CTAs on our hands for each of our top 300 articles. As a team, we decided to host our forms in popups that opened on the article page.We hypothesized a couple things that led to this decision:Our readers wanted to read: User experience is important to us. We know that people who visit our blog come with the intention of reading a post and learning something from it. The last thing we wanted to do was to take our readers away from the blog post they were reading to an external landing page to download the article.A two-step download was less intimidating: A CRO best practice is to minimize the number of steps a user needs to take in order to convert. If this was always true, we’d have placed the form inside the CTA - but we knew that seeing a form immediately would be detrimental.So, we created a popup:https://d3ds0r8ijvk7u6.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2017/04/28135051/Popup.pngLet’s look at a couple of the elements on this popup and dive into our team’s thought process behind each of them:Headline: We wanted a simple, benefit-oriented headline. People who clicked the CTA knew what the offer was, so we simply matched the popup’s headline copy. The more interesting part of this headline is “One more step…” Showing visitors that they’re almost there to the conversion goal is a simple way to increase the chances they’ll follow through on their action.Form: We didn’t have a lot of options when it came to the form - we define a real lead here at Wishpond as someone with - at the minimum - a name and email. We also included business URL, to help our sales team do research later on in the sales process. Looking back, we probably didn’t need that field, as we already asked for work email - removing this (thus reducing the number of form fields on the popup) may have helped bump up our conversion rates.The CTA: Again, we chose a benefit and action-oriented CTA button with bold text and a bright color.Now that we had created our CTA and popup, there was just one last step...Hour 12: Automating EmailsOur final three hours were spent creating simple email automation workflows to deliver PDFs to the people who wanted to download them.Once a visitor converted on the popup, we sent them an email containing the PDF of the article they converted on.Why not trigger the download on the popup conversion? Great question. A couple reasons:To help generate quality leads: Though our KPI was simply the number of leads we generated, we wanted to make sure these were real leads that we could pass to our sales team. People that entered a fake email either wouldn’t be able to download the PDF, or would have to complete the form again with their real information.To share more content with them: Emailing our new leads gave us the opportunity to send them more content, helping to establish a stronger connection between them and Wishpond and building a place in our leads’ minds as a mecca for great content.Making this decision meant we needed to complete one last step: we had to create and automate an email to send for our PDF article. We used Wishpond’s marketing automation tool to create a simple email containing a link to the PDF download that would trigger automatically when someone converted on one of our popups.Here’s a quick look at the email:Hey ! Here's your copy of 10 Amazing Examples of Branded Facebook Contests Done Right.Cheers, The Wishpond TeamP.S. People who read this also liked 7 Facebook Contest and Promotion Ideas & Examples.And the accompanying workflow:https://d3ds0r8ijvk7u6.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2017/04/28135057/workflow.jpgThere you have it - our process for creating content upgrades and adding CTAs and popups to an article.And, like I've mentioned, this is a process we replicated 300 times.Was it a ton of work? Yes - creating and implementing these content upgrades was a process that was the source of many a headache and endless cups of coffee.https://d3ds0r8ijvk7u6.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2017/04/28135053/Spreadsheet-2.jpgAll in all, the Wishpond marketing team probably spent about 15 hours turning our blog into a lead generation gold mine. But, once it was done, we could tell immediately it would have a huge impact on the number of leads we generated.Once we had set up our lead generation strategies, it came time for the hardest part: letting go and waiting for results. It was time to see if our hard work had paid off, or if we would be left looking for the next great thing.Wrapping It Up: Results & Final WordsI’ll let the numbers speak for themselves.Leads generated in October 2016: 1,123Leads generated in November 2016: 2,686And the (rather beautiful) accompanying graph, showing the rapid increase in the growth of our lead list:https://d3ds0r8ijvk7u6.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2017/04/28135047/list-growth.jpgThat’s a staggering 140% increase in the number of monthly leads we generated after only one month. I’m no mathematician, but I am a marketer, and I know that’s no small change.A final takeaway...In lead generation, rarely will you find an easy victory. Sometimes, you just need to commit to a strategy, do it, and do it big. The decisions we made were data-driven, of course, but we also put our heads down and soldiered through hundreds of articles to implement over 300 unique lead magnets.In the end, we were rewarded with a change in our lead generation greater than we could have imagined.Thanks for reading, Reddit! I hope you enjoyed this breakdown, and that you took a few things away from this article to apply to your own lead generation efforts. I'd love to talk about anything lead-gen related (or startups-related) - feel free to PM me!(P.S. If you'd like to read the post in all its formatted glory, you can check it out here!)

#/r/startups #reddit

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mindthump · 8 years ago

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5 Steps to Creating and Monetizing a Million-Dollar Online Business http://ift.tt/2uhkx7q

If you believed every advertisement in your Facebook news feed selling the entrepreneurial dream, you would think that everyone and their brother is creating million-dollar online businesses while traveling the world or floating in their pool.

Now, I’m not saying every one of these courses is pure BS. There might be some solid actionable advice to be found, but instead of paying $97, $197 or $297 (you know those are the magic numbers) to some self-proclaimed internet gazillionaire, I’m going to walk you through the steps that are required to build a successful online business, in several articles here on Entrepreneur.com, starting with this one.

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to secure an attractive domain hack: LAWYE.RS. It’s the only one-word “lawyers” domain hack available, and while I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it at the time, I knew it had potential to be turned into something very special.

The time has come to do something with this domain, and I have determined the strategy I will use to build this website out and monetize it.

Will I be successful? The potential to turn it into a multi-million-dollar business exists, but I could also fall flat on my face.

Here’s how I laid out the concept and monetization strategy for this new project. The same strategy can be used to help you develop any online business -- it’s universal.

1. Identify a product or service that has a large market and that’s unlikely to decline.

I decided I was going to turn this domain into a law firm directory, and two factors played a role in this decision. First, there will always be a need for lawyers and plenty of law firms for consumers to pick from. There will never be a shortage of website visitors or law firms to monetize as customers.

Second, online marketing and online branding is on a consistent growth path with no sign of slowing down, so another platform for law firms to use for marketing and brand building will be welcomed.

When you create an online business in a niche that will never see a decline, you are drastically increasing the chances of building something that will generate revenue for a long time. I see too many people trying to start online businesses with only the short-game in mind. Instead, focus on building something with long-term sustainability.

Related: 5 Habits of the Wealthy That Helped Them Get Rich

2. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel -- but you do need a unique component.

Building an online law firm directory resource isn’t going to win any innovation awards, but it can still be different than other available options. My main focus with this project is creating an online community and content platform -- giving lawyers a platform to publish content on, which will be seen by industry peers and potential clients. The personal branding benefit and ability to be seen as a thought leader is the unique angle here.

When you create an online business, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel, but you do need a unique selling proposition and a way to provide some level of value that isn’t currently available.

3. Identify how you can generate money.

There are several ways to generate money with an online business. You can sell your own products or services, re-sell products or services, sell information or courses, promote affiliate offers or sell advertisement space, for example.

For my law firm directory, user experience is a priority. The last thing I want to do is annoy visitors with banner ads and pop-up offers. They need to be able to land on our website and quickly find the information they need. So, the revenue model will be based around an annual premium listing upgrade that law firms can claim.

We will be building out the directory with every law firm in the U.S. Every basic listing will contain the firm’s name and address. For an annual fee, law firms will be able to claim their listing and upgrade to a premium listing, which allows for full contact information, a complete listing of all lawyers on staff, images, video, social media profile links and a link to their website. Also, they get unlimited inbound form-submit leads and each lawyer on staff will receive a contributor account, allowing them to publish content on the directory’s blog.

This monetization strategy allows us to keep the website free of advertisement banners and affiliate offers, keeping our user experience pleasant. It also provides several attractive benefits for our target customer, which is important if we want to convert a large enough percentage to turn this into a multi-million-dollar online business.

A lot of people get hung up on the monetization component, and while it’s an important piece of the puzzle, you need to remember that you can always pivot.

Related: Habits of the World's Wealthiest People (Infographic)

4. Lay out a marketing and advertising plan that will help reach your monetization goals.

Your online business is unlikely to take off without a solid marketing and advertising plan in place. Whether you are using simple public relations strategies such as HARO for securing press mentions or launching a six-figure campaign on Facebook, you need a detailed plan.

Our plan for the directory is a combination of email marketing and highly targeted digital ad buys. Automation is key here, allowing for more teamwork on the back end. A team of customer support reps, developers and editors will maintain the directory and continue to add new premium listings and blog content.

While the email marketing and digital ad buys will drive awareness, we also know that the content platform will help get the word out. As more lawyers sign up to contribute content and then share it across their networks through social channels like LinkedIn and Twitter, they will introduce our directory to their industry peers.

We will also be doing our own content marketing outreach with an emphasis on infographics and interactive media for maximum social shares and exposure within the legal community.

5. Seek out feedback directly from your potential customers.

Launching an online business without any feedback from your target customer base is foolish. You might have a great idea, but a gut feeling or intuition alone doesn’t mean it’s a viable business model. Taking the time to gather feedback and constructive criticism can help you avoid launching a dud and coming to market with a better product.

I spoke to countless attorneys and law firms before moving forward with this project. Taking their feedback and feature requests, I was able to create an offering that is highly desirable at a price-point that makes it affordable for any size law firm.

I sent emails and even picked up the phone and called random firms. You have to be willing to put yourself out there and listen to the feedback, both positive and negative. This step helped to polish the finished offering.

Related: 8 Reasons a Powerful Personal Brand Will Make You Successful

Final thoughts

Building a successful online business capable of generating millions of dollars in revenue requires a great idea and, more importantly, flawless execution. Everyone has ideas, but very few can execute them.

We are currently finishing the design and development of this project, which I will expand on in a future article, along with launch and growth strategies. To follow this project more closely, add me on Snapchat. My goal with sharing this project is to provide you with actionable advice that you can apply to help build your own online business.

#IFTTT #Feedly #hmmm #business #good to know

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bradleycruickshanku6graphicsexam · 8 years ago

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Exam Evaluation

The artists I chose to explore and gain inspiration from for my prep work were effective and allowed me to explore my theme with more depth, analysing Martin O’Neil’s work allowed me to explore collages and the effect they can have on pieces, the atmosphere in his work is emulated in my work through the various different pieces where there is many elements all combining together. Martin O’Neil also uses symbols which I have emulated in my work through the use of the ? symbol, I have included this symbol in some way in most of the pages throughout my work because the underlying theme of my work is how individuals suffering from mental health can feel confused and might not understand the thoughts and feelings that they are experiencing, by using Martin O’Neil as inspiration I have been able to emulate this mood and atmosphere in my work and provide depth to the pieces. Cristiano Couceiro’s artwork has a gloomy and narrative atmosphere to it, most of her pieces involve a story, this can be sometimes political but for my work I am aiming to use her artwork as inspiration and so I changed this to my theme of mental health but kept the idea of a narrative piece which can tell a story, this can be seen on the page 9 with the piece where the subjects head is divided up into various different images, there is a story behind every image and each one is there for a reason. The majority of the three artists I initially chose and also my additional inspiration artists artwork all features a person in one way or another, this is a factor which I have also included in my artwork, I learnt that it provides vast amounts of depth to your work if the main subject matter is a human because this brings about many questions such as, who are they, why are they there etc.

Both of my outcomes, the exam and alternative outcomes, I felt were largely successful. I feel that I successfully portrayed the message I was trying to send, this being a mix of informing mental health suffers that they aren’t alone and also informing the others around them on how to spot the signs and talk about the taboo subject. In my final exam and alternative piece I feel like I successfully used ‘off the computer’ techniques in order to bring my pieces to life, in my exam piece this can be seen as the background of two of my pages where a piece of paper has various different phrases written on it which all might be what a person suffering from mental health might be feeling. In my alternative I have also included this, I wrote the phrase ‘boys don’t cry’ which comes from the famous song ‘boys don’t cry’ by the Cure, I wrote this phrase on a piece of cardboard and included it in my piece and I personally feel that it is very effective and portrays the message I intended, which is that in fact it is okay for boys to cry and in particular male mental health is very important. I personally feel like that I maintained a consistent standard of work throughout my final piece as I wouldn’t say that either of the pieces is of a higher standard than the other. However an aspect that I believe didn’t go so well is the infographics page in my final exam piece, it is a piece which I didn’t reserve much time for and is so shown in the quality of the graphics.

I believe that I have made the client for my artwork (Mind Mental Health Charity) very clear throughout the artwork as their logo is on the front and back page of the editorial and it is also in the bottom left corner of the alternative poster and is coloured white against a black or grey background so is very clear to see. I believe that I have replicated my clients outlook successfully because their outlook is heavily based around the idea of getting help and knowing that you are not alone, this is an aspect which is heavily featured throughout my work, I wanted viewers to know that they are never alone and a helping hand is only a phone call away. I also believe that I have successfully delivered the reaction that the audience should gain from the artwork, this has been done by including all of the clients contact details and social media accounts on the back cover so that they can be used and are conveniently placed for ease of access.

My outcomes are aimed at the vast majority of people because mental health doesn’t discriminate and it would be an injustice if my artwork was aimed at only one group of society, however there is more of an emphasis on mens mental health as suicide is the highest killer of males in the UK and I believed that this is a subject that needed to be approached head on, Ive done this by creating pieces which have a substantial balance between tidy and minimal and cluttered and complex, some pieces are more one side than the other but as a whole there is a good balance, I did this by having some pieces that had minimal block colour backgrounds and others which has written backgrounds or very cluttered backgrounds. It is very difficult to design a piece for everyone but I would say that most of the artwork is aimed more at men and male mental health.

If I had more time to spend on this project, I believe I would develop my work by producing more written pieces and completing more ‘off the computer’ work because once completing the project the importance and weight that work completed without a computer can add to a piece. I would also spend a lot more time on the infographics page to add more depth to it and make it more complex and interesting. I also believe that I would take more photos and add more complex characters and backgrounds into them so that I have more imagery to work with to create even better compositions, this would also help when creating the narrative background to the individuals in the artwork, therefore creating more questions that can be asked about them.

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