Thursday, December 24, 2015
Saturday, December 5, 2015
20 Frida Kahlo Quotes to Touch the Core of Your Being.
20 Frida Kahlo Quotes to Touch the Core of Your Being.
On July 6th, 1907, Matilde gave birth to a beautiful being who was yet to become the grandest feminist icon in history.
Tags: PATHPublish, DREAMPUBLISH, stumbles
December 04, 2015 at 12:32PM
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on Dec 3, 2015
On July 6th, 1907, Matilde gave birth to a beautiful being who was yet to become the grandest feminist icon in history.
Born Magdalena Carmen Frieda Kahlo y Calderón, she became one of Mexico’s greatest painters.
Kahlo contracted polio at the age of 6, had an almost deadly accident at the age of 18 and went on to marry Diego Rivera, the muralist, and ultimate womanizer.
People who are close to me know the immense place that Frida holds in my heart and in my life. For me, she represents the pain every woman on earth is going through—be it physical, or emotional. Frida has proved to us how strong we can be and how much we can endure.
I empathize with the pain she went through. She suffered from the pain of infidelity. Diego, her comrade, her best friend and the first critic of her art, was never her husband or ‘hers’–-as Frida says. He belonged to many women and mostly he belonged to himself only. This—in return—sent Frida through endless, dire suffering that only the pages of her diary witnessed.
When it comes to art, I am fond of many artists. But never before have I witnessed emotions and thoughts expressed so bluntly and poignantly on a canvas. Not only does Kahlo’s art fascinate me, but also her words. Reading what she said, we can sense the intensity of her agony, yet, at the same time, the greatness of her hope.
Having said that, we can say that Frida is an icon of patience, endurance, and strength:
“Feet, what do I need you for when I have wings to fly?”
“There have been two great accidents in my life. One was the trolley, and the other was Diego. Diego was by far the worst.”
“I paint self-portraits because I am so often alone because I am the person I know best.”
“I used to think I was the strangest person in the world, but then I thought there are so many people in the world, there must be someone just like me who feels bizarre and flawed in the same ways I do. I would imagine her, and imagine that she must be out there thinking of me, too. Well, I hope that if you are out there and read this and know that, yes, it’s true I’m here, and I’m just as strange as you.”
“You didn’t understand what I am. I am love. I am pleasure. I am essence. I am an idiot. I am alcoholic. I am tenacious. I am. I simply am. You are a sh*t, my love.”
“They thought I was a Surrealist, but I wasn’t. I never painted dreams. I paint my own reality.”
“Nothing is absolute. Everything changes, everything moves, everything revolves, everything flies and goes away.”
“I drank because I wanted to drown my sorrows, but now the damned things have learned to swim.”
“I am not sick. I am broken. But I am happy to be alive as long as I can paint.”
“I think that little by little I’ll be able to solve my problems and survive.”
“At the end of the day, we can endure much more than we think we can.”
“I love you more than my own skin.”
“How can I call him my Diego? He never was and never will be mine, he only belongs to himself.”
“Nothing is worth more than laughter. It is strength to laugh and to abandon oneself, to be light.”
“Take a lover who looks at you like maybe you are magic.” ~ Marty McConnel (about Frida Kahlo)
“The only thing I know is that I paint because I need to, and I paint whatever passes through my head without any other consideration.”
“I cannot speak of Diego as my husband because that term, when applied to him, is an absurdity. He never has been, nor will he ever be, anybody’s husband.”
“I leave you my portrait so that you will have my presence all the days and nights that I am away from you.”
“I want to be inside your darkest everything.”
“I hope the exit is joyful and I hope never to return.”
“… and I hope never to return.” Written on the last pages of her diary, Frida bluntly affirms she has no intentions of reincarnating in another lifetime. Her pain was too great to want to experience physical life again. She physically left Diego, her lovers and her friends. But up until today, Frida is still here. She lives in every painting of hers, in every portrait hung on the wall. She lives in the spirit of every woman who is going through miscarriage, physical pain and emotional difficulties.
Frida gives us the hope that we will overcome any calamity we might face. She tells us to laugh, to love hard, to survive no matter what. Frida shows us the importance of drinking tequila, lighting a cigarette and living as if we are dying tomorrow.
Frida Kahlo, a woman, an icon, forever in our hearts.
Viva La Frida!
Relephant:
Frida Kahlo’s Painting that Represents Every Woman, who’s been Hurt.
Author: Elyane Youssef
Editor: Caitlin Oriel
Image: Maria de Oro/Flickr
Tags: PATHPublish, DREAMPUBLISH, stumbles
December 04, 2015 at 12:32PM
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Friday, December 4, 2015
A Practical Solution for Gun Control and How to Make it Happen.
A Practical Solution for Gun Control and How to Make it Happen.
Tags: PATHPublish
December 04, 2015 at 12:32PM
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A Practical Solution for Gun Control and How to Make it Happen.
on Dec 3, 2015
When it comes to gun control, it’s time to stop the resigned sighs of, “There’s nothing we can do about this.”
We can change gun laws starting with the will to do so.
Here’s what we need to do.
Change the Gun Laws.
1. Ban the possession of automatic and semi-automatic weapons.
2. Ban the sale of hand guns.
3. Place a high tax on hand gun ammunition, or ban sale of handgun ammunition.
The Arguments Against These Changes.
1. It’s politically impossible. This argument is based primarily on the power of the NRA, backed up by contributing money to pro-gun politicians. We need to set up a Change Gun Laws PAC that’s sole purpose would be to give money to politicians that support the above changes. These donations would be in amounts equal to or greater than what the NRA will give their opponents.
2. The constitution says everyone can have guns. This means that we need to change the constitution. It’s a “living document.”
3. Hunters and sportsmen need guns. The above changes won’t affect hunters at all, except that they will not be able to “hunt” with automatic and semi-automatic weapons. I hunted as a teenager, with my father. I used a bolt action rifle and a single shot shotgun. If someone is such a lousy shot that they need to spray a deer or a bunny with 30 bullets, they shouldn’t be hunting.
4. What about all the guns that are already out there? This is perhaps the most difficult part. Once the law is implemented, people who own automatic and semi-automatic weapons will have a six month period to hand in these guns and be paid for them. After that, possession of these weapons would mean an automatic five years in prison. At the same time, even after the six month buy out option, people will be able to phone a hot line and give the guns to law enforcement officers without any charges. People with hand guns will have the same six month buyout period. Hand guns could not be sold privately but could be passed on in wills.
The Results.
In the short term, five to 10 years, this plan would eliminate the public possession of automatic and semi-automatic weapons and would greatly reduce the number of hand guns. Over the long term, this plan would drastically reduce the public possession of functional hand guns. Would it stop all gun deaths? No, but it would be a step in the right direction.
Relephant:
Two Mass Shootings in 24 Hours: Welcome to Our New Normal.
Author: Barry Gillespie
Editor: Ashleigh Hitchcock
Photo: flickr/Chuck Coker
Tags: PATHPublish
December 04, 2015 at 12:32PM
Open in Evernote
Thursday, November 26, 2015
Thursday, November 12, 2015
Lie of content marketing
Lie of content marketing
A lighthearted look at how you might be approaching content marketing backwards.
Inbound marketing
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
10 Insights on How Top Marketers Use Twitter - Report - Jeffbullas's Blog
10 Insights on How Top Marketers Use Twitter - Report - Jeffbullas's Blog
Read more at Jeff's blog
There is one big advantage Twitter has over Facebook. It’s not filtered.
That is both a blessing and a curse. It means you can see every tweet as it streams past from your followers. But it can be overwhelming.
That is why using lists and #hashtags are vital to glean the gems from the garbage on Twitter.
The serious application of Twitter by business was ignored for a long time. Bloggers bent their head around it early but it struggled for adoption by bigger brands.
That is changing as the CMOs and marketing managers have worked out its place in the social media universe. Twitter was also its own worst enemy as its management chopped and changed over the years and it delayed rolling out its self service advertising feature.
So how do the top marketers use Twitter?
Read more at Jeff's blog
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
When Companies Start Reading Your Mind | LinkedIn
When Companies Start Reading Your Mind | LinkedIn
It is the dream of most commercial companies to read the mind of their customers. Retailers, for example, would love figure out what products we really like and even more so the ones we are going to buy. Looks like one of the retail giants has figured out how to do that.
Bernard Marr
It is the dream of most commercial companies to read the mind of their customers. Retailers, for example, would love figure out what products we really like and even more so the ones we are going to buy. Looks like one of the retail giants has figured out how to do that.
Amazon.com, the Seattle-based ecommerce giant, has always leveraged data. In one of their latest business moves, the company has obtained a patent to ship us goods before we have even made a decision to buy them, purely based on their predictive big data analytics.
I don’t think that back in 1995 when Jeff Bezos started the company in a garage, he could have imagined that it would one day grow into a Fortune 500 global retail empire. I believe that the key building blocks of Amazon’s success are their ability to use data and an eye for the right innovations and patents.
In the early days, when Amazon was primarily a book retailer, the company was the first to extensively use algorithms so that it could provide recommendations for customers: “Customers who bought this item, also bought this one…”. Today, it uses item-to-item collaborative filtering on many data points such as what users have bought before, what they have in their virtual shopping card or wish list, the items they have rated and reviewed, as well as what other similar users have bought, to heavily customize the customer browsing experience.
Another big coup for Amazon was when it obtained the patent for it’s ‘One Click Buy’ feature. This was pure genius and who would have thought a company could ever get a patent for that.
What Amazon has just done is combine the two (strengths in data analytics and it’s instinct for patenting key features) to obtain a patent for what it calls: Anticipatory Shipping.
What Amazon has patented here is the process of shipping an item to a customer in anticipation that this customer will order that product. This means that Amazon believes the big data analytics insights will become so accurate that it can predict who will order what and when. The reason for this is that Amazon wants to be able to deliver products faster. This is also why it negotiated Sunday deliveries and why Amazon started to experiment with unmanned drones that might deliver our parcels in the future.
Other, more traditional retailers have long used predictive analytics to ensure the right items are in stock, based on past buying patterns as well as social media analytics and weather predictions. What is new here is that Amazon is taking it to a personal level, predicting the items YOU might buy. This is different to a local supermarket stocking items that the people in that community might want to buy.
One problem with anticipatory shipping is that Amazon has to get it right. If their big data algorithms get it wrong, then it could potentially lose the company a lot of money because the logistics costs for shipping the product out and then returning it would be lost. The way Amazon proposes to deal with cheaper unwanted items is to either heavily discount them or give them away as a free gift to build customer ‘good will’.
Another problem with anticipatory shipping is the question about how much a company should be allowed to act on the insights gained from analysing our personal behaviours. For example, my wife bought a pregnancy swimsuit from Amazon as a present for one of her friends who was expecting a baby. The problem was that for the following 9 months or so she had to look at pregnancy related recommendations or watch pregnancy related ads. Just imagine if she had to return all those diapers, baby blankets or baby wipes that a predictive anticipatory shipping algorithm might send in the future!
As a big data guy, I am fascinated by the increasingly accurate predictions commercial companies can make about our behaviours. As a consumer I am excited about the prospect that the stuff I order will be with me quicker, because it will already be on its way before I place my order. But as a private individual, I am getting a little concerned about the power predictive analytics puts into the hands of commercial companies. Especially when companies use additional data, such as the things we say on Facebook or Twitter.
How do you feel about the fact that companies are now getting so confident about 'knowing you' that they can ship stuff before you have ordered them? Do you see it as a scary intrusion of your privacy or simply are great innovation that will make shopping even better? Please share your views...
Here is a nice little video clip explaining Amazon's anticipatory shipping:
-------------------
As always, I really appreciate you reading my post. Here, at LinkedIn, I regularly write about management and technology issues and trends. If you would like to read my regular posts then please click 'Follow' (at the top of the page) and feel free to also connect viaTwitter,Facebook and The Advanced Performance Institute.
Finally, here are some other recent posts I have written:
Monday, November 9, 2015
"Stanislav Petrov’s photo on Google+ http://t.co/3jyFYin4Sg"
“Stanislav Petrov’s photo on Google+ http://t.co/3jyFYin4Sg”
Sunday, November 8, 2015
4 Major Content Marketing Problems (and How to Solve Them) - Relevance
4 Major Content Marketing Problems (and How to Solve Them)
Whether you work in-house or for an agency, you'll have no shortage of challenges in your role as a marketer. You might face marketing problems ranging from a strategy that targets the wrong audience to a lack of respect for marketing within your organization.
Many of the following problems we'll address relate in some way to content, and as content marketers, we're believers in the power of content that's aligned to customer needs – the right message delivered at the right time over the right channel.
1. Time Is Always Against Us
Many marketers feel the pressure of limited resources, whether in budget, staffing, or time allotted for projects. And there's always an emphasis on measuring how tactics affect the bottom line. The result? Many organizations skimp when it comes to content creation – neglecting their blog and not taking the time to create helpful pieces of content that demonstrate thought leadership in their field.
So, the question is how to make the most use of limited resources. Well, you can do this by getting scrappy and mastering the art of content repurposing. Believe it or not, you don't always have to start from scratch; you've probably got existing materials that could be turned into blog posts or combined to make white papers. Learn how to maximize your efficiency by taking a cue from NPR's credo of "Create Once, Publish Everywhere."
2. No Respect, I Tell You
Sometimes a marketing department is like Rodney Dangerfield – not getting enough respect; some executives might view marketing as a black hole for company dollars. These views can come from a variety of reasons, but one of the reasons might be that you're struggling to increase and prove ROI.
If that's the case, it's not enough just to keep your boss or customer happy. You need to improve how you measure the results of your marketing efforts by understanding and communicating the specific metrics that matter for your marketing campaign.
3. Unleash the Experts
Often, your company or client has many subject matter experts who aren't necessarily writers. It's evident to you that it would be beneficial to publish their expertise, but you might not be sure how to accomplish that. There are many ways to encourage non-marketers to contribute, such as clearly articulating your marketing goals, offering writer incentives, holding blog training sessions and providing continuous support. Find ways that work for you, and get your company experts involved.
4. TRADITION!
There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it – nothing will kill a great content strategy and drive a passionate marketer insane quicker than being shackled to the status quo. Your company wasn't built overnight, and neither was Rome. But, if Alexander the Great hadn't been willing to push his army harder than ever before, crossing boundaries and breaking barriers along the way, Rome never would've achieved the magnificent height it did. Be bold in your marketing! Try something different; test it. Do something radical like addressing a public relations problem head on. Admit defeat. Celebrate success. And when somebody tells you "this is the way it's always been done," challenge that notion. Rome wasn't built without taking that first step, and great companies don't become great by standing still.
Did you find this article helpful? What other marketing problems would you like to see addressed? Tell us what you think and what you'd like to see more of in the comments below.
For more ways on how to optimize your content, check out our Blog Post Optimization Guide.
This post was co-written by Dustin Clark and Derek Smith.
Many of the following problems we'll address relate in some way to content, and as content marketers, we're believers in the power of content that's aligned to customer needs – the right message delivered at the right time over the right channel.
Many marketers feel the pressure of limited resources, whether in budget, staffing, or time allotted for projects. And there's always an emphasis on measuring how tactics affect the bottom line. The result? Many organizations skimp when it comes to content creation – neglecting their blog and not taking the time to create helpful pieces of content that demonstrate thought leadership in their field.
So, the question is how to make the most use of limited resources. Well, you can do this by getting scrappy and mastering the art of content repurposing. Believe it or not, you don't always have to start from scratch; you've probably got existing materials that could be turned into blog posts or combined to make white papers. Learn how to maximize your efficiency by taking a cue from NPR's credo of "Create Once, Publish Everywhere."
2. No Respect, I Tell You
Sometimes a marketing department is like Rodney Dangerfield – not getting enough respect; some executives might view marketing as a black hole for company dollars. These views can come from a variety of reasons, but one of the reasons might be that you're struggling to increase and prove ROI.
If that's the case, it's not enough just to keep your boss or customer happy. You need to improve how you measure the results of your marketing efforts by understanding and communicating the specific metrics that matter for your marketing campaign.
3. Unleash the Experts
Often, your company or client has many subject matter experts who aren't necessarily writers. It's evident to you that it would be beneficial to publish their expertise, but you might not be sure how to accomplish that. There are many ways to encourage non-marketers to contribute, such as clearly articulating your marketing goals, offering writer incentives, holding blog training sessions and providing continuous support. Find ways that work for you, and get your company experts involved.
4. TRADITION!
There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it – nothing will kill a great content strategy and drive a passionate marketer insane quicker than being shackled to the status quo. Your company wasn't built overnight, and neither was Rome. But, if Alexander the Great hadn't been willing to push his army harder than ever before, crossing boundaries and breaking barriers along the way, Rome never would've achieved the magnificent height it did. Be bold in your marketing! Try something different; test it. Do something radical like addressing a public relations problem head on. Admit defeat. Celebrate success. And when somebody tells you "this is the way it's always been done," challenge that notion. Rome wasn't built without taking that first step, and great companies don't become great by standing still.
Did you find this article helpful? What other marketing problems would you like to see addressed? Tell us what you think and what you'd like to see more of in the comments below.
For more ways on how to optimize your content, check out our Blog Post Optimization Guide.
This post was co-written by Dustin Clark and Derek Smith.
2015 Content Idea Book - Fresh Thinking from Top Brands
Tags: PATHPublish
November 05, 2015 at 10:32AM
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Saturday, November 7, 2015
Friday, November 6, 2015
Thursday, November 5, 2015
13 Strategies to Simplify Your Life.
13 Strategies to Simplify Your Life.
Tags: PATHPublish
November 05, 2015 at 08:43AM
Open in Evernote
Via Monika Carless on Nov 4, 2015
"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." ~ Clare Booth Luce
If you think that life has become overly hectic and complicated, you're not alone.
Our homes, minds and lifestyles are overflowing with things and stresses.
Was life truly simpler back in the day? I think that every generation believes that things used to be less complicated for generations before them.
Still, we have managed to acquire many time and effort saving gadgets without actually realizing the time they were supposed to save.
I am a purger. I grew up in a family of borderline hoarders. I have an innate drive to clear—not only my home but also my thoughts. Organizing is a pleasurable experience for me. But I realize that it's not like that for everyone. But one step at a time though, it is possible to own less and live more.
There are some things we can do that, although simple, will contribute to our feeling of freedom. How awesome would it be to have more time for exploring the magic of life?
1. Get rid of that extra bank account. Keep the basics, one for savings, one for everyday life. Less paperwork, less aggravation trying to keep it all balanced.
2. Consolidate your debt if possible, and cut up all but one credit card. Keep two at most. If you need more than two, you can't afford your life. Be honest with yourself.
3. Purge those points cards! Keep the ones that actually do earn you significant savings. The other ones are just a temptation to make more purchases. Oh, you'll need a smaller wallet!
4. Get rid of every sock and piece of underwear that have holes, are close to being vapor, or look like they belonged to your granny. Organize that dresser. You'll be happier in the good things you own anyway. Look how much room there is in those drawers. When we rid of old things we clear old energy from years past as well.
5. Unsubscribe from all the e-mail lists you never read and set your computer to clear junk and spam mail regularly.
6. Donate furniture and artifacts that you've been collecting for years and try a minimalist look for a while. Enjoy the extra space in your home. You may not need to move to a larger home after all; there may be ways to retrofit what you have once you've let go of all that clutter. Or you may be able to downsize home and debt even further.
7. Choose a less expensive TV cable package or get rid of it altogether. Read. Go for a walk. Have dinner with friends. The television is an energy vampire. Count up the televisions, computers and telephones in the house. Seriously people! Less is more.
8. Donate good coats and purses to the women's shelter. Keep the ones you actually wear all the time.
9. Organize your closet into the four seasons and recycle or donate everything that doesn't suit you. Admit it, there's lots of that stuff in there.
10. Sell one car and pay down some bills. I've just done this and it takes some getting used to as I live in the countryside, but I can tell you that my bank account has thanked me. When I really need one I can rent for the weekend or carpool with friends. Other times I use the car when my partner is home.
11. Get rid of paper clutter. Keep documents that are still pertinent and shred or burn everything else. Recycle magazines and donate books.
12. Clear your fridge and kitchen cupboards. Simplify your eating habits by concentrating on healthy, real food. Get rid of condiments, ingredients and packaged foods. While you're in the kitchen, throw out all chipped glasses and crockery. Those extra can openers and shot glasses from Vegas and everything else can go, too.
13. Simplify your beauty regime. Stick to basics and as natural products as possible. Throw out old makeup. Sharpen all your eye and lip liners. Wash your brushes. Clear outdated medications.
"I do believe in simplicity. It is astonishing as well as sad how many trivial affairs even the wisest thinks he must attend to in a day; how singular an affair he thinks he must omit. When the mathematician would solve a difficult problem, he first frees the equation of all encumbrances, and reduces it to its simplest terms. So simplify the problem of life, distinguish the necessary and the real. Probe the earth to see where your main roots run. " ~ Henry David Thoreau
Take a look around and breathe. Wow! Your life and your home will be a lot more elegant with just these few changes. If this list seems overwhelming, Invite a friend to help and offer to help them do the same. Or create a list of one change a week.
Quite often when we purge things, we also purge emotions, relationships and old thought patterns. Stay open to changes. Simplifying may turn into a whole new adventure.
Author: Monika Carless
Editor: Caroline Beaton
Image: Wiki Commons/ Pixaby
Relephant:
Monika Carless lives and dreams in her home by a great wood where writing is another word for breathing. A Reiki Master and Holistic Nutritionist, she also follows The Wise Woman Tradition as a solitary witch. She believes in skinny dipping, laughter with friends and moonlit walks as therapy for the human soul. Many passions fire this Scorpio's quest for living as authentically as possible. One of them is supporting the human endeavor to live free of fear and persecution, no matter our path. To this end, Monika has authored an erotica/historical fiction novel, which focuses on having the courage to spend each day walking in our most intrinsic truth. The novel is currently seeking publication. A life well lived, a road less ordinary, and a heart filled with love, is what you'll find her patiently seeking. Connect with her on her Website or via Facebook or Twitter, @MonikaCarless.
Was life truly simpler back in the day? I think that every generation believes that things used to be less complicated for generations before them.
Still, we have managed to acquire many time and effort saving gadgets without actually realizing the time they were supposed to save.
I am a purger. I grew up in a family of borderline hoarders. I have an innate drive to clear—not only my home but also my thoughts. Organizing is a pleasurable experience for me. But I realize that it's not like that for everyone. But one step at a time though, it is possible to own less and live more.
There are some things we can do that, although simple, will contribute to our feeling of freedom. How awesome would it be to have more time for exploring the magic of life?
1. Get rid of that extra bank account. Keep the basics, one for savings, one for everyday life. Less paperwork, less aggravation trying to keep it all balanced.
2. Consolidate your debt if possible, and cut up all but one credit card. Keep two at most. If you need more than two, you can't afford your life. Be honest with yourself.
3. Purge those points cards! Keep the ones that actually do earn you significant savings. The other ones are just a temptation to make more purchases. Oh, you'll need a smaller wallet!
4. Get rid of every sock and piece of underwear that have holes, are close to being vapor, or look like they belonged to your granny. Organize that dresser. You'll be happier in the good things you own anyway. Look how much room there is in those drawers. When we rid of old things we clear old energy from years past as well.
5. Unsubscribe from all the e-mail lists you never read and set your computer to clear junk and spam mail regularly.
6. Donate furniture and artifacts that you've been collecting for years and try a minimalist look for a while. Enjoy the extra space in your home. You may not need to move to a larger home after all; there may be ways to retrofit what you have once you've let go of all that clutter. Or you may be able to downsize home and debt even further.
7. Choose a less expensive TV cable package or get rid of it altogether. Read. Go for a walk. Have dinner with friends. The television is an energy vampire. Count up the televisions, computers and telephones in the house. Seriously people! Less is more.
8. Donate good coats and purses to the women's shelter. Keep the ones you actually wear all the time.
9. Organize your closet into the four seasons and recycle or donate everything that doesn't suit you. Admit it, there's lots of that stuff in there.
10. Sell one car and pay down some bills. I've just done this and it takes some getting used to as I live in the countryside, but I can tell you that my bank account has thanked me. When I really need one I can rent for the weekend or carpool with friends. Other times I use the car when my partner is home.
11. Get rid of paper clutter. Keep documents that are still pertinent and shred or burn everything else. Recycle magazines and donate books.
12. Clear your fridge and kitchen cupboards. Simplify your eating habits by concentrating on healthy, real food. Get rid of condiments, ingredients and packaged foods. While you're in the kitchen, throw out all chipped glasses and crockery. Those extra can openers and shot glasses from Vegas and everything else can go, too.
13. Simplify your beauty regime. Stick to basics and as natural products as possible. Throw out old makeup. Sharpen all your eye and lip liners. Wash your brushes. Clear outdated medications.
"I do believe in simplicity. It is astonishing as well as sad how many trivial affairs even the wisest thinks he must attend to in a day; how singular an affair he thinks he must omit. When the mathematician would solve a difficult problem, he first frees the equation of all encumbrances, and reduces it to its simplest terms. So simplify the problem of life, distinguish the necessary and the real. Probe the earth to see where your main roots run. " ~ Henry David Thoreau
Take a look around and breathe. Wow! Your life and your home will be a lot more elegant with just these few changes. If this list seems overwhelming, Invite a friend to help and offer to help them do the same. Or create a list of one change a week.
Quite often when we purge things, we also purge emotions, relationships and old thought patterns. Stay open to changes. Simplifying may turn into a whole new adventure.
Author: Monika Carless
Editor: Caroline Beaton
Image: Wiki Commons/ Pixaby
Relephant:
About Monika Carless
Tags: PATHPublish
November 05, 2015 at 08:43AM
Open in Evernote
Tuesday, October 13, 2015
Monday, October 12, 2015
Sunday, October 11, 2015
Saturday, October 10, 2015
5 Dead Simple SEO Hacks to Save You Time | Entrepreneur.com
5 Dead-Simple SEO Hacks to Save You Time
February 10, 2014
Let me be very clear, when I talk about “hacking” SEO, I’m talking about saving time and doing things as efficiently as possible. I’d never encourage gray or black hat techniques to game the search engines!
So with that in mind, let’s look at a few ways to speed up the process of performing proper SEO on your site. SEO rules must be followed carefully, but that doesn’t mean that you need to waste time doing things the hard way. The following five hacks will cut back the amount of time you have to spend on SEO while simultaneously improving your natural search performance:
Hack 1: Get keyword ideas from your internal search data. When people search inside your site using your search bar, they’re doing so because the content they’re looking for isn’t immediately apparent. By tracking these searches, you’ve got a supply of fresh new keywords that you know your customers interests will seek. Building content around them automatically pays off in terms of SEO, as you’re helping to satisfy both visitors and the search engines.
Related: Your SEO Checklist: 4 Steps to Optimizing Your Website
The analytics programs of some sites will automatically return this data, but if you have a Wordpress site that doesn’t, take a look at the Search Meter plugin. It’s free to install and will automatically help you uncover the most popular search terms from within your very own website.
Hack 2: Find keyword suggestions using the Google Adwords Keyword Planner. Since most Google Analytics data has turned into “not provided,” you’ve got to get a bit more clever when it comes to getting keyword information from the search giant.
Log into the new Google Adwords Keyword Planner and select the “Search for keyword and ad group ideas” option. Then, enter your site’s URL into the “Your landing page” field, set the targeting option to your country and run your search. The “Keyword ideas” tab that appears will give you a series of phrases Google believes related to your site. Powerful options to target with onsite SEO and content campaigns if you aren’t already.
Hack 3: Add Google Authorship code to your site’s header. There are a few different ways that you can set up and claim Google Authorship (which you really should do for SEO purposes), but the easiest has to be the following:
If you have a Wordpress site, don’t worry about plugins or email confirmations. Instead, just plug the following code into the header.php file of your site (making sure to replace the profile link with your code):
Related: 5 SEO Trends Every Entrepreneur Needs to Know for 2014
Doing so ensures that your profile code will be propagated to all pages of your site – right where Google can find it and give you credit for your efforts.
Hack 4: Submit entire domains to the Disavow Links tool. When the Disavow Links tool first came out, SEOs were super cautious about submitting individual links only. Indeed, it made sense to be cautious before it was known exactly what impact the tool would have on a site’s performance. If the tool immediately devalued any links submitted, cutting off an entire domain could have an unnecessarily widespread impact -- taking down useful links, as well as bad.
However, in a June 2013 video, Matt Cutts, Google’s head of webspam, made it clear that webmasters didn’t need to be too picky about the links they submitted using the tool. Instead of offering individual links, Cutts recommended providing entire URLs -- saving tons of time for formerly nitpicky SEOs.
If a backlink analysis of your site’s inbound links reveals a few negative issues, don’t worry about being selective in your disavowal request. Submitting entire domains is a good SEO practice, and it’s a good time-saver as well.
Hack 5: Combine Javascript tags with Google Tag Manager. Google Analytics, Twitter and Google+ are just a few of the sites that request to install JavaScript code on your site to power certain functionalities. But unfortunately, every one of these snippets that you install slows down your site -- and it’s well-known that slow sites are bad for SEO.
To save the time of requiring your site to fire each snippet individually, take a look at Google’s free Tag Manager tool. Simply enter your code pieces into the tool’s tag generator and you’ll be provided with a site-wide tag that will fire each JavaScript file according to the rules you specify. Once this tag is installed on your site, you’ll see load times decrease immediately compared to your initial on-page configuration.
Related: Simplify Your SEO Program With These 5 Strategies
So with that in mind, let’s look at a few ways to speed up the process of performing proper SEO on your site. SEO rules must be followed carefully, but that doesn’t mean that you need to waste time doing things the hard way. The following five hacks will cut back the amount of time you have to spend on SEO while simultaneously improving your natural search performance:
Hack 1: Get keyword ideas from your internal search data. When people search inside your site using your search bar, they’re doing so because the content they’re looking for isn’t immediately apparent. By tracking these searches, you’ve got a supply of fresh new keywords that you know your customers interests will seek. Building content around them automatically pays off in terms of SEO, as you’re helping to satisfy both visitors and the search engines.
Related: Your SEO Checklist: 4 Steps to Optimizing Your Website
The analytics programs of some sites will automatically return this data, but if you have a Wordpress site that doesn’t, take a look at the Search Meter plugin. It’s free to install and will automatically help you uncover the most popular search terms from within your very own website.
Hack 2: Find keyword suggestions using the Google Adwords Keyword Planner. Since most Google Analytics data has turned into “not provided,” you’ve got to get a bit more clever when it comes to getting keyword information from the search giant.
Hack 3: Add Google Authorship code to your site’s header. There are a few different ways that you can set up and claim Google Authorship (which you really should do for SEO purposes), but the easiest has to be the following:
If you have a Wordpress site, don’t worry about plugins or email confirmations. Instead, just plug the following code into the header.php file of your site (making sure to replace the profile link with your code):
Related: 5 SEO Trends Every Entrepreneur Needs to Know for 2014
Doing so ensures that your profile code will be propagated to all pages of your site – right where Google can find it and give you credit for your efforts.
Hack 4: Submit entire domains to the Disavow Links tool. When the Disavow Links tool first came out, SEOs were super cautious about submitting individual links only. Indeed, it made sense to be cautious before it was known exactly what impact the tool would have on a site’s performance. If the tool immediately devalued any links submitted, cutting off an entire domain could have an unnecessarily widespread impact -- taking down useful links, as well as bad.
However, in a June 2013 video, Matt Cutts, Google’s head of webspam, made it clear that webmasters didn’t need to be too picky about the links they submitted using the tool. Instead of offering individual links, Cutts recommended providing entire URLs -- saving tons of time for formerly nitpicky SEOs.
If a backlink analysis of your site’s inbound links reveals a few negative issues, don’t worry about being selective in your disavowal request. Submitting entire domains is a good SEO practice, and it’s a good time-saver as well.
Hack 5: Combine Javascript tags with Google Tag Manager. Google Analytics, Twitter and Google+ are just a few of the sites that request to install JavaScript code on your site to power certain functionalities. But unfortunately, every one of these snippets that you install slows down your site -- and it’s well-known that slow sites are bad for SEO.
To save the time of requiring your site to fire each snippet individually, take a look at Google’s free Tag Manager tool. Simply enter your code pieces into the tool’s tag generator and you’ll be provided with a site-wide tag that will fire each JavaScript file according to the rules you specify. Once this tag is installed on your site, you’ll see load times decrease immediately compared to your initial on-page configuration.
Related: Simplify Your SEO Program With These 5 Strategies
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5 Dead Simple SEO Hacks to Save You Time | Entrepreneur.com
Friday, October 9, 2015
10 Reasons to Start Looking for a Better Job
10 Reasons to Start Looking for a Better Job
1. You don’t enjoy your work
You wake up every morning without a smile because you have to go again in the place where you don’t want to be and do things you hate doing? Many people take up a vacant position only for money and don’t enjoy their work. This is the main reason to consider changing your job simply because there is no point of spending 1/3 of your life on something you don’t like.2. Lack of understanding with your boss
Your boss often offends you or puts you in an awkward position? He/she is always dissatisfied and never appreciates your efforts? Don’t tolerate it! Quit and let him try to find such a valuable employee like you.3. Bad working conditions and difficult schedule
Working conditions and the time schedule directly affect your ability to work and the quality of life in general. Often have to stay at work till late at night because your boss says so? Do you work all day and all week so that no time remains for yourself and your family and friends? Think about it.4. Small wages
This is one of the most common reasons that make people change jobs. Do you feel that your work is not sufficiently appreciated and you get a small salary? Then, the decision to change your job is the most appropriate in this case.5. Bad relationship with your colleagues
If the people you work with don’t support and don’t appreciate you, then there is no sense to continue working in a team without being a part of it.6. Your work is underestimated
If you feel that you are working hard but nobody notices this, look for a place where your efforts will be appreciated.7. Your opinion isn’t taken into account
Everyone feels important and necessary when his opinion is taken into account. But when a person’s initiatives are suppressed, he feels like being nothing. Do you feel this way? If yes, quitting your current job is the right decision.8. Lack of career prospects
Everything in nature is constantly changing and developing. Human is part of nature, so he also tends to change and evolve. If the work doesn’t give you the opportunities to grow, do you really have to stay there?9. Lack of personal development
This is as a result of the previous case. Career growth is an aspect of personal development, and when you don’t evolve as a personality, at some point you start feeling incomplete and stuck in your life.10. Constant psychological stress and health risks
Maybe health is not the most important thing in life but without health everything is nothing! If your job threatens your life and health – both physical and mental – think twice whether you really need to stay there.Don’t waste a minute on what isn’t your passion. Combat your fears and doubts and start looking for a decent job on a site for job search like trud.co.uk. This is a great system that contains job offers for different types of employment. This service offers a structured format of displaying ads and comfortable search engine.
Thursday, October 8, 2015
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
Friday, September 11, 2015
Thursday, September 10, 2015
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