NewStats: 3,265,325 , 8,186,385 topics. Date: Saturday, 14 June 2025 at 12:55 PM n4l1b

Color is a fundamental aspect of design that can evoke emotions, convey messages, and create visual harmony. For graphic designers, understanding the principles of color theory is essential to creating compelling and effective designs. This post will explore the key concepts of color theory that every graphic designer should know.

The Color Wheel

The color wheel is a visual representation of colors arranged according to their chromatic relationship. Developed by Sir Isaac Newton in 1666, the traditional color wheel consists of 12 colors:

Primary Colors: Red, blue, and yellow. These colors cannot be created by mixing other colors.

Secondary Colors: Green, orange, and purple. These are created by mixing two primary colors.

Tertiary Colors: Six colors formed by mixing a primary color with a secondary color, such as red-orange or blue-green.

Understanding the color wheel helps designers create harmonious color schemes.

Color Harmony

Color harmony refers to the aesthetically pleasing arrangement of colors. Here are a few classic color schemes:

Complementary: Colors opposite each other on the color wheel, such as red and green. This scheme offers high contrast and is often used to make elements stand out.

Analogous: Colors that are next to each other on the color wheel, like blue, blue-green, and green. These combinations are pleasing to the eye and create serene designs.

Triadic: Three colors that are evenly spaced around the color wheel, such as red, yellow, and blue. This scheme is vibrant and offers balance and variety.

Split-Complementary: A variation of the complementary scheme, this uses one base color and the two colors adjacent to its complement, offering high contrast with less tension.

Tetradic (Double-Complementary): Using two complementary pairs, like red and green plus blue and orange. This scheme is rich but can be challenging to balance.

The Psychology of Color

Colors have psychological effects that can influence the perception of a design:

Red: Evokes excitement, ion, and urgency. Often used in sales and clearance promotions.

Blue: Conveys trust, calmness, and professionalism. Common in corporate and healthcare industries.

Green: Symbolizes nature, growth, and tranquility. Frequently used in environmental and health-related designs.

Yellow: Represents happiness, energy, and caution. Used to grab attention and convey optimism.

Purple: Indicates luxury, creativity, and mystery. Popular in beauty and high-end products.

Black: Suggests sophistication, elegance, and power. Used in luxury goods and high-contrast designs.

White: Conveys purity, simplicity, and cleanliness. Often used in minimalist and modern designs.

Color Temperature

Colors are also categorized by temperature, which affects their emotional impact:

Warm Colors: Red, orange, and yellow. These colors are stimulating and can make spaces feel cozy and inviting.

Cool Colors: Blue, green, and purple. These colors are calming and can make spaces feel more spacious and tranquil.

Practical Tips for Graphic Designers

Use Color Intentionally: Every color choice should serve a purpose, whether it’s to evoke an emotion, highlight a specific element, or create a particular aesthetic.

Test on Different Devices: Colors can appear differently on various screens and in print. Always test your designs across multiple platforms to ensure consistency.

Consider Accessibility: Ensure sufficient contrast between text and background to make your designs accessible to people with visual impairments. Tools like WebAIM's contrast checker can help.

Stay Informed About Trends: Color trends can change, influenced by fashion, technology, and culture. Stay updated to keep your designs relevant.

Conclusion

Mastering color theory is crucial for graphic designers aiming to create visually appealing and effective designs.

By understanding the color wheel, color harmony, color psychology, and color temperature, designers can make informed choices that enhance their work.

to use color intentionally, test on different devices, consider accessibility, and stay updated on trends to ensure your designs are both beautiful and functional.
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While hitting the gym and lifting weights, a proper diet is equally important for achieving your fitness goals.

With the right diet and exercise routine, you can achieve your dream body while still enjoying delicious Nigerian cuisine. Here are 5 Nigerian foods that can help you get bigger muscles: read more 👇
https://mryoung.systeme.io/blog/-5-nigerian-foods-that-give-men-bigger-muscles

If you feel that your work life balance is teetering on the edge; isn’t it time to make changes before the problems overwhelm you? Here are my secrets for dealing with overwhelm.

1. Everything is perfect, and there is room for improvement and regaining work life balance. It takes time and energy to resist reality. The foundation managing overwhelm is to accept what is and take it from there.


2. Putter. Puttering orients you in time and space of your life while making mental room for you to notice what really wants to be top priority.
Tip: Set a time limit on puttering if you are worried that you will lose the entire working day to it.


3. Take the attitude that you will, of course, do what is most important, even if you do not yet know what it is or how you will do it. Be curious about what you don’t know how to do rather than worrying about it.


4. Clean house. When your insides are churning with anxiety over multiple commitments, create order outside.
Tip: This seems to work best if you clean with a light heart, though I have worked through some pretty gnarly problems while fiercely scrubbing the kitchen floor!


5. Use every means available. Make plans and act spontaneously. Make lists and do what needs to be done whether or not it is on the list. Managing overwhelm means mingling both direct and indirect ways of moving forward.


6. Be real. However linear or spontaneous, ground your choices in your real life and work experience. It doesn’t make sense to simply ignore a deadline or to pretend that a complex piece of work can be done in 10 minutes.


7. Revise your commitments. Promises are not made to be broken, but some are made to be revised. Act promptly to revise commitments that you cannot or will not keep.


8. First things first. Take time for exercise, prayer, meditation, and simply “defragging” no matter how busy you are. Doing these things first each day enlivens you and gives you the resilience and resourcefulness to do your best.


9. Breathe. First, last, and always, let a rising bubble of anxiety be your reminder to breathe.


Whether or not you own your own business, life is often overwhelmingly rich. I wish you joy in the dance as you move with order and disorder, discipline and insight, gracefully maintaining work life balance.

A list of the Forty Most Common Interview Questions is below, but keep in mind that many other interview questions will be derived from these forty.

When thinking about how you should answer each question, always consider how you can segue into one of your Key Selling Points.


Consider, too, arriving at each interview with a mental list of creative ideas about what you would do in the position if you were hired, which one human resources manager says, “is a great way to impress just about any employer.”


that tact and discretion are of utmost importance in any interview. A common, but tricky question some interviewers ask is, “What other companies are you considering?” Here, you’ll want to be honest, without revealing too much information or indicating to the interviewer that any other job is more appealing than this one.


Other questions that will require lots of diplomacy-and as little negativity as possible-include, “Why did you leave your last job?” and “What would you do differently if you were in charge of this company?”


Finally, keep in mind that your interviewer’s questions may not automatically educe the kind of information she needs to know. In the end, it is up to you-the interviewee-to provide enough details about yourself and your work experience that will satisfy that ultimate question: “Why should we hire you?”

1. What are your career goals?

2. How have your career goals changed over time?

3. If offered this position, how long would you plan on staying with our company?

4. What’s your understanding of the job?

5. What could you bring to this position and to this company?

6. Why do you think you are more qualified than other candidates for this position?

7. Why do you want to work at this company?

8. What salary are you expecting?

9. What would you do differently if you were in charge of this company?

10. Name one of your weaknesses.

11. Name one your strengths.

12. Which areas of your work are most often praised?

13. Which areas of your work are most often criticized?

14. How do you think your last boss would describe you?

15. How do you think a colleague would describe you?

16. How do you think a subordinate would describe you?

17. Walk me through the important points on your resume.

18. Explain to me how your work experience is relevant to this position.

19. Why did you leave your last job?

20. What other companies are you considering?

21. Tell me about your work style.

22. Tell me what your ideal job would be like.

23. What criteria do you use for evaluating success?

24. Do you consider yourself a leader? What qualities make a good leader?

25. Tell me about a problem you’ve encountered on the job and how you dealt with it.

26. Tell me about a situation in which you failed to resolve a conflict.

27. Tell me about an occasion when you acted on someone’s suggestion.

28. Are you willing to travel for this job?

29. Are you willing to relocate for this job?

30. Describe a project that you’re especially proud of. What was your role in this project?

31. Why did you choose your college major?

32. How do you spend your spare time?

33. How do you stay current or up-to-date in this industry?

34. Tell me about a time when you used your creativity to overcome a problem.

35. Which of your skills-technical or otherwise-has most helped you on the job?

36. What new skills have you learned or developed recently?

37. Have you made an oral or written presentation recently? Please describe it.

38. What else should I know about you?

39. What questions do you have for me?

40. Why should we hire you?

This isn't just about saying "no" - it's about saying "yes" to yourself.


Learning to say no is not just about setting boundaries; it's about respecting your own time and priorities. Let's discuss how you can master the art of saying no, without that nagging feeling of guilt, and confidently prioritise what matters most.



It’s your right to say no


First things first, acknowledge that it's perfectly okay to say no. You're not responsible for everyone else's happiness or needs. Saying no doesn't make you a bad person; it makes you a person who knows their limits. Recognising your right to say no is the foundation of doing it guilt-free.


Be clear and direct


When it comes to saying no, clarity is key. You don't have to offer a lengthy explanation or justify your decision. A simple, "I'm sorry, I can't commit to that right now," is enough. Being direct also helps prevent misunderstandings and shows that you're firm in your decision.


Offer an alternative


If you're worried about letting someone down, offering an alternative can ease the blow. For instance, if a friend asks for a favour you can't fulfil, suggest a different way to help. This shows that you still care and are willing to them, just not in the way they initially asked.

Practice makes perfect


If saying no is difficult for you, practice what you want to say beforehand. You can rehearse in front of a mirror or with a trusted friend. This preparation can make you feel more confident when it's time to say no for real.


Don't apologise


While it's tempting to start with "I'm sorry," try to avoid apologising when you say no. Apologising implies that you're doing something wrong, which isn't the case. You're simply making a choice that's best for you. Instead of saying sorry, thank the person for thinking of you or for their offer.


Set your priorities


Knowing what's important to you can make saying no easier. If you're clear on your priorities, you can assess requests against them. Ask yourself, "Does this align with my priorities?" If the answer is no, then you have a solid reason for your decision.


The benefits of saying no

, saying no has its benefits. It can free up time for things that are more important to you, reduce stress, and help you focus on your goals. Recognising these benefits can help mitigate feelings of guilt.

that one to make sense

There are very few people who could call themselves perfect and be right.

There are very few people who could call themselves perfect and be right.


Most of us need to build self confidence today, but the majority just either ignore the issues or concentrate on the negatives: stress, worry, jobs, money problems and relationship issues.


Concentrating on these areas drains our self confidence rather than improving it.


If you could improve your self confidence you could make more money, look and feel better physically, or just be more relaxed with other people.


Below there are five simple techniques that have been proved to help build self confidence today.



1. Talk to yourself. It sounds crazy but it works. All of us have a running monologue constantly in our heads, whether we realize it or not. Everything we see, hear, or touch sparks off an immediate dia our thoughts.


For those who lack confidence this monologue is filled with negative messages many of which are the negative side of adverts from television, radio, ment boardings, newspapers, and just overhearing other people talk.


These negative thoughts literally suck energy from our minds and bodies and block the flow of positive messages. We need to hear the positive messages as they will build self confidence today and raise our self esteem.


Take control. Use your inner thoughts to talk to yourself in a positive manner, as often as you can.


As an example one of my regular sayings is “I like myself, I like myself, I like myself”. I just repeat it for a couple of minutes. It sounds cheesy, but does build self confidence today Try it. I bet that if you go to the mirror right now and repeat out loud “I like myself!” 50 times, it will be impossible to keep from smiling.


2. Dress as smartly and as classily as you can. You wont feel at your best if you don’t look your best. You will be amazed at just how much more confidence you will have just looking your best.


It just feels good when you are wearing your best clothes, are well groomed, and are surrounded by a clean environment.


So what if it is Saturday, you need to build self confidence today not next week.


Put on your nice clothes, get the car washed, style that hair! A hairdresser once told me “Everyday is show time!”


3. Increase your self esteem even more by giving thanks to what you are, how you look, and what you are doing. Say “thank you” to yourself to everything you see, all whom you meet, and each smile that you receive.



4. Stand or sit correctly: How you stand sends out a message to the World, and in turn, back to you. This results in improving how you feel about yourself and will build self confidence today and every day.


There is scientific evidence that shows how posture affects our mood. Do not slouch. Slouching produces a down mood.


By slouching you are telling the world and yourself it doesn’t matter, you don’t matter. Standing tall and upright will actually lift your mood. Help build up your confidence by pulling back those shoulders, stop that slouch, and walk proud.


5. Smile. Just smile and things seem better somehow. Practice smiling regularly and get your facial muscles used to the physical act of smiling.

Go to the mirror and smile make yourself. Not a grimace, but a proper smile. If you don’t think you can try this:


1)Open your eyes as wide as you can (try and get your eyebrows right up to you hair line)

2)Slightly open your mouth

3)Pull the corners of your mouth back towards your ears (If your not sure pull them back with your fingers so you know what it feels like then try again without your fingers).

4)Repeat 50 times. Get your facial muscles used to smiling and you will smile more and encourage smiles from others.


This will make you feel happier and with that you’ll build self confidence today.

Selling can be challenging because it involves a complex process of human behavior and cognition. Whether you're selling a digital product online or you run a brick-and-mortar business, these few tips will work for you.


They'll help you drive more visitors into your marketing funnel and convert casual visits into sales.



1. Sell Yourself Before Selling a Product: You're a product, and like any product , yo have to successfully communicate the value of the product. Until that happens, you'll find it difficult to sell your actual product or services. Before anybody is going to buy from you or your company, they've got to buy the idea that you're somebody worth working with. In other words, just like a job candidate, your first task is always selling yourself.


It's simple: Become ionate about your product.



When you're selling yourself, you're not concerned about the money. Your responsibility is to educate other human minds as you convey your brand's core message.



Learning how to sell yourself first is critical to your success. No matter what product you're offering for sale, do your best to connect with and communicate your core brand values to your prospects.



2. Build Interest and Desire With Features and Benefits: Sell the benefits, not the features. Whether you're selling via email, direct mail or social selling, highlight the benefits as well as the features of your product.



Starting with the strongest benefits of your product will reassure customers that you care about them , not just their money. Selling with benefits means that you're transparent with your customers.



Dan Kennedy wrote sales copy that generated over $10 million in sales over the years. It's the same with Eben Pegan, Frank Kern and several top digital entrepreneurs.



These people were successful because they focused on benefits, not features. Successful selling boils down to one thing: showing your customers how your offer/product meets their needs.



However, in order to avoid misleading prospect and customers, you have to start by building interest with features, then you increase their desire for your product with benefits



When people are searching for a solution to meet their needs, what their brain function is actually looking for is a feature that appeals to them.



Customers are happy to spend money on product that'll make their lives better.



3. Use Influence to Drive Value: Influence is your ability to persuade others to adopt your own perspective, e.g. you believe in your product(online course, eBooks, software) so you naturally want others to believe in it too.



Your ability to persuade others in this way by appealing to their emotions will increase your sales. Influential people tend to sell more product, not because they've created the best product, but because over the years, they've built credibility. People trust their opinions.



4. Sell The Result: Sell the result by painting a clear picture, If you don't do that consistently, you'll likely struggle to acquire qualified leads and increase conversion and revenue.


These days, most of us are selling to a new generation of customers, The Millennials, Millennials are a unique set of people born between 1982 and 2000 and making up 26% of the world's population. Over 23% of millennials hold a bachelor's degree or higher, making them the most educated generation in history. Even if today's customers haven't graduated college, they do know what they're after in a product.

Do you know You can venture into tech right now and be successful at it and change your life forever. It doesn't matter who you are,where you are or what you don't have,as long you have a phone, a laptop and you are determined to achieve success and taste a life without worrying about money then you too can cashout from tech in a big way.

All these tech guys aren't doing anything magical, they just have what you don't . You too can become a tech person, If you're seeing this, it is sign for you to switch to tech.

Tech is not all about coding, have you heard about Data Analysis,even in Nigeria if you do your research you'd find that Data Analyst make a lot of money.
Data Analysis is a valuable tech skill for everybody, and it's reward is unending.

👇↗️
https://mryoung.systeme.io/15a17a7e

Each of us has the power to be creative. It's part of our natural make-up as human beings. The trouble is that, too often, we block our natural creativity and so make errors in thinking and give ourselves more problems than we should.

Here are 7 ways to open up your natural creativity and keep the channels unblocked.


1. Don't Make Assumptions: When we assume, we often make an "ass" out of "u" and "me". Assumptions are examples of lazy thinking. We simply don't wait to get all the information we need to come to the right conclusions.


There is the story of the customer at the bank who after cashing a cheque and turning to leave, returns and says: "Excuse me, I think you made a mistake." The cashier responds, "I'm sorry but there's nothing I can do.


You should have counted it. Once you walk away we are no longer responsible." Whereupon the customer replies: "Well, okay. Thanks for the extra $20."


Tip: When you feel yourself wanting to draw conclusions, just wait until you have all the information.


2. See Things From Other Points Of View: A truly open mind is willing to accept that, not only do other people have other just as valid points of view from theirs, but that these other points of view may be more valid.


A story is told that the modernist painter Pablo Picasso was once traveling on a train across Spain when he got into conversation with a rich businessman who was dismissive of modern art.


As evidence that modern art didn't properly represent reality, he took out a photo of his wife from his wallet and said: "This is how my wife should look, not in some silly stylized representation." Picasso took the photo, studied it for a few moments and asked: "This is your wife?"


The businessman proudly nodded. "She's very small," observed Picasso wryly.

Tip: Don't have a monopoly on how things are. Things aren't always what they seem. Be ready to consider other points of view.


3. Avoid Yo-Yo Thinking: Some people tend to have a tendency to swing from a highly positive mood one minute to a highly negative one the next, all because of what they see in front of them. It's like a yo-yo: up one minute, down the next. It's far more healthy to stay neutral and not let emotions get the better of you.

Tip: that things are rarely as good - or as bad - as you think they are.


4. Get Rid Of Lazy Thinking Habits: Habit can be a major stumbling block to clear thinking and another example of laziness.


Try this experiment. Write down the Scottish surnames Macdonald, Maherson, and Macdougall and ask someone to pronounce them. Now follow these with the word

Machinery and see what happens.


Most people are likely to mis-pronounce it. This is because we tend to think in habitual ways and don't like what doesn't fit.


Tip: Don't think that, just because things happened in a certain way once before, that they will happen like that again.


5. Don't Think Like An Old Person, Think Like A Child:

Research shows that the number of synapses, or connections, in the brain is greater in a child of two than in an average adult.


The reason for this is that, while a child of two has no limiting world view, as adults we do. It's like a sculptor who starts off with a large block of clay, more than he needs, and then gradually removes the clay as he molds his sculpture.


If we use our brain like a child, accepting everything without judgment, we can actually halt and reverse the brain ageing process.


Tip: Don't worry about the myth of age. With the right stimulus and a ion for learning, you can actually improve your brain's powers.


6. See The Detail As Well As The Big Picture: You may know the poem by John Godfrey Saxe called "The Blind Men and the Elephant". This tells how six blind men of Indiana go to see an elephant and each try to work out what it is from touching it.


One blind man touches the tusk, another the trunk, another the tail, and so on. Of course, not being able to see the whole elephant, they come to wildly different conclusions.


Tip: Try to keep the big picture in front of you while looking at details. It will help to put everything in its proper place and context.


7. Think For Yourself: Taking time out to think is still frowned on in many organizations that prize activity over creativity.


People who work in creativity-constrained organizations are likely to think the way they are supposed to think, or as others think, or as has always been the way to think. It's like the blinkered thinking that Hans Christian Anderson describes in his story of "The Emperor's New Clothes".


Everyone in the land refuses to see that the emperor is naked and has been duped into believing he is wearing a splendid costume for his coronation.


Only a young boy who has been ill and not party to the cultural brainwashing can see the truth and cries out: "Look, everyone, the Emperor is wearing no clothes!"


Tip: Don't let others tell you how to think. When others ask your opinion, tell it to them straight.


Once you make these 7 techniques part of your habitual thinking patterns, you will amaze yourself with how easy it is to come up with fresh, innovative and creative solutions to all of life's problems.

It’s amazing what a well-written and nicely presented resume can do for your job search. Before you send yours out, follow this checklist to ensure you are sending out an excellent quality representation of yourself.

1. Grammar, spelling, punctuation - Use the grammar and spell check function, then print it out and read the document word for word. Spell checker doesn’t know that you meant "manager" when you actually typed "manger."


2. Capitalization - Use a manual such as the Gregg Reference Manual if you do not know capitalization rules.


3. Punctuation - Check for proper use of commas and semi-colons. Again, if you are unsure, refer to the Gregg Reference Manual.


4. Run-on sentences - Check to make sure you do not have run-ons that are hard to read.


5. Consistency - You must be consistent with your number usage (dates, money, numbers), plurals, and abbreviations. For example, don’t list one date as 8/2004 and then list another date as 3/15/2004.


Also, be aware of listing software consistently (abbreviation use). MS Word and Microsoft Outlook are both correct, but not consistent.


6. Education section - When you have a degree, list only the year that you obtained your degree.


When you list your dates, (i.e.: 9/1998 to 1/2002) many resume-scanning systems will not recognize that you obtained a degree, only that you attended college for a period of time.


7. Ampersands - Ampersands (& do not belong on a resume. There are a few exceptions. One exception is a well-known company name (AT&T). Another exception is well-known industry (P&L).


8. Hyperlinks - All e-mail and web addresses that you list need to be deactivated in your resume.


To do this in MS Word, highlight the link, go to the "Insert" drop down menu, scroll down to and click "Hyperlink", and on the lower left-had side of this screen there should be a little button that says "Remove link", when you find it, give it a little click and voila! Alternatively, you can highlight the link, right click on it, and scroll down to "remove link" to deactivate the link.

To get optimal listings in search engine and directory queries, keywords and key concepts must be placed strategically throughout your web pages. To summaries, you need these words and phrases in:

To get optimal listings in search engine and directory queries, keywords and key concepts must be placed strategically throughout your web pages. To summaries, you need these words and phrases in:


1. Title tags


2. Meta-tags (keywords and descriptions)


3. Headings (if used)


4. Body text, and


Alt-attribute in the image source tags

When online marketing professionals optimize a web site for search engine and directory queries, they should not spend most of their time redeg the layout (in HTML) or submitting the site to the search engines.


Most of their time should be spent on researching, writing good copy that will index well in search engines, and writing thorough, accurate descriptions for directory submissions.


Good web copy must contain well-researched and varied keywords and key concepts based on a web page's topic; accurately reflect the web pages' content; and be strategically placed throughout a web page as mentioned above.


Most sales and advertising "fluff" should be eliminated.


Here's an example (and one of our pet peeves). How many of you have seen this scam, "Put your printed brochure on the web!" Print advertising copy contains a lot of "fluff" phrases such as "service that is second to none." Search engine analysis? "Service" is a stop word in some search engines and will be ignored in a search query. "Second to none?" How many people do you know really search using that phrase? When we are looking for something on the web, we are going to type in exactly the type of product or service we are looking for, not sales and advertising "fluff."


Web copywriting should contain keywords and key concepts without all the "fluff." Web copy has to flow and be strategically placed to get your web pages ranked well in search engine and directory queries. Your potential customers will also appreciate being able to find what they are looking for as quickly and easily as possible. That's just good customer service.


The one time that web copywriting is extremely important is your site submission to Yahoo. Although Yahoo reserves the right to change or modify the site description you send them, if you can submit a well-written description containing your most important keywords and key concepts without word stacking, Yahoo will likely keep most of your description intact.


Good copywriting is a necessary element of both online and offline marketing. If you do not have experience in writing good copy for the web, we recommend that you hire an online marketing consultant to initially write the copy for you. Then you can learn from the copy you paid for. The more practice you get at web copywriting, the better you will get at it.

Seth Godin, the famous marketing guru, once said, "Ideas that spread, win." He's right about that, especially on the internet where websites that get more valuable with each new can spread extremely quickly.

Some of the largest, most successful websites online today got that way because they were inherently viral. Facebook and Twitter are the obvious examples, but less popular examples include Hotmail, Zynga, and Tagged.com.


When virality is done right, it results in lots of s and, ultimately, lots of revenue.

But there's a code to crack, some sort of mystic art or science to the whole process--right?


In this blog post, I'm going to pull back the curtain on viral website marketing and take the mystery out of how others have done it successfully and how you can too.


Study What Has Worked in the Past. I mentioned Facebook, Twitter and a few other examples at the beginning of this post.


Check out ProductPlanner.com for a visual, step-by-step overview showing the invitation / flow of all the most popular services that have grown virally by new s inviting other s.


Also, don't plan to be the next Facebook. Instead, be original, be different. Facebook is Facebook, not what your product or service should be.


Plan out your "viral loop." Draw out the steps for how virality will occur on your website. For example: person gets invite, person clicks link, person signs-up up, person imports email address book, person invites friends, and so on. Product Planner also allows you to plan out your loop visually.

Make sure there's a clear incentive. Without a good reason to spread your website or your content, your website traffic and s will not grow.


For instance, if you write a blog and your content is extremely valuable and original for the target audience that's reading it, visitors will use that "Tweet Button" that you have floating next to the post.


But that's not a very powerful incentive to share, at least not as powerful as it is with Skype.


With Skype, the service becomes inherently more valuable the more of your friends or s that are on it.


Hence, you have to get your friends to for the service in order to increase its value to you.


It's all about the numbers. There's no way to know if your website is growing virally unless you pay attention to the rate at which people share your content or invite others to the website.


One recommendation is to calculate the "viral coefficient." This is the number of invitations sent out per visitor on your website multiplied by the rate.


Refine the process. Finally as you watch the numbers and observe people sharing or inviting others to your site, keep experimenting with new ideas.


By adding or removing sharing-related features, changing the wording of your invitation process, or by removing steps from the viral loop.


With each change go back and study the numbers and observe whether or not the viral rate of sharing or s have increased.

Every job has stress, but the workplace environment can seem almost unbearable when working for an over-demanding or unfair boss.

You dont have to like your boss, but you do need to be able to co-exist and co-operate with him for you to be productive and successful at your job.


Other than a change taking place, as I discussed in the article Unhappy at Work? A Change is Coming, there is no perfect solution for dealing with a difficult boss, but here are five suggestions that might make your situation a little less painful.


#1) Think of your boss as a parent and you as his teenage child.


This sounds silly at first, but the relationship between you and your boss is very similar to that between a parent and child. Teenagers often have problems with authority and experience disagreements with their parents.

Meanwhile, parents often create rules the child believes to be unfair. If the situation gets bad enough, as soon as the child is old enough he finds a way to move out and make it on his own.


Parents arent perfect and neither are bosses – both will make mistakes.


#2) Do the absolute best job you can.

Sometimes the child misbehaves.


J. Paul Getty once said, The employer generally gets the employees he deserves.


Make sure you are the type of employee you would want working for you if you were the boss. I know this goes against the notion of revenge and tucking it to an unfair boss whenever possible, but by doing the best job possible you give the unfair boss less ammunition he can use to make your life miserable.


He also might think twice about upsetting one of his better employees when there are plenty of other, easier targets he can take aim at.


Dont draw attention to yourself. Unless you are the only one your boss has it in for, there should be plenty of others to draw his wrath away from you. Let someone else wear the target on their back.


#3) Learn all that you can from an unfair boss.


We can learn something from everyone we come into with.


While from a good boss we can learn good management techniques, it is also true that from a poor boss we can learn how not to act.


Dont just suffer, gain something from the situation that will benefit you in the future. Watch how your boss handles different situations and make a mental note of which techniques worked and which failed.


#4) Forget about yesterday.

Yesterday is history, its over with.


Try not to let your issues from yesterday spoil today. Instead, start each day with a new, positive outlook, telling yourself that today is going to be better.


Sometimes we get into a rut, expect the worse and act accordingly – we subconsciously force a person (in this case, our boss) to act the way we expect him to act. Make sure you are not unintentionally adding fuel to the fire.


Starting each day with a fresh slate is the best way to get past previous differences. Holding onto a grudge only hurts yourself.


#5) Take responsibility.

Dont expect someone else to end your suffering.


Complaining is easy, but it accomplishes very little. Worrying about a problem wont make it go away while losing sleep and dwelling on an issue only makes it seem worse.


You will never be happy if you are focusing on worry. If you are truly in a situation that is causing you pain, you need to begin taking steps to improve the situation.


The Roman Philosopher Sallust said, Every man is the architect of his own fortune.


Have you actually looked for another job? Have you tried to improve your skills through in-house training, adult learning centers, books or correspondence courses? Even the smallest step in the right direction is progress.


An obstinate boss wont change his ways, but you can improve your own skills. Why not let your difficult boss be the motivation you use to better yourself?

Just as businesses need to be focused and efficient to thrive and succeed, so too does the primary tool of most businesses — the business letter.

It’s quite amazing how often business people fail to follow basic guidelines when it comes to writing their business correspondence. Just as businesses need to be focused and efficient to thrive and succeed, so too does the primary tool of most businesses — the business letter.



It’s quite amazing how often business people fail to follow basic guidelines when it comes to writing their business correspondence. That might explain why so many people come to my writing help Web sites looking for help with their business letter writing. Just as businesses need to be focused and efficient to thrive and succeed, so too does the primary tool of most businesses — the business letter.


Following are a number of tips and guidelines that I have compiled while reading and writing many hundreds of business letters over the past years.


1. Limit Them To One Page

By definition, business letters should be short and to the point, preferably one page in length. Studies have found that busy business people do not like to read beyond the first page, and will actually delay reading longer letters. So, if you don’t want your letter to gather dust in an in-basket, keep it as short as possible.


2. Be Reader-Friendly

Always try to focus on the needs of the reader and make an effort to see things from their perspective. Put yourself in their position and imagine what it would be like for you to be receiving your letter. Anyone can do this, since we are all “customers” of some other business in some part of our lives.


3. Keep The Tone Formal And Factual

Generally speaking, the tone and content of business letters should be formal and factual. Feelings and emotions do not have a place in business letters. So, avoid phrases like “we feel” and use “we believe” or “we think” instead. A cordial, friendly approach is fine. Just keep it businesslike, but avoid overly formal like “heretofor”, “as per”, “herewith”, etc.


4. Carefully Plan Your Letter

Before writing the letter, take a few minutes to list all of the specific points you need to cover. Sometimes it may even mean a phone call to the recipient or his/her company to confirm a specific point. , the purpose of the letter is to tie up all of the details on the subject at hand, so that more letters won’t have to be written back and forth.


5. Make It Clear, Concise And Logical

Use a clear and direct writing style that uses simple words and straightforward phrases. Make sure that your flow follows a logical progression, first identifying the main subject, elaborating on it, and then drawing the logical conclusion.


6. Accuracy And Timeliness Are Key

By their very nature, business letters need to be accurate and timely. They almost always have financial implications and related impacts on other businesses and/or people. Double-check all of the facts stated in the letter, and make sure that any future dates specified give others enough time to realistically complete what is expected of them.


7. Relegate Technical Details To Attachments

Often it is necessary to include detailed technical information as part of a business letter package. In such cases, use the main letter as a cover letter that lists and briefly explains and references the attached (or enclosed) documents.


8. Use Non-Discriminatory Language

Make sure that you avoid language that is specific to gender, race, or religion in all business letters, either to other businesses, or to customers. For example, use “workforce” instead of “manpower”, or “chairperson” rather than “chairman”. Most style guides contain detailed lists of the offensive and some suggested substitutes.


9. Eliminate Redundant Words And Phrases

There are certain words and phrases that one often sees in business correspondence that tend to make the language more complicated and cumbersome than necessary. For example, instead of the phrase “in spite of the fact that” use “although”, or instead of “in the normal course of events” use “normally”. There are many such redundant phrases, so review your letter and eliminate them.


If you are running any type of business in which business letters are important communication tools, you would do well to take careful heed of the above tips and advice.


, the business correspondence that you issue is a direct reflection of the overall products and/or services offered by your business. Poorly-written, amateurish, and/or shoddy business letters will surely result in lost sales.

Effective business networking is the bringing together of like minded individuals who, through relationship building, become walking, talking ments for one another.

Keep in mind that networking is about being bona fide, building trust, and seeing how your relationship can genuinely help others.


1. Always figure out before you even walk into a room, what your specific goals are in attending each networking meeting. This helps you to pick groups or associations that will help you get what you are looking for.


2. Ask open-ended questions during your networking conversations, questions that ask who, what, where, when, and how. Try to avoid questions that require a simple yes or no response. By using this line of questioning you can open us the discussion and show listeners that you are interested.


3. Become a walking resource centre. When you become known as a strong resource, others to turn to you for suggestions, ideas, names of other people, etc. This keeps you at their “top of mind”.


4. Make sure you have your “elevator speech” prepared and know it like the back of your hand. An elevator speech is the commonly known as the response you would give in the amount of time it would take to reach the tenth floor in an elevator. Always rehearse your spiel and be genuine, so that you don’t sound automated when you relay it to someone who asks what you do.


5. Always know what is going on in current affairs, if you don’t feel comfortable just rolling into a spiel when you first meet someone, have a back up topic to break the ice until you do.


6. Never just throw your business card at someone the minute you meet them, you must get to know the person and their business as well as explaining your business before you even contemplate a business card exchange. Some people will find you rude, pushy and unprofessional which will in turn reflect badly on your business.


7. Always phone or email your new s and let them know that you enjoyed meeting them. If possible mention things that you discussed on a more personal note (i.e. I hope you enjoyed that movie you were going to see that night.) people will come to know you as someone who listens, re them and they will form a trust with you.


8. The most important thing to is to follow through quickly and efficiently on referrals you are given. When people give you referrals, your actions are a reflection on them. Respect and honor their trust and your referrals will grow exponentially.