MS Early Childhood Association

Should I Go Back to School? 4 Questions to Help You Find Your Answer

You’re driving home from yet another get-together to celebrate a friend’s promotion at work, and it’s left you wondering why everyone around you seems to be climbing the career ladder while your job has been stagnant for years. You know you’re good at your job, but you can’t seem to prove to your boss that your contribution is worth a promotion.

It seems like a no-brainer that earning a degree will also earn you a promotion or allow you to transition to a career with more advancement opportunities. But you still second-guess yourself every time you ponder returning to school. How can you know for sure that investing in your education is the right move for you?

While there’s no crystal ball that will predict your career future, there are some strategic questions you can ask yourself to decide whether going back to school is your best option. We’ve rounded up insights from other college grads who’ve grappled with this question. Learn from their experiences with these four questions to help you decide if you should go back to school.

4 Questions to help you decide if you should go back to school

1. Is your motivation for returning to school clear

Going back to college is a big undertaking. Pursuing higher education requires making sacrifices and spending long hours studying when you might prefer to be watching Netflix. You’ll be more likely to succeed if you have a strong motivation pushing you forward.

“Find your ‘Why?’ and you’ll never worry about finding motivation,” says Jacob Murphy, a business owner at GPS Tracking Made Easy and a CT and MRI technologist. Murphy found motivation in being a good role model for his kids, but he encourages others to uncover a “Why?” that means something to them.

It could be fulfilling a childhood dream of earning a college degree—proving to yourself and others that you have what it takes or gaining confidence in your industry-specific skills and abilities. Doing some soul searching to uncover your inner “Why?” can be the most important step you take in deciding whether or not to go back to school.

2. How will this degree program help you accomplish your goals

No matter what your underlying motivation is, chances are you’ve got some concrete goals you’d like to accomplish by earning your degree. Maybe you want to pivot into the new career you’ve been dreaming of for years, or maybe you want to stay at your current workplace but have more opportunities for career advancement or salary increases. Knowing your career goals will help you make wise decisions about continuing your education.

Not all degree programs are created equal. “Investigate how [your] proposed degree plan will meet the criteria and standards set out by certification and licensing bodies,” advises Christopher Gerhart, who has gone back to school to complete both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree. “It would be a shame to spend a lot of time and money on a degree that does not improve your career.”

Narrowing down specific career goals will help you determine if going back to school is the best way to accomplish them or if there are other paths that might be a better fit for you. If you do decide that college is the right choice, then keep those goals in mind when selecting a specific degree program to ensure that you get the most bang for your buck.

3. Do you have the time and money to commit to your education

Achieving a college degree requires both time and money—two valuable resources that not everyone is willing or able to give up. “I try to be very careful about how I balance school, business and being a dad and husband,” Murphy says. “You will have to give up some things in your life now in order to stay properly balanced.”

Conventional wisdom has it that for every college credit you take, you should plan on studying for two to three hours per week in addition to the time you spend in class. Staying organized and being willing to sacrifice certain hobbies or activities can help you make room for college in your schedule, but if this sounds completely unrealistic, you may want to reevaluate if this is the best time for you to jump into a degree program.

And what about money? College has a reputation for being expensive, but it doesn’t have to be. Don’t forget to look into financial aid programs and scholarships for ways to make education more affordable. You can even ask your company if they’d be willing to finance a portion of your education if the skills you’ll gain are applicable to your current job. Once you’ve gathered all the numbers, you can do the math to find out if college is an affordable option for you right now.

4. How do you learn best

You may envision your college career as taking place behind the ivy-covered walls of an aging brick building, but there are plenty of alternative options for earning a degree thanks to today’s technology. Many colleges offer flexible options like online courses or night schedules that can help you squeeze your classes into your busy schedule.

Online courses in particular can be a saving grace for students who are juggling a family and a full-time job. Staying motivated and organized can be a challenge for online learners, but it can be done. “I did a blend of [online and traditional coursework], and it worked out well for me,” Gerhart says.

Before you can take advantage of these different learning environments, you need to understand how you learn best. “Are you someone that can learn at a distance, or do you need ‘butt-in-chair’ instruction?” asks Gerhart. Be honest with yourself about how much structure, social interaction and in-person communication with instructors you need in order to feel supported in your learning. Knowing your learning style will help you make a smart decision about how to make college fit into your life.

Should I Go Back to School?

So, I found an eight-week intensive class at a local broadcasting school that would teach me the basics before I went out to practice in a work setting. I had done my research, and I knew if I could just make the right connections and prove my talent, my degree wouldn’t matter.

Don’t just assume you have to go back to school to do the job you want to do. Do your research. And if you’re still not sure what’s required, don’t look to a job posting or a well-meaning neighbor to tell you what you need. Talk to professionals who are already working in that field or the ones making hiring decisions.

Because in case you haven’t noticed, HR culture is changing. More and more companies are dropping any form of degree requirement from their job postings. 2 That should give you hope!

Now, there are still some dream jobs out there that do require going back to school. Let’s take a quick detour to talk about the few careers that do require an advanced education.

Source:

https://www.rasmussen.edu/student-experience/college-life/should-i-go-back-to-school/
https://www.ramseysolutions.com/career-advice/back-to-school-for-dream-job
https://www.studenomics.com/after-college/back-to-college/

How Much Does A Ghostwriter Cost?

By The Word

In construction, estimates and bids are often made based on the number of square feet involved in the project. It’s a quick way for the contractor to assess and get a pretty accurate estimate. In ghostwriting, providing an estimate or bid based on word count is similar. Some ghostwriters provide an estimated range for the work based on word count. It’s understood upfront that if word count comes in above or below that the cost may change.

But it depends on the agreement. Sometimes, a fixed limit may be put on the top end of the word count where the ghostwriter must request permission before continuing with the project beyond a certain word count.

By The Hour

Many professionals, such as attorneys, often charge by the hour. Some ghostwriters provide their services this way. This can account for differences in projects including aspects that are out of the control of the ghostwriter. For example, one client may want to pay for extra time speaking on the phone with their ghostwriter where another client may want to avoid this effort and cost.

By The Project

Some ghostwriters, usually after years of experience, have enough understanding and comfort in their craft to provide cost by the project. They determine the basis of the requirement for the project and provide their quote. The basis may include a word count range, a page range, a certain number of calls, a certain number of revisions, etc.

Are Revisions Charged Separately?

Depending on the type of work, a certain number of revisions are usually built into the fee. Beyond this agreed upon number, a price is usually set upfront for any additional rounds of revisions.

Experienced ghostwriters usually know what to expect for the number of revisions for certain projects. They know that some clients will require just a few revisions while others will require more. They build protections for themselves should the revision requests reach a certain number.

When hiring a freelance ghostwriter, it’s important to ask about revisions. What number is included in the price and/or how much do additional revisions cost. It’s also good to ask for examples of how revisions have worked in the past for the ghostwriter with their other clients.

Why so expensive?

Ghostwriting projects can take six months to a year to complete. Research and fact-checking will likely be needed — dates and timeline, ancestry, vital records, and interviews with family members and corporate players, etc. There may be boxes of documents to go through, transcripts to read, court records, letters, interviews with key people, and other efforts required to capture your authentic story.

Then there’s the writing itself — yes, ghostwriters can invest six months to a year — perhaps longer — while penning a compelling narrative, capturing your voice, and creating a manuscript that does your story justice.

There’s also the back and forth across time zones. I write for clients throughout the U.S., including Hawaii, and also for authors in Canada, Australia, and Europe. I cater to their time zones, not vice-versa. Therefore, when an author needs to correspond with me, I’m available regardless of where in the world the author may be.

I also add value to each project — decades of publishing experience, guidance, best practices, assistance with query letters and the search for an agent, and self-publishing advice for authors who wish to forego the traditional publishing route. This is included in my quote.

How Does a Ghostwriter Charge?

Most ghostwriters ask for a flat fee for the full project, paid either fully as once or broken down into milestones. Some, on the other hand, charge per word written or per hour worked. It’s important for anyone hiring a ghostwriter to consider these payment options to better gauge the value of the service.

Flat Fee

Some ghostwriters, usually experienced ones, charge a flat fee that accounts for the entire project. This rate is based on several things, which are determined by initial discussions about the work, timeline, and deliverables. It also often includes computations for legwork, revisions, etc.

This fee can be paid like a regular salary, either twice or once a month for the duration of the project timeline. It can also be paid out based on milestones, wherein the author receives payment after finishing certain tasks or content sections.

Per Word or Per Hour

There is a selection of ghostwriters who charge per word or hour. However, some writers might get the wrong motivation in this set-up, adding more text or taking their time to get more compensation. If this is the way you plan on paying out your writer, it’s important to set limits on word count and work hours to make sure that you pay based on your budget.

Source:

https://ddiy.co/ghostwriter-cost/
https://melaniesaxtonmedia.com/2020/09/03/ghostwriting-fees/
https://www.guru.com/blog/how-much-do-ghostwriters-cost/

Excellent writing skills

No matter who you write for – whether you work through a copywriting agency, in-house, or independently – one of the key skills you must have as a copywriter is to write to an excellent standard. That doesn’t just include knowing your UK spelling from your US or being gramatically correct; it also means being able to steer clear of cliches and use the best words in the right order for the subject you’re writing on and the audience you’re addressing.

Remember, you are being employed specifically for your capabilities of combining words together in the most fluent, nuanced, articulate and inspiring way. If you aren’t able to do this, it will simply lead to disappointed customers, a lot of wasted time spent on edits and re-writes, and a less than profitable use of your free hours. It’ll also make it probably feel like an arduous and unpleasant task to fulfil.

Excellent writing doesn’t always mean long words and complicated sentences. As Copyblogger notes, “Good salesman are not verbose. They do not use fancy words. They speak like an aged rural sheriff. Calm, confident, and kind. They are patient, good listeners, and fantastic storytellers. Each word is pronounced properly. Each story is trimmed of excess. It’s a spell-binding time spent with a good salesman. In fact, you don’t even know you are being sold… be clear, concise, and compelling.”

Skill #2: Ability to Write Clearly and Concisely Without Losing Meaning

When writing the first draft, get all your ideas out. Write down everything you wish to include in the copy — no holds barred. Once that’s done, go through each line and ask yourself — is this relevant and necessary? Is this providing value to the reader? More often than not, your answer would be “no”. You’ll likely find that you can trim about half of the content without losing anything of value. Go all out with the trimming and K.I.S.S. it — keep it short and concise. Get rid of all the fluff. The tweet below, by Buffer’s VP of Marketing, is an excellent example of the four C’s in action. Seriously, nobody has the time to read a long copy — it is tedious, and your audience will soon lose interest. Moreover, use simple words, short sentences, and shorter paragraphs to get to the point. Never use jargon, slang, and fancy words that attract attention but diverts the readers from what action you want them to take. This should be applicable no matter where you are in the sales funnel. In other words, when writing anything, simplicity and brevity are key. That said, brevity doesn’t mean you leave out relevant information. Keep your copy as short as possible, but also as long as necessary.

At the heart of every marketing campaign is — you guessed it — your customers (potential and existing). The job of a content strategist includes coming up with buyer personas, understanding the pain points of the target audience, and planning what content to put out and when. As a marketer who writes words meant to convince people to do something, you must be able to conduct and interpret customer research yourself.

Customer research lays the foundation for writing compelling copy. Your words will only hit home if you know exactly what makes your customers tick. Thus, if you haven’t already, develop the skills to conduct face-to-face interviews, focus group discussions, or qualitative surveys to understand your target audience. Likewise, the ability to correctly interpret existing customer research and incorporate all the relevant bits into your content or copy will serve you well.

Source:

https://blog.copify.com/post/what-are-the-main-skills-you-need-to-be-good-at-copywriting
https://coschedule.com/blog/copywriting-skills
14 Copywriting Skills Every Marketer Needs to Have

Tip 21: Prepare to edit your content multiple times

The number is so specific that it jumps out. And it also implies that this is a plan that really works. People hate vagueness, which probably explains our opinions about politicians [and, in particular, their election manifestos].

Take dieting as an example. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to deduce that the best way to lose weight is to eat more vegetables and exercise more. But this is obvious so really, everyone’s saying the same thing in slightly different ways.

The main problem with eating more healthily is that people can only hold out for so long. In other words, at the start of any diet, we’re usually quite enthusiastic. We cut out all their sugary foods, but this lifestyle change only lasts a week or a month.

And if that was true, you could reframe a diet and speak about it in a different way by using the power of opposites. Imagine if you saw an advert for a diet plan that had the tagline:

By combining the topic of dieting with something fairly unrelated [chocolate], you can capture attention quickly. Once you’ve done that, you can talk about how humans will be more likely to stick to a diet if they’re allowed some days off.

Skill #2: Ability to Write Clearly and Concisely Without Losing Meaning

When writing the first draft, get all your ideas out. Write down everything you wish to include in the copy — no holds barred. Once that’s done, go through each line and ask yourself — is this relevant and necessary? Is this providing value to the reader? More often than not, your answer would be “no”. You’ll likely find that you can trim about half of the content without losing anything of value. Go all out with the trimming and K.I.S.S. it — keep it short and concise. Get rid of all the fluff. The tweet below, by Buffer’s VP of Marketing, is an excellent example of the four C’s in action. Seriously, nobody has the time to read a long copy — it is tedious, and your audience will soon lose interest. Moreover, use simple words, short sentences, and shorter paragraphs to get to the point. Never use jargon, slang, and fancy words that attract attention but diverts the readers from what action you want them to take. This should be applicable no matter where you are in the sales funnel. In other words, when writing anything, simplicity and brevity are key. That said, brevity doesn’t mean you leave out relevant information. Keep your copy as short as possible, but also as long as necessary.

At the heart of every marketing campaign is — you guessed it — your customers (potential and existing). The job of a content strategist includes coming up with buyer personas, understanding the pain points of the target audience, and planning what content to put out and when. As a marketer who writes words meant to convince people to do something, you must be able to conduct and interpret customer research yourself.

Customer research lays the foundation for writing compelling copy. Your words will only hit home if you know exactly what makes your customers tick. Thus, if you haven’t already, develop the skills to conduct face-to-face interviews, focus group discussions, or qualitative surveys to understand your target audience. Likewise, the ability to correctly interpret existing customer research and incorporate all the relevant bits into your content or copy will serve you well.

10 practical tips to consider when learning to write copy

1. Research the competition

2. Make room for voice

3. Think about your target audience

4. Storytelling wins

5. Use emotions, but don’t manipulate your audience

Fear tactics or positioning your product as “the best” is weak copywriting. Instead, show your audience the benefits they’re missing out on and highlight which demographic your product best serves.

6. Choose words carefully

Being a great copywriter requires that you show more and tell less. Use visuals, choose language that evokes imagery, and edit ruthlessly to remove unnecessary adjectives and adverbs until you only have words you can’t do without.

7. Experiment with copywriting formulas

8. Use copywriting templates

Instead of starting with a blank page every time, try using templates. Jasper, an AI copywriting assistant has over 52 writing templates, several of which work well for copywriting. Some of our favorite Jasper copywriting templates are:

9. Address the elephant

If your customer has a brand quirk that might put off potential buyers, address it in your copy. Are they more expensive than competitors? Mention it and show why they charge as much.

10. Keep a swipe file

Copywriting requires merciless editing, so save your darlings in a swipe file for days when you’re low on inspiration. Well-written phrases, hard-to-find statistics, and witty CTAs you loved can all go in your swipe file.

Resource:

https://www.splashcopywriters.com/blog/copywriting-tips/
https://coschedule.com/blog/copywriting-skills
https://www.jasper.ai/blog/learn-copywriting

You can find relevant businesses and individuals to partner with by signing up to influencer marketing platforms . These are online tools that automate the discovery, vetting, and reporting processes, enabling you to focus more on developing influencer relationships and planning memorable takeovers.

The Complete Guide to Growing Your Business with Instagram Marketing

Instagram is one of the fastest-growing – if not the fastest-growing – social media platforms out there. Since its launch, its user base skyrocketed to 1 billion . Also, Instagram has won the battle for engagement – the platform generates 4x more interactions compared to Facebook. These statistics indicate why so many businesses are keen to jump on the Instagram marketing bandwagon.

But let’s get one thing straight: getting Instagram marketing right is no simple task. You must learn the ins and outs of the platform to run campaigns that bring in conversions. The good news? This guide will take you through the moving parts of Instagram marketing in an actionable, clear-cut way.

Instagram Marketing Definition

Instagram marketing is a type of social media marketing in which marketers use the Instagram platform to promote their business. If “promote their business” sounds broad, that’s because it is: Instagram marketing can involve a number of different strategies and tactics, used to accomplish all kinds of goals a business might have.

Typical business goals might include selling your products or services, getting more followers and engagement, building relationships with potential customers and other brands, and generally boosting a brand’s reputation.

Marketing on Instagram: The Importance of the Algorithm

You may have heard the term “algorithm,” which is a widely misunderstood term. You don’t need to be a master of the Instagram algorithm, but a basic understanding of it can help achieve your goals faster and with fewer headaches.

While some marketers feel that the Instagram algorithm is their arch enemy, it’s actually a friend. That’s because its ultimate goal – like every other online algorithm – is to deliver relevant, entertaining, and engaging content to each user.

Algorithms do this by carefully studying their users’ activities and behaviors, then using this data to make informed guesses on what those users will want to see in the future. If your content happens to pass the “test,” you’re teed up for success.

No spammy posts or comments, and no content just for the sake of creating something. Be thoughtful and strategic, while constantly asking what your audience wants and how you can serve them through your efforts.

What You Need to Start Marketing on Instagram

Before you dive into Instagram marketing, make sure you have a proper business profile – not just a regular personal profile. This way, you can reap the benefits of Instagram business marketing features and Instagram Insights, which we’ll discuss later in this post. Plus, it’s more credible in the eyes of your audience.

How to Create an Instagram Business Profile

Instagram Marketing Strategy

1. Set your goals

Start crafting your Instagram marketing strategy by setting goals. Goals will underlie everything you do on Instagram, from defining your content formats to using advertisement mechanics. Popular objectives brands try to leverage through Instagram are increasing brand awareness, reputation management, building a community, sales acceleration, getting customer and market insights, and more.

2. Define your target audience

Determining your audience is an essential step; miss it, and all your efforts to achieve business goals will fall flat. A pro tip here is to craft a buyer persona. Learn who your typical customer is, their age, gender, occupation, location, income level, and so on. The better you know your customers, the better results you will get.

A major mistake to avoid here is crafting a make-believe persona. Use a data-driven approach instead of guesswork. To get information about your potential customers, you can explore Instagram hashtags related to your business. For instance, if you are marketing an event agency, you can examine #eventplanner, #events, or #eventstyling.

Take a closer look at profiles that use these hashtags. Then try to learn more about the people who interact with these accounts – what reactions they share, what comments they write, what they love and loathe about the profiles. To learn more about creating customer profiles and other techniques, follow our comprehensive guide.

3. Analyze your competitors

To get your head around Instagram marketing, research your competitors’ profiles. Find out who they are, what kind of content they post, how they interact with their audience and other brands or influencers. You can also research your rivals’ branded hashtags to get a hint of how popular they are.

Try to focus not only on successful tactics but also spot the things your competitors might be missing. This will help you come up with effective and unusual tactics for your brand promotion. Imagine that you are marketing a psychologist’s practice through Instagram. Typical doctors on Instagram publish static images with instructions on diagnosing psychological conditions. Thus, to stand out, you can entertain your audience and post videos with interesting psychological experiments.

Researching competitors through Instagram is painstaking work. Luckily, you can alleviate some of it with social listening services or CRM systems. For instance, Sprout Social can compose competitor research automatically. Follow our compilation of great CRM systems for more information.

4. Get a business account

Instagram offers its users two types of accounts: personal and business. The latter gives you a lot more benefits and opportunities. For instance, you can track your performance in real time, learn more about your followers’ behavior, add information about your company, and more.

5. Design your content

Content is king anywhere on social media, and especially on Instagram – users are finicky both for visual and text parts of it. So, the platform provides a wide variety of content formats and opportunities to win the audience.
Start by thinking up the main theme and the message you want to deliver. You may opt for showcasing your products, focusing on your company’s culture, or entertaining your customers.

The next step is to decide which content formats to use to leverage your goals. You can make use of static pictures, galleries, short videos, or longer video formats with IGTV. Bear in mind that images receive 27.55% more likes than videos, but both of them gain almost the same amounts of comments. However, it might not work for you the same way, so play around different formats and monitor engagement statistics.

6. Build a consistent aesthetic

Another point to consider is your visual consistency. The pictures on your Instagram profile should make an impression of unity. You can achieve this by using certain Instagram filters or presets. Look how Hootsuite uses its branded style for Instagram and creates consistency with visuals.

7. Configure an editorial calendar

An essential condition of your Instagram success is delivering content consistently. Your audience expects you to post updates regularly. On average, brands publish content 1.5 times per day. To keep this pace without going insane, create an editorial calendar.

For higher efficiency, keep your calendar in special post scheduling services. They allow you to not only be aware of what and when to post but also keep the visuals, posts, and hashtags on hand. Better yet, these tools automate your posting, provide useful insights on the posting time, help obtain in-depth analytics, and more. Read our list of scheduling and other tools for social media to get more information.

Instagram marketing FAQ

What is Instagram marketing?

Instagram marketing refers to using Instagram to grow brand awareness and launch new products. Instagram allows you to build your brand and connect with followers in a personal way. With over one billion active users on the platform, it’s a great channel for creators and entrepreneurs looking to grow organically.

How do I start Instagram marketing?

To get started with Instagram marketing, you’ll need to set up an Instagram Business account or Instagram Creator account. Begin by setting up a personal account, then follow the instructions above to create your business profile.

How do I promote my business on Instagram?

What is the best way to use Instagram for marketing?

WIth Instagram rolling out ecommerce features like shoppable Stories, Instagram shops, and in-app checkout, you can build an entire sales funnel on Instagram. It’s best to find ways to keep people interacting with your brand on Instagram and occasionally prompting them with deals and shoppable posts to encourage sales.

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Sources:

https://www.oberlo.com/blog/instagram-marketing
https://sendpulse.com/support/glossary/instagram-marketing
https://www.shopify.com/blog/instagram-marketing
Instagram marketing

Tracking your performance and results is essential to any social media strategy. This enables you to decipher which types of content your audience finds most engaging and allows you to optimize your strategy as you move forward.

First things first: Why use Instagram for business?

Social media has been proven to influence purchase decisions. And if you can find the right mix of content, your audience will soak it up – and even buy from you – without the need for a hard push or sales pitch. It’s the marketers dream.

What marketers are saying about Instagram

The numbers and research above all sound great, but what are marketers – the people who use Instagram to drive business results – actually saying about the platform? Here’s what marketers from brand like Birchbox, and Ben & Jerry’s have to say about the platform:

The formula for Instagram success

Madewell is a great example of creative Instagram marketing. The fashion brand has amassed a hugely engaged audience on Instagram (over 700,000 followers and 7,000 to 10,000 likes per post). The platform has become a key marketing channel for them, enabling them to connect with thousands of potential customers on a daily basis.

So, how do Madewell and other successful brands stand out on Instagram? We put together this guide to help you craft your own Instagram marketing strategy that’s based on a clear vision and results that you can measure.

Why are you on Instagram? Choose 1-to-2 main goals

It’s best to choose one or two goals for your Instagram profile, either from the above list or a custom goal of your choosing. To help decide which goals make sense for you, it can be good to consider the following questions:

To ensure we reach that goal we have a set target of reaching out to and featuring the work of four-to-six Buffer community members per week. If we do that 52 weeks per year that’s between 208-to-312 people that we’ve connected with one-on-one.

Currently, our engagement rate (avg. engagement per post/number of followers) is about 1.75% which is a bit higher than industry standard. We’re focusing on producing the highest quality Instagram content so that our engagement rate stays at or above this benchmark.

Which members of your audience are on Instagram? Search the demographics

Age and gender of internet users on Instagram

Location of Instagram users

Instagram education demographics

Instagram income demographics

Why Use Instagram For Marketing?

#1 Create an Impressive Profile

In addition to this, make sure your profile looks professional with a specific theme. Look at the example above and notice how almost all the pictures on the page use shades of pink. Over the years, Instagram’s user base has grown rapidly and continues to grow. Having evolved from a place where tourists share their travel photos, Instagram has become a haven for businesses used by more than 1 billion users, influencers and advertising of all kinds.

#2 Keep an Eye on the Numbers

Instagram has now stopped showing the number of likes a post gets for some users . While some might find this controversial decision in poor taste, some are in support as it reduces pressure. Still, brands or page owners have access to a lot of analytical details that followers may not be able to see.

#3 Work With an Influencer

Almost all kinds of brands ranging from big names like Audi to startups work with influencers. You will find influencers on almost every platform but Instagram is said to be the Mecca of influencers as it is credited for giving birth to the industry.

There are both micro and macro influencers. Micro-influencers typically have about 10,000 followers. They are suitable for local businesses as they have a small reach that is often limited to a specific geographical location.

Most micro-influencers are willing to negotiate and some might even work for free if you offer them publicity or free products in return. There are many influencer databases like Afluencer where you can reach influencers and negotiate with them.

On the other hand, working with macro-influencers can be quite tricky. They can have more than a million followers. Some of the top influencers include Kim Kardashian and Dwayne Johnson, both rumored to be charging about 800 million per sponsored post.

If your brand can afford to work with a top influencer then get in touch with them and finalize the deal. The ROI can be as high as 500 percent given that you choose the right influencer, i.e.: someone who enjoys a good reputation and is followed by your target audience.

#4 Strengthen Your Hashtag Game

The platform even allows users to search for emojis. However, if you’re serious about using hashtags then we’d suggest that you use a third-party hashtag tool that can suggest trending hashtags based on your niche or industry.

#5 Post Captions That Sell

Your captions should contain a maximum of 2,000 characters. However, you don’t always have to use long captions. Short descriptions can be effective as well. The key lies in writing captions that are relevant, easy, and fun to read.

Whatever you post, make sure to include a CTA in your caption. Your readers may not always know what you’re trying to achieve. There’s no harm in providing some clarity. This can be done by adding hashtags like #buynow or a request to click your link in the bio.

#6 Offer Giveaways and Organize Competitions

#7 Form Connections with Others

This option can be a little difficult for brands since there will be a lot of legalities and other issues involved. You can’t partner with another brand without proper research. However, influencers and individual users can easily form connections with other users and leverage their following.

Most influencers are willing to collaborate with others to create interesting content. Logan Paul, one of the most popular social media stars, has formed partnerships with several other Instagrammers and social media stars like Bradley Martyn.

You can also be direct and offer collaboration but such a trick might not always work. Also, work with people who are in the same niche as yours. For example, if you are a fitness expert then you should work with a nutritionist, fitness model, gym owner, etc.

#8 Use Third-Party Tools

#9 Use Instagram Live

It is possible to go live on Instagram and interact with your followers. It can be a great option for businesses as Instagram Live allows streamers to add one guest and have a one-on-one conversation that can be viewed by everyone. However, rumors suggest that the company is planning to introduce an option to add multiple guests into a session.

There are a lot of creative ways you can put Instagram live to use. You can stream live events, have product unveiling, interview clients or partners, etc. This option is commonly used by influencers but businesses are now also utilizing Instagram Live to stay connected and update fans on what’s happening behind the scenes.

#10 Advertise on the Platform

You must have a business profile linked to a Facebook page to be able to advertise on the platform. Still, it’s worth the effort as the platform offers five types of ads that are integrated into the feed or Stories.

9 Kicksta

Kicksta is an Instagram marketing tool that helps you get more followers. Normally, users would have to manually go through accounts liking and following everyone they think might follow their account back. This process is time-consuming and usually results in a significantly lower ROI than most people expect.

When you use Kicksta, you can search tags and rival profiles for your target audience. For instance, if you’re an email marketer, you might look up the hashtag #EmailMarketing. Now you can set parameters around who you want to follow under that group. The AI technology used with this program helps you fine-tune your Instagram strategy and reach your target audience.

Sources:

https://buffer.com/library/instagram-marketing/
https://adoric.com/blog/15-instagram-marketing-tips/
https://www.socialpilot.co/instagram-marketing-tools
Instagram marketing

Videos are indeed becoming one of the most popular types of visual content, and it’s no surprise. They are engaging, attention-grabbing, fun, and give lots of information to the viewer. However, again, we have numbers to back this up: Instagram videos get around 21% more interactions than static posts.

Why Should You Sell on Instagram?

The simple answer is, everyone is on Instagram. Being one of the top 5 social media platforms globally, Instagram sees millions of visitors and pieces of content every day. People and brands go there to see beautiful photos, watch videos, interact with brands, research products, or get their share of attention by posting something themselves. Here are a few numbers to back our claim:

Using Instagram strategically allows thousands of brands daily to reach millions of people worldwide and forge meaningful relationships with them. The platform is also a goldmine for critical feedback and enables you to perform competitor analysis , while engaging your audience with creative visual content. It’s also crucial that you have a specific sales funnel for Instagram in place, in order to reach your goals.

10 step Instagram marketing strategy to boost your sales

Creativity, Creativity, Creativity

To stand out, the first and most important thing that you need is creativity. Because Instagram is a visual platform, this can be achieved, first and foremost, through your visual content (design style, color schemes, overall branding.) Luckily, this is now more accessible than ever: you can make a logo and create your entire branding online in minutes. However, it’s key to remember that the idea behind the design matters just as much, if not more.

Humor, motivation, educational content work well on Instagram. Define your main goal and understand what you want to achieve with a specific post, or even for months. Then based on that information, create something memorable that will stand out in the feed and make people stop scrolling.

2. Focus on Product-Related Posts

One of the most complex pieces of owning a business on Instagram is content. You may have even asked yourself a couple of times what you should post. One relatively simple answer to this question is the posts about your product.

Product-focused content is one of the most popular content types on Instagram. Your customers may follow you because of the valuable content you provide, but they are also interested in your brand’s products and services. So, make an effort to present them in the best light, and do this frequently. However, avoid being too pushy or "salesy." Instead of speaking about how great your product is and what its latest features are, show prospects all the ways they can benefit from purchasing it and how it can solve their problems. Later on, you can use startup marketing automation techniques to make the processes faster and more productive.

The visuals also matter: instead of posting lifeless photos of shoes, think of something more fun, e.g., include bright colored props or a stop motion animation of the making of said shoes. No matter what it is, just make sure it centers the attention towards your product.

3. Use Hashtags

Research relevant hashtags for your business niche, narrow down the important ones and go with the trendy hashtags of the moment. Avoid using too generic ones, such as "makeup," "fashion," "lookbook," for example, and go with more specific ones. They may have less coverage but will help you reach those who are genuinely interested in your offer. Make a habit of researching and updating your hashtag list every week or at least twice a month. You can make this a part of your social media onboarding checklist so that everyone in your team is on the same page.

Moreover, you can add up to 30 different hashtags to Instagram posts and up to 10 hashtags to stories; however, try not to spam your audience with too many hashtags. In addition, don’t think of hashtags as an alternative to captions – hashtags are not the be-all and end-all of your content.

4. Leverage The Power Of User-Generated-Content

User-Generated-Content (or UGC) is the most extensive testimonial your brand can have on Instagram (and other platforms, for that matter)! The truth is, although all your marketing efforts count and add up to establishing your brand, as a whole, customer feedback and testimonials make one of the most effective tactics because people trust other people more than they trust brands.

Photos and videos your customers create about your brand and product are pure gold from a marketing perspective. While discovering these videos and images may be time-consuming (unless they tag you, of course), the result is worth the effort. Looking through hashtags is one way to do it. So, every month, take time to fill in your content marketing calendar with UGC for a chance to grow your audience and increase their trust in your brand.

Additionally, you can encourage the creation of UGC through giveaways and contests or encourage the users to share a photo of your product for a chance to be featured. The only limit here is your creativity. Another benefit is that the more high-quality user-generated pieces of content you have, the fewer resources you’ll have to spend on creating content yourself.

5. Use Stories To Sell

An Instagram story is a piece of content that lives on your profile only for 24 hours. Because of this, they are more informal than posts and don’t always require a lot of planning. For example, if you have a funny backstage situation during your latest shoot, or someone brings their pet to the office – just take a quick photo and share it!

How to use Instagram for business

There are dozens of social media platforms for marketers to choose from, with each and every one offering different features, opportunities, and nuances. For marketers, it’s all about understanding where your audience lives and what platform will enable you to best reach it.

With the growing popularity of Instagram marketing over recent years, the value is clear. If the features we listed above didn’t convince you of Instagram’s appeal, this might: the photo-sharing app recently celebrated 1 billion monthly active users. More importantly, these users are incredibly engaged, with more than 60 percent logging in every single day.

Instagram’s high levels of engagement

Mentioned above, more than 60 percent of Instagram users are logging in every day. Do you know what that means? Your customers could already be using Instagram to reach you or to talk about your business without you even knowing about it! In fact, 75% of Instagram users take action after seeing a business post. Meaning, they’ll maybe search for the product, tell a friend about it, or even buy your product or service.

If you’ve scrolled through your Instagram feed recently, I’d be willing to bet you saw at least one post of a tasty-looking meal from the trendy restaurant that just opened up down the street. In fact, you probably saw many more than just one post like that. It’s a fact – people love sharing their best life on Instagram. I don’t remember the last time I was at brunch where anybody took a single bite of their food before whipping out their phone for a picture.

If you work at an upscale, trendy restaurant or stylish boutique, it’s likely your offering has already been the subject of a customer’s Instagram post! Find more opportunities for engagement by interacting with customers who have tagged you, and don’t forget to tag people on Instagram posts you share, too.

Advertising on Instagram

Did you know that 2.2 percent of Instagram users will interact with an ad. This tops all social media networks, with Facebook coming in second at 0.22 percent. Additionally, b y 2020, more than $4.5 billion in mobile ad revenue will be generated by Instagram alone. Other social media networks don’t even come close to this.

Instagram reaches new audiences through hashtags

When you include a hashtag on your post, it creates a link that leads to every post that has been shared with that hashtag. This is why it’s essential to take advantage of hashtags in order to increase your ROI for the platform.

I need two hands (and probably some of my toes) to count how many brands I’ve discovered on Instagram, thanks to its use of hashtags and influencer marketing. Something as simple as taking advantage of trending hashtags can be an effective aspect of your Instagram marketing strategy.

Create content for your other marketing channels

This can be even tougher when it comes to sourcing images for your Facebook and Twitter accounts. As marketers, we know that social media users love a post with visuals. In fact, they regularly see more engagement than posts with only text. However, we don’t want to slap up a stock photo with every Facebook status or include a subpar picture in a tweet just for the sake of having an image.

What’s so unique and valuable about Instagram is that it allows you to simultaneously create content for your other marketing channels. You can either save images and repurpose them later or link your Instagram account to your Facebook and Twitter accounts, sharing them directly.

Ready to take your Instagram to the next level?

Sources:

https://blog.paperturn.com/blog/instagram-marketing-strategy
https://www.simplilearn.com/tutorials/social-media-marketing-tutorial/instagram-marketing-strategy
https://learn.g2.com/instagram-marketing

Top 9 Freelancing Tips For Beginners 2022: (Complete Beginner’s Guide)

Affiliate disclosure: In full transparency – some of the links on our website are affiliate links, if you use them to make a purchase we will earn a commission at no additional cost for you (none whatsoever!).

You probably noticed the recent surge of people switching to freelancing with each passing day. And the fact that you are here reading this means that chances are, you are thinking of shifting yourself, or you already have.

As you know freelancing is for anyone, but if you want to make the top dollar, you will have to be one of the top freelancers as well. Having skill in your own forte can take you so long, so here are a few tips and tricks to amp up your overall freelance career field:

Don’t quit your day job (yet)

We’ve all had that recurring fantasy about quitting our job. You know, the one where your boss makes another ridiculous request and you decide it’s the perfect opportunity to tell them how you really feel, before you storm out as your coworkers look on with something between admiration and jealousy.

. and in this fantasy, we always gracefully swan-dive into a lucrative solo career as a freelancer where we have a roster full of adoring clients who all pay on time. But this smooth slide into freelancing is rarely the case. Freelance writer Emma wanted desperately to leave her job working full-time at a non-profit to travel the world and be her own boss. But she learned the hard way that you’ll want to have a minimum of three to six months of living expenses (rent, bills, food) saved to hold you over until you find your roster of regular clients. We suggest first-time freelancers do the same before you dramatically walk out on your boss for the final time.

How are Verbal Contracts Enforced?

Verbal agreements can be proven with actions in the absence of physical documentation. Any oral promise to provide the sale of goods or perform a service that you agreed to counts as a valid contract. So, when facing a court of law, what evidence can you provide to enforce a verbal agreement?

Unfortunately, without solid proof, it may be difficult to convince a court of the legality of an oral contract. Without witnesses to testify to the oral agreement taking place or other forms of evidence, oral contracts won’t stand up in court. Instead, it becomes a matter of "he-said-she-said" – which legal professionals definitely don’t have time for!

If you were to enter into a verbal contract, it’s recommended to follow up with an email or a letter confirming the offer, the terms of the agreement , and payment conditions. The more you can document the elements of a contract, the better your chances of legally enforcing a oral contract.

Another option is to make a recording of the conversation where the agreement is verbalized. This can be used to support your claims in the absence of a written agreement. However, it’s always best to gain the permission of the other involved parties before hitting record.

Written vs Verbal Contracts: What’s the Verdict?

Fundamentally, most verbal agreements are legally valid as long as they meet all the requirements for a contract. However, if you were to go to court over one party not fulfilling the terms of the contract, proving that the interaction took place can be extremely taxing.

Any good lawyer, contract law firm, or legal professional would advise you to make sure you formalize any professional agreement with a written agreement. Written contracts provide a secure testament to the conditions that were agreed and signed by the two parties involved. If it comes to it, a physical contract is much easier to eviden in legal circumstances.

Freelancers, in particular, should be aware of the extra security that digital contracts may provide. Many people choose to stick to executing contracts verbally because they’re not sure how to write a contract, or they think writing out the contract terms is too complicated or requires expensive legal advice. However, this is no longer the case.

How to Start Freelancing – Tips for Launching a Successful Freelance Career

It takes more than a stable internet connection to make a living as a freelancer. In order to make the big bucks, you’ve got to put in your time and know your stuff when it comes to selling your services.

In fact, there are quite a few things that most freelancers don’t even do that could save them a bunch of money. This article covers some of the most efficient ways for you to get started as a freelancer, and how you can hit the ground running right from the beginning.

How to Find Freelance Clients

Many new freelancers underestimate how important marketing is to getting hired as a freelancer. To some degree, you can make yourself look more professional and respectable by taking the time to show potential clients how you do business.

It’s not just about drawing up a few mockups, sending them to a client, and waiting for the cash to roll in. Craft, creativity, and promotion are all equally important when it comes to being a successful freelancer.

Network with other people in your industry

Instead, engage with people in your industry and come up with ways you can help each other out. Maybe your colleague from your first job needs some voiceover work done on their podcast. Recommend yourself for the job. And if they say no, offer to record it for free as a special gift for helping you out.

Even if you don’t know people in your industry in your city, search for them on LinkedIn and start getting in touch with people in that network—even if it isn’t local. Ask them if they know anyone looking for a freelancer or if they have any advice for finding clients. You might even make some new friends!

If they know of any opportunities, or if they have advice for finding clients in your field, you can bet they’ll pass it on to you, and likely with enthusiasm. And who knows—they might even hire you on the spot for a project once they know that you are freelancing.

Cold calling best practices

I know, many people will say that the number of organizations that actually do it are few and far between. But what they fail to recognize is that this is where the opportunities are hidden – the ones not being addressed by your competition.

All you need is someone to practice with. Then ask them to give you mean criticism, without any tact or sugarcoating, for something you’re seeking from them. It can be a critique on a product idea, a pitch, your blog post, your haircut — whatever.

Initially, you can think of a cold call like a job interview, making it easier to stay on track with the prospect and avoid going off on a tangent about your business. By prospect, I mean anyone you communicate with who has not requested information from you or your organization.

Writing effective cold emails

Cold emailing is exactly what it sounds like—contacting people you don’t know without any introduction. You’re putting yourself out there by putting your reputation on the line. Cold emailing gives you the ability to connect with anyone, but it can also put you in uncomfortable situations where your messages are not welcome.

Build a connection before selling to your prospect.

Do your research.

When it comes to your prospect, you should know as much as possible about them. If you understand who they are and what their interests are, you can strike up a conversation that will give off the impression that you know all there is to know about them. Just don’t go overboard.

Introduce yourself as the solution to their problem.

You can also try creating a list of their pains and the ways you can solve them if they choose your product or service. Make sure that your product or service is something that will genuinely benefit the customer and that the customer needs.

Collaborate with other agencies or freelancers

As you begin working on your own, you’ll go through growing pains. No one can deny that. But moving towards becoming a freelancer allows you the chance to have control over your time, your projects, and your future.

If you miss working in a team, you can always collaborate with other freelancers or agencies. You need to create a network of freelancers with different skills. While you have your favorite writers, designers, or social media marketers, think about new people who might provide great value for your business and vice versa.

These ties can help you in furthering your career and in doing your work in the most efficient and productive manner possible. But in order for you to collaborate successfully with other freelancers and agencies, you should take into consideration the following tips:

Learn as much as you can about them.

Working with a collaborator is a great way to get a project done to a high standard, but it’s important that you choose the right person. Asking someone to work with you can be a little daunting, especially if you don’t know them personally at all, so it’s best to have some information about them beforehand.

Use the same collaboration tools.

The technology that we use every day can bridge that distance and make it easier for you to communicate and form the bonds that will define the way you work together. Make sure that you both work with the same tools to maximize efficiency.

Always ask for feedback.

Whether you’re collaborating with an agency or other freelancers, it’s important to continuously give and receive feedback. This should never be seen as criticism or a personal attack. It’s simply feedback on how you worked on the project. The person you worked with may even have ideas on how they would work differently in the future too.

Resources:

https://www.bloggersideas.com/freelancing-tips-for-beginners/
https://blog.xolo.io/21-tips-for-first-time-freelancers-bd05ca053b3d
https://www.hellobonsai.com/blog/100-freelance-tips
https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-to-start-freelancing/

It is important that you have access to the email address you give your employer until you have received a decision regarding your application. The Swedish Migration Agency will use this email address to communicate with you throughout the application period.

What is a power of attorney?

A power of attorney can be a signed letter in which the person applying for a permit allows another person to represent him or her. A power of attorney can, for example, give someone the right to apply, be informed of the reasons for a decision, or lodge an appeal for someone else. The power of attorney must be signed by the person who gives their power of attorney to another person, and must be presented in the original if required by the Swedish Migration Agency.

If your family will accom­pany you and you are applying for them at the same time, you will also be required to submit the following:

• copies of the pages in their passports which show their personal information, photograph, signature, passport number, passport issuing country, the period of the passport’s validity, bar code on the identification page and whether they have permission to live in countries other than their country of origin.
• copies of marriage certificates or the equivalent (applies to married couples or registered partners)
• documents showing that you have lived together in your country of origin (applies to cohabiting partners)
• birth certificates for children
• consent from the other custodial parent, if they are not also coming to Sweden, stating that the child is allowed to move to Sweden
• documents showing that children above the age of 21 are financially dependent on their parents
• adoption documents if the child was adopted
• power of attorney if you are representing all members of the family who are over 18 years and who are co-applicants.

Consent

A statement of consent is a signed letter from the parent who has custody but will not be accompanying the child to Sweden, in which he or she agrees that your child should be granted a residence permit to settle in Sweden. The statement of consent should contain

Overview

According to Ukrainian legislation on employment, foreign citizens can be employed in Ukraine by locally registered companies as well as individual person (Ukrainian citizen or a foreign national, who lives in Ukraine based on a temporary/permanent residence permit) in cases when the respective position does not require Ukrainian citizenship (e.g. public officer can be only citizen of Ukraine) and does not require access to the state secrecy.

Application for a work permit is made by a locally registered company-employer who is willing to employ a foreign national in Ukraine. Ukrainian law defines minimal requirements to the salary of foreign employees depending on the category (which are higher than amount of minimal wage for Ukrainian nationals, defined by law), namely:

1. five minimum wages* (in 2020 minimum wage amounts UAH 4723) – for employees of non-governmental organizations, charity organizations and educational institutions;
2. ten minimum wages – for any other types of employees;
3. requirements to the amount of salary do not apply for “preferred categories of foreign employees“, namely:
   1. IT professionals (in this case, the company-employer has to have main registered type of business activity – computer programming)
   2. the cases when shareholder or ultimate beneficiary of the company is employed as the company’s employee;
   3. persons who have a degree from a university that ranks in the top 100 universities under the list, defined by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine
   4. creative professionals who own copyright and related rights
   5. foreign highly paid professionals (whose salary is not less than 50 minimum wages)

   What should I do if USCIS denies my Work Permit application?

   1. You made a mistake on your application. If you filled out Form I-765 incorrectly, forgot to sign it, or didn’t send the correct supporting documents, USCIS may reject your application.
   2. You weren’t eligible for a Work Permit. The only way you can get a Work Permit is to have a U.S. immigration status that allows you to work while you are here. If you do not have such status and submit an application for a Work Permit, USCIS will reject your application.
   3. You received other Work Authorization before your Work Permit application was approved. If you apply for a Green Card and a Work Permit at the same time, your Green Card application might be approved before your Work Permit is. This doesn’t happen very often. If it does, though, don’t worry! Your Green Card allows you to work, and you will not need a separate Work Permit.

   If USCIS rejects your Work Permit application because of a mistake or eligibility reason, it would be good to speak with an immigration attorney. You can often reapply if you are eligible, but doing so after a rejection can be tricky. It’s best to get the advice of an expert so that you can get approved and start working. You can find an attorney or legal aid agency, many of whom can help you for free, on the government website USA.gov.

   Sources:

   https://www.migrationsverket.se/English/Private-individuals/Working-in-Sweden/Employed/How-to-apply.html
   https://www.contactukraine.com/relocation/ukrainian-work-permit-scheme
   https://www.immigrationhelp.org/learning-center/work-permit-guide

Which is why Ziegler recommends paying close attention to your media intake. In addition to limiting your phone’s push notifications to just one or two trusted news sources, she also suggests scanning your social media feeds and unfollowing any outlets or people that consistently make you feel fearful, anxious, or upset. “When we become very passive to how we get news, we experience a loss of control, which fuels stress,” says Ziegler. “Control is huge for a lot of people—especially right now, when many things feel out of our control. But this is one thing you can be in control of.”

Feeling Burned Out? These Expert-Approved Strategies Will Help You Recover

Your inbox is a perpetually overflowing mountain of high-priority emails. You feel like no matter how hard—or how long—you work, you barely make a dent in your never-ending-to-do list. You’re so far behind on everything (paying bills, scheduling doctor’s appointments, you name it) that you just keep putting it off. You’re so exhausted that it takes days to respond to text messages from your closest friends. Not to mention that you’re starting to wonder if you’ll ever feel excited about your life or career again.

Related Stories

If that sounds familiar, chances are, you’re probably experiencing burnout. And you’re not alone: According to a 2020 Gallup report, 76 percent of respondents said that they experience burnout at least sometimes—a number that’s likely risen since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, in which people have had to juggle work, caregiving, and overwhelming stress and anxiety.

The good news? You can recover from burnout. Though, it’ll likely take more than a weekend away. “Burnout manifests as illness,” says Amelia Nagoski, co-author of Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle. “So just like it takes a long time to recover from a broken bone or severe infection, it also takes a long time to recover from burnout. There’s the period where you’re really wounded, the period where you’re working to bounce back, and the period where you’re not quite back to normal, but you’re definitely not in crisis anymore.”

Scientifically Proven Treatments

To curate a list of effective treatments, we consulted several peer-reviewed manuscripts.

Daily recovery is vital

Put your smartphone away

Derks and Bakker (2014) found that burnout recovery was hampered by work–home interference, which is when our home and work needs conflict. The researchers argued that smartphone use after hours put people at risk of work–home interference, specifically:

Derks and Bakker (2014) divided their research participants into two groups: those who used their work smartphone after hours and those who did not. Participants who used their work phone after hours were more likely to experience work–home interference and struggle with burnout recovery.

Yes, you should lie on the couch

Other strategies

Burnout Management: The Importance of Self-Care

Specifically, your client should focus on their wellbeing first. The importance of self-care is simple when we return to the battery metaphor. If your client’s battery is not fully charged, then they cannot provide enough energy to their work and life responsibilities.

Promoting self-care can be difficult especially when coupled with bad habits, such as working overtime, responding to work messages or texts after hours, and saying yes to everything, resulting in an unreasonable workload.

Downtime tasks include activities that require little effort to complete, have no productive outcome, and are not deadline driven. Examples include reading, watching tv, coloring, and napping. These tasks should have little to no physical or cognitive demands.

Furthermore, your client should learn how to identify signs that they are tired or stressed. For example, do they report not enjoying their hobbies or feeling more irritable, demotivated, or tired? These could be signs that your client must take extra measures to recharge their battery.

Download Your Free 9 Ways To Recover From Burnout: Moving Forward When You’re Exhausted Guide

• Take care of your body: Really important! Get some form of exercise, eat when hungry, sleep when you need to. When in recovery, it is particularly important to not push past your limits. : Set aside time before falling asleep to unwind. Listen to music, read something relaxing or meaningful, reflect on the important moments of your day.
• Disconnect from screens: Technology makes us more accessible, which can be a wonderful yet demanding thing. Find realistic small ways to get some separation from screens.
• Create a gentle reflection practice: Could be a thoughtful conversation with a good friend, or a quick journal entry – I love the 2 minute journal, which includes a gratitude practice.
• Create a practice of staying present/mindful: Most people think of meditation, which is a great idea, but it doesn’t work for everyone, especially at first. Mindfulness could be watching a basketball game, eating a snack, or taking a 5 minute walk around the block with the intention of practicing being present and nonjudgmental.

In the go-go-go of today’s lifestyle, it’s easy to tackle one project and leap to the next without taking a breath to acknowledge your victories. But if you view success as getting all the work done in an environment that has never-ending work, you’re bound to hit burnout sooner or later.

That’s why it’s crucial to acknowledge both your accomplishments and your efforts. You don’t have to tally up everything you do (after all, if you’re burnt out, the last thing you need is another item on your to-do list!). But taking the time to actively reflect can remind you of the value of what you do.

• Spend 5-10 minutes at the end of each work day jotting down what you learned, noticed, and achieved. You can do this in a designated journal (aka work diary) or app, or even type it onto the “notes” section for each calendar day in your iCal or Google calendar. You can even do this during the day, as there are many subtle, office-friendly ways to destress.
• Memorize these mindful questions for a daily reflection meditation. Studies have shown mindfulness is a powerful deterrent against burnout [3,4]. Taking just 5 minutes to reflect mindfully grants yourself space to acknowledge your achievements and assess struggles without judgement. Try some version of the following questions: Where did I find joy today? Did anything cause me inner stress or conflict? What did I learn today? You can ask yourself these anywhere, like on your commute home, while eating dinner, or doing the dishes.

Seek professional support through therapy

Therapy is a wonderful space to assess what burnout looks for you, what components of burnout are particularly challenging for you, and what factors are contributing to your experience of burnout. For example, if you notice that your detachment is impacting how you show up for work or home, you can work on strategies to improve interpersonal concerns.

These strategies may include steps to protect your energy. For example, delegating tasks if possible and working on communication such as setting boundaries with respect rather than with irritation. A therapist can also help you sort through and address the factors impacting burnout, since each factor might need a different approach.

Through recovery, you can become more in touch with your values and goals, feel more confident in your ability to manage stress, and learn to implement practices that will help you play the long game well. While burnout generally is temporary, the growth you experience in being intentional about treating it can be lasting!

Burnout is real. Here’s how to spot it—and recover.

When people ask me why I became a writer, I have plenty of reasons to list: Words bring me joy. I ask questions constantly. And when I hear a good story, I’ll repeat it again and again until my friends get tired of hearing it. But in July of 2021, these responses started to feel hollow.

I know I’m not alone. At this moment, when work is isolating some people at home while putting others in danger, burnout seems particularly rampant. In a survey of 1,500 workers from Indeed in March 2021, 53 percent said they were burned out—up by nearly 10 percent from the previous year. Another survey of nearly 21,000 healthcare workers published in May in The Lancet found similar rates.

I wanted to regain my curiosity and the joy I find in language as soon as possible, so I reached out to scientists to find out what, exactly, was happening in my body—and what I could do to make it better.

Burnout is a phenomenon so old, they made a sin out of it, according to Gordon Parker, a professor of psychiatry at the University of New South Wales. Once called “acedia,” the eighth cardinal sin described a state of listlessness, apathy, and torpor observed in fourth century monks. “They would wake up one day and say ‘the sky is no longer blue,’” Parker said. These monks would stop getting pleasure out of life and would lose their faith in God.

They were more than just tired. They had forgotten the meaning of all that they did. And that pretty much describes burnout. The response to chronic stress goes beyond exhaustion; sufferers also experience a loss of idealism and feel like they’re bad at whatever they do. Those are the three prongs identified by the Maslach Burnout Inventory, the assessment most often used by psychologists to evaluate such mental fatigue.

And all that angst isn’t just in your head—it’s very much a physical phenomenon, rooted in the body’s stress-response system. Scientists studying the syndrome are particularly interested in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, also called the HPA axis. When we’re faced with a threat—say, a bear chasing us, or the prospect of responding to an ambiguously stern-sounding email—the HPA axis releases a hormone called cortisol. Cortisol helps the body run from whatever is threatening it; it raises our heart rate and helps our body harvest energy from glucose. Cortisol also decreases activity in systems you don’t need when your life is in immediate danger, like the reproductive and immune systems. When the hypothalamus, a structure in the brain that acts like the control room for the HPA axis, detects high levels of cortisol in the blood, it’s supposed to say “okay, my work is done here,” and shut the stress response down.

Researchers can capture a snapshot of how the stress-response system is functioning with a test called the dexamethasone challenge. Dexamethasone is a drug that tells the hypothalamus to suppress the stress-response system. Given a dose of it, a healthy person should start producing less cortisol. But multiple studies have found that people with burnout have an altered response to the drug. Some studies find that those individuals don’t react to dexamethasone much, if at all—they continue pumping out more cortisol regardless. Other research finds that people with burnout have an exaggerated response to the drug—they suppress cortisol more than the healthy controls do. Researchers hypothesize that these two seemingly contradictory findings represent two stages: burning out, and being burnt out.

“During the burning-out phase, the system is in overdrive,” Parker said. When stress is chronic, cortisol levels in the body keep going up, but the system doesn’t shut itself down. The burnt-out phase begins when that system is tapped out, says Renzo Bianchi, a psychologist at the University of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. “Your stress response gets so exhausted that you stop producing cortisol at high levels,” Bianchi said.

Cortisol may stress us out, but we also need the hormone to survive. It’s quite literally what gets us up in the morning. So when people enter this “burnt out” phase, they feel tired and cynical. They lose drive. They might even experience cognitive impairment and memory changes.

Burnout is a syndrome that may cause a person to become depressed; depression might predispose a person to burnout. But ultimately, burnout is distinct in that work is always at its root. People often feel better as soon as they’re able to get away from the cause of their stress, Parker said. That’s not usually the case with depression.

That distinction is important to make, because by treating burnout as an illness—like depression or an anxiety disorder—we risk offering the wrong solutions, Maslach said. You can’t self-care away your burnout, she added. It’s not so much about the individual as it is the situation they’re in. You have to remove the cause of your stress, and that often requires structural changes in the workplace.

References:

https://www.oprahdaily.com/life/a36801181/how-to-recover-from-burnout/
https://positivepsychology.com/how-to-recover-burnout/
https://blog.zencare.co/recovering-from-burnout/
https://www.popsci.com/health/how-to-recover-from-burnout/

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Have you ever met someone who is very confident, but very rude at the same time? They feel like they are better than anyone else, and they are not afraid to say it out loud. At the same time, they seem like very successful people, and it leaves you wondering how that is possible.

If you’ve followed Donald Trump’s numerous scandals, you may have noticed how he is always rude and too confident. It really makes you wonder how he even won the elections, despite having such an attitude – and with people all over the world knowing how he really is.

So, what makes overconfident people charming enough to make them come on top? You’re about to find out.

Donald Trump and His Love for Himself

It’s not hard to notice how President Donald Trump thinks too highly of himself, even in situations when he should be ashamed. For instance, not long ago he was accused of having an affair while his wife, Melania Trump, was pregnant. Did he show any sign of remorse? Not really. He kept his head up and has shown confidence. You can read about this also in this self-confidence essay.

Recently, Donald Trump attended a press conference where he didn’t fail to make it about him. When asked about the accusations against Brett Kavanaugh, he declared that the three women were all liars. Moreover, he reminded people of the times when he was accused by women of assault – and declared that they were paid to do that.

Basically, he doesn’t miss any chance to make things about himself, brag about the things he’s done, or complain about things he didn’t get credit for. He thinks he is superior and deserves praise and more success.

Personally, I wonder how he was able to win the elections, considering everyone seemed to be against him while rooting for Hillary Clinton. While getting a clear answer may be hard, I think that his confidence is what helped him. Actually, his overconfidence is what helped him go through all of his scandals too, in my opinion.

Rudeness and confidence are often associated with power. While people don’t think highly of rude people, they always seem to be one step ahead of everyone. Basically, people who are rude and show their superiority are, for some reason, placed on a pedestal.

Why Are Overconfident People So Successful?

As mentioned, it seems like people who are treating everyone else with inferiority have an advantage compared to those who don’t. They always seem to be out of people’s reach. Overconfident people come across as jerks in order to reap the rewards that come with it. In spite of people giving them a lot of negative feedback, overconfident people don’t care; they are able to achieve success with or without feedback.

According to some studies on overconfidence, while it leads to disadvantages, there are people who perceive it as something positive. A study had a group of people place cities on a map of North America unmarked by national or state borders. Afterward, they were asked to rate themselves, as well as the other members.

Some people were rating their knowledge far higher than deserved, but they were also getting higher marks from their partners. Basically, overconfident people are thought to have more social status.

Another study focused on showing people a video of a person rudely ordering a meal at a café, while he tapped cigarette ashes on the ground and put his feet on another chair. They were also shown a video of the same person being polite and having manners. People who participated said that being rude seemed to have a different impact. Apparently, it was easier to get people to listen to what he said, and he could take decisions easily. This was not the same with the polite version of the video.

As I mentioned above when talking about Donald Trump, people perceive rudeness as a sign of power. Overconfident and rude people are considered to be more in control and more powerful compared to people who are nice and always play by the rules.

The studies we talked about show that people who break the norms are more likely to be venerated. The cause is the fact that they don’t care about the repercussions – and their power is suggested exactly through this. Maybe that’s how Trump was able to get on top too – he keeps breaking the norm while keeping an overconfident attitude.

Final Thoughts

Despite being criticized by a lot of people, rudeness and overconfidence seem to be the way to success. Those who have gotten to the top while displaying overconfidence seem more powerful than those who are less confident about themselves. Therefore, this is why you rarely see powerful people showing kindness – because it’s perceived as a weakness.